Colette Zito | Philip Fennell |Charlie Daniels | Russell Gerry

David Watson | Colette Zito | Christine Walters | Pauline Kaplan | Ralph Stein | Valerie Esposito |

School Buses for Children at Baxter Green

Colette Zito letter to the Pawling Central School District

January 30, 2008
To:
Joseph Sciortino, Superintendent                  
Pauline Kaplan, President, Board of Education
Richard Miskovitz, Board of Education

Pawling Central School District
32 Holiday Hills Lane
Pawling, NY 12564

On Monday, January 28, 2008 I hand delivered to Pawling Central School District superintendent and school board members an executed letter from Stuart Berelson, Esq. granting permission to access his privately maintained roads for the benefit of approximately 18 elementary and 12 middle and high school students residing at Baxter Green subdivision and surrounding residences.  Also, I provided a petition signed by my neighbors at Baxter Green in an appeal to increase awareness of our concerns with safety issues for our children. 

At this meeting, it was revealed that this matter is addressed by section 30.17, pages 891-892 of the 31st Edition of “School Law.”  It appears to have pertinent language offering possible resolutions for the concerns outlined in our initial discussion at the school board meeting.  My review of the case law language is encouraging.  To reiterate, the property owner, Stuart Berelson, Esq. has no objection to the use of Baxter Green roads for school buses. 

Lastly, if  Deputy Sheriff, T.J. Hanlon’s, schedule permits, I volunteer to coordinate his witnessing of our actual experience, thereby hopefully resulting in his report to PCSD of our legitimate concerns for the safety of our children.  We look forward to working together addressing all considerations for a satisfactory resolution.  

Sincerely,
Colette Zito
With attachments
Cc:  Stuart Berelson, Esq
       Victoria Tannini, Supervisor of Transportation
       Baxter Green & Dykeman Street neighbors

Posted at www.harlemvalleyherald.com on February 10, 2008.

Philip Fennell
Re: Town Board removing Kent Johnson from the Planning Board.
January 16, 2008

On this subject, see also letters from Charlie Daniels and Russell Gerry. The supervisor and the town councilmen have been invited to submit letters on this subject.

To the editor:

Pawling residents were treated to quite a spectacle recently, reminiscent of Tammany days, when the two newly elected town board members joined with the supervisor to remove a long term town official of unquestioned integrity and competence.    The Town Board is supposed to represent the people, and here, the removal was opposed by a clear majority of Pawlingites.

When campaigning, the two board members had shrouded themselves in the cloak of “good clean politics,” fooling even this writer who voted for them.  One would have expected the supervisor would have kept her head down for a while.  The voters repudiated her by reducing the supervisor’s future term.  The first person elected to a four year term learns midway that the voters have had enough!

One of the few to publicly support the removal apparently said something to the effect the official “has been in office forever.”  Let us not forget this and with the next election make sure these Tammanyites are not guilty of the same offense.

Philip Fennell
Pawling, NY

Charlie Daniels on Kent Johnson
January 11, 2008

Click here: Russell Gerry on Kent Johnson

Charlie Daniels writes an open letter to the Pawling Town Board regarding the Board decision to remove Kent Johnson from the Pawling Town Planning Board.

Planning Board member Russell Gerry submitted a letter on the subject of Kent Johnson in December of 2007, and that letter can be read below the Daniels letter.

Editor's Note: All members of the Town Boards of 2007 and 2008 have been invited to submit letters on the subject of Kent Johnson, including supervisor and councilmen, and none of them have responded. The public is also invited to submit respectful and responsible letters on this or any subject.

Charlie Daniels Open Letter

Kent Johnson
Pawling Planning Board

Will the Pawling Town Board remove Chairman Kent Johnson from the Town Planning Board?

An Open Letter
Russell Gerry
To The Pawling Town Supervisor and Town Board Trustees
From the Town Planning Board by Planning Board Member Russ Gerry

Will the Pawling Town Board remove Chairman Kent Johnson from the Town Planning Board?

Will Mike Mayer and David Watson give Supervisor Beth Coursen the votes she needs to remove Kent Johnson from the Town Planning Board when they take office in January?

*An Open Letter To The Pawling Town Supervisor and Town Board Trustees*

Dear Supervisor Coursen and Town Board Trustees,

I am writing on behalf of the Pawling Planning Board in support of Planning Board Chairman, Kent Johnson.

Kent Johnson has been a member of the Pawling Planning Board since 1975, and has served ably as Chairman since 1981. He has received numerous awards from Dutchess County, New York State and others as a testament to his skill, resourcefulness and dedication. Kent is one of the most highly respected leaders among planners in Dutchess County.

