Follow Up on the News
Todd said she has not yet heard the thoughts of Chief Assessor Rosalie Boland, who would be replaced if the measure passes only a couple months before the end of her current four years term, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Todd was not even sure that Boland was aware of the plan.
“I think she knows,” said Cross.
Noting that all other towns in Ulster County have made the switch from elected to appointed, Cross said the reason that this is now being entertained is because it would save the taxpayers money, as the town’s two assistant Assessors, both elected positions as well, would no longer be needed.
But he had difficulty explaining why the action is needed right now, and offered no particular reason for the rush.
Cross and two other members of the Republican majority, Todd and Joe Munster, are up for re-election in November. If the measure to appoint an assessor is passed within a month, the current board could make the appointment in advance of the election. The appointment would be for a six year term.
During the public hearing portion, former Town Supervisor Peter DiModica had concerns over the way the board was handling the switch well.
“It bothers me that there might be an appointment made that might not be fair to everyone in town,” DiModica said.
DiModica added that there is a certain level of corruption in town government that may contribute to an appointment that would benefit only a few.
DiModica, alluding to connections between the town board majority and powerful local interests, said “I have concerns that this town board is not going to pick someone who’s fair and balanced.”
In the past in Shandaken, outgoing majorities have been pressured to not make crucial appointments or take major actions in between losing their authority in November and actually stepping aside on New Years Day. Cross made no mention of the timeframe for switching assessors having anything to do with being able to make the appointment before election.
Todd suggested the appointment wait until January and be made when all other appointments are made at the annual reorganization meeting.
The list of potential candidates for the job is short. Boland is one, but Boland, who Cross said is contemplating retirement, is now fighting a lawsuit filed by the Shandaken Landowners Association that alleges unfair assessment practices. Another candidate may be Republican party loyal John Horn, who ran for the position of tax assessor a couple years ago and lost. Since then, according to Cross, Horn has been working on doing a revaluation of the town, and is said to have unofficially accomplished about 65% of the job. Horn also played a key role in Cross’s successful re-election bid two years ago.
The Landowners Association lawsuit was the subject of an executive session Monday night along with another undisclosed matter that may involve the town filing suit against someone or some entity.
Details of either matter were scarce following Cross’ announcement that the board was not obligated to inform the public of the any particulars.
“I talked to the town attorney today about what I had to say and that’s what you got,” he said with a winners grin.
It is believed that there are talks about settling the landowner’s case, which alleges that the town unfairly changed the assessments of landowners holding 20 acres or more.
Before the board shuffled downstairs to talk the legal issues over in private, they once again heard concerns about the town’s ambulance squad.
Phoenicia resident Carol Shalaew asked how many ambulance staffers there actually were and how many actually work shifts. Squad member Ernie Longhi said there about 30 part timers on the roster and that about 18 of them worked over the last two week pay period.
The ambulance service actually cost the town $5400 during that two week period for salaries, Cross said.
Shalaew and others have long suspected that the ambulance squad is really only a handful of regulars, but that the roster is bloated with names to make townsfolk feel as though the town is well covered.
There was good news this month from the board about the town’s recreation program. As reported earlier, the program has moved to Belleayre Beach in Pine Hill and will no longer be at the Minekill swimming facility in Gilboa.
Councilman Rob Stanley said that the move should result in almost a $10,000 savings in transportation costs and that the money would be put into new recreation programs such as a swim team that could compete with other communities. He also thought some of the funds could go towards the town’s popular ski program at Belleayre.
“We were spending $13,000 on transportation, now it will cost about $3100,” he said.
The town, he added, is looking for lifeguards to help out at the lake.
Lastly, the town was told by Declan Feehan of the Phoenicia Water Committee that engineer Dennis Larios will meet next week with water officials to talk about the districts problems. Thousands of dollars worth of improvements need to be made on the system, and Larios will help prioritize the needs.
The meeting also included one unusual exchange between Cross and Stanley after Cross read aloud a hand written letter from a resident complaining that kids need a place to ride bikes and skateboards in Pine Hill.
Cross made a grand gesture of appointing Stanley to form an ad hoc committee to look into ways to utilize the park in Pine Hill. Stanley, who appeared blindsided by the move, noted that he already was on many committees and worried about finding the time to handle the new responsibility. Cross, after making jokes about how he was going to make Stanley’s e-mail address and phone number available so anyone that wanted to could contact him with ideas, immediately removed Stanley from his duties as liaison to the SHARP Committee and gave that responsibility to Todd, who is the former Executive Director of SHARP.
