Fracking In Sullivan County: Governments Can, And Should Tell You It's Not Acceptable

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"   Fracking In The Catskills & Our Socialist American State:  The Government Can't Tell Me What I Can Do with My Land, Or Can They? by Ruby Pixman So, if you think that land ownership automatically allows you to lease to gas companies to conduct fracking on the lawn, YOU'RE WRONG! Awhile back a newspaper reported on a public meeting in a Sullivan County town to discuss whether or not to allow natural gas excavating known as fracking.   Fracking is a very controversial issue here, and in other regions of upstate New York and the US. Upset with an upcoming decision to forbid fracking in the township, one pro-fracking woman defiantly arose stating, "The government has no right to tell me what to do with my land!" The applause was deafening. Sorry to inform you ma'am, but you're wrong-the government tells you what you can and can't do on with your property any day in most anyway.  You can't run a prostitution ring on your land.  You can't grow marijuana.  You can't burn garbage.  You can't build a structure without the government's permission in the form of a permit. If your land is zoned for residential use you can't build a factory.  In fact, you can't even keep your land if you don't pay property taxes to the government. And as recent court rulings confirm, they can also tell you not to frack on your land. So, if you think that land ownership automatically allows you to lease to gas companies to conduct fracking on the lawn, YOU'RE WRONG! That indignant lady, as others, may disparagingly consider this government intrusion in a socialistic sense - and in some instances, they may be correct. Contrary to popular belief, since the founding of the United States, our country has been a largely and lawfully a socialistic society.  For further proof, just refer to the U.S. Constitution. That sacred document starts off with the words, "We the People," probably the shortest, most poignant outline of socialistic ideology.  The Preamble goes on to define the duties of the government, most broadly empowering it to "promote the general welfare,"  a term that has led to the creation of public schools, hospitals, interstate highways, libraries, disease control centers, even baseball stadiums. All of these enterprises are achieved via the consent of the governed, who ultimately pay for them with their payment of taxes. Further evidence of our socialistic state: A sacred national oath recited daily by millions, the Pledge of Allegiance was composed by a socialist, Frances Bellamy- which was purely socialistic in form until the words "Under God" were wrongfully inserted by an act of Congress. Socialism is not anti-American. When someone "accuses" me of being a socialist,  I smile, nod my head, and say, "Yup!"  So, the next time you drive to a public school, use a municipal hospital, buy uncontaminated meats, drink clean reservoir waters, and vote for a town board that prohibits fracking, you're a practicing American socialist too.                                                                         ## Join Our Mailing List! Feedback? Click Here  This Writer's Forum was created to be a forum of free discussion of events and politics in Sullivan County. If you are interested writing in this forum, contact us at sullivancountywritersworkshop@gmail.com.   All identities of authorship will be kept confidential. Click To Sign Up for Sullivan County eNews Roundup

High Taxes & Inferior Education: Vote No On School Budgets Tomorrow

Protest High Taxes: Vote NO on Sullivan County School Budgets on Tuesday

Too many schools, too many administrators, too high salaries, too many games

by Tommie Jefferson

Vote No tomorrow on school budgets tomorrow and send the message that you are tired of paying too much in taxes, that you are tired of the waste and inefficiency, and that you are tired of not getting the educational value that is necessary to truly give our children a brighter future.

The last post in this Writer's Workshop of Sullivan County by Ruby Pixman entitled"School Budget Vote: Better education opportunities for children translate into better lives for all" urged readers to vote yes for school budgets that are being considered in an election on Tuesday. 

Mr./Ms. Pixman gave an admirable, but misguided argument that voting for the bloated budgets and the various new construction projects being proposed was necessary to improve our future as a community.  He acknowledged that taxes obviously will go up, but we had to keep the big picture in mind when funding our children's education.

While his or her argument was righteous, it was also misleading. The big picture is that our educational system in Sullivan County is broken.  There are several valid reasons to vote NO on Tuesday.

Tomorrow's vote is our only way of protesting an extremely antiquated and very expensive system of funding our children's education in Sullivan County.  It's the only real means for overtaxed voters to protest bad budgets, bad administrators, and bad educational products. Sullivan County taxes are too high and much of the blame lies with the school districts.

Many of the school districts have presented budgets where the 2% tax cap is being met.  But what they don't tell you is that they are depleting their reserves, some very significantly, that are meant to cover contingency costs in case of emergencies and to help prop bond ratings. 

