Communist Manifesto Inspires Saugerties Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel

I just received this from Gaetana Ciarlante, LCSWR

Letter to the Editor for pubilcation in this week's issue:

 

Dear Editor, 

There is great concern by Saugerties citizens over the plans that the current town council led by Supervisor Helsmoortel have for Saugerties. Saugerties now has headquarters for the very rich at Diamond Mills and shelters for the poor being housed at the Wenton Hotel, Hickory Ridge, the Commons and plans for more homeless Shelters and “Keeps” which this town board is embracing with our tax dollars.  Indeed the Town Boards continued polarization between the "Haves" and the "Have nots" is a page from the Communist Mainfesto in which the middle class is eroded away. In the case of Saugerties it is being accomplished through taxes and regulations. We pay the bills and get bombarded with regulations and taxes at every attempt to maintain our homes and our property while their practice of taxing through back door deals is making it next to impossible for many who take pride in owning our own homes and living independently to continue to do so.

While it is true that state regulations are imposed upon the town  there is much discretion as to the degree with which the town embraces these. Helsmoortel and his board have demonstrated a record of embracing all taxes, controls and government programs. For example while Helsmoortel defends his PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) for Dickinson Keep that may initially bring in slightly more money than New York State's 581A Tax Law, he cannot substantiate the reasons for granting this PILOT for 30 years. Developer Larry Regan stated many times during the Planning Board’s meeting that if the town did not want Dickinson’s Keep he would go elsewhere with the project. But in fact he reported finding that the town board welcomed his "Affordable" Housing Development while most of the tax paying citizens are finding it to be Unaffordable. The application to the state for Dickinson’s Keep includes a letter of endorsement for this project written by Helmoortel in January 2011 to the New York State Commissioner of Housing and Community Development.

A true leader of the people would seek out methods to alleviate the burden of its citizens, however no such action has ever come from this town board even after requested of them. Rather Helsmoortel portrays himself to his constituents as a victim of higher government when in fact he stands to gain personally through real estate transactions while the local workers and retirees place their homes on the market and prepare to flee for their own survival.  Knowing the pain inflicted on his people (vocalized clearly at the appeals to the infamous property tax re-evaluation of 2010 and many times since) a true leader would take into consideration the needs of his people.  At the very least there would be an appeal of the process to higher government of which Helsmoortel claims to be victim. Rather it took members of SACRED (Saugerties Assertive Citizens for Responsible Economic Development) to contact their State Representatives, of which Assemblyman Peter Lopez was the sole responder, to request a repeal of the regulations of New York State 581A. Meanwhile Helsmoortel and his Board continue to use every opportunity to apply new taxes and new regulations on the citizens of Saugerties.

 Last week Helsmoortel placed a full page ad quoting Saugerties School Superintendent, Seth Turner, as saying he did not know how much the Dickinson's Keep project will cost without an in-depth study. While Helsmoortel tries to use this response from Seth Turner to support his full speed ahead attitude with Dickinson's Keep Turner comments in fact support that the Town board is careless and neglectful and imposes upon our town a project without knowing the impact both financially and socially.  In no way did Turner minimize the figure of $500,000 per year but in fact kept open the possibility that it may cost far more.

Meanwhile it remains a mystery as to why Helsmoortel would have requested and hired a specific attorney from Albany, John Vagianelis, to represent the Town of Saugerties while knowing that Vagianelis’ law firm also represents the Funding Company through which Regan Development Corp. would seek their funding for Dickinson's Keep. This conflict of interest was pointed out by Town Supervisor Candidate Kelly Myers at the town informational hearing on October 11. Shortly afterwards, Helsmoortel removed Vagianelis but surely would have continued if not for Kelly's diligent work and courage in bringing forth this conflict of interest. The Town of Saugerties already has its own competent attorney, John Greco. The questions remain as to:

1. Why Greco was not used to represent Saugerties in the Dickinson's Keep deal?

 2. How much did the town pay Vagianelis?

3. What is the plan is to have Vagianelis repay that money to the town?

4. What is Helsmoortel's explanation for actively requesting Vagianelis when the town already has its own attorney?

 The deals negotiated through Vagianelis for Dickinson Keep and any other project in which he had such a conflict of interest must be considered null and void and monies paid to him should be repaid to the town. When asking Helsmoortel about these dealing with Vagianelis at the October 19 Town Board meeting he responded to me with an attitude of arrogance, contempt and disrespect and offered little information.

While the project of Dickinson’s Keep may appear on the surface to be of benefit to the poor that too is highly doubtful and will be the subject of future writings. 

  During the meetings with SACRED Kelly Myers came forward to assist the property owners and has become an active member. 

