5/6/2010

Dear Editor, The Onteora Board of Education recently unanimously approved the Superintendent's Recommended Budget for the coming 2010-2011 school year. Knowing that these are difficult economic times for taxpayers, we worked hard to limit the budget increase to only 0.31%. This is not only the lowest increase at Onteora in decades; it is also the lowest budget increase in Ulster County. The corresponding increase in the tax levy is 3.9%. Some of the factors we are contending with: ∑ The Governor's proposed 5% cut in State Aid in the coming year. ∑ A reduction in Federal and State funding of about $1,500,000, or 3% of our budget ∑ Increases that are currently out of our control, including a 15% rise in health insurance premiums. Like other districts, we have been forced to make several personnel reductions. We would like to publicly thank those members of our Onteora staff for their dedicated service to the District. During the budget process, the Board held 3 extra meetings, working with our Administration on budget details, so that we all understood the impact of any reductions. We would like to thank those of you who spoke to us at our BOE meetings and who addressed us via e-mail. We heard students and parents speak to the importance of specific programs and extra-curricular activities, and we had to make some difficult decisions. We maintained appropriate funding for all our core educational programs, and services for students. We appreciate the community input, and thank our administrators for their hard work on formulating this budget. The 3.9% tax levy corresponds to a $37.61 increase per $100,000 of your home's fair market value. This means that if you own a house assessed at $200,000 your school taxes will increase by about $75 for the year. We hope you see this increase as an investment in our students, the future of our community, and our nation. Additionally, property taxes in the Onteora School District, at just $9.63 per $1,000, also remain the lowest in Ulster County; one-third lower than any other school district. If the budget is defeated, a contingency budget would still necessitate a 2.85% tax levy increase - a 1% difference from the proposed budget. A contingency budget would mean slashing programs and possibly positions that many in our community value. For all these reasons, we urge you to vote on May 18th from 2-9pm at your elementary school in your town of residence. The Onteora Board of Education may be contacted at onteoraboe@onteora.k12.ny.us. We appreciate your support, and look forward to hearing from you on any and all district issues. Sincerely, Laurie Osmond, President Ann McGillicuddy, Vice President Onteora CSC Board of Education
Dear Editor. As a former school boardmember and a currently involved parent, I'm asking people to vote YES for the school budget on May 18th at your local elementary school. We really need and want this community's support. Yes, the budget increases our taxes slightly, to approximately $3.50/month, or nearly $40/year for a $100,000 house. To me, this seems like a cost people can afford for something that is so essential to all of our community's children. And, the budget was arrived at by eliminating $2.3 million in various costs. The Board and administration have worked diligently to try to reduce and eliminate costs while maintaining programming. Onteora has its strengths and its weaknesses. And, I think many understand that there is room for further improvement to attain district-wide excellence. I hope the staff, board and community understand the importance of dialoguing together, so that we can further improve this district, with the goal that every student is engaged and excited in their learning, every day of the school year. And, I think it is essential that surveys be created - asking students, their parents, staff and community members about their Onteora experiences. Annual cost increases for our nearly 400 employees; and for those who have retired having served our District for 30 years; are significant. In the coming years our School District will face very tough choices as in these past few years we have trimmed the operating budget. I urge the Board and administration to take up this discussion in September, and to plan on a number of forums which allow for in-depth discussion, prior to the budget being set, so that we as a community can work toward consensus on our priorities. And, budget building should stem from envisioning what we want and associated costs, rather than working from what we've been doing over so many years. Issues to be discussed include - community elementary schools; importance of depth and breadth of course offerings; including the arts, professional development to support and foster improved teaching; ms configuration, the ms and hs electives, the extra-curricular sports and clubs at the ms and hs; the summer school and intervention programs; class size; any departmental curricular innovations that improve learning; facility upgrades and length of bus rides. Please support our schools. Vote YES on May 18th. Thank you. Maxanne Resnick Chichester, NY Dear Editor, I was able to attend the BOE budget meeting held on April 13. I was impressed with the attention to detail and thoughtfulness our current BOE trustees demonstrated at the meeting. This