What The Uncle Understands To Be So

Some basic facts (as I understand them)

1.Under existing state law the Village must take over the ZBA and the Planning Board on June First and the Sewer and Water Department on January First.

2. The Village is not required to take over the Building Department.

2 A. It is possible for the the State to pass special legislation allowing the Town to keep the Sewer and Water department. It is not certain that this will happen.

2 B. The more that the Village leaves in the Town's hands, the harder it is to explain why four fifths of those who voted chose to form a village in the first place. The more that transfers over to the Village the more that we will have to untangle when we try to undo the Village.

2 C. Civil Service law allows the Village to assume the Town's contracts with the workers in departments that transfer over so that the workers would continue with no change - same seniority, same salary, same accrued vacation and sick time, etc. But for this to happen the Union has to agree.

3. The Union has, so far, not discussed this with the Town or the Village.

4. If there is no agreement with the Union and there is no special legislation than the employees whose departments transfer from the Town to the Village must take (or lose) all accrued sick and vacation time before the turnover dates or (if they are eligible) take lump-sum payments for that accrued time. This would hit the Town with a big pay-out and force workers to use the time or take the pay-out. Many workers don't want to take the cash or the time now (rather than at retirement) because of the heavier tax bite or because they could use the time as terminal leave at the end of their careers.

The Uncle would like to know where the hell is the Union.

And

If we are going to ask the Legislature to do anything, the number one request should be to change village law and annexation law so that no community needs to make what should be purely internal decisions based on the fear of external factors (yeah, yeah, yeah, like the whims of Messers Szegedin and Weider).

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Obviously, the problem here is very subtle.

Now try with this - some parts may be wrong, some may be a little off, some unclear and some dead on target - your assignment is to tell which parts are which (to help things along the Uncle has numbered the paragraphs):

Opinion (Times Herald Record)
The Woodburys get more costly

1) In August, a news story about the vote to create a Village of Woodbury atop the Town of Woodbury explained that "the central question for many people going to the polls on Thursday is whether turning most of Woodbury into one big village would prevent Kiryas Joel from seizing its western reaches and allowing more high-density housing."

2) The answer, then as now, is no. While the creation of this dual government may have made one route to high-density housing more difficult, it did not and could not, by law, prevent what most voters feared.

3) Now, it turns out that the residents of this dual form of government are going to pay dual taxes as well and at a much higher clip than promised.

4) Isn't that always the problem when people panic and are inclined to believe anything that promises to deliver them from the things they fear?

5) At the time of the vote, which approved creation of the dual governments by an overwhelming vote of 2,092-583, there were clear indications that no matter how well the legal strategy worked to prevent annexation or other incursions of people who wanted to re-create the housing profile of Kiryas Joel, the costs and complexity would not be too heavy.

6) Last week, we learned just how heavy they will be. Instead of the promised extra annual budget cost of $150,000 or so, the bill will be about a half-million dollars. And that does not include about a quarter-million dollars in one-time costs to set up the new government. Instead of an increase in taxes of about $100 a year, the increase is now projected to be $488 a year. Instead of a part-time clerk at $7,500, there is an extra $24,000 for the town clerk to take on the extra duties.

7) Proponents of the dual government will say that there are ways to reduce those costs, perhaps with lower town expenses, and lower town taxes, if the village takes over town services. It is easy to understand how people who believed first the promise that their vote would provide protection that it never could and second the promise that it would not cost that much would be willing to suspend disbelief one more time and believe that those costs will come down in the future, leaving the town and village to operate at only a slightly higher cost than the town did alone.

8) They also will have to believe that the creation of two governing boards will not result in competition and even more expense as factions within Woodbury — the same factions that have been at odds over several development proposals that had nothing to do with Kiryas Joel or with plans that remotely approached that density of building — seek out friendly treatment. The myth that the village would adopt the zoning of the town is still alive and still could become reality. If it does not, then future development proposals within Woodbury could be even more divisive and even harder to control.

