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At Home in Ramapo
The Truth About Open Space
Follow the Money
A $50million Tax Bill
The Law that Protects Open Space
St. Lawrence's
Record on RLUIPA
January 3, 2007 Joe Meyers' comeback
was completed tonight as
the will of the voting public and the choice of the Democratic
committee members were both honored as Joe was sworn in
as Rockland County Legislator for District 12. Click
here to listen
to Joe's speech to the Legislature and the public attending, and check
Joe's new website at
www.legislatorjoemeyers.com
and bookmark it as a favorite. The Journal News reported,
"Meyers also had many supporters in the chambers as he reiterated his
plan to focus on land-use
issues. Meyers is the first member of the grass-roots Preserve Ramapo
organization to be elected
to the Legislature and the only member of the group's 2007 slate to win
election. Preserve Ramapo
opposes overdevelopment and has been critical of Ramapo Supervisor
Christopher St. Lawrence
and his administration." Read the full article
here.
"In District 12, Airmont Trustee Joseph
Meyers, a Democrat, was the only person backed by
Preserve Ramapo, a grassroots political organization, to win office this
year. During his campaign,
Meyers promised changes in the way the county handled land-use issues, a
hallmark of the Preserve
Ramapo platform. Meyers said yesterday that his first priority would be
to submit a resolution
requesting that Congress review the federal Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act,
known as RLUIPA." Read the complete Journal News article
here.
December 17, 2007 After a vicious and negative campaign,
elements of which are currently being
investigated by State and local law-enforcement agencies, the Supervisor
initiates
a program to heal the divisions in the community. As in the case of the
arsonist/fireman,
it's a little late and more than a little disingenuous. A reader points
out the hypocrisy
of the new PR initiative coming out of Ramapo Town Hall. Read the entire
letter
to The Journal
here.
"Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the state
Board of Elections,said that if the complaint
has merit, an investigation will be done. If wrongdoing is found, the
agency can issue
a letter of reprimand or refer a case to local authorities for possible
prosecution."
The complaint centers around the forged signs put out the night before
the election in
Ramapo that directed Preserve Ramapo voters to the wrong voting line. Read
the Journal News coverage
here.
December 10, 2007 An official complaint
was filed today with the New York State Board of elections.
The complaint was made specifically against Schmuel Orliansky, Naftalie
Lipshitz, Jacob
Wagschal, Chaim Mair Greenfield, and Christopher St. Lawrence. The
matter concerns
the fraudulent signs placed on the streets of Ramapo, the night before
the election.
Details of the police report of those caught that night are included in
"Monsey developer
says St. Lawrence behind election fraud scheme" which can be read
here,
and the full
text of the Preserve Ramapo complaint to the State can be read
here. An
investigation of
this same incident has been opened up by the Rockland County District
Attorney's Office.
New
voting bloc forming in RamapoDec. 4, 2007 "All one had to do these past months was to
drive any
local street in Ramapo to see the thousands of green and
yellow signs not placed on rights of way, but on residential
properties, showing support for an organization looking for
a change in direction for our local government." Community
View written a former Rockland County Legislator, Stan
Dworkin. Full text
here.
Nov. 28, 2007 At about 3 am on November 6, the morning of
the election,
Jacob Wagschal told Ramapo police that the fraudulent Row A
signs, hundreds of which were put out that night, "were
intentionally made to deceive the Preserve Ramapo voters."
Wagschal further explained "that he (Wagschal) was hired by
St. Lawrence to place these particular signs." (from Ramapo Police
Incident Report 07-48051) The signs directed those who wanted to vote
for Preserve
Ramapo to vote on Row A (the Democratic line with St. Lawrence,
Friedman, Hunter
and Yegar was Row A—Preserve Ramapo line was Row G). The signs were
forgeries
of the Preserve Ramapo 2’ X 4’ campaign signs--same colors, font,
graphics, and "Save
our Town" motto. Complete story
here.
