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Sarahana’s advocacy and support of universal school meals
In the February 14th edition of HV1, in a letter to the editor, Sarah Stone accuses Sarahana Shrestha of not supporting school meals. Nothing could be further from the truth. After assertively pushing for the program to be funded, Sarahana and others, including the lead Assembly sponsor of the universal school meals bill, symbolically voted “no” on the budget bill, which some assembly members have dubbed the “Big Ugly” because it is a single huge, complex budget bill that traditionally contains many of the good aspects, but also has glaring inadequacies. Voting “no” was a way of bringing attention to the bill’s shortcomings and to the problematic budget process, at the same time she recognized that in no way was the bill going to fail on the floor, still enabling it’s positive aspects to come into effect. I think at best Sarah missed the point and effect of Sarahana’s action.
If we want to get technical, the funding for the meals program was in the “Aid to Localities” bill, which Sarahana voted “yes” on, bringing $169 million for school breakfast and lunch programs….guess Sarah missed that too.
In addition, I have attended several in-person, as well as online, presentations given by assemblymember Shrestha on topics ranging from Central Hudson to the Build Public Renewables Act, which have been given here in Saugerties, as well as in many other towns around the district. This outreach demonstrates how deeply involved she is in advocacy and action. And personally, on several occasions, her staff has made significant and timely inquiry, and response, to issues I’ve brought to their attention. I have never experienced such concerned and effective involvement from my representation in government. Actually, I was not supportive of her when she first came to vie for office, then preferring the more stayed and “connected” approach espoused by Kevin Cahill, but Sarahana’s work and actions have totally changed my attitude, as well as faith in what is possible.
Marcus Arthur
Saugerties
If only Democrats cared
In his letter entitled “Republiclown Party,” of course Neil Jarmel continues his ongoing and monotonous attacks on Trump and Republicans just as his idol Joe Biden continues to do. Notice how Neil and Biden’s synonymous platform leading up to the November election is simply and solely to bash Trump and Republicans while totally avoiding a much more intelligent platform of painstakingly detailing what Biden will actually do for ALL Americans. Why is this? Easy answer: they have absolutely nothing to offer after 3+ years of the destruction of ALL American’s values.
And, of course, they pretend Biden’s intentional ruination of our border and national security while ignoring ALL existing immigration laws is all Trump’s and the Republican’s fault simply because the Republicans won’t pass a bill really meant to endlessly continue giving more financial aid while it very weakly pretends to “fix” the 3+ years border crisis intentionally orchestrated by Biden for the sole purpose of generating a new Democratic voter bloc. Biden pretends he’s helpless without Republicans passing this phony “border bill.” Just as Biden created his open border with a mere stroke of his pen on his first day in office, he could have easily stopped all this dangerous nonsense with the same stroke of his pen in the form of another executive order. He thinks we’re all too stupid to figure this out.
Finally, in addressing another deluded TDS sufferer, William Weinstein, I’d like to suggest to William a barter offer regarding his trying to find and solicit 50 Republicans to vote for Biden. How about I ask for a few million Democratic voters to vote for whomever ends up being the Republican presidential candidate, Trump or not, because of the fact that they must finally be fed up with all of Biden’s toxic behavior and actions that have caused them significant financial loss and personal palpable safety fears, among many other woes … all overseen and approved by Biden.
Unless these Democratic voters are in a coma, they should be honest with themselves and know that four more years of Biden, or any other Democrat, will be the final nails in theirs, their kids and their grandkid’s coffins of safety, freedom and financial success.
John N. Butz
Modena
Take Gardiner off the appetizer list
There is an old saying that goes, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.” That is what happened this week when, in the final Democratic legislation that determined congressional district lines for the next decade or more, Gardiner — a small town of 5,600 — was unceremoniously split into two different congressional districts. Most of Gardiner will remain in Congressional District NY-18, currently represented by Democrat Patrick K. Ryan. But oddly, about a thousand residents in the southwest corner of town were reassigned in the final map to CD NY-19, currently represented by Republican Marcus Molinaro.
This was a colossal failure of our representation in the state legislature. In 2022 Gardiner lost Democratic representation in the State Senate, when statehouse redistricting tacked it onto Senator Peter Oberacker’s mostly red Senate District 51. Republican Oberacker likely couldn’t care less about the blue speck that is Gardiner on his eastern flank. That makes having an effective, constituent-oriented Democratic Assemblymember vital for Gardiner. Our incumbent Democratic Socialist Assemblymember, Sarahana Shrestha, whose primary focus has been changing the economic system, demonstrated clearly that she is not up to the task of having Gardiner’s back. The new district lines, which she voted for, made our town an appetizer on the menu. I hope we were at least appetizing.
