Letters 11/19/2009

Dear Editor,
We are in times of great financial stress....lot jobs, foreclosures, cut backs in salaries along side of increases in the cost of everything from toothpaste to burial expenses. Our dollar has devalued to a point that we have never experienced in our lifetime....everyone is taking a hit or are they?
When I decided to run for public office, albeit the Olive Town Board, I committed myself to working in the town for the town in whatever capacity it takes. Since the election, I am still committed and so I am continuing my quest to help our townspeople understand the workings of its governing factors and to give out as much public information as I possibly can, that will support this quest.
Olive Town budget hearings started before the election and continued afterward with the final vote for acceptance of the proposed figures tonight. All of you, but for a mere handful will not know the actuality of this budget until after its ratified. This is indeed a shame because this budget that increases your town tax contributions by 6% need not be increased at all.
There are two factors that I concentrated on when I researched this budget - medical and dental contributions and unexpended fund balances.
According to your new budget medical and dental contributions have increase by 53% and 58% respectively. That's what it look like on paper....the actuals are somewhere around 15 to 20%. Right there, if the real dollars were used in your budget, your tax increase could be decreased by 3%.
"Unexpended" fund balance is nothing more that what is left over at the end of the year after all the bills are paid. Traditionally, 3 to 5% unexpended is built into a budget to provide a "safety net" in case the projections fall under what is really being spent. For the past two years, that I can see, the "cushioning" amount has hovered around 10%. In these times of need, I would expect your elected officials to tighten our belt alittle and keep our unexpended figures around 5%.
Using just these two calculations would bring our tax increase to a BIG FAT 0%.
I would like to take this alittle further. Our town employees , hired before 2001(and that's most of them) do not contribute anything towards their medical and dental benefits. The reasoning is that since our contracts (highway and fire dept.) don't make a contribution, then as one towncouncilman put it "it's only fair that everyone gets the same as the contracts". Since 2001, anyone hired must contribute a certain percentage towardstheir medical and dental and that seems fair to the town. But our town has negotiated at lease one other contract since 2001 and has not tried to include any contributions from those employees. It seems to me that what's "fair" for our employees should somehow go across the board and include us - the employers.
A real and accurate budget would be fair to us....no tax increase!!!! And what would be better is a strategic projection that would bring our employees in line with the rest of the world....I take that back....most of us are paying for all of our benefits.....I don't want to take anything away from anyone but in a era where we are struggling just to stay afloat, shouldn't everyone have to carry at least one bucket?
Rita Vanacore
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
This is for all our Ulster County Legislators...
Congratulations on your respective wins and to those continuing in office, welcome to the next levels of stress.
The proposed law # 11 (draft #1104 - http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/resolutions/index.html) as written, establishing Commercial and Home Improvement Contractor Licensing for the county of Ulster, is extraordinarily destructive to the fabric of business in Ulster County...and sets Ulster County up to be the most unfriendly-to-small-business County in New York State!
While it is understandable in these economic times that there is a need to bring in revenue (fees) to the county, it should not be in this format, and not at the cost of jobs...which it will undeniably cost... or the loss of businesses that will close, or go under the radar, or not bring work to this county and thereby rob the coffers of even the sales tax that could be garnered...
We should be encouraging these entrepreneurships that are the backbone of any community, for both the labor it provides and the relief it provides to those who need services.
It seems that larger businesses are aiming at pushing out the smaller, without realizing how this will affect Social Services in the County, as people need more aid to survive; forcing choices between work and fees and food. For a small business to meet the minimum fees would be at least a week’s work to pay them...and in seasonal businesses, which many of those listed are...that can be devastating. The outdoor season for building and outdoor services is not long enough in the Northeast as is...and look at last summer...it has knocked so many business out of the running already...and that is not taking into account the desperate straits of the economy in this field at this point in time.
And don’t be fooled by the argument that the work lost by some businesses lays at the feet of those smaller, single-owner/worker type businesses. Those larger business will NEVER see the work that is done by those kind of marginal firms...those people who need to avail themselves of that kind of work don’t have the funds that the larger firms demand...
There has to be levels of choice in a vibrant community...you take away that choice, you take way income and sustenance on so many levels that this has to be regarded as the beginning of the slippery slope to the destruction of the stability of this county’s to sustain different levels of society...it is unsustainable at best for so many now...and this law effectively puts the rest out of business...period.
If the goal is for a few to control the destiny of all...you have it in this law...
Please consider tabling or denying this to go any further in the legislative process...instead of pushing it out right after the election for a consideration before the end of this year and term... it would be to all of our credit to do so.
