Do you hate turning over your ballot on Election Day to see a proposition to vote on that you know nothing about? Well, you can at least congratulate yourself that you knew to turn the ballot over! (so many don't) and that you actually feel a need to make a thoughtful choice (so many just skip these things)!

So those of you that know that democracy needs an engaged electorate may be overwhelmed to know that there are SIX ballot issues to know about from the state alone — and your town may have added one or two more.

But the League is here to help! The six state issues are described, with pros and cons, at www.lwvny.org, and you should find a printed flyer of the same information at your library or town hall.

Even better, we are presenting a public forum on the six issues October 22, 7 p.m. at Ulster BOCES on Route 32N, New Paltz.

The highly qualified speakers include government expert Dr. Gerald Benjamin from SUNY New Paltz, the deputy executive director of the Fund for Modern Courts, Mayor Jeff Kaplan of Ellenville, and a spokesperson for the Coalition Against Gambling NY.

This is free and open to all and we really hope the room will be packed and that you'll be able to go away knowing just what to do on Election Day.

Dare Thompson, President,
League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region

If there was a small business in Ellenville that could bring hundreds of new customers every year from outside the area to spend money on food, hotel rooms, gas, shopping, and meals at the local restaurants, thus helping to support the local economy, you would think our local government would be very supportive of that, correct?

If there was a small local business that was instrumental in bringing over 30 of its customers and their families to Ellenville whom have bought second homes and/or moved here permanently and started businesses, and enrolling their children in the school system (all of which helps the tax rolls), you would think that the town of Wawarsing would be very supportive of this as well, correct?

If a small business moved into this town 32 years ago and bought land for their business and purchased a home and paid taxes that help support this town, you would think the town of Wawarsing would help support this small business in turn, correct?

The answer to these questions is, unfortunately, no. The small business in question is Mountain Wings Hang Gliding School at 77 Hang Glider Road, here in Ellenville.

The town board and its supervisor, Scott Carlsen, has been blocking the growth of Mountain Wings by arbitrarily not allowing us to resume our towing operation at Joseph Resnick Airport which we voluntarily discontinued a few years ago due to economic cutbacks. We are now in a position to resume our safe and successful towing operation, which would bring much needed revenue to the town during the winter months as well as the rest of the year, but Mr. Carlsen has tried to block our expansion at every step of the way. Safety concerns? We have addressed all safety concerns to the complete satisfaction of the Federal Aviation Administration. Insurance concerns? We have submitted documents showing we use the exact same insurance currently being used by a towing operation at Randall Airport in Middletown and over 201 other state and federal owned lands and airports around the country. The FAA has already decreed that Mountain Wings must be allowed to operate at Resnick Airport because we are an approved aeronautical activity and Resnick Airport is a public airport supported by your tax dollars and funded by the federal government (FAA.) The town board has accepted several million dollars in federal funding and signed grant assurances that are contingent upon allowing approved aeronautical activities access or they will be in violation of the grant assurances and all that money and/or future monies may be lost. Yet Mr. Carlsen has still not allowed us access to the airport. Why? Could it be he is unduly influenced by certain wealthy locals who would like to continue to use Resnick Airport as their own private sandbox? If you pay taxes in this town you should be outraged at the blatant cronyism at work here. Please express your outrage in the next election. I intend to.

Greg Black, Mountain Wings Inc.
Wawarsing

Over 500 people gathered throughout the day and evening on Saturday at the Epworth Center in the heart of the Rondout Valley for a most memorable celebration — RVGA's Very Special 10th Anniversary Barn Dance and Local Food Barbecue. Thanks to ALL who made the event possible and who came to celebrate, paint pumpkins, race zucchinis, cook and enjoy the delicious harvest feast, decorate, park cars, make brooms, take tickets, dance the night away, eat cake and & ice cream, support the RVGA, and most of all have fun and support local farming!

While it is not possible to mention by name all who contributed time and talent, we offer this heartfelt expression of appreciation to: all the farmers who contributed fresh local food for the barbecue, the kids' activities, the RVGA Cornucopia, and tractor exhibits; the restaurants and chefs who prepared amazing dishes, the junior servers; incredible bakers and businesses who generously donated to our bake sale and silent auction. Enormous gratitude to Ulster Corps and a cast of volunteers who helped before, during and after the event. The turnout of enthusiastic young people who helped out from the Girl Scouts, High Meadow School, Rondout Valley High School, SUNY Ulster and New Paltz was inspiring.

Special thanks to the event committee who spent countless hours planning, promoting, decorating, cooking, scouting, organizing, and producing such an amazing event — Doreen Johnson, Nicci Cagan, Maria Reidelbach, Hannah Critchlow, Elise Viola, Rosanne Percivalle, Chefs John Novi and Sam Ullman, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Bruce Davenport. The Epworth folks led by Justin Savarese were awesome. The musicians were wonderful, fun and generous. We are most grateful to Ilene, Oliver and Chloe who beautifully documented the event in photos and video. (Check our Facebook page!) Thanks to all the organizations and individuals who created displays, activities, and demonstrations.

