Spring is a time of renewal. It’s wake up time. Anticipation and high hopes predominate. Would that everyone pause and count our blessings. This is the basis for all successful ventures. Clean up, fix up, paint up, it’s all part of the game. We look forward to a successful year. Let us hear from you.

The mission statement of the Rensselaer County Taxpayers Association (RCTA) is to strive to put more money in the pocket of taxpayers. As the annual election for those who spend the East Greenbush Central School District’s money approaches, the actions of the current Board of Education members which appeared in the 1/25/99 edition of the Independent may be of interest.

A non-controversial proposal by the chair of the East Greenbush Core Redistricting Committee received the necessary votes to become district policy. However, in its paradoxical wisdom, the Board, also by majority vote, adopted a revised elementary redistricting plan. The revision, when implemented, will carry unknown financial consequences.

In response to a plea by a group of residents of Hoags Corners, the Board majority allowed seven children to remain as students in the Nassau Sutherland School. Voting for the measure were three Nassau resident board members – John Sullivan, Susan Hains, and JoAnn Hart – who were joined by Linda Jones and James Baldwin. Earlier the Board rejected a compelling argument by a parent to allow five children to remain at Bell Top. The Board also voted against allowing 24 children to remain at Red Mill School. Is this justice? Or is it to the victor belong the spoils?

Whom and when does it serve? These and many A reader should consider the potential impact of each and every "insignificant" change which a group of politicians make. Their sum total lends to added transportation costs, increased class size, building capacity concerns, and others. Remember these names – Sullivan, Hains, Hart, Jones, and Baldwin – and exercise your voting privilege this spring. It’s YOUR MONEY and YOUR POCKETBOOK.

To fill a vacancy, John Sullivan, a Nassau resident, was returned to the East Greenbush Board of Education, not by voters’ choice, but by the current majority of the Board. As a member, he endorsed the 30-parent Redistricting Committee Proposal which was to assure equity in defining new boundaries.

Sullivan complimented the committee for doing an outstanding job, and then he set out to contradict that statement by voting with the majority to change the rules. As a member of the majority, he and the others can do as they choose. As a voter, you can do as you choose. What they do must make sense. There is no room for partiality when dealing with children. What about the self-esteem of the many others who were re-assigned to another school building? Then there is the small matter of the other more than 600 children and their parents. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Heartfelt sympathy is extended to the more than 30 parents who volunteered their energy and time serving on the East Greenbush School District’s Core Redistricting Committee. Thirty times the number of hours should have enhanced a person’s self-esteem; however, the fine work was quickly changed by the new voting bloc on the Board. The more than 600 students whose lives will experience the change in September "have been had." Is there a community service message to be learned?

John and Mary taxpayer had a pretty good year. They ended ’98 with $731.93 in their checking account, but they are not about to declare a surplus. They remember the mortgage payments for the next 17 years and the car payment for the next 2 years and the college education fund for John, Jr. etc. Really they ended the year in the red.

Our government doesn’t think this way. Both State and Federal governments are crowing about the billions in surplus money that our taxes produced in ’98. Very little is mentioned about the multi billion dollar State debt or the trillion dollar Federal debt. If the politicians were honest about informing us where we stand financially they would tell us that no surplus exists.

How much is a billion? It’s almost impossible for a person to visualize a billion. You understand the instant it takes for 1 second to pass. For a billion seconds to go by you would have to wait almost 32 years. And of course a trillion seconds is over 30,000 years. Turn those seconds in to dollars and you can see that our Country is deep, deep in debt.

All kinds of suggestions are being made about what to do with the surplus. One obvious use would be debt reduction. Reducing the debt would benefit all taxpayers because it would lessen the huge interest payments that are made on this debt. Every billion of debt reduction would save 60 million dollars in interest. What do you think?

When a town line runs through open land no one worries about exactly where it is, but when the line runs through a shopping center both towns lust for tax money. If you look at a map, the East Greenbush-North Greenbush town line is a straight line. If you read the law that established the border in 1855 you find that it actually zigzags a bit. Some of North Greenbush is below the map line and some of East Greenbush is above the map line. Right now the two towns cannot agree on the location and are threatening to go to court. Litigation costs us taxpayers money. Wouldn’t it be better if both Towns just agree to obey the written law?

It has now come to pass that our education heads after years of intense research and discovery have compiled a report that students must earn their grades, otherwise they will not be passed to the next grade. Extraordinary! How in the world did our academics ever come to such a momentous conclusion? This occasion must not pass unnoticed. The clarity and determination of such a scholarly, gifted group will be noteworthy in future annals and be forever revered as an accomplishment beyond the bounds of ordinary mortals.

