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Unlike Musk, IG’s speak truth to power
“President Trump has sworn to root out corruption within the government, yet one of his first acts as president was to fire over a dozen independent watchdogs [Inspectors General] who did exactly that,” wrote the New York Times on March 6. In an engrossing piece of video reporting, the Times lets the IG’s speak their minds on questions ranging from “What’s an inspector general?” to “How much money did you save American taxpayers?” to “Is democracy in danger?”
This link will permit you to reach behind the paywall to view the video: <https://tinyurl.com/3scj64un>. Can you spare 15 minutes for a revelatory experience?
Ordinarily anonymous actors, the IG’s speak out as the patriotic Americans they are, people who care deeply about rooting out waste, inefficiency and, in some cases, corruption, exactly what Elon and his team of Merry Muskrats declare they’re doing, though without the skill, experience and moral compass to do so. They are part of the checks and balances that Would-Be King Donald has been dismantling.
The former IG for the Department of Veterans Affairs explains that any one time he had about one thousand active criminal cases. His department caught Secretary of the Interior David Shulkin when he took a sightseeing trip to Europe with his wife, piggybacked on a mere four or five hours of official business, an international sashay included a few days in Wimbledon to take in some tennis. Mr. Shulkin was made to repay all nonofficial expenses, including all expenses for his wife. The former IG for the Department of Labor explains, laughingly, how they caught a rapper who not only committed unemployment insurance fraud but also crowed about it in a rap video. He was prosecuted and jailed.
Is our government corrupt? Robert Storch, the former IG for the Department of Defense, makes this important point: “We are blessed in this country to have a government where corruption is anecdotal, not systemic.” As former IG for the Department of the Interior Mark Lee Greenblatt puts it, “We have so many belts and suspenders designed to prevent corruption. That is part of the reason our government is so slow. That red tape is designed to ferret out corruption. Does that mean everything is perfect? Absolutely not.”
Mike Ware, the former IG of the Small Business Administration, says it succinctly: The IG’s role is “about speaking truth to power.”
Look at the video. You’ll see seven individuals who care deeply about our country, unlike Elon Musk, who is transnational in both his personal allegiances and the reach of his wealth, or Donald Trump, whose only allegiance is to himself. Musk is not only transnational but actually transplanetary (this sounds like a joke but it’s not), which means he’ll shove aside our nation’s pressing needs in the name of a proposed migration to Mars. In pursuit of this pipedream, Musk will undermine the wellbeing of his home planet’s muzzled masses, whose most pressing priority is to live on an Earth desperately in need, like themselves, of tender loving care. In support of Musk, Trump will happily permit his best bud to move fast and break things, until he learns that Musk is pulling the back of his pants down, showing that the Would-Be King, a crack-up in the Borscht Belt, actually has no clothes.
William Weinstein
New Paltz
We are in this together
The word “misinformation” has seemingly replaced “peace” and “love” as Woodstock’s mantra these days. At the March 11 Woodstock Town Board meeting, during its “public be heard” segment, Marcel Nagele, a candidate for a seat on the board, attempted to respond to Supervisor McKenna’s continued allegations that he was spreading misinformation regarding the history and safety of the Shady dump by his presenting evidentiary documentation to the public. During the meager three minutes which candidate Nagele was allotted, he was continually interrupted and debated with by the supervisor, which is a stark departure from board protocol. It should be noted that the documentation candidate Nagele has been presenting, including reports from five respected hydrogeologists, clearly show how the toxic dump, in violation of town law, has never been properly and legally remediated and continues to pose a threat to our town water.
It has also come to my attention that several people in Woodstock’s hierarchy have been engaged in accusations that the group I am affiliated with, Woodstockers United for Change, has been spreading misinformation about the town’s water situation. I think it needs to be pointed out that it was members of our group that publicized the PFOS contamination and its health dangers, it was members of our group that caught three separate errors in the reporting of contamination levels, and it was our group that held our own town hall on the risks and responses to the contamination after one organized by board member and supervisor candidate Courtis censored any mention of the Shady dump, failed to disclose conversations with the attorney general that ran counter to what the supervisor has been claiming, and minimized the carcinogenic dangers the “forever chemicals” pose by likening the significant levels of contamination to a drop in a swimming pool.