Todd said her past work with the non-profit group, which administers grants for local housing rehabilitation, does not present a conflict of interest.
“There’s no pay,” she said.
A Definite Maybe...
At a crowded special meeting of the Town Board on May 24, two dozen speakers offered opinions as to whether the town should respond affirmatively, as it appeared doing so would confirm on behalf of the town that the terms of the offer rejected by Phoenicia’s voters in February would not be negotiable going forward. Opinions offered pro and con were split down the middle though by total numbers the audience of around 60 people was about two-thirds opposed.
Earlier in the month, Supervisor Cross had promised May’s regular meeting crowd that he’d contact town counsel Paul Kellar and ask him to modify the letter so that signing it wouldn’t lock the hamlet into terms of an offer its residents had already voted unacceptable. When no such modified draft appeared at meeting’s outset, the mood turned edgy. But as public comments began, it was clear that differences of opinion would be the evening’s norm. Ultimately 13 people spoke in opposition to any type of affirmative response and 11 spoke in favor.
Those supporting keeping the option open with the City to reconsider the project included a number of local business people including Alfred Peavy, Mark Wilsey, Declan Feehan, Harry Jameson, Alan Fleigel, Keith Holmquist, Melissa Thongs on behalf of the Phoenicia Library Association and Buffy Kibe on behalf of the SHARP Committee.
Those opposing the move, or stressing that the matter had already been decided by the hamlet’s voters included Helen Morelli, Jerry Pearlman, Vinnie and Sue Bernstein, Mike Ricciardella, Carol Shalew, and Joanne Rowley.
In the end, and at Cross’ suggestion the board moved unanimously, less absent councilman Peter DiSclafani, to strike two sentences from the City’s letter, have Cross initial the passages struck, and return it by DEP’s deadline. Deleted language indicated that the deal’s terms including O & M costs “are not open to re-negotiation” and that funding available would not exceed the unused portion of the $17.2 million block grant.
The project was first proposed 10 years ago, but never came to fruition because the City, which is required to pay for building it under the 1997 watershed Memorandum Of Agreement, ran out of funds building other systems in the region. Five years ago the fund was replenished and Phoenicia began moving toward building the project again, but during the design phase some business owners announced their opposition to it, saying that while the city would pay to build it, local businesses and homeowners would be hit with heavy operating fees and liabilities. A referendum on the project was defeated on February 3 by a vote of 157-123 affected property owners.
Whether returning the countersigned letter in a somewhat modified form has adequately fulfilled the City’s requirement and effectively extended its funding deadline through June, 2008 is less than clear. Both DEP and the US EPA are on record as saying that by extending the offer, the City has fulfilled its obligation to the project and the hamlet under the recently renewed FAD, despite that document’s language which would seem to indicate the City’s obligation to complete the project regardless of final cost or time deadline.
Questioned at our deadline as to the City’s view of Shandaken’s response, DEP spokesman Ian Michaels referred us back to Graff’s April 24 letter to Cross, saying only that it clearly states the City’s position on the matter.
The school board had addressed middle school options during a May 30 special school board meeting that outlined five areas to consider based on feedback from gathered public input and the community forum held on March 3. On June 5, they did not vote on which of the three specific plans to favor, but by creating a five-through-eight configuration, supported the Plan C district facilities option at a cost somewhere between $63 and $74 million, depending on which school will be asked to close.
By general consensus the board agreed to drop the centralized campus plan because it was not feasible due to space constraints at the Boiceville site.
Ideas were discussed about where the middle school should be, either at Bennett Elementary School or connected to the current middle school, which is connected to the high school. Superintendent Leslie Ford said that if Bennett were converted into a middle school it would cost somewhere around $21 million. She does not favor the idea.
D’Orazio said, “About four or five years ago we asked the voters of the district to pass a bond of $7or $8 million to renovate Bennett and now we have to ask them to…ooops, we changed our mind now we are going to put a middle school there - I don’t know if that would sell very well.”
D’Orazio also wondered if the public would buy into a five-through-eight grade configuration connected to the High School.
“The board seems to agree that the current middle school configuration is not acceptable,” he said.
Bernholz gave a long list of advantages to a five-through-eight middle school via the resulting expansion of programs. She said she would like to explore the possibility of converting Bennett in the middle school.
O’Connor said, “I think we are getting stuck in the philosophy of community schools; it’s a mind set and we can change that mind set and now we have the opportunity to really make something different here.”
