Pandemic separation
This week it was 40 days since my husband Marty passed. In many ways, the 40 days went by quickly. Is it because we were separated almost six months with Covid-19 restrictions at our continuing care retirement community of Woodland Pond in New Paltz?
Marty was in the skilled nursing unit of the health center, and I live next door in the independent unit. We were separated before the mandate. No more visits! Pandemic precautions. It was a sad and difficult time for both my husband and me. We were married 58 years and then the separation in early March.
Yes, we tried phone calls and twice-a-week face time, but Marty with his severe dementia really didn’t understand that. My voice no longer seemed to stir him. Nurses and aides and activities staff would try to contact me whenever he was babbling, but that diminished after months of separation. I was and am thankful neither he nor others here at Woodland Pond got the Covid-19 virus, however, I’m certain Marty passed not because of dementia but with the pandemic separation side effects.
There were six residents who sat together at Marty’s dining table before Covid. All but one had regular, daily visits from a family member or a personal assistant. Surprise! In the first few weeks of separation, three died and within five months of Covid separation all six died. Arthur, John, Tom, Kathryn, Mildred and then Marty, who was the last to go. It wasn’t with Covid-19, but death hastened by the separations brought on with the virus restrictions.
The life Marty and I looked forward to daily was stopped, gone. No more of our morning and afternoon routines. No more daily walks/wheelchair rides. Gone was my washing his face and hands with a hot washcloth, rubbing his hands and head with a good smelling lotion, having a fresh peeled clementine as we looked at the gardens, listening to the dulcimers practice, getting greetings from Gretchen and residents living in the Independent as we went riding through their building.
And oh those chicken wings from the pub on Fridays and sitting out by the gazebo with a fresh cup of Starbucks from friendly Steve. Our routines gone — all gone. We did together what is advised for dementia patients. We were involving all the senses and with personal loving care. Gone — separated.
Marty’s appetite declined as would have occurred eventually, but I was no longer there to give the personal assistance I so often did. My purpose was fading. Nurses and aides gave so much of themselves, but our own warm, personal, loving connection was gone. Not to see each other in person or even from outside his room window? Not the hug or pat or touch or smell or sound of my voice.
Rules and regulations were to be followed. No personal visits! Separated from one another. What more was there? Covid testing readiness for the day I might get to hug Marty again? Did that four times mainly to prove I was ready whenever things opened up.
Marty’s will to go on was gone, as was life as we knew it. His health declined to the point he couldn’t continue. He lost 40 pounds in four months. Staff tried and did their very best, but he had enough.
Finally, rules lightened when death was imminent. We had hours together his last three days. He lay in bed with eyes shut. Our daughters dressed in PPEs spent hours with us talking, reading, sharing stories, laughing, crying and playing his favorite music.
Marty mostly slept, but he heard us. And each day we left him with our believing he understood how much we loved him and we knew how much he loved us.
It was time to go. I kissed him and he kissed me back.
Marty is physically gone now, but his spirit remains.
The sadness of separation and death remains.
But we can’t allow ourselves to be separated from the many good memories.
My final words were: “I’ll love you forever, Marty.”
Pat Houk
Woodland Pond, New Paltz
Drawdown
Our bookcase is heavy laden with dark, climate books like: On Fire, The Uninhabitable Earth, and This is the Way the World Ends. But highlighted on our coffee table is a more optimistic New York Times bestseller, Drawdown, the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming.
Drawdown focuses on 80 actions that are, or should be happening in order to reverse climate change. They are ranked in order of reduced gigatons of CO2. It is a remarkably comprehensive and enlightening list with a number of surprises.
Who would have guessed that the most important action we can undertake is dealing with refrigerants? In order to save the ozone layer, a Montreal protocol of 1987 successfully phased out CFCs and HCFCs. They were replaced with ozone-friendly, but climate unfriendly products (a thousand times more damaging than CO2 !).
Ranking number two on the list of helpful actions are wind turbines, 32 of them off the coast of Liverpool, England. Each turbine owned by Lego, (the toymaker), creates an arc 500 feet in diameter, and generates enough electricity in one rotation for a house for one day. When complete, this field will generate all the electricity for Liverpool’s 466,000 inhabitants.
Number six in the ranking, another surprise, is educating girls. If you want that explained, and you wish to buy only one book on climate change, please purchase Drawdown (locally if you can).
Dan and Ann Guenther
New Paltz
Plant grass seed now
In a conversation today I said, “I have been trying to role reverse with Republicans who voted for Trump. I know they are like me, in other words they are Americans. They shop in the same stores, go to the same doctors, swim in the same swimming pools, and somewhere inside they care about some of the same important things I do.”
Some Republicans think healthcare is a commodity. If you get Covid, you’re lucky if you have health insurance because you might live. But if you’ve passed it on to someone without health insurance, they are more likely to die. Paid for health insurance cannot protect our society from a pandemic. Treating the select few with the funds for health insurance is not helping the garbage man, the waitress, the bank clerk or the homeless, the mentally ill or those making minimum wage or less. This explains the deaths of over two hundred thousand friends and family.
Human beings are like bees, they are social animals. We live in communities and relationships, we exist in a culture where viral illness breeds. Why is this primal understanding been clouded? I think because of the years that our leadership has been commoditizing every aspect of our human lives.
This may explain why the electoral college voted for a human form who is so unmistakably different from our traditionally elected demigods. In today’s politics, trust is something bought not earned. When you run out of money, you run out of trust. Some Republicans want more money to buy our trust. Some Democrats want more money to make believe we can return to a time of greater humanity. Both parties leave out the part of having to pay the wealthy gatekeepers who actually decide which candidates get the voting bucks to be reelected.
Today’s test in America is to see if the grassroots have not all been torn up. Can larger numbers of folks gather to call back the power they’ve surrendered? Has the treatment of the pandemic isolated us from showing up in our communities to vote? Are we in relationship more with our monitors than our neighbors? Is it safer to argue with someone online whom you’ll never see? Is it easier to read only things you already believe?
In today’s world, the folks we know who are dying are highlighting these questions. I feel I could crawl back into my home, which holds the illusion of my safety. I can maintain social distance for the rest of my days while watching the disassembling of the democracy I risked my life to defend. Or I can try and stop worrying what others think about what I have to say and say it anyway, knowing that it fertilizes the grass roots. I suggest we all plant grass seed now, so it can grow roots before our election.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Wrong time for referendum
The Woodstock Library board’s decision to call for a $5.8-million bond referendum is ill-considered and ill-timed in a year that has seen over 200,000 Covid deaths in America and a jobless rate that is rapidly approaching 50 million. If our community is fortunate enough to be able to consider such a financial commitment, would that $6 million not be better put to supporting programs such as food pantries, subsidized child care/remote learning for parents who cannot work from home, increased medical facilities and supplemental pay for essential workers/heroes who have brought us through this crisis, including EMTs, the post office, medical personal and grocery workers?
