(letters from January 18, 2007)

Dear Editor,
Once again Olive's Town Board has fixed something that was not broken. They have placed politics before common sense. On December 28 they chose not to reappoint my wife, Paula Minew to the Planning Board after nine years of dedicated services. Mr. Leifeld came to our business on December 29 and told Paula that the Town Board has chosen to not reappoint her because of numerous complaints. Yet not one member of that Town Board attended a meeting, talked to the chairman or other members of the Planning Board regarding these complaints. When Paula called the other Planning Board members to thank them for the pleasure of serving with them over the years, they were outraged. All remaining six members decided to attend the Town Board meeting on January 2 to let them know they where dissatisfied with this decision and wanted some answers.
On the night of the meeting they all spoke with great praise for Paula, some even calling her the backbone of the Planning Board. The Planning Board informed the Town Board that they were all prepared to resign if they did not reappoint her. The Town Board refused to take this into consideration or to reverse their decision. The remaining six members have followed through and submitted formal resignations.
Olive's Planning Board consisted of seven long standing residents with experience from all political parties that were able to compromise on issue for the benefit of the citizen that appeared before them.
On January 5, Councilman Bruce LaMonda came into our store to speak with Paula and myself and to assure us that he did not vote against Paula. He stated that the three votes to not reappoint Paula came from Councilpersons Chase, Burkhardt and Rank and that it was pure political.
All I know is that this type of politics needs to stop. Three years ago Paula was accused of writing an anonymous letter to Mr. Leifeld that was proven she did not write but we were retaliated against.
The Planning Board will now consist of seven new members with no experience or familiarity with the regulations it needs to enforce. The good old boy politics in Olive needs to stop and the people need to vote for a board that is motivated by the interests of its citizens and not vindictive politics. Olive residents remember this when you go to the polls in November!
Joseph Minew
West Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
Once again, as with most controversies, there are several positions that can be postulated. I'm speaking about the recent letters to editors concerning trapping and the changing demographics of our area. These changing demographics are commonly perceived as a socio-economic evolution. There is a more insidious evolution that was started by the drought situation of about ten years ago.
The Pepacton was like a stream. The Ashokan lowered, hilltops and even an old church steeple protruded from its surface water. Bear in search of water descended to the valley hamlets where they found not only water, but also bird feeders and garbage.
Now, several generations later, they continue to come. Phoenicia is not a petting zoo and I cringe when tourists flock to the dumpsters to get the photo op of their vacation. These bear are wild and dangerous and getting aclose up of the cute and cuddly cubs is not a good idea. It seems that nothing can be done about the bear except to treat them with respect and common sense.
There is a much more insidious problem with the wildlife in the valley hamlets, and that is coyotes. Only true vegetarians stand on the high ground in advocating the abolition of hunting. I, on the other hand, have eaten more raccoons, opossums, and even chipmonks than I care to think about. There are laws that stipulate the use of traps and I am in no way defending any violations of those laws. Violators of those laws need to be prosecuted. It is illegal to set traps on private property without that owners' knowledge and permission. Conversely, there are leash laws in Shandaken, Olive and Woodstock, and the entire Catskill Park. In these anti-trapping letters, people are encouraged to vent their outrage to their legislators and senators. Before anyone acquiesces to these suggestions, let me point out the benefits these trappers provide the community.
For years, the DEC denied the existence of coyotes in this area. It wasn't unitl it was obvious to everyone that these mangy and sometimes rabid killers proliferated. A small pack can eat an entire deer in one night. A few years back there were approximately 45 running free in Chichester. They kill everything they can, both wild and domestic. Look on any store bulletin board or telephone pole and you will more than likely see a plea for anyone who has seen their missing cat. Anyone who has let their cat outside is risking its death. Knee-jerk reactions that call trapping barbaric, bloodthirsty, cruel and not-sportsmanlike are responding with prejudice and misconception. Everyone feels the pain of an animal owner who has had his or her pet injured or killed. In that same breath, how many pets have been saved by the culling of these ravenous packs? Coyotes pose a real threat to children and pets as they roam Main Street in Phoenicia. I hope that tragedy will not be the thing that sparks recognition of this problem. I want to thank the trappers that are ridding this area of as many of these carnivorous and dangerous animals as possible.
Eric Hansen
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
After reading Chairman of the Legislature David B. Donaldson’s 2007 State of the County, one segment that I wish to comment on at this time is the Web Site that he claims to have “more information to our constituents” through the efforts of the Legislative Clerk’s Office. Actually, it would have been more appropriate if he had referred to it as “useless information” and I will tell you why.
Glancing at the County Directory on-line, I noticed that his Madame Clerk had swiftly removed my name and title from the Legislature’s listing, while leaving a deceased department head intact. In checking further, another former Legislative employee (who worked in that capacity for approximately one month), appears in two different departments. In fact, there are still glaring inaccuracies in quite a number of departments that should have been corrected months ago. While one can appreciate this information is speedily accessible, how useful is it, if it is not accurately displayed?
