Part-time residents have a right to vote

To the editor:

I am one of the new registered voters in the Town of Bethel, and was appalled by your editorial of October 8 titled “A house is not a home.”

You write, “we think it is dangerous and unfair to enable the first group to vote.” What a shameful un-American statement. It is obvious that you did not review the election laws. It is clear that the law requires a 30-day residency to be eligible to vote. Isn’t it clear that part-time residents have a right to vote?

There are thousands if not millions of Americans who vote at their summer/winter places of residence, and have been doing so for years. All is fine until the hated Hasidim dare to exercise their right to vote in Bethel.

The fact is that I pay property taxes, phone bills and electric charges, all year round. We pay school taxes for a school that we don’t use. That is all fine until we dare register to vote.

Don’t you find it unfair that the part-time residents have to pay for services that we don’t use?

You also accuse us of attempting to strong-arm the local politics. Please note, Hasidim have been coming to Bethel for dozens of years, and have never gotten involved in the local politics, as we want to come in peace, stay in peace and then leave in peace. But the recent actions by some local elected officials gave us no choice but to get involved.

Shame on you in trying to deny us the cherished American right to vote. You wouldn’t dare do it to any other group of people.

Stone wall memories

To the editor:

Kristin Barron’s article “Hill & Dale” for Upper Delaware Magazine brought memories back to me. In about early 1948, I worked on a farm. The people were Swiss and it was also a boarding house. Anyway, for farmhands they always had a round of Swiss cheese on the table at every meal. I don’t remember exactly where the farm was but it was in Sullivan County, and I remember I went into the Marine Corps in August of that year to be deployed in the Korean War, etc.

In the spring of that year, before we planted, we went into the fields and dragged a “stone boat,” a wooden sled, to pull the rocks that were turned to the surface, which we took to one side and placed on the stone wall that was always being built from year to year. One of the points that I want to make is that the stone walls were built only because the stones had to be removed before planting. I enjoyed the article.

A lack of safety culture

To the editor:

There is a lack of a safety culture on the river and it is clear that the first party at fault is the National Park Service (NPS). NPS has regulatory authority on the river, and has not taken its responsibility seriously in regard to mandatory life jackets—at all times, not just when the gages register a certain height.

But the fault is not only with the NPS.

If you are on the river, as I am nearly every weekend, and you sit for a couple of hours at a particular point such as Stairway Rapids, you can quickly determine which livery has boats coming well before you can see the name of the livery on the side of the craft. To determine which livery is coming through, all you need do is to count how many customers in any given boat are wearing life jackets. You can determine this because the number of customers wearing life jackets in any given boat is a direct result of the livery rental policies.

So there is a second group also at fault, consisting of the liveries.

Putting an end to river drownings is simple: 1) NPS needs to make mandatory the wearing of properly fitted life jackets on the river at all times. 2) NPS must fine people who are not in compliance. At present, NPS gives fines for fishing without a license; but not wearing a jacket is actually more important than illegal fishing. 3) When a person who is a livery customer receives a fine, the livery should also be fined.

Some livery owners would very quickly change from their present lackluster behavior. Money makes a difference.

These three simple changes will drastically reduce the number of river drownings. This we do know for certain: there are 56 lives that could have been saved with a better culture of safety on the river.

Walter South

Election letters

Craig Fine the most qualified

To the editor:

I have met and spoken to each of the candidates for the position of Cochecton town justice. The question of who should get my vote revolves around who is the best qualified for the position. Based on qualifications, Craig S. Fine is my selection.

Not only is he a most qualified husband, father and neighbor, as well as a volunteer fireman, but he is a well respected lawyer. Fine became a member of the New York State Bar in 1990 after graduating from Gonzaga University of Law. He has practiced law in Sullivan County since 1991. Craig’s legal experience, fairness and sense of community make him the right choice for Cochecton town justice.

The library is a community affair

To the editor:

It is truly sad to watch our community be torn apart by the issue of taxes for the Pike County Public Library. The library is a place to collaborate—to learn and grow together, to foster ideas together.

The referendum for the dedicated library tax is not about the design of a new building in Milford. It is not about ego or elitism of the library board.

