Saying Goodbye to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michael Gianaris

I congratulate Erie County's Assemblyman David DiPietro (R-NY) for introducing A05498, a bill that would divide New York into three autonomous regions: New Amsterdam, New York City, and Montauk.  It proposes regional governors and legislators, and it limits statewide taxation to a sales tax. It also proposes that state court and prison systems be separated.  

In an emailed press release, the Divide NYS Caucus Inc. says that under the bill a token New York State government would remain, with most taxing power transferred to regional governments. About three-fourths of state laws would become regional laws. Each region would have its own legislature and regional governor.  

When I lived in Northern New York (the region north of the Adirondacks, running along the Canadian border  from Plattsburgh to Watertown) in the early 1990s, I scoffed at some who advocated separating upstate from New York City.  Most of the state's revenue came from Wall Street and other New York City industries. Nevertheless, since the 1910s the city has eliminated growth in upstate New York.  Some of this is the aim of elite upstate landowners such as Kingsman Gould and the Rockefeller family, who will almost certainly be opposed to this proposal because it would end their environmentalist bullying of the people of the Adirondacks and Catskills.  

My own neighborhood, the Town of Olive in Ulster County, has been subject to the  rapacious theft of land to build reservoirs and impose costly regulation that saves the city's inhabitants billions each year. The city's corrupt,  imperialist history is outlined in Professor David Soll's Empire of Water.

The plugging of fracking proposals for the Southern Tier handed Pennsylvania massive economic opportunities and had zero effect on the environment. New York consumes the same amount of natural gas as it would have, only it buys it from Pennsylvania instead of producing it.  Better that  the people of the Southern Tier should be forced onto the welfare rolls and forced into long-term poverty than they should earn good wages in the energy business.  The people of New York City are true geniuses, as they   frequently claim about themselves.

More recently, the grotesque performance of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Michael Gianaris with respect to Amazon.com gives new meaning to the term "jerk."  Given New York's national leadership in taxation and bloated state and city governments, after the $3 billion in tax breaks, Amazon would have probably  been paying more in taxes than the majority of Fortune 500 corporations. That's a brilliant reason to deprive the state of 25,000 jobs that pay $150,000 on average. (Disclaimer: I own an apartment 1.8 miles from the site on the Long Island City/Ocasio-Cortez border on the Long Island City side, and I saw my property value rise and then sink by 20%.) 

With the media attention paid to Ocasio-Cortez, the people of New York City look like jerks now more than ever. It is time to end the pain that they are imposing on upstate New York. 

Sunday Snow

The Bushkill Creek as seen from my yard on Sunday, Jan. 20

My house. The snow was about six inches deep.

Went for a walk on Moon Haw Road. A cabin that belongs to one of my neighbors.

The view from Moon Haw as I walk back home. My house is at the foot of the small mountain ahead.

Ulster County, NY Vote Stronger for Trump Than for Romney

A comparison of the vote counts for Ulster County, NY (h/t Glenda R. McGee) reveals something interesting: The vote for Clinton was weaker than for Obama while the vote for Trump was stronger than for Romney. 

Ulster County is a mixture of two elements:  rural New Yorkers whose ancestors have lived in the region for generations and are chiefly Republican  and transplanted New York City refugees like me.  The New York City refugees are mostly Democratic. 

Clinton stimulated less interest among the New York City element than Obama had while Trump stimulated more than Romney had. However, the numbers in the region are now overwhelmingly in favor of the Democrats because of the demographic shifts. 

 2012 Ulster County Presidential Votes:

              Obama                              Romney

2012:     47,752                               29,759

               Clinton                              Trump

2016       44,597                               35,239

Source: Glenda R. McGee  

The Democrats' War on Rural America

 A piece by Paul Overberg in today's  Wall Street Journal shows 20 charts that indicate how badly rural Americans have fared. The election of Donald Trump, mostly by rural voters, can be interpreted to be a reaction, and the campaign to eliminate the Electoral College a counterreaction.

Inflation-adjusted household income has declined since 2000, and it has declined the most in rural areas. Much of the  decline occurred during the Obama years. That contrasts with the stock market, which has received massive public subsidization.