The only answer to the sharp divide we are experiencing, amongst our people and in regard to the truth, is transparent communication and a commitment to health and safety over power and politics. We are, after all is said and done, in this together.
Alan M. Weber
Woodstock
We’re lucky to have Tim Rogers
All these campaign letters follow the same template: I’ve known Tim Rogers for this amount of time, and I’ve found him to be a caring, intelligent, brilliant mayor. And so: mine. Because it’s true! I’ve known Tim about 15 years, worked with him on the town planning board for several of those years and have been close to him since.
There is a reason incumbents get elected at such high rates: there is a giant learning curve for positions in government and the work is less than thankless. In fact, it means signing oneself up for constant (sometimes vicious) criticism while trying to not only keep the village running but be on the lookout for endless grants and opportunities to run it more efficiently in the future. It’s a nonstop, around-the-clock position, and if you speak to the people who work for the village alongside Tim, they’ll tell you that his commitment is unwavering and his ethic of care is bottomless. He takes his job so seriously and always considers all the information he can in order to continuously learn how to do serve our community better.
I’m excited for a potential village and town consolidation in order to live in a more streamlined community, and there is truly no one better to run it than Tim Rogers. As another Mr. Rogers once said: look for the helpers. I promise you won’t find someone more helpful than our Mr. Rogers. We’re lucky to have him.
Lagusta Yearwood
New Paltz
DOGE concerns
In response to Tom Cherwin’s “The Man who would be King,” I, too, am puzzled and somewhat concerned about the speed and scope of DOGE’s actions. It is obvious that a great deal of waste, fraud and abuse has already been easily uncovered. Try this one on for size: In one of 239 cancelled wasteful contracts, one was a grant intended to “teach transgender and queer farmers about ‘for justice’.” However, if legitimate organizations and governmental departments have been defunded, I have to ask why proper vetting and investigations into the legitimacy of their work and functions weren’t apparently carried out. Will there be refunding and reinstatements ahead, after all the smoke clears? If not, then it’s a mystery as to why the Republicans would want the Democrats to regain the House and the Senate in the 2026 mid-terms.
Eli Kassirer points out the atrocious past behaviors that clearly defined anti-Semitism as we all understood it to be. But, I’m confused as to Eli’s reference to 1st Amendment rights as they pertain to today’s anti-Israel/pro Hamas demonstrations on college campuses and elsewhere. Of course, they all have a right to PEACEFULLY demonstrate, but they erase that right when they cross the line into bullying, intimidating, physically harming Jewish students and college employees and preventing Jewish students and possibly others from attending classes and using the library. Even though this may be a “new definition” of anti-Semitism, it’s still very clearly anti-Semitism.
Sharon Stonesky gives an extremely weak, silly and incomplete explanation for Joe Biden’s open border. The monsoon season is only three months out of the year and only applies to just part of the Arizona/Mexico border. As we all know, most of the illegals and gotaways came over Biden’s porous Texas border.
Charlotte Adamis points out slashing of funding in critical areas of the education department. If this information can be confirmed as coming from neutral and unbiased sources, then her complaints are legitimate. However, DEI is a different animal altogether and has been an approach that has clearly backfired, not only in education but in the corporate world. Its goals and intentions were a clear example of discrimination, in and of itself. If education and the corporate world aren’t interested in hiring the very best people for the job, then it points out the obvious dysfunctionality of the DEI process. Since when did merit become meaningless?
For quite some time, the basic math and reading proficiencies of U.S. students have significantly declined compared to other countries, despite our being the wealthiest country in the world. So, what does that say about the efficiency and need for a federal Department of Education? Are the distorted priorities of a new focus on CRT, DEI and “gender studies” going to improve basic math and English proficiencies? I’d be very interested in Charlotte’s opinions on these questions.
John N. Butz
Modena
Let’s work to keep Woodstock the most famous small town in the world
Dirty political campaigns hurt the social, service and information economies essential for governance in a small town.
This year’s Woodstock supervisor race is playing like a twist on Ratcliff’s 2023 smear campaign against McKenna. That campaign exploited problems and attacked Woodstock’s employees, volunteers and institutions, for political gain. It was destructive, divisive and ineffective. It also distracted from town business. Unlike campaigning, governing requires good faith and consensus.
