The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

I write to express my bewilderment with the Lumberland Planning Board. On Tuesday, November 13, despite vigorous opposition from residents, the board failed to second a Motion to Deny an application for a Special Use Permit to operate a commercial kennel on White Road in Glen Spey.

This failure occurred in spite of four out of five of the contiguous neighbors’ objections based on noise, odor and safety concerns. The motion died notwithstanding a resident’s claim that her property was devalued by the presence of the kennel. Recognizing that the proposed use exceeds the specified ratio of livestock units per acre, the board still did not affirm the motion. Furthermore, the board did not act on the motion even though the town counsel verbally advised that no “grandfather” clause applies. The motion died despite a full house of taxpayers clearly voicing opposition to a commercial kennel in their residential neighborhood.

Under the circumstances, I encourage the board to uphold the minimum standard and deny the application.

In her thought-provoking editorial on the propensity of Americans to engorge themselves during the holidays (TRR, Nov. 22-28), editor Laurie Stuart asks rhetorically, “Can we follow up the overindulgence by fueling our economy and going out and beginning the glutinous holiday shopping?”

It may be somewhat different in Narrowsburg, but here in New York (and as far as I am aware, in Highland Lake, too), the gluttonous are rarely the glutinous. Rotund and overstuffed holiday gluttons (whose Thanksgiving repasts, it must be admitted, might have included a glutinoid dish or two—those gooey melted marshmallows atop the gelatinous glop of glutinatory sweet potatoes come quickly to mind) are rarely the glutinous players in the post-gluttonous holiday shopping frenzy. That role belongs, nearly exclusively I should think, to the lean, the hungry, the sticky-fingered, who prowl the length of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and similar thoroughfares, indulging their pick-pocketing penchant for felonious grabbing with glutinant grip. And perhaps most importantly, glutinosity, unlike gluttony, is merely a disagreeable—not deadly—sin.

Last week I was involved in an auto accident which, though an unpleasant experience, did much to remind me of the genuine caring and professionalism of many tri-state residents. I would like to say thanks to my Milford neighbors who came rushing out of their homes to call 911, secure my car and give aid. The three EMT who responded were very competent and kind. Sergeant John W. Troyan of the Milford Borough police was quick to arrive and very helpful in preparing the paperwork and advising me on procedures. The Emergency Room at Bon Scours Hospital was efficient and caring. Dr. Stefan Cavalier was outstanding, as well as the on-duty MD and nursing staff. And to Ed and Eva Brylawski, who demonstrated true friendship, my heartfelt thanks.

I was recently shocked and very concerned to learn that guidance counselor Regina Wagner had submitted her letter of resignation, in addition to Assistant Superintendent David Rowley’s spoken intent to leave the Sullivan West School District. My children have been students in the Jeff-Youngsville school for over seven years. I currently have two sons in the high school. I speak from personal experience when I say you will not find two more devoted professionals in our school district. These two people have worked very hard for the success of the merger and for our children. I know them to be fair and honest and to place the needs of our children above everything else.

The recent division among the school board in the appointment of a principal for the yet-to-be-built high school is very upsetting to say the least. Michael Johndrow and David Rowley made their recommendation based on their experience and daily personal knowledge of the candidates in question. They have the training and expertise to do this—that is what they were hired to do.

It is very disturbing to think that five out of the nine board members voted against the educated recommendation of our administration. Add to this the knowledge that two of our finest professionals are ready to resign over this issue and you’ve got to know something is very wrong here.

I attended a recent board meeting and was shocked to hear a parent express her fear that we might have some “stranger” coming into our district to be the new high school principal. It sounded to me like the fear of a stranger in a car picking up a child on the street. Ridiculous.

We must remember the primary mission of our school—to educate our children in the best venue available and to prepare them for success in this world. Sometimes we mistake the comfort of a familiar face for quality in a small town setting. Well, we are no longer a small town, but a history-making merged district with tremendous potential—let us not blow this great opportunity because of political loyalties or personal agendas. Our children should be our only priority here.

I would ask the board and the community to seriously consider the recommendation of Michael Johndrow and David Rowley. This is a vote for unity and for success in our now merged school district.

On behalf of Interfaith Outreach United (IOU), I would like to thank all those in our community who supported this year’s Thanksgiving Food Basket program. At a time when many food pantries have found it hard to offer special Thanksgiving meals, the abundance of local generosity is especially appreciated.

Both individuals and local churches contributed to the bounty. Because of their gifts, we were able to provide each of nearly 80 low income families with a turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, vegetables and dessert.

May the blessings of this holiday season be felt by all those who give and all those who receive.

To many Americans, the right to vote is sacred, yet the system that counts their ballots seems to have fallen into disarray and dysfunction. Although it is impossible to have perfect elections, confidence in election outcomes is essential. Voters need to trust the voting franchise will be made available to them, and that their vote will be cast and counted, unimpeded or undiluted, in an environment of impeccable transparency and fairness. Mamakating has just received a shocking “wake up” call on the vulnerability of elections to arbitrariness, irregularities, equipment malfunctions, voter disenfranchisement and possibly even fraud.

Ten voting machines out of 10 in Mamakating went down at the same time. The “machine malfunction” was due to the fact that one of the machine’s installers did not prepare it correctly for use. In this gentleman’s defense, if the inspectors hired to work the polls inspected the machines properly the night before, they would have been aware of the malfunction. Voting machines were out of order for three to four hours. Hundreds of votes were potentially lost because voters did not want to hand over paper ballots to representatives that did not have envelopes to secure them in or a lock box to keep them in. A candidate running for office was actively involved in the running of the election.

Our voting system is in trouble. How can we trust any of the ballots at this point?