The library should devote its taxpayers’ resources to bolstering services that are in immediate demand, such as access to computers, eBooks and other digital resources, instead of putting its energies into constructing a building whose vaunted strength — hosting large gatherings — has proven itself irrelevant in the foreseeable future.
Erica Obey
Woodstock
Tone deaf!
It seems to me the board of trustees of the Woodstock Library is tone deaf on two fronts. Their desire to tear down the existing historic library building and replace it with a large, costly and grandiose structure at this juncture in time ignores the current economic and environmental crisis facing the state, the country and the world.
It also ignores what makes Woodstock distinctive from other small towns, it is a “sense of place,” the scale, the historic nature of the iconic buildings and the fact that many of the commercial buildings were once homes and remain on their small patches of lawn separate from each other. The village green with the Reformed Church, the town hall and police station (once the fire house), the community center, (once a church), the Christian Science church (once studios of the Art Students League) and finally the library itself with its own rich history all contribute to this sense of place.
The Lasher lawn adjoins the library lawn with its venerable trees to form a charming mini commons in the center of town. A town-rule law adopted by the town board in 2007 states in part “The beautiful shade trees … in this busy section of the town add greatly to essential esthetic characteristics …. Removal of said trees …. would diminish or destroy the esthetic beauty of the community.”
Ever since 2007, the board of trustees of the Woodstock Library have been intent on a tear-down and replacement and they have ignored other less costly solutions to the library’s developing problems. These issues could have been addressed by a “total smart renovation” with the over a half-million dollars already spent on various projects: $65,000 on the 2007 architecture plan, $230,353 on the Sanders annex and $278,032 spent so far on the Tilly plan.
A “total smart renovation” with a new wing would fulfill all stated needs described in the Tilly plan while preserving a much-valued sense of place. It is important to note that the cost of the new building would require the town to take on the largest bonding debt in its history. Inevitably taxes will increase not only to pay the debt on the bond but also for a larger staff, maintenance, etc. In contrast, a “total smart renovation” with a new wing can be achieved at far less cost, preserving the trees and permitting the library to operate in the new wing while the existing building is completely redesigned and renovated.
Those of us opposing the tear-down plan have been called all sorts of names — trolls, fearmongers, Ludwig’s gang, library haters, etc. It is easy to name call…we choose not to engage in such behavior. Instead, I ask all readers to look with careful consideration into the alternative solutions we have posted at www.libraryalliance.org woodstock ny.
Vote no on November 3 to the $5.8-million bond referendum found on the back of the general election ballot!
Cornelia H. Rosenblum
Woodstock
All those projects
There is the November 3 election that many of us are very much thinking about and concerned about, worrying about the future of the country.
There is the dubious proposal for bike lanes on Henry W. DuBois Drive. Many of us are concerned and worried about the trees to be very likely removed, and the traffic, and regular bikers are unlikely pedaling up the hills, and mothers unlikely to push their strollers alongside a road with more cars. Sure, some of us would benefit from this plan, some would not, but the whole community would be affected by this development. And once you cut a tree down, you cannot put it back! Many residents have spoken against this plan.
There is a proposal to build a hotel and a conference center in The Pit. the area between the village hall, the Mountain Laurel School, the St. Joseph Church,the playground, and the proximity to Plattekill Avenue. Just the proximity to all these establishments speaks against such a huge development. Yes, it is an underutilized piece of land, so let’s put our heads together and develop a more friendly, community-minded improvement.
There is a proposal to install a skateboarding ring in Hasbrouck Park on the site of the old playground. But we should be cognizant of the not infrequent traffic at the intersection of Mohonk and Elting Avenue, which would not make this a safe area. A better space would be between the tennis courts at the end of Plattekill Avenue and Joalyn Road: no cars anywhere near the skaters.
And wherever the town/village would build it, wearing a helmet must be a requirement to enter the ring. If the kids have an accident anywhere on a public street, it’s bad enough, but if they get badly hurt on a town/village property, there has to be responsibility and protection on both sides.
There is a plan to erect another house on the original 56 Elting Avenue, this time on the north side of the original house. The lot has been divided already in 2015 into 56 and 58, with a large house looming there, on the south side of the original house. There is not enough room to build a habitable dwelling on the small 54 Elting Avenue. Whatever it would be, would only be yet another blemish on the street.
Further, there are serious concerns about water runoff, about increased number of cars parked there and more traffic. The very tight space between the original and the proposed house make all residents in the street extra concerned about ample access for fire engine and other emergency vehicles. The developer says he has the biggest investment in the street, yet he does his utmost to diminish our assets.
Sadly, our code and regulations are such that if a proposal does not quite break them, the project gets the green light to be built. I encourage everyone to tune into the public hearing of the planning board on Tuesday, October 6 and offer their view.
To better the future of our country, we can and must vote, be it by absentee ballot, by early voting or in person on November 3. As far as the outlined local projects are concerned, we can and must contact our local representative and request public hearings long before any substantial planning and especially building commences.
Misha Harnick
New Paltz
Plastic production problems
I was in a grocery store this morning and watched as an employee packing on the checkout line prepared for the next customer by shaking open a number of plastic bags. I had my own cloth bags, yet this got me thinking of changes coming up on October 19 of this year.
The NY State Supreme Court recently ruled to have enforcement of the bag waste reduction law begin on that date, after the initial date of March 1, 2020 was put off by agreement between parties in a lawsuit brought by Poly-Pac Industries, Inc., et al.
As Ulster County residents, we had been adapting to a ban on plastic bags being used by most businesses since July 15, 2019 when the county’s bring-your-own-bag law went into effect. A reverse-option clause in the county law rescinded the county law once the state law took effect on March 1. The lawsuit delayed enforcement and then we were hit by Covid-19. Almost immediately, businesses banned customers from bringing their own bags and the use of plastic bags became widespread.
Fortunately, we now know it’s safe to use cloth (and other types of reusable bags), and thanks to the court ruling, the state law will take effect within a few weeks. Plastic bags are single use and are used for an average of only twelve minutes! And in New York, there have typically been 23 billion plastic bags used per year. Many of these end up as waste in our landfills and litter in our environment. Let’s get back to using our own reusable, preferably cloth bags, when we do our shopping.
Our country has a serious problem with our plastic production and use which we must face — and soon! I’m encouraged by this small step being taken to address these issues. However, there is much more work yet to be done.
Cindy Saporito
Saugerties
Covid-19 and 1984
In 1984, Big Brother can watch you in your home through your TV and now with video classes some school districts think they have the right to tell you what your children can have on their walls in their rooms. In two recent cases — one in Missouri and one in Florida — students were told to remove posters from their walls. One complied, one didn’t and was suspended.