board is serving the district at a most challenging time and has worked hard to figure out ways to continue the district's operations in the midst of the current economic crisis. I applaud both Administration and the BOE for their diligence in coming up with a budget that is focused on quality education while keeping fiscal responsibility on the forefront as well. Lysa Ingalsbe Woodstock PTA President West Hurley, NY Dear Editor, In speaking with several folks around town, I've been made aware of some information that is troubling. It concerns our school children and transportation. First it came to my attention that the contract for transportation has been renewed for another year - without bidding. I've never been a fan of the idea of having only one contractor, as I've never felt it was the most efficient for everyone involved. We were stuck with the single contractor for a while because we signed a contract for several years. But now, in our current state of economic crisis, I would sure like to think that our Trustees would be looking for ways to reduce our costs, not just accept the numbers that come in from the current contract holder. Bidding is a healthy way to keep everyone's pencil sharpened - to provide us with cost effective, safe transportation for the very precious cargo that they are carrying, and at the same time, reduce costs when possible. In the 2005-2006 school year, the full cost of transporting our kids was $1,585,895.60. It included carriers from around the area, Clyde Russell, Tonche Transit, Evco Transport, Beatrice Shader, and James C. Hoyt. I find it odd that the one carrier that "won" the single contractor bid, was not one of our transporters at this time. Under the single contractor contract, By May of 2007, this amount had increased to $2,144.873. But wait, this is an amount that did not encompass a full year - this was the amount only through May 31, 2007. I have to tell you that it's quite difficult to navigate the budget to try to find out exactly how much we are spending today for pupil transportation - and while waiting to get clarification from our Transportation Director, David Moraca - I found two budget amounts - both of which are troubling to say the least... Along the line item named Contract Transportation was the amount of $2,697,000. And in a separate line item dubbed Pupil Transportation was the amount of $3,725,825. Even with rising costs of gas, insurance and the like, this kind of increase is insane over the past five years. Not sure which one will come back as the actual contractor contract amount - either are startling enough. But that you've just accepted this as our fate and not taken the time to put this out to bid tells me you're not interested in what might be best for this district at all. You are more interested in what's easiest for you to deal with. The other concern also pertains to transportation and came from a very reliable source. Did you know? It's apparently not in their contract that the buses must have snow tires - and apparently, some or all of the buses transporting our children are not equipped with snow tires! Such a simple thing... I don't know about you - but if any of the kids on these buses were mine, I would want them to have the advantage of snow tires in the winter. Just in case they have to be traveling in the snow. Chris Johansen West Shokan. NY Dear Editor, Seniors and the working poor it's time to hold the Onteora School Board responsible for our standard of living. It always can't be just about students. Of coarse I don't think none of us wants to see any kid go without a decent education, but the Board members should have been more cost effective. Sometimes I wonder if any board members even ever heard of the word words cost effective. What did the Onteora School Board and the School Administration do to help the working poor and seniors that deserve a better standard of living? When asked if during last years election cycle that included an advisory committee, if the 2.3 million dollar savings to close one school was a true District Saving. Superintendent Ford e mailed to say. That figure was compiled from our own stats at that time, based on actual personnel, layoff effects, etc. Those things change in time, so I could not say the figure was exactly the same now. As with any large shift, there would need to be recalculation toward a goal date. Well, the goal date would be this years tax levy and even it saved the 2 million dollars it would have given seniors a little better standard of living. The School Board had a whole year to do what was right. Of coarse that was not a direct answer any different then any other. But, the important fact is, the Superintend didn't say that the study did not save the 2.3 million dollars. Seems that if the present Board of Education was interested in just more then what the School wanted and seniors to have a better standard of living they would have continued the study. And why didn't the School Administration insist on following through. Although I can't personally verify this many friends have told me that the three women that got elected last year promised not to close any school if elected. So why did they want to be a member of the Board of Education and to make sure that the Phoenicia School wouldn't close? Politics