Friday, June 26, 2009
Congratulations!
I want to offer my sincere congratulations to the NPHS Class of 2009. These kids are absolutely incredible and I have been so lucky to get to know many of them over the past few years. I have never met such a fun, talented, intelligent and inspiring group of people and I wish everyone the very best in their future endeavors!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Celebrity Death Watch
OK, the phone calls earlier were fine but now this is getting a little ridiculous...
Here's the rundown:
Ed McMahon - Dead
Farrah Fawcett - Dead
Michael Jackson - Dead
Jeff Goldblum - Not Dead
Harrison Ford - Not Dead
Brad Pitt - Not Dead
Chesney Hawkes - Not Dead
We're good now.
Here's the rundown:
Ed McMahon - Dead
Farrah Fawcett - Dead
Michael Jackson - Dead
Jeff Goldblum - Not Dead
Harrison Ford - Not Dead
Brad Pitt - Not Dead
Chesney Hawkes - Not Dead
We're good now.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Joining the ranks of the Bikeys
So, now that I'm in Sacramento surrounded by beautifully wide, paved, flat streets, bike lanes and sunshine, I have decided to join the ranks of the bikeys that I so deeply admire (yes, Rebecca, Rachel, Lagusta, etc., this would apply to you).
The Holiday 3i Townie... I love the front basket but there have also been some safety problems with this model. Apparently, the basket can separate from the rest of the frame and make contact with the front wheel, causing injuries such as "bruises and scratches." Which, in my world of perpetual bruises and scratches, would probably mean sudden death.
The Original 7D Townie... not my hugest favorite, but I'd certainly be happy with it. The Townies seem to have some bolder color options than the more pastel Cruisers.
The Original 3i Townie... again, I'm not going to fall down and marry this style, but it's nice.
The Jenny 3i Cruiser... fun design, love the dots.
The Navy 3i Cruiser... I'm crazy about this one, although I'm not sure that it matches enough of my wardrobe? I have been increasingly obsessed with everything sailor, but it doesn't negate the fact that I have a lot of prissy, pastel flowery things. Will they work with this?? I'm not sure... I just might not be cool enough to pull off the Navy.
The Gypsy 3i Cruiser... the Gypsy is super fun and I love the accessories available for it. In a lot of ways, it is *similar* to the Girard Amsterdam, but will probably be much closer to my price range.
The Blanc Et Noir 3i Cruiser... this one is definitely beautiful, but I think it'd be better for me if it had the black and white floral without the green accents and multicolor seat, etc.
But, because I'm still me, I'm facing the difficult dilemma of exactly what color/style bike to purchase. It needs to be skirt friendly, needs to have great options for baskets, bells, streamers, etc. and it needs to be classic.
I've pretty much settled on an Electra because they are so beautiful and perfect and there are a lot more color and design choices than Schwinn currently offers. The fenders on nearly every model and skirt guards on the Amsterdams are also a HUGE incentive. Plus, Electra is my Aunt's middle name, so that's cool.
The frontrunners include:
The Alexander Girard 3i Tree of Life Amsterdam. So beautiful and probably the most expensive choice, but there simply are not words for HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS BICYCLE!!!
The Original 3i Amsterdam... this is probably in my top 3 choices right now...
The Holiday 3i Townie... I love the front basket but there have also been some safety problems with this model. Apparently, the basket can separate from the rest of the frame and make contact with the front wheel, causing injuries such as "bruises and scratches." Which, in my world of perpetual bruises and scratches, would probably mean sudden death. The Original 7D Townie... not my hugest favorite, but I'd certainly be happy with it. The Townies seem to have some bolder color options than the more pastel Cruisers.The Original 3i Townie... again, I'm not going to fall down and marry this style, but it's nice.The Jenny 3i Cruiser... fun design, love the dots.The Navy 3i Cruiser... I'm crazy about this one, although I'm not sure that it matches enough of my wardrobe? I have been increasingly obsessed with everything sailor, but it doesn't negate the fact that I have a lot of prissy, pastel flowery things. Will they work with this?? I'm not sure... I just might not be cool enough to pull off the Navy. The Gypsy 3i Cruiser... the Gypsy is super fun and I love the accessories available for it. In a lot of ways, it is *similar* to the Girard Amsterdam, but will probably be much closer to my price range.The Blanc Et Noir 3i Cruiser... this one is definitely beautiful, but I think it'd be better for me if it had the black and white floral without the green accents and multicolor seat, etc.Friday, May 29, 2009
Committed Volunteers
Sorry for the hiatus, I've been packing up everything I own to get a better tan 3,000 miles away. Luckily, I'm done with that now.
