Dear Editor,
An Open Letter to: State Senator Bonacic...
Dear Sir:
It has come to my attention that you were a key player in the theft of taxes from the reservoir in my town of Olive. Evidently, you claim to think that the large parcel law includes reservoirs even though the intent was to prevent hardship on low-income people from large swings in taxes of some large properties. But then you said to prevent hardship you would introduce an amendment to prevent the law from applying to reservoirs. You delayed and delayed, up to the last minute, and then refused to do that. The result has been an outrageous increase in Olive taxes – about 60% in school taxes and, because the county legislature applied it as well, 91% in county taxes. Sixty and ninety percent! Senator Larkin has written a letter indicating that the law was not intended to apply to stable reservoir properties that do not have wide swings. The law has had the opposite effect of what was intended. Many people will be unable to pay such an increase and will be forced to leave. Clearly, this does not bother you,
because your richer people will move in. The memorandum of intent also stated that the law would go into effect only if all parties affected agreed to it. Not only did Olive not agree to it, the law was long hidden from the town. Are you also responsible for that? All the math and complications of the law are perhaps deliberately confusing, but what you did was not confusing. You have even indicated you would block the amendment to the law if it were introduced. You have betrayed your own
constituents in Olive. Perhaps you expect Olive people to meekly accept it, and there will be no consequences to yourself, because you think there is little we can do about it. You are wrong. The law was presented as making things fair. It has done the opposite. Olive has always paid its fair share of taxes because the reservoir is in the town of Olive, in fact a major part of it. Yes, it lies smack dab in the middle of Olive, not way off in your town, or Lexington, or even Marlborough. And it inconveniences town members and businesses considerably, with all kinds of rules and
regulations, life threatening detours, and also checkpoints during terrorist alerts. When the 1905 law was created to establish the reservoir the agreement was to pay the taxes where it was located not in other towns or locations.
The question is are you going to take the knife out of Olive’s back and your hand out of its pockets? Are you going to do the right thing and resubmit that amendment?
Leonard B. Holmes
Olive, NY

Dear Editor,
I feel I must address Mr. Kevin Cahill’s comments made in his letter to the Editor dated Dec. 21, 2004, concerning his meeting with 13 residents of Olive. There were no accusations “hurled”, no “angry statements” made, and certainly there were no “tirades” and no “abusive behavior “ from these 13 people. With the exception of Mr. Cahill, the participants in this meeting were calm and soft-spoken.
Our spokesperson began reading from a prepared statement and was rudely cut off by Mr. Cahill when she started to tell him about the feelings of people in Olive concerning how the Large Parcel Tax came into being on his watch
His explosive interruption, before the statement was completed, made it very clear that he knew what was coming, and left me with the impression that as Shakespeare said’ “Thou doest protest too much”.
As for the letter he sent to us, I challenge anyone whose taxes have been so drastically raised to find comfort or understanding in this political double -talk. In his letter, I quote him: “Since being signed into law, no amendments have been introduced that would exempt reservoirs or other properties owned by a municipality or the State of NY or any political sub-division from the provision”.
I think that our Assemblyman should be the one to propose and campaign for such an amendment on behalf of his constituents! Actually, I wonder why he hasn’t already done that.
Anne Marie Seddon
Olive, NY
Dear Editor, The Olivebridge and Samsonville United Methodist Churches wish to thank our church families and community for generously supporting our Missions Thrift Store in 2004. The store offers low cost goods, along with a friendly gathering place. By donating items, shopping at the Thrift Store, and enjoying food prepared and served by our volunteers at our Saturday Café, we have been able to assist others in need in our community and beyond. These missions have included: The Food Pantry located at The Olivebridge United Methodist Church, Rainbow Kids program for inner city children of Kingston, Battered Woman’s Shelter of Kingston, Darmstadt Shelter, Caring Hands Lunch Program, Camp Epworth, local victims of fire, needy families in our community, Hurricane Relief, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Tsunami Relief through UMCOR, children of Appalachia, medicine for Haiti, migrant workers, the children of Guatemala, and the Children’s Home of Binghamton. We look forward to continuing to help others through your support. The Mission Thrift Store is currently open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 AM to 2 PM, weather permitting. Lunch is served on Saturdays only; the kitchen closes at 1:30 PM. Thank you and blessings to you all. The Missions Committee and Pastor Anne Rossini

Dear Editor,
Your paper carried a letter from Carol Martineau Lopez in which she made a statement about me that is without fact or merit and I must set the record straight.
