Wide awake
In response to Meyer Rothberg’s reactionary railing (Letter, April 24) against columnist Donna Greco that appeared in the April 10 edition of Saugerties Times, I found myself wondering why Rothberg holds has such extreme point of view. Readers should note that Naomi Rothberg, Meyer Rothberg’s wife, is in fact a member of the Saugerties Comprehensive Planning Committee, an unelected appointment.
Mr. Rothberg’s lack of objectiveness is clear. Donna Greco points out the danger inherent in having special boards comprised of unelected “officials” who “recommend” policy and at other times even implement policy changes. Her column is informative and thorough, and reflects the views of the majority of neutral parties who have nothing to gain personally from the machinations of such boards, and often lose, either in terms of their actual rights or in the usurpation of their democratic voice. State and national issues that come to mind where this trend can be seen include the DEC and DEP’s handling of the muddied waters, and even the Education Department, where they have foisted the Common Core on parents and students, who, regardless of the substance of Common Core, were not included in the process.
I urge your readers before deciding whether they favor a Comprehensive Planning Committee, they should understand its “comprehensive” nature. No longer are we just talking about a zoning board where neutral parties ensures homes are not fire traps and commercial areas are used in ways that do not overburden the tax payer funded public infrastructure. This Comprehensive Planning Committee and others like it have been vested with the authority to plan everything from decisions about what color you must paint your house to how many cars you can park in your driveway to whether you can keep someone from crossing over your property to enjoy the “scenic nature” on the other side, and on a more pecuniary note, whether to give back-room sweetheart deals in the form of tax amnesty and special grants to political supporters and other cronies. Furthermore, the risk that appointments to such boards are made on the basis of a particular group’s policy views should give everyone a reason to at least think twice about how dramatically we have moved away from procedural boards that make sure laws are followed to activist boards that try to promote a particular agenda.
We should be thanking Donna Greco for her efforts to inform the public about what is actually going on.
Gaetana Ciarlante
Saugerties
Van Blarcum to seek third term
Today I am announcing my decision to seek a third term as Sheriff of Ulster County. This is based on our past accomplishments and the belief that my team will sustain and improve upon our successes.
We are proud of the effective management of the jail. We are proud of our comprehensive community policing program. We have the best relationships and cooperation between all police agencies that has existed in recent history in our county. But there is more to do. The job is not done. My goal in my third term will be to build upon our successes with a team approach toward maximizing the effectiveness of law enforcement and through the continued development of cooperation with all police agencies.
Our achievements have proven that my team is best suited to continue serving the law enforcement needs of Ulster County.
Paul J. Van Blarcum
Ulster County Sheriff
Kirsten cares
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s recent visit to Saugerties where she described her new legislation to provide federal funding to improve pedestrian safety gave me the opportunity to directly speak with Sen. Gillibrand about some issues related to health care in Ulster County.
The Ulster County hospitals in Kingston, Ellenville and Margaretville do not receive the same reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare for all standard procedures across the board as do the hospitals in Dutchess County. Oddly enough, the Ulster County-based hospitals are classified as being in the Poughkeepsie-area reimbursement zone, while the Dutchess County Hospitals are classified as being in the New York City Metropolitan reimbursement zone. Consequently, the Ulster County hospitals receive less federal reimbursement payments for emergency room visits; medical procedures and diagnostic testing than do the hospitals in Dutchess County. Former Congressman Maurice Hinchey, former members of the Ulster County Legislature (Aiello and Bernardo) and others have worked on equalizing these reimbursement rates, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Hopefully this latest attempt will produce better results, and I have made arrangements with Sen. Gillibrand and her aides to follow up on this issue which is very important to the quality of health care in Ulster County. If the area hospitals were able to receive better funding streams from federal sources, they will be able to offer better wages and benefits to prospective doctors, nurses and other staff which would make them more competitive in the marketplace for the hiring of health care employees. Everyone in Ulster County would benefit from this.
In addition, I also called attention to some flaws in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) that need to be addressed. Under the current provisions of HIPPA, patients or their designated health care proxies are not granted access to any written copies of summarized medical records that are electronically disseminated between the insurance companies and a hospital, doctor’s office or nursing home unless there is a court-ordered subpoena forcing the insurance company to release this information. These conflated summaries are used by the insurance companies to make medical determinations within their claims processing centers in order to determine whether or not a patient’s coverage is approved or denied. Many times, a patient’s coverage in a hospital or nursing home is denied on a Friday morning, and the patient is forced by law to file an appeal before 3 p.m. the next day. When this occurs on Friday and Saturday, the patient is not able to file as adequate of an appeal as they would be able to during the traditional work week. These conflated summaries that are disseminated from hospitals, nursing homes and doctor’s offices are considered to be protected proprietary information of the insurance companies, and they do not have to disclose this information to the patient, their relatives or designated health care proxies when it is sent in the form of an email, facsimile or telephone call. Sen. Gillibrand personally assured me that she will work on instituting the memorializing-based legislation that I am working on to reform HIPPA in the Ulster County Legislature.
Chris Allen
Ulster County Legislature
A fun, safe night
On behalf of the Saugerties High School PTSA, we are pleased that this year’s junior class had a successful, fun, and safe prom on Saturday, May 3. The post prom party was made possible through the generosity of Rob Houtman and the Saugerties Bowlers Club, who donates the use of the bowling alley. A photo booth and arcade games provided additional entertainment and fun thanks to Bruce Chargois and Greco Bros. Amusement. Food to fill the bottomless bellies of the teenagers was provided courtesy of donations by Slices, Mirabella’s, Sue’s, Stewart’s, Price Chopper, Shop Rite, Hannaford of Cairo, as well as homemade goodies from our PTSA members and parents.
Some of the lucky juniors went home with a raffle prize attained through contributions from our supportive community which include: Miss Lucy’s, ’Cue, Rip’s Auto Parts, Alapaha Golf, Bounce!, Lox of Bagels, Mickey’s Igloo 3, Schneider’s Jewelers, Golden Touch Day Spa, Kingston Fine Jewelry, McDonald’s, IXL, Two Brothers Pizza, Orpheum Theater, Hudson Valley Renegades, and a few other kind contributors who prefer to remain anonymous. Thank you to all!
Lastly, thank you for the teamwork of the parent chaperones who, with the aid of abundant caffeine, provided the perfect balance of adult supervision and fun-filled atmosphere for the juniors into the wee hours of the night!
Kim Jorgensen
SHS Jr. Post Prom Committee Chairperson 2014
Join the family! 