This year, Wallis began hammering his supervisor campaign theme early — We’re in a crisis … It’s all McKenna’s fault … Courtis is his Mini-Me … They broke Woodstock, elect me.
To her credit Councilperson Courtis, who’s been running a clean, issues-based campaign for supervisor, has not responded in kind. She has requested that people refrain from divisive personal attacks and focus on solutions to Woodstock’s challenges.
Unfortunately, running a dirty campaign in a small town creates Karma; people start talking to each other, about you. Apparently, Wallis is now indignant over reports of controversies involving: his campaign petitions, electioneering in government buildings, his disposition while an Onteora trustee and other more, or less reliable reports and rumors, all coming from regular townsfolk and social-media. One take away might be — in Woodstock, political campaigns that live by the rumor-mill, can die by the rumor-mill.
I prefer public record: Wallis worked for Jared Kushner in a managerial position at the NY Observer while Kushner and the Observer were doing everything they could to elect Trump in 2016. There is ample public record supporting this, including Wallis’s own writings.
On the bright side, four women Democrats are running clean, issues-based campaigns in Woodstock. There’s the possibility for a 2026 town board comprised of intelligent, diverse women dedicated to building consensus between disparate interests, to further the organic art, culture and social values that make Woodstock the most famous small town in the world.
Michael Mulvey
Woodstock
Support Amanda Gotto for New Paltz Town Supervisor
“Physician, heal thyself.” Village Mayor Tim Rogers accusations that the town has mismanaged funds is misleading and ironic at best. We only need to look around village offices to see the garbage cans set out to catch the rain still leaking through the roof of the village hall; the village hall that is NOT ADA compliant; the village hall elevator that hasn’t worked for years; or addressed asbestos removal in village property. Rather than “budgeting” for basic village needs, maintenance and infrastructure, the village suffers with broken water mains, brown drinking water, DEC violations, broken sidewalks, broken parking meters, broken solar panel systems and a failing water treatment plant threatening to dump sewage in the Wallkill River again. Yet Mayor Rogers gave himself ANOTHER pay raise this year. Village taxpayers may be able to afford him but town residents better think twice and support Amanda Gotto for town supervisor in the Democratic primary on June 24th.
Fawn Tantillo
New Paltz
Let’s keep our hopes up and our doubts down
Last Friday, Donald Trump spoke at the Department of Justice. After his trademark opening — “based on the crowd, I think we broke the all-time record” — he vowed, with his usual elegance and humility: “We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct of which was levels you’ve never seen anything like it. It’s going to be legendary. It’s going to also be legendary for the people that are able to seek it out and bring justice. We will restore the scales of justice in America and we will ensure that such abuses never happen again in our country.”
But “the egregious crimes and severe misconduct” have been his, and have come at us fast and furious, on every front. Courts have thus far been able to stall some of Trump’s trampling of human rights and flouting of the Constitution, and these judicial brakes have been a blessed bulwark against what seems the underlying principle of this administration, as recently pronounced by Elon Musk: “The fundamental weakness of western civilization is empathy.”
Besides the courts, there are other hopeful signs. There have been protests, and there will be more of them as the spring weather warms up and Trump’s approval rating cools down; already, as Fox News pointed out, “He’s underwater on everything.”There are the GOP town halls, meant to foster support but instead erupting into chaotic, angry rebukes. There is Trump’s backtracking on some policies. There is the booing of JD Vance at a Kennedy Center concert.
So let’s keep our hopes up and our doubts down. Let’s do whatever we can to throw Trump’s words back at him — to “restore the scales of justice in America and ensure that such abuses never happen again in our country.”
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Worthless to the world
The new America seems to be on track to belong only to the very wealthy. But, when no other country likes us, when we’re worthless to the world as a force of good, when the immigration line to leave the country becomes much longer than the line to enter, when we’re divided within our borders because of lies intended to divide, we are not great, we are weak.
PW Higgens
Woodstock
New Paltz did not win this year
Winning municipalities across the state were just announced. We congratulate the Mid-Hudson Region’s winner, the City of Poughkeepsie, who will receive this year’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant award.
We have applied for the DRI in each of the last eight rounds since the program’s inception in 2016.
