Proposition One
Saugerties clergy oppose casino prop
We, Clergy of Saugerties area churches oppose passage of Proposition 1 on the Statewide ballot this Nov. 5.
We believe that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is morally bankrupt and undermines the spiritual concept of offering one’s labor in service to the community and for the purpose of earning money to support families and contribute to the care of the needy. When a single individual realizes winnings from gambling, those winnings come through the impoverishment of the many, those who have lost everything.
Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature tell us that passage of Proposition One will result in the creation of jobs. We believe that New York State needs job creation, but not jobs from the gambling industry. Workers who earn a living in an environment that promotes human greed while destroying the lives of those who become addicted to gambling end up working without dignity. New York needs to create jobs that will build up our communities rather than destroy them.
Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature tell us that passage of Proposition 1 will help raise revenue for education. The people of New York have no reason to believe this will occur. When the State lottery was instituted over 25 years ago the same promise was made. Yet money for other purposes was siphoned off, leaving education without adequate funding.
Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature believe that passage of Proposition 1 will benefit the environment, in spite of the fact that casinos use enormous amounts of electricity for their signs, attractions, and parlors, and those who travel to casinos in cars or buses (some hundreds of miles) burn gasoline that adds pollutants to the air from trips they would not otherwise make.
Proposition 1 is a scheme perpetrated on the people of New York to raise state revenue without politicians having to demonstrate fiscal responsibility through the state budget or raise taxes, thereby jeopardizing their chances for re-election (the primary concern of every politician.)
Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature are hoping that New Yorkers will not look critically and honestly at the proposal. They are hoping that New Yorkers will blindly follow where their leaders wish them to go. They are hoping to reap the additional income before New Yorkers wake up and realize the incredible damage casinos will cause to our towns and villages.
The Rev. Michael Phillips,
Trinity Episcopal Church, Saugerties
The Rev. Robert L. Vanderlaan,
Plattekill Reformed Church, Mt. Marion
Deacon Karl Pietkiewicz,
St. Mary of the Snow Catholic Church, Saugerties
Deacon Arnie Hyland
St. Mary of the Snow Catholic Church, Saugerties
Deacon Franklin Chin
Atonement Lutheran Church, Saugerties
The Rev. Dr. Duane Buttle
Saugerties United Methodist Church, Saugerties
The Rev. Edward Schreiber,
Atonement Lutheran Church, Saugerties
The Rev. Paul Walle
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, West Camp
Money from addicts isn’t economic growth
Gov. Cuomo and the NY State Board of Elections come into the voting booth with you by adding pro-casino advocacy language to Prop One- the casino expansion amendment. Don’t be fooled. More casinos in the state will predictably, not probably, increase by many thousands the addicted and habituated gamblers in the state upon which casinos depend for 35-50 percent of their revenues. This is a statistic ignored and unrefuted by pro-casino advocates. Government should not raise revenues on the losses of problem gamblers, low-pay workers, seniors, minorities. The cost to society is far greater than the tax revenues. Keep the political power of the casino industry in check. Vote No to Prop One.
Arnie Lieber
Saugerties
Casinos are not the answer
Politicians must think we (John Q. Public) are stupid. If New York voters approve ballot Proposition One, we will prove them right.
Proposition One will alter our New York State constitution to allow for up to seven casinos in New York State. Our politicians, led by Gov. Cuomo, have put a rosy spin in the wording of the ballot (imagine, an election day sales pitch in the voting booth), saying it will bring economic prosperity, jobs and help education and lower property taxes.
If we believe that, we have fallen into the trap of thinking casinos are “free” money. Well, I hate to tell you there is no such thing as a free lunch. Yes, Albany needs revenue to correct its past fiscal mismanagement but it will “barely” come from casinos.
I admit that casinos will create building jobs in those seven locations where prominent people/developers have paid off or been paid off. And, once each casino is up and running it will attract people because it is a new venue – like the new girl in town. But very quickly the local casino will face competition as another casino comes online (in New York or adjacent states) and thus the “older” one is no longer young and dewy eyed. People (except locals) will desert that “old” casino and travel to the next newest and dewiest casino. And so on.
That is why older casinos across the U.S. are facing rough financial times (and some are even bankrupt). But the problems they have created will remain. Non-industry research shows casinos cost more than they give because of: increased crime, increased gambling addiction, the costs of additional police, fire and emergency services, extra court cases, plus more low-income housing and increased school services needed to serve the thousands of imported low skill, low wage workers casinos employ. Taxpayers pick up the tab.
Casinos are not the answer to New York’s money problems. Vote oo to Proposition One!
Susan Puretz
Saugerties
Other Letters
Lesson on lucidity
I’m writing in response to the letter of Oct. 17 on “Heritage education for today’s students.” Being by profession an editor of nonfiction books by academics, I am keenly alive to clarity, or its lack, in anything I read. Hence, I was appalled by the “keynote to the program” as quoted in the Times. It consists of a lot of words sounding great but saying nothing.
It starts off stating that one hundred years ago students brought “native knowledge” to their education – a term I take to refer to their knowledge of particular skills and crafts. But what on earth is meant by the “democratization of access to this work environment set[ting] the priorities of what was expected at school”?
The next paragraph immediately identifies these unknown priorities with the new Common Core Standards. And the paragraph goes on to say that Common Core “must formalize today’s native knowledge” – another meaningless statement.
The final paragraph tells us, “Heritage literacy can support these educational priorities” – but what is “heritage literacy” and what priorities are being referred to? At the end, we are told that the presenters will show how “education can again be focused on our youth’s home; Saugerties” – which seems a narrow, parochial aim. Shouldn’t the aim of education today be to help our youth think and learn so as to be able to function well in and contribute to the world beyond Saugerties?
To my mind, this keynote text is a mockery of clear thinking and writing and reflects very poorly on the all-too-necessary efforts to improve our educational system.
Phoebe Hoss
Saugerties
Animal Shelter yard & bake sale
On behalf of the staff and volunteers of the Town of Saugeties Animal Shelter, I wish to thank all those who donated items and/ or attended our Benefit Yard Sale and Bake Sale at the Transfer Station, Saturday, Oct. 19. You made it a huge success! Come see us again in May of 2014.
Thank you to the many volunteers; the church bakers for their delicious pies, cookies and cakes and their generous donation of the sales to the shelter; the members of the Blue Kats Organization who donated the use of their tables, their time and hard work to bring out the items we had stored to place them on display, carried large items that were sold to people’s cars and then stayed after the sale to help clean up, (What a wonderful group of gentlemen); the staff of the Transfer Station for going in early to work to help put out items for display and then volunteered to stay after work hours to aid in the clean up process; the wonderful women of the community who were there to aid buyers and finally, thank you to Carol Stahl and Jean Fellows for taking charge of this sale. Another group who deserves a public thank you are Kim Hines-Kaisik, organizer; and those who participated in the Lazy Swan Ladies Golf Invitational for their very generous monetary donation and also the donation of pet food and other items to the Saugerties Animal Shelter. We are blessed by so many who care about us, not only in Saugerties, but in the surrounding areas as well. One last item. Thank you to the area newspapers and Public TV for their aid in advertising our event.
Marie Post
Shelter Manager
Join the family! 
