Take it outside
A question for everyone concerned about re-opening the region’s schools: why haven’t we considered holding outdoor classes?
These are the compelling facts we know about coronavirus-19: It is spread primarily through the air. Distancing and wearing masks are the best defense against its spread. And we know that no one is immune to it.
The probability of confining school children of any age — but especially young children — in enclosed schoolrooms presents daunting problems, chief among them distancing and requiring young, rambunctious children to constantly wear face masks in the closed environment of a typical schoolroom.
The state already allows outdoor dining for restaurants. Why can’t we apply the same criteria to our schools? Why not literally pitch a few tents outside our schools while the warm weather holds and teach our children there?
I’m familiar with one Kingston city elementary school. It encompasses an empty field a few yards from the school’s parking lot. A nearby church includes a capacious parking lot that is rarely used during school hours. How complicated can it be to plant a few large tents on these grounds and schedule classes there, on whatever basis teachers and administrators and parents choose?
In addition to the white plastic tents that have become ubiquitous at testing sites, what else would be needed? Plywood flooring of the sort used at outdoor weddings, coat racks and temporary cubbies for the students’ gear and electrical service. In-school bathrooms could still be used. Allowing students who bring their lunch to eat outdoors would make it special and reduce typical crowding in the cafeteria.
The economic benefits of outdoor classes would include a reduction in lighting, heating and cooling costs and perhaps the chance to renovate empty rooms in anticipation of winter classes. The children would have an ever-changing natural environment to examine and deal and yes, deal with. Areas could be set aside where the combination of distancing, fresh air and adult supervision could allow kids to remove their masks. Outdoor classes would also reduce the number of staff and students that remain inside school buildings, making distancing easier to accomplish.
This is obviously not a universal nor a long-lasting solution to the manifold problems we face. Not all school buildings enjoy nearby empty fields or parking lots. But why not at least explore the possibilities where such conditions exist? Why not examine this alternative to the one-size-must-fit-all scenario that school districts seem headed toward adopting? In other words, why not provide our children with the same physical safeguards and advantages we adults enjoy right now when we go out to lunch?
Jeremiah Horrigan
New Paltz
Enemies or rivals?
I have a good friend who is a veteran like myself. He has been very supportive to my Why Can’t We Serve documentary project. He believes in my efforts to help reduce veteran suicides in our country with the film, and I feel his caring for me as well as his respect for me. I know about some of his painful places, and I care deeply for him. He’s also easy for me to respect because I see all the work he does, day in and day out, to make his local community and the country a little safer for all people, including veterans. There is no doubt that he is a good man.
We are similar in many ways, except we have one glaring difference. He is a conservative Republican and I am a liberal Democrat. He thinks that Trump has done a decent job in spite of his crude and rude ways. I think that Trump is the worst president we have ever had. On some level, I am fascinated that he has those thoughts about Trump, but I’m sure he is also quite surprised that I see things so very differently than he does. I am in a quandary about what to do.
I was raised by good parents who believed in the statement that, “I may not agree with your point of view, but I’ll always defend your right to have it.” Excellent theoretically, but not so much in practice? I remember heated discussions about which candidate would be the best for the country. I saw many arguments with folks trying in vain to convince the other that their point of view was more valuable than the other’s. I don’t ever remember that working out in a good way.
I more recently remembered the words of the late John McCain, explaining that, as Americans, we need to embrace the role of informed rivals, rather seeing the other side as enemies. Theoretically, both sides are coming from a passionate belief about what will be best for our country. Is this still true or would it be naive at this time to believe that?
Years ago, I spent some time in rural Alabama, conservative Christian country, and found some of the people there to be the nicest, most caring people I ever met. I also remembered being constantly harassed by some local New Yorkers, righteous, arrogant jerks who happened to be liberal Democrats. I learned a lot during those years, No political party has a corner on good people, or for that matter jerks.
