Introducing Bohs for school board

To the editor:

My name is Linda Bohs and I am running for the Eldred Central School District (ECS) Board of Education. My ancestors came to this town in covered wagons in the early 1800s, as one of the earliest families to settle in Eldred, so I have quite an invested interest in our community.

I am a graduate of ECS, and one year later became an employee. After 36 years, I retired last August as executive assistant to the superintendent and district clerk. So, as you can see, I have spent many evenings sitting at the board table. After working with superintendents and school board members for all these years, I bring knowledge and experience of past administrations and school boards.

The kids of ECS are my passion. Its kids and staff have always been a tremendous and heartfelt part of my life. My husband, Norman, and I have two daughters who also attended ECS.

I am also a United Methodist pastor and am currently in my ninth year as pastor of the Eldred United Methodist Church, my home church, which also brings me into contact with children.

I believe I can make a positive contribution to the district in serving as your new board member, and I respectfully ask for your support on May 20. I will not let you down.

More is better

To the editor:

In the upcoming Sullivan West School District vote, I understand the school board wants to cut down the board to seven people.

When the merger first happened, a school board was set up with nine people. The idea was that you could have people representing each area of this school district. I don’t understand why the board wants to cut it down to seven people at this time.

The school district has not changed; having nine people on a school board would help with the majority of problems and considerations a school board has to deal with. Having nine people on the school board would bring varying points of views, and also help lighten the load of the many projects the school board reviews. Hopefully, school board members would be coming from all the towns in this large school district. Each school board member has the responsibility of helping the children, the school and the communities these children come from.

The contentiousness and dissatisfaction of so many people who feel they and the needs of their children were not served fairly might be lessened if it was thought that their children’s needs were represented by a good cross section of our school district.

We need those two school board seats—and members

To the editor:

I urge every voter in the Sullivan West School District river corridor to vote “no” to the proposal to reduce the number of school board members by two. This is a blatant attempt by certain members to take away our voice.

The two seats that would be lost to attrition belong to Mr. Sensiba and Mr. Van Swol. They are the only two members of the board who truly represent our communities. Mr. Van Swol has been an outspoken advocate for us. This is the democratic way. There are certain board members who are opposed to any dissent. This is not the democratic way. Mr. Sensiba has been a diligent watchdog of the taxpayers’ money. His vast knowledge of accounting procedures has been instrumental in keeping a lid on unnecessary spending. We need these two seats and we need these two representatives. Please protect your interests and make it to the polls.

You may also wish to call the attorney general’s office and request that they insure that this vote is done in compliance with the elections laws of the state of New York. There have been suggestions that this has not always been the case in our area.

Use buses more efficiently

To the editor:

For years, it’s been obvious that the members of the boards of education are not spending their money the way they spend the taxpayers’ money. One the best examples: the number of school buses that travel with only a few of the seats being used. With the cost of fuel today, it should be mandated that school districts review their bus routes and consolidate their runs so buses are being used to a greater capacity. Just take a look as a taxpayer, and you will see what is going on with the half-empty buses and the taxpayers’ money.

Job Corps needed now more than ever

To the editor:

For years, Delaware Valley Job Corps Center has been at the forefront of combating the dropout epidemic in our community and across the nation. Sadly, our forward progress may come to a screeching halt. The funding setbacks Job Corps has endured over the last few years have placed our centers in a precarious situation. Starting on July 1, Job Corps’ basic center operations budget will face a $127 million shortfall. This will equate to a loss of programs, teachers, student services and, quite possibly, center closings.

At a time when nearly 100,000 New York dropouts are left behind by our education system at a cost of over $23 billion to our state economy, we cannot afford to neglect these young adults. The urgency of maintaining Job Corps’ capacity is made greater by an economic downturn that will disproportionately depress the opportunities available to these youth. As we prepare for this economic downturn, we have a responsibility to care for those who are most vulnerable.

As Congress considers a new economic stimulus package to help shore up our community, we implore it to include additional funding for the Delaware Valley Job Corps Center. The Delaware Valley Job Corps Center has strengthened our community’s ability to positively impact the lives of thousands of out-of-school youth, and we hope to see that investment protected.

Not everything, but plenty

To the editor:

I have a question regarding Richard Ardisson’s letter to the editor that ran in the May 8 issue: if “many of the people in the Narrowsburg area are transplants or locals,” what are the rest of the people?

Next: fear not Richard, you will always have Fox News and AM talk radio to play with, and we’ll still save the planet for you anyway. You are correct that not everything can be blamed on the President, but clearly there are a lot of tails that can be pinned on that donkey.

Mark Garrahan (left wing enviro-nut)