Letters to the Editor

3/26/2009

Dear Editor,
As the debate about the Onteora School District and the upcoming budget continues, I would like to add a brief comment from my perspective as the Executive Director of INDIE Programs, which you will know is in danger of having its funding drastically cut or eliminated.
Why should Onteora support INDIE? Why should the local community support INDIE, especially in such straitened times? I would like to put this a different way: Is it not in fact the other way around?
INDIE supports Onteora. INDIE supports the community, and has done so for ten years. It is true that we receive payment for some of our services, but it is also true that the majority of our work is not contracted and not paid. We work as teachers, as filmmakers, as consultants, to cover the financial shortfalls and to continue to serve our constituency: the youth of the district. We work after school, at weekends, through holidays, on trips to festivals, in meetings and talks with parents, with teenagers and community workers.
All of us at INDIE could find work elsewhere that is more lucrative. But we could not find work that is more rewarding or significant. That is why we do it, despite the difficulties.
I am sometimes told - sympathetically - that in today's economic climate, INDIE must consider itself as a business, and bow to the rules all businesses must bow to. Very well, then. If we are a business, what is our product? And what is the value of that product? What does it cost to make that product, and is it - purely in dollars and cents - a viable enterprise?
Our product is a young citizen who is fulfilling his or her potential that otherwise would not be fulfilled. Our product is a student who finishes high school instead of dropping out. Our product is a young man or young woman who goes to college instead of sitting on the village green at 19 years old. Our product is a group of individuals who are happier, more productive, stronger, with more skills and self-confidence, who then put back into our community.
Three hundred students have been a part of INDIE since its inception. Many are now at college.
Now, imagine the district without INDIE, with more troubled students, with more drop outs, with more stress and strife, and higher expenditure on other programs (always higher than Indie),
Finally, I would like to stress that at INDIE we are all local residents, committed to the local community - not only Woodstock, but Pine Hill, Olive, West Hurley and Phoenicia and especially the outlying townships. I have worked with staff at local schools for five years and I can say that I have rarely met a group of more talented, dedicated and creative teachers. They are working under impossibly difficult conditions, and it is time to acknowledge that good schools begin with a vision - a vision which involves the entire community, and must morally center on the future wellbeing of our children, and embody our best hopes. A vision has no place for fear, or faint heart.
So yes, let's treat our schools as businesses, and work out what the priorities are for the $50 million annual budget.
Perhaps the broadest education and encouragement of our 1,700 students is a good starting place?
If the school budget were fifty dollars, INDIE's relative 'cost' would be one dime. Removing that dime will not solve any of the very real problems which exist in the district, or in the world - but employing it for the benefit of those currently in need would be a very efficient use of a dime indeed.
Russell Richardson, Exec. Director
INDIE Programs
Boiceville, NY

Dear Editor,
The administration has proposed a spending increase of 3.97 percent, the same as if there were an austerity budget. The tax increase on that proposal is estimated to be nine percent. If the budget is defeated, they would, under state law for austerity budgets, be allowed the same 3.97 percent spending increase. The proposed 9 % increase is inconsistent and excessive because of the economy of this Country and doesn’t take into account that retirees and those living on a fixed income are finding it harder to keep their heads above water. It’s likely that the proposed budget tax levy increase might be lowered when the stimulus and State money comes in, but not enough to lower the tax levy to a level that the working poor and those living on a fixed income would be able to afford.
The proposed 9 % increase is not necessary because the school could and should consolidate. Last years Board of Education’s plan with help from an Advisory Board said that consolidating, closing one elementary school and other money management factors they had planned would save the district 2.3 million dollars annually.
Word is that the three Board members that got elected last May ran on the idea that they wouldn’t close the Phoenicia School. People working at the Phoenicia School didn’t want to loose their jobs so they undoubtedly played a large part in getting the three incumbents thrown off the Board so their long range plan to possibly close their school wouldn’t be implemented. Do the new Board members now find themselves in a box that they can’t get out? Apparently campaign promises is making it almost impossible for them to go along with the previous board’s long range consolidation plan that included closing one school?
In a recent e mail Superintendent Ford was asked if the 2.3 million dollars saving plan to close the Phoenicia School that was talked about last spring was a true annual savings to our school district. Her reply was 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.
