Pastoralists often expressed that partnerships among stakeholders in the county ensured community development outside of their own communities for the greater good of the region rather than their own communities.
Many here who agree remember the mill, which "used more water, had more trucks and made more noise than any of the bottling facilities," said Greg Plucker, the county's community development director.
Ms. McCann said that before the stimulus package was approved, the county received $1.2 million in federal community development money, which she thought could be used to help the group buy the apartment property.
In Pelham, in the southern part of the county, community members protesting another crossborder development said neighboring Mount Vernon never gave them a fair hearing on proposals they made that would have relocated the retail project proposed for Sandford Boulevard to an area away from the Pelham library, local playing fields and schools.
Roy Bateman, community development coordinator for Marin County, said the county's failure to track the race of those who benefited from federal money and to carry out systematic and multilingual outreach campaigns stemmed in part from the relatively small amount of money it received for affordable housing.
The lawsuit contends that Westchester should have pushed communities to desegregate or denied them a share of the $45 million in community development grants the county received from the federal government from 2000 to 2005.
Experts in the social services and community development fields say the county has failed to dip into state and federal wells of money when searching for revenue.
County Executive Steve Levy chose Andrea H. Lohneiss, who has been community development director for the Town of Riverhead since 1988, to join his new administration as county commissioner for economic development.
Several community advocates who attended a Thursday morning news conference announcing the lawsuit said they believed the county was using its yearly $18 million in HUD community development block grants as a piggy bank for its own employees.
Throughout the 1980's and early 90's, this amenable, elderly gentleman was a regular on day trips organized by the business and community development department at Brookdale, Monmouth County's community college.
Ekai Nabenyo, 24, is the founder and chair of Lorengelup Community Development Initiative, which focuses on youth empowerment, community development and environmental conservation in Turkana county, Kenya.