Our 2024 DRI grant application included adding affordable housing, decarbonization, Main Street safety, updating the bus station and targeted infrastructure investments to support the aforementioned goals, the local economy and our residents. Each project included local public and private contributions to leverage an award from the state.
With each of our grant applications, we have learned from past DRI awardees in our region, as well as other winners across the state.
Be sure we’ll be applying again in 2025.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Humanity
Human Cruelty
Akin to
Human Love
They both done
With passion
Ze’ev Willy Neumann
Saugerties
Believe it or not
If you believe what this administration is telling you, I would like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
Hal Chorny
Gardiner
We support Tim Rogers for supervisor
We lucky citizens of New Paltz have often been privileged to have more than one excellent candidate for a local political office. Still, we have to pick one to support.
We have both worked with Tim Rogers in various capacities over the years that he has been mayor of the village, and we are convinced that he has been an exceptionally effective mayor and that he will be just as successful as supervisor of the Town of New Paltz.
During the past decade, each of us has served the village on either the planning board, the board of appeals or the village board. In all these roles we have seen and collaborated with Tim on a wide variety of tasks and programs. We have seen how he works with other organizations, political agencies and constituents, all for the well-being of the village and without forgetting the legitimate needs of others. Throughout that time, he has been a superior manager of finance, not only balancing the budget but with NO tax increases for ten years. He has overseen the maintenance and improvement of the village’s streets and other infrastructure. He has been especially effective in expanding and improving our water and sewer systems; in particular he worked very effectively with the DEP of New York City during a period of extensive repair of their systems to assure that the village would continue to be supplied with fresh water with no interruptions; in fact, the village’s fresh water supply was expanded.
Tim Rogers has done so much to maintain and improve the life of the citizens of the Village of New Paltz. We fully support him to be the next supervisor of the consolidated Town of New Paltz.
Ellen and Tom Rocco
New Paltz
Weaponizing words
Last week’s excellent letter in the March 12th, 2025 issue of HV1 by Eli Kassirer, “Phony anti-semitism,” tells it like it is from a Jewish perspective while honoring his intrinsic values of the rights of all human beings, including Palestinians. I can relate to Eli’s story of his grandfather, being the only one of his siblings to survive the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi’s. My grandfather also was the only surviving member of his siblings and immediate family to survive the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turks. He did so by jumping onto a pile of dead bodies going unnoticed from the death march that the rest of his family and neighbors were being herded to their final end.
Unlike Eli, I did not personally experience the disgusting and very real anti-semitism he speaks of directed toward me, obviously because I am not Jewish. I have though seen the reality of its existence during my life and in learning about the Holocaust from survivors I worked with in a Jewish construction company in NYC. Because of that and the fact I had close Jewish friends during my formative years growing up in Astoria, Queens, NY, I always had great respect for the Jewish people and for Israel. I attended Bas Mitzvahs, Shabbat and Saturday potato latkes eating contests. It was years later when some of my Jewish activist friends, who made multiple trips to Israel and Palestine, detailed for me the horrible plight of the Palestinians. I came to look further and deeper and saw past the mainstream-media-deception covering for an Israeli apartheid system, serious deprivations of human rights and crimes against humanity that evolved into a genocide.
Yes, October 7, 2023 was a terrible terror event, but the reaction by Israel against the Palestinian people that ensued was unlawfully disproportionate according to International Law (https://lieber.westpoint.edu/proportionality-international-humanitarian-law-principle-rule/). That fateful day though was not the beginning of the current genocidal conflict. The forced and violent removal of Palestinians from their ancestral lands under the doctrine of zionism was the true beginning. Those of us, who like Eli, have tried to expose the continual war crimes of Israel in that process, deemed to be illegal under the Genocide Convention of 1948, of which Israel is a signatory/ member, are in no way “anti-semitic” but are anti-racist, anti-zionist and anti-genocide. The “anti-semitic” trope used against those of us who attempt to bring the facts to the light, is a weaponization of our language to cloud the truth of the current horror unfolding in Palestine.
