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, but 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 percent in twelve years. If put into law right now, we could see a 90 percent eduction 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
Of viewsheds and containers
I would like to take this opportunity to pay special tribute to all those in our community who have chosen to enter public service. Only recently did I discover just how brave and strong one must be to participate in the political arena.
My lesson was borne out of a posting I made last week (my first) to Gardiner’s Facebook page. I had downloaded a photograph of a rusty yellow shipping container that had been placed by a propertyowner on one of the town’s most valued viewsheds (according to its master plan). Members of the group were asked what they thought about, in the future, requiring owners to locate such installations in an inconspicuous area so as to minimize negative impact on the bucolic character of our community.
The reaction was swift and furious.
Expletives and insults were immediately hurled at me. I was accused of being everything from a whiner (for not embracing the re-purposing of discarded shipping containers) to a city slicker (for being raised in the booming metropolis of White Plains) to a reckless driver (you can’t make this stuff up). And all I was doing was asking people in town, my neighbors, if they might be interested in a very small and limited way of protecting the beauty of our town and the value of our respective properties.
I did not propose a ban on all shipping containers. Nor did I suggest a protest against the propertyowner. Yet, each of these hecklers — and there were many — took my question as yet another assault on what they perceive is their personal freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want, on their own property.
The bottom line is that I was only soliciting thoughts on what I thought to be a very minor and non-controversial issue. I can only imagine what our local public servants must have to endure in terms of insults, harassment and personal abuse when taking more public stands on matters of much greater importance.
So, my hat is off to all those who choose to serve us, whether on a voluntary basis or to elected office. Each of you represents a truly unique profile in courage. As for me, I have left the Gardiner Facebook group and have returned to my relatively quiet life of virtual anonymity.
Scott Alan Klion
Gardiner
New Paltz’s Sally Rhoads
Our hearts feel heavy at New Paltz village hall with former trustee Sally Rhoads’ passing. She spent enormous amounts of time and energy serving our village, but her list of New Paltz contributions and projects spanning decades including service on the board of education and Elting Memorial Library’s board of trustees is truly remarkable.
Sally, thank you for caring so deeply about our community. You will be missed.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Keep the evictions moratorium
The United States is currently facing a housing crisis with the highest rates of homelessness we’ve seen since the Great Depression, and millions more Americans will lose their homes in the coming months. Ulster County’s eviction moratorium has offered necessary housing protection for a few short months, but that moratorium is set to end in August. It’s the duty of this county to place its most vulnerable residents first and continue the moratorium on evictions throughout the duration of this pandemic.
Even before the pandemic, over a quarter of Ulster County residents had rent that cost more than half of their income, which is double what experts agree is affordable. Now with the added pandemic-era stressors of job and income loss, lack of childcare opportunities, and rental and property prices skyrocketing, many more of our community members are at risk of losing their homes.
The truth is that no one knows how long this pandemic will go on. It is very possible that in the coming weeks and months we will see spikes of Covid 19 in our area and beyond. What will follow if the county doesn’t end evictions is far more people — those who have struggled with housing insecurity for years, as well as those who have never had to face homelessness — being forced out of their homes.
The evictions moratorium is a crucial first step, but our county also needs long-term solutions to housing insecurity. We need to maintain a quarter of the county’s housing stock as truly affordable: housing that is safe, comfortable and costs no more than a quarter of a low-income person’s income. We need the local land banks and land trusts to collaborate to purchase available housing stock to keep it permanently affordable housing for low-income people. We need a tax on second-home owners that will fund the building of efficiency cottages and the rehabilitation of existing houses in order to grow the stock of permanently affordable homes..
This historic moment leaves us at a crossroads with two choices. We can do nothing and watch the number of families evicted from their homes and struggling to survive reach unprecedented heights in the midst of a pandemic. Or this county can lead the way in building housing security for every one of its residents by extending the evictions moratorium and committing to long-term housing reform that will ultimately benefit everyone who lives here.
