Dear Editor,
I do not appreciate the comics about Jesus. It may offend people that Bush is a Christian. Which is fine.
I have been a born-again believer for 17 years now. These comics offend me. I also voted for Bush and happen to think he's done a fine job with homeland security.
I do not believe these comics (you had another one earlier about Bush and Jesus) are in good taste. How a person believes is their business and should respect others beliefs. I know many people who have very different religious beliefs or none at all, so I leave it that way and agree to disagree in principle. I would never disrespect them. This country still does have freedom of religion OR NOT (no belief) as I recall.
This is not to make light of war with its deaths and wounded (some severely and permanently - as in blind for life), but I think it's important for our country to protect itself and fight a war according to the Geneva Convention rules and regulations.
I also realize that our unemployment rate is very high, that our tax structure needs some work and that our health care system needs an overhaul.
Cynthia A. Dinsmore
Lubec, ME

Dear Editor,
If the Onteora Drama Club wants to put on a play next year, it should chose Thornton Wilder's Our Town. It could be a reminder that OUR TOWN, the Town of Olive, localized three-quarters of the students of the Onteora School District. The Boiceville campus encompasses the Bennett Elementary School, the INDI and ASPI schools, the Onteora Middle School, and the Onteora High School.
But it is OUR police that come to direct the traffic of cars and buses at dismissal time. It is OUR TOWN that supplies the soccer teams and softball teams with auxiliary fields. It is OUR TOWN that donates its parks to school picnics. It is OUR fire department that responds to all the false alarms and automatic alarms. It is OUR TOWN that, up to now, has been the reliable support of the school budget. It is OUR TOWN that contains the Ashokan Reservoir.
Before Olive was singled out to suffer the loss of Ashokan Reservoir taxes, we considered ourselves part of a fine school district. Now the Board of Education has set US up against THEM.
OUR TOWN feels undermined, stripped of its property, and powerless to fight the legislative bureaucracy that feels no responsibility toward the small town it has harmed with this sudden 60% increase in taxes.
OUR TOWN has no voice but the angry one that cries out, "What have you done to OUR TOWN?"
Kathryn Gardner
Boiceville, NY

Dear Editor,
On Tuesday, November 9 at 10:45 AM a diverse group of 13 citizens from the Town of Olive met with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill in his office in Kingston to discuss his role in the Large Parcel Bill # 10058 A and to express how it is severely affecting the basic fabric of life in our community. The group included citizens ranging from young families to widows, minorities, artists, singles and families whose history is deeply embedded in our community for centuries.
We would like to express how utterly disappointed we were with Assemblyman Cahill's behavior at the meeting. When we attempted to open up a dialog with him to discuss what we are hearing from residents in our town, and how the Large Parcel Bill is adversely affecting us, Mr. Cahill completely lost his "cool". We were appalled by his explosive and uncalled-for anger and rudeness toward us in response to our comments. He clearly did not want to hear our report of what some people in the Town of Olive are thinking and saying about the large Parcel Bill and how it came into being.
Mr. Cahill's tactics did not make us feel at all confident that he is representing us or that he even cares about the tremendous difficulties we, in Olive, are facing. People settled here because either their families lived here for generations, or because this was the only place they could afford. The passing of the Large Parcel Bill by the Onteora School Board has increased our school taxes over 56.9%. Many of our townspeople cannot afford to live in our town as they struggle to come to terms with this. We wanted to try to communicate to Mr. Cahill what it is like to be a constituent living in the Town of Olive where most of the people are less affluent than those living in many of our neighboring towns. We wanted Mr. Cahill to know that this huge raise in our taxes in conjunction with the possible increase in County Tax of over 24% will destroy many Olive residents. Imagine what this does to our people in addition to the facts of higher fuel costs, reduced or no services, no real commercial town, closed roadways, on-going legal dealings with New York City, and the many other difficulties we face everyday.