FYI, any mention of the Armenian Genocide is currently illegal in Turkey. In like manner and under the guise of “anti-semitism”, AIPAC the US arm of the Israeli propaganda machine, is working hard to limit free speech in the U.S. to silence any dissent on Israel’s ongoing war crimes against the Palestinians.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Spell check
Now that white nationalists are leading our nation, it’s time to start spelling Amerikkka with three k’s again.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
This is what democracy looks like
I’ve met many dogs in the neighborhoods of my town, many. I met McKenzie, a border collie who, from two feet away, barked regularly while I sat on a sofa, and who finally allowed me to touch her cold nose. I ran into a lithe, leashed, unnamed German Shepherd, who nearly tore its owner’s arm off trying to get a bite of me. Fufu, I’ll call her, was a tiny bit of a dog, who happily sniffed and wagged as her owner and I talked about the Rachel Maddow show. Buffy, the Siberian Husky who I thankfully remembered from a previous visit, bolted from the front porch, stopped at my feet and looked up with those incredible Husky eyes … and a dog smile.
So many dogs, some with excellent credentials as watchdogs. These are the denizens of town whom you meet when you knock on doors, asking for signatures that allow announced candidates for office to get on the ballot. These are folks, I tell people, who have put themselves out there to serve the public. In spite of what the DC chainsaw is telling us about public service, we need people whose efforts serve a common good.
So if someone knocks on your door, requesting your signature on a petition, sign it. You are part of the civic compact. (And you’d better do it soon, as the deadline is rapidly approaching.)
If someone says our town or our country is going to the dogs, say, That’s a good thing! This is what democracy looks like.
Tom Denton
New Paltz
Use your imagination
Fun things to do while the Constitution burns:
Officially change your gender to “Orange.” Explain to the judge you’re a huge fan of the president and a genuine patriot.
Learn to speak Russian.
Find a Church of the Christian Oligarchy and put everything you own into it to avoid paying any taxes.
Open a Chewy.com account and have monkey treats sent to the White House once a week.
Start a Putin Fan Club.
Declare yourself a sovereign citizen, appoint yourself Emperor then fire yourself to reduce fraud waste and abuse.
Invite Elon Musk to speak at a huge rally in Texas. Promise a million bigots and Neo Nazis attending. Then cancel just before his plane lands. Explain the cancellation was due to concerns about WWII veterans attending in an open carry state.
Go to google maps and leave reviews at every business remotely related to the Trump/Musk empire, in Russian. (Google Translate makes this easy) Be sure to mention Putin.
Research which nations you could flee to. Get another passport for that country as soon as possible to avoid the rush.
Learn Morse code.
Design even more American flag mutants. Trademark them.
Read 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell then On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder.
Read Simple Sabotage Field Manual by OSS (precursor to CIA). It’s FREE at https://www.cia.gov/static/5c875f3ec660e092cf893f60b4a288df/SimpleSabotage.pdf.
The fun is only limited by our imagination!
Mauriac Cunningham
Saugerties
Passing the buck
From an HV1 article relating to the status of part-time police officer Phil Sinagra: “McKenna conceded his great frustration in how slowly the process was moving forward, partly,” he said, “because the police chief had been less than supportive of the charges.”
Once again, McKenna is shirking his responsibility. According to Employment Practices Dispute Resolution Procedure Section 6.1, the dispute must be submitted, in writing, within 30 calendar days, and within seven calendar days after receiving the dispute, the town supervisor will meet with the employee.
With regard to the case in question, the incident was reported to McKenna within the 30-day period by the police chief, and hundreds of days have passed since then.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Sound fiscal planning
In 2014, New Paltz Supervisor Susan Zimet moved town hall to modular units on Clearwater Road to protect town employees from sickening exposure to noxious mold. “Trailer Town Hall,” as she called it, was never intended to be the permanent site of town hall. “The plan is not to have town employees live in modulars for the next 20 years.” Yet in 2025, all town business is still conducted in those modulars.
In 2015, Alfandre Architecture provided a “space-needs study” to assist Supervisor Bettez and Mayor Rogers in evaluating how much space they would need to provide their employees with safe, efficient work and storage space. Accordingly, it was the practice of both the Zimet and Bettez administrations to set aside funds in anticipation of finding a permanent home for town hall. By putting funds aside the town could eliminate the need to borrow (bond) the full amount of a very large expenditure. That is sound fiscal planning.