Katy Kondrat
Kingston
Protect property rights
A few years ago, residents of a town in China were awakened by an army of bulldozers. They were ordered to vacate their land so government could build for the upcoming Olympic Games.
You may have noticed the “Save the Trees” signs in front of the homes on Henry W. DuBois Drive in New Paltz. These signs are not only about the trees. The signs also represent the belief that government derives its power from the consent of the governed.
If this infringement of propertyowner rights is allowed to continue unabated, what will stop the government from claiming a right-of-way to place an oil pipeline in your back yard or to steal your water supply or even mandate who can pick up your trash? Maybe we are already too late.
Paul Bishop
New Paltz
Make it matter
Now that I’ve reinvented the wheel, I can invent the unicycle.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Benefits of the Henry W. DuBois Drive Pedestrian and Bicycle Project
Over the past few weeks, we have heard a lot of feedback from property owners along the proposed route of the Henry W. DuBois Drive Pedestrian and Bicycle Project, and would like to take this opportunity to more fully explain the reasons behind our support of this initiative and expand that conversation to the broader community. Here are the main reasons why the town board sees this project as a benefit:
This project, for which the town has received $2.85 million dollars in grant funding from the State Department of Transportation, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Hudson River Valley Greenway, finally addresses safety issues for motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists along Henry W. DuBois Drive. While the tragic 2019 accident in which one person died and four were injured made headlines, many do not. Since 2014 alone, there have been 17 accidents on Henry W. DuBois Drive, resulting in 12 injuries (three of which were pedestrians). The goal of this project is to make this road safe for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. The proposed improvements would require drivers to literally stay in their lane, and make it clear that this is a shared-use roadway. Changes to Henry W. DuBois Drive have been referenced for over the last 25 years in the 1995 Town Master Plan, the 2006 New Paltz Land Use/Transportation Plan, the 2008 Sidewalk Master Plan for the Village and Town of New Paltz, the 2011 New Paltz Pedestrian/Bicycle Non-Motorized Accessibility Plan and the 2014 Safe Routes to School action plan, to name a few.
For years, traffic engineers have argued that the dominant street-design standards in America overvalue the speed and flow of automobile traffic, at the expense of pleasant neighborhoods that are walkable, bikeable and financially productive. Better bicycle pedestrian facilities like protected bike lanes increase bicycling among people who do not currently ride or walk. Henry W. DuBois is generally considered a dangerous place to walk or ride a bike, and improving the safety for bicyclists and pedestrians would allow for healthy, environmentally friendly travel, decreasing auto use and limiting risk. In fact, better bicycle and pedestrian facilities reduce non-fatal road injuries by 90% — not just for non-motorized users but for drivers as well, — and a 2019 study of 13 years of accidents in 12 major US cities showed that separate and protected bike lanes were the strongest indicator of lower fatality and injury rates. Where cycle tracks were most abundant on a citywide basis, fatal crash rates dropped by 44 percent compared to the average city, and injury rates were halved. Henry W. DuBois Drive intersects along its entire length with the highest concentration of apartment complexes and condominiums in the town and village. Providing safe pedestrian and bicycle routes in this heavily-populated area, especially for seniors, children, people with disabilities, and residents who are less likely to own vehicles, is a priority.
In addition to improving safety, bicycle and pedestrian routes such as the one proposed for Henry W. DuBois Drive have economic benefits as well. Numerous studies have shown that real estate values increase with proximity to bicycle paths and walking trails. Not only will Henry W. become passable for non-motorized traffic, it will provide a safe connection to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, the walkway Over the Hudson via the Empire State Trail, the Community Center, Moriello Park and Pool, the Harcourt-Nyquist Wildlife Sanctuary, Historic Huguenot Street, the River-to-Ridge Trail, and other attractions. It will also help alleviate parking issues in our downtown by allowing residents to safely walk and bike to run errands, shop, and visit where this was previously impossible. Simply put, a walkable community is a liveable community.
