If you value your home and the U.S. Constitution, then you don’t want to miss Thursday’s “High Noon” radio program at 1460 AM (WVOX) and www.wvox.com.

My guest on the show will be Jeff Benedict, the author of “Little Pink House,” which tells the story of Susette Kelo, a nurse of limited means who fought City Hall all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case, Kelo vs. New London (Conn.)

Kelo’s house was among many in the old Fort Trumbull section of New London that the city’s development agency wanted to bulldoze under the power of eminent domain. Traditionally, governments have take private property under the Fifth Amendment fo “public use” purposes, e.g. roads and bridges. In recent years, it has been used as a tool to benefit private interests.

In the Kelo case, the aim was to build a large waterfront complex for the Pfizer pharmaceutical corporation.

Benedict gives a blow-by-blow account of how Kelo and others defended their property with the legal assistance of the Washington, D.C-based Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm that has taken the side of homeowners and business people in eminent domain disputes all over the country—including the village of Port Chester.

Ultimately, Kelo lost in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision, sparking a national outrage. If they could this poor woman’s house, then no one’s house is safe. This outrageous confiscation of property could happen to anyone of us.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote:

“Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”

I’ve been covering the eminent domain issue for nearly 10 years, and wrote scores of columns about New Rochelle’s attempt to demolish a neighborhood of churches, homes and churches for an Ikea furniture store and the obliteration of much of downtown Port Chester for a Costco, a movie complex and other chain stores.

Benedict knows the eminent domain inside and out, and he tells it through the firsthand experience of a very courageous woman..so please listen in. That’s 12 noon, Thursday, 1460 AM or www.wvox.com

You’d think with all the campaign money Westchester County Executive Andy Spano  is raking in, that he’d be able to afford to hire a reasonably articulate spokesperson for his effort to get elected to a fourth  term.

But with the Spanoistas, it’s always been hard to separate politics from policy. It’s all about controlling the message. That’s why any charges leveled  against him from political opponents are being answered by Sue Tolchin, his long-time aide who was recently bumped up to deputy county executive. At least, that appears to be the case so far.

The campaign for Republican Rob Astorino sees the obvious conflict of interest. Here’s a letter Astorino’s people are putting out, demanding that Tolchin resign.

Dear Ms. Tolchin:
It has come to my attention that you have been serving as campaign spokesperson for County Executive Andy Spano.
You should refrain from doing so or immediately resign as Deputy County Executive.  Serving as a political spokesperson on the public dime is highly unethical.
The people of Westchester pay your $157,000-plus salary to perform official Westchester County business. They do not pay you to do Mr. Spano’s political work.
It is bad enough that we have to pay for Mr. Spano’s “body guards”—are there three of four of them these days?—who routinely drive him to and from political and personal functions. Do we really need to pay for his political spokespeople, too?
Westchester taxpayers are weary.  We are tired of feeling cheated by public officials who take advantage of taxpayers for personal gain.  We’re tired of the taxpayer-funded cars, chauffeurs, gas bills, overseas junkets, banquets, airline tickets and cell phone bills. We’re tired of Westchester government officials spending their time and our dollars on political business while the rest of are struggling to get by.
This is not the first time this issue has come up. Mr. Spano has a long history of using government employees to engage in political campaign work. I am attaching a 2005 letter to the League of Women Voters Fair Campaign Practices Board for easy reference.  In it, you are quoted saying “County Executive Spano has never used nor will he ever use tax dollars for his campaign.”
Then what exactly have you been doing lately?
As I see it, you can either a.) resign your government position and become Mr. Spano’s paid campaign spokesperson, b.) cease and desist your political activities while you are being paid by the taxpayers, or c.) become a part-time paid political spokesperson and a part-time county employee—at an appropriately reduced taxpayer salary—making it clear in each public statement which entity you are representing.
This is a serious matter and I ask you to resolve it before speaking out on campaign matters again.  The taxpayers are watching.

Sincerely,
William F. B. O’Reilly
Campaign Spokesperson/Friends of Rob Astorino

Westchester County Executive Andy Spano’s 49-year-old son, David, is at it again.

He’s taped at least two more anti-county government TV commercials in which he identifies himself as the offspring of the incumbent CE. Click on Spano for the latest spot. This can only be seen as a sad and nagging embarassment for Andy Spano, who is in the middle of running for his fourth term on the theme that county government is efficient, frugal and an important service provider to the people of Westchester.

The commercials featuring the wayward son are driving the publicity for an April 25 anti-tax rally that’s being organized by Sam Zherka, the renegade weekly newspaper publisher and “gentleman’s club” owner. Zherka is supposed to be holding a press conference at 11 a.m. today to formally announce the citizen’s march on the county office building in White Plains.

It reminds me of the villagers chasing the Frankenstein monster into the burning windmall.

Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain of Rye will never live down the $1.2 million he spent to refurbish his office—a project that included the now infamous $35,000 gold commode.

Check out the JetBlue ad (left) and find the reference to the antique crapper.

Let’s dip into the mail bag, shall we? This one is the topper for the month of March. It came under the name, “Yakey Yakev.”

Hmm, who could that be

Dear Phil

Your Conscience
—

Business Week magazaine just came out with the top 25 list of wealthiest towns in America—and numero uno was Brookville, an exclusive enclave of tycoons on Long Island where the average net worth is $1.7 million. I wonder how many of the residents there invested with Bernie Madoff.

Nine  Long Island towns made the list. Westchester County looks modest by comparison.

