Letters to the Editor

11/6/2008

Dear Editor,
Is paying taxes patriotic? Or more specifically, is asking the wealthiest of Americans to pay a higher tax rate patriotic? Joe Biden recently suggested this and was immediately mocked by Sarah Palin. As is often the case when Republicans go on the attack, the Democrat, Joe Biden, backed away from his comment. But I think this idea deserves serious consideration.
I have been fortunate enough to have been in the lowest tax bracket and the highest tax bracket. And let me tell you, life is much easier in the highest tax bracket. People who work for lower wages, in general, have the hardest, most soul crushing jobs. Those of us who are lucky enough to make more money, in general, have easier, more rewarding careers. Many of us have lived the American dream and worked our way out of poverty into wealth. It is time for us to now do our duty. My experience at both ends of the spectrum lead to me believe that yes it is fair and patriotic for the wealthiest of us to pay a higher tax rate.
We've asked our young people to go into combat for us. Their families are making do with little pay and constant worry about their loved ones. These soldiers who are asked daily to put their lives on the line for their country are generally from lower income families. And yet we had no hesitation in asking for their sacrifices. We pushed and pushed for this war and shouted down the nay-sayers as "un-American" and "unpatriotic." Now it's time for the rest of us to chip in.
We have to pay back the money we borrowed to fund the war. One of the reasons the global economy is in such disarray today is because so many other countries lent us money and are now beginning to see that we may not be able/willing to pay it back. We were lent money on the assumption that the United States was a safe bet.
Whether you were for or against the war in Iraq, it is time to come together as Americans and pay the debts we owe, both to our soldiers and to the world who bet on us.
Margot Peter
Millbrook, NY

Dear Editor,
You recently ran a long letter about a writer’s need “to escape on weekends, to an area largely untouched by the maddening overdevelopment in the city.” We understand his need and the need of other second homeowners who are so financially successful they can afford to own and maintain two or more residences. But sometimes, people who don’t earn their livings here, don’t understand the needs of permanent, full-time residents who struggle just to hang on to one home.
The fears expressed are the same fears we’ve heard through our long review process. Most have been laid to rest and the concerns that remain are all part of the 157 page scoping document experts are now responding to as they produce another Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Specifically:
1) Long-time businesses in the area are already closing their doors because there is not enough business traffic in the area now to support them. More than 30% of the businesses here just eight years ago are gone and others will soon close. Life-long residents already face the loss of their homes, not because of the Belleayre Resort but because there are few decent jobs to support them here.
2) Construction and waste trucks are not going to clog Rt. 28 and it is not already over-driven. The traffic on Rt. 28 now doesn’t come close to the number of vehicle trips for which the road is designed. Rt. 28 is busy on weekend nights when second-homeowners and visitors are coming and going and in morning and evening hours during the week when people are commuting in and out. More jobs here will mean fewer commuters.
3) We are not blasting off mountain tops or building on excessively steep slopes. Projects virtually identical to this have been built at both Hunter and Windham during the last five years and mostly on slopes over 35%, with no apparent crisis for anyone. We are not going to create toxic runoff in New York City’s water because we are committed to a totally organic regimen for the entire resort property.
4) The project will not be visible from everywhere, it will not eliminate magnificent views of trees and wildlife and it will not beam light up into the night sky.
5) The clientele of our project will not be insulated from the local community. Nearly half of our units will have kitchens, encouraging visitors to buy groceries, wines and other amenities locally as most other second homeowners do.
6) Exhaustive testing has determined that there is more than ample water in the region for this project and water tables in the area will not be sharply reduced.
Contrary to the letter, every single fear expressed therein is being reviewed and if necessary, mitigated. So let’s look at the benefits.
This project will add significantly to the existing tax base, bring down property taxes for everyone else and create sales and bed tax revenue for state and county. The jobs it will provide will not be minimum-wage jobs but will be well above that and will have comprehensive benefit packages as well. These will be far better jobs than most that currently exist in this area.
We have demonstrated, through data provided by the New York State Department of Labor, that there is an adequate work force already here. Most of the workers are now driving out of the area to Kingston or Oneonta to work – often commuting 50 or more miles a day. Jobs here will save traffic and energy use.
This project doesn’t even begin to approach, in size or scope, anything at Vail or Aspen so those comparisons are not valid but only meant to frighten people. The only projects like it have been built in the Adirondacks and over at Hunter and Windham. They have been good projects – environmentally and economically. Further our housing prices are already too high for the working class people who live here. That is why we need better jobs with better salaries and benefits.
