Mailbag

To The Editor:
The September17 issue of the Catskill Mountain News carries an article on The Greater Margaretville Cham-ber of Commerce name change. The center point of said article is the chanting of the mantra “the decision to change the name was approved by a majority of members voting.” This is followed by the “assurance” of Carol O’Beirne, who in her correspondence to me, is identified as “Administrative Consultant,” a paid position that labels her as an employee of the chamber.

The following letter was sent to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commission Peter Grannis. The author requested that it be reprinted here.

Dear Commissioner Grannis:
As Chief Executive Officer of Margaretville Hospital, which is located only ten miles from Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort, I know very well the close relationship between these two organizations. Frankly, the fate of our critical access hospital may be in the balance with decisions about funding reductions for Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort.

To The Editor:
On the night Sarah Palin was introduced at the Republican Convention, David Scudder (letter of September 16) felt “a breath of fresh air in our country.” I felt the air stir as well, but with hot empty gas.
For these long, last eight years, the religious right— family values bunch— has pontificated and judged while avidly foisting their religious agenda onto everyone. Now these same folks are shamelessly trotting out Sarah Palin’s troubled, struggling family saga as a role model for our own families.

To The Editor:
It was a pleasant surprise to see our mother, Bessie Easley, no. 21, in the Olde School photo, in a recent issue of the News. Number 24 in the picture is George Buster Balcom, now deceased.
Bessie was born January 29, 1916 at Johnny Cake Lane, between Margaretville and New Kingston, the daughter of Bruce and Beulah Bronson Easley.

To The Editor:
In response to Stan Weingast’s letter in last week’s issue of the CMN, I have to say that learning about gas drilling by attending these “informational meetings” held by anti-drilling groups is sort of like going to an “informational meeting about air travel” and then being shown pictures of all the worst airplane crashes of the last decade. There is a certain amount of distortion going on.

To The Editor:
Two years ago, an historic upset victory election swept Kirsten Gillibrand into Congress representing us all in the 20th district. In her first two years she has worked to lower property taxes. She has fought to get our veterans the benefits they deserve. In just two years, Kirsten has brought home over $20 million in funding for vital projects upstate. Kirsten Gillibrand voted to limit the power of lobbyists. She has fought for children’s health care (SCHIP) and to improve education for our children.

To The Editor:
Interestingly, Bill O’Reilly seems to agree with your recent writer, David R. Scudder of Roxbury, who praises Sarah Palin’s “family values.”  O’Reilly comments on the condition of Palin’s teenage daughter by saying that teenage pregnancy is a “personal matter.”

To The Editor:
To listen to many Republicans, you would think they want John McCain to die. They seem to want Sarah Palin for president. Adding Palin to the ticket was a clever distraction, pandering to the far right with her extremist views.
But this election really is about a choice between Obama and McCain.

To The Editor:
 Three recent writers took issue with our newsletter detailing jobs to be created by the Belleayre Resort.  Their responses were a bit twisted and should be untangled again. 
First, one writer said we should “apply some logic to the issues on the table.”  She went on to assert that we’d have to “send our kids for expensive hospitality degrees from places like the Rochester Institute of Technology so they’ll be ready when the resort finally opens.”   But we noted that two vocational high school programs already teach the skills people will need and SUNY Delhi offers more than a dozen two- and four-year degree programs in every hospitality discipline related to food, golfing or recreation.  So the logic tells us that if anyone around here wants a job at a resort – ours or anyone else’s – it’s easy to get qualified.

To The Editor:
Earlier in the summer Partners for Progress sent out an insulting flyer showing photographs that they said represented our neighborhoods with falling down houses and dump-like properties. I felt like they were saying that we live like slobs. I do not feel that that is an honest representation of me or my neighbors or surrounding communities and I felt badly when I saw it.