In order to bring this project to fruition, the steering committee and town board committed to working with Alta Planning and Design, the firm that literally wrote the book on bicycle and pedestrian facilities, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)’s Urban Bikeway Design Guide. Alta has shown remarkable attention to detail throughout this first phase of the project, and will continue to do so as the plans for the design are finalized. This is still a work in progress, and the town board is committed to the best possible outcome for the community. I invite everyone to attend a virtual public meeting on August 26 at 7:30 p.m. (please check the town website for login details) to hear about the project and give your feedback on the preliminary design.
Neil Bettez
Town Supervisor, New Paltz
A rout in November
Thanks to those of you who spent time in the streets demonstrating against myriad things that need to be fixed in our nation. As a result, last week’s vise-presidential pick was an answer to our prayers.
Kamala Harris is a woman, a woman of color, a decedent of immigrant parents, a climate activist, a California attorney general and a US senator. What a pick for an old white man to make!
And what a perk for this country.
Although the war for the administrative control of this country is far from over, we the people have certainly won a significant battle.
In November, in order to make it clear that we are not a racist, sexist, homophobic, white supremacist, undemocratic or anti-immigrant nation, we must not be satisfied with just a win, we must have a rout! We must not only dump Trump, we must also dump all of those who aligned themselves with this troubled president.
Dan and Ann Guenther
New Paltz
Nothing short of treason
Regarding the 8/12/2020 Hudson Valley One letter, “Enemies or Rivals,” I must make some comments. The letter obviously has some valued perspective regarding having relationships with people who have opposing views.
In normal times, I would find no fault with what was said by Marty Klein in his well-intentioned letter. The problem is that we are not in normal times, and our country is being taken apart piece by piece through the dismantling of government agencies, deregulation of corporations, and privatization of public services by a president who is obviously an uneducated, narcissistic psychopath.
Currently, Trump is orchestrating the disrupting of the U.S. Postal Service so that mail-in-ballots can’t be depended on. The current resident of the White House knows he is going to jail if he loses the election, and he is doing everything he can to undermine the democratic process, even threatening to suspend elections.
To the well-read, it is clear there is obviously much more criminal and treasonous behavior going on than I am expounding on here, but enough said to make a point. That point is that, this president is planning on trampling the rights of the citizens of this country by undermining the elections so he can remain in office and avoid prosecution. Those who would support this kind of behavior would be part of the crime.
Recently, a letter was written by high-ranking veterans to the Joint Chiefs of Staff exhorting them to be ready to take Trump out of office if and when he loses the election because he is already giving signs he won’t leave.
Anyone who would undermine your inalienable rights granted you at birth by the creator as stated in the Declaration of Independence, or support an individual or group of individuals that does so is not your rival but your enemy. Taking away your rights to vote or any of the rights enumerated in the U.S Constitution is a serious matter, and nothing a rival would do but an enemy would do.
As Marty eloquently stated, we have always had rivals in the U.S. across the party lines. and that has always been a healthy thing for our democracy. On the contrary, what we have now going on with Trump is novel. Tthose who knowingly collude with him to violate the U.S. Constitution, is nothing short of treason. It’s time for those who support Trump to decide if they will continue with their support of a man who has demonstrated a propensity to violate peoples inalienable rights, or will reach across the aisle and join those who support the U.S. Constitution,
Liberty and justice for all.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
No Deeps dipping
Two years ago, which was two years after the problem first started, the Town of Woodstock made permits to use Big and Little Deep available at the police dispatch office, but had to abandon the plan when state health officials said the town would be assuming liability, requiring a lifeguard.
Rather than come up with other solutions to the problems surrounding the Big and Little Deep, [town supervisor Bill] McKenna, as he has done so many other times, procrastinated. The lack of a solution resulted in McKenna’s making a decision to close down both locations, depriving us taxpayers of our use of them this summer.
So where does the blame fall? Sure, you can blame it on those individuals who don’t care about keeping the locations clean, but why isn’t there a system in place that would have prevented them from creating those problems. If no system is put in place as councilman [Richard] Heppner said, “We’re going to be here next year doing the same damn thing.”