She added that she believes educational programs can be better if the schools were closer together, giving room for team collaboration.
Rosenfeld explained that a school configuration should not be driven by State test schedules. “You can fit however you want to, there is just a certain amount of things that have to be taught that are on the exams and you can place them wherever you like to place them…just like they-in New York State have decided to have certain places where there are exams now, they can decide to have different places where there will be exams tomorrow…none of this is cut in concrete.” Rosnefeld explained that currently the teachers have very little space for storage and planning. “What matters is who is teaching…that we have three elementary schools, on a social, on a political and educational level.”
Resnick said she favored a six-through-eight middles school, explaining that even though New York State recommends a five-through-eight model, most schools in the nation use a six-through-eight model with no conclusive evidence that one is better than the other. She added that she believes that over the years community elementary schools have been successful and it is through public interest that they stay open.
Patterson said, “We celebrate diversity, but sometimes our diversity is negative, because each school is autonomous to its own which can be good, but it’s a bigger negative because when the kids merge at a higher level of learning they are not always at the same level.”
D’Orazio asked if the school board was prepared to close an additional school. He and Ronsenfeld are the only current board members who served during the time when West Hurley was closed. They voted against the proposal, but endured lengthy meetings filled with audiences who protested the closure.
“The real issue is whether or not we can live with two elementary schools in the district and of course we can because the numbers show we can, but numbers do not show everything,” he said. “A school is a significant symbol of a community and for the district at large. it was extremely traumatic when West Hurley closed and we can sense a big loss…closing a school is a very big deal.”
Vanacore said, “I am sitting here doing a couple figures with the incoming class being 83 students coming in. If we looked at that over a five years period, with redistricting we are talking about anywhere from 138 to 166 students per elementary school. That, to me, doesn’t sound fiscally responsible, no matter how you look at it.”
On May 30, Vanacore spoke about making the central Onteora School campus in Boiceville the district’s priority community, noting that by having one school complex the current divide between communities would lesson. She also said she would like to see an additional elementary school be used for community purposes and early childhood development.
It was also recently announced that Paul Schwartz will be replacing Middle School Principal Gayle Kavanagh who retired as of the end of the June. Schwartz was assistant principal for nine years at Poughkeepsie High School and assistant principal at Poughkeepsie middle school for three years. Prior to that he was a math teacher at Poughkeepsie high school for thirteen years. He has a certificate of advanced study at SUNY New Paltz in educational administration, a Masters from Iona College in New Rochelle, and an undergraduate from Pace University in Pleasantville.
He also said EPA is allowing
the City to buy too much land in the watershed region over that 10 year
period. Cross said they could purchase more acreage than the entire
town of Shandaken. Cross also said that the Federal EPA was supposed
to hand off the decision making to the New York State Department of
Health two weeks ago, but EPA has instead maintained control over the
issue.
A resolution passed last month by several towns, including Shandaken,
states that “ the simple fact is this municipality believes a
10 year FAD, no matter how much acreage the City of New York acquires,
will lead to an arrogance on the part of the City and a significant
and sharp deterioration of the relationships the City has, as of late,
been working to develop with the municipalities of the watershed.
Elias Rodriguez, a spokesman for EPA, said on Tuesday that EPA has already
been working to settle the differences with the Coalition.
“On May 30, 2007 EPA and representatives of the Coalition of Watershed
Towns had a conference call to discuss the issues of concern and exchange
information,” he said.” It was a good discussion and EPA
is committed to continued efforts to resolve the Coalition’s concerns.”
Rodriguez noted that FAD agreement remains in draft form.
“The PROPOSED FAD will not be finalized until public comments
have been reviewed, evaluated and, if necessary, the PROPOSED FAD has
been modified,” he added.
The
clinic will take place at the office of co-organizer and acupuncturist
Julia Rose, at the Phoenicia Healing Arts Center on Main Street. Appointments
must be made in advance for sessions in massage therapy, reflexology,
acupuncture, homeopathy, flower essence treatment, or craniosacral therapy,
by calling (845) 688-2323. Those who can’t afford to pay will receive
free treatment, and donations are requested from all other clients.
Weeks is the founder of Health Care is a Human Right, an umbrella organization
that operates the “suitcase clinics”, in which practitioners
arrive at a site, set up their equipment, treat clients, and then pack
up and leave. “It’s guerilla medicine,” she said. “We’re
part of a grass-roots effort to change the health care system. Many working
people don’t have health insurance, and we want to give them access
to care. But we also want to change people’s perceptions of what
wellness is and how to stay healthy.”
