To the Editor:
“Nothing lasts forever” my mother used to say when I was little. I thought about her words as I sat in attendance at the “emergency” Common Council meeting to discuss the Halsey Senior Housing proposal. At a previous meeting, it was agreed that a postponement would be allowed until Aug. 6 to get more information on this rather sudden proposal of a new owner coming in and buying the Halsey residence and installing $3 million in upgrades/repairs. Mr. Murphy, director of development, stated that this proposal was known for about a month.
I attended the meeting as a concerned social worker: too many times in my job I witness how the elderly are treated. I was joined by several more community members in expressing my concern over the haste of this proposal being passed: I came to find out that the closing for the purchase of the Halsey Senior Residence by a for-profit buyer was to take place on July 27, 2007. School board members Randy Johnson and Ray Duncan also spoke as the new owners will not be contributing any profits to the school district = another loss.
The resolution passed with Mary Solomon and Penny Lewis, who are listed as Democrats, voting for the proposal – I hope these two women change their political party soon. The rest of the Republicans voted for the proposal with Gwen Johnson and Dennis Weinel abstaining. Mr. Weinel made poignant points at how this clandestine meeting and vote on this proposal was hasty and left no room for research and proper review.
Sacrifice once again is the key word here – with our troops dying in a war that does not seem to end is atrocious enough – to have our children obese and doing poorly in school is not acceptable and now our elderly have lost low income Section 8 housing as Mayor Cozean waves letters of support from the state to validate her choice. Once again, the children and elderly suffer in Poughkeepsie at the hands of those we trust to represent us.
Denise Bolds
Poughkeepsie
To the Editor:
Why is there no money allocated to education from this PILOT proposal, when past PILOTS had money for education?
Why this rush meeting? Is it a sneak attack to push the program through while the Council leader is not here?
Where is the city’s economic development plan that would justify this PILOT?
Will this PILOT proposal result in a future property tax free zone for scores of wealthy residents?
Frankly, these questions do not exist because anyone questions Mo Vaughn’s personal integrity. The questions exist because the for-profit corporation he heads includes experts in condos and co-ops. The questions exist because his company’s track record is to provide renovations and raise the rents, while relying on government programs to pay the hefty rents for low-income residents. The questions exist because some of these government programs will most likely end in the future.
However there seems to be reckless disregard for the interests of Poughkeepsie taxpayers, let alone our distinguished seniors, many of whom have made sacrifices to help make Poughkeepsie what it is today. At least during Katrina, seniors had a choice to stand on their rooftops or dive into the abyss. In Poughkeepsie we are on the verge of setting into motion a future for low-income seniors without rooftops. Such a fiasco will result in even higher taxes for our property taxpayers.
Every penny that the city is able to put into the Poughkeepsie School District will save that much from coming out of the taxpayers’ pockets. This is a common-sense approach that helps Poughkeepsie’s celebrities – our children, our educators, their support staff and our taxpayers.
Randall Johnson
Poughkeepsie
To the Editor:
The adage that the fish rots from the head down is attributed to the great free-thinking Greek orator Demosthenes. Locally, there is a stench/stink which is so repulsive that emanates from Poughkeepsie City Hall politics that it makes what’s rotten in Denmark smell like roses.
I am referring to the recent Common Council meetings of July 16 and July 18 where political dancing by those “backroom bosses,” who in a hastily called special meeting, forced a project by ramrodding it down the throats of the unsuspecting/disinformed Poughkeepsie citizenry. The subject was the Admiral Halsey Building located on lower Main Street.
The “fast-shuffled meeting” was a self-imposed emergency crisis by these dealers because there was no mention in the local daily legal paper. This rush to judgment was evident by the sparsely attended public at large. Only those who were mainly affected were there. Rather than regurgitate what transpired at those two Common Council meetings, for the record, they were an epitome of 1984 “double-speak” when the three Tkazyik Republicans and the two Cozean Democrats, both groups welded at the hip for political expediency, ramrodded though the above deal over the objections of both Dennis Weinel and Gwen Johnson. Both claimed they did not have the written agreement in hand and after many failed amendments, both Johnson and Weinel abstained from voting.
Much to their credit, both Gwen Johnson and Dennis Weinel were outgunned and outvoted during the battle, both gaining my respect.
Constantine “Gus” Kazolias
Poughkeepsie
To the Editor:
The D.A. and the public defenders are the suit it and boot it crew. Freedom won’t be free for long. The D.A. and public defenders are the real Partners-n-Crime. And now they have suited and booted themselves before the almighty God. When they stand on the real judgment day, before our almighty God, their freedom will not be free for long. They will feel the fire.
The true warriors – they will go forward in the army of the lord and their true names are Mahadi, the chosen one, Raymond, the mighty protector and Ukim, my brother’s keeper. You are men – keep your heads high to the sky. More men than the D.A. and the public defenders could ever be. They are the real Partners-n-Crime. And they call it justice.
As the corrupt and horded public defenders continue their horseplay to receive their political hay, Poughkeepsie is now under attack with crime and killing and drugs moving strong. The young men who they called the P.N.C., their hands are clean. They do not walk the evil streets of Poughkeepsie. They are covered by the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah, my family and I shall still praise the lord. And open your eyes to the real P.N.C. – Police Need Christ.
Corritta Smith
Poughkeepsie