No Country For Sane Men: January 2014

Saturday, January 18, 2014

News That Matters - January 18, 20145 - The Someone May Not Be Honest Edition

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Telling it like it is for 10 years and counting...

Happy Saturday Morning!

This is what we awoke to this morning:

There's much going on these days in Putnam County government. For one, we're all pretty much aware that the county legislature appointed a man to serve on their august body who was not elected by the people he's representing. Business as usual, as we've come to know and love it!

And the Tilly Foster thing won't go away either. It just gets worse and worse and more embarrassing for everyone involved most of whom (and I'll bet they're grateful!) are out of office leaving the current junta with their hands covered in horse manure.

But there's another, bigger, news story out and about there these days and that's the county executive's race this year. It seems Senator Ball has fired a shot across County Executive Maryellen Odell's bow. Or the NYJN never researched their story. Or they did (and that's bad!). Or Greg Ball is lying. Or, well.... something!

Now, I don't like County Executive MaryEllen Odell very much since she disregarded Democrat and Blank voters in her run against former Senator Vincent Leibell for the County Executive's Seat. She insisted she didn't have to curry non-Republicans because there were enough unhappy Republicans that they'd vote for her instead of Unca Vinnie. She wouldn't listen to reason and she lost. Unca went to prison and she (Read: we!) had to do the whole thing all over again. Oh, and that time she referred to public opposition to her "deal" with Bikepath Country as being the people who always complain.

I especially don't like NY State Senator Greg Ball. According to the Ballster, if it doesn't have a veteran, a puppy, a gun or a photo-op in it he's not interested. I'll give you that he's cute as hell and I'd date him in a New York Minute, but his political ethics are, well, those are two words that are never used when talking about the Ballster. It's like saying "butch" when you're talking about Truman Capote or "capitalist" around Mao Tse Tung. It just ain't done.

And, LoHud, formerly known as the New York Journal News, has a such poor record of covering Putnam County that it's hard to know we exist. Sure, they carry the police blotter because it titillates but otherwise we might as well be in Kansas as far as they're concerned. However, they love Putnam County government and they have since Bob Bondi held the reigns around here and a taser to their testicles.

All three of these entities now find themselves at the center of what could be a political scandal or just poor reporting and a lack of honesty all around. Knowing our county politicians the latter isn't a scandal, it's just the way things are around here.

The LoHud published a story the other day about how County Executive Maryellen Odell secured some $2M for repair of a bridge in Brewster. It literally gushed with praise, as if she had won the Nobel Prize or some such thing. But a press release from the ever smiling Senator Ball says that *he* got the money and never mentions the County Executive at all.

Today I received yet another press release from the Ballster claiming that he AND Congressman Maloney, the faux-liberal, got the money and again, there's no mention of our county executive at all.

So what gives here?

Is the NYJN still in love with Putnam County's ruling junta and have an axe to grind against the Ballster? Is the Ballster telling the truth? (sorry, I know..!) Is MEO? What's going on?

JmG

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Saturday, January 11, 2014

News That Matters - January 11, 2014 - The People's (no)Voice Edition

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Telling it like it is for 10 years and counting...

Happy Saturday,

In a glaringly anti-democratic and politically dangerous move better suited to the old Soviet Union or any Central American banana republic, the Putnam County legislature has ~~anointed~~ appointed Lou Tartaro to represent the Town of Kent by placing him into the 3rd district legislative seat recently vacated by Richie Othmer. This came after a concerted effort by Kent residents and other elected officials to leave the seat open until the election come next November.

[Now, before we go forward please understand that this is not about Mr. Tartaro whom I know and appreciate. It's about democracy and the will of the people to have their own voice. Some of you have Facebookitis and will read what you want to read and not what was written so I had to make this clear.]