Those who foot the bill for "too-big-to-fail" banks are the same people who are dying at increasing rates.

Where I live, Olive, NY, New York City has long played an imperialistic role similar to that of any Roman-style power. It has done so to procure virtually free water; it chose to go the imperial route rather than purchase water ethically back in the 19th century.

In his book Empire of Water, David Soll outlines the 100-year history of theft, exploitation, and regulatory caprice that deprived the ancestors of many people I see each day of their homes and businesses, forcing many who had owned family businesses into becoming day laborers.

Environmentalists, dominant in the Democratic Party,  have learned from New York City and since the 1990s have systematically attacked rural areas. This occurred most aggressively during the Obama years.

Not satisfied with increasing death rates in rural areas,  Robert Reich, the American media, and their fellow Democrats campaign for more political power to be concentrated in urban centers by abolishing the Electoral College.

Thoughts on Professor Codevilla's "America's Ruling Class"

A friend sent me Professor Angelo M. Codevilla's excellent American Spectator article "America's Ruling Class." I recommend reading it with careful attention. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that Professor Codevilla’s hope that a country party that  represents pro-freedom Americans is possible. The reason, as Professor  Codevilla points out, is that the potential members of a country party are diverse, spread out, and difficult to organize.  Moreover, he romanticizes the electorate, which is more corrupt today than earlier in my lifetime.

I literally live in the country and have gone door to door in my rural Catskills community, which has gone from Republican to Democratic over the past 40 years.  A large segment of the voters is preoccupied with government programs that secure them jobs in areas like nursing or education. An almost-as-large segment is comprised of welfare recipients who have been attracted to Kingston, NY by subsidized, public-and-private-partnership housing that has enriched developers at the expense of taxpayers, who are increasingly saddled with the cost.  Yet, the voters themselves are clients of the politicians, for 51% of the county works for government.  In other words, I don’t think a country party politician is electable in my part of the country at this point.  

Professor Codevilla unearths historical processes that have led to current problems. His implicit model is of a unitary elite.  There are elites, but they are more pluralistic than he assumes.  Also, he is vague about how the unitary elite is constituted.  Are they conscious that they are a unitary elite?  I don’t believe so—there is not a conscious conspiracy, although there are a number of old boys’ clubs.  He is right that education has homogenized the elite. At the same time, I don’t believe that the most powerful are fixated on social or religious issues. 

Investment and commercial banks play a bigger role in formulating economic policy than he says.  They constitute an interest group that likely trumps the others--especially in the economic realm.  At the same time, interest groups ranging from the professions to the pharmaceutical industry to agribusiness have identifiable interests that collide with the socialist and anti-religious objectives of Northeastern academics.  The array of interests collaborates in many ways, but they are also at loggerheads some of the time. The Republicans attract diverse special interest groups, which enables them to ignore their own rank-and-file. Thus, as Professor Codevilla suggests, the Republican Party is a me-too party that is at war with its supporters. I agree that there has been an attack on Christianity and on freedom, but I’m not sure that every section of the elite array is represented in those attacks.  At the same time, his analysis of the role of universities is on the money.

His analysis of why the Democratic Party is dominant is brilliant, but it begs the question as to why no Republican who represents the majority has stepped forward. First, I regret to say that given my small amount of experience with politics I am not optimistic about the intelligence or morality of voters, whom Professor Codevilla idealizes.  Second, my guess is that rank-and-file Americans have been bought with a $25,000 Social Security benefit and Medicare. That seems to me to be selling  freedom cheap,  but as Professor Codevilla--along with de Tocqueville--implies, democracy leads to the impulse to enhance one’s specialness or individuality by claiming privileges at others’ expense, and I believe that rank-and-file Americans have been convinced that government programs do that for them, so they identify with the elite power structure to a greater degree than Professor Codevilla admits. 

In other words, the people of the country party are as much to blame for their loss of freedom and opportunity as their leaders are.  How else did all the political goofballs get elected?  I briefly campaigned to be on the town’s Republican committee.  I got elected, but some of the people I met still give me nightmares.  When I listen to political conversations among the Democrats at the Kingston YMCA, I get a similarly queasy feeling.

