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| Folks, On Saturday, July 20, News That Matters released the following article:
(Read the rest here if you missed it or would like to refresh your memory) Why? Because too many of our elected officials thought the article was legitimate. I'll only say this: At least two members of our county Legislature and one member of the executive branch had a shit-fit over it and it caused quite a fire-storm over there in that depression-era yellow office building we call the county seat. And yes, I'm personally gratified. You would have thought that the first intentional clue would have caught some but most (including most of you!) read right passed it: Verizon will pay the county an annual fee of $56,000 for the ability to build monopole cell towers at 1/2 mile intervals along the length of the trail. As part of the agreement Verizon will also provide free WiFi access to trail users. Said Irene D’Bell, press secretary for Verizon New York, “We understand public safety is vitally important and our improved cell network will make it much easier for trail users to notify authorities if something untoward should happen along the trail.” Irene D'Bell. Say it out loud. Come on, do it! See? What a great name for a Verizon spokeperson! Alright, that was a small word play but then there was this: Entergy, owner of the nearby Indian Point nuclear power plant, will provide night lighting along the trail. The company will install radium markers at 25′ intervals so that the trail can be used during the evening and nighttime hours. Entergy will also provide funds for self-illuminated kiosks at trail intersections which will hold informational signs directing trail users to emergency services such as McDonalds and local convenience stores. The kiosks will be powered by spent fuel rods from the Indian Point plant and will generate enough electricity to keep the LED lighting system running for years to come. Each kiosk will also hold a USB smartphone charging station so that, combined with Verizon’s WiFi service, people can use the trail without missing Game of Thrones. Hello? Is anyone home? Remember radium? It's three million more times radioactive than uranium! Apparently no one in county government does nor are they aware what a spent fuel rod is! And these people run our county. And yes, you should be afraid, you should be very afraid. The third clue is here: "County Highway Commissioner Pena added his support for the new arrangement. “With the joining together of two monopolies our residents can rest assured that the rail trail will be maintained to the highest standards possible,” said the Commissioner. He added, “We cannot, however, ban tractor trailers from the trail as it would be a violation of the Commerce clause of the US Constitution. But appropriate safety devices will be installed to lessen the danger of personal harm.” By this time most of you were fully aware and going along for the ride. But too many of our elected officials had not yet caught on. And yes, you should be even more afraid now. Then we have this: While legislator Barbara Scuccimara, who hails from Philipstown said, “this is an expense we cannot afford even if someone else is paying the bill. None of that money will be coming to Philipstown where it’s most needed for road improvements so that our residents no longer get dings in their BMWs from rocks thrown up from the road.” Dings in BMWs? And finally, this: But county legislator Ginny Nacerino was unhappy with the deal. “It’s important we focus on public safety issues and that is why I favor our initial arrangement with BikePath Country. I don’t care what the people say, I know that was the right way to go!” Ginny complained that she was misquoted. But I'll defend the paraphrase in any case since that's pretty much what she said at the end of the July 2nd meeting. On the other hand we have this: From AS (yes, names have been changed to protect the intelligent) You are my candidate to be hired as a master writer for the Onion.And from CB: This is not for real, is it? The article about Verizon and cell towers etc. along the trail. Funny though.From BB: I'm glad you've found an outlet for your humor!From CM: Oh God - you got me for a moment...From MS: How awful that this could almost be taken for real!! This was really well done! Wish I had the 36K...I'd make you do it nationally!How awful indeed that people who are running the show aren't really all that bright. And to think MEO loves Indian Point. No wonder she wasn't upset about the spent fuel rods! JmG |
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| Copyright © 2013 News That Matters | ||
Monday, July 29, 2013
News That Matters - July 20, 2013 - The "Really?" Edition
Friday, July 26, 2013
News That Matters - July 27, 2013 - The National Holiday (Not) Edition.