Might I add the “Clerk” has the capability of going right to the Web page and make the necessary corrections personally. (This was an issue early in 2006 when she was instructed to have direct access to the Web Page to post announcements in a timely fashion.)
If the Chairman stands behind his statement that “we will continue our efforts to make County Government more user-friendly by providing information in a clear and concise matter” (isn't it manner?), then why have these errors remained on-line for months when the updates can be made almost daily if need be?
Ellen DiFalco
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
Fool me Once, Shame on You. Fool me Twice, Shame on NYS
NYS has seen the disastrous waste of money spent by other counties nationwide on DREs (touchscreen) voting machines. All those States fooled by vendors making billions on poorly crafted machines that breakdown causing in some cases 8-11 hour lines, losing votes (18,000 in one Florida county in 2006) or flipping the vote you cast and giving it to a candidate of the computer=s choice. Having been duped by vendors who spent many millions to manipulate election officials to purchase these lemons, many counties have now had to swallow their losses and replace DREs with Optical Scanning machines (PBOSs where voters actually cast their own vote on a paper ballot, which is then counted by the Optical Scanner).
Unlike these new overpriced and faulty DREs, PBOS machines have been used for two decades. Not only do they cost less than half the cost to purchase, but the cost of running a DRE-election vs a PBOS election has shown itself to be cost prohibitive in county after county, costing taxpayers millions more for every election. Further, PBOSs are less susceptible to problems (if the DRE fails, no one gets to vote, but with a PBOS everyone can still vote, we just can=t count the votes until the machine is fixed –or we can count them ourselves!
Write to your State Senator and Governor and tell them: having waited to be the last state to purchase voting machines, we would be fools if we failed to learn from the overwhelming evidence of the abysmal failure of DREs.
Andi Novick, Northeast Citizens
for Responsible Media
Rhinebeck, NY

Dear Editor,
A Personal Response to our President's Address to the Nation about Iraq...
Dear Mr. President:
I was disappointed and frightened by your long-awaited address to the nation about your plans for Iraq. Your words will not leave one person in the entire world unaffected. Therefore, I hope you will feel my love and concern in writing. The > "> new course" that you propose for Iraq is flawed and will lead to disaster. It will bring more death and destruction to friends and enemies alike. Most of all, it leaves God out of the picture.
Mr. President, I respect you deeply. You are daily in my prayers. Even on television, it is obvious how lonely you must feel, separated from your fellow Americans and from the entire international community. Yet there are millions of people who would love to help you, and pray for you, if only you would reach out to them. This is why I want to reach out to you and humbly ask that, in this moment of world crisis, you lead our nation by putting your trust in God alone and not in our military superiority.
The world is full of fear because of the events that have occurred since our country started the "War on Terror. “ And no one has become any safer.
We cannot ignore the important lessons that are taught to us in the Old and New Testaments. For God is a jealous God. He will not let Himself be mocked. He wants our leaders to lead us in humility and compassion. When King Ahab realized that he had done wrong, he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth and fasted (1 King 20:27). When Jonah finally preached the word of God to Nineveh, the king himself rose from his throne and laid down his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. When God saw this humility, he relented from the disaster that He had planned to bring upon them (Jonah 3).
In Isaiah 1:5, the kings of Judah are warned sternly about leaving God out of the equation:
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong.
In the same way, the words of the prophet Obadiah speak directly to this moment:
"Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?' Though you soar like the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," says the Lord. (Obadiah 1:2-4)
Mr. President, you profess to be a man of God. Show the world that the words of the prophets are still true today, and pray with us that God will not forsake our nation even in its darkest moment.
God wants to give more grace. That is why the Apostle James writes, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6).
As a pastor who has worked with government officials for years, I feel a special burden for your task, and would strongly desire to meet with you to discuss these matters further.
Respectfully,
Johann Christoph Arnold
Senior Pastor
Church Communities International
Rifton, NY

Dear Editor,
Town of Olive town board member Linda Burkhardt should be more concerned with the lack of integrity in any of its members than the serenity of the town. Over the past several years this board, each and every one of them, made it possible for an unqualified Commissioner to conduct town business and when his fitness was challenged, you allowed this member to keep his seat for another five years until you were dragged to the truth. On this same commission, a well respected citizen of this town was told he would not be reappointed because he had done something to annoy John Parete, the Democratic Party county Chairman.
At a town board meeting on Dec. 28th, 2006, the Olive Town Board decided to not reappoint Paula Minew to the Planning Board. Paula has provided a service to this town for nine years as a member of Olive’s Planning Board. The Town Board publicly announced this was a political decision. I guess when Paula decided to get further involved in our town by running for town office she was no longer welcome. When the rest of the Planning Board thought enough of Paula and was fed up with petty politics, to resign their positions, the Town Board just shrugged it off.