That sounds like there was some talk at one time or another about closing the Phoenicia School, but no vote was ever taken. Dr. Ford’s statement didn’t say that the long range plan that the previous board planned on doing wouldn’t be cost effective and it didn’t say that it would effect any student’s education. In fact it sounds like it was a very well thought out plan that would benefit students and the tax payers well into the future. All of Onteora’s School District tax payers ought to be asking this question. If the total consolidation plan that the previous board had in place was the practical and cost effective way to go last year why isn’t it this year? Maybe the present Onteora School Board members should take a look in the rear view mirror to see the future of our district in the way that the previous board did.
William Warnecke
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
INDIE is so many things to so many individuals and the community at large. I know that for my daughter, her friends and my family, INDIE's presence, influence and guidance is a beacon filled with hope and possibility. I would hazard to say that for anyone in INDIE's history, whether directly or indirectly involved, the sense of being part of something of great value for our collective future would be quite similar.
INDIE is: a place for creative expression; education beyond the borders of the traditional classroom; spurring interest and inspiration for the individual and the collective community; motivation; a sense of accomplishment; an opportunity to build community, to learn, to experiment, to experience; a place to listen and a place to be heard.
For many of its students, INDIE is what keeps them in school. This is not a slogan or simple rhetoric, it is a sentiment that I have heard come from their very lips, time and time again. Onteora alone is not "doing it" for many of our children, they need INDIE, as they need BOCES and Special Education, and sports, and band, etc...
This is about our most precious commodity, the youth, our future, it is not a simple red line through some numbers on a balance sheet.
Karin Alisa Houben
West Hurley, NY

Dear Editor,
It is a shame that the people we are forced to learn from know so little about how to teach. It is a shame that Lance Edelman cannot elaborate further on the subject of what will happen to the at risk students of Onteora. He may believe Onteora is meeting the needs of its students but for many years the teachers at the school have believed the same and yet so many students there are unhappy. My personal experience at Onteora was that it was the most traumatic and depressing time of my life. The first two years of which I did without INDIE and if I had not been recommended for INDIE I would have dropped out when I turned 16, if I had lived to be 16. Instead I joined INDIE, I made films that got into the Woodstock Film Festival, and won awards from the Hudson Valley Student Film Festival, and the Reel Teens Festival. I left Onteora a year early to go to SUNY Ulster and today I have a real chance of escaping Woodstock, which is something not a lot of Onteora students achieve. Many other students that I started INDIE with are doing the same, students who, at the beginning of high school never, thought they'd leave Ulster County. They are almost all in college. So it is apparently the demise of INDIE that it has helped so many students succeed, because they are no longer around to fight for it or for the prospective students who will need it. I can assure anyone with doubts that there will always be students who need more than Onteora alone can give, and without INDIE to shoulder that burden Edelman has no hope of providing a safe learning environment for any of his students. I once heard that INDIE was created as a reaction to what was stirring in most schools in the late 90s, which was that students were acting out violently toward their schools, the worst of which was the Columbine massacre in 1999. Today we live in a time of change, which is good. However, teenagers have not changed so much that places like INDIE are no longer needed. The fear and dismay and angst that all kids feel is still alive and well and as long as Onteora students are compressed into that little tiny building there will always be more need for INDIE than Lance Edelman can see. I advise everyone to take a closer look at what experiences Onteora students leave with or without and what experiences we would like them to have or not have. As far as myself, I am afraid for the prospective students of Onteora if they do not have the option of INDIE and I am sad that something that was so vital to my survival of high school has had such hardships in surviving for itself.
Noria Gugliotta
Bearsville, NY

Dear Editor,
As some of you have noticed, the brackets lining the streets of Phoenicia that once housed baskets filled with beautiful flowers, have been taken down.. While it is a sad turn of events, something wonderful is going to come from it.
A wonderful project in its own right, the Summerscape Program brought attention to the town in a positive way, (for a change) over the last several years. Recently however, discord found its way to the flowers, and the town board, along with some residents, felt that it was money not well spent. Our Supervisor said himself that he and the Town Board did not support the program, would never fund it, and felt the need to offer other services to the community far outweighed the Program. So it became apparent that there was not a gleam of hope that a blossom would ever bloom again from the baskets along Main Street Phoenicia.