Assemblymember Shrestha’s productivity in the Assembly and service to her constituents has been lackluster, even by the standards of a freshman legislator. This is because Shrestha prefers to keep herself separate from the power structure and focuses instead on “changing the culture of Albany.” Translated, that means not focusing on legislating or constituent services in the traditional ways, but by working with a small group of other socialist legislators to take on capitalism.
As a result, she has gained little influence or respect in Albany. She shows no sign of changing her approach, which consists in part of verbally condemning her fellow Democrats, including the governor, and going along with disruptive masked “protests” of our Democratic elected officials if they don’t tow the line of the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA’s membership comprises less than two-tenth of one percent (0.015) of New York’s registered Democrats, but it holds outsized influence in Ulster County politics because of its loud and confrontational tactics.
Gardiner and the Democratic Party need an effective Assemblymember in District 103 whose primary focus is constituents, not ideology. This week’s redistricting debacle makes that crystal clear.
Luckily, Democratic voters will have a choice in the June 25th primary election. I am supporting Gabriella “Gabi” Madden for Assembly District 103. There will be more about Gabi in future letters, but, briefly, she is a 28-year-old progressive Democratic powerhouse whose experience, people skills and smarts will put her at the table and take Gardiner off the appetizer list.
Tom Kruglinski
Gardiner
New Paltz United Teachers budget view
The New Paltz United Teachers would like the community to know that we continue to have serious concerns about the district leadership’s vision for our future. As each budget presentation is revealed to us, we learn more. Please join us in giving a close eye and ear to each aspect presented and discussed during this budget season, starting at this Wednesday’s meeting, while we all learn what is at risk for our students and their educational programs.
Much of what is being proposed does not fully take into consideration its impact on student programming or how it will diminish student opportunities and available assets/resources! We are, and always have been, proud of what we have been able to deliver to our students, especially through the challenges we’ve all collectively faced in the last five years. Whatever difficult decisions must be made should have as little impact on our students as possible and keep the outstanding education that our members have always provided to our students intact.
While a budget is a financial plan for the district, it is also a communication tool — it articulates the values and priorities of its schools. We, the New Paltz United Teachers, ask for the community’s support as we hold the New Paltz Central School District accountable to THIS priority — continuing to provide the outstanding educational programs and opportunities it always has for our students!
Paulette Easterlin, President
New Paltz United Teachers
Democrat Gina Raimondo for president
Many God-damned “Do Gooders” like me are very uncomfortable with the two jokers who currently appear to be our only choices for president eight months from now. But when I was growing up, the candidates were chosen by the party at the convention, and that is how we can be saved from the ‘damned if we do, damned if we don’t’ Biden vs. Trump rematch.
Gina Raimondo has the experience great presidents need. Her profile on Google is extraordinary! Top of her class-type leader: Magna com laude, Rhodes Scholar, Harvard, grad Yale law, daughter of a factory worker who lost his job when his factory moved to China. Married, two kids, 52, and even played rugby.
As elected treasurer of Rhode Island (that’s a state for the MSNBC crowd), she saved the pension system from bankruptcy. As RI’s governor, she fought, won, and after three years was chosen to be our White House cabinet commerce secretary. Her trip to China last year was epic. She climbed into the ring five times and won each fight by knock out! Compared to Sec. of State Antony Blinken, she floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee!
Give us the chance to have our own Margaret Thatcher, tough like Golda Meir: politically smart female leaders in this dangerous world, please. God Bless America, land that we love.
Paul Raymond
New Paltz
Biden greets new voters
Joe Biden went to the southern border to see the thousands of immigrants invading our country. He wanted to greet the future Democrat voters.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
The future starts here
New York State is a college town.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Drive the liars out of the temple
The day after the American Taliban ruled from the Alabama Supreme Court that so-called “extrauterine children” were people, and that employees at in-vitro fertilization facilities would be subject to criminal prosecution as “perpetrators,” some Republicans came to their senses.
Alabama’s Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall stated that he “has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers.”
Alabama’s Republican State Senator Tim Melson, a retired physician, is planning to introduce a measure that would ensure people can continue to pursue IVF treatment.
Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey signaled she would support such a proposal, saying in a statement on Friday that fostering “a culture of life” included helping “couples hoping and praying to be parents who utilize IVF.”
The Former Guy, who has stacked the U.S. Supreme Court with so-called “culture of life” justices, called on the state legislature to “act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama” and for the protection of IVF in all 50 states.
What accounts for this dramatic turnaround? Could it be that the Republican Party knows that Americans want to thwart the American Taliban’s attempts to deny women their bodily autonomy and to stop meddling in personal decisions involving birth control and family planning? And yet at every turn, the Republican Party, driven by its most fanatic factions, works tirelessly to deny and meddle as much as possible.
The most curious aspect of the turnaround is that for the sake of a couple of votes these highly principled Alabama officials are now willing to run roughshod over the presumed personhood of the developing zygote. Only the day before they were falling all over themselves to endow the “extrauterine child” with the rights of a full human being. Yesterday this child was sacred. Today, it’s expendable.
In other words, these principled Republican hypocrites are willing to sacrifice alleged religious principle for the sake of political expediency, which means that what they originally called principle was expedience to begin with. Republicans are liars. Are you really going to vote for them?
Ulster Democrats, are you going to stay home on Election Day, or are you going to vote for Joseph Biden, a great president who has steered the nation ably through the murk of a Republican mire? And may I see 50 more Republican votes for Biden? Aren’t you tired of the lies?
Vote for Joseph Biden and the national and local Democratic ticket. Drive the liars out of the temple.
William Weinstein
New Paltz
The selling of his sole
Come on — you should know jokers to the right, clowns to the left — a distinguishing mark or emblem. Bozos, inflate your shoes. Follow the yellow rubber line! And please keep your hands to yourself. Thank you. Bring your squirting flowers for special effects, make sure you hit your target. Make memories that last forever. How far outside can they get? Send in the clowns. You are now going to see the ex-president. In a world of clowns, laughter is rarer than you might think.
The clowns [at least] they are very easy to identify these days: Besides wearing QAnon tinfoil hats on occasion, they all wear a red ball cap that says MAGA on the outside and “Made in China” on the inside.
Now, to further recognize his constituency of MAGAholics, who’re cool as ever, bright as ever, tfg is selling golden style hi-top sneakers with the ‘Trump Brand’ — trying to bottle lightening and recreate his magic, he’ll make whatever it is that excites him [$$$] #45 using very little thought, envisioned a concept and developed a ‘head space’ err, I mean ‘step in place’ with his foot soldiers in mind. A pair of these and a Maga Hat tells you all about the moron wearing them. It will make the game ‘Spot the loony’ much easier to win. Damn now everyone’s gonna think it’s a political matter when I make fun of their footwear.
In other words, “create something that you personally want t’see in the world and what other people are longing for. Yeah, he’s playing his rube crowd.” [These expensive yet cheap-ass $400 gold abominations increase in value after stepping in dog shit, you can smell it from here.] It’s a golden idol for idol worshipers. He plans for his conned followers t’stay below everyone’s idea of dignity. It’ll be easy staying there since these shoes have launched a thousand memes! Personally, “just looking at them gives me plantar fasciitis!”
Opinion: Age is one thing, when it comes to leadership, sanity is another. Congressional Republicans want Trump back in power. END their plan. Vote. Elected MAGAt congress people, idiot clownish Trumpublicans and of course, the cultist lockstep extreme right-wing must be upended. While tfg may sell his fool’s gold sneakers, we intend on giving him the boot!
Okay, I’m going to hop off my soapbox now.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Local government revenue
Will NYS and federal regulators give away our right-of-ways to cable companies who are pushing the switch to online TV streaming from cable TV?
The Village of New Paltz recently received its second cable TV franchise fee payment for fiscal year 2024. Totaling $27,203, this represents a (36%) decline in revenue for the village since $42,683 was received for fiscal year 2013. However, the decline may be more significant if one were also factoring in cable TV cost increases.
Via the Federal Cable Act, municipalities, like the Village of New Paltz, are entitled to a percentage of gross revenues from cable TV operators who place their facilities in the public right-of-way. However, there is no franchise fee for online TV streaming services that use the same public right-of-ways.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
GAD
People dragging themselves around these days with what they believe to be SAD — seasonal affective disorder — may want to re-diagnose. Add to the already heartbreaking, frightening state of the planet and its people the quite possible election to the presidency of Donald Trump (read the recent New York Times/Siena College poll and weep), they may be suffering from what I’m more and more coming to believe I am – GAD — global affective disorder.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Cob-job
As I wander through the labyrinth of my daily existence, I find myself in the company of a peculiar yet endearing companion, Mr. Cob-Job. He’s a beast creation, born from the scraps of wood and the end-cuts that litter my basement workshop. Each piece, fastened with used wood screws, holds a story, a memory of a project once envisioned.