This Town Board apparently is running this town for the benefit of themselves, their business interests, their families and the Democratic party, rather than for the Good of the TOWN.
This incident concerning Paula is an obvious conflict of interest for more than one town board member. While Paula was a member of this planning board, they denied an application for a subdivision which was submitted by councilman Bruce Lamonda. Another member of this town board has family members with business interests in this subdivision. Town Council member Bruce Lamonda, voting on not reinstating a board member who has voted down his subdivision, then voting to hire her replacement doesn’t just smell bad, it’s rotten clear through.
What you need to understand is that the rest of this town board is well aware of this conflict. If there are any board members that have any integrity left, please speak up. If you don’t soon distance yourself, you will be painted with the same brush.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the town board, being the arrogant group of bandits that they have become, doesn’t hire a whole new planning board completely bypassing the public notice and public meeting requirements in town law, not to mention gathering resumes for qualified members.
Chris Johansen
West Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
In the Jan 4 issue I; indeed we all are fascinated with the 80-90 year old account of Ms. Mescal E. Hornbeck's adventures in the Olive Grade Schools.
Since Ms. Hornbeck began her formal education 90 years ago at age 5 I must pause to wish her many more years in which she might regale us with further delightful reports of her most interesting and productive life. We are blessed with you in our midst, ma’am.
Ms. Hornbeck endured the same difficulties and inconveniences in those one room schools as did I, albeit 15 years later for me in Olivebridge. I regard our experiences as pleasant memories of friendships, education and joy.
All of her account is quite accurate with each Teacher, Trustee and Parent embracing the same values and goals. Red Rover and/or Fox and Geese blended nicely with our curriculum as did Phys-Ed which were exercises and Soft Ball [hit it over the fence and "you're out"].
The Olivebridge M E Church was closely related to the School in that our secular programs and religious pageantry were integrated; a rarity today.
In Olivebridge our student body consisted of 25-40 "clients" [ages 5-14] which was well managed and tutored by one teacher. In 1932 I first met Mrs. Elthia Quick who was intelligent and dedicated. She retired in June 1938 and was replaced in Sept. by a young, pretty Carol Gridley who shortly became Mrs. Albert Davis [following courtship on a motorcycle]. She was followed by Ms. Ludwig, Mrs. Winchell and Mrs. Burgher.
Ms. Hornbeck recalls that many of us went to High School at age 12 and she attributes this to listening to the advanced classes report and recite at the front of the room. In recent times I would accuse Ms. Gridley Davis of sending me early for my regents exams because, "that was your way of getting rid of me".
Our running water was filling a pail at the hand pump and running with it. Each Halloween the pump was justifiably raised to 4 or 5 limbs in the maple tree above it. Someone else turned over the out houses, I swear!
We also were assigned chores which included fetching an armful of firewood, erasing the blackboard and then 'clapping" the erasers outside to clear them of chalk. There were one and two finger "signals" frequently implemented but nevertheless controlled. Detention did not generate overtime for the teacher.
I would be remiss if I didn't celebrate the supporting cast. Mr. Charles Eckert was the Trustee and so very dedicated. Bill Lortz was our Janitor who warmed up the school with its wood stove and swept the floor. Bill was also the local electrician, plumber and carpenter. As resident barber he cut our hair on Saturdays for .25 cents and caused much laughter. Our parents were instrumental in maintaining order and discipline as they supported the teacher no matter how wrong.
I would say, too that the Olive Press has added to our enlightenment by its presence here. The Press has expended much print and ink for us to express our view of current events and exchange ideas. The Press is the information conduit between OCSD, the politicians and we, the people. Bravo Schools and Press! .......OK, our public servants are certainly praise worthy too.
Thank you Ms. Hornbeck. You are a local, if not a national treasure.
Glenn T. Anderson
Olivebridge, NY


Dear Editor,
Boy, does THIS ONE really hit home.
Epistemology
by Ed Higgins
It’s always about loss,
this kind of epistemology
philosophers regard with dread.
And we can fool ourselves with thinking.
Like the grandfather
I read about recently
who picked up his four-year-old grandson
in two pieces on a Baghdad market street,
after a sudden car bomb there.
And then just yesterday grocery shopping,
concentrating on which broccoli florets
to buy,
out of the corner of my eye
a little blond four-year-old girl
is running to the side of my leg
yelling grandpa, grandpa, we saw your car
in the parking lot and knew it was you.
And my son and his beautiful wife
are smiling an aisle away,
near the potatoes and sweet onions,
she holding their year-old daughter
on her hip the way m others do.
And I’m so happy to see them all there
in one piece that I begin to cry,
like a foolish, foolish old man.
Mike O’Neill
Woodland Valley, NY