Irving Feiner, a political activist for
more than half a century, offers an analysis of the
calculating and undemocratic nature of Ramapo's Hasidic bloc vote. Using
voting
statistics and trends, he considers the same question voiced in a
Journal editorial,
"Are all the voters registered in the area living in the area?" Irv
discusses five qualities
that set the vote apart from any other special interest. Read the full
text of the
Community View piece
here.
Past midnight, on election
night, November 6, Christopher
St. Lawrence went to Crown
Millwork on Robert Pitt Drive
to address those who he said
were responsible for his victory.
A video was made of the speech,
and part of it was posted online
at yiddishnayes.com. Today that
video was pulled from the
website. We have the text
of St. Lawrence's comments that night, along with comments about his
promises to
his base. View video clip
here. Transcript for the video clip
here.
A letter writer reminds the Journal's
readership that informed, not programmed
voters are what a democracy relies on. "Real democratic societies are
not typified
by isolated enclaves where people vote as they are told to by the
group's leaders.
Real democratic societies are typified by diverse communities where
people may
not know how their neighbors are voting unless they politely ask." Read
David
Siegel's letter
here.
Dirty
politics plays too big a role in Rockland
Judah Lerer, legislative candidate in the 6th
district reflects on the 1
unethical and illegal campaign practices in recent elections. "In the
race
for Ramapo supervisor, for the third time in a row, the Preserve
Ramapo-supported candidate was subjected to a dirty campaign waged
on behalf of Democratic Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence." Judah
also comments on the Machine's use of the bloc vote. "Just so that no
one
misunderstands the latest spin, there is a huge difference between
getting the support of a union
and that of a bloc vote. In the latter case, the vote comes from people
who out of fear, are unable
to research or express political differences. Such individual expression
would put them on the
fringe of the community affecting prospects of housing, income, and
marriage and schooling for
their children. In a union, a member simply votes for the "other guy,"
and can even try to vote
out their union head. New Square Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer's statement
of equivalence is
completely disingenuous." Read the full text of the commentary
here.
The tax exempt status of houses of worship
require that the religious
institutions not get involved in politics. The same is supposed to be
true
for publications like Mendel Hoffman's Advocate. A letter writer calls
for
a closer look at this IRS privilege that appears to be very loosely
interpreted
locally. Letter
here.
A letter writer asks, "One day 2,000 adults
are told to vote for a particular
candidate and the next day after a 'no promises' meeting with the
governor
they are instructed to change their vote and they do so without
question?"
Read the full text
here.
An election inspector explains what he sees
as the future consequences of the
poor turnout in the most recent election. Read his letter
here.
Successful Preserve Ramapo candidate for
County Legislator from District 12 thanks
his constituents and volunteers. Outlining
his top ten priorities, Joe presents a plan for RLUIPA, land use,
protection
of the Ramapo Highlands, strengthening of the
County Planning Department,
reform of the Rockland Sewer District to require more transparent
reporting,
election reform and continuing the fight against the FAA re-routing
plan. Joe
intends to form an advisory committee of residents within the community,
to be
announced in a few weeks. Read his entire statement and plan
here.
"Thanks to all the wonderful and persistent
people in Preserve Ramapo.
Thank you wonderful folks who took the time and voted. To the rest,
shame on you." Read entire letter
here.
The editorial simply touches a few bases and
asks a few questions: "The Hasidic
villages and pockets of Ramapo town may not advertise the pull of the
bloc vote
(it's been going on for more than 40 years) but they don't hide it,
either. . . Certainly
the questions of propriety need to be addressed for these and all
voters. Who tells
whom how to vote? Are all the voters registered in the area living in
the area? The
biggest question critics raise is, 'What are the politicians promising
in return?'" A
larger discussion is warranted to include democratic issues such as
church/state
separation, political rhetoric and advertising in tax-exempt
publications, and
non-discriminatory treatment for all voters. Complete editorial is
here.
Journal News reports that New Square "gave
Zugibe 1,978 votes to 23 for Republican
incumbent Michael Bongiorno, who had been promised the community's vote
until
Governor Spitzer intervened." The New Square deputy mayor took credit
for the win, "We
won them the election," but he claims "[we] didn't ask anything from the
governor, and the
governor didn't promise anything." The Journal quoted Bongiorno as
saying "he would have
won re-election if New Square had maintained its commitment" to him.
