[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook"][/caption]Wondering just how much the new Republican Congress is valuing idealism over pragmatism? They're willing to allow greater costs for seniors by sacrificing the closing of the so-called “doughnut hole” that costs some senior citizens hundreds of dollars a year in prescriptions that Medicare will not cover so they can claim defeat of the health care legislation approved last year at this time, at least according to freshman Congressman Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, A story in this morning's Register Star on Gibson's views points out that he "may not especially like the coverage gap - but he’s willing to bring it back in order to undo the much bigger health care reform package enacted by Democrats last year." In a telephone interview, Gibson could not say how or if the Republican majority in the House would avoid letting the “doughnut hole” return if the health care reform is repealed. "That’ll be a part of the discussions,” Gibson said. “I’m not going to support a policy that’s not paid for.” Gibson, who defeated Democrat Scott Murphy in November, did however express support for a number of elements of the health care laws within his statements, albeit with caveats that the whole kit and kaboodle be handled fresh, no matter any costs to citizens caught up in the great national debate of the day.

The doughnut hole refers to the gap in coverage beginning at prescription costs of $2,800. Up to that point, the Medicare prescription drug plan pays for medications. But people are on their own until costs reach $6,154, when catastrophic coverage kicks in.

The closing of the gap began to take effect Jan. 1, and beneficiaries should notice the difference immediately in prescription prices, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., reported. By 2020, he said, the gap will be closed.

Columbia County is home to 1,047 people affected by the coverage gap, who will save $9.4 million during the next 10 years, Schumer’s office estimated.

Gibson acknowledged that the issue is not simply whether Congress pays for a doughnut hole fix - the Democratic-passed law does that -- but how. The health care reform law covers the cost by compelling drug companies to give Medicare Part D beneficiaries a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs.

Critics say that’s a flawed approach, however, because drug companies would be able to simply raise prices, while offering the discount, meaning seniors could end up paying more for drugs anyhow.

The new Republican majority has declared that new spending on programs must be paid for with cuts in other programs - but not cuts in other parts of Medicare, for instance, as the Democratic-passed law does and which the GOP attacked during the debate over the legislation.

Democrats note that Republicans enacted the Medicare Part D program under President Bush through borrowing, adding to the budget deficit.

Repeal is unlikely to go any farther than the House, as long as Democrats control the Senate and the White House.

The Republican leadership had scheduled a vote on repeal this week but delayed it because of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. The earliest votes would be next week.

If the leadership follows the script it laid out last week, the House will vote on repeal before considering an alternative reform plan still being crafted by Republicans. Gibson has been critical of that approach, saying they should be considered together.

Generally, Gibson said, he supports a reform package based on free-market principals which cuts down on the cost of medical liability lawsuits and allows access to insurance policies across state lines, in order to contain health care costs.

More competition will reduce premiums, he said.

In addition, Gibson said he favors increasing the number of people with insurance - not over the current law, which greatly expanded coverage, but over the conditions before the law was passed. And he supports giving states more flexibility in administering Medicare.

And although he has been critical of the law, he said he agrees with some aspects, such as prohibiting insurance companies from dropping beneficiaries if they become sick.

“If it’s insurance, you shouldn’t be dropped,” Gibson said.

There's yet another big problem at the Greene County Sheriff's office, which in the past decades have seen sheriff's caught driving drunk, as well as a years-long investigation into missing cocaine.

Now the Daily Mail reports this morning, January 11, that a $214,000 federal grant awarded in 2001 must be repaid by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office this month. Greene County Sheriff Greg Seeley made the announcement during the county legislature’s public safety committee meeting on Monday evening, January 10, noting that the sheriff’s office worked hard to preserve the funds awarded more than nine years ago but would still have to return them since they were never spent properly. “It should have been spent,” Seeley said of the funds awarded during the administration of former Sheriff Richard Hussey and never used for their original purpose: which was to purchase computers for patrol vehicles as part of a statewide initiative. The funds are now due back by January 15, this coming Saturday. Greene County legislators expressed dismay at the news, with most seeming to pass blame on their former sheriff.

Intended to purchase computer equipment for patrols, the grant would have redeployed 8.6 full-time equivalent workers.

The total funding amount was $214,088 in federal funds, with a required local cash match of $71,363. It was supposed to be utilized over a 12-month period between Sept. 1, 2001 through Aug. 31, 2002. There was a 90-day allowance after the end date before the grant expired.

In October 2002, the sheriff’s office requested an extension at no cost. No extension was requested after the new end date of Aug. 31, 2003 and the grant expired.

