Ulster County Contractors Law

I don't know how many others have had a chance to read the proposed Contractor's Licensing Law which can be found here http://www.ulstercountyny.gov/resolutions/ILL%20No.%2011%20of%202009.pdf.

I took a quick look through it, as there was supposed to be a public hearing for it this week, but I am not seeing it on the calendar so I don't know what the status is at this point.

These are the highlights that I found in my reading.

* FEES: Of course the first question is how much? It looks like the 2 year fee will range from $550 to $1000 per license

* CONTRACTORS LIC. BOARD: This law will create a committee which will set requirements to be a contractor in Ulster County, conduct testing, monitor contractors, etc. This will be a committee of volunteers primarily, most from the field. As near as I can tell they will set the competency requirements

* INSURANCE: To get a license a contractor must prove that they have the proper insurance. (Apparently this info being required for a building permit isn't good enough, and homeowners apparently can't be trusted to ask for proof of insurance first so we need government to step in and babysit).

* Job Creation: Of course no new law could be complete without creating some government jobs. This law doesn't spell out exactly how many, but I believe it was the Kingston Times that reported two new county positions would be created to help administer this. (The employment requirements are probably: must wear white on white suit with a Fedora hat, must carry a violin case, and must have nickname of Jimmy fingers or something of the like)

Those are the main points that I see so far. I really see nothing in this law that can't be covered by a homeowner asking three simple questions 1: I want a written Contract 2: I want references and 3: I want a copy of your liability and if needed Workers Comp policies. All of which any reputable contractor would be more than happy to provide and it would not cost the customer the extra fees associated with this law. Nor do I see any investigating mechanism that can not be accomplished already by the consumer fraud bureau or the Attorney General's Office (with a lot less politics and good ole boys club involved I might add).

Lets face it, if this law applied to my part time business my customers who will probably see no rate increase next year (for the 3rd year running) would instead get their price increased. And me being the nice person that I am would include the name and number of each legislator that voted for this law that increased their price.

If babysitting laws like this are such an awesome idea, how come we don't have a "Politician Licensing Law". It would be great. We could appoint a board that would look into such things as Brazilian mistresses, whether you pay your taxes, illegal nannies, beat your girlfriend with a broken bottle, freezers full of cash, etc, etc, etc before issuing a license. And all politicians could pay a licensing fee, and our board made up of appointees can play games with their livelihood, suspend them at will, start investigations and such. But I don't think that we would ever see that, because it is too easy to go after the little guy and take his money.

The Best Arguement yet to address Global Warming

Now I am getting scared. We need to fix Global Warming Now......lol!!!

'Alien spies live among us' says Bulgarian gov space boffin • The Register

'Alien spies live among us' says Bulgarian gov space boffin
Say we must stop global warming, unnatural insemination

By Lewis Page • Get more from this author
Posted in Space, 26th November 2009 12:32 GMT

A boffin at the Bulgarian national Space Research Institute has stated that not only are aliens living among us, but that they object strongly to "immoral behaviour" by humanity - such as causing global warming. "Unnatural" acts such as use of cosmetics and "artificial insemination" are also frowned upon by the extraterrestrial visitors.

Luchezar Filipov, deputy head of the space institute at the government's Bulgarian Academy of Science, made these startling assertions to Bulgarian media earlier this week.
The Sofia Echo, referencing other local media, quotes the eminent space brainbox as stating that "they [aliens] are here right now, among us" and that the extraterrestrials are "conducting surveillance" and - chillingly - "research" on humanity.
“They are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time. They are not hostile towards us; rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them," said the Bulgarian boffin, according to Sofia news agency novinite.com.

Reportedly Filipov and unnamed colleagues have elicited this information by decrypting messages hidden within crop circles. The crop-circle "pictograms" were said to have been a response to questions posed by the Academy scientists.
Crop-circle comms being unreliable, Filipov apparently feels that future direct contact will come through the medium of "mental power and telepathy". However, some basic themes have apparently been made clear.
"The aliens are very critical of our immoral behaviour and our destruction of the environment," says Filipov, according to the Echo. "They say that global warming is attributed mainly to infrastructural engineering."

Presumably the star-travelling aliens have long ago graduated to advanced energy sources such as nuclear fusion or antimatter, and sneer at our pathetic fossil-fuelled civilisation.
Filipov stated that the alien spies in our midst have other objections to our lifestyle, too.
"They are very skeptical of our use of cosmetics, and artificial insemination because this is unnatural," he reportedly said.

