The Common Council’s obligation
Shayne Gallo represents everything that we teach our kids not to be. From bullying to morality, we preach to our children and teach them in school to have a certain level of respect for their fellow man.
I was bullied for a great majority of my school life. No one back then acknowledged the issue or simply didn’t care to. I was too young and inexperienced at life to know what was happening and how to stop it. Shayne Gallo’s lunatic berating of people is pathetic and an outright embarrassment to the city. It ultimately disgusts me to see others treated as I was when I was ignorant and powerless to stop it.
Jeremy Blaber, regardless of his past, work history or drug problems, is still a person and does not deserve to be subjected to the ranting of an abusive administrator. Nor did Mr. Dart, Mr. Rea, Ms. Fuentes or Mr. Bridges. There are more people that I am missing, but the point of this cyclic pattern is established.
Kingston City Administration Legislation Article II, Chapter 49-4, A, “Pursuant to the provisions of § 806 of the General Municipal Law, it is hereby recognized that there are rules of ethical conduct for public officers and employees which must be observed in attainment of a high degree of moral and ethical conduct and in maintaining public confidence in our unit of local government.” Shayne Gallo has clearly violated this code of conduct more times than we dare to count.
Shayne Gallo is a man living in a shadow he will never fill. His half-empty attempts to propagate his own agenda only stem to hurt others in the city. His clear violation of numerous laws needs to be considered by the Common Council.
As stated in Section XIII, C13-3, B of the city charter “The Council shall have the power to investigate the affairs of every department or agency of City Government and the official conduct of every officer and employee.”
The Common Council clearly has the ability to resolve these issues. As our elected representatives they need to adhere to public demand.
Christopher Perry, Kingston
The railroad’s untapped potential
I take exception to your editorial of May 2. You didn’t take the time to find out what the [Catskill Mountain] Railroad is trying to accomplish. There has been virtually no support for 30 years from the county. Getting the tracks restored from Kingston to Phoenicia will allow for a dinner train and possible commuter service. Citizens would be able to come to Kingston to shop and not have to be on Route 28. There will be more folks riding the train than ever using the trails. If, and I say if, a large number of trail folks came, where will they park and at whose expense? Taxpayers, of course! The old O&W trail is often strewn with litter, and of course taxpayers pay for the cleanup. Also, the growth of weeds and trees along the right-of-way trail will need to be eliminated. Guess who will be expected to pay for that. The original intent of the county legislators and others was to have a linear operation so that other towns could benefit from the spin-off of many tourists. Steamtown was not a viable plan at that point. As to the trail in Kingston near Albany Avenue, no one will want to use it as the area is not safe. The railroad over the years had to clean up many tons of mattresses and other heavy items that the local residences seemed to feel was their private dumping ground. Where has the city or the county been to stop this? As to a few cranky old timers at Dutch Village, they don’t complain about all the truck fumes, do they? Most of the folks there like the train. As to the obesity crisis, it will not be solved by the trail. Maybe a few, perhaps. There are plenty of places to walk now. Methinks that someone is giving Mike Hein a bunch of bull and he’s got the mayor to do his dirty work. There are a lot of places in Kingston that are hazardous. Why aren’t they worried about that? Also, fix the potholes, etc. Instead of having both rail and trail, Mr. Hein it seems is just looking to make a name for himself for higher office and Kingston be damned.
John Prestopino, Orange County
Join the family! 