According to a letter from the federal Department of Justice, the sheriff’s office “drew down” $214,000 of the awarded $214,088 on March 2, 2006 after the grant had been expired.

A closeout report kit was sent to the sheriff’s office in August 2006 . In the report Hussey noted the equipment had not been purchased and there was no method in tracking the redeployment, according to DOJ.

Seeley had discovered the funding was sitting idly in the sheriff’s office budget and attempted to contact DOJ about the reimbursement process.

In a letter to DOJ, Seeley wrote that “the former sheriff chose to utilize only $6,000 of this tremendous award. Of the $214,088, $208,000 of the grant is in the sheriff’s office account with the county legislature.”

After a review of grant records and information provided by the sheriff’s office, DOJ requested that the unused funds — $214,000 — be returned.

Seeley said the funds would have been used to equip the office’s fleet of 12 vehicles with computers to allow efficient processing of reports. Four of the office’s vehicles are equipment with the computer system, Seeley said.

He said he would seek other funding options for the computer equipment.

Legislator Karen Deyo, R-Catskill, appeared frustrated over the loss of funding during committee.

“All the years I’ve been here, I never saw anything like this,” she said. “How can we prevent this from happening in the future?… We should have some kind of oversight so this never ever happens again.”

Greene County Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh, R-Coxsackie, said it was an unfortunate loss but wanted to thank the efforts of Amanda Boomhower, local advisor to former U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Gwendolyn Fuks, 51 of Ghent, is still missing. Call state police with any leads."][/caption]Kenneth French, 31 year old Valatie man who was reported missing since Jan. 7, has returned to the home where he is staying on Monday, January 10, according to Strate Police in Kinderhook. A story on the case, as well as the continuing disappearance of another Columbia County woman, 51 year old Gwendolyn Fuks of Ghent, last seen in the Albany area Dec. 30, ran in this morning's Jan. 11 Register Star.

According to NYSP Senior Investigator Gary Mazzacano, French had been staying with friends in Albany but didn’t tell anyone where he was going before he left. “He was just hanging out in Albany,” Mazzacano said. French apparently showed up in Valatie, told the people he was staying with where he was, said he was fine and departed for Albany again. Mazzacano said no foul play was suspected and French appeared to be fine. French’s sister reported him missing Jan. 7 and said she had last spoken to him Jan. 4.

Fuks, who is still missing, is described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She may be driving a 1998, white, four-door Toyota Camry. Mazzacano told the Register-Star on Jan. 8 that Fuks sent a letter to someone that “caused concern. We’re looking to check on her welfare.”

Anyone with information on Fuks is asked to call the New York State Police at Livingston at 518-851-2001.

Carole Osterink in The Gossips of Rivertown reports on Monday night's informal Common Council meeting in Hudson where First Ward Alderman Sarah Sterling proposed a resolution "to Authorize the Mayor to Negotiate with Holcim Cement Company for the Purchase of Their Property in the City of Hudson." The resolution to purchase the the deep water port dock for "it's actual worth [of] $1.5 million not the current assessed value of $4.5 million," must now pass through the Legal Committee, chaired by Third Ward Alderman Ellen Thurston (who reads a list of local events on Thursdays on WGXC). That committee is tentatively scheduled to meet 6 p.m. Jan. 26 at City Hall. Read ahead to see the entire resolution quoted from The Gossips of Rivertown.

WHEREAS, the City of Hudson in its proposed Local Waterfront Revitalization Program has recognized the importance of the waterfront, especially the area of the deep water port, to the future economic development of the City of Hudson; and
WHEREAS, the proposed LWRP states that "the City supports the continued operation of this port, preferably under the ownership and control of the City of Hudson"; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Hudson believes that revitalization of the City's waterfront is critical to the City's continued economic growth and the health and welfare of its residents; and
WHEREAS, the Holcim Cement Company which owns the deep water port dock that could be an important part of the revitalization of the waterfront has declared that the value of their property in the City of Hudson is actually worth $1.5 million not the current assessed value of $4.5 million and they also report no income from the property despite the evidence of continued delivery of aggregate by trucks through the City to the dock for shipment by barge; and
WHEREAS, the City of Hudson deems that at this time it would be in the City's best interest to acquire this property;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council of the City of Hudson authorizes the Mayor to enter into negotiations with Holcim Cement Company for the purchase of said property at the company's stated worth of $1.5 million with the purchase monies to be raised by a combination of private donations, grant monies, loans and/or bonds.