The referendum is about bigger things. It is about building a strong community. It is about educating the future. It is about the volunteers and library staff who serve everyone in our community. It is about sustaining library resources and services for everyone in Pike County.

A vote “yes” does not mean you approve of the people on the library board or that you approve of the new building’s design. A vote “yes” means you support lifelong learning among all Pike County residents and that you support our strong community working together.

If you oppose the board or the design of the library, please do get involved. Attend meetings. Get someone on the library board who shares your views.

Don’t just vote “no.” Voting “no” will only express your opposition to libraries and the good things they do for our community. It will simply slash library funding that is already dwindling, hurt our libraries and hurt our community.

Please, let’s work together from both sides and get back to the mission of the library: “To grow and connect with our community by providing exceptional programs, services and resources to enrich the lives of all Pike County residents.”

On November 3, please vote “yes” to the library referendum so that our libraries can stay open to continue enriching our community and everyone who is a part of it.

PCPL’s plans for Lehman branch are of long standing

To the editor:

In a letter recently published in a local newspaper, the Lehman Township Supervisors claim to “know” that the Pike County Public Library (PCPL) has “no intention” of building a Lehman branch. Since 2007, we have publicly shown a Lehman branch in our plan for countywide expansion, and it has been part of PCPL’s strategic plan for far longer. A successful November 3 referendum for a dedicated library tax will make this plan a reality.

In the same letter, the Lehman supervisors claim that there was an offer of free land from a local property owner. This is just not true. The supervisors are referring to land owned by a trust, with three trustees. The PCPL has had discussions over the years with one of the trustees—a fact that simply underscores our commitment to a Lehman branch. That trustee has indicated his personal support for a library somewhere on the parcel, if details could be worked out that all trustees approve. But the three trustees have never offered the library any space for a new branch as a gift or even for purchase.

The PCPL continues to hold active discussions concerning this and other possible Lehman branch locations, although the PCPL has had no response to its written request to the Lehman supervisors for their assistance with site selection.

Taxes provide the basis of a civilized society

To the editor:

My wife and I have no children, yet I gladly pay my school tax each year to ensure that all members of our community can benefit from free public education.

I also pay the other taxes that provide the elements of civilized society (police, fire and governance) whether or not I use those services regularly. I know my taxes also cover paving and plowing of many roads in the county over which I will likely never travel. The benefits are that all of these things are available to everyone in our community, and it makes our community attractive to newcomers.

Likewise, I will support the library tax on the November ballot, so that it may continue to provide free access to knowledge for all the citizens of our county, whether they choose to avail themselves of it or not.

The presence of an accessible modern library structure, with multiple branches throughout the county, enhances our property values and allows each of us the opportunity to benefit from another component of civilized society—uncensored, unfettered knowledge.

Taxation without representation?

To the editor:

English is a beautiful language full of expressions we Americans love to use. “Taxation without representation” was the beloved lament of the handful voicing opposition to the library at the October 21 commissioners’ meeting; yet before the histrionics the commissioners dealt with the business of running Pike County, approving tens of thousands of dollars in expenditures of our tax dollars.

There are many in Pike County, including apparently two library board directors, who pay thousands of dollars in taxes to Pike County who have no vote here. Taxation without representation? Funny how our governments will allow us to pay taxes in as many places as they can get us. It is also funny how those crying “taxation without representation” will allow the money of those who have no vote, and thus “don’t live here,” to be spent on their behalf. I move, as they are not allowed to vote in Pike County, that we refuse to accept their tax money. Do I hear a second, Colby Dunn?

The reasons we choose to vote where we do can be personal. It may be because of employment or even availability of health insurance. Paying taxes and not being allowed to vote is taxation without representation whether or not you support the library referendum.

If, as some contend, two library directors “don’t live here,” then they are to be commended all the more. They will not be allowed to vote “yes” for the referendum for which they have worked literally hundreds of hours. But if it passes, they will have to pay their one mil dedicated library tax nonetheless. Instead of vilifying them, we should thank them profusely for their efforts to bring a modern, vibrant library system to the people of Pike County, where it seems “no good deed goes unpunished.”