The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Letters & Comments

Letter To The Editor – Opposed To A Sole Assessor For Grafton

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Dear Editor:
Recently, the Grafton Town Board introduced Local Law # 1, which would replace the Town’s three elected assessors with a single elected assessor appointed by the Town Board. They scheduled a Public Hearing on the issue just one week after this introduction. Seven people showed up to speak strongly against this proposed law. No one spoke in favor of it. The Board then voted to hold the public comment period for this proposed law open until June 18, by written correspondence to the Town Board.
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Letter To The Editor – Voting With One’s Feet

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Dear Editor:
I sat down to read the Eastwick Press this morning and found the story about the petition to have the Berlin Lumber site purchased by the Town of Berlin. In that story Town Board Member Richard von Schilgen is cited as stating that the opposition to this purchase outside the group that was attending the Board meeting is quite strong. In my view, Mr. von Schilgen is absolutely correct.
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Letter To The Editor – BOCES Expenses Went Down

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Dear Editor,
Pamphlets circulating in the community by a candidate for the Board of Education indicate a concern over program and service expenditures at the Questar III BOCES for students at Berlin Central. It indicates that the BOCES budget went up by 10% which it did not. Actually, it went down this year. The reason the figure is higher reflects a decision by the Business Office to code four regular budget accounts more appropriately to the BOCES budget because of the relationship with service and expenditure. [Read more…] about Letter To The Editor – BOCES Expenses Went Down

Letter To The Editor – The BCS Budget Process

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Dear Editor,
As the School District developed a 2010-2011 budget for the Berlin School District, the following information is offered for public review.  The Board of Education took a vote at the March 9 and 16 meetings to close Grafton Elementary and supply modular units at the Berlin Elementary School for four classrooms.
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Letter To The Editor – What Confusion?

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To the Editor:
I read with amusement Gina Goodermote’s Letter of May 7 and her pronounced faith in the Gregory Administration and the Zwack BOE leadership.  She states that “information given to the Community has been fiction and or the truth distorted.”  Later she includes my name in her litany of offenders, so I presume her comment was, in part directed, to me.  And she appears insulted by a Powerpoint® presentation I gave to the Board at the April BOE meeting.  [Read more…] about Letter To The Editor – What Confusion?

Letter To The Editor – Facts That Should Not Be Ignored

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To the Editor:
This month property owners are asked to vote for or against their school budget, either for the Berlin or the New Lebanon school.
The Berlin total school budget is $18,757,983 for 901 enrolled students. With a decreased enrollment this year they are still asking for an increase of 1.7%, staying just under the state legal 2% increase. This comes out to the significant amount of $20,819 for each student’s education.
The New Lebanon total school budget is $12,634,633 for 507 enrolled students. With fewer students this year and a 2.1% decrease in the budget, they are still asking the taxpayers for a 1.48% tax increase. This comes to a whopping $24,920 for each student and is $4,101 more per student than what the Berlin District spends.
Since both school districts do an equal job of education, the New Lebanon budget appears to be way over the top by about $2,000,000. These facts should not be ignored when voting up or down for this year’s school budget.
Sincerely yours,
Lucille Salitan
New Lebanon

Letter To The Editor – The Freight Train Rolls On

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To The Editor,
It is with great concern that I have followed the events unfolding within our School District in the last five years. I was greatly disturbed when our former school superintendent and former business manager first unveiled their plans to close Grafton and Stephentown Elementary Schools as part of an attempt to save money, as well as perform much needed repairs and updates at our other two District schools. [Read more…] about Letter To The Editor – The Freight Train Rolls On

Letter To The Editor – Trying To Resolve Issues

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To the editor:
I am writing this as a community member. I have great concerns regarding articles that have been presented and printed in the Eastwick Press. Depending on whom is hosting the conversation, the information that is given to the Community has been fiction and or the truth distorted. Famous one-liners that say nothing however can mean a lot. When I was sworn in as a Board Member, Bev Stewart and Tom Morelli requested that we be honest and open with the community. I was and am – for the more the community is involved in the School decisions the better our School District is and can become.
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Letter To The Editor – Taxes Are The Issue

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Dear Editor,
I am keeping the children out of this letter, because we have some great teachers, bus drivers and staff and I know that our kids will be safe and get a good education. The BIGGER issue right now is TAXES and what we are paying for! Do we really have a choice? Why is there no trust in our District leaders? Well, we can take a brief walk through history to see clearly why.
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