Remember when our county government gave us zero budget increases year after year, then ran out of money?  Now every year is a crisis when budgeting there, and voters are facing double digit increases year after year.  We will be facing that soon in our school districts

Unlike the old days, teachers and administrators are paid very, very well.  The older teachers get health benefits for life after they retire, and the rest of them are given extremely good benefits that cost taxpayers a fortune.  On our dime, they have become the true, upper class citizens of our county.  

It's cynical and terribly misleading to tell voters that costs in school districts can be kept under 2% a year while the cost of these salaries and benefits continue to explode. 

What these administrators are doing are kicking the tax increase can down the road.  So those small increases should not be voted for now because we will pay dearly for it in two, three years.  It's plainly bad governance.

By the way, did you hear or read about anyone in these school districts freezing, or taking a cut in pay recently, like most in the private sector have done over the years?  That would be a reason to vote for a school budget. 

Has there been any real discussion in reformulating how our school districts are formed?  Some are too big and some are too small.  I give credit to Roscoe, which is experimenting with Downsville next year in sharing a Superintendent.  But why isn't Livingston Manor, and even Liberty too, looking to join that effort?  In terms of administration, shouldn't there be one county district employing one superintendent, one school attorney, one school accountant, etc.?

For the amount of students in Sullivan County, we have too many school districts paying ridiculous salaries to both administrators and teachers.  Why should an administrator of a school district with hundreds of children receive the same, if not more, salary than others who oversee school districts with thousands more children and personnel in other parts of the state?

The state education department released a report last week indicating how many administrators in school district are paid over a threshold of $126,000, a standard salary established for NYS education administrators. Here's a table that shows what some of the administrators over that $126,000 are getting paid in the nine Sullivan County school districts. 

Seriously, considering that all the Sullivan County school districts are minuscule compared to those in major cities, should administrators get paid over $200,000 in salary and benefits, particularly in these hard times?  Sullivan County is not Scarsdale.

Let's look at the stupid way we locally govern our educational system. Basically, our school boards are overseeing the administration of school districts without getting paid, who for the most part are led by the nose by administrators in formulating what policy remains to be formulated that is not dictated by the state education department, which is nil, and who sit on these boards without term limits and run basically unopposed term after term because no one wants these thankless, powerless jobs.  There's always a few ex teachers on these boards looking out for their fellow teachers interests too.

And finally, why are budget votes and school board elections held in May in the first place?  Why aren't they held in November with regular votes, when the majority of voters come out to vote on a number of races and issues?  Is it because they don't want many people voting in these elections and it allows administrators and teacher to drive their voters to the polls unchallenged?

The budgets you will be voting on tomorrow have been formulated by bureaucrats following hundreds, if not thousands of idiotic rules, laws, and mandates from Albany that give them little if no discretion to cut costly, inefficient programs and personnel that don't deliver a fine educational product to our children.

I'm not a tea bagger, but the basic premise that our government, and educational system too, is broken is truly reflected in all of the school budgets being presented for a vote Tuesday in Sullivan County.

Vote No tomorrow on school budgets tomorrow and send the message that you are tired of paying too much in taxes, that you are tired of the waste and inefficiency, and that you are tired of not getting the educational value that is necessary to truly give our children a brighter future.

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School Budget Vote: Better education opportunities for children translate into better lives for all

