Letters 10/23/2008

Dear Editor,
On September 27, a Winter Watch Forum was presented at the Woodstock Library. It was a very informative and well attended Forum. I want to thank all those who made it possible. The initial idea for having the Forum was presented by Director D.J. Stern. Our discussions regarding how Ulster County could be involved, developed into a very worthwhile program. Our speakers presented valuable information and answered the publics questions. Special thanks to Dave Donaldson, Michael Hein, Roberto Rodriguez, Michael Berg, Brian Shapiro, Jeff Moran, Chris Collins, Pat Courtney, and Kari Hastings. They all did an excellent job in informing the community about their areas of expertise. Additionally, Amy Raff was the person who made sure all the details were in place. She handled communications, and made sure our Library needs were met. Dave Menzies and Barry Miller videotaped the entire meeting. This enables all of us to be able to watch the meeting from our homes, and hear information again in case there were some points we missed. Most of all, I want to thank those who attended. Their interest in our community makes us feel our work is important. Thank you.
Thanks to all the people that helped make this one successful. If there are any questions, or if you need to speak to someone about Winter Watch, please contact me directly, or call the Woodstock Town Offices.
Don Gregorius
UC Legislator District 2
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
Judging by the calling of a Special Board Meeting recently and some letters in the paper, communication issues between the Onteora School District, the School Board and the public continue to be a problem. Some comments and suggestions:
1) Announcements from the Board, including the calling of Special Board Meetings and their topics, should come from the District Clerk, not the Superintendents office. Unfortunately, since the retirement of our long-standing Clerk at the end of the last school year, the district has been through two replacements; at the time of writing the position is, I believe, again vacant.
2) The district needs to post minutes from the board meetings both on its web site, and to those who have signed up to receive them (again, via the District Clerk). Currently, there have been no minutes from a board meeting made available since those from June 10 with the lone exception of the August 5 meeting, the Minutes of which are posted on the web site. Among the Minutes currently missing are those from July 1, at which the new Board passed a moratorium on the Middle School Grades reconfiguration. These minutes are surely a matter of public record. Why has the District not made them publicly available? We should not have to FOIL them.
3) Continuing with the School’s web site: The Board Of Ed meeting information page still contains the press release from the Superintendent from June 2007 announcing a Grades 5-8 reconfiguration, which was rescinded this past July (except that, as just stated, the Minutes announcing that decision have never been made available). And if the front page of the schools web site can be used to make short-notice announcements of snow days and cancellation of sports events, why cant it be used to announce Special Board Meetings called at two working days notice? As visited on October 7, the front page still has a letter up from the Superintendent anticipating the start of the new school year a month earlier. The Headlines section leads with a link to a Middle School Steering Committee that last met several years ago.
5) Can we please pursue the idea of filming board meetings and community forums for transmission on our local public access channels? Its a wonderful solution to the time and energy concerns that prevent so many people from attending these events.
6) The idea of a blog was suggested by some Board members, as a means by which to better communicate with and receive input from the community. The District Superintendent raised the possibility of legal action (presumably for libel), and that was the last the public heard of it. Lets take a can do attitude and trust that such a venture would be well received and that, if it had a comments section, the public would be civil and polite in using it.
7) The publication of board members e-mail addresses, as demanded in some letters to the editor, is a red herring. (Every one of the four new board members printed their e-mail addresses in their press releases and their campaign literature back in April and May. These addresses were then printed by the newspapers.) The best way to ensure a message gets through to the board is to do address them as a body. One does not need to attend a board meeting; a letter sent to the district Clerk with a request that it be distributed to the board should suffice. That person can always follow up with an individual board member, to ensure that the letter was indeed distributed. As to how the Board then responds to this information/opinion, well: the old board gave the public two minutes to speak at meetings, and that was often the last anyone would hear of their comments. The new board has not only extended Public Be Heard, but has requested that people follow up with their thoughts in writing if possible. This bodes well.
And of course, we always have our newspapers to fall back on. Here’s hoping these communication issues can be solved soon and that the letters pages become a place to celebrate our school community’s fine work in educating and informing parents, students and all taxpayers alike.
Tony Fletcher
Mount Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
Dr. Leon Botstein is quoted as saying, "public education is the bedrock of any hope that we might have for the Democratic process and we will be as good as the educational system we provide." I believe Dr. Botstein, as many people do, is confusing an educational funding model with an educational system. This confusion is understandable because the funding model and the educational system have gone hand in hand for over 150 years.
On the surface the idea of publicly funded education sounds great. Unfortunately, public funding puts the control of the educational system into the hands of politicians and bureaucrats and takes it out of the control of teachers, parents and especially the people being educated (remember them - the students?). The educational system in use at most public schools was designed in the 1800's as a way to convert an agrarian society to an industrial society. We had to take kids off the farms and "teach" them how to sit at desks for hours on end and to take orders from their superiors. They had to be taught that someone else was in charge of determining what was important to know and that their worth was based on the evaluation of an outsider. This wasn't just the "way it turned out;" it was planned like this from the beginning. The founders of the compulsory educational model in this country wanted a system that would create compliant factory workers. They based the model on the Prussian system that was designed to create well-trained, obedient soldiers. They must have realized that factory workers and soldiers aren't really so different.
