July, 2010
Letter to Editor by Richard France
Submitted by kfwadmin on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 9:49am
EDITORIAL
“PUTNAM COUNTY COURIER”
Robert Bondi – a reformer ? In the words of the great Aretha Franklin, “Who’s zoomin’ who ?”
After all of his years as our County Executive, Mr. Bondi is finally getting around to asking his constituents if they “need or want 120 separate taxing districts in their future,” or 9 superintendents of school, or countless other obscenely wasteful policies. “Sacred cows are no more !” he declares so very self-righteously.
Mr. Bondi was County Executive when I moved to Putnam over a dozen years ago. The waste that he is suddenly decrying was plainly evident at that time, and has become increasingly so ever since. Why, then, is he only now addressing it ? Are slogans such as “Politics be damned !” his way of launching a campaign for – God forbid ! – another four ruinous years in office ? “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” By re-packaging himself as a reformer, is Mr. Bondi seeking to fool us yet again ? If so, then he is clearly a believer in P. T. Barnum’s maxim: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
There’s a “serious demeanor” among our elected officials. Is Mr. Bondi implying that, prior to the recent economic crisis, the ever-increasing waste of our tax dollars that he now wants to curtail with all the changes he is suddenly (and suspiciously) proposing was acceptable to him – and, by extension, to our representatives in Albany ?
Those 9 school superintendents whom he seems to have just become aware of cost us approximately $1,000,000 each per year (when you factor in their staffs, offices, vehicles, and so on and so forth). By finally acting responsibly and dividing the county into two districts – Putnam East and Putnam West – 7 of these fiefdoms could – and, indeed, should – be eliminated. That alone would result in an annual savings to our overly-burdened tax-payers of at least $6,000,000.
The Board of Education for the City of New York has identified some 525 teachers who are so egregiously incompetent and/or corrupt that they have been removed from their classrooms. But because of the stranglehold of tenure and the teachers’ union, these people continue to receive their salaries and benefits for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And thanks to the cowardice of their elected officials, who refuse to stand up to the teachers’ union, the tax-payers of New York City shell out nearly $50,000,000 per year just to keep these people in their rubber rooms.
In addition to the $6,000,000 savings by eliminating these excess superintendents, how many more millions of our tax dollars are being squandered on incompetent and/or corrupt teachers and staff members here in Putnam County ?
Mr. Bondi and his opportunistic but do-nothing side-kick, Gregory Ball, want to know “what the grassroots level is thinking.” To Mr. Bondi, I answer: “Get thee gone !” You only come down to Putnam from your farm up-state a (very) few days each week as it is, and only then to sign papers – which is all the authority you have left. We, the people who have been saddled with your bloated salary (plus perks, plus pension, plus, plus, plus) and reckless policies deserve a damned sight more responsible County Executive than we’ve had in you.
And to Senator Leibell, for whom I voted, and Assemblyman Ball, whose demagogic tactics sicken me, I issue a challenge: Turn Mr. Bondi’s (stated) goal of “a new system of governance” into a reality. Stand up to the special interest groups by eliminating the staggering waste of our tax dollars: consolidate those 120 taxing districts into an efficient and manageable number; eliminate those 7 needless superintendents of school; introduce legislation in Albany that holds every teacher and administrator responsible for their behavior for the duration of their careers; and make the many other “wholesale changes” that Mr. Bondi insists are “staring us straight in the face” – by which I assume he includes the two of you as well as those of us whose votes are responsible for the offices that you currently hold, and may seek to hold in the future.
No more excuses. No more passing the buck. We elected you to defend our interests, not to use as gullible stepping-stones that further your personal ambitions.
Finally, to the Tea Party, I say: Focus your new-found political muscle on holding Albany’s feet to the fire until the people we send there either stand with their constituents (instead of the special interest groups who’ve been lining their pockets) – or stand down as our elected officials.
Dr. Richard France
Lake Carmel
Letter to the Editor
Submitted by joyce.mitchell1 on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 9:47am
Dear Editor,
I am a subscriber and regular reader, a resident of the Town of Kent,and a founding member of Kent Fiscal Watch.
I read with interest and sad amusement Ms. Panny's article in the July 15th edition about the Kent Town Board in which she quotes Supervisor Doherty lamenting the lack of public attendance at the workshops and meetings. It is precisely due to Ms. Doherty's policies that the meetings are no longer attended.
(1) She has effectively removed the ability of public participation with her own rules that delay public comments on agenda items until they have no impact on the Board members (purportedly there to represent us) and comment is strictly limited to agenda items.
(2) Citizens are not permitted to establish agenda items.
(3) The meetings are scripted in advance, meaning that the method of developing the script (prior agreement) is in violation of the Open Meetings Law of NY State.
(4) The meetings are conducted in legalese rather than spoken English...the Town Attorney and other highly compensated individuals are always present to answer any questions that may arise on the rare occasions of the workshops.
(5) The workshops are supposed to be the crucible for regulations that follow in the meetings...in other words, where mattters are developed for a final vote. Ms. Doherty has removed the cameras from these workshops so that any public broadcast will be free of disagreement, giving her and her team the appearance of a "professional" demeanor. Apparently the Team Doherty pols don't know that democracy is messy.
(6) Since 2009 or earlier, when a contract was confirmed with Verizon, our town has had the franchised right to a public TV channel for FIOS customers (like Channel 8 on Comcast) for which this Supervisor has refused to take the appropriate actions, leaving FIOS customers without a public access voice and under-informed.
The only remedy to this silencing of dissent would be term limits. This is a discussion we have yet to have, as it will never make it unto the agenda of the Town Board. For those who wish to discuss it, come to a Kent Fiscal Watch meeting (Thursday, July 22nd, 8:00PM at the Lake Carmel Community
Center) or submit your opinions to our website, www.kentfiscalwatch.org
Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Mitchell