After thinking long and hard about my dilemma, I shifted to a completely different point of view. Maybe my conservative Republican friend, and I, a liberal Democrat, are engaged in the essence of what it is to live in a country where it’s okay to have differing points of view. He’s not going to change my point of view, and I seriously doubt that I’m going to change his ideas, either. But I’m sure that we’ll be able to peacefully coexist after the election and for years to come. God bless our democracy!
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Climate amnesia
Humans seem to suffer from a form of forgetfulness we could call “climate amnesia.” It is apparently a malady that is more profound among those of us who are climate deniers. But all of us seem to be subjected to it.
Most of us have forgotten how devastating Katrina and Sandy were in Louisiana and the northeast coast, and that there was a period of time when rainfall in Texas was measured in feet, not inches.
Few of us remember that in the last decade, most of those years broke the all-time heat records. The first four months of this year were all record-breakers for highest heat for the month. Both our fire season and our hurricane season start earlier, last longer and exhibit more extreme events.
Some less memorable statistics include the warning that 350 parts per million of carbon was the sustainable limit in the atmosphere for our species. Today, we are at 413 ppm, and the scientific community agrees that when the earth’s temperature increases beyond 1.5 degrees C, life as we know it will end. (We are now over 1 degree Celsius.)
If there is one thing that we must remember, it is that we are on the cusp of catastrophic change, and we have to live and vote accordingly.
Dan and Ann Guenther
New Paltz
Support the CCP
Warm thanks to the town board of New Paltz, even in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and many other pressing issues, for approving the Community Preservation Plan (CPP) and Community Preservation Fund (CPF), and moving ahead to institute a real-estate transfer tax by public referendum this November.
Our community has a long history of supporting measures to protect our town’s natural resources, recreational areas, and local farming- the things that give New Paltz the community character we enjoy. In this ongoing epidemic, our farms, parks, preserves, trails and scenic beauty have been even more appreciated by residents going to them for relaxation, exercise, healthy food and air, and the pleasure of being out in nature.
Visitors have also been appreciating the quality of our farms, woods, open spaces, scenery and historic buildings and cultural roots. We can expect development pressures to increase, but with the CPP and CPF we have more ways to preserve the qualities that make New Paltz what it is. Plan to vote yes on the referendum in the November general election. We can fund the Community Preservation Fund without raising property taxes.
Lynn Bowdery
New Paltz
Plans for the proposed walk/bike trail along Henry W. DuBois Drive should be put on hold
You may have recently noticed the many “Save This Tree” signs along Henry W. DuBois Drive and wondered what is going on here.
I would like to explain.
My home is at the corner of North Oakwood Terrace and Henry W. DuBois Drive. I have lived here for 43 years. It is a Sears kit house that was built around 1911. It was the home and office of the town’s first dentist. The original horse hitching post is still in the front yard. A hedge around the southwest corner of the property is one of its most distinctive features, as well as the large trees along the road.
I learned last month that the town is planning to clear and take over the land that this hedge and trees are on, for the proposed walk/bike trail along Henry W. DuBois Drive.
Some of the homeowners on this road were shown a map on July 10 at a zoom meeting of what this plan entails. There was a red line showing what they believed to be the assumed highway boundary — meaning how much of our property they felt that they were legally entitled to and were planning to take.
To make enough room for this project on this completely residential and already too dangerous street they want to:
• Take about 15 feet of private property along both sides of the road
• Clear cut the trees, shrubs and anything else they think is in the way, which is essentially every piece of vegetation along both sides of the road.
• Each of us was only shown the map for the block we live on, but when the neighbors assembled, we learned that there were similar atrocities being planned all along the road.
• There was no clear answer or plan when asked what would be done to abate the extreme traffic (over 5000 vehicles daily, including trucks) on this dangerous road to make it safe for bikers and pedestrians.
This road is zoned as a residential street on both sides. However, speed limit and stop signs are sporadically enforced as well as confusing to most drivers. Thru trucks are not allowed, yet this has not been enforced. We who live here see accidents and near-accidents almost daily. It is just too dangerous for bikes.
Clearing the vegetation in that way will also severely deteriorate the air quality for residents, bikers and pedestrians
This plan uses our tax dollars to match funds for the project, yet we were not informed of this plan underway.