Howard Harris
Woodstock
A dangerous situation
I am writing to bring attention to a potentially dangerous situation for pedestrians on Main Street in New Paltz at the intersection with Oakwood Terrace by the Gulf station and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
The problem is about the safety of the crosswalk. I was driving my car westbound on Main Street approaching this intersection. I saw a pedestrian waiting to cross from the south side of Main Street to the north side. So I stopped for him. It took a while for oncoming traffic to finally stop so that he could attempt the crossing.
The problem is that cars behind me got impatient and started going around me on my right side. They either didn’t see the pedestrian or were oblivious to him.
Fortunately, the pedestrian realized what was happening and stopped in the middle of the street. He had to wait until there weren’t any more cars behind me so that he could proceed on his way safely to the other side of Main Street.
One of the problems with the situation is that Main Street is wide enough at this section on the westbound side that cars can pass on the right side. I suppose this is good for traffic flow when a westbound car is signaling to turn left onto Oakwood Terrace southbound. It allows traffic to keep moving. But it is very dangerous for pedestrians who think that it is safe to cross when cars have stopped for him or her. The unknowing pedestrian might not realize that westbound cars can still go around the stopped car and potentially hit him or her as he or she attempts to cross the street.
If you have experienced this problem either as a driver or as a pedestrian, I suggest that you write or call the New York State Department of Transportation to report it. They are the responsible government entity for this road.
Stephen O’Shea
New Paltz
Birth of the tango
I greatly enjoy the quality of all Woodstock Times’ storytellers, most recently Paul Smart’s “Two to Tango.” I spent last winter in southern San Telmo on the edge of Buenos Aires’ oldest, most historic area, known as La Boca. Still dangerous at night, La Boca borders a river where many of the area’s original early 1800s Italian, French and German immigrants were mostly male, relatively transient, and worked the very bustling international docks.
Brothels ensued unabashedly. A line might be so long as to extend out onto the street. At noon. And those in line generally were mischievous, free-spirited and bored. Games ensued. One man might playfully challenge for the spot of the man immediately ahead of him. In very close public quarters, such a challenge consisted of out-eroticising that spontaneous dance partner while waiting in line.
This dance obviously evolved over time and became the tango.
Garrett Andrews
Woodstock
Not a good fit
For the record, at the virtual public hearing held August 11 by the Ulster County Legislature for the sale and/or transfer of the former Ulster County jail property being considered for affordable housing, I offered that most of the negotiations for the disposition of another county property not too many years ago were done behind closed doors in secret executive sessions.
It is my hope that during this development process, the five private (reputable and qualified) developers who responded to the planning department’s request for developer qualifications and site concepts for affordable mixed-income housing development” (SOQ) will be revealed in a timely manner so our nearby residents and stakeholders will have the opportunity to weigh in during the coming months.
I believe there are other surplus properties in the county that fit the criteria for affordable, mixed-income, workforce or low-income housing. When the City of Kingston is already saturated with subsidized housing (half the county’s subsidized rental units) while having only 13 percent of the county’s population, it doesn’t seem fair that the former county jail parcel should be the first site chosen for housing development.
In addition, the city has 39 percent of the county’s affordable housing units (according to a Rupco executive). This figure may have to be altered now because Rupco’s E-Square property is at full capacity. I believe the City of Kingston has its fair share of housing complexes. There are 20 towns and three villages in the county, and it’s time for other communities to be part of the affordable housing equation.
Yes, I understand the county finances are shaky..…but it is disingenuous in my opinion, to move on this property transfer now during the pandemic when residents and stakeholders find it difficult to participate in virtual conversations and are not able to attend meetings to have open dialogues in person. This property has not been utilized since 2007 except for very limited use by a few county offices. So why the rush?