When did anyone get the right to tell you what goes on in your home as long as it’s legal? As a matter of fact, where’s the law that lets them look at all? If this was law enforcement, it would be in court so fast it’d make your head spin. In school, the rules in my house are my rules. I hope the districts are sued for invasion of privacy. This is using Covid-19 to impose their views on students in the privacy of their homes. In reality, if they don’t like it, they shouldn’t look.
In another disturbing video, a mother attending her son’s football game is arrested for not wearing a mask. It was outdoors in a stadium, she was with her family and no one else was within 20 feet of her. First, she’s not breaking any law. These are just executive orders. Outdoors she’s not a danger to anyone except her family, who at home she’s around them without a mask.
Hidden Joe Biden is back to saying if elected, he’ll make wearing a mask national policy, I can’t wait to see how he proposes enforcing it. So failing to wear a mask gets you arrested. Rioting and looting, with or without a mask is ok if your peaceful for the first ten hours of the protest and only riot and loot the last four hours. The Democrats tell you the demonstrations are mostly peaceful.
The same people who want you prosecuted for not wearing a mask as it’s deemed a public health hazard, have no problem in liberal cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle allowing people to urinate, defecate and shoot drugs and throw their used needles on sidewalks with no consequence.
“New speak” now determines what’s a health hazard. I feel what’s being done to today’s schoolchildren is nothing less than child abuse, and I hope in the future when the problems manifest themselves, the school districts are sued. A few years ago, I received an email from Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter who said she had a few billion dollars in a British bank and needed an American bank account number. And if I would give her my number, she’d split it with me.
At this point, anyone who believes anything the CDC says about what to do about Covid-19 would probably accept her offer.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Get the facts on NPPF
Most New Paltz residents have recently received two promotional postcards, with opposing points of view about local law #1 that will be on the ballot this year. In case you don’t know about the issue, here are some facts:
The proposed law is to levy a one-time 1.5% transfer tax on buyers of homes with a purchase price above the median price of a home in Ulster County. The money is going toward the New Paltz Preservation Fund, which will focus on preserving open space, farms, water sources and natural resources throughout New Paltz. This fund has been approved by the town government. The point of this tax is to avoid raising property taxes.
The NYS Board of Realtors has sponsored the “Vote No” postcard using misleading information and scare tactics to convince people to vote against it. This is a lobbying group out of Albany not directly involved in anything in our community (other than representing brokwrs as a lobbying interest).
Additional facts about the initiative include:
• Most New Paltz propertyowners will never pay this fee.
• It is not a property tax and will not increase property taxes for New Paltz residents now or in the future.
• It will enable our community to protect its clean water and beautiful natural landscapes for our children and grandchildren.
• Learn more at VoteYesNewPaltz.com
Vote yes for New Paltz’s future. Vote yes on local law #1 early or on November 3.
Wendy K. Rudder
New Paltz
Reply to Habersberger
Okay, John Habersberger, you can’t sell me the Brooklyn Bridge and you can’t sell me on a non-caring, do-nothing fake president who denies science, global warming and human decency. He could have saved many thousands of lives if he had done a federal mandate to wear masks to avoid the coronavirus. Instead, he made it a loyalty issue to his followers who think he is god. Presidents are supposed to care for and protect their constituents, not kill them with criminal neglect! Well, he just doesn’t care about anything except his own bottom line. We The People are totally expendable. In his view, we all are, as well as our soldiers and veterans, the “losers and suckers!”!
Many other countries are doing very well with corona because they apparently don’t equate freedom with irresponsibility! We all know who the alternative is — for God’s sake, the planet’s sake (there is no planet B) and all our sakes, please let us all vote for Joe Biden!
A.D. Mitchell
Woodstock
Supporting local people
There are a bunch of things I love about our state senator, Jen Metzger, and reasons that I’ll be voting to reelect her. She’s been effective and efficient, getting a whole bunch of bills passed in her first term. But what’s really important to me is that a big focus of her work as a Senator is supporting people in local communities, friends and neighbors whose needs are both urgent and often overlooked.
For example, Jen Metzger has secured funding for veterans and military families, survivors of domestic violence, first responders and people struggling with substance abuse. We love and count on our first responders, and during this Covid crisis Jen got them desperately needed safety equipment and PPE, and is working to get EMS workers formal recognition as an essential service.
And to support our cherished local businesses and business owners in the tough times of the Covid crisis, Jen is working to get business owners timely information about changing regulations and loans for the safety supplies like PPE and plexiglass they need to stay open. Thanks, senator Metzger, for taking care of us!
Kristine Logan
New Paltz
Stay notorious
We’re living in the best of times: However, these are not the best of times.
I was, as many of you, shocked and saddened by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. And yet, I heard her call my name. May her memory be a revolution. She was truly a tiny giant among women and every girl in the USA. She was fearless, not just for women’s causes, she was for equality across the board! A great inspiration and role model and she fought so hard for every citizen’s rights. No one could match RGB’s spirit, intelligence, integrity, grit and knowledge of the law. Her legal mind was epic. I’m in my sunset years and I’ll never see another justice of her caliber.
It’s so hard to know such a strong, fair, wonderful person is gone. And to know her place will now be filled by a polar opposite, it’s hard to face. As a rock star jurist and north star for so many in America, if RBG taught us anything, it is that change often needs to be willed by the people, and that with collective power or with real people power comes hope and progress, understanding and decency and that these ideals feed a shared moral obligation.
So don’t mourn — organize in her name and remember, you can’t spell truth without Ruth!
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Save our democracy
The sitting U.S. president has refused to agree to an orderly transition of power. Everyone knows this is a threat against the Constitution, the U.S. government, and the people of the United States. If this threat were to be carried out, it would constitute an act of treason.
Scholars, historians and other commentators have reacted with shock, but the Democratic campaign appears to be going forward as if it’s just another “irrational” utterance from Donald Trump. This is no time to succumb to shock fatigue. This is not a normal election. This is a crisis. Biden and Harris are in a fight for the survival of American democracy.
The DNC must not run this campaign as if it were a product launch. Stop worrying about whether you’re too far on this side or too far on that side. Bring in all sides. Become truly inclusive. Hold a press conference featuring representatives of all aspects of the party — left, right and center — uniting in an effort to save the democratic process. Include Biden, Harris, Sanders, Warren, Patrick, Yang, Booker, Steyer, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, Buttigieg and more. Join with Pelosi, Schumer, Gilliibrand, AOC, Omar, Delgado and every sitting Democrat. Stand together in front of the media, educate people as to the seriousness of this moment and denounce these traitorous threats.