Despite the denials,
rumors are that Spitzer offered help with everything in New Square's new
development in
Spring Glen, New York--250 acres upstate to which a number of New Square
families will
be relocated. Journal story
here.
James Walsh of the Journal News was given
the reassurance that Preserve Ramapo, with just
the single win on the County Legislature, was not going anywhere but
where they have been
for the last six years--at the meetings and online, listening to all the
residents in Ramapo. Concerning
the election, Chairman Bob Rhodes saw the disappointing turnout of
voters as a sign of "democracy
in decline. There's a huge population out there that couldn't care less.
People pay more attention
to who's managing their sports teams than they do to public life. It's
the crisis of modern democracy."
On his part, "Supervisor St. Lawrence was modest in victory, promising
to create committees of a
cross-section of residents for 'myriad issues from recreation to open
space and development.'" A
completely disingenuous remark when you consider there has been an Open
Space Committee in
Ramapo for several years, and it has never met--not one meeting with St.
Lawrence or anyone despite
more than twenty million in expenditures for Open Space purchases (most
of which remain unprotected
despite Preserve Ramapo's request to have them all formally dedicated in
an open session of the Town
Board). Journal story
here.
The Journal News editorial yesterday called
for the St. Lawrence administration to pay some attention
to Preserve Ramapo's ideas and to "make government open to all, even
those who disagree." A letter
today brings us back to reality with the reminder: "Why would Ramapo
Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence
change his policies now? He has never run a government "open to all." He
panders to his bloc vote while
most of the town residents are either too self-absorbed, completely
mislead by his mistruths, or too blinded
by his name flashed on everything our tax dollars build." Read the rest
of the letter
here.
Meyers
wins legislative seat Preserve Ramapo's candidate for Legislator
in the
12th District won handily in a landslide. The un-
official numbers from the Board of Elections are:
Joseph Meyers 2,883
Patrick Withers 815
Larry Weinstein 661
Congratulations to Joe and his amazing team of volunteers.
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A letter writer reminds us that those who
don't vote, get the government
they deserve. And for all the complaining
that people do, the one thing
they can do to change things is to take a
few minutes on Tuesday to take back
their
town. Full text of letter
here.
Most of the libel is delivered in anonymous
mailings,
like the one today
from Concerned Ramapo
Republicans--that piece of trash was mailed
out with
a mail permit from
Albany. No return address,
no one standing behind these
attacks. When Preserve Ramapo offers
criticism of a politician, the
contention begins
with documented evidence,
FOILed from public records,
taken from deposed
statements
or from sworn testimony by public officials--and
we sign our
publications. You will not
find that kind of proof or documentation from the St. Lawrence side.
In
fact, most of the
attacks
are anonymous, probably to avoid future lawsuits. Maybe it has to do
with a craven
political nature.
Mr. St. Lawrence, readers might remember, arrived on the scene at Town
hall proudly
claiming,
among other
qualifications, a degree from Harvard University. That
was a lie.
Preserve Ramapo proved that it
was
a lie with documents from Harvard. To this
day, St. Lawrence offers
delusional comments about the
flawless condition of our failing
sewer system. The man is a public
figure and he doesn't even pay his taxes
(story above).
Is it despicable that St.
Lawrence, Friedman, and Hunter don't condemn and distance
themselves
from the filth that has been
flying from their side? I have not heard a word
from any of them--so one
is left to
conclude that this must
be from their people.
A family member has had enough of the lies and has
written a
Community View to
address
some of this garbage. The text of that letter is
here.
The first letter is titled "What Is Wrong
With Us?" The writer explains how the religious
community is
being used by the developers who are only serving their own greed and
the
Supervisor who is
profiting from the hatred stirred up over several campaigns. Full text
of
the letter is here in
pdf
format. (Scroll down the opening page that begins with a request
that
the letter be widely circulated.)
The second letter begins: "As the boy who
cried wolf found it, it is only real wolves who
profit by false
and hysterical accusations. Unfortunately, there are some in the
Orthodox
community who feel that baseless
charges of anti–Semitism are superior to reasoned debate
in an exchange
with our fellow citizens." Read the
full text here.