We are not just a simple reservoir town...within our town lies the deepest part of the primary reservoir serving New York City, a major city which has already been attacked. The Large Parcel Bill does not help to foster cooperation with National Security and Law enforcement officials. Rather it breeds derision and mistrust. On 9/11, we in Olive remember our roads closing down just moments after the World Trade Towers were attacked. In the aftermath of 9/11, we in Olive remember that we (not in Shandaken, or Woodstock or Hurley) had to register with the authorities and get papers which we had to show to armed guards at both ends of the passage from one side of town to the other. We were subjected to searches every day. We never complained, but worked with the authorities and kept watch over the reservoir as we were asked to do. Some of our major roads are now closed permanently. The reservoir is not only in our backyard, but it is ON OUR BACKS and the load is a very heavy responsibility.
State Senator John Larkin is generally known as the prime sponsor of the Large Parcel Bill and was directly quoted as saying in a written letter dated June 1, 2004 "that the law was not intended to apply to reservoirs..." The other co-sponsor is Assemblyman Paul Tonko who is head of the energy office and not head of reservoirs, or water supply. The bill itself states that its purpose "...is to reduce the wild swings both up and down that occur for all assessed properties when a municipality has a high value property whose assessed evaluation is in flux from year to year". THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH RESERVOIR PROPERTIES WHOSE EVALUATION STATUS IS STABLE. Why was the bill changed? Why did it force the Onteora School Board to make this terrible decision which is hurting our children, the townspeople of Olive, and is straining community relations with our neighboring towns? Mr. Cahill, you were once a true representative of all the people. Some say that a more articulate and wealthy community in the Onteora School District applies more pressure and that you, Mr. Cahill, are following rather than leading. Please reconsider your position on the Large Parcel Bill and realize that the Town of Olive bears a tremendous burden that is NOT shared equally by the other towns in the Onteora School District. Let us please keep in mind that only ONE other school board in the ENTIRE state of New York elected to even use the Large Parcel Bill!!
Mr. Cahill's telling us about his sponsorship of a bill to make the Large Parcel Bill permanent is horrifying to us. We came to Assemblyman Cahill, who is OUR REPRESENTATIVE in the NY State Assembly, to discuss this matter of greatest importance to us, and came away with the feeling that he simply does not care about his constituents in the Town of Olive. The oppression caused by the Large Parcel Bill is severely affecting our lives and the economic, social, cultural, environmental and historical fabric of our community. The fact that a community is being torn apart by the political and possibly illegal use of a loophole in the Large Parcel Bill is inexcusable. Our people are crying out for support from our elected representative...please hears us, Assemblyman Cahill!
Most Sincerely,
Karin Andersen, Sverre Andersen, Helen M. Boice, H. Sheldon Boice, Marlene Colgate, Michael N. Fox, Charlotte A. Martin, Joe Piscopo, Kathleen Ruiz, Melvin E. Seddon, Anne Marie Seddon, Margaret Tally, Henrietta Wise

Dear Editor,
As a Town of Olive resident reading the letter to the editor of the Daily Freeman from Michael Madsen made me sigh. Madsen complained that a 7% increase in the ‘05 Kingston budget was unfair and expressed concerns for those living on the brink of losing their homes. Madsen said he would like to use parking meter money to lower the budget.
If 7% is unfair, then Madsen should come live in the town of Olive. The Large Parcel Bill caused a 55% increase in our school taxes in September, and because of this bill, Ulster County is proposing to raise Olive’s tax share 25% in January. Plus, Olive residents are also facing a revaluation of its properties. Senator Larkin’s compassionate response to the hardship his bill is placing on seniors and fixed income residents in Olive was to sell your home and move. As if that were an option in Ulster County with its “not in my backyard” affordable housing shortage.
The Town of Olive wishes it could install parking meters and use the money to lower its taxes. But Olive’s prime revenue making property is all under water. And because of that, Olive doesn’t have a large tax base. Neither does it have a hospital, a movie theater, a launder mat, a recreation center or even a municipal parking lot like many towns do. Olive being compensated by the NYC reservoir was fair. Neighboring towns and the county wanting a piece of that pie, when they don’t have the limitations placed on them that Olive does, is unfair. The Large Parcel Bill is unfair and a deaths knell for old-timers and young families living in Olive.