Thank you to our major event sponsors -- Ulster Farm Bureau, Rondout Savings Bank, the Local Economies Project, Ulster Savings Bank, Mary F. Collins, DeWan & Schott Appraisal Assoc., Corn Cow, Inc., and media sponsors Chronogram and Edible Hudson Valley. Thanks also to Antilogy, BjornQorn, Coldwell Banker, Chefs Consortium, Epworth Center, Farm Credit East, Jane's Ice Cream, Keegan Ales, Medenbach & Eggers Civil Eng., PDQ Printing, Stone Ridge Orchard and Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits for their contributions and financial support. On the occasion of our 10th anniversary, we were pleased to honor Rondout Valley Central School District as Community Champion, Open Space Institute for Distinguished Service, and RVGA founding president Bruce Davenport for Outstanding Leadership.

On behalf of the board of RVGA and myself, I wish to express our deepest appreciation to the entire community of growers and neighbors, businesses, organizations and volunteers who helped make this event such a wonderful gathering and for your continuing support of the work of RVGA. We welcome your input and enthusiasm. There is much that inspires us as we go forward into the second 10 years. We are filled with gratitude for all of your support and participation!

Thank you, Deborah DeWan, Executive Director
Rondout Valley Growers Association

It is a fallacy, and a hoax promoted by the gambling industry and government, that casinos and other forms of gambling, are economic "engines". Unlike diverse retail businesses, manufacturing facilities, research and development firms, casinos produce no tangible product which enriches the community at large. They are profitable chiefly for the owners, and more so when they keep as many people onsite by reducing and discouraging competition from the surrounding community.

Casinos create no 'added value" to the local economy, they simply suck money from those local businesses and keep it for themselves (the house always wins). The casino's self-centered operation has the effect of reducing the number of dollars available to stimulate and support local businesses. Besides the initial construction jobs for the casino facility, which might be provided by the local labor pool (a short term endeavor at best), casinos basically provide only low paying service jobs. Many employees can be lured away from the local businesses, as casinos create stiff competition for local hotels, B&B's, restaurants, entertainment venues and even retail sales businesses by providing those services at their own venues. What you end up with is a "Casino town" ... As an example of what can happen, go look at the community around Foxwoods and talk to the folks there as I have.

Don't be fooled by the hype of the Casino industry or the slanted, self serving and unsubstantiated wording of the referendum you will be asked to vote on this November ... VOTE NO on PROPOSITION ONE!

Marcus Arthur
Saugerties

This is an exciting year for Democrats in Rosendale. Our slate of candidates for local office is impressive in terms of experience and education.

I have recently had the pleasure of meeting Chris Pryslopki, who is running on the Democratic ticket for Rosendale town board, and speaking to him in depth about this campaign. I find him to be articulate, deep thinking, warm and clearly dedicated to public service. Chris has been a committed volunteer in our town for over 12 years and as such, has a comprehensive and well-developed understanding of the town of Rosendale and a large cross-section of its citizens — those who have lived here for generations, newcomers, and everybody in between.

Chris is a fair-minded person and I'm confident that his focus will be on strengthening and supporting an inclusive, transparent government for our special town. His work and volunteer experience prepare him well for the often challenging task of working within the not always harmonious group dialogue in which our local government operates. I am confident that Chris will know how to find the compromises when needed and when to hunker down and fight for what is right for the town and all its citizens, not just the most vocal, persistent, or well-connected.

With the battles in Washington politics wearing us all out, it is especially important to maintain respect and equanimity on the home front. I am eager to see Chris Pryslopki, Jen Metzger, Jeanne Walsh and Mandy Constable all elected and in place this new year and have no doubt that with them at their stations Rosendale will operate with harmony, efficiency and a healthy team spirit.

Jan Melchior
Rosendale

I recently had an episode of not being able to catch my breath. I drove to Ellenville Regional Hospital's emergency department and was seen by nursing supervisor Heather Laskowski, RN, who in my book saved my life that day. Heather spoke to PA David Williams who examined me with Heather and after x rays and blood tests, said, "You don't look well; you look ICU sick" and immediately called for a helicopter who airlifted me to Albany Medical Center where I was in the critical care unit for 8 days with a rare viral type of pneumonia sudden onset and then four days in a cardiac ward. We are blessed in this area to have such a great hospital which can stabilize patients for transport or can handle a lot of patient care on their own. I can't tell you how many lives have been saved by having the hospital here. Thank you Mr. Stephen Kelley for the vision you had to keep the hospital going. I also would like to thank Lifeflight 75, Gail Avery, Vickie Rozman, Melissa Hannigan, Steve Grundt, Napanoch and Ellenville Fire, Arnold and Lori Otiz, Vic Markowitz, Dean Burburan and Larry Oquendo, Ellenville First Aid Squad, Eric and Melissa Helgeson and Lorraine Lux, Robyn Caiazzo, Chelsea Novak for help at the hospital and home. Gary and Jeanne Horowitz
Ellenville

I do not know if other New Yorkers remember what Albany did when many years ago it campaigned for the lottery. They sold it to us voters then with the same pitch that I'm hearing now about the financial benefits that will accrue to education from allowing seven casinos in New York.