So, what to do with those pesky metal reminders of summers past, empty and longing, waiting for a purpose once again. Well, a purpose once again they shall have.
One can not argue that the greatest and most immediate need facing our community, is to feed the increasing number of residents relying on our community Food Bank and Food Pantry. Reports about the growing number of people looking to these services to nourish their families while they struggle to survive, dominate local and regional newspapers. With this in mind, it seems a no-brainer for SHARP and the Town Board of Shandaken, that instead of having these vacant objects hanging futilely from the poles, they could be sold and the proceeds can go towards both the Food Bank and the Food Pantry.. The brackets and baskets would go to a municipality that would make use of them in their own beautification program, and our town would benefit through helping those most in need. It is a win- win situation and solves the dilemma that has been brewing over the Summerscape Program. I encourage you all to support this town wide effort and I applaud the cool minds that came up with the solution.
Buffy Kibe
Exec. Director - SHARP
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
On or about December 9, 2009 I forwarded a letter addressing the bailout situations.
Understanding basic contract law, I advocated that no tax payer dollars be spent until all players sign letters of renunciation, renouncing all bonus money, all golden parachutes, all accrued compensation and all extra benefits, such as planes trains and cars etc.
What is done by a contract can be undone by a signed renunciation.
The congress did not place these types of restraints on the bailouts.
Now you have the greedy and arrogant corporate CEO's saying a contract is a contract.
I cannot believe that the congress does not have some lawyers who are knowledgeable in basic contract law. Perhaps there is a little Rush Harp conspiratorial thinking in all of us.
Senators and Congressmen have a separate retirement program that is not tied into FICA. It is funded directly with taxpayer dollars.
I wonder who manages and insures the senator's and congressmen's retirement fund. Could it be AIG? Did they take care of themselves and leave the taxpayers to swing in the breeze? What do you think?
H. Clark Bell
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to the recent Public Hearing on farm stand regulations in the Town of Shandaken. I had requested the opportunity to speak at this public hearing……I thought that was the purpose of the hearing….but was denied by supervisor DiSclafani because the hearing was taking more time than had been allotted. I wonder if one of the supervisor’s “advisors” had requested to speak if they would have been permitted to do so? That is another issue for another time.
My question to the Town Board’s representative on the Economic Development Committee, Doris Bartlett, was if this committee, organized to promote economic development had reviewed the proposed farm stand law? At the end of the regular Board Meeting Ms. Bartlett informed me that her committee had not. I would think that if the expressed purpose of this committee is to promote economic growth within the Town of Shandaken they would have carefully studied these proposed laws to see if indeed they would advance economic opportunity. It seems to me limiting the hours of operation, the time of year they can be open and when a business may keep their lights on certainly is not something the Economic Development Committee should be supporting by taking no stance on the proposal or not even discussing it for that matter.
If I recall correctly before the last election for two positions for Town Council and Supervisor each of those candidates, who were ultimately elected, campaigned for increasing the economic base of Shandaken by promoting new businesses along the Route 28 corridor. Seems ironic that by passing the new Farm Stand Regulations they will be discouraging future economic growth and possibly forcing the closing of one of the few thriving businesses on Rt . 28 that now provides a valuable service to town residents. (Doris Bartlett can’t be blamed for not following through on campaign promises… she wasn’t even elected but rather appointed by the majority of the current Town Board.)
Rather than spending time and tax payer money (attorney fees) to impose limits on services to our citizens the supervisor and council people should be trying to increase the tax base and provide more needed services such as addressing cell phone service, senior citizens needs, affordable sewer system for Phoenicia, and full cable TV service as promised by provider Time Warner.
Jack Jordan
Pine Hill, NY

Dear Editor,
Society deserves something back from Bernie Madoff, and all those other finance crooks. Enslave them in hard labor camps. Test all drugs, tortures and surgical techniques on them -- forget animals. Give ALL their homes and other assets to the people they screwed, NOT families or friends. And when they die, donate their organs, preserve what's left, and hang them naked in front of the Stock Exchange.