9) With the exception of the people with higher property taxes, chances are there will never be a full accounting of what costs more, what costs less and what efficiencies fell victim to the forces of politics and bureaucracy.

10) If there is a benefit so far, it might be in the example this should set for others who rush to an untested and overhyped solution to an ill-defined problem. The truth is, neighboring governments can go only so far in controlling the activities of their neighbors.

11) Perhaps this will work out for those who feared a mini-Kiryas Joel, or several of them, from popping up within the borders of the Town of Woodbury. The people who want to promote that form of development might have to target other land in a different direction. But as a letter writer pointed out shortly after the vote last summer, one community cannot control the activities in another. County legislators denied a request by Kiryas Joel to put a water tower on land in a county park, so the village bought land right next door to put in the tower it wanted.

12) As an editorial before the vote warned, adding a village to a town would "create a competition between town and village officials over who controls what" and "certainly cost more in taxes than proponents of the plan say, because elected officials always seem to find a need for new jobs and ways to spend money."

13) So far, that appears to be the case. The editorial also warned that any chance of negotiating with Kiryas Joel and developers would be much more difficult with two Woodburys than with one. While that has yet to happen, it is only a matter of time, and with the extra costs as a guide, it seems safe to predict that the two governments will have less, not more, power to control the destiny of the Woodburys.

Village Doons - The Stirrings of the Ralphlings

So the Village Board met and, despite the Streetbarwl Named Desiree going on at this little out of the way blog, things were rather tame (Thank The Good Lord).

There was a public hearing on the proposed budget (well, part of a public hearing - it seems the proper time or place or spelling wasn't in the announcement and so there has to be a do-over next week, the 18th, 7:30 at Village Hall - aka the Highland Mills Fire House ).

The budget for the first full year (June 1st thru May 31st) was presented and the Uncle nodded off - so we'll have to do a follow up with that info.

Rich Cataggio, was the only one who brought up the great Desiree debate. But a small handful of the Ralphlings were heard from. The Rump Roast, the Anklebiter and Ben Meyers (too colorless to have earned much of a nickname) all took turns at the mike. Nothing terribly dramatic - it seems that they were just warming up their vocal chords for the opera yet to come.

Dick Manley popped up too - I note this only because when I hear his name I can't help but think about the fact that it is a synonym for Penis Macho.

Neither Ralph nor the Pieman were in evidence - probably saving themselves for a more dramatic entrance if (make that "when") things start to heat up.

And, as a side note, Henry Hank (the Lord of the Dance) has a "For Sale" sign up. Make of that what you will.

The Pieman's Pathways

In response to: "Anonymous said... How do you get traffic from the Commons to the thru-way without building on wet lands? " the Pieman has sent the these two pix:

Huzzah!

Gee.

The OCEAN Fund Raising Drive has passed the $100 mark.

After only two weeks of begging and nagging four people in Woodbury have contributed to keep OCEAN going.

Wow!







Just in case anyone else is moved to help out, checks made out to "The SOCA Group" can be sent to OCEAN/ 320 County Route 105 / Highland Mills, NY 10930.

While The Pieman Waits

Well, so far, we've managed to raise $90.25 for OCEAN.

That's really shameful.

But, it seems that the Pieman is still at work on Woodbury issues.

Here is what he just emailed to me - his suggestion for how to deal with the continual traffic tie-ups at the Thruway-6-17-32-Woodbury Common interchange.

(by the way - you too can email the Uncle at cuzzincookie@hotmail.com )


1, Build rotaries just north of Commerce and just south of Buena Vista
2. Lower speed limit to 20 MPH.
3. Remove all traffic lights.
4. No left turns.
5. 4 or 5 lanes each direction - outer two are merge lanes.
6. Post "Lane Changes Must Be Signaled" and "You Must Yield To Cars Signaling Lane Change"






Even with a low speed (20 MPH) and merge lanes, because the flow will be continual without any traffic lights, traffic should move faster than it does now.

So, does this make sense?

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.