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Now For Some History: World War I


This picture appears to show Washington County soldiers headed off to World War I.

It was given to me by Don Hart. Don’s wife, Pamela, is the granddaughter of Ruth Foote. Ruth was the sister of Earle Foote of Huletts Landing. Taken if front of what was then the Whitehall Armory, the name; H. Sullivan is written below the man sitting in the middle.

A larger version of the picture can be seen if you click on the above image. If anyone can identify any of the other soldiers or provide more details about the photograph, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

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Washington County Supervisors Narrowly Approve Budget with 2.58 Increase

On November 15th, the Washington County Board of Supervisors narrowly adopted the 2014 budget. The vote was extremely close with 9 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,195 voting “Yes,” and 8 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,065 voting “No.”

Supervisor Banks of Dresden voted “Yes”.

The budget will raise the tax levy by 2.58 percent.

The biggest controversy saw the Supervisors vote against pay increases for themselves, thus saving $5,800 from the total budget. The tax levy will increase from $29.4 million in 2013 to $30.1 million in 2014.

The proposed budget is posted on Washington County’s website here. (The budget message on pages 1 & 2, (3 & 4 of the linked pdf) explain the 2014 budget well.) The only change to this proposed budget was that the total to be raised, and the tax levy are both $5,800 smaller due to the Supervisors not voting themselves a pay raise. The final adopted budget should be posted on the Washington County website in the next few days.

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Email to the Editor

This Is Why I Ran for Dresden Town Justice

“Do the good deed that needs to be done.” I think about that “good deed” every time I drive by Comstock and Washington County Prisons in Granville, NY. Especially at night, the prison’s low eerie light seems to illuminate the devastation of the lives within those walls…employees as well as inmates.

I ran for Dresden Town Justice because in some small way I wanted to inject more compassion into the court system. As early as the 18th century in this country some Quakers and Calvinists tried to inject rehabilitation rather than destruction into the prison system. Today we call these attempts Restorative Justice which tries to repair the harm done if possible but not destroy the person who did it. The offender should be offered the opportunity to give back to the community what she or he took away.

I thank the 100 people who voted for me in person and in absentee ballot. I lost this election; however, I encourage the people of Dresden to run for public office because many good deeds still need to be accomplished in our town. Run for office rather than from office!

Helenmarie Sunkenberg

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Absentee Votes Counted: Supervisor Race Decided

This morning, Dresden absentee ballots were counted at the Washington County Board of Elections.

Unofficially, George Gang has been elected to a two year term.

The final vote total after all absentee votes were counted was:

Town Supervisor     Votes
George Gang     140
Robert Banks     116
   

More on this later.

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Bits of Everything

The Lake George Land Conservancy Requests Your Assistance

Read the LGLC’s most recent fundraising appeal documenting how close they are to finishing their capital campaign to pay for the Last Great Shoreline. (2 pages)

Huletts Post Office Fall Newsletter

Learn about the new lines painted in front of the Huletts Post Office (and much more).

Dresden and Putnam’s Supervisors Defend Washington County Beach

The Wash blog reports on what Washington county’s two most northern towns on Lake George are up against.

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2013 Ballot Proposals: Proposal # 2

The official ballot text for Proposal # 2 reads as follows:

Additional Civil Service Credit for Veterans with Disabilities Certified Post-Appointment

The proposed amendment to section 6 of article 5 of the Constitution would entitle a veteran who has received civil service credit for a civil service appointment or promotion and subsequently is certified as disabled to additional civil service credit at a subsequent appointment or promotion. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?”

What it Means:

The measure would benefit individuals who, for whatever reason, were not classified as a veteran with disabilities at the time of their first civil service appointment. Approving this measure would fix this error.

This is basically an amendment to correct an error. The League of Women Voters have noted that they cannot find any opponents or opposing arguments.

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2013 Ballot Proposals: Proposal # 1

This year there are 6 ballot proposals on the general election ballot for voters to decide.

I thought I would go through these one at a time this week.

The official ballot text for Proposal # 1 reads as follows:

Authorizing Casino Gaming

“The proposed amendment to section 9 of article 1 of the Constitution would allow the Legislature to authorize up to seven casinos in New York State for the legislated purposes of promoting job growth, increasing aid to schools, and permitting local governments to lower property taxes through revenues generated. Shall the amendment be approved?”

What it Means:

The measure would allow the legislature to authorize up to seven casinos in the state, specifically for the stated purposes of promoting job growth, increasing funding to schools and permitting local governments to lower property taxes.

While not transcribed into the amendment nor ballot measure language, the Governor and legislature have agreed to a two phase expansion of casinos if the measure passes.

Phase 1: Allow for the construction and running of four total casinos in upstate New York – two in the Catskills, one in the Southern Tier and one near Albany.
Phase 2: After seven years pass, allow for the construction and running of three casinos in New York City.