Over the last nine years, the town has been able to set aside $3.8 million in an interest-bearing unreserved fund balance. At the March 6 town board meeting, I introduced a resolution to transfer those funds into a reserved fund balance, to be used solely for building improvements such as anew town hall.
This administration and board recognize the value of saving tax dollars for a known future expense. For the last several years that was what previous administrations were doing. It probably should have been more formally presented to document clearly that these funds were being earmarked with a specific purpose in mind. I took care of that on March 6 and now the funds are directed as they were always intended — to offset the future expense of needed and necessary building expenses including a new town hall
Amanda Gotto, Supervisor
New Paltz
Immorality’s counterweight
I was about to type, fingers hovering over the keyboard, thoughts half-formed, when my phone buzzed gently. It was a quote from a friend who always seemed to know the precise remedy for my mind’s tangled knots. Albert Camus wrote, “I must tell you what we face is not about heroism. It’s about decency. It may seem ridiculous, but the only way to fight the plague of immorality is with decency.”
Strange, isn’t it, how words from long-dead philosophers can echo into our present moment like ripples of stones dropped decades ago into quiet waters? And here I sit, stones of my own gathered in hand, hesitant to toss them into these troubled waters of today’s conversations, heavy with politics and fear. Is there an invisible contagion spreading, not unlike the one we recently faced, infecting our collective psyche?
Lately, every talk spirals down to the elected — leaders, representatives, senators — as if these figures held molecular power, their words lodging in the crevices of our brains, gripping the medulla oblongata like hungry parasites. Fear spreads across digital highways, fueled by clicks, likes and viral outrage. Boundaries? Those are laughable now, fences made of sand in a tidal wave. Who can outrun this fear that moves faster than thought itself?
But Camus whispers back into my mind, insistent yet calm — decency is our antidote. My fingers pause over the keys as I wonder: Do we even believe that anymore? Somewhere beneath the surface of panic and dread, there must still be a decency-shaped life preserver waiting patiently for us to reach down, grab hold, and remember.
I close my eyes, reaching backward through memory — hospital lights flickering overhead, the cold plastic of the IV tubes against the skin faces behind masks, gentle eyes meeting mine, hands firm yet compassionate. Nurses who never flinched, who showed up despite the risk. They looked beyond my symptoms, labels, political leanings irrelevant; I was human first. That was the healing balm — the quiet courage in everyday decency.
Do we still carry that medicine? Or are we lost in the undertow, drowning slowly in a current we’ve been told is inevitable? Decency isn’t flashy or dramatic — it’s subtle and easily overlooked. Yet it’s the quiet stitch holding together our torn fabric, a simple act with monumental strength.
We’re frightened — I’m terrified — of democracy slipping away, and yet, isn’t that precisely when decency matters most? Maybe, instead of yelling across digital divides, we could silently place food on the doorsteps of those facing exile and loss. Perhaps phone calls to isolated souls, too terrified of returning to places they once escaped, could whisper solace and strength. Maybe kindness, in all its countless shapes, could become revolutionary again.
Feel it now — hand to heart. Do you sense it? The life preserver is right here beneath ribs and layers of doubt and fear. Decency isn’t about grand gestures or headlines; it’s about tiny, consistent human acts that remind us of who we are at our core.
So maybe, before returning to those keys, I’ll pause, be quiet, and listen. I’ll consider the soft rebellion of kindness — hands reaching, eyes connecting, quiet acts that speak louder than any fearful shout. Perhaps decency is the stone we must keep tossing, the ripples spreading gently, persistently outward, echoing Camus through our shared, fragile humanity.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
World/book
Think of a book
as the world. Think
of the world as
a book. The leaf
in the book, the leaf
in the world, have
no laryngitis. Both
point loud, clear
for those who love
and learn their
lessons. World
and book both like
vines all green-curled,
uncurling the secrets
of gold twine and
doves and moss and
driftwood and
absolutely everything
for those who listen.
Patrick Hammer, Jr.
Saugerties
Have you thanked an immigrant today?
Many of us forget that we are all immigrants. Our parents or grandparents made the voyage years ago to flee from war, famine, oppression and antisemitism, or just in search of a better life. Many were lucky enough to come legally through Ellis Island.
