Jan. 24, 2013 -- Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino Thursday announced that Yonkers will now be sharing three services provided by the county – the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The county already provides these services for other municipalities and can share them with Yonkers at no additional cost, allowing the city to save more than $150,000 a year.  

"The county is continually looking for ways to make government smarter and more cost-effective for taxpayers and local municipalities," Astorino said. "Sharing these services with Yonkers accomplishes these goals in a way that helps both the county and Yonkers taxpayers."

The initiative was spearheaded by Astorino and Mayor Mike Spano and has bi-partisan support at the city and county levels.

• Yonkers Councilman Michael Sabatino (D-District 3) said:  "This is an example of government entities coming together to provide a needed service for the benefit of the constituents they serve, regardless of party affiliations. I compliment all involved for making this possible."
• County Legislator Virginia Perez (D-Yonkers) said: "The duplication of services benefits no one, sharing of services benefits everyone. This agreement shows the importance of working across traditional boundaries to get things done."
• County Legislator Bernice Spreckman (R-Yonkers/Mount Vernon) said: "This is how government can continue to deliver high levels of service even as we are forced to tighten our belts. Working across party lines to share services is what the voters expect of us."

Under the agreement between the county and the city, the executive director of the county's Human Rights Commission, Mark Fang, will be deployed to Yonkers one day a week to personally hear and address any human rights issue that the public brings to the city's attention.

Fang, along with the Yonkers Human Rights Commission, will work to eliminate discrimination and promote equality by advocacy, educational programs and, when necessary, legal measures. Fang will also inquire into incidents of tension and conflict among or between various racial, religious and ethnic groups and take actions needed to alleviate such tensions and conflict. The commission also will conduct and recommend educational programs.

Fang will provide monthly reports to the Yonkers Human Rights Commission and attend commission meetings on a periodic basis. In turn, Yonkers will cover 20 percent of Fang's salary, paying $25,000 a year. Overall, Yonkers will save $100,000 annually by sharing the HRC service with the county.

Effective Feb.1, Westchester County also will begin to act as Yonkers' Employee Assistance Program service provider. The county, under the leadership of Pamela Jones-Brice, director of the Westchester County EAP, already provides this critical service for more than 30 municipal governments and is a well-respected provider of confidential support and intervention services to employees, as an enhancement to traditional health-based benefits systems.

This agreement will include training all city employees to ensure they are aware of the full complement of services available to them, supervisory/referral training and a special interface with uniform service agencies to enhance their in-house programs and referral services. This program, working with the city's Department of Human Resources, will provide city employees with the very best support possible to enhance their professional development.

Also, Sam Wear of the county's Information Technology Department will assist Yonkers with Geographic Information Services. Wear, who for decades has been a respected expert in GIS throughout New York and beyond, will help Yonkers map critical infrastructure while placing other important information online so as to provide better information/resources to Yonkers residents. This will give residents 24-hour access to important information. By sharing this service, Yonkers looks to save approximately $50,000 a year instead of hiring its own private GIS consultant.