There was no word on the aliens' views on gang-probing of humans abducted as part of their "research" programme.

Have a Good Weekend!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope that everyone takes time tommorrow to give thanks for the good fortunes that you have.

A very special thank you to the soldiers and their families many of whom will not be able to spend the holiday together because of their deployments. Words can not begin to express how grateful my family and I are that you give of yourself to protect us.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Question about the new UC Legislature

Sometime back there was a lot of complaining about the offices where the UC Legislators in the minority party (aka Republicans) were supposed to meet. Many said that it was an old broom closet or something. Three questions......

* Is this still the case?
* And if so, will the new minority party happily move into it without complaint?
* And will the new majority party who felt this situation was inadequate when they occupied the office seek to fix it?

Just wondering........you know me and how much double standards piss me off.

And now for a moment of Zen

For those of you that missed President Obama's press conference in China

Transitions, Pay as you Throw, and the NY Times moves to Florida...Oh my!!

Well it looks like the Town of Ulster Transition is going to be a little rocky. Apparently from the sounds of it outgoing Supervisor Woerner wanted to meet with incoming Supervisor Quigley behind closed doors. Mr Quigley would not have it, probably a good idea seeing as how the voters seem to be a little tired of the things that have taken place behind closed doors over the last couple of years.

Last night the City of Kingston again approached the subject of a "Pay as you Throw" program. While by my calculations a city resident will still probably pay less per month than I pay with a private hauler in the Town of Ulster, it will probably leave some tax payers asking "What do I get for my taxes?". It will be interesting to see the public's reaction. If it was me, I would hire a private hauler just to protest sending my money to the abyss of government.

And here is a great one: New York Times News Service to Cut Jobs - NYTimes.com. It would appear that the NY Times is joining with the likes of Limbaugh and Golisano in getting the hell out of NY. They are eliminating 25 union jobs in NYC and moving them to one of their more tax friendly and non-union Florida newsrooms. This leaves me with one question, since these people have spent so many years promoting this tax utopia here in NY, shouldn't they have to stay here and get raped out of existence with the rest of us? I guess that is why we are the peasants. I wonder if Gov Patterson will hold a news conference to tell us how proud he is that he ran the NY Times out like he did Limbaugh? That's alright I am sure all of us New Yorkers are happy to make up the difference in lost taxes.

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day on Wednesday to all of those that have served our country past and present.

Each year I try to find some little known or forgotten tidbit that helps remind us of the day and this year is no different. Any of us that have lived locally for any amount of time are well aware of Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Robert Dietz. His Medal of Honor citation can be found here: Medal of Honor Recipients - World War II (A-F) he is buried at the Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery in Kingston. However, many do not know that there is another Medal of Honor Recipient buried locally as well, I happened across his grave this Spring. His name is August Kauss and he is buried in the Hurley Cemetery in the old section right along Zanhoek Rd, his grave set apart from the others around him. A picture of his grave is here: Photo of Grave site of MOH Recipient August Kauss. Corporal Kauss received the Medal of Honor for actions in the Civil War his citation can be found here Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients - (A-L).

Thank you again to those that have served in country's military including my brother Patrick who served two tours in Iraq and one tour in Bosnia also my Grandfather Vincent (who passed on many years ago) who served in WWII in the Big Red One (1st Infantry Div.) and received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained (he lost his leg) in battle where he was also taken POW, and to my many friends living and deceased who stood up for country. Our country will never do enough to show you our gratitude for your commitment to protect us in wartime and peacetime. THANK YOU.

I hope that everyone takes at least a moment on Wednesday to remember our country's Veterans in some way.

Below is a song that I came across several years ago written for the Canadian Military but it certainly fits all countries that celebrate November 11th.

Fort Hood Tragedy

Many of us watched in horror yesterday as the shooting at Ft Hood unfolded. My prayers go out to the families of the 12 soldiers and 1 Defense Dept civilian who were senselessly murdered. Please everyone pray for the 30 injured as many reports are saying that not all are out of the woods yet. It greatly angers me to see people that spend their lives serving this country and protecting all of us, attacked in what is supposed to be a place of safety from the dangers that they face in their duties. Below is a link to the San Antonio News which has profiles on the nine of the victims whose names have been released so far.