One of the key architects of development in Pawling, Kent has always taken the long term view. When others might have rushed to embrace immediate gains only to sacrifice Pawling’s future quality of life, Kent has shown a clear vision for the future. The fruits of this labor are realized over time and are highlighted by some current examples including; the new momentum in the Castagna Planned Development District project on Rte 22; and the pending joint Pawling/Dover proposal (Lodging Club/Golf Course community {with proposed restaurant/lodge in the Village of Pawling}).  

The fortunes of the Town of Pawling (and) Village of Pawling are inseparable. A carefully crafted planning approach has been essential to the health of the Village core, and Kent has been a key player in the development and implementation of this approach.          

Recently, Supervisor Coursen has expressed disagreement with some aspects of the Town Code as currently written. It is no secret that Supervisor Coursen and Chairman Johnson differ on these issues. At a recent Town Board Public Hearing on such disputed issues, members of the Planning Board, including Kent Johnson, respectfully disagreed with code changes suggested by the Supervisor. Ultimately, the Town Board agreed with Kent Johnson and rejected those changes. But now, with new Town Board members elected in November, the Supervisor has made it clear that she intends to act quickly to remove Kent Johnson as Planning Board Chairman during the first meeting of the new year, pending agreement of the newly elected Town Board.

I urge the Supervisor and the Town Board Trustees to reflect on the disruption that such a removal would cause at this crucial time. All members of the Town Planning Board, including Kent Johnson, respect the Town Board’s leadership role in policy-making. If the newly elected board feels that changes in direction are needed, I would hope they will seek to implement these changes through new leadership initiatives, without resorting to the removal of such a respected member of our community as Kent Johnson.

I would be pleased to discuss these issues further with any members of the Town Board at their convenience.

Sincerely,

Russell J. Gerry
Vice Chairman
Pawling Planning Board

David Watson
Letter to the Herald
August 18, 2007

One late January when I was a child, our neighbor’s house burned down.  Their house was a large, turn-of-the-century home on a corner lot, and several fire companies responded.  It was so cold that the water from the firemen’s hoses turned to ice in the street as it ran off.  My parents and our other neighbors took in the family, and kept bringing coffee to the firemen as they worked on the fire. Those men were volunteers, and there were a lot of them; they didn’t ask for anything to do the job but I remember that they appreciated the coffee. There are still men like this in our communities today. I am grateful for their willingness to do a dangerous job; they are more courageous than I am.

For several months our town board has been discussing ways of showing the volunteer firemen here in town that we appreciate them, and that we want to help them in their efforts to recruit new volunteers. This issue, like most, has gotten tied up in questions of money.  The idea of waiving the transfer station fee and the recreation fee for our volunteer firemen has gotten bogged down in figuring out how to find the twenty-or-so thousand dollars that would have to be made up in the budget in order to provide these services to the firemen at no cost to them.  I understand the board’s desire to be fiscally responsible, and I applaud it; but how about in the meantime, as they wrangle out the details of how to implement this idea, we give the volunteer firemen a “cup of coffee” in appreciation?  Town employees and board members get a discount for using the golf course; we have managed to squeeze that perk in for paid employees and board members for years. Why can’t we, as a gesture, give this same perk to the firemen? It would let them know we do want to work with them and will find a way to do more in the future.  And really, when you consider the cost, it’s not much more than a cup of coffee.

David Watson
An appreciative citizen

Colette Zito
Letter to the Herald
August 18, 2007

Mayor & Pawling Village Board             Doug Warren
Pawling, NY 12564                                     Street Superintendent

Re:                  Garbage Removal ~ Impeccable, Courteous Service

The results of a phone call to Doug Warren, Street Superintendent, of the Village of Pawling exceeded my expectations when I experienced a professional interaction of dialogue surrounding my complaint of the placement of a garbage cover landing on my flower bed.   Mr. Warren’s immediate and absolute concern was evident with his first sentence—he exudes accountability.  Further, he questioned my experience of service and thoughts surrounding the issue with his ‘take charge’ approach and decision that his staff in person will apologize.  All accomplished within a remarkable turnaround time that I’m hard pressed to say this took time! 

Service with respect is apparent when Mr. Warren’s courtesy call to my home alerts me that his staff will be arriving to listen to my concerns and discuss options for satisfying the issues I outlined in our conversation.  The work together approach Mr. Warren exhibited on the phone continued with his staff in person as we arrived at a mutually satisfying resolution.  Both gentlemen represent the leadership of Doug Warren as I experienced a team of professionals at work! 