This week's Village Board Meeting, the last for The Gatekeeper and The Renegade, was a disaster. Because there was no meeting. See, The Mayor and The Gatekeeper showed up, but The Renegade, The Butterfly and The Financier were all absent. Apparently The Financier's absence was excused (this time) due to a personal issue. No one seems to know where The Butterfly was, although her husband was present for the first time in anyone's memory. The Renegade was simply out, due to personal obligations and priorities that may or may not have been communicated or excused. So, without a quorum, the meeting was never called to order and business in the VoNP is stalled, yet again.
In the wake of The Butterfly's unjustified and unprofessional tirade against the NPFD, many of her defenders are pointing to the meager stipend and supreme level of commitment that she has demonstrated in her capacity as Trustee. So, as is my way, I did some data entry and found even my overly cynical self disappointed by the results.
Instead of dealing with the personal qualities of The Butterfly as Trustee, and without even attempting to tackle the subjective issue of voting record, let's stick to something we can all agree is a requirement of office: attendance. We all know that Trustees should show up and participation is apparently a bonus. But I've been stating that The Butterfly and The Financier fall far short of even this basic obligation and we don't need to have a philosophical debate about positions or abilities; the facts back this one up.
Section 31-5 of the Village Code outlines that "Any person appointed to a board, commission or committee of the Village shall be expected to attend at least 75% in number of the regular and special meetings of such board, commission or committee during a period of 12 consecutive months." There does not appear to be an attendance policy for elected board members, but I think it is reasonable to assume that these officers should be held to this standard at a minimum. I'm assuming the absence of this specification is for this exact reason; we shouldn't have to hold elected officials to an attendance policy. After all, they're the ones who chose to seek public office!
Of the 54 available meetings for all of 2008 and 2009 (38 available meetings for The Renegade), who actually shows up?
For the purpose of my averages, "attendance" is considered complete attendance. You show up to the meeting, on time, and stay until the meeting is adjourned. I did not count instances where someone leaves the meeting for a few minutes, as these are expected to occur. Also, as a courtesy to The Butterfly, I did not count instances where she left for significant blocks of time, as it would be nearly impossible to calculate due to the frequency and duration of such "emergency" phone calls, snacking, socializing and web surfing. Each instance of arriving late and leaving early, even from the same meeting, is counted as a separate, distinct violation. I could've weighted lates and earlys as being less offensive than full absences, and also could've formed penalties based on the extent of lateness or leaving-earlyness, but I didn't. They're all equally offensive as far as I'm concerned, plus it's early and I'm not that big into math. I'll gladly email my spreadsheet to anyone who would like to tackle it.
- 100% Attendance Record. The Mayor has attended all joint, special, and regular meetings of the Village Board. He has not been late, nor left early, for any of these meetings. This isn't surprising; The Mayor strikes me as exactly the type of person who would graduate High School with the prestigious K-12 Perfect Attendance Award. Plus, they're his meetings and his agenda and clearly nobody else is going to run them, so it makes sense that he would have to be present in order for business to be conducted.
- 87% Attendance Record. The Renegade, with fewer meetings being counted since he did not take office until June 1, 2008, has missed 1 regular meeting and was late to 1 regular meeting (although, at the request of the VB, was present at a School Board meeting as the Village representative on the evening in question). He was present at both joint meetings and missed 3 special meetings, one of which he would've been late to had it lasted longer than 10 minutes.