Trustee
corrects deceptive St. Lawrence With his credibility in tatters over the
environmental destruction
caused by his Master
Plan,
St. Lawrence continues to send out campaign
literature that distorts and
departs
from the
truth without the slightest discomfort or embarrassment.
This flyer
about an
open space purchase
on Pine Brook Road in Chestnut Ridge is typical. In
this case, though, a
member of
the Chestnut Ridge Board
wrote to correct the distortions and
false assumptions. Read the letter
here.
At the County level it's illegal to take
contributions from vendors who do work for the
County government--in Ramapo it's the quid pro quo. And at what point do
misspelled
names and addresses become a purposeful attempt to hide information?
Read a line-by-
line analysis
here.
If you missed the earlier Follow the Money pieces, the Tartikov
connection is
here, and the conflict of interest with Stearns and Wheler is
here.
Needless to say, there's no shortage of
meaningful issues. We must repeal the Adult Student
Housing Law, stop the downzoning, dedicate open space purchases as
parkland and let residents
decide for themselves via referendum on village formation and
single-member town council
districts. Full text of Mike's letter to the Journal
here.
This year could
be the most important local election ever in Ramapo’s long history.
Joe's letter to The Journal News. Full text
here.
A look at the plan for the first 100 days
of a new administration. Athony's letter from
today's Journal News--October 31. Letter
here.
A founder of the New York State
Conservative Party endorses PR, a resident describes candidate
Melé's qualifications and leadership qualities, and a Suffern neighbor
has questions about the Open
Space program because "making statements of half-truths have been part
and parcel of the current
[Town] administration."
More
After opening with their attack on Robert
Rhodes’ livelihood,
and then their racist/anti-Semitic “Perverse Ramapo” signs illegally
placed around town, the opposition has now sent out a mailing
that has some of the most despicable propaganda of the last three
town elections. As with everything that arrives from this group of
cowards,
the mailing was anonymous.
More
A letter writer to The Journal News
comments on the attempts by the St. Lawrence campaign to co-opt
some of electorate's positive response to Preserve Ramapo. Read her
letter here.
The "Perverse Ramapo" signs are illegal
because no one has paid the municipal deposits
to permit their use. Both Anthony Melé and Bob Rhodes commented on the
cowardice
and divisiveness of this smear campaign by the opposition. If you have
cable, you can access a replay of
the story by clicking on the News12 logo above.
Judah
Lerer running in District 6 for LegislatorLong-time Preserve Ramapo activist, Judah
Lerer is running against
Bruce Levine and Alden Wolfe. Judah has a track record opposing
irresponsible growth and environmental recklessness. For The Journal
News profile of the district race, click
here.
The purpose is to keep Preserve Ramapo's
message away from the
people of Ramapo. But when you drive up onto peoples' lawns to grab
the Save our Town signs, you are letting the neighbors know what kind
of people are running against the grass roots movement. Read the letter
to the Journal News
here.
The first tactic of those supporting the
St. Lawrence team was to print
hate
messages on signs that
looked exactly
like the Preserve Ramapo signs. Phase two has been the widespread theft
of our
signs throughout Ramapo. If you know the name of the person in the
videotape,
stealing our signs on MacNamara road Thursday morning, Sept. 27, at 5:50
am, give
us his name and you will collect the reward. We have someone who got a
close
look at him, but now we need his name to prosecute. More info
here.
"One would expect our elected leaders to
stand up to developers and protect our
lifestyle, but it has simply not happened. I would like to invite Mr. St.
Lawrence
to take a drive around his own Wesley Hills, Pomona and New Hempstead.
Take
notice of the "Save Our Town" signs dotting so many yards; take a look at
the
homes where your constituents live. We deserve better than to find
ourselves
living in the shadow of large developments like the one on Grandview, the
large
scale building down on Route 306 near Kaser, whatever the new owners have
in
mind for the New York Country Club property and a massive housing
development
planned in Pomona masquerading as a yeshiva with a 15-year course of
study."