Lynn Berman
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to several people. I am very grateful to the voters of Olive for the trust that they have in me, I will work hard to earn and keep that trust.
As many of you know, I am involved in local theater and I could not help but compare campaigning to a theatrical production. At the end of the rehearsal time all the audience sees are the lead characters, those who appear on stage, but the people behind the scenes are what make it possible for the leads to work their magic. In a campaign that is also true, there are so many people I want thank for all the help they gave to me and my team mates. The most important person I want to thank is my husband, Fred, Without his support I never could have accomplished what I did, between making and hanging my signs and helping hang my team mates signs to driving us all over Olive so we could knock on your door to meet you to ,the day after election day, removing all the signs!
Fred has been my most ardent supporter and the greatest of husbands! I am, indeed, a very lucky woman! I also want to thank Susan Horner, who worked so very hard, Carol LaMonda who's help and support we could not have done without, Ann Leifeld who was always there helping in whatever needed doing, and feeding us too! Ben Rounds deserves a special thanks for all the work he did and he even wrote us a song! Henry Rank for all of his support .John Parete, Mike Pantliano, Ternice Winne, Jeannie and Bill Bachor, Donny Beesmer , all the Olive Democratic Committee were instrumental in putting forward the best campaign that we could and they deserve our thanks and appreciation. I know that ,as there is in a theater production, I must have missed someone because there were a lot of supporting players in our campaign and I will ask those who I missed to please accept my deepest gratitude for all you did! Lastly I want to thank Berndt Leifeld, Bruce LaMonda, Tim Cox, Sylvia Rozzell, and Jimmy Fugel for campaigning with me, putting up with me, and for being my friends. I am looking forward to working with these friends in January for what is in the best interest of the Town of Olive.
Thank you again Olive, I will work hard for you!
Linda Burkhardt
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of the Town of Olive for re-electing me to serve another four-year term as your councilman. I would also like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. Without the help of all the volunteers and the Olive Democratic Committee this would not have been posssible. Now that the campaigning and election is over, it's time to forget partisan competition and once again come together as a commumnity to work for the good of everyone.
Bruce La Monda
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
I’d like to thank Olive voters for reelecting me their Town Justice.
The support that you, the voters, gave me is very much appreciated and I am humbled. For the next four years I will strive to live up to that trust and keep our Town Court a place where everyone is treated fairly and equally. As a judge, except at reelection time, I can’t be political. I can’t write letters to the editor, and I can’t help out with fundraisers. So except for seeing me around town, at a concert night at Bennett or buying the newspaper, you may not hear much from me until I again ask for your vote in four years from now. But rest assured that I’ll be working with my fellow Town Justice, Ron Wright, to continue to make the Olive Town Court the type of Court you expect and deserve.
Thank you.
Timothy Cox
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
I’d like to share with you one of the many exciting opportunities for students this school year. As part of our Strategic Plan, the staff identified the need to provide students with early foreign language instruction. We identified this strategy as one of many to increase the successful graduation of all students from our district. In response, the elementary schools have adopted Rosetta Stone as an initiative.
Elementary students are able to absorb language in an immersion system at an accelerated rate. Rosetta Stone was provided to every elementary school as a pilot enrichment activity. Enrollment in this before or after school program is offered to students who sign up by grade level priority due to limited seats in the computer lab. Enrolled students may access the program at home as well.
Bennett teacher Kelly Downs reports the positive atmosphere of their morning program: “Kids who have a hard time getting up in the morning are now here, working independently. We haven’t seen kids getting bored, since this is a high interest, fast paced program.” Parent Felice Castellano shared that her son Jake is very enthusiastic about studying language, and enjoying the program.
Students greet teachers during the day with their acquired language skill: Bon jour, Guten tag, Hola, Shalom, Ciao, Yia Sou, Hoi, Konnichi wa! Thanks to the support of Principals Mr. Buono, Ms. Schnell and Mrs. Sella, students have their choice of fourteen languages to study. Those students who plan to study French, German or Spanish at the high school can build a solid language foundation. This program offers an entire year of challenge for our elementary students.
Dr. Leslie Ford, Superintendent
Onteora Central School District

Dear Editor,
On January 13, 2010, at 7PM, the Onteora Music Department will proudly host an evening of alumnae and student musicians to celebrate the renovation and rededication of the Harry Simon auditorium at the MS/HS building. High School band, chorus, and Orchestra alumnae musicians are invited to contact us if they would like to participate in this concert. We are greatly excited at the possibilities this renovated hall will provide to us – and to the Onteora community – which is home to a wealth of artistic talent.