J. Andrew Smith
Bloomfield, NJ

Dear Editor,
Regarding the construction on Route 28A by the Ashokan Reservoir, we write to protest the extensive destruction being done in the name of safety. Overkill doesn't even begin to describe the deforestation and general lack of respect for the natural beauty of the area. As citizens of the Town of Olive we wonder why we were not asked to vote for or against this extensive work. Who made this decision?
The very pleasurable drive on 28A has now been ruined and it is now with deep sadness that we travel through this once beautiful area. And, in this economy especially, we ask the price of this project. We certainly hope it is not being paid with our tax dollars.
Anthony and Virginia Castrogiovanni
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
I was reading yesterday's Daily Freeman newspaper about how the Shandaken Town Board is trying to shut down a local farm stand and I started thinking about the news headlines I've seen this past week, 1. President Obama said government should be supportive of local businesses because they employ community residents and pay local taxes. 2. Former President Bill Clinton said that Americans must become more health-conscious. For Universal Care to be affordable, we must focus on prevention, eat sensibly (more vegetables!! less fast food!!) and exercise regularly. 3. There was a segment on 60 Minutes about Sustainable Markets. It is every person's "right" to have the availability of locally grown foods. There was also emphasis on the way area restaurants purchase local produce and put these items on their menus, for taste and health. 4. And then there was the poll on "American Freedoms" and restrictive legislation. It said that New York State comes in DEAD LAST for "Economic Freedoms" and a miserable 48th place for "Personal Freedoms." So what is wrong with this picture? Main Street Phoenicia looks like a war-zone, between the eye-sore of a hotel and the gas-tank debacle. (Is this what we want tourists to see this summer when visiting our town?) Phoenicia still doesn't have life-saving cell phone service. And the Shandaken Town Board is focusing all their legislative energies on driving away business. No wonder New York State is DEAD LAST in "Economic Freedoms." And if this town board has their way (some said this new farm stand legislation was NOT strict enough), we will be DEAD LAST in "Personal Freedoms" as well.
Martin Millman, Owner
Phoenicia Pharmacy
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
Sure, there are crooks out there. But the overwhelming majority of actions by corporate directors and managers that created today's messes have been legal.
Not only legal, but also widely regarded as essential for the American Way of Life. To put food on our tables. To heat our homes. To provide jobs. To defend liberty and freedom...
Simply put: giant business and financial corporations govern. The few who run them make goverrning decisions dictating people's work, living conditions, health and the nature of our communities.
Business and financial corporations are not simply "market players." Although in legal terms corporations are mere "fictions of the law," they function as political forces. Their directors and managers define how people live, what people do.
They write our laws, propagandize our children, dictate public policy, plunder the planet. To gain such power, they long ago got Congress, federal judges and state legislatures to wrap their corporate bodies in the Constitution of the United States. To bestow upon their corporate "fictions" the authority to govern.
Armed with "freedom of speech," "due process," "equal protection of the law," the "commerce clause," and other constitutional authority, corporate directors and managers wield the law against people, communities and the Earth.
Their real bottom line is not that their corporations are "just too big to fail." It's that without giant corporations, we helpless human Earthlings could do nothing to meet our needs. We would languish freezing, starving, unemployed, unentertained, vulnerable, in the dark.
After the great Savings and Loan thefts, after the great WorldCom and Enron corporation thefts - after every financial cataclysm of the past century - people have been assured that the problem was "greed and excess."
There were always pundits and politicians to declare "greed and excess," just as there were Madoffs galore to personify this evil. So as night followed day, legislatures passed laws to regulate "greed and excess."
Sure, Madoff and his ilk are major crooks. They've caused great harm to many people. There are laws aplenty to deal with such obvious crooks - so they'll end up in jail and good riddance.
But after the Madoffs of each generation are locked up, corporate directors and managers who "legally" screwed the nation continue governing the nation. They keep instructing us that the source of the nation's problems is "greed and excesses." They keep spending our money to fix their messes. They keep writing our laws.
So let's not be distracted by high-profile crooks on perp walks. Instead, we can look beyond "greed and excess" to what actually counts: the constitutional law, statute law and judge made law enabling a handful of corporate directors and managers to keep shoving their stupidities down our throats.
We the People can simply revise constitutional theory and practice regarding corporate "fictions," flesh and blood "humans," and planet Earth. To do this, we'll have to assume the authority to govern ourselves. Isn't that a revolutionary idea!