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| Folks, In a few weeks we'll be celebrating Labor Day, the day when we are supposed to celebrate labor, organized and unorganized. It's also the holiday that signifies the end of the summer season. But the vast majority of Americans will not be able to celebrate because we no longer have national holidays, instead we now have three-day shopping fests. While the upper classes have the day off from work and often a complete three-day weekend, the middle and lower classes will be, as usual, hard at work. And at no time other than national holidays is it more apparent who is working for whom. Back in the day our national holidays fell on the days they had been observed for generations. There was Memorial Day and Veterans Day and Washington's Birthday and Columbus Day and each had their own day which came every year on their appointed day. But in 1968 the Federal government passed the "Uniform Monday Holiday Act" to make it easier for businesses that closed to do so for a set time. That's fine. But over the years fewer and fewer businesses were closed and so more and more people lost those days as holidays to the point now where the malls and shops and stores and restaurants are open and their employees are working. How can you possibly celebrate a holiday if you're doing on that day the same thing you're doing every other day? How is that a holiday? Maybe we should simply scrap the notion of celebrating the Father of Our Country and just call it February Sale Day? And how about, "Buy a New Car To Honor Dead Soldiers Day!" because that's what our National Holidays have become. While Federal, state and bank workers are able to enjoy the weekend, everyone else has to work therefore it's silly for us to call these days 'holidays' as, for most of us, these are regular work days. It's not likely that Wal*Mart or Costco or Food Lion would close their doors on a national holiday. They'd be out millions in revenue and their customers would have to watch NASCAR all day and go through shopping withdrawal and I'm pretty sure our health care industry couldn't handle the sudden surge of zombie shoppers flooding emergency rooms. But what if they had no customers? What if people had the day off and stayed at home or went to the beach or visited family or friends? You know, like what you would do on a holiday? Our nation has become so attuned to shopping that people who live in exurbia actually demand a mall in their backyard because the drive to the next town over is too taxing for their psyche. In that extra ten minutes on the road they just might miss out on those pair of pink pumps they've been window-shopping for months. We can't go a minute without thinking about buying something, without comparing what we have now with what's new at the mall. You can't turn on the TV or the radio or the internet without being assaulted by the noise of commercialism. You can't drive down the road without being bombarded with visuals of corporate logos that have become as common as trees. More common, sometimes. If there is anything that has torn this nation apart more than Rick Santorum and Nikita Khrushchev it's commercialism.... it never freaking sleeps. Let's take our holidays back If you own a business give your employees off on holiday weekends so that they can actually do some celebrating. Your customers will understand especially if you note this a few weeks in advance. If you run a shop in the mall I understand that your contract states you must be open on days where the anchor store is open. But if 30 of you do the right thing and close it will be interesting to watch the management company's head explode. (You can rest assured the management company has the day off!) Museums and fast food joints and convenience stores and gas stations and florists and salons and... you get the idea. Close for the day. Let your employees celebrate. If you're a regular old white collar dude or dudette and you have the day off - DON'T GO SHOPPING! Take a hike. Have a BBQ with your family and friends who will be able to be there because... they won't be working for da man! Get your cigarettes and milk and Chip's Ahoy! a couple days before just like we used to do back in the day when we actually had "National" holidays. Let's make our national holidays, National Holidays again. JmG |
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| Copyright © 2011 News That Matters | ||
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
News That Matters - July 23, 2013 - The Day After Edition
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| Folks, I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank the Putnam County, NY community for banding together to protect our Rail Trail from commercial desecration by a county government that has lost direction and the support of the people it's supposed to represent. That we even had to fight at all could have been avoided had our representatives bothered to ask us our opinion on the matter. But the Legislature and the County Executive, Maryellen Odell, had other ideas and those were to deny our democracy and undo our republic and instead reward their political allies and friends in a crony system that has existed in this county for decades. Hundreds of you sent emails or made phone calls and signed petitions and scores more came out to meetings to let the county know they were making the wrong decision and in the end, faced with overwhelming opposition, they backed down. It proves that when the public reaches a critical mass that can change the outcome of an