Profiles of Fort Hood's victims

As far as the person responsible. I refuse to even put his name on this blog. He doesn't deserve one more second of fame which has been given to him by the media. He is a crazy wacko scumbag and the news outlets are giving him exactly what he wanted by plastering his name all over the place. Furthermore the media is insulting both the soldiers in this country that are truly suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as the Muslim Americans in this country by trying to associate this low life with either group. He was nothing more than a piece of crap coward who didn't even have the courage to put the gun to his head and pull the trigger himself, but rather chose to gun down innocent unarmed people probably in the hopes that someone else would take him out for him.

Community Events

Two events going on this week and through the month that are very important to help out our community this holiday season.

First, I was slow on the up-take. Today kicked off the WGHQ Happy Christmas Fund. Their radio-athon is going on at Boice Bros. Milk House until 5pm today (Thursday). Please stop out and give if you are able. In addition the fund is collecting at several points throughout the area for the next several weeks. Here is their website for more info, Kingston Community Radio

Second, This Sunday from 8-11am is the Spring Lake FD Monthly Pancake Breakfast at the Spring Lake Firehouse on Lucas Ave. The proceeds from this month's breakfast will be donated to the Commitment For Kids Toy Drive held at the Bloomington Fire House in December. In addition we are collecting new unwrapped toys for the drive as well in our annual attempt to "Fill The Fire Truck" so that we can bring a fire truck full of toys to drop off after the Parade. If you can't make the breakfast, you can drop off a new unwrapped toy to the Spring Lake Firehouse any Monday night between 7pm and 9pm as well. Incidentally if you have never gone to the Commitment to Kids Parade it is a great event and will be held December 6th this year at the Bloomington Firehouse. There is lots of fun stuff for families to do at the firehouse after the parade as well.

These drives are very important for our community especially with how tough the economy is this year. No child should ever have to go without a toy at Christmas. Please if you are able try to make a donation. Every donation, small or large makes a difference.

Post Election Moment of Zen

Now that elections are over I can settle back in to normal blogging and get away from politics and back down to 300 - 400 hits a week instead of over 700. There really isn't much to follow up on from the elections that people can't figure out for themselves. I think that the will of the people was pretty evident and I can't imagine there is much that some blog can add. So I won't.

Be back tommorrow with some community type stuff. How about a moment of Zen.

Election 2009

It looks like my predictions were pretty darn close. According to the Freeman (what happened to the Board of Elections Site???) the results look as follows for my neck of the woods.

Quigley, Morrow, and Hendrick took the Town of Ulster. Freeman is reporting Quigley with a 2 to 1 margin

Williams for Judge

Postupak for Clerk

Maloney and Wadnola for District 5 Legislature (I predicted this as too close to call)

And it looks like the Republicans took the legislature back. Which many (including me) did not think would happen.

Congratulations to all the candidates!! More later. I am tired and going to bed.

GO OUT AND VOTE!!!!!!!!

If you have the time to read this, then you have the time to be out voting. Get out and vote. If you have any questions, problems, need to know where to vote or want to watch the results tonight, visit the website below.

Ulster County Board of Elections

See you all on the other side.

-Jeremiah

PS: Am I the only one that thinks the Yankees threw the game last night so that they could play and win the Series in the new stadium? I guess Steinbrenner has to eat too!!

Less than 24 hours to go

Alright kiddies we have less than 24 hours to go till election day. Anyone hearing anything? Any last minute change of heart on who your voting for? I know that I saw Brian Cahill walking my neighborhood yesterday with Mike Berardi doing some last minute campaigning. I saw two others that I did not recognize putting literature on doors but they did not stop at my house, I guess I wasn't cool enough.

Good luck to ALL of the candidates tomorrow. Whether or not I agree with you, the fact is that I do respect the fact you are out there doing the job or asking for the opportunity to do the job of representing me.

Early congratulations to my Uncle Patrick whom is running unopposed for Rosendale Town Supervisor and I assume will win re-election barring one heck of a write-in campaign. I don't know that he reads this blog very often (if he does I am sure some of my posts are the origin of heart burn for him). I know that our political views are pretty different but regardless, in my mind he is an excellent example of what an elected representative should be. He is willing to work with anyone and everyone to do what is best for the people he represents. And most important at least in my observation he represents everyone whether they voted for him or not.

Good luck to all of the candidates tomorrow and to everyone else GET OUT AND VOTE on Tuesday. In the immortal words of some Chicago politician...."Vote Early and Vote Often".

The Town Of Ulster is heating up almost on command

Well pretty much as expected ( I thought it would start with tomorrow's Freeman) the Town of Ulster is heating up.