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"   School Budget Vote: Better education opportunities for children translate into better lives for all Public School Budgets-Do the Voters Have the Future in Mind When They Vote? by Ruby Pixman Ultimately voting for school budgets is not about how we as individuals will benefit.  It's about whether we as a society will advance when someone else's child receives a good education. We've all heard the statement, "The children are our future," which is undeniably true. It would seem, therefore that we would want to equip our youngsters with the best tools possible to help insure that their futures are fruitful. No doubt the surest way that society can achieve such a goal is through public education, but usually obtaining the best results requires money-lots of it. All eight Sullivan County school districts will hold referendums on May 21, and each will seek voter approval of increased spending, while some will also provide slates of school board candidates. As can be expected, many voters are wary of upped school budgets, mainly because they will probably result in higher taxes. Others will vote "no" because they have no children in their respective school districts, reasoning that these children have no positive direct stake in the outcome of the vote. Why, therefore should they be forced to kick-in more for school taxes? There are lots of both emotionally-charged as well as logical excuses to vote against school budgets.   But are the naysayers correct when they say that better education opportunities for children does not translate into better lives for all?  The answer is simple: No! Several years ago I was treated for colon cancer at the Catskill Regional Medical Center.  After the operation I underwent chemotherapy as a precaution against the possible recurrence of the disease. Over the months-long rounds of treatments I got to know some of the oncology nurses, some who received  their educational degrees in Sullivan County. One of those life-long resident nurses resided within a few miles of my home.  Her local education ultimately led to advanced training in the medical field.  That training eventually proved its value for me.   I'm certified cancer-free and my continued survival may be the direct result of the taxes I may have paid to educate the nurse when she was a local elementary and high school student! Of course those same paid taxes may have been instrumental in saving or improving the life or lives of other Sullivan County residents, many of whom I never met.  Under such circumstances it makes me feel warm and secure in knowing that even in an indirect way, others may have benefited much in the same way that I did!  I'm certain that there are many others who can relate to the way that their school taxes either directly or indirectly helped to improve the lives of others. Ultimately voting for school budgets is not about how we as individuals will benefit.  It's about whether we as a society will advance when someone else's child receives a good education. So the answer to the question of whether to vote for the school budgets on Tuesday is simply, yes!                                                                         ##

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Discussing Sullivan County's Future, It's Only About Economic Development

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"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"  

It's Only About Economic Development: We Need To Move Sullivan County Forward!

Let's focus on attracting industrial & manufacturing companies to provide full-time employment with benefits.

by Abbie Addams

The way for Sullivan County to dig itself out of the recession and despair facing the residents - and which is preventing our young people from finding gainful, meaningful employment in Sullivan County - can be solved in two words:   "Economic Development."

I enjoyed the recent dialogue in Writer's Workshop of Sullivan County, particularly when it comes to a discussion of our local economy- and how the breath of social services, particularly welfare fraud, affects our citizens.

The answer to improving Sullivan County's economy does not lie in catching those who perpetrate fraud on the welfare system.

Despite being a "feel good" sound bite designed to play well in the media, it's a small drop in the proverbial $200 million dollar bucket.

Nor does the answer lie in the Sullivan County Legislature rehashing decisions, from public safety funding to re-opening the County landfill. 

Instead, we need leaders to innovate, to move Sullivan County forward, not create endless task forces to waste time and resources to "Monday morning quarterback" other elected officials, or decisions on which the current Legislature is unlikely to affect meaningful change.

The way for Sullivan County to dig itself out of the recession and despair facing the residents - and which is preventing our young people from finding gainful, meaningful employment in Sullivan County - can be solved in two words:" Economic Development."

Right now, the two loudest groups of residents in Sullivan County are those who believe their taxes are too high for the services they receive and those who believe we must do everything to protect our "rural charm."

For the taxation advocates, two quick facts: (1) Your taxes are never going to go down by any meaningful amount. It just doesn't happen. (2) If you would like to see your taxes remain at the current level into the future, then Sullivan County needs to bring in new or expanded tax rate-ables (for profit businesses) to increase the property tax revenue received by the towns and county, and also the ancillary revenues compounded by the business or its employees.

For those interested in our communities rural and green, two quick facts: (1) As much as we would like to have green everywhere, Sullivan County residents cannot afford the taxes on that green land with the jobs they have now, or with the unemployment they have now. (2) If we want to have meaningful employment for our young people, and jobs that pay a living wage, we need to recognize it's not going to come from small businesses, nor a tourism industry that largely shuts down for four months each year.

Bottom line: We need industrial and manufacturing companies to provide full-time employment with benefits.

Years ago, local residents opposed Kohl's Distribution in Wurtsboro because it would impact the "rural charm."

In reality, Kohl's provides employment and health benefits for dozens of local residents, and regularly contributes volunteers and funding to local non-profits and community events.

The Monticello Motor Club receives hostility from local residents, yet again, the Motor Club provides gainful employment for local residents, buys supplies from local vendors and regularly contributes significant funding to area non-profits and community groups.

We should be seeking economic development that's done in an environmentally-sound way that will not detrimentally impact Sullivan County's natural resources or harm the health of the residents.

But we need to stop impeding the mushrooms, the Concords and other large-scale development and facilities because these impediments are having a negative impact on our communities and our residents' livelihoods.

