Don’t cut consumer bureau
I am very concerned about the scheduled cut (very little time to correct this before the end of December!) of the Ulster County Consumer Fraud Bureau which advocated for me earlier this year. No matter what I did, said, or wrote (even after their tank was disconnected from my home), the gas company (forgive me, I hesitate to mention publicly, they really shook me up after awhile ) who promised to correct their billing errors, did nothing to stop the phone calls from collections, nor the recurring and ever-increasingly mistaken bills.
I communicated with the gas company for months, and was feeling frustrated by the promises combined with non-action, and confusing interactions where my issues began to be unaddressed in our interchanges.
This three-person office, which I hadn’t known existed, was the only agency able to help and I was finally reimbursed, which seemed like a miracle, for a significant amount.
It appears doubtful that if the office is cut and panned off to the state office as planned so far, that any consumer in the state would be able to get the attention and help they need. After all, Ulster is one very populated county, and I now know that I am not the only citizen who has experienced this kind of occurrence. While we are focused on the occupations, we still need to watch our own back yards, it seems.
Davida Luminabes
Woodstock
An apology from the Farmers Market
We volunteers of the Saugerties Farmers Market wish to extend a heartfelt apology to all our customers who came to the holiday market celebrating Thanksgiving. Customers found a much sparser market than they and we expected with many fewer items than we promised in the “Saugerties Times” of Nov. 18, 2011.
At the last-minute, six vendors who were scheduled to participate in the market were unable to attend. You could say it was the perfect storm. Collectively, the vendors who could not attend reported a house that burned down on the day of the market, a critical illness, a death in the family, two sick employees, and a no-show driver along with several more run-of-the-mill setbacks.
Four of the six missing vendors expect to return for the Christmas/Chanukah market on Sunday, Dec. 18, and we are working on replacing the two who may not be able to return until later. Again, please accept our apologies along with our assurances that future holiday markets will offer more of the wonderful local products you expect.
We look forward to your joining us at the Senior Center on Sunday, Dec. 18 from noon to 4 p.m. to support our local farmers and we ask you to visit our website, SaugertiesFarmersMarket.com, to give us your feedback on what we are doing well and what we could be doing better.
Barry Benepe, Edith Bolt,
Debbie Burklund, Joe Hernandez,
Tony Hitchcock, Ann Krupp,
Judith Spektor, Sara Stern,
Rickie Tamayo, James Tamayo,
Masha Zager
Saugerties Farmers Market Committee
Privatization makes sense
Taxpayers need government willing to change. Real leadership evaluates whether taxpayers should provide services that compete with the private sector. Where government provides the same service at greater cost, a change must be made. County government does not need to be in the nursing home business and should sell Golden Hill. Those who need care will get it from one of the many private nursing homes, and county taxpayers need a break. I support County Executive Hein for taking a position on this difficult issue.
Brian Donoghue
Saugerties
Join the family! 