It sounds like it started with the Kingston Times articles and statements made by some of the democratic candidates. Just a quick plug for the Kingston Times.....their coverage was so much better than the Freeman's. But anyway I digress.....this first shot set off the battle to the finish which most had already figured would be a kin to the battle of Saratoga.

If you are in to the dirt you can go to Ulster is Your Town Too they apparently had some that they just put up a little while ago, and I don't want to steal their thunder.

And for those of you who checked your mail today will see that the Woerner campaign has rolled out a copy of last year's last minute attack ad that he ran against Jim Quigley's Comptroller Campaign. The postcard came complete with critisim of Jim Quigley's lawsuit against the town costing the Town $15k but it fails to mention just how much the PILOT aggreement at the center of the lawsuit has cost the poor taxpayers to date. So I guess we will see what the weekend has to bring. Stay Tuned.

My favorite Woerner fact that I saw on one of his million postcards that I have received lately is where he points out that the fund balance is over 4 million. Two questions.....one: where the hell is that documentation because I would assume it would pretty easy for one of us ignorant peasants to locate an extra 4 million dollars laying around the town. Question #2: Doesn't having that much of a reserve on hand completely violate the good and recommended fiscal practices from the state comptroller that Mr. Woerner cited as his excuse to begin spending down the reserves to begin with.

Election Predictions

With less than a week to go to the election this is what I figure will happen. At least in my neck of the woods.

Town of Ulster Supervisor and Board: Woerner, Secreto and Artist will go down hard. The people that still actually pay taxes in the town are pissed and those 3 will be the targets unless we all get PILOT agreements in the mail before Tuesday. One of the theories floating around is that the excellent rec programs in the town might save Secreto, but I just don't see it happening. There are too many other areas of town government where he has served as a yes man rather than look out for the best interest of the residents. The majority of the town residents are counting the hours until they can pull the levers for Quigley, Morrow, and Hendrick.

County Clerk: I think that Postupack pulls this one out fairly easily. Riccardi's Campaign never went anywhere. If you read her website or hear her speak it is a whole bunch of I will try and I will look into with no hard facts to back it up. It is like the democrats went up to someone and said "you are running for clerk first speech is in 5 minutes." She must not have had any prep done on how the office works or the rules, laws, and funding surrounding it. The only time she sounds sure of her self is when she talks about the supposed nepotism but the fact is that crap happens in every level of government everywhere in this world and no one believes a politician that says they will stop it. And finally contrary to popular belief of the 20 or so people that read these blogs the majority of voters in this county have no idea who the hell Al Spada is nor do they really care. I will say based on Riccardi's resume she could have given Williams one hell of a run for County Judge.

County Judge: Next to the Town level races in the Town of Ulster I would say that this race will have the widest margin of victory and it will go to Don Williams. Judge Schneer does not have the experience to be in the race and I am surprised that the democrats could not field a better candidate. Fine she was a town justice, but the fact is she has no real felony trial experience. The county judge rarely decides on a case like a town justice, it is done by a jury, but without years of experience in felony cases she will be less likely to catch the little games lawyers play which cause technicalities that get bad people let out of jail. I agree with her that there are innocent people in jail (hell I have met several) but the majority that get out do so on technicalities not because they are truly innocent. I don't think that the voters want the majority of her experience in felony cases to come on the bench. This whole DWI case recently just adds insult to injury, because most people see the judge as someone that protects them from dangerous people on the street and in that case she failed. She does appear to have a great amount of civil experience in many different areas and settings. Maybe she should wait for surrogate court to open up.

Ulster County Legislature District 5: This race has so many variables that I think it is too close to call. All three candidates have a very loyal core of supporters that cross party lines in many cases. Maloney and Cahill currently and Wadnola in past offices that he has held, all do what they think is right for the taxpayer. They are open and honest and willing to discuss with anyone their ideas and why they have or plan to vote the way that they do. The one disadvantage I see in Cahill's corner is that many town residents are out for blood in taking out Woerner and Company and he may fall victim to that wave not necessarily through any fault of his own. I think this race comes down to what direction do the voters want the county to move in and who do they think will do it. Either way it will be a nail biter and I would put the chances at high that it is not resolved Tuesday night.

The only other race I am watching just out of interest is Mike Madsen's run for legislature in district 6. At this point I would call it as Provenzano getting the most votes with Madsen a healthy second. I don't see Dart pulling off this one.