It is also perplexing why planning director Dennis Doyle made comments during a June 17 city laws and rules committee meeting relative to the “intensity of use at the former jail site.” He (Dennis Doyle) believes that “traffic is not likely to increase at Golden Hill” when we have been plagued with traffic issues for years and he knows this. He has been provided with numerous volumes of documentation saying otherwise.
Economic development, tourism, housing, planning and transit chairman Brian Cahill also commented at his July 7 committee meeting that using the former jail site for housing would be a great utilization of the property.
Based on what facts?
I believe that the nearby residents and stakeholders are being ambushed because a draft resolution is already prepared for the August 18 legislature meeting to dispose of the former jail property, that a local housing development corporation who will ultimately choose the developer with the best concept plans for the property is not in place, and that time lines have already been established to complete this project.
In closing, it is my opinion that this property is not the best fit for affordable housing and not suitable as a solution to meet the affordable housing shortfall. Other alternative sites should be considered.
Ellen DiFalco
Kingston
Fight the arms dealers
Mike Pompeo stretched the word emergency to step over the rules to sell more than $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, proving again the lack of morality in our political leadership. It would have taken courage to face arms makers. They use part of the massive amounts of money being made selling arms around the world to fund politicians like Pompeo. I think American politicians will not outlaw the selling of guns of war at home because such a moral standard might infect our selling of weapons to every wartorn country in the world.
If there were more American men and women veterans in our government who’d been educated by the realities of what our selling weapons is doing to humanity, we might regain the insight once spoken by Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
As a veteran, I know what it’s like to have a gun pointed at me. I also learned how to point a gun at another human being. I know the moral aftermath of having fired that gun in a unjust conflict. The majority of our politicians are uninitiated by war. Still they send our men and women into war. Politicians seldom have guns pointed at them, and if they fear they will they surround themselves with others who will take bullets for them.
As a vet, I feel a bone-level rage at the fact that I spent 13 months of my life and four years in the Marine Corp. fighting communism in Vietnam. Now we have a president and his party shouldering up to a man who was trained by the KGB. He stole his own people’s wealth and is infecting the world with fascism.
I watched Russian missiles in Vietnam take the lives of men I stood next to. It’s time that someone reads the labels on the weapons being dispersed around the world. Too many have USA written on them.
Today, a young person may be as vulnerable in a shopping mall as joining the military. There have been more killings on our streets, in our schools and homes than in the wars we are still fighting in. Americans make vast amounts of cash supplying guns, bombs and drones to battlefields around the world, but like the boomerang, once you throw it, you’d better keep your eye on it, or it may return to hit you in the head.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
A mask police?
I had some concerns after watching former vice-president [Joe] Biden saying if he’s elected, he’ll mandate that all Americans wear a mask when out if he’s elected. If you watched him read the message, I had questions, as I’m sure many others did. But since he took no questions after, because his handlers realize he can’t be trusted to give a coherent answer, I’d like him to explain if he’s talking about forcing all the states to make masks mandatory, or if he is proposing a federal mandate. How does he propose enforcing it: local police, sheriffs, state police, the FBI? Or are we going to create “mask police?”
Are we going to be arrested or given a summons? As we no longer have bail, how are you going to force people to appear? If you fine violators and they refuse to pay, are they going to be jailed while we let convicted felons out due to Covid concerns? Will we now start incarcerating citizens for going unmasked?
How can you vote for a candidate who comes up with a proposal like this and can’t answer a single question about how it works? As I watched him read it all, all I could think was, my God. zombies do exist.
For myself, I only wear a mask where it is required by businesses, offices, residences etc. — your property your rules. How can you listen to the science when it keeps changing? Now it’s if we all mask for two or three months, Covid will be under control.
Remember when if we sheltered in place for a couple of weeks and shut down the economy to flatten the curve, things would return to normal? And that was almost six months ago. Dr. [Anthony] Fauci is an expert on viruses, but he is also a bureaucrat who blew it in the beginning when he reported it wasn’t dangerous and didn’t transmit person to person and now is trying to avoid responsibility. Right now I don’t believe anything Dr. Fauci and the CDC says. If they told me what day it was, I wouldn’t believe it without checking a calendar.