We are not against a walkway, if traffic abatement and environmental concerns are addressed and maintained by the town, but think the road is inappropriate for a bike path that would better serve our community if it went along Main street.
Local merchants would be supported if it went down Main Street. Tourists could see the lovely shops and views in the village and perhaps stop for a sandwich, ice cream or drink.
We have been told by the planning company that we will see the final design at a zoom meeting sometime in August. We do not want to find at this time that the plan is already in place and have no say about what they are doing with our property and tax dollars. We would like to have a moratorium on this project until the ramifications can be studied thoroughly and concerns of the community be considered.
Karen Nochisaki Gavin
New Paltz
Why does Neil Bettez want to kill our trees?
When I welcomed Neil Bettez into my kitchen, and placed his sign on my highly-visible front lawn, I assumed that a guy with a fancy degree in ecology would be a champion of environmental issues. Instead, Bettez is the anti-Lorax, hell-bent on the “execution” (his term) of the trees.
The secret plan devised by Bettez and his tree-killer cronies to turn Henry W. DuBois into a four-lane superhighway for out-of-town bicyclists involves nothing less than an arboreal genocide. The plan Bettez has sprung upon us, with near-zero input from residents, mandates the demolition of much of the existing landscaping on both sides of Henry W. DuBois to build his unnecessary four-lane road (two for cars, two for bikes). If he has his way, the very land where the BETTEZ FOR SUPERVISOR sign stood on my lawn will this time next year be asphalt.
As I write this, I am looking out at a lovely Japanese maple that Bettez wants to chop down. On the opposite corner of North Manheim, my neighbor has a neat row of mature pine trees; Bettez wants them gone. Take a stroll down Henry W. DuBois, and you will see all manner of white oaks, pines, maples and elms, as well as bushes and flowering plants. These afford residents both shade and privacy. Bettez wants all of that removed. (He also wants to move fire hydrants, telephone poles and another neighbor’s outbuilding!)
And Bettez is dead-set on a plan that no one who lives here wants. It’s fair to ask why.
We know Bettez has something against trees: as soon as he became supervisor, his own neighborhood was re-zoned and oak trees were chopped down. We know that he speaks sadistically of “executing” trees. We know that the trees on Henry W. are worth something like $2 million for their lumber. We know that the survey of the street only shows the high-value trees. We know Bettez doesn’t seem to care about our opposition. “The money is spent,” he said dismissively. We know work is slated to begin in March of 2021 — when all of us on Henry W. DuBois will likely still be in quarantine, and thus have to deal with the noise 24/7. And my understanding is that Bettez plans to leave New Paltz as soon as he is voted out of office, whenever that may be.
Why would someone ram through an unpopular plan, refusing to even entertain the wishes of the residents and then skip town? Between the grant funding, the taxpayer match and the value of the chopped-down trees, there’s a lot of money involved here. I’m not accusing Neil Bettez of impropriety, but I’m at a loss to explain why Bettez is so gung-ho about this terrible, unpopular, let’s-kill-the-trees plan.
I call on Neil Bettez to do the right thing and modify the plan and save the trees on Henry W. — in other words, to keep the bois in “Dubois.”
Greg Olear
New Paltz
A man of all seasons?
It appears that not only is McKenna our part-time supervisor and a part-time carpenter, but he could also be considered a part-time lawyer or judge. From an article in Hudson Valley One: “Town supervisor Bill McKenna believes Selina [the hotel chain that bought “The Lodge”] would win should the issue [a lawsuit regarding the issuance of building permits] go to court.”
Is his verdict the reason McKenna briefed the planning-board members at a planning board meeting about a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) arguing, “I think it [MOU] gives the town more leverage over them to make sure they operate in a way that makes sense for the neighbors and property owners.”
By the way, based upon a review of the town-board meeting relating to Selina, it appears that Selina’s attorney wrote the initial MOU. So you tell me.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Proposed expansion of Henry W DuBois Drive
I am a concerned citizen who wants to know why we haven’t been informed sufficiently about the proposed widening of Henry W DuBois Drive. We want a transparent disclosure of this project. We do not want to see bulldozers taking down trees one morning and putting in a wider bike lane and sidewalk.