You can’t afford 7%? I know of several houses in Olive for sale.
Judith Boggess
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
I think the most important thing facing the United States is the task of restoring trust in the technical process of voting. Without knowing that the process can't be tampered with, how can we ever have democracy? And after that task is accomplished, it will be worth bothering with the much more complex and difficult task of teaching the voters how to think critically; how to read a newspaper or magazine, or watch a television ad, or recognize propaganda and question it.
Many of us were assured when we asked these questions earlier about the national election that Kerry wasn't going to cave in like Gore. But he did, and long before the election. How is it possible that machines that allow easy tampering were allowed to be used in the most important election in our lifetimes? Now they say there would be a recount only if the vote was close. Well, how do they know whether it was close or not on machines with no way to check? Are we to trust the integrity of the candidates? Please.
New York State has another two years before it has to install new voting machines. Now is the time to start asking our elected representatives about the machines our state will be purchasing, and from whom, and whether they are tamper-proof, and whether the vote can be subject to a recount.
Gale McGovern
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
What is being done in Congress to fix voting fraud that occured in 2000, and certainly in 2004, before the American People get suckered again and our nascent democracy is aborted, followed by endless republican rule? The idea that evangelists swung it for Bush is just propaganda to mask the felonies committed by the republicans, and the press seems to swallow it!
There is ample evidence that both in Ohio and Florida there were supposedly thousands of so-called "hanging chads" which were discarded if they appeared to be for Kerry but duly counted if they appeared to be for Bush. Also people in minority areas were encouraged to use "provisional" ballots, which were then disposed of. And then there were the paper-trailless voting machines that used non-open source code and were made by three different firms all in Bush's pocket! Many of these machines apparently registered a vote for Bush when Kerry was chosen by the voter. The exit polls are reliable, unless our polling agencies are vastly inferior to those in Europe. There the winner is proclaimed immediately when the polls close, and although it may take a few weeks for the paper ballots (which they use) to be counted, the results are virtually always what the exit polls predict. It looks to me like a large, very large, (maybe 1.3 million?) thought they voted for Kerry but actually had their vote counted for Bush.
Phil Sullivan
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
The reelection of Bush brings to mind, "You can fool most of the people most of the time" or you can fool about 60 million people for four years, and will they stay fooled for another four years? Or will enough wake up and change the balance of power in the House and Senate in two years?
Many of the 60 million do not want to know the truth about the many lies Bush and this administration ahs told that has led to the war in Iraq and the deaths of over 1,100 Americans and the maiming and crippling of, what is it, 9,000, 11,000 other Americans, many around 20 years old, and the approximately 100,000 Iraqi civilians who have died and more than half were women and children, so the Bush supporters stay tuned to Fox, Limbaugh and read the Post.
Let's look at just one lie: Before the 9/11 Commission, Bush said, "if his advisors had told him there was a terrorist cell in the United States, they would have moved to take care of it." Facing his questioners in April, 2004, the president said he had not been informed that terrorists were in this country.
From the Presidential Daily Brief received by President George W. Bush on August 6, 2001, titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." - "Al Qaeda members - including some who are U.S. citizens - have resided in or traveled in the U.S. for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid in attacks...Bin Laden's...attacks against the U.S. Embassies...in 1998 demonstrate that he prepares operations years in advance..."
Both Condoleeza Rice and President Bush said the information in the August 6, 2001, briefing contained only historical information.
Bill Clinton, in a two-hour session on national security, told Bush, "I think that you will find by far your biggest threat is Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda." Bush said that he "felt sure President Clinton had mentioned terrorism, but did not remember much being said about Al Qaeda." All this is in the report.
President Bush has said many times that the president's first responsibility is to protect the American people. I remember him adding defensively in one of the debates, "I know that." This alone should have kept him from being reelected.