Anyone who actually looks at the facts and figures recognizes that it is possible to balance environmental protection with economic development, which the Belleayre Resort project certainly does.
Very truly yours,
J. Lawrence-Bauer, Public Relations
Crossroads Ventures, LLC
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
My previous letter erred on the day and date of the next Olive Re-localization meeting. The correct date and time is Sunday Nov. 9, 5pm at the Odd Fellows Hall, Rt. 213, Olivebridge. Wood-fired pizza potluck from 5-7 with a talk by Donna Crawford of the UC Cooperative Extension describing the myriad of programs and information available relating to home gardening and food preservation.
At 7pm we will screen "The Power of Community", a one hour film which illuminates the conversion within Cuba back to local food production and a much higher reliance on local resources due to a 50% reduction in their oil supply in 1991.
The economic revival driven by the long dormant agricultural sector that is well underway in Hardwick VT will be examined for usable ideas. The town of 3000 people had fallen on very hard times with even the local porn theatre and bars closing up.
In a recent NY Times article titled "Uniting Around Food To Save An Ailing Town", Marian Burros describes the vision and actions of a new breed of growers and food processors which has resulted in 75-100 new jobs and a real economic revival.
The new/ old phenomenon of homesteading will be discussed along with the concept of households increasing their annual planting of edible perennial plants and trees such as nuts, fruits and berries.
In my view the largest potential for any sort of meaningful increase in local food production and preservation lies within our individual homesteads. Some of the old farms are being revived but it takes a lot of time and a tremendous amount of capital. A household can easily put in a dozen nut, fruit and berry plants every year and within 7 or 8 years the town would overflow with food. Olive is blessed with some very fine soils, was once a net food exporter and was very much food and energy sufficient.
Mind you there is a requirement for some real physical labor with all of this. Judging by what I see up at the school and around town, there may be some young people who may desire some regular aerobic activity as a balance to the sedentary time spent on more academic pursuits.
All the disparate elements and more that are needed to increase economic activity and food security are here for us to develop if we choose. I recently attended a buying club pickup in a nearby town. An Amish farmer and his family sold out of goods. Butter from pasture fed cows was 12- 13 dollars a pound. Everything else was commensurate. Bread-$5-6, sauerkraut-7.50/qt.,kimchee-$5/pt.! The lot was full, the farmers huge van was new. His animals are pastured, the pre-requisite for the high prices.
People are demanding locally grown foods and paying a premium for it.
There is always a bull market in something and local quality foods are it at this time and likely for the foreseeable future.
RSVP to me at 657-2030 or waverider75@earthlink.net for the pizza potluck ingredient needs list or with other questions about the gathering. Park at the fire house, bring a flashlight and dress warm.
On another note, Olive neighbors are well known for stepping up and in particular Jim Senecal (657-9777) and his able assistant Ben Corley could use a skilled hand or 3 for the final push on insulating, sheetrocking, taping painting and finishing Donnie Maher's burned house rehab that is well underway on Reservoir Rd., Shokan, next to Sadler's Happy Hostas. Its getting cold and Don needs to get in asap. A few items are still needed so please call for details. Many thanks and I hope to see you at the potluck.
Charlie Blumstein
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
As Executive Director of the Kingston-based Resource Center for Accessible Living and on behalf of persons with disabilities, I am concerned about the dire budget crisis facing New Yorkers. Non-partisan data from the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that when “…the economy weakens, state and local revenues decline, but the need for public programs increases, as residents lose jobs, income, and health insurance.”
We are seeing individuals and families coping with job loss and an inability to pay for mortgages, utility bills, health insurance, medically necessary prescription drugs and often food. We are already seeing cuts or elimination of needed services.
Across the board budget cuts at the state level are bad policy and will harm many of New York’s most vulnerable residents by affecting the programs that provide necessary assistance. Cutting programs that keep marginalized people stable would only provoke situations that would need more costly (i.e. tax dollar) solutions. Many not for profits such as RCAL run programs that actually save Medicaid dollars. To decrease the budget across the board will guarantee unwanted results both fiscally and in real people’s lives.
I urge Governor Paterson to consider not just more budget cuts but also to increase revenue. The chairperson of Governor Paterson’s own Council of Economic Advisors, Joseph Stiglitz, advised earlier this year that New York looks to raise revenue as part of a balanced approach of shared sacrifice, rather than close its budget gap through cuts alone.
Tax increases are never easy. Nevertheless, a temporary increase for income tax top rates would avoid draconic cuts in services for New York’s vulnerable children, individuals and families.