A related story is this:  Two of the most conservative people in Ulster County, a guy who runs a fruit stand and a guy who runs a newspaper, for which I wrote for several years, both went on a warpath to defeat the Democratic county executive because he would not renew a subsidized lease to a tourist railroad.  When I suggested to them that a government subsidy to a tourist railroad is not a particularly freedom-oriented cause, the fruit-stand owner said that a private firm could not buy the property and run a private tourist railroad because it costs $25 million; therefore, government needs to do it.  

 Country party, maybe. Freedom oriented—I don’t think Americans know what the word means anymore. 

 Professor Codevilla Responds  

Dear Mr. Langbert   

Thank you for your thoughtful reading of my article.   Of course, I never suggested anything like a ruling class conspiracy. but near uniformity based on common mentality, experience and interest is even more solid.   Is the ruling class motivated by social issues? I suggest that it identifies itself in those terms. Animus and disdain seldom come from mere interest. Its common interest comes from its other defining feature - connection with government?   Why no serious Republican opposition? Why does not the moon slip its orbit from the earth? Just look at what the mass of Republican satellites are trying to do to Cruz, and why they do it. They are comfortable as satellites.   You are quite correct about the country class’s corruption. Yes, the country class is likely to take power carrying all that corruption with it. (vide Trump)

---

Best wishes

Angelo Codevilla

 

My Radio Interview with Dan Elmendorf on Redeemer Broadcasting

My friend Dan Elmendorf, who lives in nearby Olivebridge, runs Redeemer Broadcasting,  a Christian radio network that airs locally and in a couple of other states. The stations are FM WFSO Olivebridge, 88.3, Kingston, 105.3 Catskill, 101.1, Newburgh, 90.3 WNEQ, Taylortown, New Jersey 90.3, and WXMD California, Maryland 89.7.  

Dan interviewed me last Friday, and the interview aired today. The subject was the United Nations and its Agenda 21, which Olive residents know from the town plan battles of the past few years.  The link is http://www.redeemerbroadcasting.org/podcasts/apa_030715_Agenda_21--M_Langbert.mp3

Mary Margaret McBride in West Shokan

Ray Faiola of Ellenville has uploaded to Youtube a pilot of a 1951 television program with Mary Margaret McBride, who interviews Ed Dowling.  Dowling was the director of the first major Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie.   The interview takes place in her West Shokan home, which is a two-minute drive from mine. The panoramas of the reservoir and the mountains look as they do today.  McBride's house is still there; I've met the owner. 

McBride was a personal friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt frequently visited the same West Shokan home in which the interview takes place. According to Wikipedia, during World War II McBride was among the first to break the color barrier in radio.  She broadcast on all the major networks until 1960. She was known as the first lady of radio.  One of the old timers in West Shokan told me that he recalls Mrs. Roosevelt's visits.  In this 1960 newspaper article, Roosevelt writes about an afternoon at one of McBride's local radio broadcasts:

On Monday of this week I went from Hyde Park to West Shokan, where Mary Margaret McBride lives in a house on the side of a mountain. The house is built of redwood, and the porch looks out on the reservoir.

Mary Margaret McBride was her charming self, sounding as though she had really never thought till that minute of the things she was about to say, and yet never forgetting the thread of what she said or of what she wanted the person she was interviewing to say. I think she is one of the most expert interviewers I have ever known.

She had about 50 of her neighbors as an audience, and she does this local broadcast, with local commercials, just as she once did her New York broadcasts. I just have a lovely time talking to her, so I enjoyed every minute with her and was delighted to have lunch with her afterwards, sitting on her porch and drinking in the beautiful view.

She is one person who accumulates books just the way I do, so everywhere you go in every room of her house, there are books and more books. I was encouraged, for I never have enough room for my books and I felt I could now go on building shelves in many places I had not thought of before.

Someday I hope I will have the time to read the books I now have on my shelves, besides all those I know I will accumulate in the next year or so.