This is a residential neighborhood. And we need our trees for shade, screening, oxygen and a barrier from vehicles and noise. We highly oppose the widening of Henry W DuBois Drive without the property owners’ knowledge and cooperation. Although the bike trail could be widened, a sidewalk would encroach too much on private property.
I understand that Neil Bettez, town supervisor, is in charge of this project, a man who has written an article about the deleterious effects of nitrogen on the soil from vehicle emissions.
This road has developed into a bypass because of poor road planning, and we are plagued by trucks, which are prohibited, and cars and motorcycles running stop signs and speeding. What is the plan to ameliorate this problem?
Additionally, we feel that the maintenance of this sidewalk would fall unfairly on the residents, as well as the liability. Are we beholden to just accept this clear imposition?
We call for an environmental review and an open meeting with all property owners on Henry W DuBois Drive as well as any other concerned citizens.
Susan Lodge
New Paltz
Conspiracy theory
It is no secret that Planned Parenthood locates many of its abortion clinics in the major cities of America where there are large African-American populations. In New York City, over the years, 30 to 42 percent of all abortions were performed on African-American women, by mostly white doctors, resulting in the killing of a staggering number of black human beings in the earliest stage of human development.
Planned Parenthood, whose founder Margaret Sanger promoted eugenics, has always seemed unconcerned about the large number of black lives that are aborted every day. However, the concerns over systemic racism raised by the Black Lives Matter movement has caused one Planned Parenthood clinic to remove Sanger’s name from the Planned Parenthood Manhattan health clinic. Karen Seltzer, the chair of the New York affiliate’s board, explained the reason for this action: “The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color.”
A 2015 article in PolitiFact (published November 25, 2015) written by Lauren Caruba, gives insight into the true nature of the contributions of Planned Parenthood to the reproductive harm done to black lives through abortion. These contributions have been deadly to developing African American human beings and will not end by removing a name from a building.\
The article states that in 2013 black women accounted for 29,007 terminated pregnancies, representing almost 42 percent of all abortions in the city. That same year, black women in the city gave birth to 24,108 babies. With abortions surpassing live births by nearly 5000. PolitiFact checked and found the statistics were similar the previous year: African American women in the city had 24,758 births and underwent 31,328 abortions. New York is not an anomaly: Statistically, African American have a much higher percentage rate of abortion than any other ethnic group.
In closing, the murders of African Americans in our major cities and the high abortion rates of black women have received little attention from the main stream media, the Black Lives Matter movement or the Democratic Party that has ruled these cities for over a generation. And yet, this party has been allowed to maintain political control of these cities.
This maintaining of power may not have been possible without the cooperation and support of the media who, it seems, have colluded and conspired with the party to ignore the truth about the deaths caused by black on black murder — and abortion — from the American people. And while some argue that conflating Black Lives Matter’s concern over government abuses of African Americans and black on black crime is wrong: an increasing number of African Americans — especially those who have suffered the loss of a loved one — question why there is so little interest for, both the lives of African Americans killed in cities like Chicago and New York and the alarming African-American abortion rate.
For this reason, perhaps it is not outrageous to suggest a successful conspiracy has been perpetrated against the lives of black people — regarding black-on-black murders and abortions — that needs to be acknowledged and addressed: Otherwise, it should be no secret that Black Lives Matter is just a misleading, political slogan that really indicates only “some” Black Lives Matter.
George Civile
Gardiner
Top down vs. bottom up?
