Letters to the Editor

11/20/2008

Dear Editor,
In past elections we heard from the Soccer Mom and so far in this election we have heard from the Hockey Mom. But where is the battle cry of the Art Mom?
The Art Mom is a fiercely dedicated breed who spends her weeknights and most of her weekends driving her kids from play rehearsals, to pottery classes, to the media-lab and then to piano recitals. In between work, making dinner, and her children’s extracurricular activities she attends school board meetings to ensure that her children have art and music classes and that the schools have adequate teachers and facilities for these subjects. She even bakes cupcakes for the PTA bake-sales that will raise enough money to pay a professional musician to do a special school assembly.
The Art Mom puts up with the skyrocketing gas prices, the stench of sweaty toe-shoes and turpentine, the mind-numbing hours spent at school board meetings and all-day dance recitals. She scrimps a bit on her own clothes so that she can rent a musical instrument for her kid to play in the school band. She sacrifices some of her vacation time so that she can chaperon her kids and their friends to a museum or a Broadway play or a film-festival.
The Art Mom puts up with all this because she wants her children to succeed in life. She knows that 45% of the world’s salaries are paid to people in the creative industries. She knows that more and more admissions officers at colleges and human resource professionals seek out applicants who have arts experience in their background. The Art Mom knows that creativity and innovation give America the competitive edge in the global economy and that China and India are working assiduously to catch up. And of course, the Art Mom knows that the arts have a humanizing effect on her children - when participating in the arts, she sees how her teenager is more engaged in school and how her younger children are more curious about the world and all the people living in it.
The Art Mom votes too. She is appalled that the last eight executive budgets handed to congress in Washington, DC had zero funding for Arts In Education programs, she is saddened that New York State funding for the arts is 16% below 1990 levels. The Art Mom looks forward and is furious that pending cuts in state and local funding may cause tuition increases at the local art center. She is frustrated at what could be a very limited menu of locally available cultural experiences for her family.
The Art Mom is non-partisan and is longing to hear pro-arts rhetoric from her elected officials on either side. She is looking for a candidate who understands that there has never been a great civilization that didn’t support and cultivate the arts whole-heartedly.
The Art Mom does her due diligence and she looks up the voting records of those politicians seeking her vote and financial support. She goes to (www.americansforthearts.org) and reads the Congressional Arts Report Card for the 110th Congress and she even checks to see if any of the challengers have answered a companion survey. She compares the Presidential candidate’s positions on issues affecting the arts as well. Based on this information, the Art Mom will vote for the candidates that best address her concerns and those of her family.
The Art Mom, like the Statue of Liberty — the colossus of New York Harbor — is a steadfast beacon of American values: tolerance, beauty, innovation, and possibility. We need to hear more from the Art Moms (and Dads.) They are deeply connected with America’s future and we should walk in solidarity with them.
Benjamin Krevolin, Director
Dutchess County Arts Council
Poughkeepsie, NY

Dear Editor,
I have been silent this election season. Mostly I have been busying writing my Masters Thesis. Such efforts are usually a mind exercise to see if you got with it takes in your chosen field. During this period I have taken time to study the current economic crisis. Usually, the roots of a current crisis and this one is no different has its origins in the past. It is based on how we carry out our everyday normal business activities.
Firstly, no one wants to take the blame for what our free market democracy has wrought upon the nation and the world. I have over the past few years warned about the coming crisis and many have listened while the vast majority have ignored or even laughed about the impossible. Now the impossible has become possible and the past few weeks it appears the entire capitalist mode of private production is about to beach itself just like an immense whale casts itself upon the shoreline for all of us to see. Where is the good Captain Ahab when we need him the most? Our economy is like a beached whale and all of us individually need to work collectively to help it get better and back out to sea.
Secondly, everyone wants to blame Bush. He asked us for the job. Another person perhaps more qualified applied and he had the majority of the citizens in the nation vote for him. Bush got the job by the decision of the highest court in our land and everyone accepted their determination. Not a single Senator was willing to stand with the members of Congress to take action against the Court because it would create a crisis of government.This is all fine because very few of us protested the decision and even fate failed to intervene. Make things worse the same Bush was re-elected four years later as if America had stopped thinking completely and voted blindly.