pay a part, friends, kids in the Phoenicia School or something else? From all the minutes of the Board's meetings that I've read I've never seen any member make one motion to do something constructive. There's been comments made that didn't mean anything other them let people know, hey I'm a member of the Board. Asking Ann McGillicuddy what cuts have the Board made to reduce taxes, she responded in an e mail that the administrators were still working on the budget. In other words it looks like they simply sat back and let the School do as they wanted and then sit around the table look at one another and all say yes. Check the budget and I bet you'll wonder if it couldn't have been reduced further. You know seniors that if our School budgets had been defeated years ago you probably would have had a more secure, better standard of living. This year make every effort to get out and vote and vote to defeat the budget and that should be worthwhile. William Warnecke Glenford, NY Dear Editor, Although I'm clearly not a "kid," I find "Kid's Corner" by Cally Mansfield a pure delight. The joy in Cally's writing is infectious. Uninhibited, playful, and completely engaging, her words leap across the page with abandon, like a dancer sailing through the air. Cally seems to be as remarkably comfortable with her use of language as she is with her choice of subject matter. When I'm reading "Kid's Corner" I find it impossible not to smile. Thanks for encouraging young writers like Cally! Betsy Hallerman Samsonville, NY Dear Editor, I found Paul Smart's April 8th piece on the Tea Party very interesting. A good bit of reporting. But there was one part, towards the end, when i went "Whabdafoo??!?" (As a cartoonist, i do spout such nonsense.) "'You have to cut benefits,' Langbert says." Great! Give us some specifics! But no, the piece drifts off. Smaller government means more revenue and/or less spending. We need specifics. Otherwise it's just mist. Let us speak about what to do specifically. I have two notions on higher taxes to propose: 1) Eliminate the cap on income subject to FICA taxes, and 2) Raise capital gains taxes to the same rate as income taxes. Both would raise heaps of money, such that actual rates could come down. There, it's on the table. Places to cut are also important. I'd love to hear Mr. Langbert's suggestions. My mind is open. Gus Murphy Brooklyn, NY Dear Editor, Thinking about the Tea Party reminds me of a lovely golden retriever my friend Mike had. That dog loved to chase bees and moths and such, and would bark and jump and snatch them off the walls. Thing was, though, those things are too small to reliably spot, so the dog would rely on Mike to point them out. Quite a team. But then Mike took to pointing out bugs that weren't there. And that sweet dog would go into his great dance and attack the space where than bug was pointed out. And that would last and last and last and Mike kept telling him "get it boy!" Lots of fun. And thus, the tea party: point at issues that aren't there, cry out that Obama is raising taxes (he isn't! he isn't! he isn't!) and you get the Tea Party, up in arms, barking at something that isn't there. (With Fox taking the role of Mike: get 'em!) These people bark like Mike's dog, salivate like Pavlov's dogs, and have a ball doing it, telling each other ghost stories about frightening tax increases they've seen, and busily topping each other. Lots of fun! Gerald Berke Kingston, NY Dear Editor, You didn't get angry when the Supreme Court "Conservative" Five stopped a legal recount and appointed a President. You didn't get angry when Cheney allowed energy company officials to dictate energy policy while excluding any environmentalists from that meeting. You didn't get angry when Bush's generals let Bin Laden escape from Tora Bora. You didn't get angry when a covert CIA operative was outed because her husband did his job and exposed Bush's lies about yellowcake uranium. You didn't get angry when the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and the John Warner Defense Bill were passed and our Constitutional rights were shredded. You didn't get angry when Bush illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us. You didn't get angry when it was revealed that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell and Rice all lied us into the illegal, unnecessary war on Iraq. You didn't get angry when Bush spent over $600 billion (and counting) on the illegal, unnecessary Iraq war. You didn't get angry when over $10 billion just disappeared in Iraq. You didn't get angry as thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed or maimed in Bush's illegal, unnecessary war. You didn't get angry when it was revealed U.S. soldiers and the CIA were torturing people, including in former KGB prisons. You didn't get angry when Bush admitted the government was illegally wiretapping Americans. You didn't get angry when it was revealed that Bush ignored many warnings of the 9/11 terrorism. You didn't get angry when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital while you claimed you "supported our troops." You didn't get angry when Bush let New Orleans drown. You didn't get angry when mostly white people were helped in New Orleans. You didn't get angry when it was revealed Bush ignored warnings about