For over 100 years this system worked and was very successful. It took a country that was an economic backwater and made it the greatest industrial nation in the world. Over time, however, the world changed. We no longer need factory workers. We need people who can think for themselves, people who know that they are ultimately in charge of their life. We need people who have the confidence to try and fail, and the persistence to keep trying until they succeed. We need people who know that they are the only true judge of their life and who know that they will succeed or fail based on how well they know themselves, not how well they can repeat facts for a test. We need people who understand how to function in a democracy, not a benevolent dictatorship.
How can Dr. Botstein say, with any accuracy, that "public education is the bedrock of any hope we might have for the Democratic process" when the vast majority of the voters in this country have been publicly educated and yet we have one of the worst voter turn out rates of any democracy in the world?
Perhaps it is not the funding model, but the educational model? Perhaps we need to rethink how we educate our youth? Perhaps if our student's schools were governed by a democracy, the students would understand their responsibilities in a democracy and their power in this democracy? Perhaps it is time to stop trying to fix our 19th century educational model by throwing more money, more regulations, more bureaucracy and more tests at the problem? Perhaps it is time to redesign education for the 21st century?
Jeffery A. Collins
Woodstock, NY


Dear Editor,
Sixteen yrs ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl …perfect in every way, or so i thought. By first grade she was diagnosed with severe ADHD, by eleven years old she had already been in two psychiatric hospitals and was diagnosed with early onset bi-polar. By sixteen, she was admitted a total of 5 times in hospitals to regulate medication levels, has been in 16 schools, and has spent a lot of her school career being educated at home by different school districts.
Our teenagers already believe that the teen life is a very traumatic time for them and we as adults could have no idea what it’s like to deal with their everyday highs, lows, trials and tribulations. Now add in a child who has a chemical imbalance causing her highs and lows to be so much more confusing and chaotic. This is a child who aches and wishes with every fiber in her being to be “normal,” to be treated with dignity and respect. But is so used to being treated as an outcast by friends, family and peers due to this disease.
Five years ago, I gave birth to another beautiful baby girl…not so perfect. Something was horribly wrong. She was very small and although there wasn’t much as far as physical appearance to lead me to the conclusion that something wasn’t right with her , I still had that pit in my stomach and this horrible feeling that my intuition was right .
I was right ….after 13 admissions and two surgeries in the next three year period of time, and one doctor who decided to have faith in me as a mother, my child was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease. Tthis is a very rare genetic disorder that decreases life expectancy. This disease usually affects three or more organ systems in the body, causes developmental and learning delays and some congenital defects.
I now have a 5 yr old little girl who has 8 doctors that she sees regularly, who is the size of a two year old, takes over 25 medications a day, gets her blood sugars checked, can’t do a lot of what other two year olds do physically, doesn’t have the best of speech and gets sick when you breath on her. The one thing she does every day, sick or well, is tell you she loves you , that sh e is happy and wants to know if you are happy too.
Three years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, perfect in every way, or so I thought… until I touched him. Every mother when they give birth to that child immediately wants to hold their child, feel that baby nestle in the crook of their arm, feel that baby’s warm breath against them ….my child stiffened like a board, completely traumatized by the feeling of my touch. It took just about two years for him to test below levels allowing me to pursue a developmental specialist who was able to confirm what I already knew the day I gave birth. My son was autistic.
I never take for granted anymore the kisses I get (only on the hand, arm or cheek). I never take for granted the hugs I get (usually only when he is tired). And I never take for granted when my others say they love me, as I will probably never hear it from him.
We as parents, expect that our children, special needs or not, will be extended the same privileges, rights, respect and dignity that everyone else in the United States is given, and that the laws allow. In some instances we don’t even think twice about it, such as the right to a free and appropriate education.
In September i decided to make Hurley my home and live the rest of my life with a native of your community and moved my children here, very excited with the prospects of what our new life and my children’s future would bring.
On September 5th I attempted to register my children in school. As of today, my children are still sitting home without an education and a different reason every time I turn around about why.
I was told immunizations, and brought them in. I was told proof of residency and brought in many. I was told i needed to attend a residency hearing and did…providing nothing new. And still won the hearing.
My children have been documented as residents and eligible for an education in the Onteora School District. I spent two and a half hours signing forms for the school to educate my children and I signed forms allowing for temporary services to be put in place until CSE meetings can be scheduled. I was asked to provide a driver’s license with the current address and did. I was asked to provide custody papers and did. I was asked to provide birth certificates and this is where I draw the line.
Most of what I was asked for can be found in my children’s school records and although I signed releases twice for them to acquire these records they have refused to do that as well.
I firmly believe that if I were registering “normal” kids in in school, the cost to educate them would be minimal and they would have immediately received an education. Instead I provided 3 IEP’s with their forms showing the need for special nursing needs due to medications and special diets, aides, furniture modification due to abnormally small stature, the need for instruction to occur at home for one and instruction to occur in a specialized setting for another, speech therapy times two, occupational therapy times two and physical therapy for one, behavioral intervention plans and the possibility of specialized programming for the home schooled student.
It is also my belief that all the school district is seeing at the moment is their bottom line and their budget “going to hell in a hand basket “
Their first priority should be to our children’s special needs or not and doing what needs to be done to provide them the best education they can. Our children are our future, they will be our next heads of government , they will be our next CEO’s, they will be the ones in our final moments, providing our care. They will be our teachers, police and fireman and the person serving you your coffee at the beginning of the day.