When they arrived, they faced ridicule and hatred because in some way, they were “different.” Many didn’t speak English or spoke with an accent. They often worked in jobs others didn’t want. Over time, they started to thrive.
Many of our immigrant neighbors today may, instead be undocumented. Although some may disagree with their undocumented status, we should welcome them and thank them for the benefits they provide.
For example, the next time you go to the grocery store or sit down to dinner, think about the migrants who work in the fields to provide you food that is affordable. We complain that prices are already too high. If migrants are deported and US citizens perform these jobs, prices will rise considerably.
Next time you or a family member go to the local hospital think about some of the support staff, the custodial staff, the aides, who help things run smoothly or run at all. Many of these workers are immigrants. Without them our local hospitals could close making our access to health care more limited and costly.
We are being told we should fear immigrants, that they are dangerous or criminals. But they are members of the community who make our lives better. Don’t demonize them. Thank them for their courage and contributions.
Mindy Daynes
Fishkill
Pass the New York Health Act
All New Yorkers deserve access to quality health care! As it stands now, our healthcare system is flawed and overly convoluted. The New York Health Act can help alleviate these flaws and mend the most glaring issues of the current system. New Yorkers under the New York State Health Act will no longer have to bear the cost of co-pays or out-of-pocket expenses, saving them money in turn. The bill will produce a net savings of $11.4 billion, and how it will do this is eliminating profits made by insurance companies, reducing the cost of administration and lowering the price of prescription drugs which many New Yorkers need to survive. I have personally experienced trouble in getting my own quality health insurance. The system is difficult to navigate and overtly predatory. My own experience has shown me that these health insurance companies do not care to cover you, they exist solely to make money and exploit lower class and younger individuals. I call on all New Yorkers to support the New York Health Act, contact your local representatives and let your voice be heard. I also urge our representatives to listen to your constituency, support the bill and bring universal health care to our great state of New York. We all deserve to have access to free and affordable health care, and I urge everyone to take action now, and show support for the New York Health Act.
Cassandra Hund, Democracy Intern
NYPIRG New Paltz Chapter
In defense of CDPAP Letter
My name is Christopher Schlanger and I am a consumer in the CDPAP program. It has been very distressing to hear about the intended gutting of a necessary facet of my everyday life. As a disabled individual, it is supremely important that I am able to have as much independence as possible. For so many of us that use the program (around 250,000) it is our only way to live a fulfilling life as best as we can. The major cuts that are headed towards the program will ensure that this way of life is no longer viable.
I am old enough to remember a time where the idea of keeping disabled people in nursing homes was a disastrous plan that ended in abject failure. If this avenue is closed off to us, what is the plan that will be put in place for us? To be put back in nursing homes so the cycle can repeat? That doesn’t inspire much confidence or hope in any of us. Even a cursory glance across the internet would tell you that PPL is not a good answer to this perceived issue. There are many testimonials that speak to the lax nature in which the company is run. Lost wages, radio silence on fundamental questions, and perhaps worst of all, a directory that matches people to an incompatible individual that doesn’t speak the desired language, all these examples do is compound distress in the consumer and distrust in an out of state (and out of touch) company that hasn’t even begun their tenure.
We are so much more than an expenditure to be callously discarded to make budget numbers look better than they are. We are PEOPLE who try as best we can to find a way to live alongside the rest of you as equals. Cutting off a program that has helped so many is a surefire way to succeed in making the gap between us all the more apparent. I don’t know if you have a member of your family that needs assistance, but, if they do, you would want them to have as much access to positive ways to live their lives as possible. I sincerely hope that we can all find a more agreeable path forward.
Christopher Schlanger
Lake Katrine
More people need rent stabilization — pass the REST Act now!
When I was diagnosed with cancer last year, one of the first things I worried about was not how I was going to get better, but how I was going to pay my bills. The only reason I did not have to move out of my home during treatment was because it is rent stabilized. Otherwise, I would have had to move in with a relative because I couldn’t afford to live on my own — even though I had a job working for the state and a regular paycheck.
In most parts of upstate New York, there aren’t jobs that pay people enough to afford $2500 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, which is what the City of Kingston now considers “affordable.” There is a clear relationship between rising rents and rising homelessness rates, and a commonsense solution: stop letting landlords jack up rents as much as they want.