Pull everyone together and in doing so you can bring voters together. Yes, it would be unprecedented, but this moment is unprecedented. Please, save our democracy.
Gregory and Patricia Shifrin
Stone Ridge
Makes no cents
A while back at a Woodstock Town Board meeting, supervisor [Bill] McKenna initiated a discussion regarding upgrading the antennas used for communication by the highway department and the fire department. What I found interesting was the point that McKenna made regarding splitting the cost of the improvement between the fire department and the town.
He said the cost of the licenses required to upgrade the system would be divided evenly, as if it wasn’t, it would be a deal-breaker, $650 from the fire department budget and $650 from the highway department/town’s budget.
Doesn’t he realize that “divided evenly” would make no difference to us taxpayers since we are the source of the money for both entities?
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Voting no on library bond
I’m voting no on the bond of $5.8 million for a new Woodstock Library building that will really cost closer to $8 million.
A yes vote would have our library torn down and replaced with a three-story 12,000-square-foot, out-of-place building. The new building has no approved site plan (think parking and safety), is in violation of the 75 percent of the people who voted to expand and renovate the current building for $3 million, raises taxes on aged Social Security recipients without any tax relief,, and needs too many trees cut down.
Sorry about my sentence structure, but you get the idea.
Tom Unrath
Shady
The tide must turn
Since a child, I have loved nature and the many unusual, beautiful creatures that inhabit our planet. Through the years, a horrid tsunami of greed and indifference continues to destroy earth and the planet. I have seen people despoiling the water/lands for years. Now, scientists tell us climate change is real. As with most of life, it takes two to tango. More than likely many of earth’s changes (floods,earthquakes, fires, increased hurricane activity) would have occurred if no human was around. The evidence, though, has us guilty and co-dependent to the pea soup we are witnessing and living in today.
Never one person or situation is at fault. Is cancer emotional? Mental? Physical? Soul sickness? A combination of all. Same with the environment.
If ever there was a cosmic plan for us on earth, it was to be stewards of the earth. Co-workers to ensure that her blood (rivers) breathing (air) and body (earth) functioned well to sustain all life.
We have failed as a healer/steward of the planet. Native Americans had the true heart, soul, mind connection to her. They knew how to manage forest fires, they knew about cleansing the body through sweats, right eating, praising the Great Spirit.
The soul of mankind and the planet is sick A visit on a reservation in 1987, their leader, Rolling Thunder, spoke of a great cleansing and natural disasters coming at the turn of the century. (I was on reservation in 1987). It is here.
I see litter, garbage, on every nature walk, filth in parking lots, scum along the edges of once clear lakes. As a child, summers on the St. Lawrence were spent swimming in water you could drink. i maintain the environment is top priority over all else. If we can’t drink water, breathe fresh air, eat fresh foods devoid of chemicals, then we will die. It will be survival, not living.
I have gone into schools as a concerned senior to speak to kids about not thinking how much money you will make, but what career can you enter that adds to the preservation and care of the planet? Get back to the real reasons we are here.
I knew a Native American years ago here in the Hudson Valley in 1985. His name was Black Bear. He said this to me as we discussed Mother Earth and her rising ills: “Your grandchildren and mine will not live to a full life expectancy. It will be impossible as air, water, food, drugs continue to feed the human bodies. Already there is no place to find pure water.”
A massive school curriculum must begin in every school around the world and to continue each year until graduation. Only then can the seeds of responsibility and right action be directed towards our beautiful but ill planet.
I ask only one question. Do these millionaires, billionaires and other monetary hungry people have joy, love, kindness, humility, happiness in their hearts?
Only the Native Americans know how to restore the broken systems, cycles. Great sadness rises in me how we have ignored our Native Americans who suffered far more atrocities, degradation, rapes, murders, treaties broken, (their leaders killed, broken in pieces and put in boiled water) than the blacks, yet we never give them the time of day or apologize for our genocide of them. Black lives matter, but so do all lives.
The Natives were/are the true stewards of earth, the climate, life. Shame on Trump for his ignoring the suffering of millions currently and his frightening words last night. He was hell-bent to bash his opponent. Shame on us for what we did to the Natives. Shame on us for what we continue to do to the environment.
Joyce Benedict
Hyde Park
CPP is an opportuniy
Another important opportunity on the ballot this fall, which will affect our quality of life well beyond any expected incumbency of candidates running for office, is the proposition, which will appear on the back of the ballot. Local Law 1: Water Quality, Working Farms, Wild Life Habitat, and Natural Areas Preservation (aka The Community Preservation Plan) represents a unique opportunity to protect the natural resources which repeated community surveys report to be the highest priority.
Adoption of the Community Preservation Plan will create a fund by the imposition of a 1.5 pervent tax to be paid by the purchasers of properties and will be applied to any amount paid in excess of $245,000. There will not be an increase to the recurring taxes we pay and the threshold for the imposition of the tax assures that it will not be a barrier for first-time homebuyers of average means. The revenue generated will be available to meet matching fund requirements for grant opportunities and otherwise allow for protections of such resources as open space, wetlands, wife life refuges, etc.
This proposed ordinance is being offered for our consideration and endorsement only after untold hours of research and deliberations by the Environmental Conservation Board, the Clean Water Open Space Protection and Historic Preservation commissions. A survey of the community was conducted, and its results informed the discussions leading to the development of this proposal, as did the views expressed at public hearings conducted by the town board prior to its voting to offer the proposition for a vote by the general public.
I am writing to urge your voting yes on this proposition as a long-time resident of New Paltz who wishes for future generations to enjoy the richness of natural resources that influenced so many of us to make our homes here. I am also writing in my capacity as former chair of the Citizens Advisory Board which guided the 2003-2006 transportation ;land use study and long-time chair of the resulting Transportation/Land Use Committee of the town and village.
Because the genesis of that project was traffic congestion, less attention has been given, over time, to the important land use recommendations generated by that study. The results of the public survey conducted as part of the Community Preservation Plan mirror those done over 15 years ago as part of the Transportation/Land Use project. The proposed law will provide funding to further actualize the goals of that project’s land use recommendations.
It may be that it is no more obvious today than it was for many of us when that project was commenced that there is a significant relationship between land use and traffic generation. In her recent letter to this paper, Kitty Brown rightly pointed out that the adoption of this proposition will protect our community from the costs of development. In addition to the costs she identified as being avoided are those of traffic generation. Not only does very new house that get gets built create demands on our schools and municipal services, it also adds an average of two cars to our congested roadways.
I urge you to vote yes for the Community Preservation Plan.
Gail K. Gallerie
New Paltz
Get involved
I recently got an email from the blog Daily Kos, asking, “When the election is over, will you be proud of what you did to help out?”
