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.

Over the past month, people in and around Honesdale have been discussing the Honesdale Borough Council decision to ‘investigate’ the possibilities of implementing a one percent earned income tax on residents and those who are employed within the borough.

Many people have asked why they were never told that the financial situation was this critical and where all the money is going. This is a subject that will be debated for years to come, but let’s take a look at the operations of the Borough of Honesdale.

The borough currently has its own public works, police and sewer department with treatment facility. It has an administration staff. It maintains the Fair Avenue Sports Complex and many different parks. It supports the Honesdale Volunteer Fire Departments and the Honesdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps with workers compensation insurance.

Any community across our nation would be proud to have all of these services if they could afford to keep them in place. Unfortunately, Honesdale can no longer afford these services without reexamining and planning new methods for operating the borough.

Just recently I learned that over $11,000 worth of disbursements authorized at the November council meeting could not be paid, that the Tax Anticipation Note for Fiscal Year 2001 still had a $75,000 balance due at year end, and that a $7 charge on the borough CVS card was rejected!

Though the council waited until after the election to propose the earned income assessment, it was clear to me that, as in the past, “backroom” meetings were taking place with what I refer to as the “Executive Committee” on how they were going to pull off this stunt.

It is time for the citizens who work in, or call Honesdale their home, to finally speak up and demand change from this council. I suggest the following course of action:

First, hire a borough consultant and examine every single account, minute book and all other information to obtain a honest assessment of where the borough stands. Second, work towards a comprehensive plan, with short and long term goals formulated by the Planning Commission. Third, hire a borough manager to stop the micromanagement by part-time and partially informed officials. Fourth, address as part of the plans, law enforcement, parks and recreation, sewer, tax-exempt properties and organizations, public works, code enforcement, regionalization and intergovernmental cooperation, improving budgets and forecasts and finally how to increase revenues to implement a strategy.

If the borough council were to start this process, and use 2002 to educate and change the obsolete way it conducts business, it will have a much better chance speaking to the public about the need to either cut services or seek additional revenues to operate the borough efficiently.

These ideas are nothing new to the borough council. In May, all members were given a plan titled “A Regional Leader for Tomorrow: Honesdale Pennsylvania.” Not a single member of the council, except one, ever mentioned a word about it. I bet now the council wished it had.

Rev. Pinto makes reference to many issues relating to gambling without attributing them to anyone (“...recent estimates... 47 percent of all those who gamble are at risk to be hooked; loss of local businesses...range from 1/3 to 70 percent”). Who is disseminating those figures other than Rev. Pinto? What businesses are at risk because of the competition from casinos? He then goes on to cloak his cause in the constitution by inferring that the citizens who voted for the Governor and the Legislature didn’t have their say in the process. And finally, what do Rev. Pinto’s numbers regarding crime statistics mean? He says that the crime rate in counties, with casinos have an eight-percent higher crime rate than non-casino counties and are 84-percent higher than the national average. Doesn’t anyone else want to know what that means?

Do non-casino counties have a 76-percent higher crime rate than the national average? Can anyone explain what the Reverend meant?

The bottom line has always been: Let me decide, like everyone else, whether I want to gamble? I even like to go to church gambling... the bingo game. Does Rev. Pinto know the statistics on how many bingo players end up in gambling rehab? Have faith, Reverand, that people can be trusted to do what is right for themselves, and if it includes gambling so be it.

Re: Schumer Backs Tribes Proposal by S. Israel, The Times Herald Record, December 13, 2001

It is not a good idea to try to correct one injustice by committing another. Attempting to correct the wrongs that may have been done to Indians hundreds of years ago by what many responsibly believe are unconstitutional means isn’t going to work. Nor should it. Even with the backing of Senator Schumer, who should know better but who, misguidedly, can’t seem to resist trying to hustle a few votes.

It is not an insignificant group of marginal zealots who feel this way, as Mr. Israel would have you believe with his slanted reporting, but the same large, responsible and well-supported group that rapped Governor Pataki’s knuckles the last time he attempted to flout the constitution and behave as though he were an emperor.

On behalf of the Sullivan West Board of Education and Administration, I would like to extend a note of thanks to the EMT’s, State Police, Jeffersonville Fire Department and Gaebel Bus Company for their prompt and professional response with regard to a bus accident that occurred on Wednesday, December 5, 2001. Fortunately; the accident was a minor one and there were no injuries.

Our district is most fortunate to have these people available to assist us in a crisis. Specifically to those individuals who were at the scene, please know that we are profoundly grateful.

How dare Democratic committee chair George DeSio refer to newly appointed District 4 Legislator Joann MacKinnon as a “vicious” person! I have had the pleasure of knowing Joann for over 25 years and I can attest to the fact that she does not have a vicious bone in her body. She is a lovely, caring individual who goes out of her way to assist those around her. To accuse her of being anything less than of the utmost character is appalling and inexcusable.

The MacKinnons have self-sacrificingly worked above and beyond the call of duty for their community and their party. The Mamakating Democratic Club members support her wholeheartedly and proudly. You would think that the Democratic committee would respect and represent these views. Where do these Committee members’ interests lie, because they are certainly not representing ours.

Thanks for the many emails from those of you who tried to watch the live webcast from Nashville. Many of you asked “What happened? Why was the webcast canceled?” Well, I found out (after the show) that the webcast never happened as planned.

Although they have webcast many shows before, technical problems made it impossible for Live On The Net to pick up Gary’s December 13 Christmas Special from The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.

It seems that The Bluebird phone line (which Live On The Net hooks into) was already in use by the local radio station that was taping the show. The Live On The Net people tried to call everyone they could to resolve the problem, but the phones were turned off at the Bluebird during the show and we weren’t home to receive the call they made to us. So, they had to cancel the webcast.

I’m really sorry you all missed it, we had a great time... Gary did a super job singing all the songs (and a few more) from his new Christmas album. Holly Tashian sang the duet with Gary as she does on the album... it was great to see them do it live! Gary told a few jokes, he had them smiling, laughing, and singing along.

If you want to still hear some of the album, you can go to CDBaby Link to Gary’s page (or www.cdbaby.com/garynichols2) where you will find links for soundbites of four of Gary’s songs. As a matter of fact, you can also click on links to hear four songs from Gary’s previous album as well. And if you want to buy the either album, you can do it from that site.

We’ll let you know if another webcast comes up, and this time we’ll be a little smarter and make sure all the phone lines are available.