The Legal Committee is tentatively scheduled to meet Wednesday, January 26, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Tune in today
TUNE IN WGXC will air the following live shows on WGXC Online Radio Monday:
•WGXC Morning Show 6-8 a.m. live with Casson Kennedy and Mark Lacoy; repeated at 4-6 p.m.
Click here to listen.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF COXSACKIE Regular meeting second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie.

Weather
SNOW BEGINS AT NIGHT 2-4" of snow possible, and a Winter Storm Watch begins at 7 p.m.

Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 7:43 a.m./Low, 2:10 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:24 a.m./4:43 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 10:35 a.m./none

Birthdays
JANUARY 11 Slim Harpo, Jim Hightower, and Mary J. Blige.

State Senator James Seward (R/C/I – Oneonta) was named to the senate finance committee, and Steve McLaughlin (R,C-Melrose) was named ranking member of the Real Property Taxation Committee. “There is no greater time for legislators in Albany to get to work on implementing a property tax cap," McLaughlin said in a press release. "As a citizen legislator, my role is to ensure the voices of my constituents are heard loud and clear and to ease the heavy tax burden facing the people of this region and state.” Seward put out an audio press release, which you can hear here: NYStateSen.JamesSeward_FinanceComm_011111

Assemblyman McLaughlin represents the 108th district, which is comprised by parts of Rensselaer, Albany, Greene, and Columbia counties. Senator Seward represents Greene County and nine other counties in the State Senate.

Senate Senate GOP Majority Committee Assignments

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Kenneth French"][/caption]State Police in Columbia County are looking for two people, who have been missing for several days. The two cases are not related. but all our local papers have been running the story. According to a piece in Mid Hudson News Network this morning, State Police at Livingston are seeking information on the whereabouts of Gwendolyn Fuks, 51, of Ghent. She was last seen in the Albany area on December 30, 2010. Fuks is described as being five feet, six inches tall, 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She may be driving a white 1998 Toyota Camry. Anyone with information is asked to call the State Police at 518-851-2001. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Gwendolyn Fuks"][/caption]Also, State Police at Kinderhook are looking for information on the whereabouts of Kenneth French, 31, of Valatie. He was last seen on January 4, 2011 wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He is described as being five feet, seven inches tall, 160 pounds and with brown hair and blue eyes. He may be driving a white 1996 Honda Accord. Anyone with information is asked to call State Police at 518-851-3111.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Dick May of Seeing Greene blog, as seen online..."][/caption]Dick May's Seeing Greene blog roared back for the New Year with the sort of story we all wish we could write in this biz... a semantics lesson unveiling of classic newswriting and reporting tricks akin to Toto's revealing of the Wizard in Frank Baum's great fantasy... utilizing a pair of headlines from the Daily Mail and Daily Freeman on last month's strangely Oedipal arson/suicide story from Athens.

"Our two cited headlines differ, then, with regard to the kind of event they announce. They introduce opening sentences that are alike in form (Lagged Attribution) and are similar in the substance of their main clauses," May, himself a veteran newsman, writes. "Those ledes differ, however, in how they identify the maker of the reported speech act. In the second passage, the speaker is identified as the sheriff of Greene County. In the first passage, the speaker is identified—well, depicted?--as the Greene County sheriff’s office."

The piece is particularly interested given these days when all news has been questioned for bias, and not just accuracy or clarity, or even professional standards.

For the full piece click here...

First there was the inaugural speech, with everyone wondering how New York's new governor would be tackling our budget woes for the coming year. Then the State of the State, given last Wednesday, January 5, with everyone then saying the hard details were yet to come with the new budget, due at the end of this month. Now, it seems hints of several actions surrounding Andrew Cuomo's call for the consolidation of existing state agencies and departments is starting to create pushback, both internal and external.

In this morning;'s Times Union, Jimmy Vielkind writes, "If New York's vast budget is a maze, consolidating elements of it requires knocking down walls. Put another way: It's not easily done. Take, for example, the proposal Cuomo unveiled Wednesday in his State of the State address to merge the departments of Insurance and Banking along with the Consumer Protection Board. The regulators for insurance and banking are currently funded by dedicated fees paid by insurers, who believe the costs are unfairly high."

This after we reported an earlier brouhaha where small town bankers decried their being lumped in with Wall Street... as well as growing wonders about when revenues from the recent financial industry rebounds will start to refill state coffers.

The president of the New York Insurance Association said Cuomo must proceed by focusing on stopping "sub-allocations" of dedicated money -- a sort of younger sibling to the more familiar "sweeps" that feed the general fund.