While their peers are holding these important positions in life… My children will still be sitting home playing with their crayons, waiting to start their education. .
Shellee Taylor
West Hurley, NY

Dear Editor,
Wednesday, September 10: In the early afternoon e-mails begin to circulate stating that the Fall Festival at Belleayre Mountain will not proceed after 29 years. This came from word of mouth from a DEC representative who stated this was a collective decision between Albany DEC and the Belleayre administration.
Thursday, September 11: e-mails indicate that The Coalition to Save Belleayre had a regular scheduled meeting for Saturday September 13 at 9 a.m. at the Lower Lodge and this would be an ideal time to attend and show support for the Ski Center.
Friday, September 12: The Times Herald-Record reports that on the previous day, Maureen Wren, a spokesperson for DEC states there will be change at Belleayre, the extent is being worked out. In the same article a vendor, who has sold his wares at the festival for many years states that it costs DEC approximately $23,000 to host the festival and that the revenues lost are more than $70,000 above the cost of the event. Later that Friday afternoon an Albany DEC news release states the 29th Annual Belleayre Fall Festival will be held at a new location. The event will be a partnership between DEC and the Delaware and Ulster Railroad in Arkville. It further states that Belleayre Mountain representatives will also be on-site to provide info about tickets for the upcoming ski season.
Saturday, September 12: a crowd of at least 200 people rallied at the Lower Lodge to show support for the Ski Center and the Coalition to Save Belleayre group. There were a diverse group of speakers ranging from politicians to skiers. Not to be seen anywhere were DEC officials nor Belleayre Administrators! Comments and answers would have been welcome by all present.
Wednesday, September 17: A Daily Freeman news article asked DEC spokesperson Maureen Wren why the Festival was moved. She evades the question with this: The railroad had offered to host it at their location, and we agreed. She went on to say that the budget cutting decisions were made inclusive of those who are in charge at the ski center. The next sentence says that the Belleayre Superintendent declined comment. Why?
Saturday, October 4, 2:15 p.m.: A sign at the intersection of County Rt. 49A and the entrance to the upper Belleayre Mountain Ski Center Lodge indicates a reception is being held. Further investigation indicates a private wedding is being held at the summit Lodge. A chairlift is in operation with attendants, two lift maintenance personnel, and a person serving in a supervisory capacity. A Belleayre Security Vehicle and a Maintenance Pick-up truck were also seen in operation.
Comment: Don’t we the people deserve some direct answers from NYS DEC and/or their Superintendent at Belleayre regarding not only this ski season but also the day to day operations? Does it make sense to cancel a profitable Fall Festival weekend for thousands but yet host a private wedding for a handful of individuals??
Jerry Fairbairn
Margaretville, NY

Dear Editor,
We are astounded by the letter eight visitors from Long Island wrote in the September 25, 2008 edition of the Phoenicia Times. How selfish can people be? And how ignorant?
First they say Belleayre is doing just fine without the resort. Well, maybe the trails they ski at Belleayre they see look great to them, but they seem to have missed the poverty the rest of us experience upon leaving the mountain. They want us to keep the raw nature of the mountains for them to look at as they travel back and forth to their second homes. Maybe if they had to earn a living here they too might see the benefit of a resort.
Second, they have the nerve to say that if we get this resort, the'll have to drive to the Adirondacks to find what they would miss here. Don't they know that Gore Mountain, (New York State owned and operated in the Adirondacks,) is getting five (count 'em 5) new hotels in a ski in-ski out development up there? That too is a public/private partnership in which the state will invest. We missed their objection to that development.
Maybe we should go to Long Island and look at all the investments of taxpayer dollars there. Let's start with Jones Beach and Bethpage golf course. Do these Long Islanders resent those investments of taxpayer dollars?
What we need here folks is a little balance. With 80% of the land already owned by the State and the City, and with no other sort of development or industry available to us, the Belleayre Resort is as good as it gets. And we warrant a guess that once it's built you second homeowners will hardly even realize it's there.
John & Jane Rossitz
Shandaken, NY

Dear Editor,
This is to express two related concerns, as both a lifelong resident of New York City, and a 24-year resident of Shandaken, a small rural town in the Catskill Mountains along Route 28.

My concerns pertain to Belleayre Mountain’s wonderful public ski center, and the proposal for a massive private development, on the west side of the mountain, of luxury hotels, luxury condominiums, a golf course, luxury restaurants and other facilities.
First, the ski center: In 1984, before the bucolic magnificence of Shandaken and adjacent areas had been “discovered” by the media, my wife and I purchased a small one-story house off a local road. We did not buy it as an investment, but to escape on weekends to an area largely untouched by the maddening overdevelopment in the city.
The house was essentially one large room; it had no well, a tiny bunk area, a tiny half-bathroom that doubled as a storage room, a few kitchen appliances and a wood-burning stove. Modest, certainly, but to us it was paradise. Although we have since added some improvements (a well, two bedrooms and a full bath, for example), it remains modest—and remains our paradise.
Almost immediately, we began to visit Belleayre in the winter for its breathtaking cross-country skiing lanes. We also visit in the fall, especially for Oktoberfest. And often in the summer, initially just to let our twin daughters run up and roll down the hills, and now simply to take in the sights. In all our visits, we note the sight-seers seem to reflect a wide diversity of moderate-income and middle-income backgrounds, just like my wife and myself. Everybody always appears to be having a ball.