- 83% Attendance Record. The Gatekeeper is in third place, being absent from 2 regular meetings, late to 1 regular meeting and leaving early for 4 regular meetings. The Gatekeeper has faced a tremendous loss in his family in 2009, thus excusing one of these absences. He was absent from 1 special meeting and 1 joint meeting.
- 65% Attendance Record. The Financier, in a dead heat with The Butterfly, has an abysmal attendance record. She has been absent from 7 regular meetings, late to 5 regular meetings, and left early for 3 regular meetings. She has also been absent from 3 special meetings.
- 54% Attendance Record. The Butterfly comes in last, being absent from 6 regular meetings, late to 12 regular meetings and leaving early for 5 regular meetings. She has also been absent from 2 special meetings.
Now I know there will still be some who are uppity and defensive about the attendance record.
"But the meetings run so LATE!" Well, shorten the agenda or your soliloquies. Either way.
"But they can't be expected to be at everything, all the time!" I agree. But Village Board meetings are a basic requirement of their office. Showing up occasionally is disrespectful to the voters, the community and the other officials.
"Well, The Financier CALLED into a meeting, shouldn't that count?!" No, it shouldn't. If you're not present to vote, you're not there. For all we know, Scott Schulte could've taken the called-in Trustee hostage, forcing them to make comments at gunpoint.
I am sure there are plenty more pathetic excuses for why Trustees shouldn't be expected to participate in their own meetings. Please, let me know. Especially The Butterfly and Financier. I think an explanation is long overdue.
Also, I think it's worth pointing out that the two Trustee-Elects, Patrick O'Donnell and Brian Kimbiz, have been showing up to meetings for a few weeks. Kudos. Sadly, no one has ever seen their faces at a meeting until recently. We can only hope that they follow the example of The Mayor, The Renegade and The Gatekeeper when it comes to attendance. Actually, we can hope O'Donnell does. We might be better off if Kimbiz just stays home.
This week's Village Board Meeting, the last for The Gatekeeper and The Renegade, was a disaster. Because there was no meeting. See, The Mayor and The Gatekeeper showed up, but The Renegade, The Butterfly and The Financier were all absent. Apparently The Financier's absence was excused (this time) due to a personal issue. No one seems to know where The Butterfly was, although her husband was present for the first time in anyone's memory. The Renegade was simply out, due to personal obligations and priorities that may or may not have been communicated or excused. So, without a quorum, the meeting was never called to order and business in the VoNP is stalled, yet again.
In the wake of The Butterfly's unjustified and unprofessional tirade against the NPFD, many of her defenders are pointing to the meager stipend and supreme level of commitment that she has demonstrated in her capacity as Trustee. So, as is my way, I did some data entry and found even my overly cynical self disappointed by the results.
Instead of dealing with the personal qualities of The Butterfly as Trustee, and without even attempting to tackle the subjective issue of voting record, let's stick to something we can all agree is a requirement of office: attendance. We all know that Trustees should show up and participation is apparently a bonus. But I've been stating that The Butterfly and The Financier fall far short of even this basic obligation and we don't need to have a philosophical debate about positions or abilities; the facts back this one up.
Section 31-5 of the Village Code outlines that "Any person appointed to a board, commission or committee of the Village shall be expected to attend at least 75% in number of the regular and special meetings of such board, commission or committee during a period of 12 consecutive months." There does not appear to be an attendance policy for elected board members, but I think it is reasonable to assume that these officers should be held to this standard at a minimum. I'm assuming the absence of this specification is for this exact reason; we shouldn't have to hold elected officials to an attendance policy. After all, they're the ones who chose to seek public office!
Of the 54 available meetings for all of 2008 and 2009 (38 available meetings for The Renegade), who actually shows up?
