Alternate Reality

Anonymous said... "No one ever said creating a village would stop annexation."

So, how many of you folks had the same bizarre hallucination that I had...

...that strange dream in which the Committee for the Perversion of Woodbury and it's pals were telling us we needed a village to prevent annexation?

Annexation - Public Hearing Tuesday Night

The folks who bought Nepara want to annex the part of the property that's in the Village of Woodbury into the Village of Harriman.

They feel that they can get a better price when they sell it if it's all in one village.

As reasons for disassembling a municipality go, this is certainly one of the dumber ones.

Woodbury would lose ratables (taxable property), maps and districts would have to be redrawn and their would be one lousy precedent on the books when the next annexation petition is filed.

All so that a speculator who bought a property, knowing that it was in two villages, can try and maximize his profit.

There will be a public Hearing on this Tuesday (June 26) night, at 7:15, in Harriman Village Hall.

You might want to show up.

How's This For Staters?

Anonymous said...
Dear Unc:

What is so bad about the town right now, except for the stupid village?



Route 32 - It’s Woodbury’s “Main Street.” It’s also a two-lane state road that is the only North-South through-route within miles. All Thruway bound traffic from New Windsor rides right through the middle of town.

Centerlessness - We have no town square.

Unneighborliness - We’re right next to a village that is in the tight grip of an inner-circle that has never shown true regard for its own people, let alone the rights of its neighbors.

Crappiness - We have a lousy state senator.

Traffic -We’re right at the confluence of the Thruway, Route 17, Route 6, Route 32 and everyone who wants to go to Woodbury Common.

Apathy - We are more and more a bedroom community with a growing percentage of the population who vote straight party tickets without knowing the first thing about what goes on here.

Certainty - We have too many politicians who know what they know and can’t be bothered to question their own views.

Disinterest - not enough good people are willing to put up with all this and run for office.

Putting the Special in Special Assistant

Well, Senator Bill Larkin has screwed us again.

He saw to it that voters in Orange County municipalities were denied the choice of adding a 2 1/2% Open Space Preservation tax to high end home sales in their communities.

Bear in mind, all that the legislation would have done is given the local voters the chance to decide if they wanted the tax or not.

Developers, real estate agents and Larkin decided that we didn't want to have that power.

And why would he do that?

Dunno.

Maybe we should ask our "voice" in the Senator's office, the "Special Assistant to Senator Larkin."

Who's that?

Ralph Caruso.

Isn't that special?

The Uncle Apologizes

A number of Woodburians were scandalized by the Speedo wearing nephew we asked to hold the blank sign in the previous post (the speedos were hidden by the sign).

So we brought him back into our studio, dressed him up and took this shot.

Sorry, we didn't have any shoes his size on hands. We apologize to any toe haters out there.

Fill In The Blanks

Carlton Levine, ______ ___ _________ ______ . ______ ________ _ ______ ______ ___ ________ ____________ ___________. ____ __ ____. ___________ __ ____ ___ ______. ___ ___ _____ ____ ____.

Running Out The Clock vs Believing In Nothing

OK, here the Uncle goes again, off the reservation, talking about the universe outside of Woodbury.

Down there in Never-Never-Land (aka Washington, D. C.) the Democrats see themselves as less detested than the Republicans and are scared to death that they will step wrong between now and November of 2008.

So, their bold decision is to try and do as little as possible that will offend anyone.

Now that's leadership!

As for the Republicans, they prove everyday that they believe in absolutely nothing.

The best new example is the clamour for a pardon for Scooter Libby.

Sure he lied to Federal Investigators and perjured himself under oath, "but," we are told, "there was no underlying crime."

Let's put aside the small matter of revealing the identity of a covert CIA agent during wartime (say, isn't that sort of like treason?).

Aren't these "Beg Your Pardon" folks the same people who impeached Boxer-Shorts Bill Clinton for - ready for it - lying under oath?

And what was the underlying crime there? Adultary? Priapism? Dirty-old-man-hood?

Did any of them cry large, greasy tears for Martha Stewart who went to prison for lying to Federal Investigators?

If we get the government we deserve, we must have been very, very naughty.

Apologies

The Uncle had given up checking his mailbox. After all, it was almost always empty.

So, I apologize for allowing the three emails that were sent to go unanswered (OK, two email and one follow-up asking why the hell I hadn't responded).

I will attempt to be more dilligent.

And, as a reminder: cuzzincookie@hotmail.com

The Man Behind The Curtain

There are some indications that Larkin and Bonacic were asked to remove Orange County from the legislation discussed in the post below by our dear County Exec Eddie Diana.


If so, I wonder if Robert Carchietta had any thoughts on the subject?

Saved From Democracy

A bill is before the state legislature which would allow voters in some municipalities to decide if they want to add a transfer tax when up-market homes are sold. The money collected would have to be used for the preservation of open space.