Scarsdale, a stereotype of suburban wealth ranks 20th on the list. Net worth: $1.5 million.

Overheard today; Former Congressman Joe DioGuardi is apparently throwing his support to Rethinking County Government, the organization that’s looking at ways to streamline, or even do away with, Westchester County government

That was the low buzz at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Party held by WVOX radio chief William O’Shaughnessy at Dudley’s waterfront bar in New Rochelle. In keeping with a 41-year tradition, the event attracted an assortment of local pols and townies who paid their respects to the silver-haired “O Man.”

O’Shaughnessy has a big tent and a gift for flattery that makes even the lowest municipal dog catcher feel like a king.

DioGuardi, a Republican, who represented the 18th Congressional District, was not there (as far as I know) but he was mentioned by Rethinking’s prime organizer, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner who was in attendance.

In the few minutes that I was there, I ran into County Executive Andy Spano, who shook my hand (amazing!) and said, “This guy always makes lemons out of lemonade”; County Clerk Tim Idoni, Eastchester Town Supervisor Anthony Colavita; New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Dan Schorr, a GOP candidate for district attorney and, of course, a mostly anonymous bunch of unindicted co-conspirators.

Every year, it seems there’s some kind of controversy surrounding St. Patrick’s Day.

This time, feathers have been ruffled over an edgy piece titled, “I’m Not Irish—Why Should I Wear Green On March 17?” published in the March issue of Westchester Magazine by editor, Robert Schork. To say the least Schork, a self-described Presbyterian of German descent, is not in favor of the annual celebration because of some bad past experiences he had while commuting into New York.

Sean Griffin, a reader, fired off an e-mail to me, charging Schork with utilizing “hate speech.” He wrote:

“It is disappointing to see this kind of thing especially after all that the Irish have suffered and endured in this country and how far we have come. Not to mention the tremendous contribution we have made. This kind of Anti-Catholic/Anti Irish xenophobic attitude is unacceptable and I believe newsworthy.”

At any rate, I personally plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by stopping in at Bill O’Shaughnessy’s traditional St. Patrick’s bash at Dudley’s Bar in New Rochelle. The silver-haired smoothie will do live. stand-up radio interviews with an assortment of local characters who stop in to say hello.

Head out to Dudley’s, or tune into Bill’s show on WVOX- 1460 AM (wvox.com) from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

George Orwell, who wrote the great novel,”1984” and understood the power government wields when it effectively bends the meaning of words to serve its own nefarious purposes, would have laughed at the so-called “Mobility Tax” that’s being proposed to bail out the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. What a ridiculous misnomer. Orwell called it “Newspeak.”

But I’ll let another George comment on this. This is an excerpt from a commentary by County Legislator George Oros, R-Cortlandt, who sees the “Mobilty Tax” for what it really is.

When I first heard of the proposed New York State “Mobility Tax ”, I thought, boy that name – “Mobility Tax” – might confuse some folks more than dropping the line “I’ve got to see a man about a horse”.  One constituent asked if the proposed “Mobility Tax” was a special fund to assist those with disabilities.  It is typical of government these days.  It’s not taxes but “revenue enhancers”; students don’t flunk tests they experience “negative gain in test scores”.  In today’s government vernacular, the sinking of the Titanic would be labeled a “sub-optimal” voyage.  It’s about the spin not the substance; the style not the results.  It is also about the lack of transparency and openness.

It is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

Oros, who told me he is a frustrated columnist, did a pretty good job on torpedoing the idea of the “Mobility Tax,” which in actuality is a payroll tax on businesses, local governments, school districts and nonprofit organizations such as hospitals.

In the cause of closing the MTA’s yawning budget gap, it will suck $1.5 billion out of the economy. At 0.333 percent, it only sounds like a paltry tax on payrolls. But it’s not. It’s a job killer and another incentive for companies to move out of New York.

The tax would extend to counties north of New York City—many of which are not big users of MTA services.

As it stands, according to Oros, the MTA already receives millions and millions of dollars in fees and taxes from the lower counties such as Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess.

Oros said Westchester alone paid $113 million in sales and mortgages taxes in 2007. The total payments to the MTA “is about $150 for every man, woman and child in the county…that’s before you pay your fare, if you use MTA,” he said.

Wrote Oros: “These New York City politicians think the suburbs are a huge piggy bank that can be turned over and shaken every time New York City has a financial problem. Well you city slickers, the piggy bank is empty.”

This is just another reason why I resent it when politicians and government bureaucrats say they run things like corporate CEOs. They do nothing of the sort. When government screws up and has a budget shortfall, its incompetent leaders don’t get fired by a board of directors. They just raise taxes, or create new taxes.

The “Mobility Tax” is as Orwellian as destroying a village in order to save it.

For the past few days people have been buzzing over a mysterious explosive noise that was heard last Friday night in lower Westchester. A similar sonic-like boom was heard again early Monday morning, this time in Rockland County.

Things really got interesting, though, when a Mount Kisco woman said she saw a brilliant fireball in the sky at about the same time that witnesses in Yonkers, Eastchester, Tuckahoe and elsewhere heard Friday’s “kaboom.” This has given much credence to the theory that the noise was caused by a meteorite falling to earth.

Holding to that theory is Daryll Pitt, one of the foremost collectors of rare meteorites. He’s offering $10,000 to anyone who can produce a meterorite from last week’s strange event.

Pitt will be my guest today on “High Noon.” The radio program on WVOX, 1460 AM (www.wvox.com) starts a few minutes after 12 noon.

Calls will be taken, as usual, at 914-636-0110.