It’s a question I raise every day, usually, as I do my martinis, with a twist: “When the election is over, will you be ashamed of what you didn’t do to help out?”
I’ve always been outraged and saddened by the powerful/powerless abuse syndrome, but despite the guilt my inactivity has often induced, I haven’t always gotten involved. For me, keeping the day-to-day lives of myself and my loved ones stabilized has been a full-time, all-consuming job.
But today, everyone’s day-to-day life has been destabilized by a psychopath and his caretakers, and for us not to address that fact is to put ourselves at great risk. I think especially of our children and their progeny, who’ll be living on a planet made more and more unlivable if this cabal has its way with it.
For that reason, I’m doing more than I’m accustomed to — texting, calling and writing to voters; donating what I can afford; writing letters to the editor in the hope they’ll make a small difference, especially in swing-state newspapers.
And for that same reason I’m asking those of you who are outraged and saddened — and worried: “When the election is over, will you be ashamed of what you didn’t do to help out?”
If your answer is yes — or if guilt isn’t in your emotional baggage (lucky you!) but outrage and sadness are — I’m throwing down the gauntlet and inviting you to get involved, if only for an hour or two a week. There are plenty of ways. Besides Daily Kos, you can contact Vote Forward, VoteAmerica, and a slew of other organizations that can use your help. If you have a computer and/or a phone and/or a pen, you’ll be good to go.
And if you take up the challenge, you’ll have been good to yourself, your loved ones, your country and your planet.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Lake mitigation impossible
Environmentalists who are concerned about the multiple negative impacts of the proposed 850 Route 28 project, which would impact Onteora Lake and the Bluestone Wild Forest, have called for a full environmental review of this project. John Konior, the chairman of the Town of Kingston Planning Board, revealed to a reporter that one of the options being considered is, rather than calling for a full environmental review, the planning board could opt for a process known as “mitigation.” “Mitigation” would be some kind of negotiated compromise with the developer and the planning board about negative impacts on the nearby environment.
Possible “mitigation” of this project is delusional thinking. The beachfront of Onteora Lake and bluestone trails are between 500 and 1500 yards from the development site. The project calls for explosive blasting (yes, dynamite explosions, including loud sirens) of 405,000 cubic yards of rock over several years. The noise decibels for rock-blasting is comparable to a jet plane taking off. Creating man-made buffers simply would not do the job.
Is there really any way all this noise could be mitigated in a way that is satisfactory for nearby swimmers, boaters or hikers?
Similarly, the project calls for up to 100 trips a day by heavy trucks, loading and unloading, six or seven days a week. What could possibly be a satisfactory noise mitigation of this be? Would reducing loading and unloading trucks to 50 a day rather than 100 trucks a day be satisfactory for, once again, nearby swimmers, boaters, hikers or fishermen?
While mitigation appears as though it may possibly be the favored solution for the Town of Kingston Planning Board to the dilemmas posed by the 850 Route 28 project, it cannot be satisfactory. A plan calling for mitigation is mission impossible!!! There must be a call for a full environmental review (technically known as a “Positive Declaration”).
Mel Sadownick
West Hurley
Democracy already died
Something had to give. The very richest in our country have accumulated unimaginable wealth, all stolen from the rest of us. In recent decades the richest one percent has taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90 percent.
The billionaires are not wage earners, but speculators who own the president and most of Congress through unlimited campaign donations. They have fired all the government’s regulators and replaced them with corporate lobbyists. They get richer by burning up the planet with fossil fuels and selling weaponry for America’s endless wars.
Installing a dictator is about the only way this robbery of working people can continue unabated. Trump’s second term would see the shredding of our Constitution, the end of press freedom and the continued destruction of unions and working people’s rights. The super-rich will extend their rule, with white supremacist thugs, racist cops and evangelical cretins to do their dirty work.
How long did we think this system of gross inequity would work? How long did we think this present kleptocracy would even look like a democracy to most of our nation’s citizens? And what happens when we collectively give up on our sham democracy?
Perhaps our democracy died some time ago and we weren’t paying attention. Caught up with the perpetual “lesser of two evils” philosophy, we have let the rich, corporate elite and their two subservient political parties drain every penny away from the common good, all so that the very wealthy and their huge corporations can accumulate billions more.
Fred Nagel
Rhinebeck
Presidential debate
If Donald Trump was asked if he condemns racism, he probably would have said yes. But when asked if he condemns white supremacy, he could not say yes. Are these not the same things?
Supremacy of any race over another, or all others is racism.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all ‘human beings’ are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This is part of the Constitution which he has pledged to uphold as president of the United States.
Gabriel Dresdale
Woodstock
Vote no on library bond
The Woodstock Library board of trustees is not being truthful to the taxpayers. The trustees are saying the new proposed, yet not-voted on, building project will cost you next to nothing. But, hey, anything could seem reasonable if you break it down into a small number — even a Rolls Royce. The trustees are basing their numbers on just the overpriced proposed $5.8-million bond.
They are not telling you about the huge annual budget. It is larger than any other local area library — look it up on the other libraries websites, and are you getting anything more at Woodstock Library compared to the others? The large budget would be compounded along with the proposed bond, for 25 years. As an example, a $5-million bond at a low interest rate compounded with the annual budget and average increase would be over a million dollars by year six. Now, keep on compounding that with the high annual budget for the next 19 years. What could you buy yourself with that little bit of money?
The trustees have not been honest with the taxpayers. The eleven-member group that makes up the board of trustees have made all the decisions — the design, the price, the landscaping…they have not listened to the taxpayer’s wants or needs, you have no say. It is time for the Woodstock taxpayers to stand up and have their say by choosing the correct choice.
Vote no on the bond (on the back of the ballot) on November 3 and save a chunk of money for yourself.
Natalie Cyr
Woodstock
How do we benefit?
According to the letter to the Freeman editor on Monday, September 28, the removal of the political signs is the fault of “this president and his coterie of enablers and family members who stir up more hate, chaos and division.” I get anti-Trump information from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN the Freeman and Hudson Valley One. From the Freeman and Hudson Valley One articles and letters to the editor, it seems the area is 90 percent anti Trump. I also get news from Fox and News Max. With this variety I see it’s not just one party.
After the (un)presidential, obnoxious, disgusting (on both sides) “debate,” I believe I have a solution voters will appreciate and politicians will hate. There should be two published lists — one of local and one of national candidates. The candidates will be listed; their opponents will list all the negatives. Voters can read for themselves, evaluate the validity and seriousness of the accusations and their relevance.
Now the candidates must concentrate on their plans for the future. Voters can evaluate these plans, and consider the likelihood of the candidates fulfilling them (based on the first list and past experience). How do we as individuals and as a country benefit? How can the candidate benefit personally, monetarily or otherwise?