Dear New Paltz Town Board: The act of the New Paltz Town Board establishing tonight (7/30) a steering committee of five people of color under certain circumstances may turn out to be a good approach for our community if it becomes a “bottom-up process.” It may curtail the long public controversy of the process of addressing Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 on re-inventing our local police regarding the participation of people of color. We have no personal issue with the five people that we know personally. The issue is that the mission, process and the self-selection of all community stakeholder groups be done in a public and open process as an act of community self-determination. We see the purpose of the steering committee as a vehicle to help the community select its representation and define the final mission and process, and not to select the representation, mission and process. We can see the five people becoming part of the final community of stakeholder groups if they represent a community group. In other words, the steering committee would be facilitating the community stakeholder groups to organize a self-selection process to the Town’s Executive Order 203 group. Under these circumstances Concerned Parents of New Paltz would be open to participating as a stakeholder group given the email invitation of board member Dan Torres, dated 6-23-20, 12:44 p.m.
Edgar Rodriguez
For Concerned Parents of New Paltz
Bring music to life
Music, like light, fills a room.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
We, the people!
Life getting you down? You’re not alone! Grin and bear it, Not! These are perilous times. What we hold dear has been threatened — democracy, civility, truth. When electing a president in our future election process, wouldn’t we like guarantees and not quarantines? The results will define the country for a generation.
Ugly truth: Fascism is a killer virus too. Doing the zigzag goose step by the troll and chief infuriates all.
We Americans need to fix this mistake. Vote for democracy, not this neo-fascism!
(I am a non-deplorable American, and I approve this message.)
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Stop connecting dots
I have a few points to consider, in response to a recent letter regarding the “macho, aggressive” appearance of the mostly black New Paltz police cars. The anti-Trump author of this letter refers to a personal experience in which a “black guy cheerfully” helped jump-start her car battery and recited “black is negative” as a way to help her remember the correct way to hook jumper cables to a car battery.
For one, the author (and all those who read letters in Hudson Valley One) will likely not forget the proper way to use jumper cables. Not a terrible bit of knowledge to have in your pocket, yet a horrible way considering the intentional negative comparison.
What bothers me is connecting dots that aren’t there. Let’s say that man said: “Red is positive” or “Red means dead.” Would it have been interpreted as a reference to indigenous people with red skin? Should people get offended by those sayings? Perhaps it’s referring to people with red skin being more positive than other colors. Or that they’re dangerous! After all, blood is red. Or, more likely, there is absolutely no hidden connection between the color of electrical wires and people’s skin. The black wire is the power in other electric wires.
Historically, many police agencies chose a black -and-white design for two reasons: distinguishability and economics. Taxpayers appreciate frugality and ordering a fleet of cars in a single common color, adding white doors and decals, is much more cost-effective initially and for repairs later.
What color do you propose they choose for the police cars? White? People would perceive it as a statement of white superiority. Can’t have that! Pink or blue? Dismissing non-binary citizens. Ask officer Sisco of the New Paltz Police Department how that would be perceived. Yellow? Offensive to people of Asian descent? Green? Only if the vehicles are zero-emission! Red? Poison!
How about people just leave the dot connecting in their coloring books. We as a society will be better off.
Phil Rutulante
New Paltz
Movement to racket
It’s heartbreaking to see the strife dividing this country. On one side, you have emotive people who have feelings that there is systemic police, workplace and political oppression. Then, on the other side, you have cognitive people who look at the numbers, statistics, history and their own anecdotal observations and believe that things aren’t nearly as bad as our schools, media, politicians, sports personalities and Hollywood say.
There’s a disconnect between cognitive people who do not see someone’s feelings and the emotive people who neglect facts. The big obstacle is finding common ground. Being a left-brained individual, I see a need to point out facts in what appears to be a mostly right-brained community.
“We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking.” — Mark Twain
To say black lives matter is true. So do brown lives, Asian lives and all our others. There are some cultural inequities, and we should find ways to fix that inequity and find common ground. Please be aware that there is the slogan :”black live matter” and the organization Black Lives Matter (BLM). These are two very different things.
The organization’s website has their mission statement. There are some scary things in it. They do not support the nuclear family. We know that statistically, the best way to avoid poverty, jail and drug addiction is to be raised by a mom and a dad.
There’s truth in what has been stated in the past: Something starts as a movement becomes a business, then becomes a racket.