As far as control of the legislature, I think that it remains with the democrats. Let's face it, it is not a national election so you really don't have an energized group of voters that are looking to make serious changes except in the Town of Ulster and the City of Kingston where the incumbents are running for cover. Overall it will be just another low turn out, off year election, with a little excitement here and there.

Finally, two other races that I would watch closely is the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races. Not because any of us really care, but because if you see a huge hit in voting for the incumbents it will leave a lot of Congressmen and Senators in Washington pulling back from their lofty goals over the next year. They may tell you that Health Care and Cap and Trade are important but not as important as getting re-elected next year. Depending how Tuesday goes you may see those guys tripping over each other to get back under the radar.

Other than that I am just waiting to see the newpapers over the weekend to see what percentage of the advertising is political.

THE FIRST EVER BLOG CONTEST

Ok, I have been trying for over a month to track down this rumor but I can't get a copy. So we here at Common Sense in Ulster County and Beyond are happy to announce the first blog contest.

There was a rumor going around about a month ago that a letter was sent to some parents of kids in the Town of Ulster Day Camp stating that if Jim Quigley and Company are elected all kinds of bad things will happen to the day camp and other rec programs. Now I must admit I feel really left out since I am the parent of a day camp child but I was not special enough to get a letter if they do in fact exist. I am pretty sure the rumor is true for two reasons #1 in a public event where the letter and its info was brought up several other people who also received the letter went off the handle and were ready to saddle up the horses and head out to Repub Headquarters with pitchforks looking for Jim Quigley. #2 I have heard a couple of quotes attributed to this letter.

So me wanting to be part of the gossip is willing to put my money where my mouth is and announce the first ever blog contest (on this blog any way). Because I want to post a copy of this letter on the blog. We will award a $50 Dinner Gift Certificate to a local Town of Ulster Restaurant to the FIRST Person to send us an actual scanned copy of this supposed letter or flyer. Like I said before I have a bunch of notes on this thing and a witness so don't get fancy and try to send in a forgery or you will be disqualified and we will throw wet noodles at you.

Our email address is UCCommonSense@aol.com. Your name will be kept strictly confidential, but I do need you to include an address where you want the certificate sent to. If you want to make it James Bond-ish feel free to give us a code name that we can use to give you credit on the blog when we post the letter.

Contest Rules:
Void where prohibited, There will be only one winner of this contest. The first person to email a scanned copy of the original document for our verification will be declared the winner. Contest ends at midnight on October 31st, 2009. Odds of winning depends on whether you are willing to send us the document for a gift certificate.

I find this very disturbing

I am sure most have at least heard about this incident or have read the actually story in the record. Ulster judge Schneer takes heat for releasing felon recordonline.com

I find it disturbing that a person with a long history of DWI (and other) offenses gets arrested for his 7th DWI while awaiting trial on his 6th DWI charge after geting into an accident with injuries and he is released with no bail. At least Judge Schneer suspended his license which apparently didn't work because he was picked up driving a car when he pulled up to a house under surveillance for drug activity. In that case unfortunately the best the police were allowed to do was issue a ticket.

It is bad enough we have to share the road with drunk drivers that haven't been caught yet, but when a person is caught (especially for the 7th time) I would like to know that the judge is going to do the right thing to protect those of us that do obey the law by making it damn hard for a person like this to get back out on the street. But apparently she has other plans.

Moreover she cites the excuse that bail is based on the defendant's flight risk. Using that logic are we to take this fact to mean that if an "accused" murderer, rapist or child molester comes before her and poses no flight risk that she will indeed cut them lose with minimal or no bail as well?

Unbelievable!!

Missing WWII Hero Finally Comes Home

I just found the following posted to the Patriot Guard Website. I haven't seen anything else about it in the news yet, but I am sure there is more to come.


"Aviation Radioman 1st Class Arthur Carl Miller was shot down on September 13, 1944 during the Battle of Paplau Islands. AR1 Miller served his country for 6 years and was credited with 30 bombing runs and 50 'hops'. He had been listed as MIA until modern day forensics identified his remains to his family mid-2009. This true American Hero is coming home from Hawaii, to his final resting place in Poughkeepsie, NY on November 7, 2009."

God Bless AR1 Miller and his family as well as the thousands of additional POW/MIA soldiers waiting to be brought home. You Are Not Forgotten!

RIP Pfc. Daniel Rivera

Family’s hero is now a country’s hero - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow

Thought of the Day

You know I really thought that just about anyone could beat Patterson in the Governor's Race, that is until I just read a blog that cited "Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio".