Though very knowledgeable, she repeatedly displays the attributes of integrity, courage, and humility. Her attitude is filled with respect, gratitude and compassion. Without prompting or invitation Kelly Myers, Joe Roberti Sr. and Pam Riggins have attended all the meetings related to Dickinson's Keep and investigated these improper proceedings.  Joe has many years of experience with volunteer organizations and government committees. Everyone who knows Joe recognizes his hard work and tireless investigation of issues put before him before making decisions.

I am not one who advocates change for the sake of change; however our current Town Board demonstrates the meaning behind "Nero fiddled while Rome burns." Leanne Thorton has become the hostess who gives out awards but steers clear of any independent thinking or judgment; She said voted against the repeal of the PILOT, brought forth by Jim Bruno after he learned Larry Regan had provided the board with mis-information, and justified her actions by saying she didn't know enough about it. Leanne needs to learn that government is not a garden party and the role of government is to protect, not entertain the people. This Saugerties town council falls far short and has become self-serving.  In conclusion our current Town Board can best be described as careless, arrogant and without regard. At worst it is conspiring, ruthless, corrupt and illegal in its deal making.

It's time for a big change. Kelly Myers will lead the town effectively and with compassion. Joe Roberti Jr. and Pam Riggins promise hard work and diligence in their roles on the town council.

And always remember that is our duty as citizens in a democracy to play an active role, stay aware and defend liberty at every opportunity.

Let's take back our freedom and let it begin in Saugerties.

Sincerely,

Gaetana Ciarlante, LCSWR

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Obama versus Paul

H/t Donald Meinshausen on Facebook

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Saugerties Meeting Re Public Housing

From Patriot 246: 

ATTENTION: IMPORTANT MEETING

Malden Firehouse

Tuesday November 1, 2011

7:00 PM

Topic:

§      A 40 unit rental housing development with a total of 106 bedrooms (Dickenson Keep)

with a

§      $500,000 Projected School Tax Increase for     Town of Saugerties Property Owners

with a

§      30 year PILOT for developer/owner (Regan Development Corporation) to pay $13,000 per year for school taxes.

with

Written support for this development provided by Senator John Bonacic and Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel and the Town Board.

Come, learn more and speak your mind.

Hosted by SACRED (Saugerties Assertive Citizens for Responsible Economic Development)

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Republican Mathematics

David Rockefeller = Nelson Rockefeller = Nixon = Kissinger = H. W. Bush = W. Bush = Romney = Cain = Santorum = Gingrich = Obama.

Or, to put it as a poster here just did, choosing between Romney and Obama is like choosing between Chase and Wells Fargo.

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Crimes are Crimes No Matter Who Does Them

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GOP: Don't Count on Our Votes

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Bringing the Inner City to Woodstock

I just sent this letter to the editor of The Woodstock Times. 

Dear Editor:

The tip-off as to what is behind the regional push to build inner-city style section eight housing in rural villages like Boiceville and Woodstock was the support The New York Times offered to it in a September spin piece.   Public-private partnership housing like the Woodstock development subsidizes regional and global banks.  In particular, besides receiving a virtually risk-free return the banks receive a tax credit.  In Woodstock, Key Bank receives a tax subsidized, nearly risk free return on its $15 million RUPCO-linked loan to build the Woodstock project.  Perhaps The Woodstock Times and Paul Smart should rename themselves The Bankers’ Voice.  

Allow me to refresh your memories about The New York Times’s history with respect to supporting subsidization of banking interests through urban renewal.  In the 1940s and 1950s The Times sang Robert Moses’s praises to the heavens as he took a sledge hammer to New York City’s economy, destroying more housing units than he built, destroying neighborhood after neighborhood, and draining the City’s character, all in the name of urban renewal. The story is in Robert Caro’s Power Broker.  At the same time, Moses, with The Times’s support, devastated the environment outside the city with road building, subsidization of automobile use, and suburbanization on Long Island, in New Jersey and in Westchester.   

Having trashed megapolis,  by the late 1990s, The Times supported a final step to expansion of suburban housing through the subprime housing bubble.  One example was Steven A. Holmes’s September 30, 1999 Times article.  The Bush era housing bubble did almost as much harm to America’s economy as Robert Moses’s urban renewal did to New York City.  New York City never came back from its urban renewal-induced collapse; Bush and Obama transferred wealth to banks to delay a collapse.  In a properly functioning economy the banks that lent and invested in subprime mortgage securities would have closed.  But The Times, MSNBC and Fox objected (since, after all, they are owned by interests tightly linked to the banks), and Obama followed through on Bush’s monetary expansion and bailout.  The publicly described bailout of $2 trillion was miniscule compared to Federal Reserve Bank asset purchases in excess of $16 trillion, larger than the entire US economy of $14 trillion. But the Obama Fed’s largest subsidy to banks has been the expansion of the monetary base, which has more than tripled.    Obama’s tripling of the monetary base signifies as much as a 30-fold increase in the US money supply when banks convert the base into loans under fractional reserve banking.  

