Even More Wonderful
In the three months I have been talking with Woodstock residents as a candidate for Woodstock Town Board, I have met lots of interesting and interested people and enjoyed discussing ways we can make Woodstock an even more wonderful place to live. Some of the critical concerns I’ve heard are: lack of openness of the Town Board meetings, lack of respect of town volunteers, dangerous roadways for bicyclists and pedestrians, careless waste of taxpayer funds and insufficient recreational and employment options for youth and young adults in the community.
I am very impressed by our current Town Councilor, Ken Panza. Ken has been very good at keeping me, and other concerned residents, informed of the details of the week to week decision-making of the Town Board. He has done this through concerted research on many town issues, weekly letters to the editor, regular informative e-mails and openness to sitting down and talking with interested residents. If elected to the Town Council, I will work to do the same.
Unfortunately, Ken Panza cannot be as effective as possible when the rest of the Town Board all too often votes against the best interest of Woodstock. Woodstock deserves more frugal and careful financial policies and more openness to public participation.
Woodstock also needs fresh ideas and a Town Board that will respect townspeople’s concerns. Please vote for the Fresh Perspective line on the ballot: Gary Kutcher for Town Council and Lorin Rose for Town Supervisor. With current Woodstock Councilman, Ken Panza, and the skilled and concerned people of Woodstock, we can help create a bright future for Woodstock!
Gary Kutcher
Woodstock
Maurice For Don
I am glad to provide my continuing support for Don Gregorius as Ulster County Legislator for Woodstock and West Hurley. His record on environmental issues is exemplary and consistent. He also has shown an ability to understand important and complex issues, then vote in the best interests of the people. Don has the values, experience and dedication. I’m for reelecting him to the Ulster County Legislature. Please vote for Don on November 5.
Maurice D. Hinchey
Saugerties
Saugerties Clergy Oppose Gambling
We, Clergy of Saugerties area churches oppose passage of Proposition 1 on the Statewide ballot this November 5. We believe that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is morally bankrupt and undermines the spiritual concept of offering one’s labor in service to the community and for the purpose of earning money to support families and contribute to the care of the needy. When a single individual realizes winnings from gambling, those winnings come through the impoverishment of the many, those who have lost everything.
Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature tell us that passage of Proposition One will result in the creation of jobs. We believe that New York State needs job creation, but not jobs from the gambling industry. Workers who earn a living in an environment that promotes human greed while destroying the lives of those who become addicted to gambling end up working without dignity. New York needs to create jobs that will build up our communities rather than destroy them.
Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature tell us that passage of Proposition 1 will help raise revenue for education. The people of New York have no reason to believe this will occur. When the State lottery was instituted over 25 years ago the same promise was made. Yet money for other purposes was siphoned off, leaving education without adequate funding.
Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature believe that passage of Proposition 1 will benefit the environment, in spite of the fact that casinos use enormous amounts of electricity for their signs, attractions, and parlors, and those who travel to casinos in cars or buses (some hundreds of miles) burn gasoline that adds pollutants to the air from trips they would not otherwise make.
Proposition 1 is a scheme perpetrated on the people of New York to raise state revenue without politicians having to demonstrate fiscal responsibility through the State budget or raise taxes, thereby jeopardizing their chances for re-election (the primary concern of every politician.)
Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature are hoping that New Yorkers will not look critically and honestly at the proposal. They are hoping that New Yorkers will blindly follow where their leaders wish them to go. They are hoping to reap the additional income before New Yorkers wake up and realize the incredible damage casinos will cause to our towns and villages.
The Rev. Michael Phillips, Trinity Episcopal Church; The Rev. Robert L. Vanderlaan, Plattekill Reformed Church, Mt. Marion; Deacon Karl Pietkiewicz, St. Mary of the Snow Roman Catholic Church; Deacon Arnie Hyland, St. Mary of the Snow Roman Catholic Church; Deacon Franklin Chin, Atonement Lutheran Church; The Rev. Dr. Duane Buttle, Saugerties United Methodist Church; The Rev. Edward Schreiber, Atonement Lutheran Church; The Rev. Paul Walley, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, West Camp
Furry Thanks To Lorin
From his friends, furry and otherwise, at the Woodstock Dog Park, this is a big fat thank-you love letter to Lorin Rose.
Over the past several years, post and pre-hurricanes, Lorin has helped and directed us with his know-how, his patient strength, and a tractor that’s more like a large Swiss army knife.
He has managed to galvanize our shaggy crew into making repairs, one disaster after another, doing stone work, chip moving, salvaging and stretching destroyed poles and fencing, all the while telling funnier stories about our town than any of the old-timers.
Visiting other such parks, I’m struck with what a small miracle, what a unique opportunity we have with our Woodstock Dog Park.
But we’d still be somewhere cleaning up after Sandy, were it not for Lorin Rose.
Thanks from all of your shaggy crew, volunteers, and
John Sebastian & Shuggie
Woodstock
Lorin Respects People
The recent “Meet the Candidates” event at the Lake Hill Firehouse made absolutely clear the choice that Woodstockers have in the upcoming election: we can choose more of the testy “we know best and we don’t have to explain ourselves” attitude which was demonstrated by Jeremy and his clique, or we can elect Lorin Rose and give our town a supervisor and board based on openness, common sense and a genuine desire to listen to other points of view and ideas. I was certainly disappointed by the snarky defensiveness and irritation with which the current supervisor and board members responded to many questions from the audience. Is this really the best we can do? Lorin has all the qualifications which anyone could need as supervisor — he has run successful businesses in Woodstock for many years, he has creative ideas and the ability to think outside the box to find solutions, and most importantly, he is a person who truly respects and appreciates other people’s willingness to work together to solve our problems. I encourage my fellow Democrats (and everyone else!) to vote for Lorin Rose for supervisor — he’s the right choice for Woodstock.
Augusta Ogden
Bearsville
Howard Is The Wise Choice
I have known Howard Harris some 15 years, four of them when I served with him on the Zoning Board of Appeals. All of those years, his principal interest, it seems to me, has been how he could help make Woodstock a better place. He is a smart man who is not interested in rubber-stamping what someone in authority has to say about the current state of affairs. And once he identifies the direction he believes the town should go in, he pursues making that happen. It would be a wise choice to make sure Howard sits on the Town Board. Help do the town a favor.
Bob Wright
Lewes, Delaware