I revel in the process of building Mr. Cob-Job; each mismatched joint and imperfect cut is a testament to the beauty of imperfection. This act of creation becomes my sanctuary, a haven from the tumultuous world that rages beyond my front door. It’s a distraction but a welcome one, as it allows me to escape, if only for a moment, from the relentless march of time and the weight of reality.
The television in the corner of the room murmurs in the background, a constant stream of stories and news, a siren song luring my attention away from my task. Yet, even as it plays, my focus remains steadfast on Mr. Cob-Job, the joy of bringing something new into the world from the remnants of the old.
In my workplace, a seemingly mundane object that, in its simplicity, becomes a nexus of interaction and exchange. Here, amidst the clinking of tools and the whir of machinery, I gather snippets of my life and avoid the latest political developments. These moments, fleeting as they may be, mirror the complexity and unpredictability of the world outside.
In crafting Mr. Cob-Job, I see a reflection of myself, of us all. We are each a cob-job of sorts, pieced together from our experiences and memories, imperfect yet unique. In these acts of creation, these moments of distraction, I find a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me.
This story of Mr. Cob-Job, of the art born from the forgotten and the overlooked, serves as a reminder of the importance of finding beauty in the broken. In our ceaseless quest for perfection, we often ignore the charm of the imperfect, the allure of the cob-jobbed. In these imperfections, we find our humanity, our connection to the world, and ultimately, our peace.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
My bad
When I previously wrote that McKenna was taking time away from his role as supervisor to help town employees shoveling snow, digging a ditch, or answering a phone, it was with the belief that he did so thinking that they would need a helping hand, but in retrospect, it might have been because McKenna felt guilty about all the years as supervisor, as he stated, he would “get into the office about seven in the morning for a couple of hours, then go swing a hammer midday [work for McKenna Brothers, contractors]” or leave his office to satisfy one of his other customers.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
A win for traditional Medicare
Congratulations to Congressman Pat Ryan for signing what is known as the “Jaypal letter,” signed by others in Congress who are concerned about flaws in the Medicare Advantage system and the threat of Medicare privatization. With his signature, Ryan added his name, rightly, to a “progressive” cause and took a political risk. The risk? Watch the GOP now attack Ryan and other Democrats as “enemies” of Medicare, trying to “destroy” people’s options.
Not so. But the Republican strategy requires some complicated parsing to get to the truth.
1. Medicare Advantage (MA), made up of private insurance plans, is NOT — repeat, NOT — traditional Medicare, the system run by the government and funded by tax dollars. The very name of Medicare Advantage is deceptive.
2. Ryan and others are not trying to take away people’s choice to buy MA plans. But they do want the government to address the tens of billions of dollars in fraud and abuse that are documented every year.
3. The structuring of MA in the health care system directs additional billions of dollars away from traditional Medicare to insurance companies, thereby weakening our shared health care social safety net and its ability to deliver quality care to Americans.
Check the profits of the big MA insurance companies. They’re doing fine. What about the consumers who buy those plans? Some are satisfied with their coverage and the costs, especially if they are healthy and use offered perks. But when a major health crisis hits, others find that cramped networks narrow their choices of providers and require prior authorization (often denied), and they are faced with high deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance.
Finally, Congress is paying attention to the creeping shift toward privatization of our health care. Our representatives must require the big insurance companies to offer Americans quality, affordable health care, not juicy profits for shareholders.
Tom Denton
New Paltz
Denial of care
I am an 88 year old who not long ago was told by my doctor to undergo a minor procedure at a local imaging facility. He gave me a prescription but added, “don’t call them until you hear that all is ready.” That was new; normally, my docs would not want me to wait, but act at once. After a couple of days, my doc called me to say that all was now ready and that I could now contact the imaging facility. “Why was there a delay?” I asked, “why did we have to wait?”
“Oh, we were waiting for the prior authorization.” That shocked me. Waiting for prior authorization is common with Medicare Advantage (MA), but not with Traditional Medicare (TM), which I happen to have.