Seeing their accusations in print may be different than speaking. If the accusations are disproved (in print) the lack of integrity of the accuser would be evident and there could be legal action.
In my opinion, there are about four statesmen (or women). The rest are politicians who personally benefit in some way(s). The chance of our electing statesmen/women is remote so who is the least egregious. As they say, “It takes two to tango” and I think there is enough blame to go around.
Martha Pearson
Kingston
The time for protection
As a voter in New Paltz you will have the opportunity in the coming weeks to vote yes for Local Law No. 1 — a ballot measure that will enable our town to create a Community Preservation Fund to protect clean water, working farms and natural areas. Revenues from a local 1.5% real estate transfer tax will go into this dedicated fund. This is a one-time fee paid by buyers of properties in New Paltz and will not affect taxes for current residents. A $245,000 exemption applies to all buyers and protects affordability for first-time home buyers.
Do we need this fund? Yes! New Paltz has benefitted enormously from protection of some of our most valuable and irreplaceable resources. Recent examples include the River-To-Ridge Trail, the Mohonk Testimonial Gateway and surrounding landscape, the Wallkill Valley Rail-Trail, Millbrook Preserve and Taliaferro Farm. These places perfectly illustrate the value of preservation to our community. However, many other important places remain vulnerable. Our existing Comprehensive, Open Space and Farmland Protection Plans all call for additional protection of these resources in the face of encroaching development, but unless we pass this ballot measure, we simply will not have funds to do more.
Is now a good time? Emphatically yes! In the past ten years, our area has seen an explosion of commerce, culture, investment and relocation. New Paltz’s identity as an oasis — with farm-fresh food, craft beverages, good schools and living close to nature — has been discovered. Steadily rising real estate values have skyrocketed in recent months, as people seek to relocate from New York City due to Covid-19. With this law, new property owners will contribute to the community they are joining and will have some assurance that the very things that attracted them to New Paltz will be protected.
If you have received flyers in your mailbox urging you to vote no on this ballot measure, be aware that these are coming from a special interest lobbying group in Albany — the NYS Association of Realtors — whose first concerns are not our community. Vote Yes for Local Law No. 1!
Cara Lee
John Orfitelli
Vote Yes New Paltz Committee
New Paltz
Woodstock Library provides services
I am a supporter of the new updated library.
Why? In 1941 I passed from an orphanage to grade 7 in public school. Up until that time, my mother had died, I was seriously abused and ignored. In seventh grade, my English teacher, Miss Smith kept me after school. She explained to me that I hadn’t been able to do the homework and she said, “I am not keeping you after school to punish you. I am begging you to go to the library and find the books you like and read, read, read.”
In grade eight, I took the usual scholastic exam. The guidance counselor interviewed me and said, “Ralph, I have never in my career seen what has happened to you. In grade seven you were at the bottom of your class, and now in grade eight you are at the top of your class.”
I am currently soon to be 90 years old. I have lived and contributed in my hometown (Woodstock) for over 50 years. Books are for all ages. We need a new library for the services it provides.
Ralph Goneau
Bearsville
Accepting each other
When I moved to Saugerties in 1992, I was pleased to have found a community of welcoming neighbors, many of whom have become chosen family. Over the years we have come to respect and accept each other regardless of our personal and political differences.
So, it was distressing to say the least when we found one of our political signs supporting the candidates of our choice torn and ripped from its stand then discarded in a ditch. A few days later, our other neighbors who had similar signs woke up to find trash thrown in their yard and “MAGA” written in red paint on the street across from their home. As if that wasn’t enough, they also happened to find an intruder trying to steal one of their signs from their yard in the early morning hours that same day.
Given what we observed in the first presidential debate, this kind of intimidation is not what democracy looks like! This kind of bullying is disconcerting and does nothing to change your vote whether it comes from your neighbors or your president.
The reason for my letter is to affirm, “Let your vote be your voice; your vote is your power.” Now, that is what democracy looks like!
Cheryl Qamar
Saugerties
A Reagan Trump isn’t
Since August of 2016, I have submitted numerous letters to the local newspapers, 68 as a matter of fact, complaining about Donald’s lack of experience for this all-important position as president of the United States. I will not elaborate again, as once was enough; however, if anyone reading this letter thinks experience is not important for those doctors, lawyers, carpenters, truck drivers, school-bus drivers, teachers, psychiatrists, yes, even presidents of the United States, who serve and address our concerns and safety, think again.
I turned of age in 1958 at age 19 and registered as a Republican for one reason and one reason alone: Dwight D. Eisenhower. A beautiful man, experienced, not political in the official sense, not holding any political office, but experienced as a politician as the commander in chief of all allied forces in World War II. He had to address and did well with such disparate personalities as Patton, Montgomery, Churchill, Roosevelt, at the same time supervising his commanders for the great invasion of Fortress Europe, and we all know the results of that conflict, don’t we?
Given this statement: Do you think the Donald would do well in shouldering something as great and all compassing as the WWII nightmare? Do you think Donald would have been able to deal with such self-serving, narcissistic, personalities as a Patton and Montgomery, when Donald, himself is like them — a self-serving, narcissistic personality? Do you think Donald would have been able to chair a meeting of his commanders and get input in from them regarding front-line situations and act upon their advice as they are the ‘ones on the scene’ and not him?
Do you think the Donald is acting as professional and smooth as Ronald Reagan was in office, lifting the American people up with his beliefs and sunny disposition? How about Gerry Ford, Richard Nixon, G.H. Bush, G. W. Bush? All Republicans like him but vastly different in style, personality, competence, experience. Donald fails in all categories, as he has no personality, no competence, and no experience for being in that office.
All presidents in office have calamities thrust upon them, but they have a staff, cabinet members and Congress to guide and help. The Republicans mentioned above all had their albatrosses hanging around their necks and all responded appropriately and accordingly, particularly Ronald Reagan, as he was basically the main thrust in bringing the Soviet Union down. It was his push to increase the arms race that economically, the Soviet Union could not withstand and they went under.
We all know how Donald is doing with the Russians today, don’t we? A Reagan he is not.
Robert LaPolt
New Paltz
Transfer tax
When I got the ad in my mailbox opposing the real estate transfer tax with a heading shouting “Attracting New Homeowners will help New Paltz recover” and another demanding to “Keep New Paltz Affordable,” I would have laughed if not for the fear that some people might be confused and think that the transfer tax would raise their own taxes. It would not/ The only cost would be to new homebuyers, who are as we write competing with each other to find anyplace for sale in New Paltz.
We need to protect our shrinking open space and having a fund to draw on will certainly help. To illustrate just how ridiculous are the claims of the real estate lobby in Albany that is behind this rhetoric, I refer you to the New York Times article. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/realestate/new-paltz-ny.html?smid=em-share. Please don’t forget to flip your ballot folks and vote yes on the proposition to protect open space.