"If (the merger) is theoretically supposed to reduce state spending, then it should reduce the assessment on New York businesses," said Ellen Melchionni, president of the New York Insurance Association. "If they're programs funded for all New Yorkers, it should be funded through the general fund, not a hidden tax on one industry."

Insurance regulation is funded by a dedicated assessment on policy-writers headquartered in New York -- companies like AIG, Utica Mutual and Tower Insurance Group -- that has increased from $3.58 per $1,000 of premiums in 2007 to an estimated $8.88 this fiscal year, according to David Neustadt, spokesman for the Department of Insurance. The banking department is funded by similar assessments on banks and financial institutions.

Neustadt said the Insurance Department's operating budget this fiscal year is $145 million, but roughly $450 million has been collected. A lawsuit filed by Insurance Association over the issue almost a year ago remains pending.

Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto didn't say whether the assessments would be reduced if the consolidation goes forward. It's a classic example of a devil in what should be a glut of details contained in the governor's first budget.

On Wednesday, Cuomo said "our current organization is not effective because it is not organized the way Wall Street works any more."

"These divisions of insurance and banking and consumer protection don't exist in the marketplace, and much of the activity is falling between the cracks of our regulatory entities," he said. "We can have a win-win. We can consolidate them into a Department of Financial Regulation that better protects the consumer, and the consolation will save the taxpayer money by reducing the cost of three separate organizations."

Further details have not been released.

Former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, now a partner at the Manhattan firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, was skeptical significant savings could be achieved.

"As financial products and companies present themselves more and more holistically in the marketplace, it's wholly appropriate for the regulatory regime to respond to that," he said. "I do urge some caution on those who think there will be extremely large cost savings. The fact is the front-line regulators do very different things that are not duplicative.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Thomas Cleland, 18, received the rank of Eagle Scout at a ceremony held at the McNary Center of St. Paul’s Church in Kinderhook. Photo by David Lee from the Register Star website."][/caption]The Register Star leads with a story today on a new Eagle Scout from the Town of Kinderhook, 18 year old Thomas Edward Cleland from Valatie, who was honored in a ceremony held at the McNary Center of St. Paul’s Church in Kinderhook. “Only two percent of all boy scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout every year,” said Glenn Wallace, the Mahikan District Advancement chairman, who pointed out that Cleland was number 316 of only 319 Eagle Scouts from Columbia County, the first being Lawrence Andrews Sr., of Stockport Troop 1, who was so honored in August of 1922.

“You join these Eagles,” he told the young man, “those here and those who are with the greatest scout master of them all.”

“He went through Scouts, from Tiger, since (age) 5, to becoming an Eagle today,” said Cleland’s father, Paul. “It was a great experience for him. He learned how to accept help and give help.”

To earn the Eagle Scout rank, the highest advancement rank in Scouting, a Boy Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills, according to National Eagle Scout Association. Among the areas in which a Boy Scout must prove his mettle include first aid, citizenship and environmental science, among others.

A Scout must also complete a service project to become an Eagle. Cleland chose to update the existing maps of a section of the old cemetery, dating to around 1820, belonging to the Kinderhook Dutch Reformed Church. The information from the gravestones was collected and organized into what will be an online database that includes pictures.

Cleland said he spent around 50 hours on the project. “I had two computer technicians that helped me,” he said.

One of the hardest parts of the project, he said, was trying to decipher the names and dates on the old stones. Cleland dedicated the project to residents, past and present, of Kinderhook.

Of Scouting, Cleland said, he learned the true meaning of service.

Those in attendance used words such as “brave” and “dedicated” to describe Cleland.

Dr. Stephen Krizar, the Scoutmaster for Troop 113, said Cleland was someone with a lot of self-confidence and felt the word “brave” described him well.

“He is someone who can take his convictions and make them the guide for his life,” he said.

Maria Cammarata, the troop 113 committee chairperson, said that Cleland was full of determination.

“I’m in awe of what a fine young man he has become,” said the Rev. Stark Jones, who gave the invocation and benediction at the event. During his opening prayer he said that they were “there to mark the completion of a foundation built majestically and what he has built, he will stand on for the rest of his life.”

Catskill Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Farrell is quoted in a story about Andrew Cuomo's lightly-proposed property tax cap in today's Daily Freeman saying that if the tax cap is set at 2 percent, as is presently being discussed, school districts will automatically run at a minimum 10 percent deficit.