Thirdly there were signs whether the wars were failing and the government credit card was being worn thin. I recall speaking with Congressman Hinchey before the War in Iraq began where I said that before we leave that country we will lose 5000 of our best young soldiers and ten of thousands more would be wounded and left disabled.
The solution to the crisis economically is to bring our troops home now. Those hawks and conservative pundits lacked the due diligence as citizens to stop the war and are the cause of their defeat. It has nothing to do with anything they have done. Their despair is going to reap a whirlwind when they come home to find a nation in the deep throws of depression. Only those who have opposed this Iraq war will be able to say they tried but no one would take action to get rid of the Bush. I said when I spoke out against the war that the war in Vietnam was a human tragedy but the war in Iraq is a terrible farce played upon the American people, especially our youth.
It appears we learned nothing from Vietnam, nor did we learn anything from when the Soviet Union faced off with the Taliban or Osama bin Laden and his band of terrorists. I will make it clear again we need to get out of Afghanistan and bring our troops home now.
Fourth, in order for the U.S. to promote democracy throughout the world we need to get our democracy back and this means putting an end to the police state or the secrete government which is still in place. It must be changed by Congress and President-Elect Obama. Civil rights and civil liberties and the return of habeas corpus must be restored. The government needs to close down and dismantle it's secrete detention camps.
Fifth the economic solution is not bailing out the guys who are expropriating our hard earned money and instead give every working citizen a bail out by excusing any and all debts establish reasonable non-usurious rates of interests and lock up all these greedy bankers, closed the banks if necessary like FDR did, seize all the assets, open only those institutions who have shown they did not involve themselves with the debauchery and chicanery of the past twenty-five years. This is the only way to restore a free market system. If this does not happen then production will stop, massive unemploment, more forclosures and the bankers will bankrupt the federal causing society as we know to collapse. At this point only socialism would be able to make the necessary changes.
If these five points can be accomplished in the first 100 days of the new administration then there is a chance of saving our nation's economy. The worse thing the new administration could do right now is try to mediate with these financial capitalists and set aside the change that has been promised to the American people, specifically the middle class, the working class, the small family farmers and the poor who have all been victims of severe impoverishing exploitation by the super-rich and their finance capitalists. The change must come first and the longer we wait to make those changes the harde it will be to avert the collapse...
Tom Siblo
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
And the winner is... SHANDAKEN!!!
Approximately 75% of the eligible voters in our town voted this past Election Day. That is an astounding accomplishment and a reflection of the care citizens have for our community.
A big thank you goes out to the candidates, the poll workers, and the voters.
As we face the extraordinary issues ahead of us the best solutions to our difficulties will come from an involved community.
Congratulations everyone!
Dave Pillard, Chair
Shandaken Democratic Committee

Dear Editor,
I read this morning about another employer that found a more desirable county to locate to. The article mentions that the new location will employee 362 people. If I think back to all the employment opportunities that existed in Ulster county in the 70’s and 80’s it is shocking that our past and present elected officials have never succeeded at making Ulster county a welcome place for businesses to stay or move to. If they say it is due to the fact that we are in New York state. How come Orange county, Greene county, the Oneonta region, and many other regions have had growth. I have been told do not worry; our economic problems will fix themselves because we are going to get the New York City push and businesses will come. Looking at Greene county economic growth I would say the New York City push went right on by to them.
We talk about the Quality of life issues for the Ulster county community. These are very important but they need to go hand in hand with Economic prosperity. If we have great Cultural venues and diverse types of activities for the county residents, but the residents don’t have the extra income to afford doing and exposing their children to these venues and activities how have we improved their Quality of life? How many people do you know that have to leave the county for work each day? Are these the motivated hard working people that could be the volunteer fire person or scout troop leader if they did not spend an extra 2 hours a day driving?
