Issues
The City of Newburgh City Council is seeking qualified applicants for the newly created Conservation Advisory Council (CAC), which replaces the Waterfront Advisory Committee and the Shade Tree Commission. The CAC is authorized to review materials and make recommendations to City agencies and boards regarding the development, management and protection of the City’s natural resources, including coastal resources and drinking water sources.
City residency is required. Interested residents should submit a resume and letter of interest to Elizabeth Evans, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, City Hall, 83 Broadway, by November 1, 2013.
Information may also be emailed to: eevans@cityofnewburgh-ny.gov
The City of Newburgh is seeking qualified volunteers to fill vacancies on the following advisory boards:
- Housing Loan Advisory Committee
- Newburgh Housing Authority
- Board of Ethics
- Planning Board
- Human Rights Commission.
City residency is a requirement.
City residents interested in applying should email a resume and a letter of interest indicating the board on which they wish to serve to: eevans@cityofnewburgh-ny.gov or send by regular mail to Elizabeth Evans, 83 Broadway, Newburgh, NY 12550
WANT TO TALK?
Sonia Ayala, chair of the Orange County Latino Coalition and Mary Elin Korchinsky, a retired NFA teacher, recently were welcomed by Sister Yliana Hernandez and the Parents' Association of Nora Cronin Presentation Academy. They described in both English and Spanish the structure of Newburgh's city government and the mechanics of our new ward system, as well as how to participate on city commissions and advisory boards, how to register to vote, and how to become a paid election inspector.
Do you have a group with whom you'd like us to chat? We'd be happy to meet as many Newburghers as possible who care about our city and have hope for its future. Please send us any questions you have and we will respond as quickly as possible We are concerned citizens like you and want to work with you to create good government and elected officials that represent all of the people in the City of Newburgh.
Let's all work TOGETHER so that TOGETHER we can make our city - and ourselves - proud!
Call 845-542-0721 or e-mail Actionnewburgh@gmail.com to send inquiries or set up a date and place for an informational forum.
Editorial: City Council is key to help city police
Published: 5:30 AM -08/08/13
A consultant's report on the City of Newburgh Police Department contains recommendations that would make any organization more efficient and effective. While the City Council has released only the executive summary of the report, people in the city who have been pushing for better community--police relations should be pleased with what they have seen so far.
Whether they will remain happy depends not so much on the details and documentation that will come as the rest of the report is released as it does on the commitment of the council to make sure that the department has the resources to reach these goals.
The two most important recommendations come at the top of the summary, one dealing with community relations and the other with planning.
The top priority is making sure that officers continue to regularly engage the community as a partner of the department. Those efforts need to be documented in reports to the council, the city manager and especially the public, the report concludes.
As far as planning goes, the consultant suggests, and it is hard to see anybody disagreeing, that the police chief create a staff committee to start working on a formal strategic plan that clarifies what the department will be like in the next three to five years. As with all such plans, this one needs to define specific goals, link them with action plans and make sure to identify who is responsible and how they will be evaluated. All these are recommendations from any Management 101 textbook.
Among the many details, the report concludes that the department should try to reduce the rate of attrition and if it cannot, it has to include money in the budget to replace the necessary number of employees in the department to avoid excessive overtime and longer shifts. The report also calls for patrols to spend up to half their shifts, and at least 40 percent, in what the consultant calls "proactive time." That's the kind of community policing that builds trust in the neighborhoods, but it is not possible if staffing levels force those on duty to respond to emergencies or investigate incidents much of the time.
Police Chief Michael Ferrara embraced the consultant's report and promised to work to find ways to implement what he called "positive recommendations." What he will not find in the report is any hint on how to get the extra time that these suggestions require.
Councilwoman Gay Lee saw that right away, noting that with the current staffing level of 34 patrol officers, there's not much of an opportunity to get involved in community policing. Then there are the city's continuing fiscal problems, which have put pressure on the department budget for years, the turnover in city management and the unpredictable nature of police work in a city fighting poverty and drugs.
They all add up to a gap that only the council can narrow. No matter how thorough the report from the consultant, no matter how enthusiastic the response from the police, the goals that are outlined in the document will remain elusive without a similar and equally specific commitment from the council.