True Expectations in the Catskills: Casinos means jobs, PERIOD.

by Steven Kurlander

kurly@stevenkurlander.com

Once upon a time, there was a popular slogan in the Catskills that summed up the reason why most residents living the antithesis of the American Dream in the region favored the building of casinos in the once renown resort area.

“Casinos mean jobs.”

Those three words defined the dream of the building of casinos in Sullivan County.

The building of casinos in the Catskills has always been couched not as a cure-all in rebuilding our region, but instead a new beginning in resurrecting a once bustling tourist industry.  

That dream not only entailed hundreds of thousands once again enjoying our natural beauty, fresh air, and various amenities in the area, but also that destination resorts would once again provide hundreds, if not thousands of jobs that in turn would rebuild a new middle class in our area.

Last week, there was an article in the New York Times entitled In “Faded Vacationland, Gambling’s Promise Falls Short - Poconos Casino Offers Lesson as New York Weighs Proposals in Catskills.”  It was a very negative hit piece that chronicled how casinos there did not live up to the promises made before they were built.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/nyregion/casino-bust-in-poconos-could-be-a-lesson-for-the-catskills.html?_r=2

Noting the high expectations created with the prospect of great economic impact from the building of casinos in the Catskills were very similar to those raised when the Pocono facilities were proposed, the article stated:  “The promises sound equally grandiose: oceans of revenue and taxes, and thousands of new jobs — enough to give a depleted community a sharply different outlook.”

One observation about the times article surmised that the article was maybe an harbinger of disappointing news about whether we get a casino in the region. http://leftatthegate.blogspot.com/2014/11/times-pours-ice-cold-water-on-catskills.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FLATG+%28Left+at+the+Gate%29&m=1

“From reading this article, one would think that the only person in the entire town who is happy is some dude, a.k.a. The Goldfather, who is apparently an unlicensed pawnbroker.”

The author of the article obviously does not have any understanding about how cynical we are here in the Catskills. We have endured decades of being the stepchild of New York State, high taxation, a dearth of economic development, and a brain drain of people to states to the south.  

We don’t really have high expectations anymore and don’t take any promises of sustenance and wealth very seriously.

Now that the election is over, we are all waiting for that fateful announcement that will tell the world whether there will be a casino, or even two, at the former Concord Hotel location in Kiamesha Lake.  Hundreds, if not thousands of temporary and permanent new jobs in Sullivan County, are hanging in the balance with that decision.

We have waited half a century for this decision, and will probably wait a few weeks more to find out whether or not there will be one or two casinos overlooking Kiamesha Lake in a year or two.

http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/224248/ny-casino-reviews-will-continue-at-least-11-more-days/

Those supposedly in the know are saying we are a lock for one, and its only a matter of speculation whether a second casino gaming destination facilty is built in Monticello.  

As the national economy continues an alleged recovery, as the price of gas and heating fuel continues to plummet, and as the gaming industry begins to recover from a significant downturn in profitability, there is indeed great promise that Catskill casinos would help revitalize our area.

Despite the grandiose  promises of casino developers, after 50 years of waiting, and of struggle, our expectations in the Catskills are not high at all.  Casinos don’t mean an end to our struggles, but just a new beginning to rebuilding our economy.  Realistically, its like they said years ago, casinos mean jobs. Period.

Getting Rid of “Ghost” Structures: Perceiving the Catskills as a Place of Renewal, Not Decay

by Steven Kurlander

kurly@stevenkurlander.com

With or without the siting of one or two casino gaming destination resorts, it’s certain that the Catskills encompassing both Sullivan County and southern Ulster have turned the corner and are on their way back to economic viability.

It’s also certain that such a statement would be met with great skepticism and disdain from those who live here and  endured an unreasonable economic hardship for the last two or three decades.  

That negativity, which defines a common demoralization, in turn has fostered a lack of pride in our region in terms of aesthetics-in both how we preserve our landscape and how we enforce our building codes.

Last week, there were a number of photojournalistic articles published nationwide showcasing the rundown buildings and properties that “haunt” our region.  Reuters entitled their piece: “Catskills in Decline.” http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/17/life-idUSRTR4AM5N  A Hudson Valley Real Estate Blog posted: "Halloween Prep: Abandoned Catskills" http://upstater.net/halloween-prep-abandoned-catskills/.