All the damage we’ve done to workers, businesses, students and the economy, and Covid is still here. I only see this ending one of four ways — a vaccine that works, a treatment that works, herd immunity, or the virus mutates into something less deadly or contagious.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Home healthcare deficit
In the beginning of the year, this letter may have not had such an impact on anyone reading this. But unfortunately it does now. Hand-in-hand, a co-convener of the New York Caring Majority and the City University of New York, did a press release on a survey that was done regarding home healthcare workers in the Hudson Valley prior to the Covid 19 pandemic. This fact alone exemplifies why the need for home health workers is vital to ensure all individuals remain healthy.
The results of this survey illustrate how home care workers are in high demand, and from 2016 through 2026 there will be approximately 64,000 jobs available. This increase is due to the aging population of baby boomers and the need to have our seniors and people with disabilities remain home and not in nursing homes or care facilities.
The survey pointed out two major issues current home care workers have: low wages and a lack of benefits. These issues, as well as a lack of career advancement, are why recruiting home care workers is such a problem. Home care workers in the Hudson Valley also have difficulty with transportation and balancing childcare with the minimal pay they receive. The average salary is approximately $18,400.
How can we retain these workers? How can we recruit new workers? And how can we pay these essential workers what they are worth? Here are a few suggestions:
• Provide premium wages which include benefits like other essential workers and access to PPE.
• Stop cutting Medicaid funding, especially during a health crisis and find ways to raise this the revenue.
• Fund innovative pilot programs.
• Use economic development and worforce development funding as a source for new home care funding.
• And last but definitely not least, create a universal long-term care plan in New York State that provides long-term care for anyone needing this service and living wages for the direct care worker.
Gemma Calinda
Kingston
Why we have to reimagine public safety!
In New Paltz there are on-going bottom-up community conversations that have moved from reforming policing to reinventing policing to broadening it to an issue of public safety. This weekend I participated in one community conversation and walked away with the following understanding.
Police do keep violence down. Keeping violence low is so important to the health of poor communities. However, doing it using the current level of policing comes at a huge price both in lives and in public dollars, especially in communities that are already disadvantaged. Mass incarceration leads to generational cycles of despair and keeps the cycle going. When we allow the police to dominate our public space, it leads to frustration and anger. When we rely on aggressive policing to solve all issues of crime, we are telling poor people we do not care about them. This is perceived as abandonment and punishment by those communities. So how can we keep communities safe while keeping the other costs down? How do we rely less on police and prisons to keep safety?
Research has shown that the current practices of public safety are not the only ones available. There are other evidence-based models that do not criminalize and lead to social unrest. People in the conversation examined some research and determined two facts: violent crimes take up very little police time and there is evidence that community led organizations are very effective at keeping communities safe. I can provide the specific research references that the content of this letter is taken from if you contact me at (845) 255-9652. I can also tell you about the time and place of the community conversations.
In light of all the evidence reviewed, it is imperative that communities need to reimagine what public safety and wellbeing can look like. While resources going to the police have to be reduced, there has to be increased spending on programs focused on community well-being. Along with the conversations about scaling back police, we have to think about scaling up social investment.
Some steps to reimagine public safety:
• Get the community to buy-in
• Establish a community group whose responsibility is to oversee safety and wellbeing of all in the community
• Give them the resources they need.
• Give the group adequate time to learn and grow
• Give the group autonomy to determine how much policing is needed and more importantly, how many other kinds of professionals might do the work better.
This kind of an approach from the bottom up through conversations in the community can lead to a comprehensive process to reimagine public safety that will avoid the trap, again, of failed police reform.
Edgar Rodriguez
New Paltz
No more trash talk?