A large part of alternative medicine is preventive treatment, which ends
up saving money, said Rose, but many people cannot afford alternative
modalities because they are not covered by health insurance. “Alternative
medicine is actually cheaper than conventional medicine,” she added.
“You can’t expect to go to a regular doctor and be seen for
an hour for $60.”
Practitioners will donate their time to the clinic and arrange for follow-up
treatments on a sliding scale. The tentative list of practitioners includes
Susan Brown (craniosacral therapy, which balances body functioning through
light touch at selected points), Vickie O’Dougherty (homeopathy,
which treats the whole system with energetic substances derived from plant,
animal, and mineral sources), Julie Evans (massage), Maha Golden (flower
essences for healing emotional imbalances), Thurman Greco (reflexology,
stimulation of points on the feet to affect specific parts of the body),
Julia Rose (acupuncture, balancing of energy through the body with the
use of fine sterile needles), and Susan Weeks (homeopathy).
Weeks trained as a physician’s assistant and paramedic in New York
City, She worked in Harlem Hospital and later in the emergency room at
Kingston Hospital, until she felt that “my very strong ethic to
‘do no harm’ became impossible to reconcile with Western medicine,
which is all about drugs. The health care system is run by the drug companies.
When I was training as a physician’s assistant, the only education
we received about menopause was a film on hormone replacement therapy
[HRT], make by the manufacturers of HRT drugs! I raised my hand and said,
‘I’m going through menopause myself, and I’m taking
herbs.’ And everyone groaned, ‘Oh, there goes Susan again.’”
In a course on anatomy at New York University, she was among the students
dissecting cadavers, a distancing word she prefers not to use, substituting
the term “donor”. “These were people who donated their
bodies and gave us an incredible gift. A student from Ghana was out in
the hall, crying. He said he couldn’t be a doctor because he couldn’t
cut into the genitals. A lot of people can’t cut into hands, faces.
I said to him, ‘You will be a great doctor because you really care
about people. You and I will organize a memorial service for the bodies.
We’ll thank them.’ It was an amazing, magical experience for
everyone. Someone wrote a song, students brought flowers, thank-you notes,
poems, which were all cremated with the bodies. These were students of
all different religions and races.”
Weeks and anthropology professor Eugene Harris wrote an article about
the ceremony for the journal Clinical Anatomy (“Human Gross Anatomy:
A Crucial Time to Encourage Respect and Compassion in Students”
by Susan E. Weeks, Eugene E. Harris, and Warren G. Kinsey, 8:69-79 1995).
Today such ceremonies are held in a number of medical schools around the
country, and the article is required reading in anatomy classes.
She went on to study with master homeopath Joel Kreisberg. Along with
other graduates of the training, she came to realize that only the wealthy
could support a homeopathic practice. As a group, they considered how
to bring their services to a wider range of clients. One woman wanted
to organize a health fair, but Weeks felt that a single event would not
be effective. “I wanted an ongoing clinic. I think that’s
the only way to help people.”
They created Health Care is a Human Right and approached Family of Woodstock,
where they began to run free clinics, which are available to all staff
and clients of the social service organization. “We’ve seen
a huge difference in some people’s health,” she reported.
“People come back. We do clinics every three months, and we’d
do them more often if we had more practitioners.”
The expansion to Phoenicia is an effort to reach people living in the
mountains who may not have access to health care. Rose, who lives in Woodland
Valley, is a graduate of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and
has practiced acupuncture in New York City as well as in Phoenicia.
“My original vision is to have a community wellness center,”
she said. “A place where people would come to hang out, get preventive
treatment in both Western and alternative medicine, have movement and
meditation classes, cook and garden. Payment for treatments would be on
a sliding scale, supplemented by grants and barter—working in the
garden, washing dishes in the café. Because of the sheer magnitude
and cost, I realized we have to start with a short-term goal, which is
to build demand. First we have to go to communities and treat people,
educate people, introduce them to the different modalities, and build
a community of practitioners.”
Weeks and Rose hope to make the Phoenicia clinic a regular event. “It
all depends on the demand and on funding,” said Weeks. They are
in the process of writing grants for future support.
Phoenicia’s first alternative medicine clinic will be held at the
Phoenicia Healing Arts Center on Main Street, Wednesday, June 20, from
4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call (845) 688-2323 to make an appointment for
a session in massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, flower essence
treatment, homeopathy, or craniosacral therapy. Those who can’t
afford to pay will receive free treatment. Donations are requested from
all other clients.