Wikipedia describes her last years, which were spent in West Shokan: 

As time went on, she appeared in smaller radio media markets, in upstate New York, and toward the end of her life hosted "Your Hudson Valley Neighbor" three times a week on WGHQ Kingston, NY from the living room of her home. Her longtime companion and business partner, Stella Karn, died in 1957.^[2]

She died at the age of 76 on April 7, 1976 at West Shokan, New York. McBride's ashes were placed in her former rose garden. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in radio.^[3]

 Her name was spoofed on the classic CBS-TV sitcom I Love Lucy in Episode # 79, "The Million Dollar Idea", which aired on January 11, 1954. In that installment, Lucy (Lucille Ball) comes up with an ambitious idea to make money. She decides to appear on television selling her Aunt Martha's salad dressing. Assisting her on the program is her best friend Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance) as "Mary Margaret McMertz."

McBride's celebrity was hardly a secret confined to daytime radio listeners, either: her 15th anniversary celebration in 1949 was held in Yankee stadium, the only facility large enough to hold the 75,000 people who filled every seat and formed huge crowds outside. Her magazine show was on the air continuously for 25 years.

Is the Town of Olive's Sylvia Rozzelle Double Dipping or Skinny Dipping?

 Is Town of Olive Town Clerk Sylvia Rozzelle planning to double dip on her pension money and so ride the gravy train down Watson Hollow Road? Rumor has it that Rozzelle, who is running for town supervisor, is applying for a pension from the State of New York for her years with the Town of Olive as town clerk.  How much is enough?  The Town of Olive already pays its town supervisor more than does almost any other town in Ulster County.  The $50,000 paycheck for a part-time job is apparently not enough for Rozzelle, who also aims to collect almost $40,000 in pension money.  But what are the exact amounts?

The Democrats are fond of claiming that they believe in openness in government and in democratic processes.  But when it comes to the Democrats' pockets, they are notoriously averse to allowing public scrutiny. Let's see if Rozzelle responds to this Freedom of Information Law letter:

PO Box 130

West Shokan, NY 12494

October 2, 2013

Ms. Sylvia Rozzelle

Town Clerk, Town of Olive

PO Box 96

West Shokan, NY 12494

Dear Ms. Rozelle:

Under the New York Freedom of Information Law, N.Y. Pub. Off. Law sec. 84 et seq., I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of records that pertain to the computation of the pension benefit of Sylvia Rozelle.  These include all application forms to the State of New York and any other New York State pension fund and any estimates of or statements of actual amounts of pension benefits to be paid to Sylvia Rozelle. 

I also request all records stating the amount of annual salary currently paid to the Town of Olive Town Supervisor and the Town of Olive Town Clerk.

If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me if the cost will exceed $75.  However, I would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of salaries and pensions paid by the Town of Olive.  I am a journalist for The Lincoln Eagle as well as a citizen in the Town of Olive.  This information is not being sought for commercial purposes, although it is on the record and may be used for journalistic purposes.

 The New York Freedom of Information Law requires a response time of five business days.  If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than this amount of time, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records. 

 If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

Pennsylvania Town Rejects Agenda 21

Lynne Teger forwarded a February Lebanon Daily News (LDN) article about West Cornwall, Pennsylvania's rejection of Agenda 21.  West Cornwall is in southeastern Pennsylvania's Lebanon County. LDN says that the town passed a resolution opposing Agenda 21 and then withdrew from the state's regional plan.  As the article points out, Agenda 21 is a UN-based plan to globalize the world economy and redistribute wealth from more to less economically productive nations' citizens.  It aims to eliminate property rights by imposing taxes that one-percent property owners can easily afford but that those with constrained resources cannot. The United States signed it under George H. W. Bush, and the nation has funded its implementation ever since through the President's Council on Sustainability and, more recently, through a range of government agencies.

In the Empire State, Andrew Cuomo, emperor of economic destruction, has funded 10 regional councils or soviets to implement Agenda 21-based plans.  The regional soviets are Emperor Andrew's first goose-step toward attacking local democracy.  Given the abject failure of the emperor's economic policies, it stands to reason that  His Majesty Il Duce now pursues fascistic environmental policies.  