Judy Mage
New Paltz
Concern about transparency
I share the concern of many parents about the New Paltz School District delaying the reopening of the high school, announced in a letter last Thursday from the superintendent. That concern is clearly broad, as evidenced by the dozens of online parent comments posted in the few days since. I wonder about the process and rational behind the decision, as well as inadequate communication about it, especially given the harm to our students and the contrast with other school openings in the New Paltz district as well as other school systems around New York and adjacent states.
If New Paltz is going to continue preventing/delaying the in-person return of our high school students, they should do so only after adequately involving their key stakeholders, including student families, and should provide truly exceptional reasons for doing so, as well as be exceptionally transparent about the process given the harm to our high-school students. There were several questions stemming from the letter that should have been, and still need to be, addressed. These include how the schools weighed the concerns around “impacting schedules, content delivery or health and safety” against the concerns of our high-school students suffering from lack of any in-person instruction? And how will the New Paltz schools adequately involve their stakeholders in the process of making new decisions (from our perspective, they have done little to nothing so far)?
In the superintendent’s alleged, written response to one parent’s expression of concern (posted in part on Facebook), she seems to indicate the high-school “schedule” is the main issue and reiterated that “additional information will be forthcoming.” Again, this is not transparent enough. In addition to the above questions, I then ask, when will additional information be forthcoming, and in what range of time does she think we can expect to have this resolved and see our high-school students return? We need and deserve more.
We want our high-school students back in class now (or very soon), not at some unknown, “forthcoming” time. The whole idea of proper stakeholder engagement is that better information and decision-making then follows. At the least, stakeholders deserve to have clear process and rationale for why certain decisions are made.
Thank you for your attention to this letter and I hope you will find it worthy of publication.
Perry Goldschein
New Paltz
We miss the Almanac
We miss seeing Bob Berman’s column. Are you still publishing Almanac? We love Hudson Valley One and are glad to see coverage from all the areas for which you used to publish separate papers.
Betsy and Bill Tuel
New Paltz
For the long haul
You may have recently received mailers with the return address “Keep New Paltz Affordable” urging a no vote on Local Law #1 which is appearing on the ballot in New Paltz in the current election. Sent by the New York State Board of Realtors in Albany, these mailers misrepresent how a proposed Community Preservation Fund will impact you and the town.
Local Law #1 would institute a 1.5 percent real-estate transfer tax on property sales over $245,000 with revenues going to a new Community Preservation Fund. This fund would pay for the conservation of valuable community assets such as natural areas, clean water and working farms without raising taxes for residents.
Contrary to these mailers, this law will not discourage home-buying in New Paltz. Quite the opposite, initiatives like this are why so many people want to move here in the first place. While New Paltz does in fact have an affordability problem, this is driven by more powerful factors such as massive demand from affluent downstate buyers, ongoing lack of adequate affordable housing policies, among others. Compared to these, the impact of this law will be negligible.
For more detailed information about the Community Preservation Plan and Fund see the Q&A fact sheets on the Community Preservation Plan page on the Town of New Paltz website. I encourage you to preserve cherished community resources by voting yes on Local Law #1 for the long haul!
Nancy Schniedewind
New Paltz
Wells next to the tanks
New Paltz’s municipal water system serves the Village of New Paltz, Town of New Paltz water districts, SUNY New Paltz and our K-12 school district. For many years we have been working to identify local groundwater well sources to augment the water we buy from New York City water and source from our reservoirs next to the Mohonk Preserve on our water treatment plant property. We are in the midst of completing plans and permitting to connect four wells next to our water plant and two wells on the north side of the Moriello Pool property.
Additionally, we will perform flow testing on two wells in the orchard next to our municipal water tanks at Cherry Hill. Several test wells were drilled approximately ten years ago on this property south of the tanks when they were being considered for the Park Point housing development.
These wells were flow tested for 72 hours in November 2012 without problems, so two of them are being retested. They are in bedrock which is different than the sand and gravel at 101 Plains Road. Additionally, these two wells will be tested at much lower gallons-per-minute flow rates compared to 101 Plains.
This flow testing is planned for October. During these tests, we will monitor several nearby private wells to assess influences on the surrounding aquifer. We have contacted property owners and had them sign consent forms and complete questionnaires about their wells. Monitoring helps New Paltz, the NYS Department of Health and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation consider whether these orchard wells could be suitable for regular municipal use.
Small water level sensors will be inserted into the private wells. They are approximately one inch wide and eight inches long and constructed of stainless steel hanging on a cable. Probes are disinfected before being lowered into wells. They continuously record water levels and do not need to be adjusted until they are removed.
While monitoring is occurring, neighbors are encouraged to continue all normal water uses. Since loggers are collecting continuous records, daily use of pumps can be easily distinguished from any regional water level changes caused by flow testing these two wells in the orchard. Not all neighboring wells are suitable for monitoring, for example, if wells were completed in pits or otherwise unsafe to access.
While testing occurs, staff may visit properties being monitored a few times daily to take confirmatory manual water level measurements. Visits are short and there is no need to disturb residents, or even for them to be home.
After the conclusion of the testing period, probes will be removed and wells will be properly closed. Participants will also be given a copy of the water level records from their well.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Vote for Steve Greenfield
In our 19th Congressional District, we have a candidate, Steve Greenfield, who will vote to end all our non-defensive military actions around the world and use the money to help with the crises facing us in the U.S.
For, example, he’ll vote to employ everyone who needs to work with direct public employment and local contracting, to construct clean-energy infrastructure and clean up toxic waste.
He will vote for full public health insurance, decoupled from employment, so that when an emergency like the Covid-19 epidemic leads to layoffs, workers will not lose coverage. Steve Greenfield has wide, applicable, experience from serving on the New Paltz School Board to serving as a team player in the New Paltz volunteer fire department. He has been in the streets demonstrating and being arrested, fighting for an adequate response to the climate crisis and an end to the ICE atrocities at the border and in our district. He will take that fighting spirit to Congress.
He will take no money from establishment lobbyists and will be beholden to nobody but the voters. Vote for Steve Greenfield on the Green Party line.
Margaret Human
New Paltz
Smaller carbon footprint
Maybe the Ulster County Executive could relocate the Ulster County DSS complex to the corner of Cedar Street and Prospect Street. That way the social workers could have a smaller carbon footprint responding to all the assaults and robberies.
Tom Comerford
Shokan
Metzger the better choice
Jen Metzger is a hard-working New York state senator seeking a second term. She obtains grants for local projects and passes bipartisan supported bills. One of her bills helps farmers and their workers. She is approachable and takes seriously everyone’s concerns without regard for party. She is what every public servant should be and a rarity in this climate.
