Update

Here's an update on how much OCEAN has received.

Some slight movement is detected.

What OCEAN is worth to Woodbury

So, I asked the Pieman for an update on the fund-raising.

Seventy bucks.

That's what OCEAN is worth to Woodbury.

What I didn't say to the Pieman (why hurt his feelings) is that that's pretty damned pathetic.

SO, I made a chart (well, one of the nephews made a chart). I'll update it if it ever changes.

The $1,000 is my number. I asked the Pieman what he was shooting for and he said "whatever the people will give us."

As I said, pathetic.

Begging and Whining

The Uncle has received an unhappy e-mail from the Pieman.

It seems that OCEAN is currently running on empty.

Fund-raising is not one of their strong points.

Things are generally fine during a crisis. That's when donors are paying attention.

But during the quieter times, things are, well, quieter.

Obviously, bills are smaller then also.

No huge printing costs (which is apparently their biggie).

But even in quiet times they have some on going expenses.

There is their web-site (which they have now let go of).

And there is the phone bill.

That may seem minor, but it still matters to Verizon.

And up 'til now, three members of the board have basically been underwriting everything.

But they really do need help.

And when the crap hits the fan - as it will - we're going to need their help.

SO, in our own self-interest, send something-

$25 would be nice, $50 would be better still, and even $10 helps.

The bank is happiest with checks made out to "The SOCA Group"

and the address is OCEAN/ 320 County Route 105 / Highland Mills, NY 10930

On Consistency

As we mentioned, John Burke seems to have altered his view of the appropriateness of questioning the Town Supervisor.

Back when Sheila held that job, John would get up week after week and harangue her endlessly.

He would demand explanations for any given board action and, in response, Sheila, would explain in detail (and you know how deeply into the details Sheila can travel).

Then, at the very next session , Burke would pop back up and repeat the same question as if it had never been answered.

It was one of the things that made the televised Town Board Meetings a superb cure for insomnia.

But, now that the Supervisor is Burke, he doesn’t seem to take kindly to questioning.

As we mentioned, Swiller asked him to explain why he would vote against the extension of the Highland Lakes Estates sewer district.

A yes vote means that Brodsky will build a new sewage treatment plant for HLE (and Country Crossing) that will also handle Brodsky’s new development. Brodsky pays for it all, HLE and Country Crossing get a better plant than the one they keep paying to fix and the folks that live in HLE and CC have slightly lower sewer bills.

So, where’s the downside? That’s what Swiller asked Burke. Burke didn’t know - or rather - he seemed to think that he was voting against Brodsky’s WP3 project. Burke talked about the schools being crowded and the roads being clogged - important subjects, but THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SEWER DISTRICT.

When Swiller tried to explain that to Burke, the Supervisor shut him down.

So, is Burke’s motto "I don’t know what I’m doing and don’t you dare try to change that!"

But getting back to consistency.

Newt Gingrich just admitted what was widely known anyway - that throughout the Clinton Impeachment he, Gingrich, was carrying on an affair with an aide.

Gingrich explains why this isn’t hypocrisy - it wasn’t Clinton’s affair that mattered, it was the fact that he lied about it under oath.

O.K., point taken, lying under oath, even about your personal matters, is a bad enough thing that we should bring the entire U.S. Government to a halt for an impeachment. The Uncle doesn’t buy it, but it’s a defensible position.

So, Riddle me this Batman - if it wasn’t the sex, but the lie - why are all these "We Gotta Impeach Clinton" folk - Lindsey Graham, Bill Kristol, the National Review, Kate O’Beirne, Laura Ingram, etc. - all telling us that when Scooter Libby lied under oath, it didn’t really matter all that much and Bush should pardon him?

Maybe Swiller should ask Burke to explain that one next week.

Throwing Out the Baby and Keeping the Bath Water

It seems that the Pieman managed to piss off the Supervisor at the last Town Board meeting - Heaven Forfend!

The Board voted on three pieces of legislation: extension of the Water District, Extension of Highland Lakes Estates Sewage District and creation of a Storm Water District. The four council members voted in favor of each of these, and John Burke voted no.

Some background here - let's take the Sewage District because that's the clearest example - as part of the negotiations between Brodsky and the town on the WP3 project, Brodsky agreed to entirely rebuild the problematic High Lakes Estate sewer plant. He will also pay the back taxes on th old plant that the folks in HLE were paying off. This gives the people in HLE (and in Country Crossing) a lovely new state-of-the-art plant that actually works and, at the same time it, lowers their sewer bills. Nice work if you can get it.

If the town had voted no on the extension of the district, Brodsky would have built his own, smaller plant, just for the WP3 development, a major loss for the folks in HLE and Country Crossing.

But, at the previous Town Board Meeting, a few weeks back, John Burke made clear that he was going to vote against this. Swiller got up and said that when the vote did come he would appreciate it if the various board members would explain their votes. In other words, he gave Burke advance notice that he would be asking Burke to explain himself.

Now, let's make this clear - Swiller gave Burke two weeks notice that he was going to ask this question - if it were up to me, I would have blindsided the guy, but Swiller gave Burke two weeks to prepare a response.

So then comes the next board meeting, and sure enough Burke votes no. And sure enough, Swiller gets up and asks why.

And the amazing thing is, that despite advance notice of the question, Burke didn't have the foggiest idea what the vote was about or why a no vote made any sense.

Burke said that "we've been discussing this for over a year" and that there would be impact on "traffic and the schools."

HUH?

Did Burke think that voting "No" on the sewer district would stop the WP3 project?

WP3 is a done deal. This vote was to accept the givebacks that the town demanded from Brodsky.

Burke was throwing out the baby and keeping the bathwater (a lovely phrase the Uncle has borrowed from the Pieman - credit where credit is due).

But Burke absolutely refused to get it - "It has something to do with WP3 so I'm against it, no matter what and don't confuse me with the facts!"

Shades of the vote on Senior Housing last year. That bill gave the same incentives for selling homes to seniors at a discount as already existed for renting homes to seniors. All that bill did was help seniors buy affordable housing.

And Burke voted no on that one too.

And when he was asked why, he said he was against WP3.

And when every member of the town board loudly explained that the bill had nothing to do with WP3, Burke did what he did this time. He absolutely refused to acknowledge reality.

And the kicker? Supervisor Burke was very displeased with the Pieman. Burke doesn't seem to feel that a supervisor should be questioned about his decisions.

This is a new position for Mr. Burke who, before taking office, acted as if Supervisor Sheila Conroy was the town's designated punching bag.

Then again, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..."