In April 2000, I took a staff position at Catskill Corners, in addition to running my own business. At the time, a launch of the Emerson Inn was imminent and one of my areas of expertise is launching new businesses. I never planned to be a permanent employee of the complex and while I worked there, I also served other clients, wrote a newspaper column and taught school at SUNY New Paltz and Ulster County Community College.
Late in 2001 (about 16 months after I started) exciting new opportunities opened for my consulting business. I told CEO Mark Johnson, that I could no longer continue full-time work at the complex. I was urged to stay on as long as I could and work as many hours as possible as I phased myself out of that operation.
In the spring of 2002, I began work with a supermarket chain launching five new supermarkets over a period of three years. As a business launch specialist, it was an opportunity I did not want to miss, and I ended my staff relationship with Catskill Corners. So while it is true that I did phase out as the Marketing Director, it was not, as Ms. Martineau-Lopez states, after a five-year tenure and it was not, as implied, because of Ted Wright. It was by my choice, long before Mr. Wright arrived.
Since that time, I have done project based consulting work for Emerson Place. In all cases, the project scope was outlined in advance, the price I was to be paid was agreed upon in advance, and I was paid in full when I delivered the work requested. I no longer do any work at all for either Emerson Place or Crossroads Ventures. I have chosen to work exclusively with a non-profit social and economic development agency. I have no current connection, direct or indirect, financial or non financial, with Emerson Place or Crossroads Ventures, by my choice.
I will not, as Ms. Martineau-Lopez did, speak for any other employee, past or present at Catskill Corners or Emerson Place. I only ask that others not try to speak for or about me, and that they not twist facts about my employment to support their viewpoints.
Joan Lawrence-Bauer
Oliverea, NY

Dear Editor,
I did not mean, in any way, to disparage or offend any employees at Emerson Place. The intent of my letter was to communicate my experience of being employed at Emerson Place and to point out that if the ownership can not harmoniously manage and run a small complex, how are they going to manage and run a huge muliplex resort such as the proposed Belleayre project?
What I experienced were low wages, an inadequate compensation package (I could not afford to have an additional $20-$40.00 taken out of my $8.00 an hour paycheck to pay for health coverage, which was minimal) and in general, many dissatisfied and frustrated employees. In addition, I felt the complex was poorly managed as a whole, each venue against the other and a lack of unity among employees. Management spending priorities seemed incomprehensible (one example: they spent $3,000.00 on a fancy golf cart to move things around the complex and somehow, the budget would not allow for a decent printer at the Lodge).
Unlike the proposed Belleayre resort, Emerson Place fits into the environment in both size and scope. The buildings have been beautifully restored and well maintained. However, I suspect the management problems at Emerson Place will be duplicated in the new resort they are planning to build. Not to mention the environmental impact that such a place would have on a fragile eco-system. I wonder how Ralph Waldo Emerson would respond to a "Mega Resort On Walden Pond". Favorably? I doubt it.
Christina Fendley
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
I'm just finishing The War on Freedom by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, which documents the strong, albeit circumstantial case for the likelihood that elements of the US government had prior knowledge of 9/11. The book also charts the course of Western domination of the Middle East and cites examples from US history of other manufactured provocations for war including Pearl Harbor and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. As I was reading, I would tell people how impressed I am with the book but I would always admit that I wasn't sure what the title- "The War on Freedom" refers to
After President Bush's inaugural speech, it finally hit me that US foreign policy has, for decades, been engaged in a "war on freedom". On a national level, freedom can be defined as a country's right of self-determination. The US has sent its diplomats, intelligence agents and armies all over the world to frustrate countries' right of self-determination.