When I think of his machinations to avoid active duty during Vietnam and his rush to get our young soldiers into harm's way in what some have called Bush's "vanity war," so he could be a wartime president, a line of William Blake's describes him perfectly, a proverb, "the weak in courage is strong in cunning."
Robert Jacobson
Mount Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
I'm writing you from Olive where many people are in imminent danger of losing their homes and their lands as a result of the extreme rise in taxes due to the Large Parcel Bill. Conversations with Bonacic, Larkin, Cahill and the Ulster County Legislature reveal they have not considered the results of the LPB on lower income people and open space in Ulster County.
Twenty years ago, those of us who knew gentrification's ugly face formed a group which grew to 350 members fighting fairly successfully for years against an influx of developers and wealthy homeowners into Olive. We knew this influx would mean rising taxes for infrastructure and services, falling trees, the end of open space, spoiling of wetlands, and especially pollution of ground water resulting in the end of private wells and septic. We knew it would lead, down the road, to the end of rural Olive where people of smaller means could survive.
Olive had Woodstock as an example.Woodstock was in the red in 1952, Olive with a tax base still in the black - even though the NYC was regularly suing it - offered the use of its high school to Woodstock. In the 80's Woodstock's poor had already begun being slowly, quietly pushed out. As Woodstock's name glittered, it gentrified, cut up its land, downed its trees, polluted its land and waters, its economic center "upgraded" and thrived as a tourist town. Olive, then, became the rural off-Broadway of Woodstock - a place where people of low incomes could afford to continue to live, buy a house or pay rent.
Now, sad stories abound in Olive. People are in need of protection. A friend of ours just recently told us he had to choose between buying his high blood pressure medicine and taxes on his four-room house! If you have never experienced losing your home or long-term apartment, it is a nightmare from which you cannot awaken, a shaking of the foundations of your life, especially if you have children. This is made all the more horrible when you don't have a place to go you can afford.
In the end we may lose our houses and rural lands due to cold calculations in back room political agreements, but we will not lose them without a fight.
Henrietta Wise
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
It is too bad that the nation is so divided and polarized. How nice it would be if we were one big happy family. But what chance of this in the face of accelerating environmental and social deterioration, the growing gap between rich and poor, and a destructive foreign policy that is dividing and polarizing the entire world?
In spite of poor prospects for the near future, I do see a powerful potential unifier out there. Opposing this are the perhaps insurmountable forces of greed and ignorance. But pulling for it is the heavy duty instinct for survival. I fear we shall see rather soon if the instinct for survival most of us are born with as individuals also functions collectively for the entire human species.
The unifier is ecology, the science that deals with the totality of relations between organisms and their environment. This is the natural economy. The word is derived from the Greek word, oikos, meaning "house." Simply put, the entire planet is a house and we all live under one roof. It's not hard to see that whatever anybody does in any part of that house will eventually effect everyone else. Republicans, Democrats, the rich, the poor, industrialists and poets all have to breathe the same air. Survival is the common denominator.
I can't believe that the most dyed-in-the-wool Republican or the greediest richest corporate mogul or the poorest most uneducated migrant worker would wish an unlivable planet on future generations. The secret is they have to be made to understand just how serious this all is, that you can't keep pulling bricks out of the house and not have it eventually crumble.
Ecology is a young science; it just isn't yet capable of saying which brick is absolutely the critical one. We must keep them all in place to be sure. I would make ecology central to the Democrats' platform for the next election right now and spend the intervening time giving a crash course to everybody in sight on the basics of how the real economy of this planet is put together and what must be done to keep it together.
This is one tall order especially given that the corporate media is not particularly interested. But I think we can do it because we want to survive. Education and understanding would eventually put the brakes on greed. After all greed itself is dependent on having something left to plunder.
Peter Koch
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
Christmas and Hanukkah are a time of joy and togetherness for many but not for all. There are some families who are facing the reality of homelessness and poverty due to domestic violence. Family Domestic Violence Services is looking for individuals, family groups or groups of co-workers who would like to 'Adopt a Family' for the holidays. The donor would provide gifts to a family who is recovering from the trauma of domestic violence and adjusting, possibly to a dramatic reduction in income and standard of living. You can help put a smile on the face of a child this year.
