As political scientist Robert Putnam, author of the turn-of-the-21st-century classic Bowling Alone, America’s Declining Social Capital, expressed it, “If we can get more people engaged in community life in contexts that respect American pluralism, many of our other problems —to begin with, our politics — will be different.” Walter Maxwell lived that belief. Walter got it. Walter lives.
Damned media! Ulster County Executive Mike Hein served up an estimated 4,000 words on dozens of subjects at his ninth annual state of the county address last week in New Paltz. What did most of the media pick up? Only a passing gotcha, complete with fuzzy Muppets graphics of two tired old bad apples who had the gall to question several executive initiatives over the past few years.
One of the ways to do so has been somehow to create one’s own job. Though that’s a tough road, thousands of people have tried to do it, combining their creative skills, business acumen, imagination and not a little tenacity.
In 2015, Bill de Blasio’s Campaign for New York, since disbanded, was called to task for funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars through upstate Democratic committees in a failed attempt to elect a Democratic state senate. One of those county committees, to the tune of some $350,000, was Ulster County. Some locals dared call the activity money-laundering, charges denied by county Chairman Frank Cardinale, who said his committee acted entirely within the law.
In the past two years, Start-Up New York has fallen woefully short of expectations, while the other state programs picking the economic-development winners have had a mixed record. Meanwhile, the modest UVANY network, which has scored its successes and failures without direct governmental funding, continues to enlarge its constituency.
He said he’d give some consideration to my deadline and he wanted to make it to 2017 so he’d have the distinction of being the town’s longest serving supervisor. When he died on New Year’s Day, he successfully completed both goals.
A letter from the late town supervisor to the community he loved.
Letters from the community remembering the late Woodstock town supervisor.
If, as seems likely, Woodstock becomes known as a writer’s town, wannabe content providers will struggle harder to stay afloat as writers always have, but only the most successful scribblers will move into the spaces left by the artists. The rest may inhabit a new Bohemia, like the Maverick. Woodstock is becoming older, wealthier, and wordier.
We have begun a series of columns about the newly renovated trail leading up to Kaaterskill Falls. We want you to go and see what has been done there; it’s a wonder.