This is not the first national display of our disregard to rid our landscape of decrepit structures.  Our own talented Rock Hill native Photographer Marissa Scheinfeld has made an art form in photographing abandoned hotels and displaying them - her most current exhibition is taking place at Yeshiva University entitled “Echoes of the Borscht Belt.” http://www.marisascheinfeld.com/Exhibitions-and-Lectures-/Current-and-Upcoming/1/

Perception is everything-and now is the time to start cleaning up our act and getting rid of the numerous eyesores that dot our landscape-and obviously now define where we live throughout the world. The resort industry’s death and their long standing ruins not only defines our cynicism and struggles, but now our economic viability in the near future

We are too accepting of them, our demoralized psyches allow them to blend into the scenery as we all drive to and from work or school everyday. Over time, we have been too oblivious to these eyesores.

Obviously, those coming from suburban and city landscapes see them and shake their heads, and reporters write articles about them.  

Even as we come back, our blighted landscape festering with abandoned buildings and decrepit bungalows ruins our image as a beautiful mountain destination to visit and a place to escape to live a better life.

It’s just not about planting flowers in our decaying villages and hamlets to make them look better anymore. It’s not enough.

The towns and county governments need to team up to begin cleaning up these eyesores by sending out crews to tear them down, or give tax breaks to their owners to rebuild them to their former architectural grandeur.  The DEC in New Paltz also needs to become part of this effort by loosening regulations that have stopped fire departments from going in and burning down these eyesores.  

The time is ripe for an initiative for our governments to start this concerted cleanup effort that also encompasses strict, no tolerance, code enforcement against absentee landowners, seasonal residents, and slumlords feeding off of lucrative, and decaying Section 8 housing.

The Catskills are coming back, and they need to be perceived now as a place of renewal, not decay.

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, & Lying Too in Monticello School DIstrict

by Sean Rieber

sean@rieberappraisal.com

A few weeks ago an article came out in the press referencing the NYS Comptroller’s Audit of Monticello Schools and the fact that they had a fund balance of $16.5 million when only 4% of their budget, or $3.3 million, was allowed by law.  

Several days later, in typical government fashion, the district administration released a statement essentially blaming prior administrations.  

What is extremely bothersome about this whole saga is the information I found after further research and the total downplaying and/or ignorance of it by sitting board members.  

When I questioned one long time board member about it the response was “I can safely say that our board first learned how much there was actually in the fund balance when the report came out.  We are not pleased with the information either.”  

A follow up remark to that was then “We rely on the people we pay to give us the information to make informed decisions.”  

I then spoke with another long time board member who indicated that he didn’t believe that the figures were that high and that the comptroller is a political animal (which is very true).  That board member went on to state that they now have a great superintendent and this will never happen again.  

Let’s hope that is true…but who is going to be held accountable for what went on?

Let’s correct the first board member’s comments first.  

After analyzing her two quotes I did some digging, namely filing a FOIL request for the last 3 years internal audits.  Those are the pesky little documents required by the State and performed annually at great cost to taxpayers.  They are also a perfect example of “information given to board members so that they can make informed decisions” and the auditors would be an example of people “they pay.”  Each and every board member receives a copy of the audit.  

June 30, 2012 Audit:  Page 38, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

         The district’s unassigned fund balance in the General Fund is in excess of the amount permitted by law.  New York State Law limits the unassigned fund balance to 4% of the ensuing year’s budget.  As of June 30, 2012, the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 16% of the ensuring year’s budget.

June 30, 2013 Audit:  Page 39, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

         Identical wording as above…..but….As of June 30, 2013 the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 18% of the ensuing year’s budget.

June 30, 2014 Audit:  Page 39, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

         Identical wording as above…but…As of June 30, 2014 the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 21% of the subsequent year’s adopted budget.

Are we seeing a pattern here folks?  

The board members have the information, the administration has the information….the question is ARE THEY BOTHERING TO READ IT??

Now…what are the consequences?  

Was the public misled?

I’d sure say so.

I then reviewed the budget presentations for this past year on the District’s website.  Strangely, not a single mention of the fund balance in the powerpoint.  I guess if I had $16 million that I didn’t want to tell anyone about I wouldn’t put it in there either.  Unfortunately for the administration though, that’s not their money.  That’s our money.

The worst part of it is the doom and gloom stories told to the public, apparently told to the board and the deceiving way in which budget votes happened.  