The organization was founded by self-proclaimed Marxists. They want to overthrow our capitalist economy and replace it with a socialist economy. Aside from the widespread poverty that would cause, would we have a repeat of 100 million deaths attributed to social/communism last century?
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” So said Winston Churchill
BLM is not a human rights group but a front for other organizations. Its founders work for Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America and Committees for Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
The organization was first a hashtag started after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting Treyvon Martin while he was smashing George’s head on a sidewalk. The movement was given more momentum with the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The Dream Defenders took up the Michael Brown cause led by Nelini Stamp, an activist with the communist Working Families Party and Occupy Wall Street. They adopted the “Hands up, don’t shoot” slogan.
The officer who shot Brown while he was trying to take his pistol was cleared by Obama appointee AG Eric Holder’s Justice Department. There were no hands-up defensive wounds. The six-foot-four-inch-300-pound Brown had just committed theft and assault under the influence of marijuana before attacking the cop who told him to stop walking down the middle of the street.
As I said before, there are bad cops, doctors, clergy, and so on, though a very small number. They should be prosecuted when they break the law. I can’t abide by the politics of division, and I try to see the person before I see a member of a certain group. We all self-identify as an individual before we think of ourselves as part of something else.
Remember MLK’s words that he wants to see a country where people were judged by their character, not race.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
Bragging about broadband
And you believe there are New Yorkers living without access to broadband service, or high-speed and quality Internet? For years now, disconnected New Yorkers have expressed these concerns to their representatives in Albany.
As our country battles the Covid pandemic, people are relying on the Internet more than ever before. Offices and schools have made quick transitions to online platforms, where meetings can be held virtually.
Senator [Jen] Metzger’s bill to address this broadband issue in New York State falls well short. This bill requires the Public Service Commission to evaluate and compile a report on a problem we already know exists. Her bill simply allows Albany bureaucrats to continue to delay access to the Internet for so many rural residents across our state.
If senator Metzger wants to close the “urban and rural divide” regarding broadband, she should focus on repealing the broadband fee passed in 2019. This fee, a tax she voted for, has led companies to abandon their projects due to a 60 percent increase in construction costs. Essentially, this tax, not the actual cost of the broadband service, alienates many residents in rural New York communities from gaining access to quality internet.
This isn’t about just simply making progress, it’s about acting upon campaign promises and bridging this broadband divide. Senator Metzger must do better to deliver internet access to rural communities; kicking the can down the road solves nothing.
Meaghan Shea
Warwick
New Paltz deserves better
Let us applaud the New Paltz Town board and police commission for its appointments of a new committee on policing: Diana Armstead, Jennifer Berry, Albert Cook, Randall Leverette and Esi Lewis.
Perhaps an early order of business for this newly appointed body would be to release the suppressed report of the body that preceded it: the civilian advisory committee. Why? There seems a classic Catch 22 unfolding in New Paltz regarding the repealed NYS law § 50-a, the CAC report, and accusations of misconduct regarding the arrest and trial of a person of color, Paul Echols.
Slice of New Paltz recently featured an interview with Dr. Gowri Parameswaran about her experience as chair of the New Paltz independent citizen advisory committee on police (CAC). Amidst allegations of brutality by New Paltz police in the arrest of Paul Echols, her committee wrote a ten-to-twelve-page report which reportedly alleged that officers engaged in misconduct during that incident. The report was suppressed, citing law § 50-a, and the CAC was immediately disbanded. Now that governor [Andrew] . Cuomo has repealed law § 50-a. the basis for suppressing the report crafted by Dr. Paramewaran’s committee has evaporated. Or so logic would seem to dictate.
From the response to a freedom of information law (FOIL) request for the report, as per the town attorney: “Notwithstanding the recent repeal of Civil Rights law, § 50-a, the particular disciplinary records which you seek were compiled in a disciplinary proceeding in which there was no determination to the effect that the employee(s) engaged in misconduct. Accordingly, such records are withheld pursuant to Public Officers Law, § 87(2)(b), as disclosure would result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision 2 of Public Officers Law, § 89.”