One of the tactics that proponents of Agenda 21 use is to forestall intelligent conversation by claiming that Agenda 21 does not exist or that it is a "tin foil hat" conspiracy theory.  Such proponents usually have not read the document and have not thought through the implications of global redistribution of wealth and soviet government.

Agenda 21 is no more a conspiracy theory than is the World Trade Organization, NATO, or the UN itself; you can read it here.   Under town plans like the Woodstock, Saugerties, and Olive, New York comprehensive plans, people who live in rural or suburban areas with constrained cash flows or limited means will be the first to see their lifestyles curtailed.  In exchange for escalating taxes and ever-increasing environmental regulation and control, the towns will build cramped urban housing in mixed-use areas. 

FOIL Requests Re Town of Olive Route 28 Scenic Bypass

PO Box 130

West Shokan, New York 12494

July 19, 2012

Ms. Sylvia Rozelle

Town Clerk

Town of Olive

PO Box 180

West Shokan, NY 12494

Dear Ms. Rozelle:

At a recent public meeting Town Board member Bruce Lamonda stated that he had revised the Town of Olive Plan. When I e-mailed him for a copy, he said that it is not available.  Either there is a revised plan or there isn't.  Please state which.  If there is a plan,  I would like to see it.  

Today I have heard allegations from another Town of Olive resident that the town has conducted secret meetings with the Department of Environmental Preservation and Department of Environmental Conservation and has offered to transfer zoning authority to them.  

Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request a copy of records or portions thereof pertaining to (or containing the following):

The revised Town of Olive Comprehensive Plan to which Mr. Lamonda alluded.

If the allegations are true, copies of all correspondence, signed agreements, and other documents between the Town of Olive and the Department of Environmental Preservation or the Department of Environmental Conservation concerning transfer of zoning or other legislative authority.

I understand there is a fee of $.25 per page for duplication of the records requested.  If the fee exceeds $20, please contact me before duplicating the records.

As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

845-657-846

mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

PO Box 130

203 Watson Hollow Road
West Shokan, NY 12494

July 19, 2012

Records Access Officer
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, New York 12233-0001

Re:      Freedom of Information Law Request for Records Regarding Central Catskills Collaborative and Scenic Byway Nomination Final Draft of Project Description

Dear Records Access Officer:

Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request a copy of records or portions thereof pertaining to (or containing the following):

The Route 28 Corridor Byway Plan, either 130 or 230 pages depending on conflicting media reports, associated with the Route 28 Central Catskills Scenic Byway Nomination Final Draft of Project Description. 

A copy of any Town of Olive Plan your department has drafted or negotiated as part of the negotiations concerning the Byway Plan.

A copy of the Route 28 inventory associated with the Byway Plan

Copies of all correspondence between your department and the Catskill Watershed Corporation and your department and the Town of Olive concerning the 28 Corridor Byway Plan.

Minutes of meetings concerning the above-referenced plans, specifically including any discussions of  transfer of  zoning functions from Olive or other Route 28 towns to your department.

I understand there is a fee of $.25 per page for duplication of the records requested.  If the fee exceeds $200, please contact me before duplicating the records.

As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

845-657-846

mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

PO Box 130

203 Watson Hollow Road
West Shokan, NY 12494

July 19, 2012

FOIL Records Access Officer
Department of Environmental Protection
59-17 Junction Boulevard, 19th Floor
Flushing, NY 11373

Re:      Freedom of Information Law Request for Records Regarding Central Catskills Collaborative and Scenic Byway Nomination Final Draft of Project Description

Dear Records Access Officer:

Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request a copy of records or portions thereof pertaining to (or containing the following):

The Route 28 Corridor Byway Plan, either 130 or 230 pages depending on conflicting media reports, associated with the Route 28 Central Catskills Scenic Byway Nomination Final Draft of Project Description. 

A copy of any Town of Olive Plan your department has drafted or negotiated as part of the negotiations concerning the Byway Plan.

A copy of the Route 28 inventory associated with the Byway Plan

Copies of all correspondence between your department and the Catskill Watershed Corporation and your department and the Town of Olive concerning the 28 Corridor Byway Plan.

Minutes of meetings concerning the above-referenced plans, specifically including any discussions of  transfer of  zoning functions from Olive or other Route 28 towns to your department.