As you know, beyond its function as a great place to visit all year, Belleayre is a revenue generator for the broader community, and therefore for New York State, both as a tourist destination and a job provider. Will you allow that to come to an end? Although some original proposed New York State cuts were rescinded, some additional cuts will remain. And more cuts may be lobbied for in the future, probably by private sector ski facilities, or some high end developers, who wish to attract a clientele that is anything but diverse. That would be unspeakable.
But I have a second concern: the Crossroads venture for massive luxury development on the west side of the mountain. It is truly mind-boggling, and terrifying in terms of its destructive environmental impact, and its ultimate negative economic effect on the community. Think of virtually every other place in this country where similar developments—always luxury—have transformed viable communities into ecologically corrosive playgrounds for the wealthy. Think of the Hamptons, with their mansions replacing homes, with traffic arteries choked to the point of suffocation, where most restaurants are now affordable only to a very small upper segment of the population. Indeed, think of New York City, where virtually every neighborhood has gentrified to the extent that long-time small businesses are forced to shut their doors, and lifelong residents face eviction.
I won’t tire you with a million facts and figures about the development. But we all know that it would entail years, perhaps as many as ten, of polluting construction and waste trucks clogging Route 28, which is already over-driven. It would build luxury housing above the ski slopes, visible from everywhere, replacing the magnificent natural views of trees and wildlife. Its thousands of artificial lights would beam up into the sky, making it difficult if not impossible to see the stars. It would violate NY State recommendations against building on slopes steeper than 15%: the resorts are slated for slopes of 20%, and a hotel would be blasted into a 35% slope. Its own shops and hotels and restaurants would service its expected clientele, insulating them from local businesses. The water table in the surrounding area would be sharply reduced.
For New York City, toxic runoff from the development would surely threaten our precious water supply.
(None of these awful effects will be mitigated by the so-called “compromise” crafted by former Governor Spitzer, reached behind closed doors with a few public interest organizations, which are saddled with a gag order.)
And, as always with luxury developments, it would force up taxes to the breaking point, to pay not only for ski lifts and other publicly funded perks to the developer, but for more fire and police protection, medical facilities, and social services.
Would it provide jobs? Perhaps, ten years from now, some minimum wage jobs for some local residents. But keep in mind the experience of over-developed Aspen and Vail, Colo., where land and house values have escalated well beyond the reach of the former working class residents. Which means that prospective workers cannot afford to live there, nor even travel over long distances to work. Those jobs at the development would likely go begging. Other, higher paying jobs—spa masseurs, chefs, and managers, for example—would most likely be reserved for people from European countries, who tend to be demanded as more “appropriate” by high-paying resort-goers.
This venture must be stopped. The super rich in this country do not need yet another playground. The rest of us do not need yet another ecologically and economically wasteful eyesore.
So please, use whatever influence you have to continue public funding the ski center—not only this year, but for decades to come—and to oppose the Crossroads venture. Please do not allow our—and our neighbors’—paradise to become a paradise lost.
Nathan Weber
New York, NY
Shandaken, NY

Dear Editor,
I entered the race for County Comptroller for one reason: to serve the public by protecting their tax dollars from the waste, fraud and abuse that have become commonplace in our government.
I will be a full-time Comptroller who will stand up to the deal makers and insiders who have wasted millions of our county tax dollars on boondoggles like the county jail project.
I'm not a politician. I'm a Certified Public Accountant with 20 years of experience as a proven independent fiscal watchdog, and I'm a successful businessman.
For me, this office is my chance to give something back to the county where I was born and raised; the county where my wife and I raised our three children; and the county that deserves better than the waste and corruption that we have seen over the last several years.
I've been fortunate, and what I learned growing up here in Ulster County helped me to succeed in life. I want my children and all our young people to succeed here too, and like so many of our citizens, I have had enough of seeing our tax dollars frittered away.
I'm in this race to serve; to offer my energy, experience and expertise to the people of Ulster County. And other than their support, I won't ask for a thing in return. That's why I pledge that, if elected, I will not accept any salary as comptroller and will instead return it to the taxpayers of Ulster County.
My goal is to safeguard county tax dollars, not spend them.
But that is only the beginning of my commitment to serve.
This first election for County Comptroller will set the bar for all who will follow. We have only one chance to get it right the first time. We must set the bar high now by electing an experienced auditor and proven fiscal watchdog who is truly independent of the political establishment.
If elected, I will be exactly that kind of Comptroller.
James E. Quigley
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
Jim Quigley must have realized his days were numbered in the real estate world of sub prime mortgages and plummeting property values when he made a decision to flee his Wall Street world and attempt to buy his way into the Ulster County ’s Comptrollers seat.
It seems that Republican Quigley will spare no expense to purchase power and has spent over $80,000 to date to bring his bailout and buyout mentality to county government
Quigley, who smugly addressed the 300 hundred members of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce who attended last month’s breakfast, condescendingly stated that he would donate his salary if elected comptroller. While noble in concept, he displayed his usual arrogance and disregard for the hard working men and women in the audience. He let them know that he was “forced” to leave the county to make his living and by doing so, literally slapped the face of everyone who earned a paycheck in Ulster County .