Hurricane Katrina and the levees. You didn't get angry when Bush gave a $900 billion tax break to the rich. You didn't get angry when Bush turned Clinton's budget surplus into a gigantic budget deficit. You didn't get angry when the deficit hit the trillion-dollar mark and our debt hit the thirteen trillion-dollar mark. You didn't get angry when Exxon earned more in profits than any company ever, but paid zero U.S. taxes. You didn't get angry when, using reconciliation, a trillion dollars of our tax dollars were redirected to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage, which cost over 20 percent more for basically the same services that Medicare provides. You finally got angry when Obama decided that people in America deserved to see a doctor if they are sick, but you got angry at Obama, not the insurance corporations and drug companies that wrote Obama's bill. If Obama were white, would you hate him so much? Illegal wars, killing Americans and Iraqi and Afghani women and children, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you. But an African-American president taking the first very flawed, very insufficient step to getting health care for all of us? Hell, no! That's "socialism"! you say, as you depend on Social Security and Medicare. Socialism for corporations and the rich doesn't make you angry. Only "socialism" by Democrats is "un-American" to you. Only "liberals" are your sworn enemies. Are you aware that liberals and progressives fought to get us all: vacations, the 40-hour workweek, weekends off, the minimum wage, worker safety laws, child labor laws, the right to vote for women, environmental protections, food inspections, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, to name just some of the social improvements which are hallmarks of a civilized society? Are you aware that your "movement" was started by former Republican, now corporate lobbyist extraordinaire Dick Armey, and is being heavily funded by the extremist petroleum billionaire Koch Brothers, who also fund climate change denial and whose father co-founded the extremist John Birch Society in 1958? Are you aware that the Republican Party is using you to get back in power so it can resume doing its job of redistributing the wealth of poor and working class Americans to the rich even better than the Democrats have done? Do you realize that, once Republicans are back in power, they will ignore you until they need you again for the next election? Will you ever wake up to the fact that the U.S. government is not much more than a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporations which are non-democratic by design and whose only purpose is to increase profits, regardless of how many people suffer or die, and how much our only planet is despoiled? Will you ever wake up to the fact that the Corporate-Militarist United States needs your children, as well as your taxes, to fight its endless wars of aggression so it can maintain its global Empire of bases on every continent which keep its corporate/rich class in power no matter how many lives of your children, as well as foreigners it takes, and how much of the planet is polluted and destroyed? Ed Ciaccio New Paltz, NY Dear Editor, Whenever, the Republican are in the minority, we hear the suggestion to vote everybody out and start over, or that neither party cares about the regular American, because nothing is getting done. It appears, that nothing is getting done, because Senate Republicans have tried to employ the filibuster more over the past year than in all of the 1950s and 1960s combined. Republican are shutting down the Senate over a routine nomination. They have use the filibuster to force a 60-vote supermajority for every single substantive vote in the Senate. When Republicans lost the majority in the Senate in January 2007, they started using the filibuster on nearly every vote. Consequently, the Senate is no longer capable of passing legislation or approving presidential nominees. Our Constitution specifies a supermajority for ratifying treaties, ratifying constitutional amendments, overriding presidential vetoes, expelling members of Congress, and impeachment, because those are the things, that our Founding Fathers believed should be really hard to do. However, the Republican minority in the Senate has decided that a supermajority is required for everything. The last time the rules affecting the filibuster were changed was in 1975, it was changed, because Senators thought it was being abused. The way it was being abused back then was nothing compared to how it is being abused now. The House of Representatives is where legislation actually gets done on Capital Hill. A total of 290 bills have already passed by the House and are waiting for the Senate to take action. Some of them were passed last spring. Everyone of those 290 bills were passed by a simple majority in the House and many of them were passed with a lot of Republican support. For example, last September, the Medicare Premium Fairness Act passed 406 to 18, with 161 Republicans voting yes. Obama insists, that if you want to govern, you can't just say no. It can't be about just scoring political points. The filibuster only works as intended if there is a genuine spirit of compromise. Jim O'Leary Delhi, NY Dear Editor, Today, I'd