Soooo it seems that a report which reportedly alleges misconduct cannot be seen by the public because there has been no report alleging misconduct. Dr. Parameswaran and her other volunteer colleagues are not permitted to specify the conclusions of their work product because that work product has been classified.
This seems classic circular suppression of public information. The community of New Paltz deserves better.
Donald Kerr
New Paltz
More about Social Security
Fact: The Democratic senate minority leader is pushing for a Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program Act; this is a pandemic relief program. This act would prioritize the Paycheck Protection Program for small business and expands loans to sole owners and self-employed individuals.
Opinion: This sounds great on the surface. And I feel there is no reason not to approve it. However, his lordship Donald Trump is going to hold this over the heads of the Democrats. Everyone is pushing for another emergency relief stimulus to provide financial aid to beleaguered citizens. Trump will not sign off on this emergency stimulus packet unless the Democrats make concessions on something the Republicans want. And one of the programs the Republicans would dearly like to butcher and/or get rid of is Roosevelt’s New Deal, Social Security Act passed in 1935.
And that, you oldies, is an attack on our Social Security benefits, namely a 15-to-20 percent reduction in monthly allotments for starters. Do not forget for a moment that the commissioner of Social Security is Samuel M. Saul, a clothing retail magnate. Saul had/has never been affiliated with Social Security whatsoever. And here he is, reporting directly to his Lordship, Donald Trump who cares as much about senior citizens as he has for flies on the wall.
I have talked about this previously in other letters to drive the point home. Donald Trump is the first president in the previous 14 presidents a real threat to this program. One of the reasons the Republicans allow themselves to be so cowed by him is this threat. Therefore, all you oldies out there who are died-in-the wool Conservatives, Republicans, Independents and who hate the Liberals and Progressives, guess what? All of us between the ages of 65 and 95 are going to get the wazoo treatment. That’s right, right up the old wazoo. Bend over, drop ’em and spread ’em. Here comes uncle Don and Uncle Saul. Wake up, vote to protect these benefits you have paid into all your life.
Donald’s niece, an educated person in her own right, holding a Ph.D., has just released a book about her uncle Don. As quoted in the Times Herald-Record, July 8, 2020, Mary Trump writes in her book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, “In Donald’s mind, even acknowledging an inevitable threat would indicate weakness — and taking responsibility would open him to blame. Being a hero is impossible for him.”
What a man. Whenever someone from within the family makes the public aware of the shenanigans and personality characteristics and defaults of a fellow family member, is, to put it bluntly, something to consider as worthwhile and a wake-up call for the rest of us. This whole business of the last three-and-a-half years, with Donald in office, is to my way of thinking a catastrophic disaster for our country. A man eminently unfit to hold this high position and is following through on his mandate in the lead up to the 2016 election: the deconstruction of the administrative system.
And not only that, he has exacerbated the racial divide in this country, making it divisive and dangerous. How about the coronavirus sweeping the country? There is no leadership from the top; he has thrown it upon the states to fend for themselves. Personally, I believe his niece and will purchase a copy of her book to further my understanding of uncle Don.
Robert LaPolt
New Paltz
Presidential choice-making
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know there is a big election coming up on Tuesday, November 3. We will elect the president of the United States, as well as determine the makeup of Congress and both houses of our state legislature. There will even be a few local races for town justice and council seat vacancies
It will mean as many as 95,000 Ulster voters headed to the polls during a health pandemic, major election law reforms transforming every aspect of voting, many predating Covid-19, an environment of toxic political polarization and overall indecision over how our public institutions should be operating. Unfortunately, many voters know the importance of voting, but are confused about how things will work. During this rapidly changing context — here is what we know today.
Absentee voting in NY: If you have health concerns about voting in person or will be away from Ulster County on Tuesday, November 3 and will require an absentee ballot, you must complete an application to receive one. Visit VoteUlster.com to obtain an application and mail it back as soon as possible. As of now, applications and ballots will not automatically be mailed to you.