The doc acted as if MA were the only game in town (glory be, it isn’t)! But there are forces trying to make it so, and that prospect scares me.
Sure, there are many of you who are perfectly happy with your MA. You may not have yet experienced the often-cited drawbacks — low initial premium but higher out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance, life-time limits, not to mention the delays or outright denials of care — haven’t bothered you yet. And not all MA plans are the same: As of 2022, there were even a few which did not insist on prior authorizations.
You may be one of the lucky ones who truly are essentially healthy. It’s when people get really sick that they may question their choice of MA. What affects everyone, healthy or not, is fraud. Under the False Claims Act, the DOJ has gone after many MA providers. The largest of these has been the Cigna Group, for allegedly submitting false and invalid diagnosis codes to artificially inflate its Medicare Advantage payments. The lawsuit was filed in October 2022 and settled in September 2023, with Cigna, to resolve the claims, agreeing to pay $172 million — not much compared to the $5.2 billion profit enjoyed by its stockholders. For MA insurers, profits come first, so they can attract and keep their stockholders happy. Patients come a distant second.
So be aware: MA insurers are in it only for the money. And to increase their profits, they also impose restrictive provider networks that limit your choice of doctors, hospitals and specialists — whatever lets them spend less on you.
Dear reader, my most fervent wish for you is that you live long and never experience these compromises. But if, unhappily, these delays of care, these denials of care, this cheapening of the quality of the care you eventually do receive all fall upon you like a weight, then you may decide that the one defrauded all this time has been not only the government, but you.
Paul Cooper
Kingston
Misconceptions about STRs
I am a 34-year resident of Woodstock. I’ve managed STRs for 12 years — I don’t own one. My management portfolio is large (few are in Woodstock), and my vantage point is different from both STR owners and STR “haters.”
There are several misconceptions about STRs, the usual being that STRs created a lack of affordable housing. Research shows that property values began rising all over the country in 2012. And the rate of increase grew everywhere during the pandemic, even in places no one wanted to pay to visit.
If every STR in Woodstock disappeared, we still wouldn’t have affordable housing. House values are too high for long-term rents at what many consider affordable prices. Example — a couple of houses for year-long rental in the Bearsville Flats are asking $3000 – $3500/month. This requires an income of over $120,000/year unless you want to be rent-poor. Clearly, affordable housing can only be created here by building it.
STRs provide jobs for many people: cleaning people, handy people, property maintenance people, etc. I, myself, employ three assistants, five separate cleaning people and the handyman I started with who used to work alone now requires at least three workers at all times. Getting rid of STRs takes jobs from those people — that is real, and it is indisputable. As for benefits to town businesses, when STR visitors arrive, the first thing they do is spend a day in Woodstock shopping, eating, visiting the museums. If those STRs turn over every few days, a brand-new crop of visitors runs out to spend money here. But that spending tapers off the longer a set of visitors stays. I know this because these longer-term visitors ask me which towns to visit next.
A few of my STRs have sold over the years, and the permits didn’t transfer. What happens then? The new buyer has even more money than the last and doesn’t need to rent the house out to afford it. Most are second-home buyers, so the house sits empty about 85% of the time — no one spends money in town; no one is paying cleaners; property maintenance is less frequent. So, workers have fewer jobs and the shop owners have fewer customers.
Homes I manage are of two kinds: Long-time second homes that remain affordable for owners only if they can be rented out sometimes. Or, full-time homes where owners had to leave the area for faraway jobs and don’t want to sell because they want to come back for vacations until they can return permanently. Should these owners be forced to sell their homes rather than allowing them to use their property in a way that lets them keep it? Is it better to have hotels rather than permitting our residents to earn something on what is one of their largest assets? Especially since disallowing STRs doesn’t actually help the affordable housing crisis and, further, takes away jobs of workers who are trying to support their families.
Robyn Pollins
Woodstock
Saugerties concerns on Samadhi refugee house
The Samadhi refugee house on Washington Avenue has been a cause for concern among Saugerties town, village and county officials, specifically our county legislature Joe Maloney. We fully support the safe treatment and care of those battling with addiction and substance abuse. Unfortunately, we have noticed issues with the current operations of the Samadhi house.
Our primary concern at this time is the strain the house is putting on our local emergency services. Calls for service to the Samadhi House are now far outweighing those to other locations. Of further concern is the location of the house. The house in question is in very close proximity to Cantine Field, our communities largest recreational area routinely filled with children as well as our high school.
