As the Ulster County Legislatures ponder the cost of Golden Hill Healthcare Center and the fate of the facility, I hope they will also consider the cost of closing or privatizing it.

Closing Golden Hill would cost the residents their homes. It would cost over 300 jobs of the employees working there plus all the support jobs that are created by the facility and the employees working there. A study I recently read states for every 100 people a facility employs they support 50 private sector jobs; the employees at the facility frequent the local restaurants, bakeries, gas station, grocery stores, florists, and other businesses.

They buy cars and homes in the area. The people who visit the residents of the facility also support local business. The facility itself hires local vendors for many things. The last thing we need in this economy is more lost jobs. Without jobs these people may not be able to pay their land and school and land taxes. We already have more than enough delinquent properties on the tax roll.

Privatizing Golden Hill would also cause its own problems. A private facility takes people who can afford to pay. They hire less people, pay them less and give them fewer benefits. A private facility is in "the nursing home business" for the profit. With lower paying jobs, how many of the employees will qualify for food stamps, HEAP, Medicaid and other social services? How much will this cost the taxpayers?

I agree that Ellenville needs a long- term care center, but it should not come at the cost of Golden Hill.

Since there is a moratorium on new nursing home beds in New York some people are anxious to close Golden Hill and get those beds. What we need to concentrate on s lifting this moratorium. The baby boomers are getting older; in the near future we are going to need more nursing homes.

Please keep Golden Hill Healthcare Facility open as a county run facility.

Kimberly Krom
Olivebridge

Recently, the Ulster County Human Rights Commission sponsored a seminar for employers to update them on the NYS Human Rights Law and its 2009 amendments. We appreciate the many employers in Ulster County who attended this and other seminars and who make every effort to comply with the law.

In 2009, the Human Rights Law was amended to provide an important protection to employees, particularly female workers. As of July 7, 2009, a worker who is a victim of domestic violence is protected from being discriminated against by an employer. This means that an employer may not terminate an employee because she (or he) has obtained an order of protection against an abusive partner. It means that if other employees are permitted to take time off to attend to personal business, the victim of domestic violence must be given the same personal time off to attend to matters associated with the violence. The law now makes the place of employment a safe one for persons in an abusive relationship so that they can remain employed while considering their options.

We know that in tough economic times domestic violence tends to increase. Many agencies in Ulster County work to stem domestic violence and FAMILY provides shelter for victims and a remediation program for abusers. We hope that anyone who is in an abusive domestic situation will seek out these services.

An employee who believes that he or she has been discriminated against by an employer due to their being a victim of domestic violence is advised to contact the Ulster County Human Rights Commission at 340-3147 for a consultation.

Joan Gundersen
Chair, Ulster County Human Rights Commission
Kingston

Once again in these very difficult times where people are being foreclosed on their homes and having difficulties putting food on their table to feed their families the community came out to vote and passed the Pine Bush School Budget. Although I felt that the 3.99% increase in the budget was still too high because of the times we are in I have to say that Superintendent Philip Steinberg and the Pine Bush School board did the best they could to keep the budget as low as possible. The budget was cut by 2.6 million dollars even though the state cut their aid to the district around 5.6 million dollars. The district had to tighten their belts to make these cuts but it had to be done.

I wish the teachers union and their teachers would be willing to do the same thing. These stars do not want to give anything up and do not want to pay more towards their health insurance. It seems that they do not have any compassion for the people in our community. The problem is that many of the teachers working in our district do not live here so why should they care about the people in our community? They always say "it's for the children" but the truth be told it is for their pockets. Even in these difficult times where the average working person has not received a pay raise or on some occasions had to take a decrease in pay in order to keep their jobs our teachers refuse to accept a pay freeze for the 2010- 2011 budget. The fact is that they are looking for a pay increase. These greedy individuals are walking around with a loaf of bread under each arm while many of the people in our community are out of work. They even don't care about the young teachers that will be losing their jobs because of the cuts that have to be made.

It seems that they would eat their own in order to get what they want in their pockets. They are now paying 8% towards their health insurance which costs the district around $18,000 a year for a family plan for each teacher. They pay almost the same amount that an individual senior pays for their health insurance which is around $1152.00 a year. Many people in the private sector have to pay $1500.00 a month for their health care. SHAME ON THE TEACHERS! As for their pension plan since the stock market has taken a dive the school district will have to make up their losses in order to keep their pension solvent. Where does this money come from? THE TAXPAYERS! What about the average person who has lost a great amount of money from their 401K plans or in the stock market. Who pays for their losses? Many people that would have liked to retire in 2009/ 2010 but will have to continue working because of the losses they incurred in their pension plans. The teacher's salaries along with other workers for the district make up 80% of the cost of the school budget. The teachers work 184 days a year and receive a very handsome salary as compensation. What average working person gets over three months off a year? These teachers receive what they call step increases which they are guaranteed every year without fail. This amounts to about 2.9% and they are looking for an additional pay increase for this new contract over and above the step. How greedy can you teachers and your union get when many people in our district are on the b-lls of their a--. These teachers continue to just want more and more without any regard for the people who have to pay for their salaries. They think to hell with the community just give us our raises.

I say if the union and its teachers do not want to work with the school administration and the community lets break them. It is time that we go to Charter Schools which is the wave of the future. The teachers certainly don't want this because they are held totally responsible to make sure that the students learn to their fullest capabilities and they are put in the carpet when this does not happen. Let's get rid of tenure is a teacher is doing his or her job they don't have to worry about their job. No on in the private sector has such a guarantee so why should the teachers have it? It is time to clean house in Albany to get these legislators out of office who take (bribes) oh excuse me I mean donations for their campaign. By taking this money the politicians are in the unions pocket and have to do their bidding.

It is time that the people of New York wake up and do the right thing. Vote the bums out and revamp the education system so that the children get the education that they truly deserve within the means of the people. I say to the Pine Bush School Board and Administration don't give into the greedy demands of the Pine Bush Teachers Union. Hold Strong and do not cave in like you did with the last teacher's contract. They were given everything including the kitchen sink. The community is watching you with open eyes.

Joseph Zankl
Pine Bush