Still not decided, is what will happen to all the students who were, in recent times, passed on through without benefit of a thorough examination in all subjects and rated as passable, mediocre or functionally illiterate? The spirit of competition and pride of accomplishment seems to have been lost in recent years. Self-esteem, political correctness and soccer is everything.

Remedial courses are now in place as a shadow curricula. In some colleges, 53% or more of the student body are taking corrective courses. How did they earn a high school diploma?

The majority of people polled on the subject of President Clinton’s trial felt he should not be removed from office. This feeling causes me to think the following: Mario Cuomo is still governor of New York. That is to say, polls often depict whatever outcome the pollsters want them to. Which is fine so long as our elected officials remember we are not a pure democracy, but a representative republic.

Many of our extremely partisan Democratic Senators have stated that the American people made up their minds early on about this trial. Our Senators however, are constitutionally bound to ignore the polls. Judging by polls is a dangerous way for people of a republic to self govern. Do we really want a powerful minority, pollsters, through their persuasive power of suggestion, to dictate public policy? Should we conduct a poll before the start of every trial to see what the public thinks the verdict should be?

By succumbing to public opinion polls, our representatives in Congress are opening the door to a high tech version of mob rule, which has at various times throughout our history, supplanted the Constitution and rule of law. Remember Slavery? Where would black Americans be today if constitutional law hadn’t prevailed over the white majority?

Can you think of other examples where the majority has been wrong? Is the world flat? How did the Third Reich come about? Public opinion has a worthy place in politics, but it has no business interfering in or tampering with judicial proceedings. It would be too easy for a powerful defendant to influence the outcome of his trial.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are now relegated to less than auspicious roles for celebration by having both former presidents birth days designated as February 15^th.

In the recent past, each of these extraordinary men had a separate day for patriotic Americans to lend homage and offer prayers of special remembrance. If these two American heroes were alive today, they would oppose the divisive self-serving pretenders who spread willful discontent.

Recently a television reporter questioned in Albany, "What national holiday is celebrated on February 15^th?" Most did not know. A new social studies curriculum which focuses on national holidays long neglected, seems in order. One shining beacon stands out in the media. The Advertiser, a local newspaper decided to close on Monday, February 15^th out of respect for two great Americans.

A complacent public has to be constantly reminded that our freedoms are being lost by failure to stand up for decency and justice. Our school children must be taught of a precious heritage that is theirs and they should not be weaned away down the path to materialistic socialism.

The news media announces the Clinton trial is over. The President is going to go on to bigger and better things? How can he treat this matter so lightly? There is no evidence of true remorse. Impeachment is the most serious penalty our Constitution can prescribe next to treason. No other elected President was ever impeached. This is not a badge of honor. It is a condemnation, a shame and a disgrace. The Senate trial was to vote him out of office. He is actually holding onto the office of President by his finger nails.

Near a Capital District school, a teen was caught shaking down another pupil for a lot of money. For years we have contended that "excessive permissiveness" is the general rule. A deputy superintendent cops out by saying "but most problems don’t rise to the level of police involvement." A really profound statement and so original. Is it any wonder that correcting school problems will ever rise to the level of common sense?

If we are to continue to allow our schools to be dominated by liberals, the problems can only get worse. We have graphic evidence that our academics even borrow the exact words of their left-wing mentors in Washington, D. C.

We can’t impeach these local crews but we can demand that they, "Rise to the level of a decent education for each child or resign."

As always we look to our young. They are the future. Those who depend on government and avoid personal responsibility have failed not only themselves, but their community and the Country.

We often hear "they" or "them". Why don’t "they" fix the pot holes?" Why don’t ‘they’ do this or that. Many times the they is "us." It is up to "us" as individuals to see that our children grow up to be forth right citizens. If we cannot teach our children common decency, proper behavior and the fundamentals of learning, they will be in danger of falling in to the pitfalls that lie in wait.

They must be alerted against future Bill Clintons who could despoil our Country, bring national disgrace and dishonor to our people. We must not allow this to happen.

The thought occurred that the new STAR program is robbing Peter to pay Paul. We have applauded the program and rightfully so but there have been left inconsistencies that need airing. For instance, a whole slew of new tax increases, i.e. hunting, fishing licenses, dog licenses, etc. etc., you name it will be added. A new bond issue may be attempted in the face of a 36 billion dollar State debt. More "state aid" voted to school districts to "cover" the shortfall created by the STAR program. Is this gouge of taxpayers necessary in view of the already overloaded new projects, building programs and internal battles over spending present revenues? The total tax take hanging over the average middle class family is approaching 50%.

Should we all be happy being left with a dollar and a dream?

RCTA
PO Box 145
East Greenbush, NY 12061