Lastly, concerns have arose of taxpayer funding being misused or misappropriated by those operating the house. We commend Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher for her dedication and diligence in urging an audit of the use of county funds by the Samadhi house. We call upon her as well as the New York State Comptroller to thoroughly investigate the use of taxpayer funds to ensure transparency and accountability. It is crucial that public funds are used ethically and responsibly and we fully support efforts to hold organizations and individuals accountable.
Rest assured, we are diligently working on rectifying issues found to ensure community safety while continuing to help those in need. We encourage anyone with concerns to make their voice heard with us or our police department.
Michael Ivino, Councilman
Town of Saugerties
A memorable Snow Moon Festival in Saugerties
Thanks to the coordination and dedication of Kelly Myers and Sue Sacher, among others, for their creativity, perseverance and unending positive attitude before, during and after the event which made the Snow Moon Festival so much fun for everyone involved. The variety of events truly had something for everyone to enjoy day and night and all for a good cause. Their team of volunteers, the sponsors, the spectators and the participants made it a memorable weekend for all of us.
Paul Andreassen
Malden on Hudson
I cannot protect my kid, legislation can
My name is Aurore Stanek-Griffiths. I live in Milan and I am the mother of a two-year-old. When I was pregnant, I knew my baby would be in contact with plastics before they would be in contact with air.
I knew about the risk of fetus development dysfunction, lower IQ, ADHD, premature birth, cancer, infertility and so many other conditions and diseases linked to early exposure to plastics as fetuses and young children.
I have been allocating time, resources and money, to find alternatives and avoid plastics as much as possible. But this is a privilege. Not every parent can do this. And even though I am doing everything I can, my kid is still exposed. He breathes air, he drinks water, he plays in the garden.
My sharing may seem gloomy and it is. But there is one thing that keeps me hopeful. This is not the first time humans have been poisoning themselves. We did it with asbestos, with lead, with tobacco. Although these issues are far from being fully resolved, thanks to strong legislation, the situation now is globally so much better than it was a few decades ago. We just need to do it again.
I cannot protect my kid. Individually it is impossible to shield ourselves, but our representatives have the power to pass legislation that can.
This was the testimony I delivered to Assembymember Didi Barrett during advocacy day on February 27 in Albany. We were more than 300 people from everywhere in the state. Asking to pass two important bills: the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.
These bills would require big companies selling products in New York to cut plastic packaging by 50% over the next 12 years. They would also address plastic’s human health impacts by phasing out toxic chemicals currently used to package the food and drinks we consume.
It is time to make the polluters pay. In 2022, New York City taxpayers spent $448 million to export the state’s waste to the Finger Lakes and to out-of-state incinerators and landfills. This bill would transfer the cost of managing packaging waste to the companies that create it, rather than the taxpayers.
Because our lives matter, we need to protect ourselves from the danger of toxic chemicals used to produce plastics. These bills are a step in the right direction.
We need Assembly speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. We have no time to waste on waste.
Aurore Stanek-Griffiths
Milan
Credibility and hypocrisy
Regarding Donald Simon’s letter to the editor in last week’s HV1, this is my response: Don has made unsupported accusations about me being hateful, and my facts as being incorrect. Curiously, Don has not disproved any of my documented facts with any references, and expects the readership to just take his word for it because he is Jewish and I am not.
Don says that I am “outraged about the ongoing war in Gaza because Jews aren’t rolling over and accepting invasion and slaughter,” which is all in Don’s twisted imagination, and certainly not in my heart. Don makes the claim:“billions of dollars spent by Hamas to build hundreds of miles of military tunnels” is a fact. Meanwhile, the Times Of Israel reported the figure is actually “tens of millions” quoting the IDF who also are known to be exaggerators, like Don (https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-puttens-of-millions-of-dollars-into-massive-tunnelnetwork-idf-says/). Meanwhile, Don alleges that I inflate the Palestinians death count, but he doesn’t mention that I always cite: https://euromedmonitor.org/, a humanitarian rights group, as my source. Its chairman, Richard Falk, is a UN Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories and is himself Jewish. Don alleges I use the word genocide because of my “indoctrination” (presumptively by Hamas) and my “lack of understanding.” Don fails to mention that the US Holocaust Museum, The Center for Constitutional Rights, 800 genocide scholars and more than 300 holocaust survivors and their descendants, also use the word genocide to describe what is happening in Gaza (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middleeast-28916761). Are they all indoctrinated by Hamas? Don dishonestly construes my words incorrectly to say that I am “denying Israel the right to defend itself,” when what I have been clearly denying, is Israel’s purported right to commit genocide as self defense. Polls show the vast majority of Americans want a ceasefire also (https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/u-s-polls-showshifting-landscapes-on-gaza-ceasefire/). Don’s hypocrisy reaches new heights though, when he accuses me of “losing any credibility.” Meanwhile, Don’s moral credibility instantly disintegrates when he admits to socializing with Menachem Begin, who before being Prime Minister of Israel, was well known to be the head of the zionist terrorist organization, called the “Irgun.” In 1946, the Irgun, under the direction of Mr. Begin, intentionally blew up the King David Hotel in Palestine by dressing up as Arabs and planting a bomb in the basement, killing 91 innocent Jewish, Arab and British people and injured 46 others (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing). So, while Don brags in his letter about hanging out with Mr. Begin, a mass murderer, he incredibly accuses me of being “hateful” for writing letters opposing genocide.
