Schank Throws In Towel

             Further allegations were advanced at latter meetings in regard to Schanck's residence in town, which he listed at a Boiceville house his daughter is living in and which he
claimed as his legal address for voting purposes - an act which technically qualified him for his position on the town's police commission.
            Other questions were raised about properties he owns in Florida which involve his
wife and son. During the summer, the Ulster County Board of Elections ruled, by split decision, that his voter's address was sufficient for him to meet
regulations as an Olive "elector"- a requirement for police commissioners.
            Reached at his Saugerties residence, Schanck agreed to expand upon his brief
letter of resignation and, after gathering his thoughts, read from some notes he had made.
            "Although the recent decision by the Board of Elections has allowed me to
continue as police commissioner, I have decided to resign," Schanck read.
"Mr. Johansen's recent allegations are just another example of political
ambition and personal agenda. When the misuse of public information is used
to imply impropriety, it's no longer just politics but it has become personal and I think that my family and I have certain rights of privacy.
            "Beyond that, I want to say that I feel privileged to have had the
opportunity to build a professional police department for my home town," he continued. "Given that opportunity, we now have a department of well-trained, dedicated men and women who live within this community. They are your neighbors and friends. They are the first to arrive at the scene of accidents and calls for help, as well as crime scenes. They are first
responders who are generally there before anyone else.
            "Today, the Town of Olive Police Department is a highly trained professional
organization that operates under a formal set of guidelines modeled after New York State's accreditation program," Schanck read. "Every member attends in-service training designed to update and keep current the highest standards of policing practice. It is my hope that will continue in my
absence.
            "Over the past 14 years, I have been able to secure federal and state grants  in excess of $100,000, which have allowed me to implement many community programs at no cost to the town which, otherwise, would not be offered in a
small community by a small police department. These are real programs that
people can see- like the child seat program.
            "There's a woman alive today that otherwise would have fallen victim to cardiac arrest but for the equipment of the automated electronic fibrillator training we now have. My hope is that I will be replaced by someone who will continue the important work of community-based programs. I hope that whomever is chosen will not try to duplicate the services already provided by other police agencies but rather continue to strive to reach the real
needs of the community.
            "The mission I established for the department didn't emphasize issuing
traffic tickets on Route 28 but, rather, providing service to people of the community. I hope to see the Olive police car on the back roads of the town, checking on our senior citizens and the shut-ins and infirm at home. I hope to see our school programs continue- with bicycle safety programs providing helmets to the kids. I want to see the town still be able to call to have
their home checked while they're away and feel comfortable when they call
for a police officer that there'll still be a familiar face.
            "I have made sure that police services will be uninterrupted. I've met with
Supervisor Leifeld and the police commission to implement this process. They'll
have to replace me as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners and
then, ultimately, as its chairman and, also, install the person in charge of
day-to-day operations of the department by whatever procedure they feel
appropriate- either an officer-in-charge or a chief. I wish everyone luck in this process and I've told (Supervisor Leifeld) I will be available in the process to help it along."
            Olive Councilman Bruce LaMonda, one of two remaining members of the police commission, said that the town board was currently discussing a resolution to the situation.
            "We're obviously going to have another commissioner," he said. "One of our officers is going to be an officer-in-charge to take care of the daily
running of the department and we've checked with Civil Service and all of
that and that would work. We're going to advertise to see who's out there, in terms of a new commissioner, and we have the option of appointing another town board member to the commission."
            LaMonda expressed regrets about Schanck's resignation, noting that he had
done "an excellent job for us."
            "Here's a guy that lived in town when we started the police department and he put it together for us as we transformed from a constabulary," LaMonda
observed. "I'm very disappointed. Here's a guy that put in a tremendous amount of hours at no cost to the town and had a tremendous amount of expertise. You couldn't go out and hire a better guy with his background.
            "Not only was he an ex-BCI (state police investigator) man but he's the guy
that set up the whole resident state trooper program in this part of the state. We were very fortunate to have him. He did it because he enjoyed i t- he's retired now and I think he enjoyed the involvement. It was good for the town. It was good for Bob and it's really a shame that we're not going to
have him anymore. I personally feel that it's a big loss for the town.
            "There's always been an unwritten rule that you don't get into people's personal lives and involve their family in the politics of this business but these guys crossed the line on this one," LaMonda sighed. "That's why Bob really resigned. He just didn't want to put his family through this. This is something that's never been done in all the years I've been in politics in
the town and I don't think they should be particularly proud of themselves."

And The Winner Is...

