Bishop’s Gate right-of-way
First and foremost, I congratulate the Saugerties Town Board for adopting a resolution to take possession of the right-of-way from Bishop’s Gate to the Riccardi Elementary School in Glasco. A very special thanks goes to councilmen Paul Andreassen and Mike MacIsaac of the Board, as well as Jim Bruno, formerly of the Board for their persistent pursuit of this resolution. And thanks also go, again, to Jim Bruno, and Raymond Mayone, of Bishop’s Gate Corp.
Now that the Town owns the right-of-way, it would behoove all school board members to sit down with town officials and hammer out an Agreement to deed over to the town the remaining 300-feet of school property which is needed to complete an alternate access road for ingress and egress in the event of an emergency. For safety’s sake, we need both boards to work together in unison to complete this project as soon as practicable.
It is my understanding that a primary concern to school board officials has been that agreeing to this road would cause residents of Bishop’s Gate to lose their school bus service. That is now a moot point, as that problem has been resolved: the Town will designate the road as “private, for emergency vehicles only,” so such bus service would not be affected. There is now no logical reason for the school board to fail to cooperate and agree to turn that 300-foot parcel over to the Town.
In addition to the school, staff and children, there are 19 residential structures on the dead-end that accesses the main entrance to the school. Those people would also benefit if, for any reason, ingress and egress was to become blocked, as emergency vehicles would now have an alternate route to the scene.
Thus, I hope and expect that both the Town and School officials will come to a common sense agreement and seal the deal on this issue once and for all in order to avert a future tragedy.
George D Heidcamp, Sr.
Saugerties
Thanks to the veterans
The Village and Town of Saugerties have just passed a very busy six days, July 18-23, 2018. I wish to thank the Saugerties American Legion Commander F. Reggero, the entire Ulster County Veteran Services Bureau, the Village of Saugerties Clerks office, the Town of Saugerties Clerk’s office, Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union’s Saugerties Branch. Also, my new friends at the American Legion(20-30) in Saugerties including 1st The Gang of 9, also Warren Rich in Quarryville, Mr. Welch, Mike Paul and others. We met every other Saturday since February 2018.
Even though the Village and Town’s thanks came late, (our defeat was 43 years and 3 months ago), better late than never! Vietnam was by far the most unpopular war in our 242-year history. I agree with Col. Roger Donlon and Tom Andreassen when they said, “Shame on our fellow citizens who misdirected their anger and doubts on the soldiers.” Take it out on Presidents Eisenhower, JFK, JBJ and Nixon and their respective Secretaries of Defense, by the time of Gerald Ford, the Vietnam War was lost.
A number of us witnessed reconciliation between Vietnam veterans and opponents of the war. We, who have been on the committee, hope and pray that the spirit of July 18-23 will carry on and foster a better, enduring and abiding appreciation of the five branches of the U.S. Military.
In closing, thanks again to the living Vietnam veterans in Saugerties and those KIA:
Paul Lewis; Wayne Myers; Thomas Newkirk; Paul Benkert; Joseph Rundle Jr., graduate of Saugerties High School; Michael Santoroski; William Steiger; Michael Winters; Dennis C. Marshall. In Ulster County overall, 42 were killed in action during the Vietnam War.
P.S.: J.M. in south Esopus, come out of the shadows.
Robert Gallenz
Saugerties
John Faso — outsider
First term Congressional District 19 Rep. John Faso(R), has a challenger — Antonio Delgado(D). Faso’s first tweet after Delgado’s primary win accused him of being an outsider. Delgado grew up in Schenectady, which is surrounded by CD19’s gerrymandered boundary and clearly part of our region; he lives in Rhinebeck and his wife grew up in Woodstock. Faso, specifically to run for office, moved to our region from Long Island where he was a lobbyist. No question he came here an outsider.
Two issues that show Faso is a mismatch for CD19: He infamously voted for TrumpCare, the Republican drive to take health care from 22,000 people in our District! His was the last minute swing vote, forced by his leadership; he caved for them rather than considering us. Republicans, unable to repeal the ACA, are now chiseling away at it. Congress should protect the ACA, a stepping stone to universal health care. From the start Delgado has supported universal health care.
Then Faso’s Republican driven Congress gave a $1 trillion tax return to the top 10%. The rest of us have yet to see “trickle down,” a fantasy. This law even targeted CD19 by meddling in our property taxes disallowing property tax deductions. Faso supports this law, except the meddling. His leadership gave him a pass, so he did not vote for it, but he will surely not work to change it.
We must have change, and your vote is your strongest tool. Vote for Antonio Delgado, change the numbers in Congress so he can work for CD19.
Mr. Faso is not who we are. He should move back home to Long Island and take up lobbying again.
