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Beware the "Eyes of March"
March 19 - And
they're off!
If
you're wondering what we're talking about, it's nothing less than the race to
see who will be elected Supervisor come November.
Right now, we're looking at a three
way race. Democrat Dick Randazzo will be seeking re-election. Former Supervisor
Jimmy Sollami will try to be re-elected. He won't stand a chance though once
people are reminded of his administration's shenanigans when he goes to court
in May.
The
"surprise" candidate will be (we hope), Tom Quinlan. Tom ran for Supervisor in
2003 and lost by a slim margin coming in third to Dick Randazzo and Jimmy
Sollami.
Our
prediction . . . barring any scandals, Tom should beat Dick in
November.
Is it
"A Wonderful Town"?
Okay, we give up. Does anyone have any idea what happened to Jimmy
Sollami's publication, "It's a Wonderful Town"?
No one we know receives it in the
mail any longer. One resident told us he saw bundles of the magazine in the
lobby of The Cornwall Library.
From our perspective it's no great loss, though we did find it
useful when the birds cage needed to be changed.
We know a secret!
Well,
it's not really much of a secret, particuarly when you have the local cops
spreading the word.
.We can't name names, and we can't identify the exact location
across from Willow Avenue School, but we can tell you that executive sessions
of local town boards are not what they used to be.
Stay tuned on this one folks, if the
poop hits the fan it will definately influence the outcome of the November
election.
On the
question of ethics . . .
Not too many people know
this, but we thought we'd pass it on.
In early Februrary John Hussey, a
former candidate for Town Board and a current member of the town's Board of
Ethics, wrote to Supervisor Dick Randazzo and requested that Tom Sheppard,
another member of the Board of Ethics, be removed.
John argued that Tom's conduct was
"immoral" given his alleged participation in the publication of this
eZine.
Needless to
say, Tom did ot take well to John's commentary and informed Dick that any
attempt to remove him would likely result in some real bad
publicity.
In
particular, Tom noted that even though this was Cornwall, the First Amendment
to the United States Constitution still applied and took precedence over local
tribal customs.
Stay
tuned on this one as well, this issue has the potential to become news worthy
of a Jerry Springer episode.
"Hazzard" Pay
Explain this to us.
Todd Hazzard,, a former sergeant with the New Windsor Police
Department and the new Police Chief here in Cornwall, reportedly made $110,000
last year with his former employer.
These payments included regular
salary and overtime pay.
From what we hear, his salary with Cornwall will be approximately
$84,000.
Why would
anyone want to sacrifice their career in a town where you will be subject to
the whims of whatever administration is currently in office?
Todd, listen to us, keep your resume
up to date. You may need it some day.
On the subject of Todd
Hazzard
Do you remember the guy who was to
have been appointed as Police Chief (sorry, we don't remember his
name)?
Well guess
what? Would you believe that NO ONE did a background check on the guy before he
was offered the job?
Not even Ripley's could concoct this tale.
And there's more. Of the entire Town
Board only Al Mazzocca was not in favor of hiring the guy. You may want to keep
this in mind when it's time to elect members to the Town Board.
It's time to stock up on
Vaseline!
By now
most residents knows the Board of Education has settled the contract with its
teachers.
Now comes
the fun part, who's going to pay for it.
Eliot Spitzer has promised more
money for New York schools, and we will see a 5% increase in state
funding.
However,
that won't come close to paying the tab.
Plain and simple, the Board of
Education caved-in to teacher demands.
Beginning this year many of
Cornwall's teachers will be earning more than $100,000 for their 180 day work
year,
And how is
your health insurance coverage?
Yours may suck, but our teachers have one of the best with them
paying only 6.5% of the premium.
So here's our prediction. If you live in the Cornwall School
District, and you are a property owner, you will be screwed when all is said
and done.Plan for a tax increase of 8 - 10% in your school tax bill come
September 1st.
Padding the Payroll
Since when does the school
district need teacher aids in regular education High School, english, social
studies and sciences classes?
Mind you, we're not talking special needs students, we're talking
run of the mill classes with supposedly "normal"
children.
As we see
it, the district's administration is padding the payroll.
Why? Well, if you put enough locals on the payroll these people
soon become dependent upon the income and are then less likely to go out and
vote against the next budget.
Cute idea, and it works. Too bad the folks on the Board of
Education don't have the sense to look between the lines of the
budget.
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