Family Domestic Violence Services has designated a holiday program to help the families we serve through an otherwise very difficult time. This program can only succeed with the support of community members like you.
Adopt-A-Family Sponsorship: As a sponsor, you would be able to select the size of family you would like to adopt. It could be a parent and one child or it could be a parent and six children. We will give you your family's wish list.
Last Minute List Sponsorship: Because we are a crisis organization, we never know who will be coming to us and when. For this reason, we have designed a list of items that we will use to put together a last minute gift basket for those families who arrive at our shelter late in the season.
Adopt-A-Family Fund Sponsorship: Don't have time to shop? Perhaps yhou would be interested in contributing to the Adopt-a-Family Fund. A gift or giftcard at any level would be greatly appreciated.
Call Kathleen Welby-Moretti at 331-7080, ext. 127 to get the details.
Happy Holidays.
Kathleen Welby-Moretti
Program Director,
Family Domestic
Violence Services

Dear Editor,
There has been much debate recently about our local environment versus our need for local business. While I have a hard time with the idea of preventing a land owner from developing his property as he sees fit, I also believe that if that action affects his neighbors, their voices should be respected. My main concern as a neighbor is the effect Crossroads Ventures' "mega-resort" will have on the Esopus creek. Mr. Gitter cannot expect to put 1000 toilets and two golf courses on a hillside without the stream below being affected. The efforts of grassroots angling groups over the years has always put the health of the Esopus above all. They have come out against this project as well. One might expect the D.E.P. (New York City water supply) to be equally concerned about the effect this project might have on their drinking water. Don't be so sure. The D.E.P. has most definitely been concerned about the amount of water they can procure but not necessarily the quality. In February 2003, the federal government fined the City of New York $5.7 million for violating the Clean Water Act by discharging environmental pollution (silt carried from the bottom of the Schoharie reservoir through the portal) into the Esopus. This is like taking a dump truck full of dirt and dumping it into the creek every day. The average person would be arrested for such behavior. While New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has said he will force the city to correct the problem, D.E.P. continues the practice. This past season saw an increase in the amount of silted water in the Esopus. This seemed to be orchestrated purely for the benefit of the local tubing industry by certain high placed friends in local government even though reservoir levels did not warrant it. To further the current trend, Harry Jameson, owner of the Town Tinker Tube Depot, cried fowl this spring when he claimed that the work to fix this problem would devastate his business. Make no mistake, it is in the City's best interest to help the tubing industry by adversely affecting the creek. Over the years, the fishing business has suffered at the hands of the tubers. Everyday, during the season, tubers are dumped into the Esopus by the truckload. They float downstream in a drunken hoard leaving in their wake beer bottles and cans, soda bottles, plastic bags, shirts, shoes, sandals, sun tan lotion, sunglasses and other assorted garbage. I know. I've had the displeasure to pick up all these items more than I would like. This behavior keeps most serious anglers away and most homeowners along the creek out of their backyards. By helping this business, the City ensures that the number of their opponents (fishing advocates and homeowners) dwindle while turning a blind eye to the environmental impact it has on the Esopus. If the angler advocacy groups eventually go away because the creek continues to become an amusement park then the City can take more control of the Esopus and lands in Shandaken without opposition. Maybe the City would prefer that a resort is built in our town rather than individual homeowners who might oppose their agenda, namely, more land acquisition and ultimately total control of the Esopus.
Yours respectfully,
THE ANGRY ANGLER
Editor's Note: We normally shy away from printing anonymous letters unless the issues raised in them seem valid, and not able to come out through straight attribution. Thus our allowance of a first letter from this author, several months ago. But now a notice: no more such letters from this writer. You have opened a dialogue. Now stand up for your charges...

Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to the recent story in your paper concerning the INDIE program at the Onteora High School. Your article painted a rosy picture through the eyes from our school board. I along with many other residents of the Onteora School District feel the picture is not so rosy when it concerns this program.