Richard Grossman
West Hurley, NY

Dear Editor,
Considering the financial melt down in progress this may seem like a minor matter but, it is not for forest landowners in the north east. We have had many major problems in the past with invasive insects destroying our forests and are enduring some now that are out of control. Examples are, Emerald Ash Borer about to destroy the Ash trees, the Wooly Adelgid which is killing our Hemlocks, working its way up the Hudson Valley. Our oaks are threatened with Oak Wilt and Sudden Oak Death syndrome, diseases of which little is known. The one that there is a lot known is the Asian Long Horned Beatle (ALB). This critter arrived in wooden pallets from China and if left unchecked has the potential of wiping out all the hardwoods, particularly the Sugar Maples, of not only the Catskills but, the whole north east of the country.
The ALB, first discovered in Brooklyn in 1996, and later discovered in Chicago and in some counties in New Jersey where it is believed to have been eradicated using extreme measures. Recently it has been discovered in Worcester, Mass. The potential for economic, social, and environmental effects if this pest were to become established in the Catskills is extensive.
To counter and increase awareness of this threat and others to our forests the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation is developing a day long conference that will inform stakeholders, forest landowners and others, how to detect these invasive and very destructive species. There will be a description of a mock exercise of what a rapid response by the DEC to a discovery of the ALB would be like in our area. This might well include, and most likely would, the clear cutting of many, many acres around the point of discovery. There would be no heed to the boundary lines of properties, private and other and the DEC has the lawful right to do this.
As a landowner, and knowledgeable of the potential disastrous effects of an unchecked infestation of the ALB, and knowing the cataclysmic impact of the DEC’s response would be if it occurred on or near my land I would remain supportive of their efforts to eradicate it. I suggest landowners and other stakeholders take note, get informed and if possible attend the conference.
Date Wednesday, May 6 – 9AM to 4PM Upper Lodge, Belleayre Mtn.
Save the date, information on registration will be forth coming in the near future.
Jack McShane, Treasurer
Catskill Landowners Assoc.
Andes, NY

Dear Editor,
I recently became aware of an issue which could have a huge impact upon our region. There is a new process for extracting natural gas which can reach shale beds two miles below ground level. There appears to be a high likleyhood of disruption to local aquifers, and emmisions into the atmosphere connected to this process. Major pipelines are also necessary for the delivery of natural gas to urban centers. The gas companies are approaching landowners for leases on their property with promises of big financial returns for the use of their land. At present they are moving forward in Northeast Pennsylvania, but according to an article in the New York Times in Sept.of 2008, landowners in the Margaretville area have already been approcahed.
We should be concerned about this because although the benefits that natural gas mining could bring to large landowners are attractive, every resident of the region will be exposed to the risks and environmental damage. This is something that needs to be discussed in the public realm now, not after it is too late.
I ask the local newspapers to please bring this important story to the attention of your readers.
Christina Countryman
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
Bravo for the free Phoenicia Times that prints some of the writing of one of the most significant writers of the 20th century, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Samuel Beckett, from his play "Waiting for Godot" and in the same issue where to obtain free cancer screenings. This is a newspaper that tries to be for all citizens.
At the end of the scene printed in the 2/26 POV, Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot. Much has been made of who Godot is. God is often the answer. Becket has said "If Godot were God, I would have called him that.
When asked what Godot stood for, Beckett replied it suggested itself to him by the slang word for boot in French, "Godillot Godasse", because feet play such an important part in the play. This is the explanation most given.
Second most repeated story is that B. encountered a group of people standing on a street corner during the annual Tour de France bicycle race and he asked what they were doing, "nous attendous Godot" they replied that all the competitors had passed except for the oldest, whose name was Godot.
Another story is that he was waiting for a bus on the rue Godot de Mauroy and was accosted by a prostitute. He refused and the woman, in a huff, demanded to know what special creature he was saving himself for, was he waiting for Godot?
Becket also said "If I know who Godot was, I would have said so in the play. He maintains that Godot was a bad play and expresses amazement that people find so much in it. He said he wrote it to kill time, waiting for the war to end and for his novels, which he felt was his important work, to be recognized.
There is a line in Godot that really resonates:
Vladimir: But you can't go barefoot!