Take these excerpts from the May 12, 2013 Town of Forestburgh meeting in which a member of the administration (person still in the position, can’t blame the last guy) attended and gave the following remarks:

         “….reduction in staff of 38 persons.  All programs and athletics are intact…”

“We do have a healthy fund balance, but it will be reduced quickly and it is not just us, it is state wide.”

“We feel this is a fair budget, but if it is defeated at the polls, we will go to our contingent budget which is 2.06% no new equipment will be purchased and the community will be charged to use our fields and facilities.  We have no choice but to do that.  ALSO, WE WOULD HAVE TO DECREASE OUR WORKFORCE BY ANOTHER 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS.”

“With everything that the Governor has put on us, it is becoming more difficult to do a budget, this is a very fair budget – WE FEEL WITHIN FOUR YEARS OUR FUND BALANCE WILL BE DEPLETED.”

Meanwhile, per their own internal audit, the fund balance increased by another $3.4 million dollars since then.  

So, essentially, the administration was going around scaring the public into voting for a budget and never informing them of the fact that they had a fund balance of FOUR TIMES the amount allowed under the law and easily could have hired more teachers rather than threaten to lay them off.  

This isn't the only place they are irresponsibly hoarding money.

Per the NYS Comptroller audit the district has a worker’s compensation fund balance of three years of expenditures or $2.6 million and an unemployment insurance reserve of 7 years of expenditures or $1.1 million.  

We all believe in saving for a rainy day….but 3 years and 7 years worth of expenditures in the bank???  

Don’t let the district blame prior administrations.  

Many of the board members have been there for years.  The current superintendent was hired as a Deputy in July 2012 and the Deputy Superintendent for Business (formerly known as Business Manager) has been there since August 2011.  

There is no question that they inherited a pattern of abuse and a bloated fund balance….but what has been done since and why wasn’t the Board informed (if the Board member who said they had no idea was being truthful)?  Why wasn’t the public informed?  Did they stay quiet based on the orders of the prior Superintendent or on orders from the Board?  We as the taxpaying public are owed answers.

What about the teachers?  Downsizing has occurred and was clearly unnecessary.  Countless young teachers have had sleepless nights and knots in their stomachs wondering if the pink slip was coming.  Many parents still complain about the quality of the education.  There are or were overcrowding issues.  Our teachers are the lowest paid in the area and in the largest school district.  Their contract is coming up for negotiation.  Certainly the district can’t cry poverty in these contract talks.  All this is going on while there is a money hoard in the bank.

The end result is a person or people MUST be held accountable.  

The public was lied to, plain and simple.  

The taxpayers are owed a refund, the students are owed a better school system, and teachers are owed fair pay.  

And most importantly, the voters are owed explanations and/or resignations.  It is unfathomable how you can have an extremely expensive audit handed to you each and every year but not even bother to read it.  

A suggestion to the present administration.  Tell the truth.  

If a 4% fund balance is an antiquated law and not reflective of the current state of economics in education then simply say so.  Put the fund balance out to the public and publicly state that you don’t think 4% is enough and you are going to hold back 8% regardless of the state law.  Any reasonable member of the taxpaying public will respect that, including myself.  

But we can all agree that 21% is outrageous and borderline criminal.  

Finally, a question to the Board….if you were not getting accurate information from the people that you pay, what have you done about it?  

Millions were bilked from the taxpayers….simply saying “now, now…don’t do that again” isn’t good enough.  

Simply put…he who is complacent is complicit.  

A New Beginning in the Catskills: No More Bungalows

By Steven Kurlander

steven@stevenkurlander.com

The Town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County recently put forth a number of changes to its zoning laws that would essentially limit the building of new bungalows.

The purpose of the new changes is simple.

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20141010/NEWS/141019947/101008/NEWSLETTER100

“It is the intent of the Town of Fallsburg to not promote the expansion of bungalow colonies”

The idea behind the changes is to make new residential construction more permanent in nature, safer and more aesthetically pleasant.

The true reality is that if the changes are implemented, say goodbye to bungalows as a cheap housing alternative for summer residents and say hello to the end of questionable density seasonal housing both in Fallsburg and Sullivan County as a whole.

And that’s a very good start in rebuilding the economy of Sullivan County and the Catskills by enhancing the housing stock in the area and improving the real estate values too.

The eastern half of Sullivan County comprised of the major towns should start placing more emphasis not only on building single family homes on adequately sized lots, but to begin to repair the crumbling, overtaxed full year round housing stock in our villages and towns that already exists.

