School
trustees do best they can with budget
I attended the
May 8 Red Hook Central School District public hearing not in my
capacity as the town board liaison to the district but as a
taxpayer.
Knowing how much work is done by a busy few, I thank the
volunteers on the board of education, Mill Road PTA and Red Hook
PTSA for their hard work and dedication our children.
I also want to congratulate the board of education and district
administrators for taking a hard look at the budget. The little
more than 3 percent increase is quite remarkable, and we should
all vote "yes" for it.
For this cooperative effort, and many other reasons, I support
incumbents Sean McLaughlin, Frank Knobloch and Diana Brooks for
re-election to the school board.
We often get angry with the board of education for tax
increases. But the board has very little flexibility in the
school budget.
Our anger should be addressed to our elected officials, who,
year after year, profess to "feel our pain," promise to ease our
burden - then do little to nothing to relieve us.
We must hold politicians, many of whom are up for re-election,
accountable this November. In Red Hook, we have not only the
presidential race but also a congressional, state Assembly,
state Senate and town board. We must carefully research the
promises of the past and compare them to what has been
delivered. They, and only they, are the ones that can make
meaningful change in school financing.
Micki Strawinski, Red Hook
Poughkeepsie Journal Letter to the Editor 5/16/08
Minding Micki
Letter to the Editor: We're
watching
Dear Editor:
Red Hook Councilwoman Micaela Strawinski should be
ashamed of herself for trying to create problems on the Red Hook
Town Board by reading an inflammatory anonymous letter degrading
another town official, especially since Red Hook is still
recuperating from the previous supervisor's reign of similar
antics.
Remember a taxpayer being locked out of Town Hall after
a vigorous "tug-of-war" with the supervisor? Or how about when
the police wee illegitimately called by the supervisor's crony
to hush a taxpayer? Not to mention last-minute agendas, the
illegal building moratorium meeting, and that horrible deafening
gavel suppressing the voice of the people.
Finally, Supervisor Sue Crane was elected and it looks
like peace, professionalism and perspective will be restored in
Town Hall and the community. Now Strawinski steps up to the
plate and - deja vu - the last administrator's "Mickey Mouse"
tactics.
Twice Strawinski has tried to bring an honorable town
official to low esteem by suggesting "impropriety." Twice she
has alienated taxpayers who respect the honor in this town
official she is trying to demean. A half-a-dozen times she has
gained the disrespect of other town officials and employees she
must work with for the next four years.
Strawinski is lucky in that Crane does not play petty
politics. Strawinski is unlucky in that her apparent passive
aggressive behavior will now be examined under a political
microscope.
Rosemarie Zengen, Red Hook
3/6/08 Daily Freeman (not online)
A matter of
opinion...
From Red Hook Rooster Creator, Charlie Rubin
Dear Editor,
Rosemarie Zengen should be ashamed of herself for her
baseless attacks on Red Hook Councilwoman Micaela Strawinski.
Ms. Strawinski is doing an excellent job representing the people
of Red Hook.
What she did was bring to attention the fact that 2
members of the
Zoning Board admitted to playing poker with a gentleman who
intends to build an enormous housing development in Red Hook
(Meadowbrook Estates) just days before hearing his case for a
ruling which would enable him to build even more houses. Note
that on Supervisor Sue Crane's advice, the entire Town Board
then unanimously referred this matter to the Ethics Board for
review.
A major function of our town's regulatory boards is to
oversee land
development - to make sure that new development fits in with the
town's character and does not overwhelm local resources
(schools,
roads, water quality).
Right now these boards in Red Hook are riddled with
land developers and people who work for land developers. It's
like the fox guarding the henhouse. There is a constant worry
about backroom deals being made that somehow benefit these board
members or their friends.
Given this appearance of impropriety, I don't
understand how these
members ever got appointed in the first place. They may be fine
individuals, but the people who oversee and regulate land
development
should *not* be land developers!
On a related note, you neglected to mention in your
recent article
that the individual opposing my plan to videotape all town
meetings is
himself a member of the Zoning Board, which was recently caught
on
tape making the admission mentioned above.
Charlie Rubin, Red Hook