election the government, regardless how corrupt, will listen. The basic problem in Putnam County is that we're a one-party town. The Legislature and our County Executive are relatively secure from any existing electoral opposition and have been in power for so long that they are able to do as they please. I cannot stress enough how bad this is for any community and one only needs to go back just a little bit in history, to Nassau County in the 1980s, to see how ultimately destructive this is. Our county legislative chair is resigning to run for town-wide office. Will there be an election to fill the seat? No. The County legislature will select a crony as his replacement and you don't have a voice. A member of the Kent Town Board is running for re-election with the full knowledge that come January 1st, 2014 he may very well be the one to sit in the open Legislative seat. Should this man run for re-election knowing that he will not serve a day in that capacity for which the people elected him? No. Because the town board will select his replacement and again, you do not have a voice. In both these instances the trust of the electorate is injured and in both these instances the strangle-hold the status quo has on our community is fortified and in both these instances our democracy dies just a little more. And yet, it's just the way things are in Putnam County, New York and everyone seems just fine with it. Well, I'm not fine with it. Just because we've won this battle does not mean you can rest! What you must do is to stay just as active and just as adamant in our collective desire to *be* our government, for that's what we are. We either take our democracy seriously or we lose it and in Putnam County it's almost lost. Are we willing to do what's necessary to save it or should we just pack up and ask the person to leave to turn the light out? You decide. Me? I'm fighting. JmG |
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| Copyright © 2013 News That Matters | ||
Monday, July 22, 2013
News That Matters - August 22, 2013 - The Victory Edition
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| Well well. It seems the people won one. Bikepath Country, in the face of overwhelming public opposition, has withdrawn their proposal to put advertising on the Putnam County Rail Trail. A hearty Mazel Tov! to all who helped and especially to David McKay Wilson for his "Tax Watch" articles that really brought this to light. I love you all! |
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| Copyright © 2013 News That Matters | ||
Friday, July 19, 2013
News That Matters - Saturday, July 20, 2013 - Breaking News!
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| Breaking News: Putnam County Executive Maryellen Odell, announced late yesterday afternoon that the county has arranged for a plan that will fully finance maintence costs for the Putnam County Rail Trail. The trail has been the topic of intense debate when a private company, Bikepath Country, was given a contract to sell advertising space on signs along the trail. This new plan eliminates the complexity of a private corporation and the county will run the program on its own. "This new partnership will be a milestone in public/private cooperation," said Ms. Odell in a press release. "The partnering between Putnam County, Verizon Communications and Entergy will generate enough income and services that the taxpayers of the county will no longer be burdened with the cost of upkeep of the trail." Verizon will pay the county an annual fee of $56,000 for the ability to build monopole cell towers at 1/2 mile intervals along the length of the trail. As part of the agreement Verizon will also provide free WiFi access to trail users. Said Irene D'Bell, press secretary for Verizon New York, "We understand public safety is vitally important and our improved cell network will make it much easier for trail users to notify authorities if something untoward should happen along the trail." Entergy, owner of the nearby Indian Point nuclear power plant, will provide night lighting along the trail. The company will install radium markers at 25' intervals so that the trail can be used during the evening and nighttime hours. Entergy will also provide funds for self-illuminated kiosks at trail intersections which will hold informational signs directing trail users to emergency services such as McDonalds and local convenience stores. The kiosks will be powered by spent fuel rods from the Indian Point plant and will generate enough electricity to keep the LED lighting system running for years to come. Each kiosk will also hold a USB smartphone charging station so that, combined with Verizon's WiFi service, people can use the trail without missing Game of Thrones. County Highway Commissioner Pena added his support for the new arrangement. "With the joining together of two monopolies our residents can rest assured that the rail trail will be maintained to the highest standards possible," said the Commissioner. He added, "We cannot, however, ban tractor trailers from the trail as it would be a violation of the Commerce clause of the US Constitution. But appropriate safety devices will be installed to lessen the danger of personal harm." Outgoing County Legislative Chair Richie Othmer said, "See? I wasn't sure this the right way to go but I changed my mind once I saw the benefits to our residents. With the 2% tax cap in place the county needs all the outside revenue it can get. So what if people glow a little? It's saving them money." But county legislator Ginny Nacerino was unhappy with the deal. "It's important we focus on public safety issues and that is why I favor our initial arrangement with BikePath Country. I don't care what the people say, I know that was the right way to go!" While legislator Barbara Scuccimara, who hails from Philipstown said, "this is an expense we cannot afford even if someone else is paying the bill. None of that money will be coming to Philipstown where it's most needed for road improvements so that our residents no longer get dings in their BMWs from rocks thrown up from the road." Ms. Odell said that work on the new cell network would begin as soon as next week and that Entergy's role will begin the moment they find a manufacturer of radium watch faces. JmG |