Susan J. Hoger, LMSW
Executive Director of RCAL
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
SEPTEMBER 11,2001, a day that will go down in history along with Pearl Harbor, and the invasion of ALASKA by the Japanese army, (which many people did not know happened.) It was also a day that all Americans, Black, White, Yellow and Red, came together as one United group. People helped each other, even if they did not know that person, cars actually stopped to let pedestrians cross the street, crime went down, and a hatred rose for those who would commit such a horrendous act. "GET EVEN" was the feeling amongst most Americans.Our leaders felt that since we won the Desert Storm war in just a few weeks we can certainly beat the dastardly cowards who attacked our country. Only one thing I feel they left out, we were not fighting a uniformed army as in Desert Storm we are going to fight a invisible force who uses women and children as shields, who shoot and drop their
weapons and become a regular civilian, fitting in with the other people. We didn"t realize that 13 and 14 year old kids were used to sit on walls and when our soldiers pass by they (the kids) shoot them in the back, drop their guns behind the wall and walk away. For seven years our soldiers have been killed and maimed by IED's planted under roads, yet not one defense company has come up with a device to detect these explosives. It's sort of like fighting another Viet Nam War where the bad guys shoot and then disappear underground or go into another country for safety. But hey, lets give that country more money so they can build up their armies who will then most likely turn around and
fight us. What I would like to know, and probably all of middle America is who became very rich with all those defense contracts. I have a suggestion, " if we want to win this war, let our fighting men do what they were trained to do."
Politicians, Generals, Colonels, ACLU groups, Human Rights people, stand down, back off, let our boys show the world what we are made of. Did any of you complain when we dropped the Atom Bomb on Japan? If you really want to help, tell our leaders to make better equipment for our troops.
Peter G. Polis
Shokan NY

Dear Editor,
The leaves have turned and a chill is in the air. What's next? Thanksgiving! Family of Woodstock invites everyone to our truly Wonderful 33rd annual FREE Thanksgiving Day Feast. It is a heartwarming day filled with good conversation, amazing and delicious food, home made music and a loving spirit of giving thanks for all that we have.
We will serve three to four hundred meals on Thursday, November 27th this year from 1PM to 4PM at the Woodstock Community Center. We will also provide "take home" to people who cannot join us and to our police officers and hotline staff who work on the holiday. If you can make your favorite dish to share, cook a turkey or would like to contribute time or money for the Thanksgiving Feast, contact Family right away. We can't do it without YOU! Call 679-2485
Susan Goldman
Family volunteer
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
I tell stories at the Woodstock Library story hour and I am seeking more information for a story about the merry-go-round horse in the children's room. Bill Spanhake, who owned a saw mill in Wittenberg, carved that horse and five others in 1954. The horses were to be placed on a merry-go-round platform for the Library Fair but it was found the insurance would be exorbitant. The fair committee decided to auction the horses and asked the local artists Arnold Blanch, Doris Lee, Edward Chavez, Julio De Diego, Howard Mandel and Maud and Miska Petersham to paint the horses to make them more valuable. Five of the horses were auctioned but Peter, the horse in the library painted by the Petershams, was kept for the children's room. I tell as much of the story as I have been able to learn about Peter and the other horses but when I end the story, the children (and adults) want to know what happened to those other horses. Thus, I am asking anyone who knows where any of the horses are to please call me at 679-8471. The children will be grateful.
Avis Gebert aka Grandma Avis
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
The October 23rd edition of the Phoenicia Times did not disappoint me in that William [Bill] Warnecke and Mescal Hornbeck are still on their "hate" campaign during this election cycle [with much misinformation].
To Mr. Warnecke who reports that everyone saw the TV clip of the woman who "wouldn't vote for Obama because he's an Arab (or words to that effect)" he heard it correctly. "Then McCain took the mic and said 'no, no ma'am he's a decent man and you don't have to be afraid' ". What is wrong with "decent" as opposed to "good", Bill? [Only God is good].
What is so difficult to remember re: the lady's 9 words, or McCain's 14 words which you memorialized? Does anyone who is listening these days recall McCain denouncing Bill Cunningham for his Ohio introduction of McCain and referring to Obama as Barak "Hussein" Obama?
Are the Bush hater's minds so warped as to fabricate? John McCain is an honorable human being and does not deserve these personal attacks. It is fine to support one's choice for any position, but hate has no place in any decision. Laws will not prevent that, but hate expressed in whatever way is a manifestation of character, integrity and who we are.
Are we surprised to know on Nov. 5th it is "President" John McCain? Aw; the election was "stolen" again [hopefully].