Our economic problems are all our problems. We rely on our elected officials to fix things. But elected officials are pushed by the load minority. The silent majority in this county is exerting so much energy to pay their bills they don’t have time to be heard by our local officials. Why are the land taxes in uptown Kingston 3 times higher than the town of Ulster? How come our government is 10 years behind in having shovel ready sites for business to locate to? Who was studying the competition back then? Why do the elected officials not make this a priority? All you have to do is go for a 45 minute drive and see what works.
Attracting good business to a region is extremely competitive. We can point fingers. We can say we did our best. We can say anything we want. The truth is we the people of Ulster county keep losing the competition of attracting and retaining good paying jobs. Without these good jobs we don’t have the quality of life we all want.
Our local government needs to understand that the foundation of the pyramid that represents the Ulster county communities is the prosperity of local quality businesses. With a quality job comes the mentor for children, the continuing education, the safety of the volunteer fire department, and all the rest.
Our elected officials all say they will cut taxes. Do they know that all the Ratable studies in Orange County showed that a business needs a smaller amount of the taxes they pay to be used on the government services they require compared to a residence. So the more quality businesses you have the less taxes your residences have to pay.
We have no choice but to compete. We need the tools. What tools do we need? Study the competition and we will know.
Daniel J. Le Fever
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
AIG, Fanny, Freddie, and Bear Stearns were all "too big to fail". GM, maybe not so much. Employees at GM? Middle Class laborers. Employees at all the others, suits with deep pockets.
While the dirty dealers are doing what they can to rob us blind, we need to re-group and figure out how to survive the coming economy. We will have many more tools and less restrictions on our side, but
we'll have to think it out and continue to participate in our government's dealings. The President Elect has a web site asking people to contribute their priorities, a sign of hope.
With the old administration and it's cronies gone, there will be less of a heavy hand coming down on us. Jail and tasers may not be the fist option that the new government uses against people that speak out against the establishment. In my dreams, true crimes, like stealing the taxpayer's money, and I suspect the investors money, could possibly be brought to courts. Come on, let me dream for a
moment. This was a special week. There is even a slight chance that alternative healing remedies will not be deemed illegal, unless sold by Big Pharma.
OK. I'll stop dreaming and get down to reality. Our taxes have been stolen from us under the last ruling class. When you heard that your bailout paid for top executives bonus's didn't it bother you just a bit? Oh, I know that they are used to traveling in first class, or rather chartered planes, and getting perfect face lifts, while vacationing at the most exclusive beaches around the world, but come on, they've got enough stashed away to continue a pretty good life style, not to have to reduce us to eating at McDonald's.
Here's the news that was released on Nov. 10th. I guess it took a bit of time to release this story, since it came with the bailout, or.... remember how Paulson wanted it all to be secret? Well, he must have figured out a way to keep it so, until now. Here's the story:
From the AP on November 10th: “A new tax policy from the Treasury Department will let companies that take over banks hit by the mortgage crisis to write off more of the losses. One estimate says it could save those firms up to $140 billion dollars in taxes. Private tax experts say in some cases, the tax breaks could exceed the cost of acquiring the banks. And they
would come on top of the $700 billion government bailout."
Wow. Those guys do know how to make deals.
From Bloomberg on Nov. 11th: "Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, wants firms to place limits on dividends and executive pay before getting capital under the program. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, has called for a moratorium on Wall
Street bonuses."
So... whatdda ya say? Shouldn't we come up with a deal of our own? Maybe we should put our tax money into escrow, and say that our government can hold it, but we want something in return. Anybody know a lawyer that can write this one up? Then, those of us that want to join that group, can pay our taxes into this escrow fund, and make it a class action. What are our taxes supposed to pay for?
Blackwater? Diebold? I'll bet we can find some lawyer that can justify our demands to see something back for our money. Maybe better gear for our soldiers, from companies that hire American workers to make them?
Or... we can just tell them that they can cash our checks, when they bring the real crooks to justice. We've just seen what happens when the people get off their couches and do something, right? We have a thinking President elect, that can make decisions of his own, after gathering useful information - like facts. This brings forth nutty ideas like "Truth, Justice and the American Way".