Dave Minch
Saugerties
Delgado for Congress
I write this letter about the honor of work — and the dishonor of not showing up for the job.
The great people of NY’s 19th Congressional District deserve a Congressional Representative who will show up to work and do their job. We deserve Antonio Delgado for Congress. Delgado works hard and will represent all the people of our great district — with dignity and respect.
Note — As a political representative, your main job is to represent your constituents, usually the people who live in your district.
The main job of the congressional representative is to have open public town halls and meet openly with his or her constituents and listen to their views and take them to Washington, The job of the Congressional Representative is to listen to people, no matter if you agree or disagree.
But, for citizens of NY’s 19th Congressional District, and for his last two years in office, our current Congressman John Faso has not done his basic job.
He has not honored his commitment to properly represent our district. In fact, he has not shown up to work. John Faso has not held one open town hall meeting, open to all the citizens of our great congressional district. That is disgraceful. That is a no show job.
The problem is simple. The average adult voter in our district must show up for work and honor his or her commitments. However, Mr. Faso, as a representative, has not done his job. He has been a no show. He has avoided his constituents and has been in hiding from the community he claims to represent.
My questions are — Why is Faso hiding? Why is he so scared of his constituents? Why is it that he can’t hold one open town hall in two full years? Why is he taking the voters for granted? If he is not listening to his constituents, then, who is he listening to? The Koch Brothers?
The bottom line is simple — Congressman Faso is not living up to his basic responsibilities as a public servant. We of NY’s 19th Congressional District deserve better. We deserve a Congressional Representative who will show up to work and do their job.
Please, join me in voting for Antonio Delgado for Congress for our illustrious NY 19th Congressional District.
Leslie Gabriel
Kerhonkson
Faso and Trump
In his insistence that “Business, Winning, and Trump” is the Holy Trinity, the president is a recognized worldwide danger. So: Is John Faso a danger too, for voting to lend credibility to The World According to Trump 90 percent of the time?
This statistic is from Nate Silver’s 538. It’s widely available, along with other information. For instance: What Trump calls “fake news,” Hitler called the “lying press” (Lügenpresse); and today’s scapegoat, the media (Trump’s “enemy of the American people”), was in 1941 the Jews (Goebbels’ “sworn enemy of the German people”).
“You could look it up.” And you could read, and watch, and listen. And learn who our enemies are.
Donald Trump is a blindly pro-business enemy of our planet. Reported the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), 66 percent of the time Faso backs Trump’s environmental policies — policies that translate into accelerants that burn hotter and kill more widely, as our CD19 rep watches the carnage alongside Trump in their ivory tower, high above the fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and huddled masses.
Donald Trump is an enemy of women: a serial denigrator, grabber, and cheater — a “player.” He’s turned the White House truly white, a frat house for “winners,” for rich, spoiled, good ol’ boys. Having 10 percent of the time failed to pay his dues and march in step, John Faso is still pledging, but he’s clearly on his way to membership.
Donald Trump is an enemy of minorities, of immigrants, of the poor, of the middle class: of you and me. His “enemies list” is endless, his “friends list” finite and constantly in flux. But this true enemy of the people manipulated enough of us to elect him by “telling it like it is” — then once in office, The Washington Post’s Fact Checker revealed in August 2018, proceeding to tell it like it isn’t on 4229 occasions, over 7.5 times a day.
Of course, he does “tell it like it is” to one constituency: True to his word, he’s further lining the deep velvet pockets of the privileged and keeping the proletariat’s hands out of those slick pockets.
CD19 Rep. John Faso: This is the monster 538 says you’re in step with — 90 percent of the time! If 538 is wrong; if LCV is wrong; if Fact Checker is wrong; if I’m wrong: Tell us.
Or else tell the truth.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Symbols
I have lived in Saugerties for over 20 years. I am well aware of the mix of political views in my neighborhood. However, I am perplexed by the hanging of two large Confederate flags at the front of a business establishment on Route 212. I have been contemplating for weeks, what do these flags represent to the people who hang them. What is your message to us? I am a believer in the First Amendment, and yes, you have the right to hang them. But, please tell me, why?
Beth Yanick
Saugerties
19th tossup
This week, election forecasters at FiveThirtyEight named New York’s 19th Congressional District one of the 25 races most likely to decide the House majority in November. This is a reference to the Faso/Delgado race for our congressman in Washington. FiveThirtyEight and Inside Elections also now rate this race as a pure toss-up!
The bottom line: this race is still up for grabs and we have to do everything we can to elect Antonio Delgado. So I, who have never worked a campaign in my life, decided it was time for me to do something other than complain. As I make calls around District 19 I’m amazed at how many people are uninformed. It’s time to get involved because this will be one of the most important elections in our lifetime.
Steve Charney
Saugerties
Join the family! 