But how many New Yorkers know that those promises were like a legal "bait and switch" operation, i.e. once they started collecting lottery money the state reduced its contribution to public education. Instead of using lottery money in its entirety, supplementing its contribution to public education with the lottery revenue it was collecting, it chose not to use it as a bonus pool of money or to add to education's total allocation from Albany. The percentage of education aid from the lottery has not changed even though revenue has risen. And now we are being asked to vote for the change to our state constitution to allow for seven casinos for the same reason —increased funding for schools. Regarding lotteries... in reality, most of the money raised by lotteries is used simply to sustain the games themselves, including marketing, prizes and vendor commissions. And as lotteries compete for a small number of core players and try to persuade occasional customers to play more, nearly every state has increased, or is considering increasing, the size of its prizes further shrinking the percentage of each dollar going to education and other programs.

Casinos look like an easy way to raise revenues for Albany without visibly raising taxes.

Lottery for education— and now casinos for education — is a genuine master stroke of marketing (as is the wording that us voters will see in the election booth for ballot proposition #1). The wording of this constitutional amendment is a walking advertisement, another marketing technique.

Vote No TO PROPOSTION ONE Susan Puretz
Saugerties

I'd like to offer my enthusiasm for Jen Metzger, now running for Rosendale Town Board as part of the Democratic ticket. The Democrats are running with a very common sense approach, including opening up the closed-door policy of the current town government, and encouraging economic and environmental sustainability over short-sighted money grabs.

It's hard to live in this town without having an immediate sense of Jen and her warm, positive energy. When I first heard that she was going into a local office, I thought, "Oh no. Her bright light will be extinguished by the all cynicism of politics." However, when I thought about it further, it occurred to me that she's already been a very active Rosendale volunteer for almost a decade. She can handle herself.

Jen's been leading the town's environmental commission for six years, was the deputy town supervisor, a member of the Zoning Code Review Committee, and accomplished quite a lot in these capacities... despite an often inhospitable working environment.

I believe that Jen, along with new candidate Chris Pryslopski, would make excellent movers and shakers on our town board.

Mark Bernard
Rosendale

I've been traveling up and down the NYS Thruway quite a bit this past summer.

Each time I've passed road workers or emergency responders I remembered to move over as now required by New York's relatively new Move-Over Law.

As I move-over I also think about my old friend Matthew Parker who was instrumental in having this bill passed — and in record time. I remember Matt's over-whelming grief when he lost his young son who was hit on the NYST as he was attempting to hitch a tow for a disabled vehicle.

Matt's grief and that of his family was heartbreaking. Yet, from his despair he somehow managed the energy to assure that other families would not go through what he faced. He lobbied for this sensible law that is surely saving innumerable lives. Remember to move over whenever you can do so safely. At the minimum slow down! The people working along the roadside are loved ones. Don't put them in harm's way.

Jo Galante Cicale
Saugerties

I am writing this letter in support of Tim Distel for Ulster County legislator. I have known Tim for quite a few years now and I found him to be extremely smart, friendly and willing to listen. We need young people with energy and fresh ideas to turn around our stagnant government.

Tim is committed to economic development, the environment and tourism.

Lucy Muller
Cragsmoor

Those of us who live in western Town of Shawangunk and Wawarsing are extremely lucky to have the excellent representation of an articulate , intelligent , highly capable young man, Craig Lopez. Unlike his opponent, Craig hasn't received $31,527.69 from an out of state contractor —developer Isaac Heller — nor has Craig solicited monies from special interests. Craig hasn't been implicated in alleged voter fraud or misuse of absentee balloting. Craig doesn't double speak when asked about NYSAFE, our feuding Democrats at the county and state helm using county taxpayers as pawns in a power struggle, or back down from his fiscal conservative views. Craig has multiple party endorsements and has supported the county takeover of Safety Net, reducing taxes in Wawarsing for the first time in 10 years. Craig received the 40 under 40 award recognizing the top 40 professionals under 40 in the Hudson Valley, and the Congressional Coin for his strong community and public service.

We need Craig to continue his service to Leg 14 and Ulster County. What we don't need is to elect someone who will answer only to his handlers, the ones pumping way more money into a campaign for a job that pays $10k a year, $31,527.69 for a candidate who will possibly be representing a district with a huge gaming casino. Vote Craig Lopez for integrity, for open government, for our future.

Dennis Arluck
Walker Valley