Read the full text of the letter sent to the Journal News
here.
"These accusations should be an affront to
any citizen of the community. To
somehow imply that support of Preserve Ramapo makes one anti-Semitic is
outrageous and ought to be denounced by the Democrats and Supervisor St.
Lawrence. But, to date, I have heard nothing from either." Full text of
letter
here.
"His standard of professionalism is of the
highest integrity and he somehow
combines that with thoughtfulness, kindness and a positive attitude. I
want people
to know the real Joseph Meyers, not the person Pat Withers is trying to
portray
him as." Full text of letter
here.
The Meyers primary on Tuesday in District
12 had the largest turnout for a primary
in Rockland political history, including presidential, senatorial, state
or local.
With 4,809 registered Democrats in the possible pool, 1,835 showed up
registering
a record turnout of 36.5%. One set of totals were reversed by the Board
of
Elections, and the corrected total is now even more of a blowout:
Meyers 1,210 and Withers 625. Meyers' win is an impressive
66% to 33% or
2 to 1.
"Democracy Works!"
An
Orthodox supporter decries Those who had the signs printed want a
community
divided. They are trying to create an anger that they
hope can be distilled into a long-lasting hatred--an
enmity they can use, can call on any time there is
opposition to their agenda. A neighbor from the community targeted by
this
campaign speaks out in a letter to The Journal News. Read the letter
here.
The founders of the Torne Valley
Preservation Group disavow political
connections made to their group and remind us all that what's primary is
saving the Western wellfields from the development that's smothering
much of the rest of Ramapo. Letter
here.
The St. Lawrence team steps
down into the slime
When you have nothing to run on, all
you’re left
with are lies and personal attacks on the opposition.
St. Lawrence supporters have combined both in
their first public
announcements of the campaign
season. Signs that were designed to
look like the Preserve Ramapo signs have
been showing up in
scattered locations. They contain the same hate speech that’s
been
trotted out in past elections. And the delivery has been the same as
in the
past—anonymous and cowardly.
(More)
Michael Bernstein writes, "Withers'
campaign literature claims that the Airmont
Village Zoning Board of Appeals has doubled the number of variances
granted
between 2002 and 2006, and that this statistic somehow demonstrates that
Meyers
is "pro-development." Since this statement (advertised as "fact") is
remarkably
uninformed, I feel compelled to set the record straight." Read the
letter
here.
"When did Withers fight overdevelopment? Did
anyone hear him speak at the
Ramapo Master Plan hearings? Or the protests against the power plants at
Torne
Valley? Has anyone ever known him to publish his stand against downzoning
in
Ramapo? Maybe he just made small talk to patrons across his bar. He only
surfaced
in a Democratic primary against Joseph Meyers, an activist and participant
in
Airmont's government for the last five years." Read complete letter
here.
With numerous questions about contributions to
candidates' campaigns,
complaints about campaign materials, and other issues related to the
upcoming
election, you'd think the coverage by the County board of ethics would
be
a little more comprehensive. Read the Journal article "County Ethics
Board
chief ignores media calls"
here.
Michael Tauber, the developer who will supervise the Tartikov
construction
of the rabbinical college in Pomona if their RLUIPA lawsuit succeeds,
has written
a letter to the Journal News claiming he didn't make the donation to St.
Lawrence's
campaign--it was his employer at Monsey Route 59 Associates. That's very
strange
because Dun & Bradstreet list Tauber as top executive, contact, and only
named
employee out of a list of 5 employees that includes one Michael Tauber
and 4
anonymous others. The other half of his defense in the letter is, to
paraphrase,
Even if I did, what would be so terrible--it's an American tradition.
The letter and
links to the article about the second biggest donation to St. Lawrence's
campaign
can be read
here.
The number of signatures required to get their
candidates on the ballot was 1,211.
The number collected by more than 100 volunteers was 5,886, a
total
unmatched by any other candidates or parties. On the Preserve Ramapo line
this November:
Anthony Melé for Supervisor, Linwood Carter, James Hyer, and Michael
Parietti
for Town Board, Anthony Sharan for Superintendent of Highways, Joseph
Meyers
Rockland Legislator Dist. 12, Judah Lerer Rockland Legislator Dist. 6.