First, 2020, the year my trash went out more than me. And speaking of garbage, our treasonous leader will be taken out on Tuesday, November 3, election night. Clean up begins after. What a waste of a presidency these past four years have been. You know what they say, “garbage in, garbage out”…They’ve also said this over the years:
“An effn moron.” Rex Tillerson
”A jacka**.” Lindsay Graham
“Dishonesty is Trump’s hallmark …. He is very, very not smart.” Mitt Romney
“An idiot, unhinged.” John Kelly
“An idiot and a dope.” H. R. McMaster
“An idiot surrounded by clowns.” Gary Cohn
“A racist, misogynist and bigot.” Omarosa Newman
“He’s like an eleven-year-old child.” Steve Bannon
“Has the understanding of a fifth or sixth grader.” Jim Mattis
“An empty vessel when it comes to the constitution and the rule of law.” Scott Pruitt
“An idiot.” Reince Priebus
“A complete idiot.” Steven Mnuchin
“A …….. liar.” John Dowd
“Eventually, he turns on everyone.” The Mooch
”Donald Trump … will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat.” Susan Collins
“The dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” William Kelley (Wharton professor)
“One of us.” David Duke, former grand wizard of the KKK
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Covid-19 in Saugerties
Wondering why active coronavirus cases in Saugerties have gone up to 12 on August 17 while total cases in Ulster County are down to 103? Add on the eleven out-of-county cases for a total of 23 out of 103 for your answer.
We can thank Tom Struzzieri and HITS-Saugerties for this. He used his political/financial power to get the cease-and-desist order from the state health department, based on HITS not being an essential business changed so that he could have 25 out-of-county participants (and their families/workers) come to Saugerties for each period of his show.
I don’t feel safe in the village and do most of my shopping in Cairo or Catskill; I certainly wouldn’t eat in the village, lest some of those equestrians in their silly outfits be coughing next to me!
Meyer Rothberg
Saugerties
Speak up, historical society!
I have been patiently awaiting the public opinion of our town’s Woodstock Historical Society for more than two years. Our beloved historical library is planned to be torn down, leveled, bulldozed and reduced to a pile of dust and debris. Where is the historical society? What is their opinion?
They are the chroniclers and keepers of our history, and I would hope they would want to identify and maintain the historical buildings within our town. The library exemplifies the “Woodstock” architecture of so many local buildings. It is truly a historical landmark with a rich history, and is entitled to have state historical status.
Wouldn’t it be a shame to have that iconic image of our small town library gone forever? What is your mission statement? Are you going to sit by and do nothing?
Please, Woodstock Historical Society. Stop being quiet and take a stand — make your voice be heard to help save our library building from mass destruction!
Natalie Cyr
Woodstock
Not surprised by Bettez
I was not surprised that Neil Bettez was promoting a plan to “clear cut the trees, shrubs and anything else they (the town) think is in their way” on 15 feet of private property on both sides of Henry W. DuBois Drive. He is the same man who was part of the shade tree commission meetings before the pandemic. This group is made up of concerned citizens dedicated to protecting and nourishing the trees in New Paltz.
This seems to be the height of hypocrisy for him, urging one group to save trees while on another advocating that trees have to be executed. It is certainly typical of politicians to change their ethics when they want to prove that they know better than the people. This is why our democracy is in danger.
I didn’t vote for Bettez in the last election, based primarily on his indifferent attitude and lackluster sincerity during meetings I attended. To those who did vote for him, perhaps next time you’ll think twice before voting for a two-face politician.
This is my opinion concerning the bike-trail controversy mentioned by several people in the previous edition of Hudson Valley One.
Robert Brunet
New Paltz
The real election fraud
Imagine you are the president of the United States with all the powers the office gives you. Looking ahead to the November 3 election, would you:
1) Denounce the election’s results before votes were even cast, claiming they would be fraudulent and unacceptable?
2) Appoint a crony as postmaster general, who promptly and systematically shredded the post office’s ability to process the many millions of expected mail-in ballots?
3) Use the threat of this shredding as a bargaining chip to negotiate the dollars of government Covid relief precipitously downward?
