Editorial: The fading dream of Cuomo as Uniter
Here in America — strife-torn, hopelessly partisan-ized America — many of us yearn for a Uniter. A leader who can, by dint of charisma and/or courage, persuade and/or inspire us to pull together, dammit, like we did in the war or in some other mythologized period of long-lost American history. It may never truly happen...
Hugh Reynolds: PILOTs create storm
In this world of idiotic acronyms, where an anti-gun SAFE act allows almost as many guns in private possession — though presumably with fewer bullets — we sometimes forget the original meaning of all this alphabet soup. “PILOT,” for instance, is a widely used acronym for a device to encourage economic development by giving developers...
Another slice: Two ex-pols go into pizza business together
Voters haven’t treated them too kindly of late, so veteran local politicians Mike Madsen and Nick Woerner are hoping pizza serves them better. Madsen, 48, served eight years on the Kingston Common Council and a term in the Ulster County Legislature before losing a bid for re-election in 2011. Woerner, 28, was elected to two...
Hugh Reynolds: Payroll, please
In one of the more obscure footnotes to a routine January meeting (other than 45 gun advocates expressing themselves) Ulster County’s legislature passed a resolution asking the county executive to begin sharing personnel information. Specifically, the legislature would like to be kept apprised monthly of all hirings, firings and retirements. Under the current system, legislators...
Read governor’s release on new gun laws and reactions from local lawmakers
Editor’s note: What follows is the complete text of the release just issued by Gov. Cuomo’s office on the historic Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, which will give New York some of the most strict gun laws in the nation. Below will be the unedited reactions from several local and regional lawmakers. As of about...
Editorial: Meeting the new congressman
When the 113th U.S. Congress takes its seat next month, it’ll be something new for Ulster County residents: For the first time in a long time, Ulsterites will have neither a county native nor a Democrat as their representative in the House, as Chris Gibson, the incumbent Republican who hails from Columbia County, will be...
Sweet relief, or ever-tighter belts?
In announcing his 2013 city budget back on Oct. 18, Mayor Shayne Gallo offered up a frozen tax levy, a significant drawdown from the city’s rainy-day fund and harsh words for Albany politicians who he says are driving communities towards municipal bankruptcy with a seemingly endless parade of unfunded mandates. “When you look at Albany...
City budget math not adding up
As discussions on the city’s 2013 budget begin in earnest, some city lawmakers say that a combination of state-mandated expenses, rising health care costs and contractual obligations to municipal employees may leave them with no choice but to break a state-imposed 2 percent cap on property tax levy increases. “It’s not a pretty picture when...
Mayor says he’ll negotiate contracts in public
Mayor Shayne Gallo said Tuesday he will depart from a long tradition of backroom deal-making when he begins negotiations with three city unions. Gallo, who once representedKingstoncops and firefighters as a labor attorney, says this time around his position — and the unions’ — would be aired in public throughout the negotiating process. “I have...
Hugh Reynolds: One Mo time
Last week, the Arkville-based Catskill Center for Conservation and Development announced the as-yet-unbuilt Mount Tremper visitors’ regional interpretive facility will be named for U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey. The long-delayed project had been Hinchey’s from the get-go. It was Hinchey as assemblyman in 1988 who secured $1.5 million in state funding to build an interpretive center...
Hugh Reynolds: Prescription for hospitals
I have to have sympathy for those charged with trying to figure out Kingston’s latest hospital crisis. We’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg in this rapidly evolving situation, and it’s mind-boggling. For the sake of this community, I’m hoping the people who planned this merger of two hospitals called the HealthAlliance of the...
Hugh Reynolds: Schreibman’s win a mixed blessing?
Every politician hopes for a big win in heavy voting, though they’ll all take a one-vote margin. In that sense, Julian Schreibman’s landslide victory over challenger Joel Tyner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary was a mixed blessing. Schreibman prevailed by close to three-to-two in unofficial results, but district-wide the race managed to bring out less than...