Over the past few weeks this program has fallen under a large amount of scrutiny. Concerns have been made about the amount of money being spent on this program and questions about incidents involving the children in this program.
After attending two board meetings, reading a letter from an Onteora staff member and listening to another parents written concerns at a board meeting, I along with many other residents also began questioning the value of this program and how well it is being managed. I attended the November 15th Board of Education meeting hoping to hear some answers from the board on the questions and concerns asked at prior meetings, only to be dissappointed by the lack of acknowledgment by the board. The board did express their full support of this program as they should since it does have value to students in the program. I was fortunate to see the INDIE staff and students make presentations about the program. The presentations illustrated the value the INDIE program offers students who have difficulties with a more structured learning enviroment.
I was impressed by what the program offered for the students that are challenged in areas of education and definitely think that the INDIE program has a great value for those children who are in need of this type of educational program. I do question on whether all of the students really need to be in the program or not. Some students may see this as a quick out of the normal school day because of the "freedoms" offered through INDIE or the lack of supervision. Here are a few more questions I wish to get answers on as do many other tax paying residents. Why would our Board of Education and administrators of Onteora allow the most important asset the school has {the students} to walk along the most dangerous road in Ulster County ? I witnessed {2} students on Monday November 15th pushing each other from the shoulder of Rt. 28 and not one person of the INDIE staff or the Onteora staff was present. What would the board have done if one of these students fell into the roadway and was struck by a vehicle ? Do we need another student to die because of the lack of attention to our most important reason for having a school ? Does the school board, Ms. Winters or Ms. Ruben want to have the conversation with the parent of the child injured or killed because the school failed to insure the child's safety ? These children must be transported in a vehicle at all times. They should never leave the grounds of the school on foot and certainly never un-supervised. The school is responsible for these children throughout the entire school day. I ask all of the board members with children, do you feel comfortable leaving your children no matter how old they are un-supervised ? I would say you don't and you make the necessary arrangements to insure your children are safe and supervised at all times in your absence, the school should be no different. Another major concern is the students that are smoking. Why are the students allowed to smoke either on school property, INDIE property or private property during the school day ? Where is the supervision ? Isn't the school a smoke free enviroment ? Do you think the parents of these children allow their children to smoke at home ? I would guess they don't and for good reason. Smoking is proven to kill people and the school is allowing these children to slowly destroy their health. New York State passed a law prohibiting smoking in most public places but the Onteora INDIE program allows children to smoke ! This is amazing to me and many others within our community. It was pointed out by the INDIE staff during their presentation, that these students have to learn on how to "kick this addiction". Though I agree the smoking is an addiction of sorts, it does not help to break the addiction when students are permitted to smoke at will. Allowing them to go outside at any length of time to smoke is not in my opinion facilitating them to break this addiction.
Mr. D'Orazio made a comment that the INDIE program staff does not need to worry about public relations, "that is not your job" he said on November 15th . Well Mr. D' Orazio, you could not be more wrong. When Ms. Upjohn was asked by a board member how many students are in the program, Ms. Upjohn responded "I'm not sure, I think 172". I was shocked to hear the lead person of this program not able to answer with confidence how many children are in her program. This is a public relations blunder! During these times of higher school taxes, budget restraints, lawsuits and various other issues affecting our district everyone needs to be a "PR" man. Public perception is all you have to work with when it comes time to pass a budget or be re-appointed to the board!
In closing I would like to say that the INDIE program definitely has value, but the school board and administration must address the following. The financial impact it has and how it can be more closely managed to insure we are getting the value for every dollar spent. The issue of children safety must be dealt with immediately. The community wants the best for all of the children but wants to know that someone is "minding the store".
Thank you for your time,
G. A. Sorbellini
Shokan, NY

Dear Editor,
This letter is written to thank all the genmerous people in the Town of Olive and surrounding areas who donated food for the Boy Scout food drive. Almost 3000 items were collected and given to the Olive Methodist Church to assist the needy.
Thank you,
Pack 63
Troop 63