Jill Paperno
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
We are the second homeowners from Long Island who would like to respond to the letter from John and Jane Rossitz who called us selfish and ignorant because we are against Dean Gitter's Crossroads Resort, with taxpayer dollars being used for ski-out trails.
They mention the taxpayer dollars that are spent at Jones Beach and other State Parks on Long Island. To clarify, Jones Beach is state owned and operated with taxpayer money for the benefit of the public. Belleayre Mountain Ski Center is also state owned and operated with taxpayer money for the benefit of the public. Dean Gitter's resort will be owned privately and will be for the benefit of the owners, the investors, and the rich clientele they serve.
I'm sorry that the job market is so bad in your area that you feel this resort "is as good as it gets," but there are no guarantees that this development will supply good paying jobs to anyone, especially if portions of it are sold to Marriott or some other big hotel chain. What would be guaranteed is the irreparable damage to the mountain and the "forever wild" wilderness. The risk to the environment is just too great.
PS: We'd like to thank Nathan Weber of Shandaken for his great letter to your paper. He could have been telling our story also, when we started coming to the mountains 40 years ago.
Joyce & Tom McLaughlin
Northport, NY

Dear Editor,
Well, I am finally getting caught up on my letter writing. I have just heard and read that the Town of Shandaken Senior Citizens lunch program is being discontinued because of lack of funding.
I feel that it is an outright disgrace that the majority of the Town of Shandaken Town Board would vote not to fund this essential program. How can the Town Board members caucus and decide not to assist the Senior Citizens of the Town of Shandaken? The seniors are the backbone of our community!
In the past year, the Town has made numerous unauthorized expenditures - $3,500 was spent on the Ferrendino report in opposition to the Belleayre Resort. Another $1,200 was spent in an attempt to replace the Mt. Tremper sign. Most recently, $8,000 to $12,000 has been spent on a specialized contract for the sewer plan. This has all been done without following required proper procedures. Yet the Town Board members cannot find a few hundred dollars to help put food on the table for our senior citizens!
Where are your priorities in these difficult times? Many folks on fixed incomes can't put fuel in their tanks or food on their tables right now. Let's take care of our Seniors and people with disabilities in this small yet essential way. Town of Shandaken, you have the power to do what is right.
As the elections are winding down, I feel that I must comment on what I believe is a tragedy involving some great people. These people are John Parete and his wife Barbara Tosi Parete.
I have know the Parete and Tosi families for over 40 years. We certainly never agreed on too much politically, but we always remained friends---as it should be.
Anytime a need arose or a tragedy occurred in the community, the Paretes were always there to help. John and Barbara have been steadfast in their dedication to helping others. With all of their efforts and willingness to help, they never asked for anything in return. John and Barbara can hold their heads high--they have been a blessing to many.
I really believe that John's letter of resignation should be rescinded and that he should be reinstated to his position of Commissioner of the Board of Elections. It's the right thing to do.
I also ask the Democratic majority in Ulster County to take a long, hard look at how the Democratic Party got to where it is today. The Democrats fought a long, uphill battle for decades in this county, and the Democratic Party's recent successes can largely be attributed to the dedication of the Paretes.
Al Higley
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
My name is Shannon Ryan. I have been a resident of Olive for the past 12 years and a lifelong resident of Ulster County. On August 14th, 2008 I was burned when a flooded wood splitter engine ignited a gasoline fire. I was airlifted to West Chester Medical Center with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 20% of my body. We are extremely lucky to have the quality of transportation and medical care that we enjoy and take for granted.
I feel the need to thank ALL of the people who have contacted us throughout this experience. The extreme volume of calls, contacts, cards and letters make it impossible to thank everyone individually. The benefit at Davis Park, the support from churches and businesses has all been appreciated and a little overwhelming. Please know that you have made a difference in mine and my family's lives. Thank You from the heart, all my family and friends near and far. There are times when the human spirit needs just what you have given.
Shannon Ryan
Olivebridge, NY