I understand there is a fee of $.25 per page for duplication of the records requested.  If the fee exceeds $200, please contact me before duplicating the records.

As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

845-657-846

mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

Rosa Koire Speaks to Town of Olive on Agenda 21

H/t Sean Bigler.

Letter to Helen Chase, Central Catskills Collaborative

PO Box 130

West Shokan, NY 12494

July 2, 2012

Helen Chase, Town Council/Robert Selkowitz

Town of Olive

Central Catskills Collaborative

PO Box 18

West Shokan, NY 12494

Dear Ms. Chase and Mr. Selkowitz:

I have finally had time to read part of the so-called Route 28 Central Catskills Scenic Byway Nomination Final Draft of Project Description of the so-called Central Catskills Collaborative that appears on the World Wide Web.  I object to the entire document, for it amounts to a primitive power grab by opportunists eager to hop on the special interest gravy train on offer by our dying New York State.  

For one, the plan claims that it and your group will contribute to the local economy, but there is no evidence that you or the plan's authors know how to do so.  Yes, let us imagine a state where the Department of Environmental Conservation is the engine of economic growth.  Then let us consider that it exists--in North Korea--and it has gone down in ashes. The New York State government that has funded this plan has repeatedly crippled the state and local economy, and your credentials are even less impressive than theirs.  

Because local, regional, and national planning have failed, as evidenced by the collapse of Robert Moses's New York State,  the Soviet Union, China, and the decline of the big-government, blue, rust-belt states, the entire discussion in the document  is inept and ill informed.  However, the following statement is especially shocking, even given the document's dismal quality:

"…existing and new development might be enhanced while managing the corridor’s significant resources. For example, are there any major intrusions on the enjoyment or character of the roadway? If so, describe what will be done to improve these conditions."

Private property is the cornerstone of prosperity.  If the individuals who drafted this plan cared about the economy, their first concern would have been for private property.  The document advocates spying on your neighbors, bullying them, and stealing from them.  It is a plan of action for criminals.  I am ashamed of this state, I am ashamed of this nation, and I am ashamed that I live in the same town as you.

 Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

Cc: Governor Andrew Cuomo,  Joseph Martens, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

A Magic Bullet that Ends Agenda 21

I just wrote the following to Congressman Chris Gibson's campaign staff:

Dear Messrs. Westcott, Quigley, and Czajka:

I’m sorry that you had to miss Ms. Rosa Koire, the speaker in Olive tonight (please note that the speaker was tonight, not last night).   The information provided in Ms. Koire’s lecture was consistent with what I had heard in previous talks by Tom Deweese and others.  I am still interested in Congressman Gibson’s position on Agenda 21.

(1) As you know, Article Four, section four of the Constitution delegates the authority of guaranteeing a republican form of government in each state to Congress. This process has been adjudicated in at least two Supreme Court decisions, both of which held that Congress bears responsibility for ensuring that states retain republican forms of government.
(2) The claim that Agenda 21 is irrelevant to state governance does not change Congress’s responsibility to ensure a republican form of government.  If Agenda 21 does what Ms. Koire and Mr. Deweese claim or not, Congress still must ensure that the states have republican forms of government.
(3) Delegation of state power to private corporations is inconsistent with a republican form of government.  Whether or not Agenda 21 has coordinated this kind of delegation, it is still desirable for Congress to prohibit it.
(4) Therefore, whether or not Congressman Gibson agrees that Agenda 21 poses a threat to republican government, he should have no trouble supporting a law that (a) prohibits states from allocating governmental authority to non-governmental organizations and (b) prohibits federal funding of any locality or state that allocates governmental authority to a non-governmental organization.