Are you kidding me. This had better not be the best that the Republican Party can find to put up for governor. I have come close to changing my party affiliation to Non-Enrolled or Independent many times in the last 10 years, but if this guy gets run by the Republicans I won't be able to get to the Board of Elections fast enough. The only thing bigger than this guy's mouth is his ego.

Please anybody else. I hear Lindsay Lohan hasn't been getting much work lately, maybe she's free.

Let the Lynch Mob begin

Apparently Senator's Schumer and Gillibrand have now called on State Senator Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, to resign after he was able to eek out a Misdemeanor Assault Conviction as opposed to a Felony one which would have had him thrown out of the Senate immediately.

Now the democrats have some opportunity for pay backs after Monserrate's jumping back and forth between highest bidders with his allegiance earlier in the summer. Although I would guess that they are citing some higher moral reason for wanting him out ......lol!!! And I am assuming that the Republicans who had no problem singing his praises when he was voting with them have already turned their backs on him. Sounds like high school doesn't it?

Throwing this guy out of government would be an excellent way to celebrate Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Sometimes the Grass is Greener...Sometimes it's Brown

This article Newburgh faces $19M budget gap, tax increases of 82 to 94 percent - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1... from morning's Freeman probably has a lot of people happy that they don't live in Newburgh.

This should serve as a warning to us all. Things need to change and they need to change quick when it comes to government spending. Many communities were fortunate this budget cycle that they still had some reserves to hit up in an attempt to lessen the tax increase. But that does not last forever, and if community leaders are smart they are not banking on Bernake's "Mission Accomplished" "Recession is Over" speeches. Changes need to be made now or we will pay in the near future. Because while some indicators may be starting to come around FOR NOW, mortgage foreclosures are still going strong, and unemployment is still going up. And really what major industries do you see hiring in the next year or two?..... Walmart??? The American auto industry is a long way from recovery, our manufacturing industries continue mass exodus to foreign countries, the country is going into debt faster than a shopping addict with a new American Express, and the sad story goes on.

Now is the time to start sending a message to our elected officials, the spending has got to stop. And I don't mean cutting spending on the bottom of the food chain by laying off people that actually work for a living which seems to be the local and state method to date. We need spending cuts across the board and in every level and aspect of government. This year we have the opportunity to send the message locally, next year we have the opportunity on the state and national levels.

Teachers on Strike, The Budget Crunch, and a New Health Director

Haven't seen much in public from the campaigns, but I am assuming the advertising will start to ramp up here in the home stretch to the election. I did see one funny thing this morning on a local whack job blog, linking a certain incumbent to causing children to be killed. That's as far as I am going on that one so as not to be part of the defamation suit that I would be filing if I were the politician in question. I can not imagine the candidate's challenger being anywhere near this one based on her experience in the legal system. I will say this: If I were a local politician with my picture up on that blog I would request it be taken off ASAP. You don't want to be any way attached to that crap.

Over the last couple of days news is coming out that the Onteora Teachers may be planning a strike. While I am a big proponent of Union Rights and I can't stand the Taylor Law and cheer on any union that tries to challenge it. I don't think that this economic climate is the one that a union representing the supposed highest paid teachers in the area to take a stand. I just don't see much support coming from the tax payers on that one.

So far the budget season is causing more of a fight between government leaders and unions that it has between the tax payers and government. This is thanks in part to large cuts in local government work forces being used to keep the tax levy low. My guess is the unions will begin to try to rally the tax payers to their side of the cause in the coming weeks in an attempt to change the budgets. This process is convenient because the budgets aren't adopted until after the election anyway (not that I am cynical or anything). One person that will probably end up with a lot of heart burn out of this is Mayor Sottile because not only will his cuts bring the wrath of the unions but he also has a bunch of common council candidates waiting for their chance to attack his budget (on Oct. 15th I think) to collect campaign support. I give him credit for doing his job, because I don't know of anyone else that would want it right now.

On a positive note, last week we all have learned of the hiring of Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck head the Health Department. He comes with an impressive list of credentials, and I think we can throw a check mark into the win column for Ulster County on this one.

So I guess we will see what this week has to bring here in Ulster County. I really have yet to see any dirty campaign attack ads so far which is nice. I think the only rumor being spread that I have heard so far is that Supervisor Candidate Jim Quigley wants to shut down the Town of Ulster Summer Camp if elected, which anybody that takes the time to actually ask him the question knows that this is completely untrue. But what would a campaign be if there were not rumors being spread I guess.