Estragon: Christ did.
Vladimir: Christ! What has Christ got to do with it? You're not going to compare yourself to Christ!
Estargon: ALL MY LIFE I'VE COMPARED MYSELF TO HIM.
From his novel "Molloy" : "I can't help it, gas escapes from my fundament on the least pretext, it's hard not to mention it now and then, however great my distaste. One day I counted them. Three hundred and fifteen farts in nineteen hours, or an average of over sixteen farts an hour. After all it's not excessive. Four farts every fifteen minutes. It's nothing. Not even one fart every four minutes. It's unbelievable. Damn it, I hardly fart at all, I should never have mentioned it. Extraordinary how mathematics help you to know yourself."
Robert Jacobson
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
Several years ago I wrote a letter to this paper expressing my displeasure with something the Olive Highway Department did on my street. Recently they did something else and I now feel compelled to write again.
A couple of weeks ago we had a major windstorm and two of our trees near the road got blown down, taking with them the electrical and phone service for my house. Most of the trees wound up in the street and when Central Hudson responded they sent a crew out and cut the trees off the wires and moved them to the side of the road. That was great but it left us wondering how we were going to get rid of the trees permanently.
The next morning we heard a strange noise and thought it was our generator malfunctioning so we ran outside to find our trusty Highway Department cutting up, chipping and carting away the debris. To say we were overjoyed would be an understatement. They did a great job and removed a huge burden off our shoulders and both my wife and I are grateful.
It’s easy to get motivated to send a nasty letter when things go wrong, but we think it just as important to say thanks for the great job when dedicated groups of people come to our aid in a time of need. So many thanks to the Olive Highway Department, the crews of Central Hudson, the Olive Fire Department and a couple of good friends (you know who you are) for all they did to help us through some stormy seas.
Colin & Pat Houston
Boiceville, NY

Dear Editor,
It's finally coming - the media is waking up. They are beginning to acknowledge that Wall Street has been engaged in unprecedented corruption. Someone leaked out the AIG bonus fiasco and told the public. Whoops. Now, the middle class knows what the lower class has always known. That we've all been had. Of course, the lower class had no hand in it, but I'll bet that the middle class had an inkling that some of that easy money that was multiplying by simply trusting their brokers, was tainted. Now it's sliding out of their hands, just as easily as it slid in. Don't you want to blame someone? Sure you do, but I think that we have to first admit that we were a part of it, just as we were a part of going into Iraq. Looks like doing nothing is becoming less of an option.
The guilt begins at the top, with the gigantic crooks at AIG and Goldman, Sachs, to the lobbyists, and then to our representatives, and finally down to our 401K's. Come on, don't tell me that you never suspected that those portfolios that you never looked at, weren't invested in something sordid. You just didn't want to know about it. After all, everyone else on the planet was in on it. It became a world-wide way of life.
As for the media, let me tell you that if your job is to cover Wall Street, you're going to make friends on Wall Street. Those friends are going to take care of you in order to gain favors, like an invitation to CNBC when releasing a new product. You shake my hand, I'll shake yours. I mean do you really think that they are not going to offer media folks some advice? Like maybe tip them off to a good broker, or a stock that's about to take off. You don't think so? Well, I'd like to see someone look into the wealth of the Wall Street media pundits and find out. Who decides which company to put onto CNBC when their stock needs a lift? No-one? The news just gets out on TV? Or, are we fed whatever is to their benefit? The media got their share, our brokers got their share, and we got our share, until, like the very old Ponzi scheme, the facts began to leak out.
Madoff had to run out of money, once some of his clients asked for their investments back. They were spent, or stashed away in some other country, because he wasn't invested in anything. Wall Street had to crumble, because as enormous as their best picks were, just too much was going out to the top and not enough into managing the companies.
We live in a culture that believes that money is infinite. We live in a culture that believes that clean air and clean water will always be available. That our planet can support an infinite population. Well, we folks that live in the country, know that it's not true.
I'll never forget driving down a country road at night, a few years ago, when I saw millions of frogs on the road. I had no choice but to drive over them. It hurt. Next year, there were no frogs to be
seen. Need I say more about infinity? Let's wake up and get responsible. Let's hold criminals accountable. Let's go back to the
rule of law - and let's get back to work.