And we need this advocacy to begin with our county legislators, who need to step up and be advocates, not adversaries, of the for-profit industries in Sullivan County.

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Meeting the Demand for A Great Second Home Community: It's Really A No Brainer

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"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"  

It’s a no brainer: Redefining Monticello as a second home community

A new window of opportunity for Monticello and Sullivan County is closing

by The Mongaup Mavens

But the window of opportunity is closing and surrounding urban areas in Pennsylvania and along the Hudson are stealing potential customers.

In the recent article written by Tommie Jefferson entitled “It’s time for a serious intervention in Monticello,” Mr. Jefferson called for action from outside law enforcement and economic development agencies to rescue the county seat from its course of demise.

That’s not enough. It’s time for local residents, businessmen, and politicians to wake up and begin anew their efforts to resuscitate Monticello-and Sullivan County too.  

After a long recession, it looks like the economy is slowly rebounding. 

Ninety miles away, New York City, which has continued to prosper despite hard times in other regions of the country, is poised on becoming a second Silicon Valley. 

And now, because of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, buying, or building a second home in Sullivan County is also turning out to be a safe investment compared to the Jersey Shore and Eastern Long Island.  

The stock market has now reached historic highs, and second home buyers are on their way to Sullivan County.  

These second home owners are not coming to Sullivan County for the potential gambling or the water park, or the good restaurants. They are coming because Sullivan County is beautiful and peaceful, with gorgeous lakes, spectacular wide open vistas, fresh air and water, and beautiful farmland.  

They are coming because Sullivan County is a nice peaceful place to relax, and it’s less than two hours from New York.   

The window of opportunity for Monticello is closing to take advantage of these trends and the locals must make their move quickly before the window closes completely.  

The greatest shortcoming in Sullivan County is that there is no true “downtown.” There’s no place to shop for the major purchases that are required to furnish a second home, and no place to shop for the day to day needs of home furnishings and clothing.  

Every successful second home community has a downtown. 

Except Sullivan County.

We have beautiful building stock in Monticello we have beautiful sidewalks and plantings and roadways. 

It is a perfect place for development and that development should be outlet stores. 

Just imagine how well a Gap outlet store would do, or American Eagle, or Bass, or Crate & Barrel. 

And forget about the drop off in the winter. These second home owners are up in Sullivan County every weekend all year long. And in the winter, when the recreational facilities are limited, what could be better than shopping in outlet stores?  

This, it seems to us, is a no-brainer.

But the window of opportunity is closing and surrounding urban areas in Pennsylvania and along the Hudson are stealing potential customers.  

It’s time to wake up. Unless the people of Monticello, Liberty, and Sullivan County too act soon, all will be lost. 

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The Casino Push is On Again

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"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"  

The Casino Push is On Again

And finally, Sullivan County residents will be able to vote pro or con

by Ruby Pixman

Since Sullivan County is among the areas being considered for casinos, our residents stand to be most affected by any decision regarding the construction of new houses of gambling.

Once again, there's a new push for casinos in Sullivan County.

Recently, Governor Andrew Cuomo presented his latest plan that would open New York's first three casinos in upstate locations and prohibit them being built in New York City, its northern suburbs and Long Island for five years. 

We’ve been waiting for casino gaminghere in Sullivan County for several generations.  But this time a new approach is being considered, and it really may happen once and for all.

After approving a change later this year to the New York State Constitution, which right now prohibits casino gambling establishments, Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature are going to ask voters across the state to approve a casino gaming amendment.

In the past that didn't stop pro-gambling legislators from trying to get around the ban.  The primary tool was to grant licenses to recognized American Indian tribes, some of which have no geographical or historical connection to this area.  Since the Indian tribes’ lands have been considered quasi-independent jurisdictions, they are immune from many federal, state, and local laws.  In exchange for such gaming licensing, the Indian-run casinos kick-in a certain percentage of their takings to the various governments that are in on the deal.

There are a number of such casinos already in existence across New York State and the rest of the country.  As anyone living in the Catskills knows, there were more planned for our region, but they never came to fruition.

Many impediments prevented such Indian casino establishments in the Catskills during the last decade, such as opposition by the Bush administration, anti-casino politicians, religious groups and even segments of our local populations.  Local residents expressed concern about possible increased traffic and noise, detrimental environmental conditions, and even issues involving gambling addictions and the morality of government-sanctioned gambling.