like to introduce my idea for a third party. It's the "Bums Out Party". Democrats like Alan Grayson, Dennis Kucinich and Maurice Hinchey are welcome along with Independent Bernie Sanders. Republicans like John McCain and Michelle Backman are not. That's all I have to say about the alternative parties today. Here's the news I have to share with you this week. It's about Global Climate Changes. Although the Volcanic eruption in Iceland continues to pump out more ash into the sky, it's not adding that many toxins into the air that I can speak of. What has been reported is that the emissions of CO2, normally the most prevalent of emissions from erupting volcanos has not added enough to worry about. How can that be? Well, the cancellation of the air traffic, diminished the even larger flight emissions of CO2 into the air. Or, in other words, the cancellations of air flights has resulted in a good deal less CO2 emissions than usual. One could conclude that if more people cancelled breakfast in Dubai and lunch in Abu Dhabi, or Breakfast in Switzerland and lunch in Germany, we could slow down the pollution of the air we breathe. That's asking a lot, so why don't we start with pulling less power out of the depths of the earth and use more solar and wind, which is just there for us to take and recycle? I just don't understand what I'm missing here. That's my messsage for today. I'm off to enjoy spring and look for some frogs. Jill Paperno Glenford, NY Dear Editor, I just had a great experience with my county government. I heard a piece on the radio about the Google Fiber for Communities Program. Google will competitively choose a community to put in place a very high speed broadband, something that would benefit our community enormously. I called County Executive Hein's Office and someone called me back right away. More importantly, he dedicated his staff to making sure that our county applied for this important infrastructure. County Executive Hein and his wonderful staff responded immediately! The county's application was funny and informative - see for yourself www.kingston-digitalcorridor.org/googlefiber. I am so pleased that my "tip" to the County Executive resulted in action. I hope other citizens will follow this example and share their good ideas with County Executive Hein. Donna Calcavecchio Rosendale, NY Dear Editor, My family and I are writing to thank Congressman Maurice Hinchey and his wonderful aide Lori Dubord for helping us obtain a replacement for a Purple Heart medal that was lost due to life's many transitions. This medal was awarded to my late uncle Pat DeBari who was killed in France during WWII. I still recall my grandmother's shrine erected in her apartment to the uncle I never knew. She kept his photo, medal and a candle lit in his memory. My family in California tried numerous times to obtain the medal but apparently were lost within an uncaring bureaucracy. I told them I knew someone who truly cared about veterans and who I was sure could help. When I contacted Maurice's office, Lori told me that would try to assist but it could take some time. Within a very short time, my family received an acknowledgement from the VA that the Purple Heart would soon be replaced. They no sooner received the letter then a package with the medal arrived. My Aunt Yolanda, Pat's widow, and Patty, the daughter he never knew, were deeply touched by Maurice's and Lori's kindness in helping them when others ignored their plight. We thank them immensely and want them to know just how much this gesture has meant to our family. Jo Galante Cicale Saugerties, NY Dear Editor, The Health Care Bill and its chapter amendment, the so-called fix it bill, are now law. So what do we have? Some 62 million people were previously covered and these bills add another estimated 33 million people and we are told there will be no added cost. Sure - there is a free lunch and dinner for all. Last year some 41 percent of New York tax filers paid no federal taxes. Some two percent making over $250,000 paid about 40 percent of the federal taxes. If you raised the tax rate on people making over $250,000 to 100 percent there is no great increase in the amount of federal taxes paid into the system because there are so few so-called rich people. Conclusion - to cover the runaway spending going on, the middle class must be taxed to raise the large amount of money needed to support the bailouts and expanded programs. Small business middle class people make up about 60 percent of the tax base that pays taxes. What can they expect? The Washington Rascals are not going to renew the Bush tax cuts so the rate will increase from 35% to 39.6%. Capital gains will increase from 15% to 20%. And the Death Tax rate will increase to 55% of what you are trying to pass on to your children after an exemption of some $675,000. The Health Care legislation mandates a new tax of 3.85% on investment income, dividends, rents, and royalties and also mandates a 2.35% payroll tax. There are lots of other things in the bill which are mean spirited. If you do not buy an insurance policy you can be fined and or jailed if you refuse. Let's not forget about state, local, city, school district, fire district, water district, sewer district, library district and other taxing authorities such as the MTA if you