For the purpose of my averages, "attendance" is considered complete attendance. You show up to the meeting, on time, and stay until the meeting is adjourned. I did not count instances where someone leaves the meeting for a few minutes, as these are expected to occur. Also, as a courtesy to The Butterfly, I did not count instances where she left for significant blocks of time, as it would be nearly impossible to calculate due to the frequency and duration of such "emergency" phone calls, snacking, socializing and web surfing. Each instance of arriving late and leaving early, even from the same meeting, is counted as a separate, distinct violation. I could've weighted lates and earlys as being less offensive than full absences, and also could've formed penalties based on the extent of lateness or leaving-earlyness, but I didn't. They're all equally offensive as far as I'm concerned, plus it's early and I'm not that big into math. I'll gladly email my spreadsheet to anyone who would like to tackle it.
- 100% Attendance Record. The Mayor has attended all joint, special, and regular meetings of the Village Board. He has not been late, nor left early, for any of these meetings. This isn't surprising; The Mayor strikes me as exactly the type of person who would graduate High School with the prestigious K-12 Perfect Attendance Award. Plus, they're his meetings and his agenda and clearly nobody else is going to run them, so it makes sense that he would have to be present in order for business to be conducted.
- 87% Attendance Record. The Renegade, with fewer meetings being counted since he did not take office until June 1, 2008, has missed 1 regular meeting and was late to 1 regular meeting (although, at the request of the VB, was present at a School Board meeting as the Village representative on the evening in question). He was present at both joint meetings and missed 3 special meetings, one of which he would've been late to had it lasted longer than 10 minutes.
- 83% Attendance Record. The Gatekeeper is in third place, being absent from 2 regular meetings, late to 1 regular meeting and leaving early for 4 regular meetings. The Gatekeeper has faced a tremendous loss in his family in 2009, thus excusing one of these absences. He was absent from 1 special meeting and 1 joint meeting.
- 65% Attendance Record. The Financier, in a dead heat with The Butterfly, has an abysmal attendance record. She has been absent from 7 regular meetings, late to 5 regular meetings, and left early for 3 regular meetings. She has also been absent from 3 special meetings.
- 54% Attendance Record. The Butterfly comes in last, being absent from 6 regular meetings, late to 12 regular meetings and leaving early for 5 regular meetings. She has also been absent from 2 special meetings.
Now I know there will still be some who are uppity and defensive about the attendance record.
"But the meetings run so LATE!" Well, shorten the agenda or your soliloquies. Either way.
"But they can't be expected to be at everything, all the time!" I agree. But Village Board meetings are a basic requirement of their office. Showing up occasionally is disrespectful to the voters, the community and the other officials.
"Well, The Financier CALLED into a meeting, shouldn't that count?!" No, it shouldn't. If you're not present to vote, you're not there. For all we know, Scott Schulte could've taken the called-in Trustee hostage, forcing them to make comments at gunpoint.
I am sure there are plenty more pathetic excuses for why Trustees shouldn't be expected to participate in their own meetings. Please, let me know. Especially The Butterfly and Financier. I think an explanation is long overdue.
Also, I think it's worth pointing out that the two Trustee-Elects, Patrick O'Donnell and Brian Kimbiz, have been showing up to meetings for a few weeks. Kudos. Sadly, no one has ever seen their faces at a meeting until recently. We can only hope that they follow the example of The Mayor, The Renegade and The Gatekeeper when it comes to attendance. Actually, we can hope O'Donnell does. We might be better off if Kimbiz just stays home.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
SUNY New Paltz Sucks
The academic standards are clearly slipping (as demonstrated by our newest Village Trustee), to the point where I am embarrassed to call myself a graduate of the institution. It obviously has no interest in working as a partner with our community, instead overburdening our local infrastructure and refusing to communicate, consult or compromise with either the Village or Town government. Now, SUNY New Paltz is shutting local union workers out of the ongoing construction projects being built on campus. Instead of contracting with our local workforce, SUNY has chosen Niram Construction, based out of Boonton, NJ.
Come show your support for our local union workers!