Timing is everything during a busy election year; apply today, don’t wait until the last minute. When completing the application, remember to sign and date your application and select a reason such as permanent illness or absence from Ulster County. Do not make up your own reason or write “Covid” on your application. Under current election law, this will invalidate your application. “Temporary illness” is a valid reason to receive an absentee ballot. And you are encouraged to use this reason if you cannot vote in person due to Covid 19.
Voting by absentee is new for many people, and there are a few important reminders. After you have completed your application, the first ballots will begin to be mailed in mid-September. When voting the ballot, do not write anything outside the oval bubbles unless you intend to cast a “write-in vote” and do so only in the prescribed box. That means no commentary about candidates, even if well-deserved, no initials or crossouts. If you need a clean ballot, call the board of elections and you can receive up to two more.
When it is completed, put your ballot in the provided “oath envelope” and sign it. This is historically a brown craft envelope that includes a label with your name on it. Just like toilet paper, envelopes are in short supply, so look for the envelope with the room for a signature and identifying label, but without your oath the ballot will not be counted.
A witness is not required unless you are unable to sign officially and can only leave a mark, such as an “x.” You can return your voted ballot in the mail, deliver in person to the board of elections or drop it by an early voting polling location.
Early voting in Ulster County: A new law makes it possible to vote in person for nine days before the election — October 24 through November 1. Any registered voter can visit any one of the five Ulster County early voting locations and your ballot will be printed automatically after checking in, but if you wait until November 3, you must vote at your designated polling location.
Early voting polling places are spaced in population-dense areas of the county where even if you may live elsewhere, you visit these locations for errands or work. For 2020, the locations include: Woodstock Community Center, Midtown Neighborhood Center/Kingston, New Paltz Community Center, Ellenville Public Library and the Highland American Legion in the Town of Lloyd. Days and times include weekend and evening hours, Visit VoteUlster.com for the full schedule. If you vote early, you are not eligible to vote again on November 3.
Vote on Election Day, November 3: If you are healthy and decide to vote in person, all the regular polling locations will be open for the general election. Voters will be required to wear a mask if they are physically able. Masks will be provided if you come unprepared. There will also be gloves, social-distancing markers and sanitizing stations at every poll site. The more than 600 poll inspectors, the unsung heroes of 2020, will be keeping the facility sanitized between voters.
Consider joining the pool of trained election inspectors in 2020. You are paid for your time on Election Day and training which starts up in late September. Call 334-5470 for more information or email elections@co.ulster.ny.us.
Stay safe and keep democracy working! The deadline to register for the November 3 election is October 9, 2020.
Jen Fuentes
Ulster Park
Biden’s gaffs
I don’t believe they were gaffes when vice-president [Joseph] Biden said that “if you vote for Trump, you ain’t black,” and now blacks aren’t diverse like Hispanics. I believe they were Freudian slips and he unintentionally said exactly what he believes.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Vote for the environment
When Isaias hit New Paltz, my power went out for a few hours. It was a minor inconvenience. The next morning, as the fallen trees were collected, and down power lines repaired, I was grateful that I didn’t have anywhere to be. My experience of Isaias could have been worse, and in future storms it probably will be.
In a typical June-to-November hurricane season, there are about twelve named storms. Isaias was the ninth named storm of the 2020 season, making it the earliest ninth-named storm on record. Inevitably, this means we will see an exceptionally high number of named storms this year and potentially for another ‘Superstorm Sandy’ situation.
In 2018, the fourth National Climate Assessment warned that the U.S. would see an increase in severe weather patterns that disrupted electric grids, transportation and other infrastructure because of climate change. The havoc last week’s storm wreaked on parts of the state seems to prove the 2018 prediction was right.
In other words, Isaias is not an anomaly; it is a reminder of our future if we don’t curb emissions.
We can curb our emissions, though. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act will reduce America’s emissions by at least 40% in twelve years. If put into law right now, we could see a 90 percent reduction by 2050. We shouldn’t accept storms like Isaias as part of the ‘new normal,’ when we have the ability to solve the problem. Let’s vote this election cycle for the environment and demand legislation like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
Remy Naumann
Citizens Climate Lobby
New Paltz
Join the family! 