It is evident that while most of us are worried about the high cost of gas, home heating oil and food, Quigley is concerned about how he can pay money to elbow his way into a world he knows nothing about. While his party’s national platform attempts to address the concerns of “Joe Sixpack” and the “hockey moms Quigley, with his “I am above it all” attitude, displays the same Wall Street arrogance that has brought us to the brink of financial disaster.
The one thing that Quigley and his good old boys’ money can’t buy is the experience and integrity of his Democratic opponent Elliott Auerbach, a man who puts the public’s interest before his own.
Jeremy Blaber
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
I have just now got around to reading County Attorney, Koplovitz's press release, "Lower Esopus Summons and Complaint Fixed by Attorney General."
You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Released so close to election day, it is one of the dirtiest examples of government electioneering for their own, their "pseudo incumbent," east of Mayor Daley's windy city.
Very smooth flaktion if I do say so myself. Fridays and Mondays are generally considered favorite media days for news they want to "hide." On the other hand, Saturday is said to be one of readers/viewers' most attentive.
That is, news that gets into circulation Saturday.
This release might be a masterpiece of obscurity, released today at 1:37 PM, long after it could make Saturday's edition. Then Columbus Day. And, who knows what then? It'll be old news. Ho hum...
The document is so full of lies, half truths, concealment and "forgotten" history, if it weren't so sad an example of the government which MUST BE WIPED CLEAR OF OUR POCKETBOOKS, it would make fascinating Hollywood fare. I don't know where to start.
Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd or shades of The Godfather come to mind.
p. 5 One million seven-hundred thousand dollars squandered? Sounds like an outdoor UCLEC. Maybe an outhouse. ANOTHER taxpayer fiasco. Will it EVER end? Not unless every incumbent is kicked out of office.
p. 2, Para. 2 Dave, that's a claim to which you have NO RIGHT asserting. The Democrats did NOTHING to stem the tide. Nor did Heinsight have a THING to do with uncovering the matter. It was Lisa Cutten...entirely. I sat to her right in the 6th floor library and agonized watching and listening as two Democrats shouted at her in disbelief that she would have the gall even to suggest such things as now, apparently, the AG is MERELY CONFIRMING. At NO TIME did I see "Chef" Hein in any of those meetings. Did anyone protect Lisa as she did the job expected of a county auditor? Not that I saw or heard.
Indeed, at about that time, in an effort to convince the Ulster voter that we desperately needed the charter, I produced a 4 + minute video, Flush it !, which I uploaded to You Tube and My Space, detailing several examples of fraud, waste, mismanagement which I was convinced ONLY the charter would remedy.
In the video I made a special point directed to Cutten; "Why don't you quit?"
See it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-mIuq1Q0HI
Pity is that if Republican or Democrat is elected county executive, wait and see: it'll be just more of the same...political bossism as usual. And it won't be any easier knowing that the voters deserved what they got...such lemmings. January 2 they'll start complaining.
The Legislature "overwhelmingly obliged?" Except for the two Democrats who continued to deride Cutten.
Paras 3 & 4 Such grandstanding, Chef! But, then, you never were one not to lie your way into situations you couldn't otherwise negotiate. You're in for the surprise of your short career: in California they called it the "Bradley effect." You're totally surrounded by yes men; no one dares tell you the truth. While collecting signatures for my petition, three county employees admitted they were scared for their jobs if anyone found out...and you surely WOULD HAVE. THey said, "Sorry, I'd like to, but I dare not." They MUST say, "Of course, Hein's my choice." But, then, in the voting booth. THAT's your downfall. Prepare for it. If I don't win, Bernardo will.
The investigation was NOT initiated AS A RESULT OF the legislature's resolution. Dave, you waited so long, you almost have another "jail escape" in which the statute of limitations runs out: the SAME delay you pulled on Don Williams when you didn't hint in time that you smelled a rat. He couldn't move without even an INKLING of evidence from the legislature. The "investigation" had long before been triggered, urged, by Lisa Cutten. You waited months and months after she blew the whistle. It's a wonder she lasted as long as she did.
p. 3, para 3 Again, Mike Hein had NOTHING to do with "proposing a general audit" until Lisa Cutten had nearly worn out her throat urging it.
I never saw Hein in ANY of the crucial meetings UNTIL HE DECLARED his candiadcy for office.
p.4 para 3 ipp7????????!!!!!! "abdicating their fiduciary duties?" Where was our legislature all this time? What about the committee which was supposed to have overseen LERW and EMC? I heard nothing from them except laudatory comments and, aimed at Cutten, "How do you DARE suggest that Fritchler may have committed fraud?"
He was a convicted felon. Served time. And his hirer KNEW IT. How much had he paid off that person or people who hired him? After all, what else does a smart politician do with taxpayers' money but take jaunts, etc., etc., etc.?
Show evidence that I'm misguided and have leaped to conclusions and I'll be only so willing to retract these allegations.
Allan Wikman
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
Let me get this straight, Mr. Len Bernardo, who is running for County Executive, has made economic development and jobs the central issue of his campaign. Yet, in his business he has used $100,000 in taxpayer money to create jobs for [in his words] a bunch of kids.