Thursday, April 14, 2009
Demonstration: 6:30am-9:30am
Student Rally: 12:00pm-1:00pm
Activists and union members will remain for a Student Rally beginning at 12:00pm and ending at 1:00pm. Students will rally on Rte. 32 with union workers, followed by a march to the Haggerty Administration Building to let the SUNY New Paltz know that students stand behind local workers!
Rte. 32 across from the SUNY New Paltz campus.
Please stop by any time during the morning demonstration and be sure to bring yourself and all of your friends for the rally at 12:00pm!
Come show your support for our local union workers!
Thursday, April 14, 2009
Demonstration: 6:30am-9:30am
Student Rally: 12:00pm-1:00pm
Activists and union members will remain for a Student Rally beginning at 12:00pm and ending at 1:00pm. Students will rally on Rte. 32 with union workers, followed by a march to the Haggerty Administration Building to let the SUNY New Paltz know that students stand behind local workers!
Rte. 32 across from the SUNY New Paltz campus.
Please stop by any time during the morning demonstration and be sure to bring yourself and all of your friends for the rally at 12:00pm!
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Wall of Shame
When an election is as close as the one on May 5, you just KNOW there's at least a few people wandering around in a daze, kicking themselves thinking they could've been that ONE vote. I've reviewed the voter rolls and there are surely a few local noteworthies who are doing exactly that. Who do you think feels the worst for skipping out on election day?
Shari Osborn (who was at Village Hall an hour after the polls closed, presumably for a secret and illegal meeting with the Mayor and Trustee Gallucci, who were also sneaking around the building)
Don Kerr
Guy Kempe
Ray Curran
Eric Roth
Dawn Elliott
Valerie Erwin
Linda Welles
Karl Budman
Charlie Karsten
Judy Mage
Dave Holt
Susan Holt
Dorothy Jessup
Judy Swallow
Amos Sunshine
Steve Stanne
Donna Smith
Steve O'Shea
Amanda Sisenstein
Jamie Levato
More to come... I have omitted named of people who forgot to change their registration to their current village addresses, but you know who you are. Seriously?? Change it. Jeez.
When Kimbiz vacates his seat in the near future, these are probably the very individuals who should be responsible for leading the movement to appoint Pete Healey to that vacancy and ensure his reelection in the anticipated special election next year.
Shari Osborn (who was at Village Hall an hour after the polls closed, presumably for a secret and illegal meeting with the Mayor and Trustee Gallucci, who were also sneaking around the building)
Don Kerr
Guy Kempe
Ray Curran
Eric Roth
Dawn Elliott
Valerie Erwin
Linda Welles
Karl Budman
Charlie Karsten
Judy Mage
Dave Holt
Susan Holt
Dorothy Jessup
Judy Swallow
Amos Sunshine
Steve Stanne
Donna Smith
Steve O'Shea
Amanda Sisenstein
Jamie Levato
More to come... I have omitted named of people who forgot to change their registration to their current village addresses, but you know who you are. Seriously?? Change it. Jeez.
When Kimbiz vacates his seat in the near future, these are probably the very individuals who should be responsible for leading the movement to appoint Pete Healey to that vacancy and ensure his reelection in the anticipated special election next year.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Reader Responses
Some reader responses to the VONP election results:
- Wow.
- This is about as depressing a blog posting as I am ever going to read. A schmendrick on the village board. I wondered if it was a waste of time to vote since only 2 candidates are on the ballot for 2 positions. I'm glad I voted for Pete, so at least this is not my fault. Jesus.
- Wow. Good Luck Vo'NP! You will need it. And let us remember NOT to paint all student candidates with the same brush: Dan Torres (for NP school board) is intelligent, responsible, aware, and erudite, and he can even speak in complete sentences!
- Good to know the I's will be crossed and the T's will be dotted!
- Brian is scary.
- Now a minimal lesion, perhaps acceptable, but a great lesion?
- What a turn of events... unbelievable...
- Are you serious??
- No!!!! Doucher Brian is in??? Kill me now!!!!!!
- Pete was going to be the only voice of reason left on that board and the only one that would question the Mayor. This is really bad for the village... are people asleep?
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