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Executed!
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Three years after he was hauled from a hole in the ground by pursuing US forces, Saddam Hussein was hanged Saturday (12/30/06) under a sentence imposed by an Iraqi court.
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In Memoriam
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We mourn the loss of Gerald R. Ford...
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...the 38th
President of the United States of America. President
Ford passed away Tuesday, December 26th at his home in
Rancho Mirage, CA at the age of 93.
President Ford could best be described as a public
servant who served our country distinctively by using
common sense approach to solve problems. He served
our country honorably in the Navy during WWII, in the
Pacific theater, on an aircraft carrier. President Ford was
elected to the House of Representatives in 1948. He
served nearly 25 years and rose to the position of
House Minority Leader. Ford was well liked and
respected by both sides of the aisle in Congress.
Ford's nomination as Vice President was confirmed by
the Senate in 1973 as he replaced Spiro Agnew who
resigned from office. Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as
our 38th President on August 9th, 1974 after the
resignation of Richard Nixon due to the Watergate
scandal. He is the only president to serve our country
that was not elected to that office or the vice
presidency.
President Ford came into office at a time when our
nation was in great turmoil. The country was torn
apart due to the Watergate scandal and the
divisiveness of the waning years of the Vietnam War.
Rampant inflation was also eroding our economy. President Ford made a controversial decision to
pardon former President Richard Nixon one month after
being sworn in as president. This was a very unpopular
act. Many people at the time believed that he had made
some kind of deal with his predecessor in order to
ascend to the presidency. He even had to testify
before a congressional committee concerning his
decision to pardon Nixon. President Ford had
maintained along that his decision to pardon Nixon was
based on what was best for the country. He believed
that it was time for us to heal and move forward as a
nation and that Nixon's resignation was proof positive
that our system of government was functioning
properly. Ford's courage to make a decision based on
his conviction of the best interest of our nation
instead popularity makes him stand out as one of our
great presidents.
President Ford also brought a mid-western commonsense
approach to solving our nation's problems of that era.
Some might remember his WIN (Whip-Inflation-Now)
Campaign. Ford simply believed that inflation was
fueled by us being a nation of spenders instead of
savers. He believed that demand and thus price
increases would be thwarted by reducing spending while
greater saving would be reinvested in order to
increase technology and efficiency of manufacturing.
President Ford's inherent decency and gentle manner
was a necessary tonic for our troubled nation. Time
has proven his actions as proper. May he rest in the
heavenly peace he so richly deserves.
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Congratulations to all Rochester Democrats
for your brilliant choice made in the voting booth
this past November.
Keep up the good work!
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Hevesi pleads guilty to charge,
resigns from office...
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ALBANY — State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's 35-year career in public service ended in disgrace Friday when he resigned and agreed to plead guilty to a minor felony for using state employees as drivers and companions for his wife. The plea ends an investigation by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who had been presenting evidence against the Queens Democrat to a grand jury. Hevesi will serve no jail time, but will pay a $5,000 fine and agreed not to file any appeal. |
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In Memoriam
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CORRECTED!
Town of Rochester Adopted 2007 Budget
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Cause for concern: the growth of the Town's
general fund budget...
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The growth of the general fund budget from the adopted
2006 to the adopted 2007 budget is $220,971. That is
approximately a 13.1% increase in the general fund
budget.
Another important barometer of fiscal
responsibility in our Town is to look at last year's
2005 audited budget (what was actually spent last year
when we had a Republican Majority controlling
spending) versus the adopted budget 2007. The 2005
audited general fund expenditure was $1,454,975... the 2007 adopted general fund expenditure is $1,891,274.
That is an increase of $436,299 or approx. 30%.
More
important to taxpayers is the amount to be raised by
taxes. The adopted 2006 general fund budget amount to
be raised by taxes was $738,682 while the adopted 2007
general fund budget amount to be raised by taxes is
$843,537. That is an increase of $104,935 or 14.2%.
Double digit increases in the budget lead to double
digit increases in the tax levy. Please remember we
are the ones who have to pay for it in the end.
One must ask why is the budget increasing at a far
greater pace than the rate of inflation. Further
inspection of the adopted budget might lead us to some
answers. Let's take a look and see what we can find:
(Item, 2006 salary, 2007 salary, % Change)
Supervisor, $20,157, $28,592, +42%
Budget Officer (Supervisor), $3,682, $6,500, +77%
Town Justice, $11,352, $11,806, +4%
Councilperson, $4,509, $4,644, +3%
Town Clerk, $33,875, $35,230, +4%
Highway Superintendent, $39,516, $41,097, +4%
It is certainly odd that the Supervisor gets two hefty salary
increases while everyone else hovers at 3 and 4%.