Her sentiments are matched by other school administrators, as well as most town, city and county officials interviewed, with only a few key Republican state legislators supporting the tax cap measure without considerable qualifications.

The big beef? That school districts and municipalities have no control over retirement and health care benefit costs — fixed costs that Farrell said make up 10 percent of state school budgets. If those costs rise 8 to 12 percent, and tax hikes are capped, “that doesn’t give us a lot of options” other than cutting programs, she added.

Area school districts, the story goes on to report, make up the largest share of property taxes paid by most homeowners, and have already seen their employment rolls cut by more than 250 jobs in the current school year, alongside reduced services and increased class sizes as state aid has shrunk and contractual expenses continued to rise. But even with those cuts and an infusion of federal stimulus money, the property tax levy among 18 local school districts grew by an average of 4.335 percent. Furthermore... the story notes how the weak economy has already led local governments and school districts to begin restructuring their operations, with everywhere from Kinderhook to Hunter-Tannersville starting to talk about school closures and cross-district consolidations for the future. Add the proposed cap on property tax hikes, and school districts across New York face a potential shortfall of $815 million per year over the next four years just to meet personnel costs, according to a recent report by the state School Boards Association.

State legislators, meanwhile, are pointing out that the governors tax cap proposal is still not detailed, and should include mandate relief elements. But that, in turn, has raised concerns about how you work against employees and hard-earned labor benefits enshrined in law, as well as nine state mandates - Medicaid, public assistance/Safety Net, child welfare, preschool special education, indigent defense, probation, youth detention, early intervention and pensions - that will be hard to impossible to dismantle.

For the full story click here...

The Daily Mail has a story this morning about a local crime yesterday where a 27-year-old Columbia County man was arrested after attempting to rob a convenience store on Route 9W in the Greene County town of Athens around noon yesterday, January 9. According to a press release issued by state police, Scott M. Schrader allegedly demanded money from a clerk at the Athens XtraMart on Route 9W and Schoharie Turnpike. After the clerk refused to turn over any money, state police said that Schrader pushed over a food rack and fled the store in a 2008 Hyundai.

The report by Colin DeVries is dry and as good a description of the banal blow-by-blows of local crime as we've seen anywhere.

An XtraMart clerk interviewed Sunday evening by The Daily Mail described how the incident transpired. The clerk interviewed, Gavin Taranto, was not working when the crime occurred but heard from co-workers — and read from a written statement — about what had happened there only hours earlier.

Taranto said Schrader had wanted to purchase a Snapple drink before attempting the robbery.

When the register popped open to give change back, the clerk on duty said Schrader calmly asked for all the cash in the register.

“You’re kidding, right?” the female clerk responded.

Taranto then said Schrader stared blankly at the clerk then angrily turned away from the counter and pushed down a large rack full of beef jerky, chips, and snack cakes — among other treats.

Schrader, described as about 5-foot-6 and heavy set, then fled the store, leaving a mess in his wake.

The clerk wrote down the license plate number to Schrader’s 2008 Hyundai and contacted emergency personnel.

Responding state police patrols found Schrader’s vehicle traveling south on Route 9W in Catskill.

He was apprehended without incident and charged with third-degree attempted robbery, third-degree criminal mischief, both class E felonies, and driving while ability impaired by drugs.

Police said the drugs he was impaired by were not illicit and no weapons were involved in the incident.

Schrader was arraigned in Athens Town Court and remanded to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail and $20,000 bond. He is due back in court on Jan. 13.

State police were assisted by the Catskill Police Department, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Greene County District Attorney’s Office.

more details

As if to demonstrate the thinking that guns have gotten too prevalent in our society, a Register Star prominently ran a story yesterday about how two Columbia County men were arrested Thursday after police received tips that someone was trying to sell a hot gun in Hudson. Andrew Amelinckx, who is also producing "Difficult Histories" for WGXC-FM, reports that Jason A. Higley and Alex D. Cruz, both 24 and from Hudson, were picked up by the Hudson Police Department after detectives received phone tips that a man was trying to sell a gun to people near State Street in Hudson.

“We received information from concerned citizens,” said HPD Lt. Richard Paolino, adding that officers tracked down the two suspects and discovered a handgun in their vehicle. Higley has been charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class C felony, while Cruz was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class D felony. Both men have also been charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, a class E felony. Higley and Cruz were arraigned in Hudson City Court before Judge Richard Koweek and remanded to the Columbia County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond and $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond, respectively. According to HPD this is the second illegal handgun recovered by the agency this year. On Jan. 3, a citizen discovered a handgun in a parking lot near lower Columbia Street in Hudson. The investigation is still continuing in that case, he said.