As of this week, there are 34,218 enrolled Democrats countywide, 32,716 Republicans, and 34,787 Non-Enrolled voters, marking the first election in the County's history where Democrats constitute, numerically, the majority party. And while the short-term shift might seem dramatic, the long term trend is even more so: For every new Republican added to the county voter rolls in the past 30 years (2,013 all together), 9 Democrats (18,898) have signed on. 
            Explanations of course, differ.
            "Countywide we're getting tons and tons of people from the City," said Pete Sevago, the chairman of Ulster County's Republican party. "They're all left-wing, liberal Democrats. We all know that."
            But the county's Democratic Election Commissioner Harry Castiglioni sees it differently; "I think the change shows there's a lot of dissatisfaction with the leadership in Washington, but also here in Ulster County," said Castiglione. "Things are not being accomplished that people want to see accomplished. And it's not just Democrats, a lot of our non-enrolled voters are feeling the same way,  and a lot more younger people are coming out."
            But whatever the explanation, voter registration shifts aren't likely to prove as meaningful this year with few local races on the ballot as they will in 2005, when town governments and county legislative control will be at stake.  And in terms of this year's local presidential vote, the shift's unlikely to effect things much: In 2000, Bush lost Ulster County to Gore by 7.4%, with another 7.4% voting for Nader.  
            At the town level, Shandaken currently has 798 registered Republicans, 762 Democrats and 546 people choosing no party affiliation, along with 92 Independence Party members, 42 Conservatives, 40 Greens, 13 Liberals, and 3 people each registered Right-to-life and Working Families. In 2000, the town's presidential vote count was 783 for Gore, 686 for Bush, and 158 for Nader. Since that election, Democratic enrollment has increased by 146, while the number of Republicans has dropped by 37. 
            Shandaken's enrollment amongst the town's 2,299 registered voters also continues to show its historical gender bias, with Republicans and Conservatives running 55% men and 45% women, and Democrats and Liberals running 58% women and 42% men. Independence and Green Party membership splits about equally male/ female, and those choosing no party affiliation represent about 24 % of voters, compared to 36% countywide.
            Local perspectives on the national election vary, but appear to mirror those prevalent nationwide. "I hope there's a large turnout" said Olive Supervisor Berndt Leifeld." Every vote's going to count more this time than any other time.  I think everybody should get out there and voice an opinion."
            "I think it's a shame that everything's come down to so much mud-slinging by both sides said Shandaken Supervisor Bob Cross. "It's so disturbing to the public. I'm not pinning it on either party, but it bothers me personally to see it all."
            "Bush will probably squeeze through, but it will be real close," said Shandaken Republican Club President Gerry Setchko, who chose not to elaborate further on the issues involved. His counterpart however, president of the town's Democratic Club and former supervisor Pete Di Modica, ventured that "In national politics as well as local politics, the Republican party seems to be working toward government for the benefit of their friends, instead of for everyone's benefit. We need to bring fairness back into government. Hopefully the national election will be the start of that." 
            "I think that Bush is going to win despite all the negative campaigning by the Kerry crew," said county GOP chair Sevago. "They said that Bush's campaign has been negative but that's ludicrous."
            "The war's the forefront issue but President Bush has really put the national economy in the toilet" said Olive councilman Bruce La Monda. We have no national health care, unequal access to education...we need major change"
            Not surprisingly, county Democratic chairman John Parete expressed similar sentiments:
            "The self-proclaimed 'uniter' has driven this nation further apart than it's ever been in its history" Parete said. "He's made one mistake after another and he refuses to acknowledge them. What do we teach our kids? Fess Up! People are not smiling. They're not happy. And Americans are far worse off than they were four years ago. I hope people vote for what what's really in their interests, not somebody's party line."
            Polls are open from 6:00 AM till 9:00 PM, Tuesday, November 2.