There’s another issue that was rarely discussed back then, but now may be coming to the forefront:  The possibly unethical reliance on supposed Indian tribal sovereignty to circumvent the NY Constitution. 

Instead of taking this issue head on, and allowing Indian gaming to continue, Cuomo has sought to address this problem by recommending that a state-wide referendum be held, that if passed, would nullify the constitutional ban.  Regardless if one favors or disagrees with establishing casinos in Sullivan County and New York State, the public referendum would at least allow voters to have the final say as to whether they want gambling establishments in their midst.

The latest proposal has raised many questions:  How many casinos should be constructed in the Catskills, and where should they be located? Would these questions be subjected to other local approvals, zoning issues, and referendums and at what governmental level(s)? Since Sullivan County is among the areas being considered for casinos, our residents stand to be most affected by any decision regarding the construction of new houses of gambling.

No doubt most Sullivan County voters have heard all the arguments, pro and con on casino construction, and many would like to see the issue resolved. 

Will we soon get to vote on our preferences, or will Sullivan County continue to remain in limbo for another half century?

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It's Time For A Serious Intervention In Monticello

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"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"  

I'm tired of the bad headlines about my beloved village.

It's time for a serious intervention in Monticello

by Tommie Jefferson

We live in a Potemkin village where beautiful flowers and nice lamps adorn abandoned stores, where people are scared to come to Broadway because no police patrol the street. We plant seeds for flowers, but no seeds for economic growth or good government.

Today, if you opened up the landing page of the news section of the Times Herald Record, there were a number of headlines about Monticello:

Ex-Monticello manager pleads guilty to misdemeanor official misconduct

Monticello woman charged with sexually assaulting child

Jenkins says Monticello firefighters are racist

I’m a lifetime resident of Monticello.  I was born in Monticello Hospital, went to the Cooke, Rutherford, Monticello Middle and High Schools, and unlike most of my childhood friends, I came back after college to live here and work. 

I've witnessed the village that is so part of my psyche and my life devolve into a state of disrepair, a ghetto of Section 8 housing and an abandoned Broadway, a village where gangs run rampant and where streets and home have fallen into disrepair and abandonment, block after block.

It’s just not the economy.  It’s just not that the Borscht Belt died. It’s just not that New York State itself has lost 25% of its residents and businesses elsewhere, where business and quality of life opportunities are much more attractive and living is much more affordable.

I’m tired reading terrible headlines about Monticello.  I’m tired of the rampant crime, the rampant political corruption, and the look and state of our village.  Our roads are falling apart, our neighborhoods are crumbling.  Our Mayor is a village idiot and our village board is composed of corresponding dopes.

We live in a Potemkin village where beautiful flowers and nice lamps adorn abandoned stores, where people are scared to come to Broadway because no police patrol the street. We plant seeds for flowers, but no seeds for economic growth or good government.

Most of us here in the village just throw up our hands and ask “what can we do?”  It’s obviously futile for us to try. Who wants to be called “racist” if you question a stupid or criminal act? 

The biggest problem: We are too small to be really noticed by outsiders that can help us.  We are too small for the organized gang task forces to come into our village to clean out the shitheads that prey on our village and one another.  Instead, Newburgh, Middletown, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie, the bigger cities with the same problems, get the help, get the attention from politicians that represent us in Albany and Washington.

We are too small for our Attorney General and State Controller to come in to clean up the toilet we call the Village Hall.  There’s no way to replace or kick out the Village Board because no one in their right mind would want to run and sit on that board, where the collective IQ is about 100 and where corruption, theft, arrogance, and petty vindictiveness substitutes for good governance, and most importantly, a vision to rebuild our village.

But I don’t want to take flight, like many of my friends and family during the last 20-30 years. 

Instead, I want some action to be taken. I want to take a stand. I want my kids to come back to live here one day.

As the headlines in the Record tell the world, we desperately need help.

When is the state going to come in and take over the operation of the village and kick out the thieves that our running our village?

When are the State Police and the FBI going to come in and rid our village of the gangs and the corrupt politicians?

When is the federal government going to come in and start policing how its money is being spent to support terrible landlords that prey on Section 8 tenants and maintain firetrap apartment buildings?

When is the state going to come in with some economic help?

When are the terrible headlines about crime, corruption, and stupidity that characterize Monticello in 2013 going to finally stop?