The concept of bungalow living in the Catskills has its genesis in the seasonal tourist mentality that dominated a recreational 20th century economy.  They were built solely around servicing the masses escaping the heat of NYC during the summer season.

Bungalow living was one step more than camping out, allowing families to live in crowded colonies in structures that provided basic protection against the summer elements, period. Densely built, these colonies allowed the maximum amount of people to enjoy the Catskill summers, crowding our roads and supporting our main streets.

Now 70-100 year later, that model does not work anymore.  Drive down the hamlet of Woodbourne’s main street to view the stark 21st century reality of that seasonal bungalow mentality: A decrepit looking business district that once serviced local residents and tourists alike remains empty of year round stores, a basic ghost town 10 months a year.  

Sullivan County should instead capture a new exodus from the NYC metropolitan area not driven by hot weather, but by exorbitant rents in places like Williamsburg and Crown Heights, to attract new middle class families with good, affordable year round housing to move here year round to live, to open stores, and to commute to NYC instead of just visiting for the summer.

Second homes should be year round, where the owners can come up for the weekend not only in July, but in January.  That model is building in hamlets like Narrowsburg and Roscoe.  It needs to be jumpstarted in Woodridge and Swan Lake too.

At a recent hearing over this new Fallsburg law, a number of local contractors and Orthodox real estate developers with projects in Fallsburg argued that if the new law is implemented, they will be put out of business.  They argued that stricter density laws would forbid them from continuing to build new summer residences that would continue this way of life for another 100 years.

In terms of safety, the subsequent “massive” fire in a Sackett Lake Bungalow colony that quickly incinerated numerous bungalows was a wake up call to why this law is a very good idea, solely from a safety point of view.

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2014/October/07/CampShira_fire-07Oct14.htm

When it comes to rebuilding Sullivan County, with or without casinos, the vocal opposition to this new law that was reported in area news publication is cynical and misstated at best.

http://www.scdemocratonline.com/webpages/newsdetail.aspx?id=dd4c7b59-0fbf-4b94-8af9-8492ec5b66c8

There are enough bungalows in the Catskills as it is. Enough is enough. New seasonal bungalows have no place in the future rebuilding of the Sullivan County economy.

###

Forestburgh Supervisor Sipos makes proposal for consolidation of two town highway departments

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs191/1107378559031/archive/1114526725132.html

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"    Traveling along Sullivan County's Broken Highway System Forestburgh Supervisor Sipos makes proposal for consolidation of two town highway departments by Steven Kurlander steven@stevenkurlander.com Sipos' consolidation initiative can also spur further cooperation agreements between various local villages and towns.. There's an interesting item on the Town of Thompson Board agenda on Thursday that all Sullivan County elected officials should be examining closely. For the first time in years, there's talk about consolidating municipal services in Sullivan County - in this case, between two town highway departments. Forestburgh Supervisor William Sipos recently sent a letter to the Thompson Town Boardrequesting that the two towns consider combining their highway departments, stating in part: "By joining forces, the Highway Department of the Town of Forestburgh and Thompson could save the taxpayers money by offsetting some of the cost which is now incorporated in our budgets." Whether the Town of Thompson Board and the two Highway Superintendents agree remains to be seen Judging the population of Forestburgh and the amount of town highway it has, consolidation is a good idea to explore.   And it should be the start of serious discussions involving the cash strapped villages and towns throughout Sullivan County and the county and state too that face increasing costs for highway department budgets. The Town of Forestburgh has a population of under 1000 residents and approximately 35 miles of town road to maintain and plow.  It has a Highway Department of 7 employees and its budget is between $1.1 million and $1.2 million.  That's 80% of Forestburgh's budget. Further, the Mid Hudson News reported that there is in fact defacto sharing of manpower, equipment, materials, and highway services already taking place between the Town of Thompson and the Town of Forestburgh. Throughout Sullivan County, there are village, town, county, and state roads, all intersecting with one another.  And the servicing of such a myriad of roads under such an individualized system has gotten expensive (and results in duplicate waste) over time for taxpayers not only in Sullivan County, but statewide.  And it gets silly and wasteful at times. During a snowstorm, four plows, State, County, Town, and Village, will drive down Broadway in Monticello, but only one will have its plow down. Take neighboring Ulster County. In July, 2010, the Pattern For Progress Think Tank published a study by Michael Hattery of Binghamton University entitledIndentifying Opportunities for Highway Service Cooperation which studied how the various municipal highway departments could achieve service sharing, service consolidation, and cost savings for Ulster County highway services.  It's an enlightening document to read. After providing an overview of the highway services and capacity, it discussed a number of policy options being utilized in Monroe, Jefferson, and Chemung Counties that all have some sort of shared costs, maintenance responsibilities, and labor pooling. The study identified a range of options for the various highway departments in Ulster County to achieve efficiencies and savings by consolidating and working together highway maintenance and services. It's time for a similar study of Sullivan County highways. The first County Legislature was elected in part on the premise of exploring the consolidation of services in various areas, and in fact, some movement was made in terms of a county-wide police force and the creation of a District Court to alleviate the towns and villages of the high costs of their criminal justice systems.  That was back in the late 1990s, and the initial efforts failed in the face of opposition from local justices not willing to give up their expensive courts.  Since then, there's been no true movement on the county level to continue exploring any other major consolidation of services with the towns and villages. The move for examining consolidation by Sipos on the town level may work better in 2013.  It's a smaller proposal in range and cost and truly makes sense. And if the Town of Thompson Board agrees, such shared services between Town of Thompson and the Town of Forestburgh may be the start of cost savings and the elimination of wasteful spending county-wide for taxpayers.  It would certainly save Forestburgh and Thompson taxpayers some money. Sipos' consolidation initiative can also spur further cooperation agreements between various local villages and towns, or at least a Pattern for Progress type study of the idea at a time when both taxpayers and municipal governments have little money to spare.                                                                         ##