Well, excuse me, but what we need is jobs for moms and dads jobs that pay a decent wage; jobs that have benefits. And we need those jobs here in out County, without the big tax bill. When businesses get tax breaks to develop property and open up shop in Ulster County, that revenue is forgiven by our county and our tax bill goes up. I say, if a business gets a tax break and does not hold up its end of the bargain, it should give the money back. Mr. Bernardo has criticized Mike Hein for the job situation in Ulster County but it is not the administrators job. I suggest Mr. Bernardo stop the double talk, get his house in order and return the taxpayers money.
Bob Gillon
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my support for Elliott Auerbach in his candidacy for Ulster County Comptroller. I have had the pleasure of serving with Elliott on the Board of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency over the last two years. Elliott is an analysis-driven individual who is deeply concerned about the people of Ulster County. He will bring his combined public service and private sector experience to the job of Comptroller in order to be the people’s watchdog over our County finances. Elliott is friendly and approachable. He gets along with nearly everyone, but don’t let his charming personality fool you, underneath he is hard as nails, especially when it comes to protecting the taxpayer from waste, fraud, and abuse. I’ve watched Elliott Auerbach struggle with tough, complicated issues such as job losses in Ellenville and prevailing wages on the IDA. He weighs his decisions carefully and works hard in support of the people he represents. Finally, Elliott comes from Main Street not Wall Street. We need a Comptroller who will not hesitate to audit and expose problems like those of the Lower Esopus River Watch, but who will do it with compassion and tact. A Comptroller is more than just an auditor; it’s someone who can manage an entire team of auditors and provide oversight of the County Executive regardless of political affiliation. Elliott Auerbach will make a great Comptroller, one who supports our new Charter form of government (and has since the inception), and will seek to put the long-term health of Ulster County first.
March S. Gallagher, Esq.
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
Being pleasantly surprised by Mr Quigley’s offer; that if elected Comptroller he would use his salary to fund two extra positions in the Comptrollers office, I began to wonder about what makes millionaire businessmen run for local office. Why would anyone leave the lucrative private sector to work for much less in the public one.
In Mr. Quigley's case it appears to be devotion to his community. He has a long history of civic duty and commitment to Ulster County which includes the financial rescue of Coleman High School.
On the other hand Mr. Bernardo‘s motivation for running for County Executive remains a mystery. After developing a multi million dollar company, he sold it and moved here from NYC after 911. He and his wife opened a skating ring and a fitness center. He is a political novice without any experience in government.
Having attended most of the candidate forums I am left with the impression that Mr. Quiqley is stepping up to the plate in order to serve the community, while Mr. Bernardo is looking for something to do.
There is a perfect tax storm moving our way. The State is in a financial crisis and the majority of our state representatives are in the pockets of special interest groups. My guess is that they will cut the state budget by passing the costs on to the counties. If ever we needed top people in Ulster County government it is now. People with the governmental know-how and political connections to protect our tax paying hides.
Thomas Kadgen
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
Does the Republican candidate for Ulster County Comptroller Jim Quigley think for one moment that the good people of Ulster County are not intelligent enough to figure out that not only is he one of the Republican good old boys as its party’s treasurer, but he is also one of the largest single contributors to his party’s financial
well being. According to the Times Herald Record Quigley made political contributions of more than $74,000 in the past several years, including $30,000 in donations last year. Quigley is so entrenched in good old boy politics that his home on 7 Tall Oaks Drive is the address used for all financial filings of the Ulster County Republican Committee.
Does Quigley think that the voting public has forgotten the Republican Reign Of Terror that brought us the Ulster County
Jail? The Republican controlled Legislature, many of Quigley’s party faithful such as Todd, Gerentine and Murray, were responsible for unnecessary and improper expenses, careless oversight, extensive design errors and sticking the taxpayers with twenty years of debt at nearly $ 100 million dollars.
This is the same Jim Quigley who attempted to thwart the good work of Dr. Gerry Benjamin and the Ulster County Charter Commission when he organized and personally financed the Coalition Against The Charter. He knew that it would be dangerous for his Republican cronies to allow the electorate an opportunity to place experienced candidates like Elliott Auerbach and Mike Hein in positions of responsibility.
Paul Formisa
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
We all have seen the widely published television clip where McCain takes the microphone from the woman in the audience that said I can’t vote for Obama because he’s an Arab. (Or words to that effect) Then McCain quickly took the microphone away from the woman and said, no no ma’am he’s a decent man and you don’t have to be afraid. He didn’t say that Obama was a good man.
That was a very dramatic moment for McCain that made him look like he was a nice guy. And, it made it appear that he was turning down the malicious remarks against Obama that he and Sara Palin have been doing for weeks. That kind of scenario brings up a question. Could that woman have been a plant in the audience that agreed to make those remarks so McCain or someone that works for him knew who to give the microphone to? This could have been something like what happens in a live television broadcast. When the speaker is speaking and drops a one liner or hesitates there’s one or more persons off camera that starts to clap. In that kind of setting everyone in the audience follows by starting to clap. It’s a trick that works. The above question should be considered by all those that haven’t thought about it.
William Warnecke
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
Do you know why John McCain and his running mate are running around whipping up their campaign-stop crowds into an angry frenzy with their personal attacks against Barack Obama? Because they are running out of ideas. They know that their platform that so closely parallels the failed administration of George Bush, one of the least popular presidents in American history, will not work, so they are resorting to mudslinging and fear mongering.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama has a plan for change. Real change, and not just a borrowed slogan. He wants to end the war in Iraq, safely and responsibly, and put more resources into fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and other countries that may be harboring them, a war which we walked away from too soon. He wants to be a real advocate for the middle class, bringing tax relief and better health care where you and your doctor get to decide on what’s best for your health, without a bureaucracy getting in your way. He wants to improve education for our children, make college more affordable, and help us become more competitive in this 21st century economy.