An agreement between the state and St. Regis Mohawk Tribe has given the tribe a monopoly on casinos in certain counties, including neighboring Warren and Essex counties. While technically a long shot, Washington county would be eligible for one Casino if the measure passes, which I detailed here in this former post.

Learn More:

For a full analysis of both the pros and cons of Prop 1: check out this page on BallotPedia.org

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Requesting an Absentee Ballot

Please know that the November 5th General Election is fast approaching. Here is how to obtain an absentee ballot if you are registered to vote in NY state.

How to Vote by Absentee Ballot

Applications for Absentee Ballots are available at the county board of elections.

You may also download a PDF version of the New York State Absentee Ballot Application Form.

Upon completion, applications must be mailed and postmarked to your county board no later than the seventh day before the election (October 29th) or delivered in person no later than the day before the election.

You may also request an Absentee Ballot by sending a letter to your county board of elections. The letter must be received by your county board no earlier than 30 days and no later than seven days before the election. The letter must contain the following information:

the address where you are registered
an address where the ballot is to be sent
the reason for the request, and
the signature of the voter

An application form will be mailed with your ballot. The application form must be completed and returned with your ballot.

Washington County Board of Elections
383 Broadway
Fort Edward, NY 12828

Phone: 518-746-2180
Fax: 518-746-2179

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Washington County GE Plant to Close

This week it was reported that the The General Electric plant on Route 4 in Fort Edward is slated for closure. GE announced its intent to move capacitor production to Clearwater, Fla. This is part of a larger national trend where businesses and people are flocking to low tax states.

A new book, How Money Walks – How $2 Trillion Moved Between the States, and Why It Matters by Travis Brown offers hard data on the economic contest among the states.

Brown uses official IRS statistics to produce hard data about the massive movement of American working wealth within the country. Between 1995 and 2010, the nine states with no personal income taxes gained $146.2 billion in working wealth. The nine states with the highest personal income tax rates lost $107.4 billion. The 10 states with the lowest per capita state-local tax burdens gained $69.9 billion. The 10 states with the highest per capita state-local tax burdens lost $139 billion. Simply put money, businesses, and people moved from high-tax to low-tax states.

And the tax that seemed to matter the most? The personal income tax. The states with no income taxes gained the greatest wealth, while the states with the highest income taxes lost the most.

Mr. Brown is on a national speaking tour promoting his book, which is highlighted in the video below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmMYORkU-No

Sadly, New York state is one of the states losing jobs, businesses, and income due to it’s high tax status.

Mr. Brown’s website has a “Money Walks App” which lets users track by state, not only how income is shifting, which jurisdictions are benefiting.
http://www.howmoneywalks.com/web-app/

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The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe & Washington County

Historically, there’s always been some type of chatter about locating a gambling casino somewhere on Lake George.

This year Governor Cuomo has proposed four new gaming casinos throughout upstate New York. You can read more about the Governor’s ideas in the Albany Times Union.

What is interesting to note is that both Warren and Essex counties are now ineligible for one of these new proposed casino’s under an agreement reached May 21st between the state of New York and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. However, Washington County would still be eligible.

Let me try to explain.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is located in the northern part of New York state. They have had three-year dispute with New York over the tribe’s gaming exclusivity zone and revenue-sharing from its slot machine profits. The May 21st agreement stipulates that the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe will pay $30 million owed to the state and 25% of future gaming revenues. In return, the tribe will have exclusive gaming rights in an eight county zone. The counties are: Essex, Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Warren.

This means that any new casino could not be located in those counties. While any site in Washington county would be a long-shot, it’s Washington county, and not our two neighboring Lake George counties, that’s still in the running for a new gambling arena.

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Washington County To Reconsider Invasive Species Ban

This Wednesday (June 5th) at 10:00 a.m., the Washington County Government Operations Committee has scheduled a special meeting to reconsider a local law that would make the transport of aquatic invasive species illegal within Washington county.

The County Board of Supervisors last month narrowly defeated the law that would have imposed fines on those who failed to remove visible aquatic species from their boat or trailer. Eight supervisors voted in favor and eight voted against the proposed law. Because Washington county uses a weighted voting system based on population in each town, the final margin was 2083 against to 2011 for the proposed law.

I spoke to Dresden Supervisor Bob Banks who sponsored the resolution and voted for the proposed law. He was disappointed that it did not pass but was hopeful that it would be revisited.

Those opposed to the law were concerned about unintended consequences and how the environmental assessment was done.

The Post Star reported on the original vote here.

The special meeting scheduled for June 5th is to revisit the issues involved.

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Clemons Post Office Now Open Only 2 Hours Per Day


The Clemons Post Office.

Somehow I missed this, but the Clemons Post Office went to a two hour per day schedule in March 2013. It is now open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. daily.

While this is a big change for our neighbors in Clemons at least the post office remains open. It had been scheduled to close permanently but it won a reprieve from the Postal Service.

These new hours will be the norm for Clemons going forward.