Sunday, January 23, 2011
Kingston Mayoral Candidates - Tell us what you will push hard for !!!
We need specific proposals from our City of Kingston mayoral candidates. For the next mayor, we want to hear specific game-changing things that you are going to push and fight for. For example, we taxpayers desparately need 1) annual city-wide property assessments. Most of us are stuck at the pre-housing bubble 2006 assessments. This causes Kingston residents to pay unfair county, school taxes. 2) pay-freeze, no-step increase, 25% health contribution contracts, no manning clauses. 3) heavy volunteerism, much less union control of city. 4) Get rid of the Ulster County rule that the City of Kingston has to pay safety net welfare charges by threatening to keep all of the city sales tax from the county. Now is the time to negotiate with the county, since the 1% county sales tax add-on is up for renewal in the assembly. Unless you candidates are talking specific proposals that you want to push, it sounds like a high school student council election, ie. popularity. To my fellow taxpayers and bloggers, please post on this blog other City of Kingston initiatives that we can PUSH for together.
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6 comments:
Ralph, you would be more credible if you reseached your issues. First, the County and City already signed a new sales agreement (I think a 5 year contract) with no change from the last one. If the State doesn't allow the extention of the sales tax to go through it will cost tax payers in the County a loss of $20,000,000 and the City of Kingston 11&1/2 % of that amount and thousands to local towns. Taxpayers cannot afford to pick up the tab if this fails at the State level.
Ralph..With all due respect, you whine and whine but when are you going to get into the game? Run for office, any office or volunteer instead of pointing your finger. It gets old after awhile. You seem to have your pulse of everything going on in the City, but yet you are invisible. Do you attend City meetings or County meetings? Didn't think so.
To 1:04pm,
Thanks for the sales tax update and correction. However, my comment about trading approval for the 1% county sales tax continuation for eliminating the county safety net financial burden from the City of Kingston was prompted by a KCR radio discussion with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill. As I recall, Kevin said he would be willing to carry the homerule Assembly resolution for the 1% sales tax continuation if the county eliminated the safety net burden from the City of Kingston.
To 2:50pm,
I have submitted a written resolution on converting 1 paid fire station to volunteer and to the reduction of fire dept. emergency responses to Jim Noble which he referred to Charlie Landi's Finance committee. I attended 2 meetings concerning this letter. My suggestion was discussed with Chief Salzmann and I present. However, my suggestion has not been adopted as of now.
Secondly, I am not whining, but I am trying to get the candidates to reveal their positions on game-changing suggestions which could help the city to survive financially. We have to press our local leaders and candidates to take a stand on specific issues instead of just repeatly general ideas such as increasing jobs and decreasing taxes. We need specifics.
Kevin Cahill has never done anything meaning full for the City of Kingston or the County. He passes every State budget which taxes us to death, supports every tax available on everything we do or buty and has never carried the sales tax extention or mortage tax for the City or County and has never helped with all the mandates hurting County Taxpayers. Please tell him to tend to State business, what a waste of a representative for our county.
Listen to Marchetti - see his letter to Freeman editor in Monday jan 24th paper - Safe, Clean and Affordable City - he lays out how.
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