Apparently, hypocrisy has no limits.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
STR or taxes?
Every other week there’s an article in local papers about towns fighting shot term rentals (STR), always assuming it’s the reason why locals can’t afford housing in our area.
Not once did I hear any official mentioning that high taxes, high insurance costs and historical rise in repairs and maintenance fees are the main reason people resort to the headache of STR! I also haven’t heard (from towns or county) of any incentive to homeowners in order to reduce their asking price.
It’ll be great if our representatives will finally start thinking outside the box, keep-up with the changing world and society, instead of just taxing and blaming homeowners who are fighting to hold on to their properties.
Mirav Ozeri
Mount Tremper
Bad economy?
There is a nice article in the March 2024 issue of Chronogram magazine about all that Saugerties has to offer. However, a statement by village mayor Bill Murphy really stunned me. In speaking about some of the problems the village faces, such as high interest rates, Mayor Murphy goes on to say, “Our national economy is a mess right now.” Huh? I wonder what planet Mr. Murphy has been visiting. With low unemployment, restaurants doing well, inflation coming down and corporate profits sky high, what makes the mayor believe the national economy is a mess? Is that his true belief, I wonder, or is he simply echoing some GOP propaganda?
Barry Juran
Saugerties
Driving home a point
A sage friend imparted this information to me recently: It’s one thing to own a Volkswagen bus; it’s another thing altogether to know how to use it.
Patrick Hammer, Jr.
Saugerties
Thinking it over
The following song parody by Dr. Jill Biden was leaked to the New York Daily News by an anonymous source. Although not completely verified, it consists of the musings of the “First Lady” about the election of her husband, Joe Biden, and the effects it has had on the country and the world. It also includes discussions regarding his plans for the future. The song seems to be directed to Independent voters, anti-Trump Republicans, disillusioned Democrats, the press and the feedback writers who are urging readers to vote for Joe Biden in 2024.
(To be sung to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice it’s all Right”)
You keep wondering how Joe got elected
but you should really know…by now
When China’s virus came it was suspected
Trump would be gone some way…some how
when you awake and start a new born day
you’re wonderin’ why things ended up this way
‘Cos you realize that things are worse today
even though you thought Trump wasn’t right
(stanza)
Well, my Joe’s claiming “the country’s doing fine now”
though his popularity has fallen to the floor
and he says “all our problems are Trump’s fault”
But it seems no one believes him anymore
Immigrants are surging with no relief in sight;
we’re giving up our borders now without a fight
Never thought I’d vote Republican but now I might
Cos what Joe’s doing’s not alright
(stanza)
Guess you’re wonderin’ who’s next if Joe leaves office
as we’re looking toward 2024
Yes, I guess you’re wonderin’ who’ll be left standin’
cos you hope Joe won’t be runnin’..anymore
I can’t blame you for what’s…on your mind
I won’t even say such thoughts are unkind
but even if you’re deaf, dumb and blind
You know a Dem in office won’t be alright.
(Spoken to the press)
I guess the truths you all have been concealin’
made electing Joe seem the thing to do
But when they’re known those truths’ll be revealin’
how foolish we were to have trusted you
You can fool all the people, some of the time
Even though foolin’ folks is such a crime:
when they learn the truth fooled folks will chime:
“We need a press that’s like honest Abe”
George Civile
Gardiner
Musical chairs
The music has stopped but nothing has really changed. Behind the scenes, the same people are finagling to pass the Housing Oversight Task Force (HOTF) proposal which will benefit the Woodstock Housing Alliance and developers. With the recent ethics violation charges, there have been several resignations, but they are still operating behind the scenes. This is how it looked when the HOTF began their quest to undo our zoning protections.
