Laws Which Favor Teacher & Municipal Unions are Destroying NY State

I don't know about you, but I am tired of being made a fool by New York State rules which favor teacher's and municipal unions. Let's list a few.

1) School Board Elections not on Election Day in November (RESULT - Teacher's Union is able to surmount small turnout in May and they elect people favorable to the teacher's union.)

2) Tri-Borough Amendment (RESULT - Union continue getting step increases and benefits with no incentive to agree to a lesser, leaner contract.)

3) Step Increases (RESULT - Union receive both step increases for longevity and coursework as well as contract percentage increases)

4) State Union pensions are not taxed by NY State Income taxes (RESULT - union members get an unfair taxation advantage)

5) Arbitration if negotiations with unions are deadlocked. (RESULT - Arbitration ruling usually results in a compromise negotiation which will not create reform required to stop DOWNWARD SPIRAL of increased taxes and decreased population.)

6) Decreased state pension fund performance requires local school districts and municipalities to pick up more of cost of DEFINED (GUARANTEED) PENSIONS. (RESULT - local school districts and municipalities are close to bankruptcy over unfunded pension obligations. Also, private company pensions (IBM) have gone to 401K Defined Contributions.)

IMMORALITY of TAX INCREASES

It is IMMORAL for the City of Kingston or the Kingston Schools to call for Pay Increases and Tax Increases.  We taxpayers especially in NY State have been taken for FOOLS for so long. The new taxpayer rallying cry should be DON'T INCREASE OUR TAXES TO GIVE UNION WORKERS RAISES WHEN THERE ARE PLENTY OF POTENTIALLY QUALIFIED FIREMEN, POLICEMEN AND TEACHERS WHO WILL DO QUALITY WORK FOR LESS IF GIVEN A CHANCE.  Let's get our local governments back in control with the flexibility they need to balance their budgets without increasing taxes.  Let's debate and discuss future Police, Fire and Teacher contracts in the open with the issue of NO Tax Increases firmly on the table.

Eliminate Step Increases AND Move School Board Election to November

To our current Kingston City Schools Board Members,

I would like to get to the bottom of 2 key issues that are NOT dictated by State Education Law and that the local School Board could correct.

1) Eliminate Teacher Step Increases in the upcoming Teacher's Contract.

2) Move the election of Kingston School Board Members to the November 2011 Election Day so that a larger more representative voter pool could vote for our all important School Board representaton. The Budget Vote can stay in May 2011.

VOUCHER Solution to Possible Closure of Kingston's St.Joseph's School

In the long run, to save St.Joseph's School in Kingston, ....let's be logical.......If Catholic schools are successful educating and disciplining our children and if our citizens want to spend our education tax dollars wisely, why don't  all American citizens........especially Catholic parents support educational VOUCHERS, where parents get a payment voucher and can choose to send their children to either public or parochial schools?  Let's break the teacher unions and tell our politicians to support VOUCHERS in order to save our children's future education and local employment opportunities.

Keep Kingston Elementary Schools Open -- Cancel KHS Building Plans

An important premise was left out of the study of realigning Kingston City Schools.  Premise---We should not add on to Kingston High School since we cannot afford it.--------CANCEL PLANS FOR A KHS Building project. ----- Then, the alignment solutions are more acceptable and affordable to parents and taxpayers. Put the 6th grade back in the elementary grades.  Put the 9th grade into the two middle schools.  Reorganize KHS as 10, 11, and 12 grades. ------- In summary, keep your existing buildings and teaching staff, but CANCEL THE KHS BUILDING PLANS...ie. Do a better, more efficient job with what you have.

Huge raises for Fire Dept.-- Higher taxes -- Call Aldermen at phones below

Mayor Sottile...NO MORE 6% TAX INCREASES ....CUT the Fire Department --- Huge raises for Fire Dept.-- Higher taxes for homes and businesses -- No Curbside leaf collections. Something is Very Wrong.  We cannot cut the Police Force. We can cut some supervisory positions at DPW. However, we MUST cut the Kingston Fire Department budget down from $7.4 Million (up $700K). We can no longer afford to send fire trucks to all Emergency Calls. We can no longer have firemen sleeping through the night shift. Please Mr. Mayor, do not burden City taxpayers with another 6% tax increase plus drastic cuts in leaf collection services in DPW in order to preserve a GOLD plated Paid Fire Department. Something is Very Wrong.  To fellow Kingstonians, Call your alderman and urge them to cut the Fire Dept. by using more Volunteer Firemen and keeping paid firemen on call at home instead of sleeping at the fire dept and by eliminating fire dept.going to non-emergency ambulance calls.  See the list of aldermen below.

First Ward Andi Turco-Levin (917) 975-3039
Second Ward Thomas Hoffay (845)331-8317
Third Ward Charles Landi (845)338-6955
Fourth Ward Shirley Whitlock (845) 338-3739
Fifth Ward Jen Fuentes (845) 332-6600
Sixth Ward Ron Polacco (845)594-4758
Seventh Ward William P. Reynolds (845)331-1421
Eighth Ward Robert Senor (845) 339-2955
Ninth Ward Hayes Clement (845) 331-4309

HEADLINE ---- Andrew Cuomo Kisses Shelly Silver at the podium

........At a recent political gathering, a video shows Cuomo kissing Shelly Silver after the 2 were introduced....Let's be Honest. This is a Critical Vote for the Lives of Our Young People in NY State. To my fellow voters-especially parents and grandparents, this is a very sincere appeal to your reason. Sheldon Silver Assembly leader from NY City is a major reason why our beautiful state has become second rate due to his catering to special legal and union people at the expense of the everyday taxpayer and young person in the state. This is why our children and grandchildren have and will continue to leave NY. Andrew Cuomo loves and admires Sheldon Silver. There is no way Andrew Cuomo will be able to loosen Shelly Silver's grip on the power to stop reform in NY. At best, Cuomo will achieve a weak compromise with Silver. Please don't compromise when it comes to the lives of your children and grandchildren. Put Carl Paladino in there to break the New York City/Sheldon Silver stranglehold on our NY Government. This is a critical vote for the lives of our young people.