live in the MTA district. They are all going up year after year at about a 3% average. One way to send a message is to vote against every incumbent regardless of party affiliation. Throw the Rascals Out. If an incumbent is unopposed, write in the name Mickey Mouse. This is not meant as an insult to the values and standing of Mickey Mouse. If Mickey Mouse gets a lot of votes perhaps some incumbents will take notice. H. Clark Bell Woodstock, NY Dear Editor, I am an average person who pays taxes on a very small piece of land and resides full time in the town of Olive. I am not very educated, especially in the ways of the world in which we live except for the familiar feeling of the life of a fish in a barrel, on a hook, on a ship, or in a port next to a market. I am now only realizing my fate as I feel the tug on the string that is lifting me from the water of which I am only aware because it is beginning to move over me as a result of forces other than my own acting against it. If vague metaphors come across as the rantings of a desperate, uneducated person fighting for his life against an army of Ivy League think tanks commissioned to hunt and destroy any sign of free will, enterprise, or ingenuity, forgive me but that is what I feel is my condition. We are subjected to corporations who have not loosed the reigns of oppression from around our necks since their inception as human trafficers. We are meant to feel hopeless, scared, to become so dependent on goods and services that any knowledge of self-reliance and self-sufficiency is bred from us like dogs so we cannot think for ourselves and only behave like well-trained animals. In the short time we have existed as a nation our sovereignty has been slowly, steadily, and unscrupulously stripped from us. Our democracy has been bought and parcelled before our eyes. Our representatives fight within a system which only consumes them and with them, our votes and cries for equality and justice. Our courts have been used against us to give unsustainable, unrealistic, ungrounded, illegal status and rights to corporations which diminish our abilities to govern ourselves, to educate ourselves, and to use our own natural and God-given resources to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. If we cannot use our water because it is polluted or owned by a corporation... If we cannot breathe our air because it is polluted or use the waves that travel through it... if we cannot safely eat our food because it is polluted...then the corporations and the ownership and management responsible and liable for those actions to the soverign power which chartered the corporations must be dissolved because it has failed. We the people are the only soverign power in this country. If we cannot use our own resources to provide for ourselves and our children a safe and prosperous clean future, then I say that we the "richest," most powerful country in the world have been hijacked and enslaved. Corporations are not people! People grow and die. Corporations grow but do not die, they exist to drain life and resources. Our Supreme Court has time and time again ruled in favor of corporations, granting them constitutional rights that we have had to sacrifice our lives and blood for. Every time a corporation is granted a constitutional right, our own rights are weakened and undermined. Our government is not totally to blame, our system can work. There are weak people and strong people representing us but they are still only people like us , imperfect and easily lead astray. We need to shine the light on the real enemy, place the blame squarely where it belongs, stop pointing our fingers at each other and start using our hands to wrench back from the cluches of greed what is ours. Many generations of Americans have fought and died for the liberty we have let slip away to the highest bidder. I want it back and need help. If I am crazy, then so be it. I can live with that much easier than if what I believe to be the real state of affairs is true. Let me know how you - the townsfolk - feel. Let's get to work and make this town and its people a shining example of what a sovereign body can do with its resources. Let's find and implement real solutions to real problems that plague every man, woman, child, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Left, Right, Middle, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Lesbian, Soldier, Tree Hugger, Black, White, Brown, Yellow, Red, and Orange person. The problems are numerous and like elephants in a room. The solutions are tough to face but necessary if we want to all survive together as free people in a world with a future. We th epeople must unite and take back from the corporate state what has taken from us, our country, and our destiny. Hopefully yours, Fish on a hook Editor's Note: Although we don't usually run anonymous letters, and tried to find a true name and address for the author of this missive, we felt its contents were in no way libelous and its message key to the issues of the day Dear Editor, Tax reformers and their allies and many state legislators held a joint press conference in Albany last week to insist that Wall Street pony up a portion of their ill-gotten gains to pay for property tax reform and restoration of critical services like school aid. As you know, the gang on Wall Street made out like banditos; Main Street? Not so much. Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Paterson immediately started hyperventilating because it might cost Wall Street a penny or two. The billionaire mayor and the lame duck governor rushed to protect their privateer friends on the Street paved with taxpayers' gold. To hell with Main Street, which is footing the bills for the party. Except, we now have a big new best friend, guys. Guess who's holding up the budget in Albany until and unless we get property tax reform? The Senate, that's who! (Of course by the time you read this, they might have caved.) Don't ask why the Senate is doing this for us property tax reformers. It's too complicated, too dark and ultimately too nerve-wracking. Our work involves fostering all kinds of pressure on the legislators, from all kinds of allies, for all kinds of reasons; and we do not have a single qualm being La Cosa Nostra of tax reform - without all that dead fish business though. After all, we're talking here about people losing their family homes and marriages breaking up and kids moving away from their friends to places with names like Big Butt, Kansas just because of insane property taxes. So we do whatever it takes to change that. Please join us in calling Senator Sampson, the head honcho, and telling him to hang in there. Really, the senators need our help to stiffen their spines. Maybe these senators have just decided to do what's right for their constituents and New York State and we need to support them. Stranger things have happened - but not recently - and certainly not in Albany. Call Sampson! Gioia Shebar Gardiner, NY Dear Editor, While it is clear New York is in a state of economic crisis, some budget cut proposals just don't make sense. As a not-for-profit human services agency, we are seeing assaults on service provision from every direction. Some of these will be unavoidable. However putting an artificial "cap" on the number of personal care aid hours a person with a disability can be authorized for at twelve, is not appropriate philosophically under the Americans with Disabilities Act nor is it fiscally responsible. People who need over twelve hours of daily personal care assistance will not be automatically eligible for other programs as Governor Patterson has implied. The more likely scenario is that many of these people will end up being admitted to nursing homes. This can be devastating to an individual's independence as well as costly to taxpayers who will pick up the cost through Medicaid. Please consider contacting your state legislators and request they not cap personal care assistance. At best it is penny wise and pound foolish. At worst it is discriminatory and expensive. Susan J. Hoger, Exec. Director Resource Ctr For Accessible Living Kingston, NY Dear Editor, The Staying In Place organization may seem rather unnecessary to many a 60 to 80 year old person or couples who are doing eveything that needs doing except really major things. Hate to say so but things will change as those aging genes take over. The change is pretty subtle. And one of the couple may leave. With the SIP program, whenever any need arises one does not need to face a Yellow pages quandry but will have a quick referral to a reliable agency or a volunteer. It is amazing how much you can save by hiring a reputable company with a small discount to boot. There are many folks out there gladly volunteering services. This program has incredible possibilities. Mescal Hornbeck Woodstock, NY Dear Editor, One of the many corrupt, big-government scams in New York State is the fruit of a son of Olivebridge, Arthur H. Wicks. Wicks ran a laundry company in Kingston before being elected to the New York State Senate, in which he served from 1927 to 1956. He later became Lieutenant Governor, but was forced to resign when he was discovered making frequent visits to convicted Machinist Union president Joseph S. Fay while Fay was vacationing in Sing Sing prison. Fay had been convicted of extortion on construction sites. Arthur Wicks remains a legendary name today because the Wicks Law bears his name. The Wicks Law was origianally passed in 1912, but it was amended during Wicks's tenure as Senate Majority Leader. The Wicks Law prohibits any public entity in New York State from hiring a general contractor (GC). Four separate categories of contractors, (a) heating, ventilating and air conditiong, (b) plumbing, (c) electrical, and (d), all other, must be hired and supervised directly by the state or other public entity. At the state level, agencies like the Department of Transportation, the Office of General Services and the Dormitory Authority oversee construction. It is well known that they lack the competence to do so because GCs of the caliber needed to manage large-scale construction projects have out-sized salaries that do not fit civil service pay scales. But as Olive citizens who work in construction know, general contractors limit waste. The lack of a GC opens the door to abuse, crime and law suits. Studies have found that the Wicks Law increases construction costs in the state by 15-30%. No one except construction unions and public contractors supports the Wicks Law. In the 1980s, Mario Cuomo had appointed an anti-crime commission