We anticipate that our December/January winter concerts will be played in this hall as well. And, these concerts will be just the beginning of what we expect to be a wealth of artistic performances. The school board has formed an Arts Committee to further this goal, among others. We are grateful to the Onteora community, our administrators, staff and the school board for making possible this renovation.
Alumnae musicians, please contact us at 845-657- 2677 mail box #410 or at performanceinfo@onteora.k12.ny.us
Wini Baldwin (retired), Erica Blum, Harvey Boyer, Krista Cayea,
Melissa Glover, Dave Laks,
Karen McKenna, Steve Murphy,
Paul Schubert, Dave Thomas

Dear Editor,
The Onteora Board of Education must have made an error by accident in regards to not notifying the public of a BOE meeting on Wednesday, November 4th at the Phoenicia Elementary School. The following board members were present Laurie Osmond, Ann McGilluddy, Tony Fletcher and Rob Kurnit along with an administrator sitting together in a room.
I must warn the Board of Education members of the Open Meeting Laws that they’re bound to adhere as elected public officials. According to Robert Freeman, “A “meeting” is a gathering of a majority, a quorum, of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business, even if there is no intent to take action, and irrespective of the manner in which the gathering is characterized.” It’s my understanding that a quorum in our district is when four members are present such as the situation that was observed on November 4th.
I ask the Board of Education trustees to keep their ethical code of conduct intact in regards to being transparent therefore I request minutes of this meeting to be posted on Board Docs. and for future meetings to be posted publicly.
Michelle Friedel
West Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
Ternice Winne cannot understand how the Town of Olive Democratic Committee's illegal receipt of in-kind benefits from the Town of Olive might possibly be a campaign issue. Likewise, she cannot understand how the Democratic Committee's failure to report receipt of these benefits to the New York State Board of Elections might be considered to be improper. As well, she cannot understand how a fundraiser on behalf of the Democrats might be construed as partisan. It seems that the Olive Democrats have been stealing for so long that the Democratic partisans have concluded that stealing is moral.
A public service is one that is not for profit. The Olive Democrats use a public park, do not pay their fair share, and pocket the proceeds. A butcher performs a service when he sells meat, but his business is a for-profit business because he pockets the proceeds. Likewise, the Democrats might put on an entertaining fundraiser (one that crowds my block and one that I have never attended) but they pocket the proceeds.
Olive Day is a partisan fundraiser for the Democratic Committee. We Republicans should not be forced to subsidize a partisan event, and forcing us to do so is corrupt.
Nationally, the Democrats have shown that their moral leadership has offices in the Goldman Sachs building on 85 Broad. The corruption of the Barack Obama administration is greater than that associated with Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, Willie Durant, the Teapot Dome Scandal, insider trading during the 1920s, Richard M. Nixon and Enron combined and multiplied by 20. Obama's four trillion dollar bailout of his bosses on 85 Broad reminds us that the Democrats have always had but one chief concern: Wall Street.
While at the national level we watch the Democrats suck the nation dry with the most corrupt presidential administration in the nation's history, at the local level we read Ms. Winne's claim that a partisan event involving illegal public subsidy of a partisan entity is not partisan because people she knows benefit from it.
Can Democrats do anything but steal?
Mitchell Langbert, PH.D.
West Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
As always, big tobacco has its eye on new cigarette-buying customers: our children. The Federal Trade Commission reports that each year big tobacco spends $12.8 billion, more than $35 million a day, to market their deadly and addictive products. After all, they need to replace the 400,000 U.S. smokers that die each year with new, replacement customers.
New York has done a good job shielding our children from big tobacco - while most states have seen a slowing of youth smoking declines, New York's rates have continued to decline steadily. The rate of smoking among New York high school students went down from 32.9 percent in 1997 to 13.8 percent in 2007. Current smoking among New York high school students has decreased by 58 percent since 1997.
The Federal Trade Commission recently released their reports on cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales, advertising and promotion. In 2006, in New York State alone, big tobacco spent $429.6 million to hawk their products, an increase of 20.4 percent from the 1998 baseline. If the tobacco industry can spend over $1 million a day in New York State to peddle their products, can't the state spend more than the current $68 million a year to protect our kids from big tobacco?
Last year the New York tobacco control program was cut by 20 percent. This cut far exceeds that experienced by most state programs and was significantly larger than the across the board budget cuts applied since the beginning of the state's fiscal crisis.
Big tobacco is spending more to market their products in New York State and New York State is spending less to protect our kids from the tobacco industry. This is a deadly combination that will likely erode the excellent progress made in youth smoking over the past decade.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that the budget cut imposed on the state's tobacco control program last year will result in 15,980 New York kids growing up to become addicted adult smokers and an increased future health care expenditures to be $279.6 million, of which $77.8 million will be paid for by the state Medicaid program. These are human and financial increases that are costly and preventable.