I would appreciate a statement from Congressman Gibson on two points:

(1) His position on Agenda 21 and its congressional abrogation
(2) Whether he will be willing to propose a law that would prohibit states from being governed by NGOs and would prohibit federal funding of any governmental organization that so delegates.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert

Town of Olive Homemaker Says No to Environmental Extremists

Glenda McGee, a 60-year-old homemaker, has taken a stand against radical environmental proposals put forward by a group that has proposed a scenic bypass plan for the New York Route 28 corridor. Led by Peter Manning, the group aims to complete New York City's century-long effort to grab land surrounding the Ashokan Reservoir and evict local residents at will.  The plan is couched in phony, radical environmental language, but it includes a proposal for a commercial bank friendly public housing project that would be destructive to the environment.  One might wonder why the town's elected officials would be eager to approve a plan that transfers zoning authority to a New York City-funded public-private partnership that has every reason to be antagonistic to the town's residents. The plan is proposed at the same time that Kingston, New York has proposed a stiff new inspection regime and has been doing walk-by inspections involving fining elderly homeowners in moderate-income neighborhoods for minor infractions.  The two-party system's attack on home ownership and private property is a concerted one.Those who have read up on UN Agenda 21 will not be surprised.

An Olive resident who mistakenly thought law suits to be confidential (you're in the Town of Olive, what do you expect?) asked me to serve the Town Supervisor with a law suit he brought himself related to objections to procedural and civil liberties implications of the same proposal.  I have been a process server a few times before,  and it's always fun to watch the defendant's expression--especially when he's a town supervisor. This is apparently the beginning of a series of law suits concerning the proposal and the fascistic, New York City-funded Catskill Watershed Commission.  I'm surprised that Timothy Cox, the Olive town justice who doubles as an officer of the commission, has yet to be investigated for conflicts of interest and violation of rules of judicial conduct.  I didn't think judges were supposed to function in a political capacity. 

McGee writes:

The Wrenching Transformation of Olive*

New York City Funds Their Vision for Land Use Control via the Scenic Byway Plan & the Draft Olive Comprehensive Plan.  In 1905, New York City annexed the best half of Olive – the rich bottom land - via eminent domain. Since that time, the rest of the annexation has been done incrementally and steadily via endless land purchases.

It appears that these two conjoined Plans were advanced to forge the legal weapons to achieve New York City’s annexation endgame. The Plans are craftily seeded with language that appears to lay the legal foundation for powerful weapons of land control and promote public housing development in the hamlets as well. The Plans are funded by New York City supported corporations, The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) and the Catskill Center for Conservation & Development (CCC&D).

The Byway Plan is defined so broadly it covers the entire Catskill Corridor Regional Management of the Byway would be Administered by un-elected appointees acting as the Agent for 7 towns from Hurley to Andes.  Home Rule would be gutted: stripped of its zoning control – The NYS Court of Appeals has ruled that towns lose zoning control via the “Agency Act,” once an overarching regional agent such as the Adirondack Park Agency is established.  The Byway Plan seeks such Agency.

* Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece based on a massive citizen review of both plans, minutes from Plan meetings, presentations of the plans – and our layman’s interpretations of legal documents as the Town of Olive has hired no profession property rights attorney to review these Plans for our protection.

Urbanizing Olive, N.Y. – Follow the Money:

A “land use tool” called “transfer of development rights” would allow New York City to transfer its development rights from some portion of its 700,000 acres and sell them to developers for use in Olive’s hamlets. Supervisor Leifeld has already established an agreement with Ulster County designating Olive as a “high priority growth area.” That action allows Olive to participate in New York State’s fast track program for public housing approval. This was revealed in the Olive Comprehensive Plan and came as a shock to those of us who staked our real estate investment and decision to move to Olive based on its rural character. The Comp. Plan repeatedly states that it reflects the shared vision of the people of Olive, yet we have not spoken to anyone other than town employees or Planning Board members, who isn’t startled to learn that without a public hearing, a monumental change in our lifestyles and the value of our homes had been undertaken without general knowledge.

So it seems if these plans are approved, New York City can sell thousands of development rights to their pay to play friends with the connections necessary to participate in public/private housing partnerships. This would be a tremendous blow to the private housing builders and would require a disastrous environmental disruption. The Comp. Plan recommends massive infrastructure burdens on the taxpayers including extensive sidewalk and sewer projects.

New York City would reap a fortune from selling development rights, and we would be holding the bag of soaring school taxes and damaged real estate values.