that found that the Wicks Law fosters organized crime. The Wicks Law serves as a long lived example of why government does not work, and why political decision making on a large scale fails. At a point in time when the state needs to cut spending, a law like this would seem to be a logical place to start. Yet, at a recent meeting of the Tea Party here at the Shandaken Gun Club, a Republican candidate, who is aware of the Wicks Law and who owns a construction firm, did not mention it as a potential area for cutting. Instead, he advocated raising cigarette taxes. Of course, it goes without saying that loot-and-spend Democratic Party Assemblyman Kevin Cahill has no interest in touching the Wicks Law with a ten foot pole. Cahill roars with delight wherever massive government waste occurs. Hence, low quality, mismanagement, waste and incompetence are part and parcel of big government New York. Add to which neither Democratic nor Republican candidates have the vocabulary to question any of it. The speaker at the Tea Party was so lacking in vocabulary that he could only speak in terms of a spending freeze. The vocabulary of freedom on which the nation was founded has been lost, and the Republicans appear to be as much in the dark as are the Democrats. Perhaps the nation should give its government a two year vacation and spend the two years re-learning what the now-forgotten anti-federalists like Sam Adams had to say. Given the low quality of today's public figures, Americans have every reason to fear for their childrens' future. The problem starts with the benighted public schools, which are purveyors of ignorance, ideology and suppression. The first place to look for anyone interested in change is Onteora High. Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D. West Shokan, NY Dear Editor, Attention all gardeners the annual Phoenicia Library Fair & Plant Sale is coming up on Saturday June 12. Now is a great time for you to dig, divide and DONATE your overgrown or unwanted perennials, herbs, shrubs or houseplants to sell atour fair. You can bring your donations to the Library onFriday, June 11 or the morning of June 12. If you need to have them picked up, call the Library and we'll try and arrange it. If possible please label your plants with their names and we will find happy new homes for them! We look forward to seeing everyone on June 12 between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM at what has always been a lot of fun and a great opportunity to get some new plants, participate in our silent auction, eat home baked goodies and all for a wonderful cause: The Phoenicia Library. Many thanks in advance, Marvella Casale, Library volunteer Phoenicia Library Dear Editor I would like to thank Supervisor Rob Stanley and the rest of the town board for their support on the purchase and installation of the new star net climber playground structure in Phoenicia's Parish field. I would also like to thank Eric, Eugene and Kenny from the Highway Department for their help with the installation. The structure has been the result of community and town government working together and sends such a wonderful message to our children. Thank you Heather Roberts Phoenicia NY Dear Editor, I invite my friends and neighbors to join me in congratulating Barneche Designs on its fourth anniversary. Stephanie Barnes and David Seche have grown a unique business in a rebuilt shed alongside the stream in Chichester. Barneche is a showcase for the creative community we live in - Stephanie's splendid clothes, David's remarkable recycled furniture and antique lighting, paintings, photography, and jewelry by local artists. But it is more - it's a sculpted environment along the rushing stream; it's fresh eggs from Randy Ostrander's chickens and cookies from Shandaken Bake; it's a benefit for the Killian Mansfield Foundation or a special dessert tasting. It's a place to be, an experience to have. I take houseguests to Barneche as one of the local must-visit places; one family member, a frequent visitor from Virginia, recently walked in my door saying, "I need to go Barneche while I'm here, OK?" Small towns in the Catskills and all over the Northeast are struggling to recast their identity, to remain viable and exciting for full time residents while also attracting visitors. Barneche is a model for the kind of business that helps invigorate small towns-a spirited place that serves its community while attracting customers from afar. Congratulations, and thanks, Stephanie and David! Lawrence Webster Phoenicia, NY Dear Editor, This Friday, May 7th is our Phoenicia School Western Day Square Dance featuring the fabulous Earl Pardini Band, and everyone in the community is invited to this annual hoedown for buckaroos and buckarettes of all ages! Doors Open at 6 p.m. for a chili dinner and games, and Square dancing begins at 7 p.m. As usual, we will have our fun-filled cake walk as well. Entrance is $6 for adults and $2.50 for students.This is our big spring fundraiser, and there will also be a silent auction. All proceeds will go toward funding the PTA's activities for our students. So dust off your cowboy hat, put on your cowboy boots, and celebrate our annual Western Day! Native American garb welcomed as well! See you there!! Holly George-Warren President, Phoenicia PTA