Jill Paperno
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
Michael Hein’s State of The County address was the most accurate and realistic appraisal of the county’s state of affairs that I have heard. I fully agree with him that tough times lie ahead and fully support him in his effort to reduce the expansiveness of Ulster County government.
The big savings, that supporters of the Charter envisioned will come at the heels of reducing the size of our county’s government and restricting the bureaucratic propensity to spend and expand.
Our County’s escalating property taxes have more to do with our county’s department heads than our county’s legislators. Remember if you will, our legislators, unlike the ones in Washington and Albany cut their salaries and health benefits to reduce costs.
Had you attended legislative meetings over the past few years you would have realized that county government had become far too complex for part time legislators to handle. As a result, the legislators became increasingly dependent on the counsel of the department heads that they were supervising. Department Heads that were far more interested in increasing their budget than reducing it. Most of the “run amok” spending projects that we, the tax-payers have been straddled with over the years, come from the drawing boards of certain department heads. Now, with these departments under executive supervision, things should improve dramatically.
However, Hein & his staff will have their work cut out for them as they move to change an entrenched system that has been going on for decades. From what I have seen so far, they seem up to the task. How fast they can do it is another matter.
But, to give Hein his due, he has surprised the hell out of me already. He has been able to neutralize his own and his staff’s salaries and will be saving us an additional $133,000 when the Commissioner of Finance retires. He has also reduced the county’s electricity costs by $200,000 by signing up with an energy consortium.
I am impressed.
Thomas P Kadgen
Shokan NY

Dear Editor,
Reference: Onteora Central Schools – School Board...
One man’s Observations and Opinion from information he has read and heard regarding the Onteora School District
A little about me before I start:
1. Graduated from Onteora 1981
2. 5 years US Military - Navy
3. 30 years in construction industry as a laborer, foreman, supervisor and now sales
4. My fiancé has a daughter in Bennett School
Enough about me but I hope that helps.
First, a question to the Board for my education and others reading this.
What is your Goal? And not to be sarcastic but what is your Function?
One issue as I see it is what to do with the building space the school has and how to best service the students with this space.
Opinion one is to consolidate. Bring the current population to a central location therefore meeting the request of the NY state government offices the plan they wish to implement across the state. This to the means of receiving more moneys to provide a better education for the children.
Opinion two to hold the status quo and use the buildings and space we have to provide an education for the children.
How do we get these two points of view to meet?
My compromise (opinion) is as follows:
Take the space the school has and retrofit the buildings to be as green as possible therefore receiving the green incentives the states may be offering. This will also show a savings to the school in energy cost. There will be improvements in the students’ attitudes and grades (this information is documented in many magazines and studies). The teacher’s should appreciate the improved atmosphere as well.
This will bring short-term jobs into the community through construction improvements. These improvements will draw more families into the community because they may want to have there children education in a green sustainable environment. This may also bring some of the home schools students back to the public school system to provide a different social atmosphere to grow up in perhaps being able to better associate with society.
The State’s plan to consolidate the school system has many benefits but has the State reviewed and judged what is best for the larger school districts in the State. Onteora to my understanding is the second largest school district in the state by area. So maybe the plan for the small schools districts by area are not what might be best for the larger school districts by area.
I believe the previous school board did some studies, opinions from the community are share through emails like this, and the phone lines set up. Therefore, I would like to see this board make decisions and move forward on these issues, even if that direction is not the direction I see as the best path.
I would gladly embrace any responds to this one man’s opinion. Let me know how you feel. But more importantly, if you care about the children at Onteora let the School Board know how you feel.
We all have opinions and on important issues like this, it is important to share them with the people that are making these decisions.
Adam T. Baker
Christian, Father, Step Father,
American, Veteran
Olive, NY

Dear Editor,
Well our next big event is under way. A chicken BBQ on May 2, 2009, Shokan Park, 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This time we are cookin!!!!!! Dinner will be just like Olive Day. All Ticket we be sold in advance. You can obtain tickets with Liz Sopata at the high school or email doit472ny@aol.com. Tickets are $15.00 and include half of a chicken, homemade salads and deserts and a beverage. Take out will be available. This BBQ is to raise money for the Belleayre Bash. The Bash is an all night event that keeps our kids safe on one of the most dangerous nights of the year, graduation night. It takes approximately $10,000.00 to support the Bash and in the past we have given away prizes that include a trip for two and a laptop computer. Prizes and fun start the moment the kids get on one of the three buses that pick them up at an elementary school and then drops them off at that location the next morning. We are also looking for local music entertainment to perform at the BBQ. We welcome donations. Onteora SADD, PO Box 300, Boiceville, New York 12412.