Town Board, $19,623, $28,451, +45%
Buildings, $109,788, $172675, +57%
Celebrations, $0, $4,000, +4,000%
Plan & Management Development, $0, $60,000, +60,000%
Please note that the $60,000 for Management
Development are the funds that are used to pay
consultants for the Comprehensive Plan and other planning
activities. This was originally incorrectly listed in
the approved adopted document from last week under
adopted 2006 budget even though it did not exist. The
$60,000 for Management and Development came from money
conveniently found in the Equity Fund Balance and was
allocated at the 1/5/06 Town Board Meeting for
consultant fees for the Comprehensive Plan. That
$60,000 was not a one shot deal. We are looking to pay
money every year that they are involved in the
process. The document that was on the town website has
been subsequently corrected with the $60,000 removed
and the general fund budget lowered accordingly. I am
wondering, however, how this document that was
certified by the Town Clerk can be changed without
re-certification. I would like to believe that there
is some sort of check and balance in place.
I am happy to report that I do see some fiscal
responsibility in the Highway Fund Budget. Please
remember that the Town Highway Budget is separate from
the Town General Fund Budget. Our capable Republican
Highway Superintendent Wayne Kelder has kept his
budget increase down to 8.6%. The adopted 2006 budget
amount has gone from $1,341,766 to $1,457,233 for
2007. Certain notable increases in the highway budget
include:
Improvements Capital Outlay: +$25,611 or +17.8%
Employee Health Benefits: +$24,549 or +41.3%
Debt Service: +$87,260 or +60.3%
Every other budget line for the Highway Fund Budget
remained flat or decreased. I believe we will see
tangible benefits from Capital Outlay for
Improvements. Escalating health benefit costs are an
enormous problem that all employers face today.
Double digit budget increases and the accompanying tax
levy increases can not be tolerated. There are many
other inconsistencies that I see in the general fund
budget as well as in the process. I believe that funds
are being allocated to certain budget lines without
any plan to spend the money for the intended purpose.
Those monies get transferred over to another budget
line or become part of the equity fund to be used for
whatever pet project the Democrat controlled Town
Board deems important. The Democrat Town Board must
learn that the money they spend is not their money.
It's your money. Stay involved.
Carl Chipman — President
Rochester Republican Club
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Ulster County Planning Board's comments
on the Town of Rochester's Comprehensive Plan
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AMENDED!
Town of Rochester Comprehensive Plan
Final Draft — November 14, 2006
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Elephants seek to care for a town,
jackasses seek to control.
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Read all
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Sunday in the park...
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A group of volunteers from our community came out on Sunday, October 8, for the
Town Park Clean Up and Renovation work session. We thank Lisa and Stefan Chichkov, Marge, Kristen and Carl Chipman, Tricia and Gary Kortright and the girls, Kandy and Ron Santosky, and Manuela Mihailescu for all of their work.
The benches have been repaired and refinished, steps to the basketball court repaired, new regulation lines
painted for the basketball court, new parking lot gravel, bleachers weeded and gravel placed under,
large portion of the play area was weeded and raked, flag pole base sanded and painted, flower box painted and new flowers planted, and hundreds of staples removed from the pavilion. We would also like to thank the following local businesses for their generous donations: A & M Hardware, Kelder's Farm, Mombaccus Excavating, Pinegrove Ranch & Family Resort, Saunderskill Farm and Williams Lumber.
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See photos
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To whom it may concern...
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I own a small business in Kerhonkson and I am concerned about the comprehensive plan that is going to be voted on soon. I feel that I have to send this without my name because I am afraid of what might happen...
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Read this letter
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Rochester Republicans at the
Ulster County Republican Committee Annual Dinner
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Town Board's brilliant choice...
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The Town Board approved two persons to work with Francis Gray on
the Business Recruitment Committee: Toni Sindone and Joan Atwood. Everybody knows Toni. But who is Joan Atwood? Read the letter of protest she sent to the Planning Board and get to know what she thinks about the future of business in our town. |
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Great minds think alike? Or plain plagiarism?
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Somebody took advantage of Zali Win and his Rochester Residents Association, and we don't like it a bit! RRA sponsored a Sign Contest inviting the residents to let their creative juice flow. Unfortunately, the entry which won the Honorable Mention (Support C.A.V.E. — Committee Against Virtually Everything) was borrowed from Internet (see below). By doing this, the "author" forfeited his/her right to anonymity. Please, Zali, let everybody know who he/she is. We bring the tar, you bring the feathers... |
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The Kona Blog
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Tampa Tribune
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It's over! Here are the winning entries in
Zali Win's RRA Creative Sign Contest
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The judges Juliette Graham-Hayes (no show), Manuela Mihailescu, Cantor Devorah Gartner (no show), Lisa Carbone, Marge Bonner, Joyce Greenough, Joan Atwood, and Zali Win met at Skate Time 209 on Sunday, October 1st, to select the winners from over 160 entries. Here they are, by category: |
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RRA's Sign Contest Entries Gallery.