The potential 30-fold increase in the money supply, which has occurred virtually unreported by The Times, Republican or Democratic talk radio, or television news, is potentially the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world.  It is a transfer from working, middle class Americans to banks, Wall Street, shareholders, hedge funds, real estate interests,  and government.  The Woodstock Times and Paul Smart have lent their support to this transfer, sheepishly following The Times’s rhetoric.  Without this transfer there would be zero interest in public housing in Woodstock or Boiceville.

Because the bursting of the subprime bubble has limited the Robert Moses-approach to urban renewal, a new approach had to be created. The new approach is to advocate once-again- environment-destroying urban-style development, except that now it is to be in rural  areas.  Rather than bankrupting urban centers, the large regional and money center banks will  suck small towns dry.   The development is couched, ironically, in environmentalist rhetoric, just as the rhetoric that advocated the subprime bubble was couched in rhetoric that claimed benefits for the poor.  The only beneficiaries then and now were banks, Wall Street, and related economic interests.   The current bubble in rental properties and REITS reflects this new tactic.  “Smart growth” and “green development” are code words for “more subsidies to banks. “  I pity Woodstock for what your naiveté will do to your once beautiful tourist center.

Because the Federal Reserve Bank has created such a large amount of money while federal and state policies and banking interests have done so much to destroy the America’s real economy, I am expecting ever more creative and ever more destructive policies, all of which will entail expansion of bank lending.  These will take on green rhetoric and make use of manufactured fears: from the left, the superstition that environmental regulation and new kinds of light bulbs can affect global warming; from the right, the claim that Islam is a threat or that it is imperative for the US to build democracies in Arabia and Africa.   

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

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Can an Ulster County PAC Counteract Banking Pressure Favoring Public Housing

I sent the following message to a number of activists in Ulster County.  The push for public housing is likely linked to banking interests.  

Dear Friends:

I have been thinking about contributing to State Senator Bonacic’s Democratic opponent in the next election.  However, a political action committee (PAC) that would oppose candidates, Democratic and Republican, who implement, side with, fail to revoke, propose or support public housing and the kind of plan that the Olive Democrats have proposed (see attached), might be a better way to go.  I would be interested in discussing this idea with the local tea parties and other activists.  We are up against significant financial interests, specifically large regional and money center banks, who benefit from the comprehensive plans and RUPCO-style developments.   I draw this conclusion after an in-depth interview today with two RUPCO representatives.

I have been thinking about your excellent work respecting State Senator Bonacic and his involvement with the Regan developers and the comprehensive plan trend. I was similarly concerned about the heavy GOP presence at the LEED ceremony last summer on behalf of a corrupt Kingston developer who has been heavily involved with public contracts in Kingston.  Both Democratic and Republican parties are tainted, and a freedom-oriented movement needs to think about financially supporting opposition candidates, whether Democratic or Republican.

RUPCO told me today that Key Bank lent the $15 million for the Woodstock housing project and that on top of the low risk return the bank gets a tax credit under New York State law; RUPCO says that large, not local, banks tend to be the ones involved in financing the housing projects on which it works—the reason for the comprehensive plan push regionally may be related to this.  The contractors tend to be local, RUPCO said.  

Support for Olive style comprehensive plans and public housing trend has been bipartisan because of the money flows.  The banks and developers are fertile sources of political donations.  It is evident that significant financial interests are pushing for the plans and for increased public housing construction despite, or perhaps because of, the failure of the banking system and the housing bubble the banking system created and was bailed out of during the last decade. 

A PAC targeted at both Republicans and Democrats who support public housing and/or the kind of comprehensive plan that Olive has adopted may be necessary to combat the money flow into the coffers of the two parties.   Would your organization be interested in supporting this idea?  Would the other Tea Parties?  I believe that by working together we can identify candidates, Democratic and Republican, who ought to be defeated and then focus contributions intelligently.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert

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Ron Paul Revolution

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State Senator Bonacic (R-NY) Sees No Crime in Public Housing

Press on image to enlarge.

I received the following from Patriot246:

If you have read the links which I sent you earlier this week and if you have checked the elections donations websites for Senator Bonacic you will see the connection between this senator and Regan Development. We need to let Senator Bonacic know that we are aware of his continuing support for this Un-AFFORDABLE Housing Project. Please call him at 518-455-3181 or email him at bonacic@nysenate.gov 

 We suggest that you ask him the following questions:

1) "Does your support for the Dickinson's Keep project in Saugerties stem from your receipt of campaign contributions from Larry Regan? "

2. "Is Dickinson Keep being financed with our federal taxpayers dollars through Hinchey?"

3. " Why do you continue to support this project knowing it will dramatically increase the property tax burden on your Saugerties constituents and in some cases cause them to lose their own home in order to subsidize it?"

 I'd appreciate hearing the results of your call.

Together we can win this!!!

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