Bios and platform
here.
The
failure of third parties in In a democracy, third parties are supposed to
provide an alternative for those unhappy with
the two controlling parties. In Ramapo and Clarkstown, these so-called
in-
dependents do little more than just clone the machine's choices. One of
Rockland's most astute political observers, Irv Feiner, offers a look
into the
politics and money involved in this embarrassing failure. There is hope
in Ramapo, though, because there's a truly independent coalition that
threatens not only the machine there but the co-conspirators as well.
Read Irv's unedited Community View
here.
Two letters to the Journal News, one from an Airmont resident who
regularly
attends board meetings and the other a resident from Suffern, explain
what Joe
Meyers' record on overdevelopment actually is. Letters
here.
When Harry Reiss died, there was not
enough time for a Democratic replacement
to collect petition signatures to be placed on the ballot, so there will
be a
convention held between Sept. 18 and 25. The Preserve Ramapo candidate
for the vacant seat is James Hyer. Journal
story
here.
Withers bending record in Airmont
The Chairman of the Airmont Planning Board joins the chorus of others
who
have written to correct the false and inaccurate statements made Patrick
Withers concerning Joe Meyers' record as Trustee and Deputy Mayor in
Airmont.
Letter
here.
Puppeteer
Schoenberger--The Making of a Candidate
In a commentary on the selection of Patrick Withers as
candidate, Preserve Ramapo Chairman, Bob Rhodes,
offers some recent history on two other Ilan picks. Commentary
here.
Rockland Legislature candidate sues incumbent
over campaign mailings
Airmont Deputy Mayor Joseph Meyers has filed a lawsuit in the State
Supreme
Court in New City against Patrick Withers. At issue are libelous claims
in
Withers' campaign mailings. Preserve Ramapo has filed its own complaint
with
the Rockland County Board of Ethics calling for Withers' censure. Read
the Preserve Ramapo letter to the Ethics Board
here,
and the Journal
News coverage of the story
here.
When the party machine picked Withers over the Democratic Committee's
over-
whelming vote for Joe Meyers, you might have expected this kind of
campaign
from them. The most recent Withers' mailing has four claims, each a
blatant lie,
about Joe Meyers' record as trustee and deputy mayor of Airmont. Read
the
full response
here.
Second
Largest Donation to the"Why are four areas in Ramapo designated
for Adult Student Housing? Why are
accessory apartments approved by Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St.
Lawrence and the Town Board? I asked this question to one of the
councilmen.
His reply was that if they don't get what they want, they will do it
illegally. Do
we need a change of public officials to represent us?" Read the
complete
Community View by a Suffern resident
here.
A review of the donors list of those
supporting
Friends of Christopher St. Lawrence raises some
serious questions about conflicts of interest. The
most obvious involves one of the largest donations
from an engineering firm that was made at the
same time that the company was investigating the
sewer system run by, among others, Sewer Com-
missioner Christopher St. Lawrence. Read "Tell me
if You Smell Anything"
here.
Preserve Ramapo has added James Hyer to its
list of candidates for Town Board. James is an
attorney who specializes in human rights and
environmental law. He has published on the
subject of public policy and land use. A resident
of Suffern, and now Spring Valley, James is the
Director of the New York State Human Rights
Initiative and Vice Chairman of the Rockland
County Sheriff Youth Court. He is also currently
an Adjunct Professor at Ramapo College where he has taught courses in
Political
Science and Public Policy.
Meyers
establishes newWhen Joseph Meyers was selected
overwhelmingly by his local
delegates, who were then ignored
by the legislature, we said the
voters
would eventually be heard.
Thursday
night, Joe announced that
he had
collected twice the number of signatures needed on his petition for the
primary--more than 500 signed in three days. There's machine
politics, and then
there are
the people. As far as anyone can remember, this feat has never been
accomplished
before in Rockland. Click
here to listen to Joe's statement. Joe
Meyers has
Preserve Ramapo's endorsement for legislator in the 12th District.
Campaign
ends where it began--