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Clinton Global Initiative & Foundation Mobilize a Day of Action for NY

When a traumatic story slips off the front pages, it's easy to forget those living in the wake of the tragedy. The Clinton Global Initiative mobilized a Day of Action for New York with Team Rubicon.

Lisa, of Grown and Flown, writes: We are a deeply caring nation. But when a story of trauma slips from the front pages, it can be all too easy to forget that those living in the wake of the tragedy are still suffering. On Sunday some friends asked me to join them as they went to the Rockaways for a Day of Action for New York organized by the Clinton Global Initiative, Clinton Foundation and Team Rubicon (whose mission is to work with veterans to respond to disaster situations.)

Team Rubicon led the way. They have been in the Rockaways for weeks and are committed to staying until the job is done.

Let me just start by saying that the Clinton organizations have shown their caring in so many ways and in a few short days gathered over 1,000 volunteers to work with homeowners cleaning up the mess the Hurricane left behind three weeks ago.

As we bussed out to the far point of Queens we truly had no idea what we would find. Here in Westchester we are still complaining about the lack of TV and internet, about road closures and the constant sound of chain saws. But in the Rockaways, a spit of land extending out into the Atlantic just below Kennedy Airport, we entered a different world of pain and devastation.

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RICHRACER November 30, 2012 at 01:15 am
What kind of dopey comment is this? You can run ads on patch comments?
Nummy November 30, 2012 at 01:26 am
this is almost unstoppable it mostly come from a company in (Asia), the web host take care of it by banning the senders ip address
most of the time all that the company in (Asia) need to is get a new non banned ip some slip by from time to time
RICHRACER November 30, 2012 at 01:27 am
Clinton is always hugging someone. Him and his criminal freind Bush. I don't trust those guys. They set up all these non profit corporations for disaster victims bullshit. Remember Haiti? Send money..Send CASH. Two years later there all still living in tents. No nets, but plenty of pharmaceuticals from big Pharma. Big profits. tens of thousands of people and the place looks like the quake just hit. Hope he never makes it to Hauppauge or West Islip.

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Lisa Buchman (Editor) June 6, 2013 at 10:14 am
I loved all the music - the band belting out 'Sweet Caroline' was great!
Lisa Buchman (Editor) June 6, 2013 at 10:12 am
Heather, thanks! I saw you in the crowd! These are awesome. It was a perfect night for it! I'll addRead More a link to your post from mine.
Josephine Ziegler presented the school board with the petition at the May 9 meeting.
John Craig June 3, 2013 at 11:50 am
Regarding paragraph 5 -- the retirement incentive. I haven't read anything to suggest that theRead More retirement incentive and the insurance switch are related or that that KLDTA asked for one to get the other. When I read the initial release from the board, I saw them as 2 different cost savings initiatives. ---The district indicated that each retirement saves a net of $32,500 per year. Early Retirement Incentive Plans (ERIPs) are fairly common stuff among downsizing private organizations. I think it makes sense to use them here to accelerate cost savings. ---The original petition was well written. Now that we have addressed point #3, I think it's time to make further progress on point #2 -- a financially sustainable contract. ---And, experience suggests that if you really want to move forward in a collaborative way, you have to let go of the past. Continuing to harp on past mistakes undermines point #5.
Sara Weale June 3, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for your comment. I agree that we all need to move forward -- but in my opinion, althoughRead More this side agreement made a long-overdue change in health care carriers (while maintaining a high level of health care benefits/access to teachers, retirees and their dependents), the KLDTA again asked for retirement incentives in return - just as they did for the December 2010 MOA that extended the terms of their contract for two years and avoided going to Triborough. Under the 2010 MOA, KLDTA requested a $10,000 retirement incentive and 21 teachers took the offer (including the current leader of KLDTA) -- resulting in an outlay of $210,000 by the district. Although some savings might have been realized for "early" retirements, it is difficult to calculate the exact amount because the district has no way of knowing when a teacher would have retired without the incentive. If 20 additional teachers take the new retirement incentive which was increased to $17,500 for some reason -- that is a total cost to the district of $350,000. Don't forget that regardless of the incentive, teachers retire with full pension and retiree health care benefits. Yes - the district will realize some savings from the incentives -- but we likely would have realized similar savings without incentives and natural attrition/retirement of our teaching staff. What I think we need to pay attention to as a community is that it seems the only way that KLDTA leadership will agree to changes in the status quo is if they get something in return. The last two agreements with the KLDTA will likely result in approximately $500,000 spent by the district in retirement incentives over a five year period -- money in my opinion, better kept in the district system during these difficult economic times and in the tax-cap environment. In my opinion, finally switching health care carriers did not merit financial rewards for teachers likely retiring in the next three years anyway.
Katonah19 June 6, 2013 at 08:08 am
For more insight, take a look at BOE Member Charles Day's statement on retirement incentives inRead More exchange for KLSDTA's agreement to changes in Health Care here: http://bedford.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/days-statement-on-kl-union-contract-changes