A friendly reminder
The edition of Oct. 27 — next week’s — will be the last edition in which letters criticizing a candidate for office in the Nov. 8 general election are printed, so as to allow for a response from a candidate or the candidate’s supporters. Letters endorsing a candidate which contain no criticism of his or her opponent will be considered for publication in the Nov. 3 issue. As always, letters are run at the sole discretion of the editor and in whatever form the editor decides. Send them to kingstontimes@gmail.com, or to Letters to the Editor-Kingston Times, 322 Wall St., Kingston, NY 12401.
Sell Golden Hill!
The Ulster County Legislature has dragged its feet for years, instead of making a decision about keeping and maintaining the county nursing home or selling it. Because of their indecision, the buildings have deteriorated significantly. Now, the county cannot afford to fix it up. Our only choice is to sell Golden Hill or close it. I am writing this letter to ask the Legislature to do the right thing and sell Golden Hill before it is too late. It would be incredibly unfortunate for the county to have to close it and lose the nursing home beds!
We elected you to protect our interests — and selling Golden Hill is in everyone’s best interests.
Stuart Okorofsky, Rosendale
Overseeing or overlooking?
It has been known for some time that hundreds of thousands of dollars a year could be saved in prisoner transportation and criminal justice services if the local courts would but coordinate the days they meet.
It has also been known for some time that Ulster County houses more than its share of parole violators. For some reason it takes us an average of 59 days to process parole violators opposed to the state average of 31 days. Not only do we have to pay for the extra time these felons are allowed to languish in our jail before being sent back to prison but we also lose the possibility of boarding in prisoners from other jails that would bring in revenue.
And last, but not least, Rensselaer County is now receiving millions of dollars from Dutchess County for boarding in its inmates. Prior to Rensselaer opening its new jail, Ulster County was receiving the lion’s share of this money. Was it not possible to enter into a long-term contract with Dutchess that would have enabled us to retain this substantial revenue stream?
Join the family! 