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| Copyright © 2013 News That Matters | ||
Thursday, July 18, 2013
News That Matters - July 18, 2013 - The "I Hope You're Wearing Boots" Edition
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| Happy Thursday Night, y'all. County Legislative Chair Richie Othmer is leaving his post at the end of the year to run (unopposed) for Kent Highway Supervisor. The Legislature gets to select his replacement - you don't. Rumor has it that current Kent councilman Lou Tartaro will be elevated to the Legislature once Richie officially resigns in January. The Town Council gets to select his replacement - you don't. What bothers me - and should you - is that if true and Lou is being elevated, he should not run for re-election to his town board seat this year but resign and the let the voters decide who will replace him. Whatever happened to, you know, voting? Representation? Are the residents of our county held in such low view by the Party that we're entitled to select our own representatives? Why does this have the feel of The Rail Trail Saga That Will Not Die (And not for lack for trying.) Putnam County Highway Supervisor Pena, the guy who refuses a through truck weight limit for Peekskill Hollow Road (see below), has presented the County Legislature with a breakdown of man-hours spent maintaining the Rail Trail and I have to say it's quite an eye opener! In essence, to cover 12 miles of trail the county allocated nearly 3000 man-hours or roughly 248 man hours per mile during 2012. What I'd like you to do for comparison is get out and walk one mile - 5280 feet, 1760 yards, and tell me how long it took you to walk that mile I'll wait..... ..... ..... About 15 minutes. Right? 20 if you stopped to smell the roses. Forty-five if you brought your trimmer along. The report also shows that three mowers spent 596 hours mowing the trail or 41 hours per mile. The total cost in man and machine hours he has down as $135,000 but he includes $29,000 in benefits for three "temporary" workers who don't receive benefits nor do I believe that the county pays $32,000 in benefits on $57,449 worth of salary. If they do then I'm clearly in the wrong business or we are being royally ripped off. Last time I checked the old Put Line was not paved with Italian marble nor landscaped by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe so I have no idea what the combined 3000 man hours and 2300 truck/machine hours has brought us so I'm calling bullshit here. The report from Commissioner Pena is either grossly inflated, an out and out lie or our highway crew is as slow as molasses in a Greenland winter and needs some actual work to do. (For the record, I once worked on a town highway crew in a one-party town and yeah, we needed real work to do.) If it costs this much to maintain an 11' wide swath of blacktop used only by pedestrians, bicycles and the occassional police golf cart(!) what does it cost to maintain our county roads hammered by cars and trucks? Does the county spend that kind of time on Farmers Mills Road? I wish they did! (As as aside, the Rail Trail was funded 80% by the Federal Transit Administration, 10% by New York State and 10% by the county. It was hardly an amount that would break our backs.) In the meantime, David Eppinger, who sits on the Executive Board of the Putnam Boy Scouts has taken my idea of self-funding mile markers on the trail and making it a scout project. This is not the first time it has been suggested but Mr. Eppinger has written the county directly with specifics on the proposal. Mr. E. mentions that there are already markers at 2/10's intervals along the trail but encourages the county to complete that. Wait! There already mile markers on the trail? Then what's all this hullabaloo from the county about public safety? What are we missing here? County Legislator Carl Albano has personally invited Bikepath Country to the Physical Services committee meeting this coming Monday at 6:30PM in Room 318 of the county office building to seek "input in [their] discussion,". If you'd care to make your input known as well, be there and be vocal and if the Sheriff has to carry you out because the ears of the Legislature are closed - all the better. What really galls me though is that after the public spoke at the July 2nd Legislative meeting and each person in turn agreed that public safety was an issue and several offered viable alternatives, Legislator Ginny Nacerino and others ignored every single word and went on with their biblical belief that only Bikepath Country can provide these things, that the county highway department cannot and that community groups cannot be trusted - only a for-profit friend of the County Executive. And let's face it: the numbers simply do not work. The 50/50 split between BpC and the County comes after BpC's expenses. What's an expense?