With so much at stake in this election, I don’t want someone who feels the need to whip up people’s fears (and changes his strategy every time the wind changes) in order to get a couple of notches higher in the polls.
From the beginning, when I first heard Barack Obama speak at a campaign event during the primaries, I appreciated his intelligence and enthusiasm. During what was at times a very contentious primary season, I grew to appreciate him even more for his coolheaded approach to sometimes difficult situations. I know he will bring this to the White House, and I know that this is what we need right now. That’s why I’ll be voting for Barack Obama on November 4. I hope that you will too.
Lori Boris
Ulster Park, NY

Dear Editor,
Progressive voters agree that centrist Democrat Barack Obama would be a
better president than rightist Republican John McCain.
Some progressives, however, question whether the political centrism and
timidity of the national Democratic Party and presidential ticket is an adequate response to the extraordinary problems confronting our country. These include the most disastrous economic crisis since the Great Depression, two expensive endless wars, an ever-growing rich-poor gap, rising prices, and a looming environmental crisis.
New York's a safe state for Obama. Progressives concerned about the efficacy of a centrist solution for deeply troubled America can vote for a left third
party candidate without fearing McCain will take our state.
There are good candidates including Cynthia McKinney (Greens) and Ralph
Nader (Independent). But if you really want to make a statement, consider the socialist candidate - West Coast union leader and left activist Gloria LaRiva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who is running on a truly progressive platform (see www.pslweb.org).
Ours is the only advanced industrialized democracy with a two-party system limited to centrism and conservatism. Other major countries have viable third alternatives, either a mass social-democratic or socialist party. That's why virtually all of them are miles ahead of our country in social programs for working people ‹ from less poverty to more years of life, from universal healthcare to longer vacations. Turn your ballot into a political pronouncement Nov. 4 - vote for socialist Gloria LaRiva.
Jack A. Smith
New Paltz, NY

Dear Editor,
I've been talking with friends and neighbors about the disappearance of their 401K's and I'm astounded at how well they are taking it. Yes, they are all voting against Phil Graham's McCain, but the remarkable surprise to me is that they are resolved, not panicked, but prepared to do their own shoveling, and carry on, with hope that once the illegal (until Graham de-regulated it) mortgage scams are fixed, we can return to a sound economic policy.
I wanted to share some of Greg Palast's thoughts with you. He likened the economy to a tree, pointing out that without strong roots, a top heavy tree will fall over. Yup, we're the roots and the money lenders are toppling our economy. The ones at the top have put their money safely away, somewhere. But the rest of us, well, thank Heavens we know what it is to plant our feet on the ground and to be nurtured by the beauty of our surroundings. I'm hoping that we are now more united, and that the McCain "divide and conquer" campaign will fail and that we will not let the next election be stolen away from us.
Let us vow to have our votes counted, and let us try to protect those that are going to have their voting rights denied. The way the law is now set up, if your address has changed, you may well lose your voting rights. That includes some soldiers in Iraq. Sounds incredible? Well, read it in the Help America Vote Act. What they are planning to do, is to claim that people that have moved, are not legally entitled to vote, (unless they can prove otherwise) or, in other words, take advantage of the foreclosures.
In Ohio, more than 5% of homes went into foreclosure, that's about 67 thousand votes. In Michigan, the Republican party said that they have a list of foreclosed homes, and will eliminate those people from the voting records. My guess is that at least, they match Ohio's numbers. John McCain's contributor and landlord for his campaign office in Michigan, is also owner of law firm Trott and Trott, a firm that handles most of that States foreclosures. So it's easy for them to have a list of foreclosures. Here's how they do it: they send mail to a foreclosed voter, then when it is returned, they consider that person ineligible to vote and take his name off the list. Of course, after he is rejected at the polls, he can fight it, but most don't, and even if they did, the election would be long over by the time they won.
This is coupled with the need to show your drivers license, which also can be contested when it's too late. So, if you don't have a license, as many black voters don't, they don't get to vote. In Milwaukee over half the population doesn't have drivers licenses. An estimated 673K Indiana residents don't have drivers licenses, which I believe, is more votes lost than were challenged in the two former elections. Which reminds me of Florida where letters also go out to voters, and if they are returned, they also are not allowed to vote, so here goes Florida and Ohio again. Hey, this is a BIG issue. Citizens do NOT have the right to vote, under the HAVA. I think it's more like the help the HAVES act.
But let me call on my optimistic side. It could be good news. Maybe all the machines aren't fixed, and they aren't relying on that this time. Furthermore, if We, the People asked that all the votes be counted, and that those denied the right to vote, be reviewed, and then counted, we could possibly, just possibly,learn from the past 2 elections and Take Back America. Whaddaya Say?
Jill Paperno
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
The latest edition of the Olive Press [10-09-08] finds Mescal Hornbeck on a "hate" mission again. It is all very nice that Barak Obama and Joe Biden are at the top of their class, Sarah Palin hasn't contributed anything to the USA, much less to the world and now we know that John McCain graduated from the USNaval Academy as 894 of 899. How disgraceful!