Kingston votes to go Green except for traffic lights

Is it me or is it some sick irony that at the same Kingston Common Council Meeting where they vote to try to put Kingston on the "Green Track" they also voted to re-activate an electric using traffic light. This traffic light will allow cars to sit and idle (for no reason many times) thus causing them to spend more time running on the road burning fossil fuels contributing to global warming.

The biggest irony of all is that meeting time and much debate in the past months was spent on subjects like these rather than on stupid little things like budget gaps and revenue shortfalls.

What's next guys are we going to vote to prepare the lawn mowers for the impending snow this winter.

Meet the Candidates and eat a hamburger

The Town of Ulster Republican Committee is hosting a Meet the Candidates event on Sunday October 11th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at Post Park in the Town of Ulster. There will be Free Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Salads and Drinks. Please bring the Family and Kids, and come meet the Town Of Ulster and Ulster County Legislature Republican Candidates.

The Best of our Community

Too often we get ourselves worked up over all the things that bother us in the world and we forget to look around at all of the great things happening around us. Tonight I had the opportunity tonight to go to the Kingston High School Football Game and Homecoming Ceremonies. While I enjoy the football games when possible, this was the first Homecoming that I have been to since I was in Highschool more years ago than I like to think about.

I have to recognize the excellent event put on by our KHS students, staff and members of the community. Obviously the Football team gave us their all in their overtime win against Pine Bush. But more than that, from the Student Government reps, to the Cheerleaders, and the talented KHS Band it was great to see just how proud of their school the students of KHS are. It is great to be able to take my young kids to an event like this and show them all that they will be able to do one day in the near future if they choose. Events like this are certainly one of the best parts of our community. Even the practical joke of the 2 people dressed up in the Chicken and Ape Costumes remained tasteful, (I can now say I have seen a Giant Chicken and Ape jump over a fence and run towards a zoo.)

Congratulations to the Tiger's players and to Head Coach Jeramie Collins and his staff for one heck of a game. And thank you to all involved for putting one heck of an event.

For those that did not see the game, Channel 6 (?) will rebroadcast it on Monday night.

Lower your flags on Sunday Oct. 4th

Sunday October 4th will be the National Fallen Firefighter's Memorial Service. As per Public Law 107-51 all US flags are to be lowered in honor of this day.

Those interested can watch both the Candlelight Vigil held Saturday night and the Memorial Service on Sunday. Here is the link 2009 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial - Live Coverage.
This year's service will honor 122 firefighters killed in the line of duty during 2008 and some from other years whose death has now been classified as Line of Duty.

Also on a sad note locally. A Yonkers Firefighter Patrick Joyce lost his life in a fire on October 2nd while searching for victims in a fire. His funeral service will be Tuesday with calling hours on Sunday and Monday. Two other firefighters that were with him are in serious but stable condition at a local hospital. UPDATE: The latest news reports are that one person has been arrested and charged with arson and manslaughter in the setting of this fire

The Budget Factor

The budget factor will probably play a big role in this year's local elections. It should come as no surprise to anyone that every level of government is facing huge cash flow problems which will probably hit us all in the pocket in the coming months with the release of local and county budgets and the resulting tax levy. The question is how will the incumbents play it?

The Town of Ulster Budget hearing is typically held a couple of days after election day. This year is no different with a Nov. 5th date being set. However my question is will we have the Supervisor's budget proposal released a couple of days before the election as it was in 2007? That year when property taxes were being cut, Supervisor Woerner made sure that the budget proposal was on the Town Website on October 31st just a couple of days before voters went to the polls, and the public hearing was held on October 29th. It will be interesting to see if that happens again. I stand corrected, it appears that the Supervisors Budget should be released to the Town Clerk in the beginning of October. I am sure many voters in the town are waiting for that.

And on the County Level will incumbent legislators blame any budget bad news on the new County Executive who is responsible for drawing up the budget. I have already heard rumblings that the budget is the executive's and that it will be up to the legislators to fight to fix it to benefit the tax payers. Most likely they will tell you that this fight will begin shortly after you vote them back into office.

In a year when everyone is tired of government and their wasteful spending on all levels I believe that all incumbents (Democrat and Republican) will be watching their backs. It remains to be seen whether the electorate will actually step up and fight back or just get tied up in the usual political rhetoric and vote to continue business as usual. Most of all you can bet damn well that state and nationally elected representatives are going to closely watch the electorate's reactions during this election cycle. Those reactions will greatly affect how hard they fight for the more unpopular issues during the upcoming year, since they have to play this game in 2010.