The tax would come to 2% of the portion of the sale price that exceeds the median sale price in that municipality

That is - if the median price for a home is $300,000 then the sale of a home that sells for $300,000 or less would not be taxed. If the home sold for more than that then the amount above $300,000 would be taxed 2%.

The bill doesn’t force any municipality to charge this tax. It gives a municipality the right to ask its voters if they want to have this tax.

That is, it gives voters that right if they live in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam.

Orange County voters will not have that right.

Why?

Because the sponsor of the bill (a State Senator named Vincent Leibell, from Patterson, NY) took Orange County out of his bill.

And why would he do that?

Because he was told that the Orange County Legislature didn’t want to be in the bill.

The thing is, the Orange County Legislature never said that. They were never even asked.

Instead, our pals, State Senators Bill Larkin and John Bonacic made up their minds for them.

And why would they do that?

They say that no one in the County Legislature asked them to include Orange. But then again, they never discussed it with anyone in the County Legislature.

Also, we are told that “Bonacic said he wants municipalities to have more latitude over how the money should be directed.”
Bonacic says: "I want each municipality to have the discretion over how the money should be spent," he said. "It could be for open space, housing — whatever they want."

So, John Bonacic is concerned that the bill doesn’t give us enough choice and his solution is to see to it that we don’t get any choice at all.

It is, no doubt, merely coincidental that builders, developers and real estate brokers strongly oppose the bill. Surely our state senators wouldn’t ask those folks how they felt about the bill without asking the County Legislators or the voters.

Larkin vs Caruso

You may recall that Ralph Caruso insisted that State Law did not demand a disbandment of Woodbury's fire district if a village was created.

You might further recall that at the forum that the Fire Company had at the Union Hall just before the vote on forming a village, the attorney who specialized in fire districts disputed this, but that Caruso got up again and again to insist the fellow was wrong.

You may even recall that Caruso claimed later that the attorney came over to him after the meeting and admitted that Ralph was right (an impossibility in that the attorney left long before the meeting was over).

Well, as most of us knew Ralph was a) dead wrong, b) lying through his ass or c) both.

Now we hear from Ralph's boss, Senator Bill Larkin, who confirms it. Too bad Ralph never thought to ask Bill. But then, since when have facts had anything to do with what Ralph says?

Here's the whole article from the today's Photo News. You can read the whole thing or skip to the highlighted fun facts.

Village of Woodbury’s fiscal affairs come into focus
By Tony HoustonWoodbury — The new Village of Woodbury, created last August, got its financial affairs in order this April by adopting a $1.7 million general fund budget for the fiscal year that begins today.

Immediately upon passing the budget, however, the Village was faced with the problem of how fire protection, water and sewer service can be most efficiently and inexpensively provided to the Woodbury community.

Prior to the incorporation of the Village, these services were provided by the townwide Woodbury Fire District and Town of Woodbury water and sewer districts.

The fate of the Woodbury Fire District was debated two days before the vote to incorporate the Village. At that forum attorney Frank Simeone said village incorporation would mean that “the fire district would no longer exist and the board of fire commissioners would be replaced by the village government.”

He said: “On this matter, the state law is written in black and white.”

Ralph Caruso, chairman of Citizens for the Preservation of Woodbury, disagreed with Simeone at the forum. Caruso’s group had previously distributed a Town of Woodbury Preservation Kit that, among other items, stated that there would be no changes to the fire district as a result of village incorporation.

In a May 24 press release, state Sen. William J. Larkin Jr., R-C-Cornwall-on-Hudson, said: “When the Village was created, according to current village law, the fire district could no longer provide fire services.”

Larkin sponsored legislation (S.1481), which, he said, “simply allows the residents of Woodbury to continue to be protected by the Woodbury Fire District.”

That legislation passed the State Senate and was sent to the Assembly.

As for the Town of Woodbury water and sewer districts, existing state law requires that they be terminated this Dec. 31 and be taken over by the Village. This could be costly to Woodbury’s taxpayers because of the town’s union contracts. These agreements require the town to pay workers their accumulated vacation and sick time upon leaving town employment. Woodbury Town Supervisor John Burke estimates this amount at $215,000.

Larkin has an answer for that problem as well. He introduced legislation (S.5845) to allow the Town of Woodbury to continue to operate the existing water and sewer districts. That legislation has been sent to the Local Government Committees of both the State Senate and the Assembly.

“The Town and Village have approved an inter-municipal agreement transferring the districts and employees from the Town to the Village, and, if the legislation (S.5845) passes, from the Village to the Town,” said Village Trustee Neil Crouse in a recent telephone interview. “The Town and Village are both working cooperatively toward this special legislation.”

The rest of the governing of Woodbury is being sorted out with much less fanfare. The library, parks, police and highway department will remain the responsibility of the town. Planning, zoning and the building department are the responsibility of the Village — starting today.

I don't want to call Ralph Caruso a liar...oh, wait a sec, yes I do.

By the way, how many of you got Village Tax Bills for $58?