Cindy O'Connor & Angie Singer
Co-Advisors, SADD

Dear Editor,
Babette Kiesel wrote a letter last week telling me I should be ashamed for exercising my God-given American right to speak out against injustice and petition my elected officials. She says I’m greedy and calls me a “scoff-law.” She wonders if I want to set a precedent. Ms. Kiesel, and the people trying to pass this new law either don’t understand what’s going on or else they don’t share the American values that most of us live by.
I opened a farm stand almost identical to another business in the same zone and have been harassed since day one. The town tried to shut me down but did not have a legal leg to stand on. When they couldn’t close me down, they demanded that I pay $2,500 to them for a site plan review that would give me the permit I needed. Then, after altering then cashing my check, they did not give me the review. Instead, they proposed this new law which is so bad that it would put me out of business.
Most Americans value their right to speak out when they are persecuted and it is clear by their actions that this town board and some of our fellow citizens are trying to shut me down not because I’m illegal but because they just don’t like me.
Most Americans believe that laws should be enforced fairly and equitably, not used as a hatchet to stop people you don’t like. The current Shandaken administration lets their friends get away with abusing the law and enforces selectively against people who disagree with them.
Most Americans think that competition is a good thing, that small Mom and Pop businesses are good for the community and that entrepeneurs who pay taxes and create jobs are good people, not greedy.
You can ignore the fact that their “shakedown” of me for $2,500 was illegal and a really bad precedent, and you might not mind that their alteration of my check was at least a misdemeanor and perhaps a felony. And due process - forget it.They put the check in the general fund instead of in an escrow account where it belonged. But if you look at the law they now propose, you have to be frightened. You have to stand up and shout.
They propose to dictate what days I open and close, what hours I open and close, and what I can and can not sell. The law will prevent me from lighting the business, or expanding it in any direction. And if those rules aren’t enough, the law says the planning board has the duty to think up more restrictions. So how is it that Dave Pillard can call me the bully and Maureen Millar can say we need a law that is more restrictive than this one?
Either they don’t understand what this means or they don’t believe in the American free-enterprise system. They don’t want big-scale development. They don’t want small farm stands. They don’t want people in business who might make a profit and they don’t think 3-6 jobs for local residents are important.
So, Ms. Kiesel, I am not ashamed for standing up for my rights, and I’m not ashamed of the others who stood up with me. If they take that right away from us, what do we have left?
Al Higley
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
Hey, it’s Cally again! Sorry, I haven’t written in while because my brother has been sick and it’s been busy. I’m going to fill you in on some of the news! I’ve been lost in the world of seat assignments! We have bus seat assignments now in the afternoon. Kids were saying, “no, I want to sit there!” or “no, I had the outside seat!” and arguing about it, so now we have sit in the same seat every afternoon. Maybe the kids are a bit too tired to argue about seats in the morning, so we can sit anywhere we want then.
In my class we have new seat assignments. We just had this State math test, and we were sitting in rows for it. I preferred sitting in rows. I think it makes it easier to pay attention. Now, I’m in a group of four. I sit with Ryan, Brianna, and Madison. You’re looking right at the person across from you when you’re in a group like this, and sometimes it’s easy to look at their paper, or you find yourself talking to them.
I think seats should be assigned by personality. Some children are distracting, and some children aren’t. Sometimes, I’m a distracting person, and in my world of seat assignments I would be sat with someone quiet who doesn’t have many friends and needs a distracting person to bring them out. In my imagination of seat assignments, people who are being distracting to other people can sit at their own table until they have improved on their listening. People who have been wonderful all the week would get to choose who they want to sit with (and get a “free ice cream” slip to use in the cafeteria). I think teachers will approve of my seating ideas. What do you think?
Callie Mansfield
West Shokan, NY