Mescal Hornbeck drew my attention once again with such nonsense as to be confusing; a frivolous use of space and ink. She places a plague on both candidate's house regarding health care [for all]. Ms Hornbeck, if you are not satisfied with a Republic complete with capitalism [warts and all], then perhaps a change of political and social scenery [the Steppes or Siberia] would bring joy to your heart. The Insurance companies are going to run their business their way or not at all. They can always produce "widgits" or "thing-a-ma-jigs" [and make a profit].
Both candidates are fools in their health care remedies and most of us are comfortable with what we have as a result of diligence and motivation. Make no mistake; we who enjoy a retirement with employer health care have paid for that benefit long ago. Should one continue to pay premiums after a life insurance policy matures? Everyone is being cared for and Medicaid is alive and well. The Constitution guarentees "the pursuit of happiness" but fails to mention good health or free health care [fo all].
Too bad some are so unhappy. Perhaps national health care can address that also. Unhappiness and disappointment is indeed a health issue just as gun ownership is.
Glenn T. Anderson
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
The Gilsinger family would like to thank everyone in our community for the kindness, graciousness, and support that’s been extended to us since Hope’s passing. We especially want to thank the Shandaken Ambulance squad and Police Department, and all of our friends and neighbors who’ve reached out to us during this time. Were grateful for the caring and the sensitivity people have shown, which we deeply appreciate.
The Gilsinger family
Chichester, NY

Dear Editor,
Visitors to Phoenicia are still wondering about the strange occurrence in town on Sunday afternoon, October 26th. There were princesses and devils, batmen, minutemen, Grecians and pirates, in big and small sizes, all parading thru town. To all – you were resplendent in your costumes for the annual Halloween Parade. Thank you. And, it didn’t hurt that there was near-perfect weather.
We estimated that about 250 people participated. The M.F. Whitney Hose Company, ably led by Gary Carr, sponsored the event and guided our processional into town. And, thanks to Chief Jim McGrath and his team for securing us. As always, the Phoenicia Rotary provided refreshments, with one Rotarian greeting paraders in a large duck outfit. And, the PTA, is grateful to the St. Francis de Sales Parish for providing the hall in which to stage our Haunted House.
For the third year the Phoenicia PTA created a haunted house, guided by Jen Dragon’s wizardry. Jen, along with Katie Legnini, also hosted a 3-week afterschool program at Phoenicia, where children created decorations for the Haunted House.
And, the PTA is most appreciative to all those who helped set-up the fabulous Haunted House. They are:
Jen Dragon, Peter and Liz Appelson, Gina and Duane Krause, Holly Ellison, Christina and Peter Himberger, Karen and Mark Howenstein, Sarah Traeger, Katie Legnini, Deb Baldwin, Mimi Goese, Janet Baus (the ever-lovely Cleopatra), Mark Friedman (the toxic show-man), Chuck Cornelis (reprising his mad scientist role), Brian Powers and to some of their children, you know who you are.
And, lastly, a thanks to the people and businesses who generously donated items for our raffle, they
are:
The Boiceville Market, Maureen and Gene Gormley, Holly George-Warren (author of “Grateful Dead 365”), Pika’s Quiches and Krause’s Chocolates.
Maxanne Resnick
Halloween Parade Organizer
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
Thanks to spirited volunteers from dozens of organizations, for 10 days in October – from the 4th through the 13th – legions of people experienced the Catskill Mountains in their autumnal splendor during the 5th annual “Lark in the Park.” Originally designed and sponsored by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 2004 and 2005, the Lark in the Park has flourished in subsequent years under the leadership of The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development and the Catskill Mountain Club.
This year over 40 diverse events as well as annual regional festivals brought people from far and wide into the depths of the wilderness, got people onto our lakes, rivers and streams, celebrated our history and culture, connected rails and trails, and introduced people of all ages, abilities and walks of life to our majestic region.
The Lark’s tremendous success – exemplified by the enthusiasm of event leaders, festival organizers, and thousands of participants – illustrates how our desire to connect with nature, history, and culture draws hundreds of thousands to the Catskill Mountain Region every year, bringing much needed tourism dollars to our communities.
As we thank event leaders and the public for making this year’s Lark in the Park such a success, we are already beginning to plan for next year’s Lark. We welcome the DEC and regional organizations to join us as co-sponsors. To learn more about the Lark and the Catskill Park, visit the Catskill Center website at www.catskillcenter.org. And, please let us know if you’re interested in becoming a partner for Lark in the Park during The Catskill Center’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2009.
Lisa Rainwater, Executive Director
The Catskill Center for
Conservation and Development
Arkville, NY