Concurrently, the Times Union reported on Sunday about anti-gang anti-gun investigations in the state capital since September 2006, when a wave of shootings swept the city. Charting histories for the Jungle Junkies, Original Gangsta Killers, and other entities, the story notes the importance of involvement by the U.S. Attorney's office in putting together a task force that brought together the resources of the Albany police, DEA, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), among others. Many of the gangs' drug deals were monitored, the ATF built a database of shootings using every shell casing and bullet recovered from crime scenes, and individual guns, many of them stolen in other states, were connected to the gang members who used, sold or kept the weapons. And according to reporter Brendan Lyons, he investigation reached its peak two weeks ago when the last of 25 OGK members pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges. They are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months. Last year, a Jungle Junkies case culminated with the last of 30 people, including Conley and Robinson, being sentenced to federal prison. The story charts how members joined gangs at ages as young as 10 or 11, entering a culture of violence that has plagued many upstate cities.
For the full Register Star story, click here.
For the Times Union piece, try here.

State Telephone Company, Inc. has filed with the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) a 10-year Cable Television Franchise agreement to operate and maintain a cable television system serving the Village of Coxsackie, according to a Public Notice in The Daily Mail. The Franchise agreement is available for review at the Coxsackie Village Hall, 119 Mansion, Coxsackie, NY 12051.

Tune in today
TUNE IN WGXC will air the following live shows on WGXC Online Radio Monday:
•WGXC Morning Show 6-8 a.m. live with Casson Kennedy and Mark Lacoy; repeated at 4-6 p.m.
Click here to listen.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF CANAAN Canaan Town Board will hold the Organizational Meeting. The regular monthly meeting will follow the Organizational Meeting. 6:30 p.m. at Canaan Town Hall, 1647 County Route 5 Canaan.

Weather
COLD But partly cloudy.

Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 7:11 p.m./Low, 1:14 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:24 a.m./4:42 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 10:11 a.m./11:16 p.m.

AP via The Wall Street Journal reports President Barack Obama has postponed his planned trip Tuesday to a General Electric factory in Schenectady, and The White House says it will be rescheduled. Obama called on people in the United States to observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m. EST Monday to honor victims of the Arizona shooting. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot at a public event Saturday morning, with six people killed, and 12 others injured... Earlier Sunday, the shooting also precluded the national coming-out of local Congressman Chris Gibson, who was scheduled to be featured in ABC's "This Week" program, but was bumped due to the events in Arizona.

Martin Roby recorded audio mp3s of the December 30 Stuyvesant town board meeting. Click here to select of the many short mp3s of different topics of the meeting that Roby recorded.

Building lot size changes: Ron Knott talks then Martin Roby ask a question (15M)
Questions on attorney invoices? Who does the Town Attorney work for? Why are the bank records blurred so we can read the checks? First: Martin Roby then Tal Rappleyea, then Will Pflaum, then Valerie Bertram, and last Ronald Knott (25M)
Damage to mail boxes/car from snow plows (3.3M)
Greenway money for garage update; apparently the new agency head wants more information on boat launch turned salt shed. (12M)
december_meeting_room_decoration.mp3 (1.3M)
Assessor report (1.5M)
Town Clerk report (1.6M)
Setting date for budget workshop (4.9M)
Ed Scott no longer on trails (2.8M)
Historian about the book on Stuyvesant (4.4M)
Questions on county resolutions (3.7M)
Rail Road: Ron Knott
Martin Roby: Questions about the Falls Bridge to get painted and Valerie Bertram responds (18M)


recreation_Lee_Jamison_no_trails.mp3 (6.1M)
Two resign position open on zba and maintainance for the cemetery (9.6M)
zoning_none planning: Charlene Leach and Will Pflaum (3.3M)

Congressman Chris Gibson, who represents Greene and Columbia counties, released this statement after the shooting this morning of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords: "My wife Mary Jo and I were deeply saddened to learn of the details of this horrific attack. We send along our thoughts and prayers to Congresswoman Giffords and her family, friends, and staff. We pray for all those affected by this tragedy." Gibson was to be featured Sunday morning at 9 a.m. on “This Week” with Christiane Amanpour on WTEN, but the show bumped the segment because of the shooting.