And now for a song about your friend and mine

Holy Crap, Stop the Presses.....Someone figured this out

It is about time someone figured this out.

Rasmussen Poll Anger at Government

The article points out that 66% of people are basically pissed at the Federal Government. But more importantly the article points out that this was happening long before Obama and that 60% of people polled feel that the leaders of BOTH parties are failing.

Basically this article says what most people have been saying all along. This is not about party, race or any other stupid factor that the bureaucrats in the government can think up in an attempt to turn us against each other. We are tired of ALL of your stupid crap. So Democrats stop telling us that all of a sudden questioning the government isn't allowed, and Republicans stop trying to convince us that you are riding in to the rescue because we know that all of you are full of crap.

The point of this country is that we are all Americans, not the rulers (aka government) and the peasants (aka us). You people had better wake up and start listening or start updating your resume. People are tired of not being listened to. When we said that the Bush Administration AND Congress were spending too much and trying to control every aspect of our lives. That doesn't mean put in new faces and do the same thing (building on the failed Bush policies that you campaigned against).........IT MEANS FIX THE PROBLEMS.

But why would anyone listen to us. What are we going to do, vote them out???? I will believe it when I see it.

Leave the guy alone

This morning's shocker was the rumor that the White House is attempting to convince Gov. Patterson not to run for a four year term in 2010. And then the Patterson's response: Governor Paterson bucks President Obama: I'm still going to run in 2010.

People should just leave this guy alone. Now I agree he has no chance to win an election for dog catcher, but doesn't he have the right to run if he wants? Any Democrat in the State has the opportunity to primary against him. So what's the problem?

This is the problem with all political parties now a days. They are so concerned with showing unity at election time that they spend time and money long before an election cutting deals and alienating people who have every right to run. It is a total load of crap, and it makes them look like fools.

Let the guy run. Cuomo is obviously going to run against him and win, but Patterson should still have the choice without a bunch of people that should be worrying about themselves trying to convince him otherwise. And more importantly the voters should still have the choice.

Rally For the Galley

I happened to be listening to WBPM this morning and apparently they have kicked off the Rally for the Galley fundraiser to benefit the Queens Galley in Kingston. The event is being held at the Verizon Store in front of the Kings Mall on 9W for 36hours starting 9/18 and going through Saturday evening 9/19.

Most have heard about the great work that the Queens Galley does in our community. So please if you have the ability to help out even with a couple of bucks stop by or visit their website: Queens Galley - Kingston, NY. It sounds like they have some awesome raffles going on as well. According to their website for every dollar they spend at the food bank they are able to purchase $10 worth of food. So this is really an opportunity for just a couple of dollars to make a real impact in our community.

Sgt. Jared Monti to Receive the Medal of Honor

Today Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on June 21, 2006. SFC Monti was killed in action after making 3 attempts to rescue one of his soldiers that was injured and pinned down by enemy fire. To my knowledge SFC Monti is only the second Medal of Honor to be awarded for actions in Afghanastan, the other being Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy of Long Island.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13


More specific information about Sgt Monti's actions can be found at the following website http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/monti/

Primary is over, now on to the show

The primary is over and I did not see any huge surprises.

Everyone has pretty much known that Mr Williams will take the judge race with no problem. Yesterday proved that prediction in his overwhelming win of the Independence Line.

The UC Legislature District 5 race is definitely proving that it will probably be the only close race in the Town of Ulster. Maloney and Cahill tied and Wadnola only lost by two votes for the Indy line. No matter how you cut it this will be a close race in November. The best part is that all three candidates can easily run on their merits so the voters will not have to suffer through a dirty campaign.

The "Mouth of the South" Glen Noonan was quieted yesterday after losing his primary run.

And Mike Madsen grabbed a well deserved spot on the ballot in November for UC Legislature.

So the fight cards are set and the race to election day has begun. Good luck to all candidates. I hope that the voters chose to be educated voters and get out and meet the candidates during the next month and a half so that they can make an educated decision on election day.

**********************************************

FOR THOSE IN THE TOWN OF ULSTER. TONIGHT (WEDNESDAY 9/16) IS THE GRAND OPENING OF REPUBLICAN HEADQUARTERS FROM 5PM TO 8PM. IT WILL BE AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY FOR VOTERS TO GET OUT AND MEET THE REPUBLICAN TOWN OF ULSTER CANDIDATES. (Headquarters is located on Morton Blvd in the old Pronto Printer space next to the Red Barn).