Mescal Hornbeck is one of those people who stand on the sidelines cheering for the felon who has wrested a police officer's gun and is being encouraged to "shoot him"!!
William Warnecke, now Bill Warnecke is no better with his reasoning that McCain has serious [?] cancer and what a disaster if Palin becomes President.
Have any of you rightious folks ever seen Obama's birth certificate? What do you know of his history [if he has any]? John McCain's life from birth in the Panama Canal [territory] to his residences [including the Hanoi Hilton], to the homes that he doesn't own [none] to his life as we see it on TV today is an open book.
Let me inquire of all the brilliance out there that despise the rich; when was the last time a poor person gave you a job? Even cleaning out their cellar? I'm not sure why Olive let the vagrants and mendicants into Onteora. All you have done is lower Onteora's scholastic average and the intelligent students are leaving. Sure, registration is down by 24-26%.
By the way, a Harvard Law degree does not equal a JD, but #894 got to rank of Captain USN, ret. [the hard way].
Glenn T. Anderson
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
It is well nigh impossible that the concept of having a universal, single payer health insurance program under the aegis of the government isn't at the forefront of the consideration of our leaders and potential leaders. Obama sounds as though he's seeing to it that the health insurance companies be somehow controlled to make this happen. He doesn't talk about leaving them out of the plan. McCain talks about achieving coverage for all by seeing that each person is allocated so much funding per head so that health care insurance can be purchased! Imagine using our money to pay the private companies what they charge for the insurance. What they cost us is 20 percent or more to cover their profits. He isn't going to get the corporations out of the picture and interfere with private enterprise. The Insurance industry has us under their control by dint of the money they spend to "educate" us and to bribe our law makers to stay in line. They spend billions of our money doing this. Where are the voices of the officials who espouse that single payer plan? Maurice is silent on the subject now where he used to be strongly supportive. But it is a fact that there are many millions who support it and there is hope in that, I hope.
Mescal Hornbeck
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
The Onteora Class of 1974 is currently planning it's 35th Reunion. We have been unable to contact several of our former classmates. Attached is the list of names of those classmates. Anyone with any information may contact me or go to our Class Webpage at www.onteora1974.com
James Bastian
Janet Denson(Najjiyya)
Gary Robinson
Lillian Rossini
William Smith
Margaret Smyth (Bolivar)
Debra Tabler (Gremer)
Deborah Vanvalkenburgh
Mary A. Vente
Susan Wallace
David Wheeler
Richard Yost
Darlene Dunn
Susan Herzog (Arden)
Bonnie Hoffberg
Kathy Kriessman
Susan Kysor (Barnum)
Peter Mercier
David Morse
Steven Nollner
Thank you very much,
Lori Hurt, CHair
Reunion Search Committee

Dear Editor,
The economic events unfolding globally portend a change (at least in some small measure) back to local production and sourcing of food, fuel, fiber and other essentials in those communities which are fortunate enough to have the resources, history and culture to effect the change. Any elder of this community knows what real energy efficiency and a small carbon footprint looks like. They lived it decades ago when only 2 rooms were heated and you knew who produced all of your food and fuel. No money was the norm. Work, planning and co-operation was the creator of real value and well being. Can we re-access these timeless sources of essential goods and services? As long as the sun and the natural biological systems we rely on are present we can choose to derive our essentials locally if need be.
In my view, farmland and homestead security is of much greater concern than other more expensive types of security which at times may actually be counterproductive to their intended effect. If my neighbors household and my own is fully stocked for winter, then we will be secure against any temporary supply disruption that might arise. What does neighborhood and hamlet security look like? To me, like it did 60-70 years ago and earlier. Grazing livestock, fields under a crop rotation plan including fallow periods, locally derived soil amendments with some lime shipped in, grain bins, co-operative canning kitchens and wood skidders being horse, mechanical or both. We will be making changes going forward in our personal energy consumption profiles, like it or not.
Energy has been re-priced and it now pays to use wood which is in abundance. At 250-300 per cord, some new producers may enter the fray. Existing producers are swamped. The change in the value of the dollar has likewise been dramatic and painful. Less well known is that at last years all time high in the S&P and Dow stock market indexes, the actual real purchasing power of the indexes had fallen by 50 and 65% respectively, as compared to the previous highs in the year 2000. The inflated nominal value from a massively inflated currency masked the actual declining value. It was a silent slow motion crash in real terms and portends distress for those with retirement, pension and health care promises made to them by far off entities which may or may not survive.
What can a community do to achieve some sort of state of well being and optimism while we travel the corridors of uncertainty? It can meet and talk about these and other issues surrounding the newly formed re-localization movement on Sat. Nov. 8 at 5pm at the Odd Fellows Hall on Rt. 213 in Olivebridge. Park around the corner at the firehouse. Wood fired pizza potluck starts at 5 followed by a screening of “The Power of Community”, whichs documents the change in Cuba to local organic food production in response to a severe change in the price and availability of petroleum products in Cuba due to the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
RSVP about pizza toppings and other potluck needs to either waverider75@earthlink.net or 845-657-2030. Come out, meet your neighbors and talk about what true security means to you. Charlie Blumstein
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
To local people...
Thank you for Collecting blankets and towels for the doggies. They are so happy!!!!! Thank you so much.
Annie Lee Vankleek
Shokan, NY