Mr. Tartaro lost his seat as a town councilman last November in a landslide no one expected, one so large it still boggles the mind of town residents. But even that status isn't enough for the ruling junta to consider that town residents ought to have the ability to select their own representatives. Instead, the County Legislature has made it clear they don't trust the voters to speak with a "proper" voice and so has rewarded a man - who was overwhelmingly rejected by his own constituents - with a seat on their august body. This was their plan since the day last summer Mr. Othmer declined to seek re-election - in plenty of time for an election to be held for his vacated seat.

As reported in Philipstown.info, we get this beautiful little gem of Putnam County government:

"[Denis] Sant next brought up the District 3 vacancy. Albano nominated Tartaro to fill it.

"Oliverio requested they “keep the spot open for the [term’s] remainder,” citing numerous pleas from Kent voters “who feel this should be a straight run, candidate against candidate, 10 months from now.” Choosing Tartaro “is a very controversial move and the push-back from the constituency will be great,” he said.

"LoBue also objected. “I’m breaking ranks,” she said. “I just can’t circumvent the will of the people.”

"Albano advocated action. “We’ve been here five or 10 minutes and we’re already in a deadlock. We’re not going to get anything done” without a ninth legislator as a tie-breaker, he said. “I think it is important that we fill this position and move on and get our work done.”

"They then approved Tartaro’s appointment with only LoBue and Oliverio voting “no.”

Did you note Mr Albano's remark, “We’ve been here five or 10 minutes and we’re already in a deadlock." ? I'm sorry that subverting democracy took a little longer than the Legislator (now legislative chair) would like. But sadly, even illicit actions sometimes take a few minutes longer than we'd like them too. If the Chair couldn't stand ten minutes without bellyaching about this his head would have most certainly exploded had he had to wait for a real election!

Already the vultures are circling overhead as John "Ball didn't make me do it" Greene, who decided not to run for re-election to the Kent Town Board, is getting support from political operatives from outside the county(!) for a run for the seat Mr. Tartaro now occupies. From outside the county because, well, just because, I guess.

These guys caucus before Legislative meetings and do the business of the county behind closed doors and at the behest of, well, we don't know anymore. With Unca Vinnie out of the picture it appears the Ballster is at the helm. But why that photo-op grabbing (ab)user of seniors, cops and veterans would want to further dirty his hands with the county political machine no one knows. He's got a cushy job in Albany with some prime committee appointments under his belt and, I suppose just for fun, has decided he'll announce on April 1 if he's going to bring his brand of popular demagoguery to Putnam County in a run for County Executive's against Maryellen Odell, herself a former aide to Senator Leibell.

Who knows what corruption goes on inside that office building we call the County Seat? Who knows what kind of deals are made without the details ever once seeing the light of day? You know, deals like filling a vacancy no one wanted filled other than the Putnam County Republican Party. They'll keep it all a secret and Lord over us as they see fit without regard to propriety, morality or even the slightest hint of democracy.

Hell, it's Putnam County! What else could one expect?

To think that the Legislators who voted "YES" on this had even the slightest bit of guilt or hesitation would, I guess, be too much to have hoped for. That they should be embarrassed and shamed goes without saying but hey! you know these guys... they don't give a flying, well, ya know. All they care about is maintaining their political grip on our county and they'll do it using whatever methods they desire whether they be immoral, unethical or an affront to common sense and the spirit of the Constitution they've been sworn to uphold.

JmG

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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

News That Matters - The Hell is Frozen Over Edition

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Brought to you (Almost Daily) by PlanPutnam.Org

Telling it like it is for 10 years and counting...

G'day mates.

Happy 2014 to those who count using the Gregorian system and congratulations to Maureen Fleming for becoming the new Supervisor for the Town of Kent.

First the weather. Then the hell.

If you live in my hood the NWS is now promising a winter storm for tomorrow afternoon through Friday morning. Six to ten inches of snow are possible and based on the temperatures, (mid 20s dropping through the teens,) thanks to those freaking Canadians, it should be light and fluffy and suck for building snow forts and other manly arts. It's not going to be that windy up here, 15-25 mph, so while there will be some blowing snow it won't be like the mess they're going to get down on Lawn Gyland.

