Members Present:  Sandy, Parul, Matts, Sundra, Ali, Shah, Alix, Peter, Boniface

 

Guests:  Doris Benson (District Secretary),Tom Meier, Alan Ellis, Dr.Rukhshinda Hameedi (new member applicant,) Ghazala Asam (honorary member), John Rubbo, Council Member 4th District.

 

Meeting Highlights:

 

Alix called the meeting to order at 6:30, with the Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation delivered by Alix, and the recitation of the 4-way test. The meeting concluded at 8:30.

 

Speaker:  John Rubbo - Council Member 4^th District and co-founder Yonkers Brewery.  John grew up and lives in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers.  He spoke about the uniqueness of Yonkers in its diversity but asserted that in the past this large city couldn’t get out of its own way.  A conservative Republican, John nevertheless supports Mayor Spano’s capability as demonstrated by the fact that this past year has seen two billion dollars of private money invested in the city’s development.  John’s priority is the school system and returning to neighborhood schools.  There was a lively discussion of school safety and then on the security of the voting machines.  Tom Meier who is involved in ensuring the safety of the voting machines assured everyone that Yonkers machines are secure and that every vote is backed up by a hand-written ballot.  The only requirement to vote, beyond being legally registered, is to match-up signatures with those on record.

 

School Pencils - will be organized at our meeting on Wednesday, March 7.  Please be sure to attend for this important activity.

 

Pancake Breakfast Prizes offered will include: 

• Flat Screen TV (donated by Maria & Jim Letsen)
• Amazon Fire 8” tablet (donated by Mahbub)
• Movie theater tickets to the Alamo,
• Gift basket of wine (donated by Pete & Tom, Parul providing the basket)
• Hand-made Pakistani Shawl valued at $165 (donated by Ghazala)
• Stew Leonard’s Fruit Basket (Alix) and
• Skin care basket (Rukhshinda)