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Don't know much about geography...
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Thank you, Times-Herald Record Online, for mentioning the Jennie Bell Pie Festival on your Calendar of Events... but unless B-E-T-H-E-L is how you always spell ROCHESTER, what's your excuse for sending a few hundred people to the wrong town? |
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The Clinton legacy...
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Republicans are people too — Blue Stone Press, 09/15/06
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"Dear Fellow Rochesterites" — Kathy Kuthy's letter to the editor — is just the latest attack against the Rochester Republican Club. — Blue Stone Press, 09/15/06
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Misleading numbers — Ulster County Press, 09/13/06
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I attended the Accord Fire District 2007 Budget Public Hearing and thought I would share my observations with you...
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Zali Win, 9/11, Blue Stone Press
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While America was coping with the unspeakable, Zali Win — RRA's president — had bigger fish to fry, as you can see in his letter to the Editor published in Blue Stone Press, October 19, 2001, Page 11... Gosh! He has a way with the words, doesn't he... One hardly can tell what's the biggest issue in our town... Zali's discrimination or Pam's sprawl?
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An American dream...
Last night I had a dream that local control-freaks held a moratorium to suspend logic and common sense in an attempt to rid the town of opposing critics...
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Read all
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Seen Scene
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See more
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Rochester Angry Residents Association?
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Dear Editor:
At this point I feel that the Town of Rochester residents should call for the resignation of the entire town board!! As a democratic society, we have the constitutional right to demand a change in leadership. As a strong committee, the Rochester Residents Association should demand the resignation of the elected officials that are running our town and start new. I am going to attend the next board meeting and be sure to express my opinion.
Angry Resident.
Editor's Note: The above letter, signed as you see it, found its way on Zali Win's non-partisan website, on July 4, 2003. Where were you G. Christopher when we needed you to call someone a coward?
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Separating fact from fancy...
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Lately I have been seeing letters published in our local newspapers concerning "rumors" in the Town of Rochester. It helps to identify the sources of these "rumors."
— Tricia Kortright
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Read and understand
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Rochester Diddy |
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by The Voice of Reason
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You moved here from the city, Oh! It is so pretty,
Lots of fresh air, farms and stone houses with charm...
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Read and chuckle
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Mr. Fornal's half truths...
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"I have just finished reading "Iraq Facts" by Mr. Steven Fornal and I am filled with dismay and bewilderment. I don't know if Mr. Fornal is making a feeble attempt at sensationalist journalism or if he is an anti-semite trying his hand at revising history..."
— Carl Chipman
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Read the letter
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Rochester GOP "leader" should quit
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Read to see why
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You think?
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"If the verbiage applied to Hussein is enough to go to war...Then Israel must be eliminated from the face of the earth; as everything attributed to Saddam has been "business as usual" manyfold times worse for Israeli leaders since inception."
— Steve Fornal
(Yep! Our town's Planning Board Chairman!)
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Read the whole article
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Open letter to Max Finestone
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Dear Mr. Finestone,
A letter written by you shortly after the election of 2005 stated: "Our town can change with or without the benefit of guidance. But change it will." I too believe that change is inevitable and constant. The challenge that is before us is to evoke positive changes that will benefit all of the members of our community. The election of 2005 was a hard-fought close contest. Less than 1% of the ballots cast separated victory from defeat. We have a very divided town but we need to realize that we are all neighbors and that we need to work together for the benefit of all stakeholders in the Town of Rochester. We need to respect each other's love of our town even though we have different philosophies and approaches to solving the challenges that face our community. Mutual respect can be the common ground that leads to cooperation instead of bitter competition.
On behalf of the Rochester Republican Club Executive Board, I would like to invite the members of the Town of Rochester Democratic Committee to meet with us. We need to discuss how to run clean elections based on honest discussions on issues. We could lay the ground work for debate programs. We might even be able to set up joint programs for entertainment and education for members of our community. The possibilities are endless. We need to work together to make the Town of Rochester a better place to live, work, and play. I am more than willing to come before the Democratic Committee in order to open a dialogue between our groups. Please call or email me so that we can arrange a meeting.
Most Sincerely,
Carl J. Chipman
President — Rochester Republican Club
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Dear Republicans:
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I am a senior citizen, and ninetytwo years old, and glad to join your club.
I live in the Town of Rochester. My mail address is High Falls.
Will do all I can to help.
Yours truly,
Herbert Jenkins
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Read more!
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