Rent stabilization is how we do that, but it’s too hard for most upstate cities to adopt it. That’s why I’m calling on state lawmakers to pass the REST Act, which would make it easier for cities to establish rent stabilization and keep their communities affordable. I’ve lived in the Hudson Valley my whole life and we’re losing everything to this cost-of-living crisis. People are struggling with high housing and utility costs, but both keep going up anyway. It doesn’t have to be like this. Let’s pass the REST Act (and the NY HEAT Act while we’re at it!) and stop this affordability crisis for good.
Amanda Treasure
Kingston
Who’s next on the hit list?
As the daughter of a Holocaust refugee, I’ve struggled with the pro-Palestinian campus protests and the tragic upswing of antisemitic rhetoric. But I continue to support the right to speak out as long as protestors meet the incitement test established in Brandenburg v. Ohio. So far, our government has failed to show evidence that the recently arrested Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, and the attempted arrest of a second Columbia student have met the incitement test. Their speech, even if you disagree with it, can only be restricted if it is directed at inciting or producing imminent violent action and is likely to incite or produce such action — in other words, it cannot be a distant possibility. Compare what’s happening to these and other student protesters to say, the violent January 6th insurrectionists, all of whom were pardoned by president-for-now Trump. Attacks on the First Amendment cannot be tolerated in a free society. And now that scores of us are taking to the streets to protest the unfairness of a federal government that threatens to destroy education, healthcare and social security for the majority, just to give a handful of billionaires a tax break, who’s next on the hit list?
Charlotte Adamis
Kingston
Schumer must step down
On Friday of this past week, Senate Democrats had the opportunity to oppose the harm and chaos spread by Trump, Musk and their loyal cult of followers in Congress. Chuck Schumer blew it at the last minute and got enough Democrats to pass the Republican’s funding bill without even demanding something in return. Now he’s on a book tour! Schumer is not the leader we desperately need. He must step down.
Doris Chorny
Wallkill
Which way Canada?
This is the time of year when many people plan their summer vacations. Why not consider visiting our good neighbors up north and show the Canadians we remember how often they fought beside us and died beside us in the battlefield. Why not let the Canadians know we are not all of the same mind as our dear leader and his Best Bud.
The Canadian people are our friends and we respect them even if the present folk in D.C. do not because either they have forgotten American/Canadian history or political self-preservation is their top priority. When the mid-term elections come up, may so many of those weak-kneed politicians, most of whom never wore a military uniform, be nothing more than a bad memory.
Just a few thoughts from a military widow.
Margaret Hogan
Saugerties
A call to compassion and love
Many of us are troubled by how divided we have become as a people and as a nation, often reflected in these pages. That has led me to wonder what might help unite us and what has occurred to me is — more compassion. Genuine compassion arising in love and excludes no one, not even those on the other side of a political divide, not even our enemies. Naïve and idealistic, right? And yet, imagine a world in which this was the primary motivation. This is not a new idea. A first-century wisdom teacher shared ministry on this “idealistic” notion and one third of the earth’s population now name themselves as his followers.
Please consider certain decisions our current government has made, in my name and yours, decisions that have caused suffering and death. To save a relatively very few dollars, we have withdrawn medicine and food from the sick and hungry around the world. (USAID) Many have already died because of this decision. Many will die today as you read this. The negative impact of this on our reputation as a compassionate nation cannot be calculated.
Now the hard part. We are also called to love the people who made this choice and so, we must extend our compassion and love even to those who watch children die in service of the lust for power and wealth. We are also called to love those who helped put this government in place and continue to silently support its policies of death. Let us even extend our love to that one man whose wealth could feed every hungry child on planet earth, leaving him still wealthier than many nations. Please my neighbors and friends, share your compassion arising in love, for him, for his enablers — and for all of humanity.
Don Badgley
New Paltz
Eggs
I am a chicken
One of many
A direct descendant
Of Henny Penny
I heard that eggs
Are priced so high
It made the Felon-in-Chief cry.
Well, get some chickens and get fresh eggs
And, once in a while
Tasty chicken legs.
Wolf Bohm
Gardiner
Join the family! 
