I will be back on Westchester Eye On The Radio, WVOX 1460 AM, on Monday, August 26, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM EDT. This week the discussion will be about the New Rochelle Board of Education’s controversial hiring of Superintendent Laura Feijoo.
New Rochelle, August 6, 2019
Residents from every racial and ethnic background spoke out at the August 6 Board of Ed meeting here to protest the decision to hire Dr. Laura Feijóo . At the end of June the school board rushed through a decision to hire Feijóo without input from the community, and the public response has been unrelenting ever since.
The audio recordings of district parents and community activists reveal a profound disappointment in the board’s failure to reach out to constituents formally or otherwise, in the weeks and months leading up to the hiring decision. There is notable difference between the racial composition of the board, and that of the district’s enrollment. Approximately 70% of the district’s students are non-white.
The central issue is that Feijóo is a plaintiff in a $90 million dollar lawsuit against her current employer, the New York City Department of Education. She claims her civil rights were compromised under promotion practices that held her back in favor of non-white administrators.
While New Rochelle boasts of embracing diversity, racial unrest has recent history here too. A Black high school principal was fired after violent incidents erupted last year at New Rochelle High School. A white student, Valerie Schwab was murdered by a Black student, Z’inah Brown, off campus, in January 2018.
The New Rochelle Board of Ed shows no sign of reversing its hiring decision. Requests for comment by Board President Amy Moselhi from RedBlueTalk have gone unanswered.
I had a chance to catch up with Westchester County Election Commissioner Reginald Lafayette today while attending a Democratic Unity Press Conference. The event was essentially a pep rally for mayoral candidate Shawyn Patterson Howard, who having one the primary in June, is basically a shoe-in to win in the November general election. Even though the June votes have been tallied and certified, Patterson Howard’s opponent, incumbent Mayor Richard Thomas is continuing to pursue a lawsuit against the board of elections, claiming there was voter fraud and voting irregularities. Mr. Lafayette spent a few minutes explaining the implications of that lingering lawsuit.
On June 25, 2019 there’s a Democratic primary for Mayor of Mount Vernon, NY.
The candidates are incumbent Mayor Richard Thomas, City Council President Andre Wallace, Yonkers YMCA President/CEO Shawn Patterson Howard and former Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Clyde Isley. I asked all 4 to join me for one on one conversations, and each of them scheduled interviews except Mr. Wallace.
All three interviews were recorded on Saturday, June 8, 2019 in Mount Vernon at DNK Studios.
Clyde A. Isley | Video | Podcast |
Shawyn Patterson Howard | Video | Podcast |
Richard Thomas | Video | Podcast |
PODCASTS: anchor.fm/redbluetalk
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Timeline
0:00 Intro, Rev. DeCohen
2:35 Intro, Rev. Richardson
7:58 Intro, Isley
12:35 Intro, Patterson-Howard
22:25 Intro, Thomas
31:10 Intro, Wallace
40:53 Question: Dignity, all candidates
47:52 Question: 7 Criteria, all candidates
58:54 Question: Mt. Vernon Challenges, all
1:04:48 Question: Collaboration, all
1:12:00 Question: Porcari indictment, Thomas
1:15:28 Question: Lawsuits, Wallace
1:18:36 Question: Party loyalty, Isley
1:20:40 Question: Spezio/Zamor, Patterson-Howard
1:24:13 Question: Economy/jobs, all
1:31:06 Question: Zombie property, all
1:37:00 Gentrification, Rev. Richardson
1:38:35 Question by Thomas to Patterson-Howard, Personnel
1:43:20 Question by Isley to Wallace: Council inaction
1:45:07 Question by Patterson-Howard to Thomas: Payment process
1:47:22 Question by Wallace to Isley: Personal finance
1:49:44 Question by Thomas to Wallace: Planning Dept break-in
1:52:33 Question by Wallace to Patterson Howard: Why were you silent?
1:55:15 Question by Patterson-Howard to Wallace: Governance
1:57:29 Question by Isley to Thomas: Water Dept
2:00:51 Closing: Rev. Richardson
This is my third street tour video in three weeks, and my second one driving through Mt. Vernon, NY. I’m trying to get a style going here. Any feedback on this would be highly welcome. Here’s a playlist with all my street tours, so far.
The only way to know what’s going on is to read it yourself. I couldn’t take in the whole entire thing, but I read about 80 pages, mostly word for word, and you can watch and listen as I do it in these 3 videos. Done is better than perfect.
What’s the bottom line? Trump and his people knew that the 2016 election was being cooked by multiple Russian interventions, and they benefited from it. Congress will have to decide whether to impeach. Either way, if I had reason to believe everything is going to be OK in the end, I would so say.
This is a quick 7 mile street tour From St. Paul to Mall of America, in Minneapolis, MN, along Minnesota State Route 5 West. Check out the Mississippi River along the way. The drive begins in St. Paul, crosses the River, around the MSP Airport and over the giant mall. Fun ride.