4) Promise to the nation your commitment to protect the legitimacy of our democracy’s sacramental rite and respond to any challenge or obstacle? Assure Americans afraid of out-of-home voting that they’d be able to vote safely at home with Covid 19 as the ever-present threat? Announce with congressional leaders of both parties the release of whatever funds were necessary to assure secure and reliable mailed-in ballots, ample sites for early voting and well-equipped stations and workers on November 3?
The right answer, of course, is the fourth item, because you took the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, and, by extension, the American people. But if you believed you’d lose a free and fair vote, you’d choose one, two and three, like the tinpot dictators of other nations we criticize when they undermine their own countries’ elections. Bad Belarus. Nasty Russia.
Donald Trump. Wannabe dictator. Loser.
Americans who want to keep their republic must demand that Congress appropriate funds to support the post office for its November 3 responsibilities and beyond. Otherwise, prepare for the dissolution of the country we thought we had.
Tom Denton
Highland
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
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
Carbon and the economy
It was pointed out recently that carbon emissions are way down due to Wuhan-flu travel restrictions. This shows that it is entirely possible to cut greenhouse emissions. Not noted were the resulting devastated economy, high unemployment rates, recession and so on.
Before this year, the U.S, was making strides to reduce carbon emissions without a Paris agreement, and benefitting from a strong economy. Eventually, we’ll get over this pandemic.
Bat-poop socialist crazies like AOC will be promoting the New Green Deal and may get some traction depending on elections. Implementing these policies will bring back recession, high unemployment and a wrecked economy. I’m not telling you how to vote, but keep in mind that restricting a free economy from using technology to reduce emissions and find greener solutions will go hand in hand with economic disaster.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
Here we go again
I see that I wrote a letter in 2015 opposing and criticizing the idea/plans to utilize the “pit” for a huge development. And now, five years later, a somewhat scaled-down proposal is on the table again. Curiously, when the planning board discussion of this project was announced for August 4, there was a wrong URL in the e-mail post, and so we could not hear the plans first hand and comment on them.
It seems foolish to even present these plans during these unstable and perilous times. We may end up with a skeleton of an incomplete monstrosity.
Whose interests and well-being do the village and town boards have at their heart? It does not seem to be us, the community.
Let’s consider the “pit” as is — a rather useless piece of property indeed. But it is non-offensive, as it is basically not visible. Turn it into a garden.
Start building a hotel, a conference center, retail — the entire neighborhood would be most negatively impacted. And it is not only residents in many adjacent streets and beyond, but businesses (e.g. Starbucks, the entire downtown block) and institutions (e.g. the Mountain Laurel School, the village hall, the town court, to name a few). And are the planners and the village board even taking into consideration the future of the playground at the corner of the Hasbrouck Park, only last year lovingly rebuild with the community’s time, money, work?
During the construction, we would have to put up with heavy-duty vehicles from all directions; there would likely be need for blasting parts of the “pit”, there would be plenty of noise and pollution, there would be construction crews wandering through our quiet streets. Okay, maybe the eateries on Main Street would see increased business, but the whole town would suffer through ever-increased, incessant traffic.
Once (and we should be aware there may be a considerable IF) the center is completed, the downtown residential part of the village and adjacent streets will completely lose their character, charm and attraction. I would not be surprised if the value of our properties would dip.
Last year we have successfully campaigned for Luis Martinez’s release from jail. And I like to think that our work helped his cause. But now, I feel we must campaign against his construction.
I want to further comment on the proposed expansion of Henry W. DuBois drive, that I read about in the feedback section in the August 12 issue of Hudson Valley One. Was there any public hearing on this plan? It is absolutely out-of-scope what the board is planning, seemingly in secret and in haste.
In this project, too, the community, the residents are basically of no interest and importance to the board. Although our local bikers may benefit from the bike lane, that does mean that those lanes have to be created in this fashion, without any transparency and input from the affected residents.
Do not turn Henry W. DuBois Drive into another Main Street!
Misha Harnick
New Paltz
Join the family! 