Thank you, Doug Warren and staff for utilizing my--well spent—tax dollars matched with the best possible service with respect. 

Sincerely, 

Colette Zito

Christine Walters
Letter to the Herald
June 21, 2007

I would like to express my dismay and disappointment to the gentleman and his wife who verbally abused poll volunteers at the Budget Vote on June 19th. I’m not clear as to why berating us would be productive in any way, but it certainly is not appropriate behavior for anyone.

I was present at the Board of Education meeting when the Board listened to the overwhelming number of requests by residents to put the same budget back out to the voters. Their decision to do so was also based on updated assessment figures that would reduce the tax increase to taxpayers. The School Dis trict and School Board of Pawling have spent the last year opening up to residents to hear their opinions and suggestions and their commitment to communication should be applauded. Perhaps your remarks would have been better suited for those meetings.

So, I invite you to go ahead sell your property to a developer as you so loudly threatened. And as you also threatened, I hope they do build “12 huge houses”, for those 12 families will be welcomed into our schools with open arms and cherished as every child in our district is. Our Pawling students receive an outstanding education and our district fosters excellence. So BRAVO to our great community for coming out in record numbers to support our schools.

Christine Walters
Pawling

Pauline Kaplan
Letter to the Herald
June 21, 2007

To the Residents of Pawling Central School District,

As I am sure you have heard, both propositions placed before the voters namely, the Budget and the school buses, were approved by the voters at the re-vote on June 19.  The Board of Education would like to thank our community for once again supporting our district's commitment to excellence. Compared to past budget seasons, this year's certainly took on a life of it's own.  On June 19, seventeen hundred thirty-six people exercised their right to vote.  It was wonderful to see so many of our neighbors get involved in the process.

For the first time a grass-roots community organization, Pawling Together, brought concerns of our neighbors to the board and we thank them for their imput.  Another group, the Greater Pawling Education Alliance, was formed to help get the vote out after the first budget's defeat and

also to address tax reform on the state level and we thank them for all their hard
work.  Many of our high school students organized a rally and peacefully assembled in the Village to remind people what they were voting for.  We are very proud of their initiative and hope they continue their community involvement in the future.  Our teachers union and CSEA members also publicly endorsed both our original budget and our decision to place the same budget before the voters and we are very appreciative of them as well.  We would also like to thank all those who wrote letters, put up signs, made phone calls, and brought needed information to our attention so that we could better serve the
community.

This has been a very exciting year for Pawling Schools.  We were recognized by the Commissioner of Education as a High Performing/Gap Closing School District,one of our high school teachers was selected Teacher of the Year for Dutchess County, two of our
middle school students received recognition for their contribution to technology in their school, our sports teams did very well, a member of our wrestling team was named the Section I, Division II Champion, our test scores continue to improve and for the second year in a row, Pawling had the highest graduation rate in Dutchess County for students who entered the high school in 2002 and graduated in 2006.  These are just a few of the things we can be very proud of.

Finally, there is a large part of the community that we cannot ignore. Many will look at the numbers and see only that there were many more yes votes.  As board members we recognize that there were also many more no votes. We do hear you and we will continue to try to keep costs down while running this business of education.

Thank you,
Pauline Kaplan
President
Pawling Schools Board of Education

3rd & 4th Grade Spring Concert

Valerie Esposito
Letter to The  Herald
June 8, 2007
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I’d like to offer a huge round of applause to the 3rd and 4th graders of the Pawling Elementary School. Their spring concert was June 6, 2007 and it was obvious how hard they worked with Ms. Chasenoff during the year to prepare for this event. I have two reasons for writing, however, and the 2nd one isn’t so upbeat. I was truly appalled by the rudeness shown by some of the parents. Some of the siblings were allowed to crawl and writhe about in the main aisle during the performances, distracting both the audience and the performers. The 3rd grade sang first and instead of showing the 4th graders the same courtesy, many of the 3rd grade parents got up and left during the 4th grade performance. They did not do this quietly or unobtrusively. One woman actually walked down the main aisle during the 4th graders performance waving goodbye to her friends. At one point I turned to my husband and noted that the noise from the audience was actually drowning out the kids. Where is the respect for our children who have worked so hard? Children learn by example; how do we expect our children to have respect for others when we ourselves show others no respect? This was the 4th grade’s last elementary school concert and it was not the experience I had hoped they would have.

Pawling Elementary 3rd and 4th grade, I congratulate you and Ms. Chansenoff on a job well done and apologize for the rude behavior of others.
                              Sincerely,
                              Valerie Esposito