Kirk Ritchey, co-chair of the HOTF was also one of the founders of the Woodstock Housing Alliance and named their executive director. The ethics board found reasonable cause to believe that a violation of the ethics law had occurred concerning, Ritchey serving simultaneously on the HOTF and as executive director of the Woodstock Housing Alliance. “The Woodstock Housing Alliance’s goal of developing multifamily rental housing, and the Woodstock HOTF’s role in recommending changes to town laws to facilitate the development of such housing there is at least a reasonable appearance of a conflict of interest.” Ritchey resigned from the HOTF.
Susan Goldman was a major proponent and spokesperson for the HOTF proposal, hosting town hall discussions to push the HOTF agenda. At the same time, she was the co-chair of the housing committee. She was one of the founders of the Woodstock Housing Alliance. The Woodstock Housing Alliance came about from a recommendation by the housing committee while she was still co-chair. While on the housing committee, Goldman arranged for the county-hired PR firm to help Woodstock with “messaging” (aka marketing) of the HOTF proposal. She resigned as co-chair of the housing committee, but is still promoting their agenda. The new chair, Katherine Tegen is playing the same song, urging the town board to pass the HOTF proposal as if it will limit developers like Woodstock National. Goldman is still listed as one of the three founders of the Woodstock Housing Alliance along with Ritchey.
Jeff Collins served on the HOTF to create the proposed changes to the law.
In addition, he was also on the board for the Woodstock Housing Alliance. As with Ritchey, the ethics board found “other members of these same committees” to have the appearance of a conflict of interest…” Collins promptly resigned from both the HOTF and the Woodstock Housing Alliance.
Judith Kerman was a member of the HOTF creating the new law while a board member of the Woodstock Housing Alliance, and a member of the planning board who will get to vote on the new development requests coming from the potential HOTF zoning changes that she helped to create. She remains a board member of the Woodstock Housing Alliance and a member of the planning board. The HOTF has since disbanded.
Deborah Dewan was co-chair of the HOTF. She was also co-chair of the housing committee (along with Goldman) who supported the formation of the Woodstock Housing Alliance. She resigned from the housing committee as co-chair, but remains an alternate. The HOTF has since disbanded.
Despite all the opposition, the McKenna 3, are still working together to get this passed. When the music stops, there will be only three chairs left, McKenna, Ricci and Courtis who will have the power to change the law and our neighborhoods, forever. It will be too late once the forest on your road is potentially cut down and replaced by cluster housing and apartment complexes. One can only hope that one of the three board members will have enough doubt to vote No.
Marcia Zwilling
Woodstock
NYS bills address waste crisis in 2024
I usually travel with a refillable water bottle, but when I forgot it last week, I tried to buy a more readily recycled glass or aluminum bottle of juice in a convenience store. Have you noticed that it is no longer possible to purchase single-use glass bottles or aluminum cans of water, soda, or juice in convenience stories? They are ALL plastic. This is alarming because in the U.S. only 6% of all plastics are recycled. That means 94% of every plastic bottle in that convenience store, in every convenience store, will end up being incinerated, buried in landfills, or littering our roadsides, parks, beaches, and waterways or making their way into our oceans.
There are two bills working their way through the New York State legislature to address this crisis of waste management and plastic waste in particular.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act will transform the way all our goods are packaged by reducing plastic packaging by 50% over 12 years; eliminating the most dangerous toxic chemicals added to plastics known to cause cancer and disrupt our hormonal systems; increasing the recyclability of all packaging; and, shifting the responsibility for reducing and managing waste from consumers and taxpayers to the manufacturers and distributors who are creating the problem.
The Bigger Better Bottle Bill increases the bottle deposit from 5 to 10 cents (refundable) and includes more types of bottles, such as glass wine and liquor and raises the handling fee from 3.5 cents to 6 cents. This is the fee redemption centers and retailers get from distributors for taking bottles back). It is estimated that the bill would save taxpayers $70 million annually through waste diversion and would recycle an additional five billion containers. Corporations created this problem and they must be held to account.
I urge everyone to contact their assembly representative and senator and ask them to support both of these important bills.
Cynthia Putorti
Catskill
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