We want to increase the number of kids who don't ever start to smoke. We can do this with continued funding for smoking prevention and cessation.
Ellen Reinhard, Director,
TFAC-Tobacco Free Action
Coalition of Ulster County
Lake Katrine, NY

Dear Editor,
I am badly bent out of shape!
I told the young woman not to take up smoking. It helped end my daughter's life at age forty eight. She had COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it affects women more than men. She said "I've been smoking for ten years." "You don't look that old." "I'm eighteen, I'm trying to stop."
R.Jacobson
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the two letters in your November 5th edition decrying the fate of Gaza Palestinians. The first writer charges Israel with “racism” although Palestinians are not a “race” and cannot be victims of racism. But let’s get to the facts.
Israel tried an experiment in 2005; it simply withdrew from Gaza, leaving Palestinians in full control of their destiny. Gazans soon after elected Hamas to run their mini-state, despite that undeniably terrorist organization’s deep hatred for Israel with a charter that refuses to recognize Israel’s fundamental right to exist. If you have any doubt, look at the charter of Hamas. Here are two examples of the extremism Hamas represents:
Article 32: The Islamic Resistance Movement calls on Arab and Islamic nations to take up the line of serious and persevering action to prevent the success of this horrendous plan, to warn the people of the danger emanating from leaving the circle of struggle against Zionism. Today it is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.
Article 28: The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to achieve its end. It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups.
Rotarians, Lions, and Masons, beware. You are next. And I bet you never thought you were part of a global Zionist conspiracy.
Since Hamas took control of Gaza by force, several thousand rockets have been fired at Israel. Tell me what nation would tolerate this abuse for as long as Israel did? If Mexican revolutionaries started firing rockets into El Paso, how long do you think it would be before the U.S. launched an invasion? If Georgians fired a single rocket into Russia, it would be merely hours before Georgia was overrun with Russian troops.
But when Israel retaliated with an invasion intended to prevent Hamas from arming itself with longer-range missiles, the world demanded “restraint” and “proportionate response.” Not a word about “proportionate response” when we are talking about Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Tibet, or the Sudanese south. Fewer than 3,000 Americans died on 9/11, but to date, we have caused about 100,000 “documented” civilian deaths in Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11; talk about “proportionate responses.”
Your letter writers want to attribute all the ills of Gaza to Israeli actions, but in fact the spectacular corruption of first the PLO and now Hamas is what is most to blame. I recall that during the summer of 2008 the BBC did a story on the shortage of gasoline in Gaza, of course blaming the Israeli blockade. When the reporter asked why there was a shortage if 1.5 million gallons were in Gazan storage depots under Hamas control, the UN spokesman quickly changed the topic, and talked about the no longer relevant “occupation” of Gaza.
Hamas is an international criminal enterprise that the people of Gaza happily chose to lead them. Blaming Israel for all the evils in Gaza is like blaming South Korea for the vastly more monstrous depredations of the leadership of North Korea. Israel has a right to defend itself against what is perhaps the world’s most formidable terrorist machine. It is time for the people of Gaza to take control of their own destiny and put in place a leadership that cares about them instead of terrorists and racketeers who kill and steal under the guise of faith. Until then there will be no peace in either Gaza or Israel.
Larry Lynn
West Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
This disgraceful standoff on health care insurance reform will be looked at by other countries as the American way, I fear. That is to say, that money is the dominant feature of our society. Many hundreds of millions of Americans were and are passionately hoping for a Universal Health care program to develop to right the multitude of wrongs of our present non-system. We were aware of the billions of dollars of our money that the private, for profit Insurance companies and HMOs have been and are putting into the defeat of our hopes. They have promoted lies and negative ideas about the universal Health care system on a constant basis for as many years as the private companies have been in the driver's seat. Millions go to out elected officials in Washington. These people have excellent insurance coverage, pretty darn good incomes, yet money always looks good, doesn't it? And it must have cost quite a bit to back the vociferous outbursts at many of the hearings. Of course folks who have not been touched by the health care problems and haven't learned the facts about our health rating amongst the nations, our spending on health care is about twice the amount spent by other countries, the effect being that the health care costs drive up our taxes, and that the cost of employee benefits prevent competitive fairness between our manufacturers and other nations. Oh, no, and then that partisan monster raises its ugly head and lets Americans behave like sheep instead of people with minds. Here we are with the Congress passing a health care bill which has help for many more Americans but will keep the cost high and we still face a battle in the Senate.
Mescal Hornbeck
Woodstock, NY