No Stage For OHS Plays

             Last summer, the district's facilities supervisor Jim O'Neil said at the meeting, a teacher approached him with a problem. While trying to adjust one of the back curtains on the auditorium stage, built when the high school went up fifty years ago, he got a wood splinter in his hand. O'Neil called in an engineering company to see what was up, and it was soon discovered that there were some serious problems with the aging stage rigging that everyone had been taking for granted for years. When a similarly-aged auditorium collapsed in Washingtonville last summer, engineers suggested that the stage rigging be declared unsafe, and the high school's main stage closed down until it could be replaced.
            Discussion of the matter came up at the Tuesday night board meeting when the district's Interim Business Administrator, Don Gottlieb, noted that bids for new rigging, which were to be decided around now for replacement by the holiday season, had come in at four times what had been budgeted. And with a finish date of late January, at the earliest.
            Subsequent board discussion yielded a consensus statement that further questions would have to be asked of those bidding to do the rigging replacement and stage repairs., including whether the stage could be partially resurrected in time for the Holiday season, which starts a little over a month from now. Meanwhile, school administrators were asked to start coming up with alternatives by the next scheduled board meeting on Wednesday, November 3 at the Bennett Elementary School in Boiceville.
            "So far, nothing much has been effected," said OCS Superintendent Justine Winters after the meeting, noting that band practice was continuing in the practice room or out on the football field for the marching band. But bigger productions were coming.
            "We'll have to look seriously at all of this," she said, making a face and mentioning something about "the acoustics" when asked whether the old or new gymnasiums, or High School cafeteria were possibilities for performances.
            The school district is currently operating under a strict contingency budget for the year, which could also effect repair costs and schedules... matters not raised this week, but assumedly being scheduled for the agenda November 3, when next the subject is visited.
            O'Neil and Gottlieb also discussed a problem with "grey water" effluent leaking from a "regulatory building" at the High School in recent weeks due to a partial system failure in the facility's septic system. Gottlieb asked for, and had passed, a resolution approving a replacement of the building and systems in question, at a cost under $20,000, while O'Neil explained that the system failure was not noticeable within the school and basically amounted to, "too much liquid being purged through the system."
            Gottlieb added that, due to the nature of the system failure, district attorneys would be involved and it would be more than likely that the costs of replacement and other involved expenses would be picked up by parties other than the school district.
            On a more upbeat and informational basis, the remainder of the meeting focused on positive steps being taken for greater educational opportunities and better community mental health.
            Woodstock writer Perdida Finn spoke about the writing workshop programs she has started at the Woodstock Elementary School, for eventual use throughout the district. Working with the local writing community, which she described as including four winners of the coveted Caldecott Prize for children's books, Finn spoke about changing the way students ˆ and their teachers ˆ approach writing and reading.
            "Kids need to be taught how to read and write the way real writers read and write," she said in an enthusiastic and apparently infectious presentation. "You do it over and over and over again. That's when you become a writer."
            Finn spoke about instilling a sense of caring into students that begets greater attention to the details of grammar and other "copy editing" needs; better research skills; journaling; and a greater sense of market for people's writing. She is urging her students, and the teachers taking her workshops, to publish pieces within the school, as well as in venues such as the letters column to this and other local newspapers.
            Later, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Deborah Fox introduced school social worker Rich Morris and a number of key staff members of the Ulster County Mental Health Department in the second of a four-part presentation on the district's Academic Intervention Services program, focused on family counseling and the county's FACETS program.
            Morris spoke about how a majority of students these days go through some form of trauma during their school years, be it parental problems including separation and divorce, illnesses, or a death in either the family or greater school community. These traumas, he explained, can interfere with both a student's individual ability to learn and, through that student's "acting out," with others learning ability in the classroom or school.
            The social worker outlined, and answered questions about, a host of programs used throughout the district to deal with problems. These ranged from anti-bullying training, concentrated in the fourth grade before such behavior seriously manifests itself, to the ways in which teachers, awareness teams, administrators and parents can seek and get counseling help from the school.
            Ulster County Mental Health Department director Marshall Beckmann and his staff spoke about the Family and Child Early Treatment Services (FACETS) program started in 1995 to deal with increasing departmental "reach out" via the schools, with a concentration on the west-of Thruway region that Onteora dominates.
            According to the presentation, FACETS is currently working with between 90 and 100 families on a weekly therapy basis, not including the numbers of students involved via less formalized services.
            Brickman outlined his department's requirement that a parent or guardian be involved in all such sessions, even if not at all meetings, as well as the ways in which progress is charted through such treatment. He added that FACETS has concentrated on the Onteora district, and other points in the western portion of the county, because of a lack of mental health clinics in the area because of budgeting constraints and societal difficulties tied to the region's relative remoteness.
            Everyone agreed that the FACETS program was a major success and key indicator of the school district's role in the local community.
            Speaking of that role in an entirely different light, OCS Board President Marino D'Orazio gave a short speech about the district's newfound role trying to lead a new assault on the state's "Large Parcel" law that led to tax hikes in Olive and Hurley, and the defeat of the budget last summer. He and Winters talked about recent meetings with state School Boards legislative liaison David Liddle and a statement from the state Office of Real Property Services that it didn't want to get involved in the legislation until directed to do so by the state legislature.
            "We've set up a meeting for this Thursday (October 21) with state assemblyman Kevin Cahill," said D'Orazio, adding that a meeting with state senator John Bonacic was also being attempted. "We want to try and put this into the hands of the voters themselves... We take this issue incredibly seriously."
            The board's next meeting will take place at the Bennett School at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3.

 Family Affair