But it's going to get cold.

The forecast low for Carmel right now is -7F on Saturday morning with wind chills to -15F which would break a record for the day. That afternoon, temps should rise to a balmy 16F by evening and into the mid-upper 30s come Sunday afternoon.

On Monday the cold breath of Justin Beiber will return on a puck smacked by Wayne Gretsky so that the high temp on Tuesday, as of this writing, will be 16F and, 7F by Wednesday morning.

Here's the lowdown - and you have to listen to this:

If you have pets that hang outside or live in an unheated garage or crawl space, bring those critters in! If they want to go out on their own, fine, let them. But be ready to let them in when they want in. (Acosta loves when it's below zero out there... don't know why and I've stopped calling him as he comes in when he's ready and that's usually after his second rabbit breakfast.)

Don't buy all the freaking milk and bread in the store! There will be deliveries. This isn't 1814.

Warm your house now. Turn up the heat before it gets cold to warm the walls and floors and all your furniture. Then, as the temps begin to drop, turn your thermostats back down to 65F or lower and your heating system won't have to work as hard. Feel free to set your thermostat at 72F if you're a fan of hydrofracking and Canadian tar sands or you voted for George Bush II.

Take your largest cooler and set it outside, open. Let it snow in there a few inches so that if the power goes out you have a controlled temp space for your perishables. The stuff in your freezer, including that bag of frozen peas you've had in there since you moved in 7 years ago, can just sit out in the snow.

Don't bitch if the snow plows don't get to your street first. Jeez. If you have to go out, don't. Whatever your plans are, Cancel Them. Stay home. Stay off the streets and enjoy the downtime. If my buds in the highway department tell me they got complaints I'm coming to your house and pissing on your lawn. Enjoy the extremes that Mother Nature brings us (or that God hand-delivers if you're one of the one-in-three Americans who don't believe in evolution).

But most important. quit the panicking and chill out. A snowstorm is cool, there's no doubt about that!

Now, The Hell:

This is a copy of my Letter to the Editor concerning an upcoming illicit government appointment as it appeared in last week's Putnam News Times.

Dear Editor:

Within a few days, if it has not already, the Putnam County Legislature will select a legislator to represent the majority of the Town of Kent for the seat held by outgoing Legislator and Chairman Richard Othmer Jr.

It’s not like they didn’t know that Legislator Othmer was stepping down from his office; they knew last summer as did we, and certainly within enough time to have held an election for his seat. But they can’t control the government if the public is allowed to select its own representation, and so they’ll do it for us and tell us that it’s good.

From a political perspective, the handful of people who run this county must assure their control, and so it’s logical that they’d take this action. But from a moral perspective, their actions undermine the very basis of our democracy and they’ll do it with their eyes wide open and a chuckle and back-slaps all around and know that regardless the outcome, they’ll remain in power.

Will the person they select do a good job? Who knows? They haven’t been vetted in an election. They didn’t send out flyers or mailers, they didn’t go door-to-door asking your permission, and we simply do not know who they are. But we do know one thing: Whoever is selected will owe their primary allegiance to the political machine that selected them – and not to you. You can be assured that the person selected will be of the local political class and unlikely to speak to power in your favor.

It’s entirely possible this will all turn out just fine for you and me…but don’t you think we should have had the choice? Don’t you think that with the several months between Othmer’s notice of intention and the last election there could have been an election to replace him? In a right world there would have been; but in Putnam County the powers-that-be would never give it a thought.

If you feel as I do that the actions of the County Legislature are an affront to democracy, why not contact them and say so. It probably won’t change anything, but at least they’ll know they’ve been outed and are not taking this action in a vacuum – that you’ll be watching and listening and your trust level in their ability to govern effectively has been further undermined by their own actions. You can reach them at:

40 Gleneida Ave., Carmel, New York 10512;
845-808-1020; (fax)
845-808-1933; or
putcoleg@putnamcountyny.gov

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Kent Cliffs, NY 10512
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