Her opponent made a fortune running a school bus company infamous for cutting safety precautions and putting children at risk. He appears to have little in the way of a platform, but definitely wants to financially aid the school-bus industry. He regards himself as a law-and-order man and espouses standard Republican ideology.
If you want things done in Albany, Metzger is clearly the better choice. Her opponent is what we are clearing out as the state legislature works to become a better functioning body.
Hal Chorny
Gardiner
Jen Metzger is everywhere
I first met state senator Jen Metzger about ten years ago. Our families were part of an informal group of motley locals who met once a week to play soccer together. Sometimes the teams were mixed and sometimes it was parents versus kids, with ages ranging from three to 40 plus. Family Soccer, as it was known, was a rare opportunity for a diverse, intergenerational, outdoor gathering — just for the fun of it. Jen stood out as a warm, dedicated parent who, as busy as she was, knew it was critically important to set regular time aside to be with her kids and neighbors.
Over time, I came to know of her extensive involvement in local government, her passion for access to high-quality education, her extensive work for environmental protection and her commitment to economic development in our community. Jen’s concern about balancing funding for public education while keeping property taxes affordable is a pillar of her work in Albany.
As the director of Citizens for Local Power and a member of the New York State Clean Energy Advisory Council, she fought for environmental protection and promotion of green jobs. She has worked tirelessly to protect our water and the air quality of our beautiful Hudson Valley ecosystems on the local Environmental Commission and the Climate Task Force. Jen’s commitment to quality of life for families and small business has driven her to fight for property-tax relief and strategic revitalization of our small and rural towns.
The one thing that stands out most when I think of senator Metzger is her accessibility. She is everywhere in the small towns where her constituents live, work, and play — listening and striving to bring our concerns back to Albany. Jen represents us all.
Dr. Susanrachel B. Condon
Gardiner
Woodstock Library research
In a recent letters to the editor, some good tough questions about the Woodstock Library board’s proposed new library building have been asked. These types of questions are exactly the type that the library’s board of trustees have been asking themselves throughout our process.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to give the complete answers to her questions in a letter to the editor — there simply is not enough space. As a service to those people who might want answers to these questions, we have answered them in detail on our website at newlibrarywoodstock.org/questions-answered. People can also find more information about the proposed building and answers to other questions on the website.
Building a new library is an important decision. It is not one that the Woodstock Library board of trustees takes lightly. We have spent years examining the options, consulting experts, holding information meetings with the public and debating the options at our board meetings. The outcome of all of this work is our proposal for a new library building, We understand and respect that people have questions. We are more than happy to answer these questions. Please feel free to contact us, our email addresses are all posted on the library’s website (woodstock.org).
Jeffery A. Collins
Woodstock Library trustee
Woodstock
Vote yes on open space
I am writing my fellow New Paltzers to ask you to vote yes for Local Law 1 — Water Quality, Working Farms, Wildlife Habitat and Natural Areas Preservation Fund (a proposition on the back of the ballot this November). As New Paltz becomes more developed, I have long dreamed of residents getting together as a community to purchase parcels of land to keep as shared open spaces.
To preserve our community character, clean land and water, not to mention our economic future, we really need to find a way to protect our natural resources and the natural beauty of our town. This plan and fund could do just that, also taking the burden off current residents by funding it through new real-estate sales instead. Ingenious! When someone decides to move to New Paltz, a huge reason is because they love our beautiful woods, farms and fields and the hiking, biking, rock-climbing and swimming they enjoy in the area.
With this small transfer tax (only placed on house sales amounts above the median Ulster County home price, so therefore excusing lower-income buyers), new residents would be investing back into the New Paltz of the future, protecting all the reasons we love it here. Seems like a small price to pay to me.
Some of our brightest minds have provided the plan with science-based information on how to best protect our natural resources and land connectivity. Only willing landowners will have their land protected. And even though people may worry about paying a bit more on a new house, open space has been proven to reduce real-estate taxes in the long run. For people, animals, and our natural habitats alike, this is a win-win. Please approve the law needed to bring it to life! Vote yes to Local Law 1!
Laura deNey
New Paltz
Ugly truth about McConnell
The George Floyd justice and police law bill has been on the desk of Mitch McConnell for a long time, but he acts like he doesn’t have the time or the desire to bring it up in the Senate. The bill would pass, and our country could begin to take real steps to fix the broken systems that have led us to scenes of police brutality and a deep mistrust of the police.
Black people deserve the same protection under the law as white people. Right now they are not receiving that real protection. It’s totally fixable, and we could begin to heal old wounds and work toward reclaiming trust in our police as protectors of the peace. But McConnell has no time to get a law passed that could help our country heal from the years of racism.
Instead, McConnell finds all kinds of time to be working toward pushing a Supreme Court nominee right through the confirmation hearings, in record speed, so the Supreme Court could be stacked with a strong conservative leaning before the November 3 election. The seat became available 45 days before the election, due to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But let’s not forget that just a few years ago McConnell totally refused to allow Merrick Garland, the choice of then-president Barack Obama, to even come before Congress with the chance of receiving approval for a Supreme Court position. That was with over 300 days before the 2016 election. 300 days! Can you believe it?
Something is so rotten in America right now, and McConnell’s flagrant use of power is at the core. He is up for re-election in November. He deserves to be replaced. And those who are still willing to vote for McConnell are exposing their own racism, their hypocrisy, as well as their complete disrespect for what once made our country such a great place to be.
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Hudson Valley needs Metzger
I first met Jen Metzger when her three boys enrolled in the gymnastics gym I ran. In person, she is warm and easygoing. At the time I was unaware of the warrior side of her nature, nor her long and inspiring resume of political service.
Jen accomplished an impressive amount during her first term in our State Senate — including (but certainly not limited to) sponsoring 21 bipartisan bills that were signed into law. With the momentum of her first term at her back, it only stands to reason that her second term will see a further uptick of concrete steps to protect small business (especially local farms), ease property taxes and promote excellence in our public-school systems. Jen’s history in town politics continues to inform her decisions going forward at the state level. She is exactly the advocate we, the residents of the Hudson Valley, need.
Richard Condon
New Paltz
Yes for community preservation
I got a fake-news postcard from an Albany PAC telling me to keep New Paltz affordable. Right there, we know they’re not local. New Paltz affordable? Maybe for absentee landlords.
How do I know this is not from our local brokers? The card says, Don’t increase the real-estate transfer tax.
Guess what, fake-news PAC. New Paltz doesn’t have a RETT. Can’t increase something that doesn’t exist.
Homes are selling in record time, often days, often well over the asking price.
I’m voting yes for community preservation.
David Smith
New Paltz
Join the family! 