Consolidation is coming our way, with neighboring Northern Dutchess towns now joining a wave that's also included Greene County's southern neighbor, Ulster County, and resulted in a well-attended conference on the subject last month. A story by Jim Gordon in HV Biz this week addressed a Dec. 15 public forum hosted by the Northern Dutchess Alliance titled, “Shared Services Across Northern Dutchess Towns," and how it worked with the alliance’s stated goal to “create a broad-based and inclusive institutional structure for regional cooperation and economic development," using a public process to build support for ideas.

The forum included a discussion on case studies of successful consolidations of services, particularly in Ulster County. A follow-up report on possible areas for consolidation is expected early next year. Saugerties town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel spoke about the consolidation of the town and village police forces – a laborious but successful effort that won approval from both town and village voters and members of both departments, which saw no layoffs.

“One element is not to rush things,” said Lucy Hayden, president of the alliance. “That consolidation of jobs was done over such a long time no one actually lost their position. That was a useful bit of insight.”

“In New York state, the cost of government is coming home to roost and it will be painful,” said Jonathan Drapkin, president and CEO of Pattern for Progress.

“I think what we are trying to convey is the effort to restructure government service delivery is going to happen whether with government leading the way or having it fostered upon it,” said Drapkin. “It will either be done after intelligent planning or because local taxpayers will not continue to pay increased costs for government when that cost is rising without increased services.”

He said that once a successful consolidation is completed, other employees and officials become less reluctant to try it in other departments. “Once a major objection to the whole process was a loss of jobs,” said Drapkin, referring to the police merger in Saugerties. “Once that did not in fact happen, people have opened their minds to the whole process.”

While efforts in Ulster County continue, Pattern is teaming with the Northern Dutchess Alliance to seek opportunities for consolidations there and are interviewing town supervisors and mayors for input. Their report “will point the way in Dutchess,” said Hayden.

Talk about local indications of the growing national trend of union-bashing that's been building in recent years. John Mason reports in the Register Star today that a labor relationships specialist for Taconic Hills Central School District teachers and staff has been barred from entering school grounds without the permission of Superintendent Mark Sposato.

In a Jan. 3 letter, Sposato told Pamela Melville, an attorney with the New York State United Teachers, “Your behavior at the meeting of the Taconic Hills Central School District Board of Education meeting held on Dec. 22, 2010 was disruptive, belligerent, condescending and disrespectful. As a Labor Relations Specialist for NYSUT, a prominent statewide organization, your actions were inexcusable, unprofessional and will not be tolerated.” Melville works with both the faculty association and the support staff association. A former Canaan town judge, she has been a labor advocate for 20 years, a labor and employment lawyer for more than 11 years and a field rep for 10. “When I do my job, anybody who knows me can tell you I am an utmost professional,” she said. “One of my guidelines in what I do is to maintain civility.” Melville said she will be filing a notice of claim and an improper practice charge because “the superintendent and district don’t have the authority to keep me off the grounds, or to interfere in my role as the representative for the Faculty and Support Staff associations.”

In his Jan. 3 letter, Sposato goes on to say that, due to her actions, Melville will not be allowed on school property “for any reason, including meetings, school functions or activities, without prior permission from the Superintendent of Schools. If you fail to confirm prior approval, the police will be called, you will be removed from the premise, and a complaint for trespass will be sworn out. Regards, Mark A. Sposato, Superintendent of Schools.”

Robert Freeman of the New York State Committee on Open Government said “the only people that have a right to attend executive sessions are members of the board.” He added that “there’s nothing in the law that requires officials to respond to any question.”

However, he said, Melville “should have the same privilege of the floor as any other member of the public. I don’t think the superintendent or the board have the ability to preclude any member of the public from attending an open meeting.”

On Dec. 22, Melville spoke to the board during the public forum, the second item on the agenda. She said she had three items to address.

The first, she said, was a planned executive session to hear grievances of the Taconic Hills Support Staff Association. She noted that the THSSA had not been invited. As she was speaking, Board President Ron Morales interrupted her, saying, “We’re done.”

“Did the board vote to exclude ...” Melville began.

“What are you not understanding?” Morales asked.

“We made an information request ...” Melville began.

“We are done,” Morales said. “We read this,” he said, indicating paperwork Melville had distributed to the board members. “This is not required.”

“I believe this is the public opportunity,” Melville said. “The last item is on page 6, Financials — Contracts ...” At this point, Morales asked to have her removed and Sposato said he would call the police and left the room.

Melville said, “Please exclude the association when you do act on it. Thank you,” and sat down.

Later on in the meeting, a state trooper appeared and stood at the back of the room.

