Reminder: VOTE

After many months of inactivity, we don’t expect this post to reach a lot of the community; all the more reason for those of you reading this to remind your friends.  This Tuesday is Election Day.  For what it’s worth—and it’s worth a whole lot to us—we’ll be casting our ballots for Lynne Eckardt, Cathie Sloat, and Kevin Palmer.  We hope you will, too.

A word on Lynne Eckardt, briefly.  We’ve been attending town board meetings for over a year (for reference, Lynne’s been a regular for over nine).  Among the many in attendance that leave meetings frustrated, indignant, or simply awestruck, Lynne stands out as someone who has consistently tempered those reactions with well-informed, rational criticism.  Her presence at the podium is always respectful, thoughtful, and honest.  As someone who’s sat through public comment too frustrated to articulate his opinion at the mic, I can tell you how gratifying it is to hear Lynne speak succinctly and poignantly on the topic.  That’s what we want on our town board.  Please join us in supporting her.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th.  Remind everyone you see to get out and vote!

Fracking update

Ken Lovett of the New York Daily News has an article on the latest fracking situation, particularly that the NYS AG Eric Schniederman is digging into the disclosures and records that natural gas companies have produced for their investors details the (horrendous and carcinogenic) chemicals they plan to use in the fracking process. In addition to trying to uncover some of this info, the state DEC is slated to release a preliminary reports on the status of fracking in the state and its findings thus far. We will try to track down this report and share it with you right here at 10509.org.

Read all of Ken’s article here on the Daily News website.

Where o’ where is that monthly budget update?

A few months ago, when we were in the midst of a budget crisis, our Chief Budget Officer promised us a monthly budget update.  The underlying idea is one we support: keeping up with the current pace of spending and saving while monitoring which departments are running over budget.  Our question is, where was the monthly update for April 2011?  We’re curious where we ended up with winter storm spending and if there are any other departments where spending needs to be reined in.  We’ll be keeping an eye out this month to see if any updates make their way onto the agenda.

Southeast Town Board videos on YouTube

We are happy to announce that Southeast Town Board meeting videos can now be found on YouTube. This new setup allows for much easier searching/instant viewing of past meetings. It is now possible to stream and skip ahead into the movies without waiting for the entire file to load. This is especially helpful for those of you on slower connections. YouTube also allows for an interesting feature that lets you link to an exact spot in a video. You can get this option by right-clicking (ctrl-clicking on a mac) in the timeline of a video while it’s playing.

We will be making use of this feature on our Town Board Videos page, which will feature an archive for videos old and new. After each video is available we will make a YouTube playlist for it. Occasionally we will highlight specific portions that we think are particularly informative or important.

Support Marriage Equality!

The New York State Senate again has the opportunity to legalize same-sex marriage, and Senator Greg Ball—an important swing-vote for this bill—is currently undecided on the issue.  Mr. Ball has stated both publicly and privately that if our district shows support for marriage equality, he will vote YES.

Legalization of same-sex marriage in New York will provide gay and lesbian couples with the basic legal rights and safeguards that they as law-abiding, tax-paying citizens deserve.  Moreover, the spike in civil marriage licenses would provide New York with $184 million in economic benefits, according to a recent study by the New York City Comptroller’s office.

We ask that you contact Senator Ball and give voice to this significant, long-overdue legislation.  Call 845-279-3773 or visit New Yorkers for Marriage Equality.

Fracking Update: Moratorium expires 6/1/2011

A reminder that on June 1, 2011, the executive order that placed a temporary moratorium on fracking in New York State is set to expire. You can take action and request that Gov. Cuomo extend this order here on the Riverkeeper website. Regardless of what you think politically, safe drinking water to anyone within the New York State watershed system should be a priority. Please take a moment and lend your support and voice to this incredibly important issue that faces our state and all of its wonderful natural resources. We can expect a report in the summer covering what the DEC has found thus far, but it is imperative that we keep the pressure on politicians to take a stand on fracking.

The State of Things

We know we’ve been gone for a bit, but we did want to offer up a few points we’ve noticed in recent months—recurring themes, divisive issues, and some good ol’ fashioned ‘business as usual.’

“Every year’s an election year”
After months of leadup and posturing, the horses in this year’s town election race have been announced.  On the Republican ticket is Tony Hay for Supervisor, with Roger Gross running for re-election to the board and Edwin Alvarez for the other board seat.  Having been endorsed by the local Republican committee, they’ve garnered a wider base of support throughout the community.

Sitting opposite them are Michael Rights, Dwight Yee and Robert Bock. Despite not receiving the nod from the Republicans, they will surely run a vocal and aggressive campaign if 2007 is any indicator (Michael Rights loaned Save our Southeast upwards of $80,000 of his own personal money to finance the campaign).  While they haven’t adopted any specific positions yet from an electoral standpoint, we are definitely interested in hearing the main components of their platform and the details to validate their promises.

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10509 Gets Trashy

Following a few months of much-needed hibernation, 10509.org ambles back into the splendor of the blogosphere!  Although the website itself spent the winter in reclusion, its editors braved the political climate and continued to keep up with all goings on in Southeast.  Check back for frequent updates; lots to discuss as our area warms up for spring and election season readies its onset of promises and coercion.

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Ruth Mazzei will not run for re-election in 2011

Citing personal and health reasons, with a serious emphasis on the mistreatment suffered at the hands of Michael Rights and Dwight Yee, the long serving Town Clerk Ruth Mazzei will not be seeking re-election this year. Below is her full press release regarding the matter:

The purpose of this press conference is bittersweet for me. I have been a resident of Southeast for 33 years and love this community. For the past 20 years, I have had the honor and privilege of serving as your Town Clerk. After much soul-searching and upon the advice of my doctor and the insistence of my family, I regretfully have withdrawn my name as a candidate for re-election as your Southeast Town Clerk.
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Interviews Rehash Consolidation/Dissolution

Recently, two interviews were published on Southeast-Brewster Patch: one with Mayor Jim Schoenig and one with Supervisor Michael Rights.  At a glance, the interviews don’t expose anything particularly novel if you’ve been keeping up with local news; each discussion addresses the big talking points of our area, including illegal-immigration issues, internal improvements and renewal plans, and projections about the future.  But a closer comparison of the two articles illuminates a growing rift between the town and the village that seems rooted in the consolidation/dissolution movement.

This proposal appeared to go dormant after a couple of heated debates at Southeast town meetings this past fall.  Some of you may recall the distribution of petitions for consolidation/dissolution at a board meeting when the idea was first floated and the followup that was supposed to be an informative meeting back in September.  You might also recall the sharp disapproval Supervisor Rights and Councilman Yee received from many in the audience for circulating these petitions before the public was provided any hard facts.  Well, although this proposal hasn’t resurfaced in recent town board meetings, the supervisor has been plugging it as a growing trend in a few other venues, including a New York Times piece on living in Brewster.

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