In most cases, it doesn't take much to discredit a leader or derail a fragile local movement toward independence and social justice- Cuba and Vietnam being two notable exceptions. As the CIA knows, there are only so many honest leaders and once one is removed, a nation’s dream of independence and peace remains only a dream.
When the Bush Administration keeps repeating something, be it “no child left behind”, “clear skies”, “medicare reform” or “social security reform”, we can be pretty sure that not only is it a lie but the opposite is true and this rule of thumb holds for "spreading freedom and ending tyranny." The Bush administration can be justly accused of a lot of things but being timid is not one of them. No lie is too brazen. When they go on a crusade to “spread freedom and end tyranny”, any country which has not yet turned over the keys to the treasury to Washington might as well be prepared for the same treatment Iraq is getting. They are about to be “liberated.”
Matt Frisch
Arkville, NY

Dear Editor,
I write this letter to alert the community of the unconstitutionality of Ulster County's indigent defense system and the terrifying attitudes harbored by the "people" who administer this unjust machine. In Ulster County, an accused citizen who cannot afford to retain counsel is doomed. The indigent system in this county is not merely a railroad job, it's a bullet train. I intend to file a class action lawsuit against Ulster County, so as to vindicate the catchword values of "meaningful representation" and "equal justice" that our criminal system espouses in theory but rarely delivers in reality. Such action in this county is long overdue.
Eric R. Kelly
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
It is with great pleasure that approximately 4200 Town of Olive Corporation Shareholders give heartfelt thanks to
Sheriff Boeckelman, Lt. Young, Lt. Freer, Sgt. Van Blarcom and the entire Ulster County Sheriff's Department, Mayor Sottile, Kingston Police Chief Keller and the Kingston Police Department, Kingston Fire Department, Dean Palen, Chip Schoonmaker, Darrin, James Rodden of Ulster County Health Department, for the huge effort put forth to plan for and assure a pleasant safe visit to the U. C. Legislature Meeting by Olive Shareholders on the evening of February 10.
With relatively short notice on my part, they all pulled together, swung into coordinated high speed motion, and cleared the deck for an amiable and productive Olive Shareholder- Ulster County Legislator pizza lovefest.
We are most appreciative of all of the hard work put forth by the above named folks on the behalf of Town of Olive Shareholders and offer permanent free Olive Civil Defense Pizza to all those mentioned above.
We look forward to more such Shareholder Meetings to parse out the many challenges the Town of Olive faces as a result of what appears to be unlawful larcenous legislation. I believe that unlawful implementation of Large Parcel through the efforts of Legislators Stock and Shapiro will ultimately cost more than the jail, with not a brick or beam to show.
Medical damages are mounting with approximately two thousand cases of insomnia and hundreds more of post traumatic stress disorder. With hundreds of children experiencing the fear of losing their homes and communities, the social workers and psychologists will be busy for years to come.
Lost productivity due to the mass insomnia will likely cost the County about 220,000 dollars a day, according to an economist I recently spoke to who has experience with similar litigation.
One day the lightbulb will go on at the Legislature and they will deem it time for Stock and Shapiro to spend more time with their families.
Over 4200 Olive Shareholders anxiously await that celebratory moment.
Olive Shareholders take note: Pan Olivian Woodstock Window Shopping Tours inaugurating this spring. See the homes of the rich and famous Legislators on the way to an enriching window shopping experience. Contact the Pan Olivian Woodstock Tour coordinator for your free Olive shareholder bus tickets. Service to Woodstock Town Board Meetings will inaugurate soon as well.
Charlie Blumstein
Krumville, NY