According to draft minutes of the meeting obtained by the Register-Star, “Ms. Melville, NYSUT Representative, referred to three items listed on the agenda for approval and asked the board to table them at this time.”

Sposato said it was due to her actions on that day that she must obtain his permission to enter school property. Asked what she did that was “disruptive, belligerent, condescending or disrespectful,” he said it was “an expression of what took place,” but that he missed some of it because he was out of the room.

Subsequent to the Jan. 3 letter, Faculty Association President Kevin Reis requested permission from Sposato for Melville to attend a meeting of teachers that had been scheduled weeks earlier. The superintendent refused, saying she had to ask him herself.

Melville’s first item at the Dec. 22 meeting was about the decision not to include the Support Staff Association in the Executive Session, as had been the past practice.

The questions she intended to ask the board, according to information sheets she gave the board, were:

“When did the board decide it would review grievance #4 and #5 without the THHSA present?” and

“Is the board aware that the THHSA made a request for documents and information related to grievance #4 2010-11?”

And she intended to ask that those documents be shared with the association, and that the board reschedule the review of the grievances to a future time.

She noted that, according to contract, the decision of whether to meet with the grievant and his/her representative is up to the board’s discretion. But she wondered whether the board had sufficient information to make this decision. Usually, she told the Register-Star, the union prepares a packet, with supporting documents, copies of the contract, “everything needed for an informed decision.”

In this case, she said, the heads of the Support Staff Association, Donald Simmons and Joseph Argus, had just received an email the day before the meeting saying the grievance would be heard and the union presence was not required, so there had not been time to prepare a packet.

“I asked [the board] to table it because they didn’t have the information to make the decision whether the grievance should be voted on or not,” Melville said.

Sposato said he sends every grievance, at every level, to the board, and “the board lets us know how they’ll proceed. The board lets us know if they need the support staff there.”

In this case, he said, Morales informed him the support staff would not be required.

The second item concerned a grievance over hiring procedure. The board was accepting a bid from an individual.

“None of us could find where they had done an RFP,” Melville said. “How did this person end up being the sole bidder? We think it should be a union position, not from an outside source.”

Sposato said the person in question has never had anything to do with the Support Staff Association.

“It was a middle management association job,” he said. “It’s always been there — she’s been here more than 20 years.” He added that the position was advertised.

Her third item had to do with a change in vacation accruals.

Support staff discovered they had earned and unused vacation days that hadn’t been showing up on their paystubs, Sposato said. The total vacation days accumulated expire at a certain date, so employees were in danger of losing those days.

The administration came up with the idea of extending the sick leave another full year. The annual vacation time allotment would be changed from date of hire to July 1.

“I spoke to Joe Argus and Donald Simmons,” Sposato said. “They were in support. I said we’d take it to the board. If Donny and Joey still want to sign it ... their people won’t lose [the accrued days] at the end of June.”

Melville told the board she thought it was bad faith to approve a memorandum of agreement to which the THSSA has not agreed, and “a violation of the district’s obligation to bargain in good faith for the superintendent to present an agreement to you that has not been negotiated with or agreed to by the THSSA.”

“Please table this resolution,” reads her Dec. 22 statement to the board. “We wish to avoid having to litigate the board participating in the superintendent’s bad faith acts by approving this document.”

Speaking to the Register-Star, she said, “The union has the responsibility to investigate whether that will hurt anybody and whether it’s the right decision for the bargaining unit. Wouldn’t this be raised at bargaining? We don’t want items to be raised piecemeal.”

Sposato said he deals with Argus, Simmons and Reis, not with Melville. NYSUT, he said, is just an advisory body.

Reis agreed that, when push comes to shove, the local has the final decision, but he said he relies on Melville’s experience.

“She represents 13 different districts,” he said. “She has years of experience handling this. I’ve been president for six months.”

Regarding her expulsion from the meeting and the resulting letter, Melville said, “My thought was, ‘Why would the superintendent be doing this?’ Because there were at least 50 witnesses — 32 faculty — with standing room only, who witnessed what took place. I don’t know but if what this letter has done has opened the door for the community to question who is running Taconic Hills Central School District.”

Melville said the Faculty Association would be creating an action plan regarding the numerous violations of contract that have been occurring at Taconic Hills resulting in grievances and improper practice charges.

“We’ll put a plan on paper to show the board what we’re dealing with in terms of the contract,” she said, “how the union’s efforts to resolve its issues with the district, through the superintendent, were rebuffed or left unaddressed. I think the gloves are off.”

She said limiting her access to the school is changing past practices and would be addressed by the Public Employees Relations Board.