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It's the Locals in Sullivan County that really have poor driving habits

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"    It's the Locals in Sullivan County that really have poor driving habits Stay Off the Roads in Sullivan County-If You Want To Live! Part II by Ruby Pixman One of the worst of these potential deathtraps is on Route 52 along the eastern approach to Jeffersonville In my previous column I questioned the safety of the pair of newly-installed traffic circles in Liberty.  I argued how the flawed design of these circles, not bad driving, invites traffic accidents. However, throughout the rest of Sullivan County, actual and potential accidents are clearly the result of poor driving habits.  One of my major peeves involves just plain laziness on behalf of drivers! The county, being both hilly and rural, has many two-lane roads that twist and turn, often providing treacherous sharp curves for motorists to traverse with their cars.  Its common practice here that as drivers approach such a bend, instead of cautiously hugging the outer rim of the road, they often veer toward the center, and sometimes cross over the solid dividing line and into the left lane-a danger to oncoming traffic.  Such drivers are just too lazy to stay on their side of the road.   Since this practice occurs year-round and not just during tourist season, I can only assume that these dangerous actions are largely performed by locals.  Since police can't be present at every dangerous curve, the best solution is the installation of traffic cones or other devices that prevent cars from entering into unwarranted territory. One of the worst of these potential deathtraps is on Route 52 along the eastern approach to Jeffersonville.  The road turns sharply to the right and blocks any view of oncoming traffic.  Along the right side of the road is a trench.  If a driver encounters another care in the wrong lane, he or she is forced to collide with the on-comer or sharply turn to his right.  That insures that he or she will end up in the trench, possibly with deadly consequences.  This blind curve is a perfect spot for installing traffic cones or even more permanent devices. Another major problem is the outright defiance of the laws banning drivers' cell phone usage.  One remedy is for the county to earn a reputation as a place where police frequently enforce the law.  The best place to catch such would-be felons is along Route 17, a wide road where it would be safe and easy for police vehicles to be parked for the purpose of surveillance.  I'm not a big fan of constant police presence, but once a few arrests are made and word gets out, the deadly practice of cell phone conversations will greatly decrease.  And speaking of Route 17, this is a situation that constantly baffles me.  There are signs posted along the roadway indicating that 55 mph is the state speed limit, which presumably means that driving above that limit is illegal in the entire state.  Yet within short distances of such signs are other postings that indicate the speed limit to be 65 mph!  Which one of the two contradictory posted limits is the actual number?  It seems to me that if someone is stopped for going above 55, he has a good court defense, since the 65mph limit is simultaneously posted on the same road! Sadly, this county has a long history of doing the best it can for getting nothing of a constructive nature accomplished. Probably none of these traffic situations I've pointed out will ever be addressed, unless possibly someone is seriously hurt or killed.  I'm still hopeful, however, that traffic safety will take precedence over costs and that solutions will be provided.  Such precautions can save many lives here in Sullivan County!                                                                          ##

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