From the June 24th Edition of News That Matters: Basically what that all says it that we should probably hire BpC to manage the trail as they're infinitely less expensive than Pena's Highway crews. So we need to find out what's really going on here. It's obvious, of course, but we need someone with street cred to admit it. It's not about public safety. It's not about raising money for maintenance (and any monies raised can only be used for the trail and for no other purpose - by law.) So just what is really happening here? We should let Consumer Affairs force each user of the trail to buy a $250 permit. Call MaryEllen Odell’s office and say, “NO!” to this foolish enterprise and let’s keep for ourselves a place to escape commercialism and that the people she was elected to represent are more important than her close political allies. That the voices of the 99,000 *other* residents of this county are more important than the 1000 she and the Legislature cater to. You can reach her at (845) 808-1001 or by email to PutnamCountyExecutive@putnamcountyny.gov. Then call the county Legislature at (845) 808-1020 or email them at putcoleg@putnamcountyny.gov. And then head on over and sign on to the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/no-ads-on-putnam-trailway SHARE this post. Do something! Get Active! Let’s make these people remember this come election time this year. At the very least let’s make them know that we will not forget. You drive ten tons and what do you get? The good people over on Peekskill Hollow Road have been agitating for a weight limit on trucks traveling the length of Peekskill Hollow Road for obvious reasons. What they're seeking is a limit of 10 tons except for local delivery. But Highway Commissioner Pena has steadfastly refused to entertain the idea. First he claims he doesn't have the authority. Then he claims it would be a violation of the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. In his latest incarnation he claims he needs to study the traffic pattern on the road and make safety improvements. Safety improvements? So those 20 ton behemoths can travel faster? This is another situation where there's more than meets the eye and where someone else is pulling the strings using the Commissioner as a marionette. We saw this happening when Maryellen Odell pulled the Emergency Services Commissioner out of his public service doldrums and paraded him before the public with dire warnings of death and destruction if mile markers weren't placed on the rail trail - mile markers that are already there. That's a lot of shit... Kent's Supervisor Katherine Doherty has petitioned the county to allocate an additional $400,000 to help fund Kent's Route 52 sewer district. DEP is tossing in $3 million while the county has already allocated $2,500,000 from water quality improvement funds (DEP again!). The plan is to collect sewage along Route 52 in the Lake Carmel basin and pump it uphill to Hill and Dale and dump it in their lake after treatment at the new plant to be built at Kent Manor. Wait a second... the town is taking sewage from Lake Carmel and pumping it into another basin, one with many less voters? And I'll bet there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony in October, just in time for the election. Is this how Putnam County runs? Apparently it is. And no matter how often we strip our government naked and parade their greed and corruption through the streets of our fair county they still insist they're wearing the finest of suits and Dior evening gowns. The heat wave breaks on Sunday. Hang in there until then! JmG |
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| Copyright © 2013 News That Matters | ||