But the biggest coup of all for New York City could be this: by installing a Byway Management Entity, NYC would no longer have to buy property to control it. They would no longer have to pay to displace people: A Byway zoning overlay could “coerce” people off their land for free via pressure from taxation and zoning burdens – and stop development everywhere & anywhere. We learned at the Shandaken Byway hearing last week that the State is already informing Business that the rules change if the Byway Plan is approved.

Without paying a penny, New York City could rule the Catskills in neo-feudalist fashion, and we would become the serfs carrying the tax burden.

Byway Pitchman say “NO” to Protections for YOU in the Byway Plan

If the Byway Plan goes forth, your perfectly legal house or business today could be in non conformance overnight. Last week in Shandaken, Scenic Byway Pitchman Peter Manning (paid by the CCC&D) denied Councilman Vincent Bernstein’s request to incorporate language within the document to protect property rights. In fact, without the grandfathering in of “all pre-existing, non conforming” uses of businesses, homes, signage, and all land use extant,” it seems anyone anywhere could be declared out of compliance.

The Byway Plan and the Draft Olive Comp Plan work hand in hand. Manning can deny that the Byway poses a problem in and of itself regarding a targeted issue, but in tandem with the Comprehensive Plan, a lethal assault on property rights can be forged.

Your House is a very very very BAD House

Detached private homes are a major factor in causing Climate Change according to the legal authority referenced for guidance in the Byway Plan. This attorney, John Nolon, advocates for establishing Regional Governance, and transitioning human settlement from our bad private homes into high density human settlement areas with a target of 20 units per acre. This notion of confining growth patterns to non private development corridors is referred to as “Smart Growth.” Ominously, Smart Growth is cheerfully referenced in both plans. Please ask yourself why a Byway Plan that claims it is about “Tourism Promotion” doesn’t refer to tourism experts. What John Nolon writes about is crafting legislation that “immunizes” regional entitles from litigation and “all types of attacks including claims that regulations constitute a taking of property without just compensation.” Nolon also explains how an Agent, like the Adirondack Park Association (APA) allows for legal taking of land for public housing “over the often strenuous objections of local residents." Do you think maybe New York City has something up its Byway sleeve? Why is our Town Board not throwing Manning out of the room?

Politician$ and Public Hou$ing:

Subsidized housing helps people live where they want to live. Public housing is about greed, human flock management, political corruption, and fleeces the taxpayers who subsidize sweetheart PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) deals.

A quick example: Steve Aaron of Birchez, a public housing developer in Kingston: 1-Gets $1.8 million from we taxpayers to build a subsidized housing project 2- Aaron gets a VERY low ($100 per unit) tax rate that must be subsidized by the taxpayer as well 3- He sends Gov. Cuomo a check for $87,800 4- He sends $5,000 to Sen Bonacic 5- He sends $9,000 to Rep.Vito Lopez in Brooklyn (public housing must legally reach out to collect people from a broad geographical and ethnic cross section to be in compliance) 6- Aaron pays the politicians on time but never seems to pay his taxes in time and in full.

We are standing up against wise guy builders, their greedy political friends, and their personal fortunes by opposing the Byway scam. We don’t know who Mr. Leifeld is listening to, but fortunately wiser heads in Shadaken and Hurley find this plan too troubling to approve.

We are amateurs doing a job that is for a professional attorney. But we are doing far more work, far more research, and we care much much more about you & our town that those who are on bended knee to City Power.

For his entire political career, Mr. Bruce LaMonda has waved the banner of Home Rule. It is fortunate in every man’s life when he gets the opportunity to stand proudly by the core values he has espoused. This Byway Plan provides such an opportunity as without land use control – Home Rule is dead.

One more Byway Joy: one of the big goals of the Byway are massive infrastructure plans to redesign Route 28 so as to “slow traffic” with curb bump outs and a roundabout – that somehow seems like it would require property confiscation. And make every sane person drive somewhere else.

THE NEXT TOWN BOARD MEETING: Tuesday May 8th 7:30pm
Will They Be Holding a Byway Vote? They Won’t Say Yet.
Kindly Express Your Concerns and Do Your Own Research
Feel Free to Call Supervisor Leifeld at 657-8118

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