Dear Breathing readers:   So many issues, so little time.  Today’s opinion column comes to you from Tim Shera,  Sullivan County resident,  co-originator of   the Sullivan County Transition Towns initiative and long-time  peace and justice activist.   He is asking  Sullivan County residents to examine   our County Legislature’s  new  “trash law — Solid Waste  User Fee”  by  the light of  governing ethics,   unintended consequences and environmental degradation.  For the full picture,  County Manager  David Fanslau’s  letter about  the  Solid Waste User Fee  can be read here and the County’s 2010 Proposed Operating Budget can be reviewed here. (The Budget also includes a discussion of the Proposed User Fee on pages 8-10).*


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Dear Sullivan County, New York:

The “trash legislation”  [“Solid Waste User Fee”]   passed recently  by our Sullivan  County Legislature  is  ill-conceived.  It lacks  strong incentives to recycle and unfairly  taxes  all householders at  the same annual rate no matter how little trash their residence  generates.

I am equally disturbed by  the Legislature’s  proposal to export Sullivan County’s  garbage to some other nearby community.  I am uncomfortable with exportation because it is fundamentally  irresponsible.  It shifts the burden to our neighbors who  are then forced  to live with our trash. Yes, the area that imports our garbage will  receive offset payments,  but I’ll bet the people living close to the landfill  (like those near  our own Monticello site)  will have little or  no choice about our waste being dumped in their backyards.

Would you willingly accept payment from  your next door neighbor to bury his trash in your yard?  As we become more sensitive about this,  I’ll bet we get responsible and stop exporting our problem.

Now to address our present situation,  I am deeply disappointed that the Legislature  (with the exception of Alan Sorenson and  Dr. David Sager)  did not incorporate a deeper wisdom and commitment to recycling in their legislation.  In large part, our beloved and beautiful earth allows and supports life  because, with the exception of some man-made  chemicals,  she recycles everything —  renewing and making available the  oxygen, clean water and  fertile soil necessary to our continued existence.   Recycling and other reductions of our waste streams are essential or the Earth’s ability to  replenish herself will be jeopardized.

Just a word about the inequity in the trash legislation before I close.   I recycle nearly  everything  by composting all veggie-type materials and  taking  recyclables to the landfill for which  I believe the county gets paid.   I end up each week with (at most)  1/4 of a Shoprite-sized bag that goes out as trash.

Why should I, or those with a similar commitment to our environment,  pay $181 a year for so little compared to others who contribute so much more to the waste stream?

Have any of you considered witholding $181 from the tax bill in January until such time as the trash law is made more  equitable and environmentally-loving?   Let me know:  (Tim Shera)  845-292-2279.

Solid Waste User Fee  Town Hall meetings will be held on:

–  Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at the Town of Tusten Town Hall, Narrowsburg, NY at 7pm

–  Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at the Liberty Senior Center in Liberty, NY at 7pm

–  Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at the Mamakating Town Hall in Wurtsboro, NY at 7pm

*Editor’s Note:   On a related matter (Sullivan County’s Proposed 2010 Budget) :  I searched  the Sullivan County site for more than half an hour looking for  Budget Hearing dates.   A  phone call to the Government Center revealed  that the dates  are  posted under an October 14th  Press Release from Jonathan Rouis.  Inexplicably, neither  I nor the clerk were able to find another  Budget Hearing notice at the County website. Breathing hopes you will copy and paste the following dates to your personal calendar  (or check the CottageWorks Community Calendar ):

Informational Town Halls (Public Hearings):   2010 Tentative Budget in the Hearing Room at the Government Center in Monticello, NY

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12  noon

Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7pm.

Breathing Is Political will initiate  coverage of the Town of Delaware’s public meetings and encourages others to do the same  in  their  own Legislative Districts and at the County level.  Those “citizen notes”  can then be centrally-collected in a “blogroll” or other forum and will facilitate concerted citizen responses and ideas. (A partial list of  Township meetings can be obtained  here or at  individual Town websites and a schedule of  Sullivan  County Legislative meetings is posted here.)

If you’re interested in working for free as a citizen journalist covering your  local government happenings,  give me a holler  at   cottageworks@lizbucar.com.


According to  The MidHudson News,  Sullivan County, NY’s  proposed 2010 budget “includes a five percent property tax increase and the elimination of 49 occupied positions and 54 vacant ones.  The County Manager, David Fanslau suggested union givebacks to save money and jobs.  They would include:

  • requiring all employees to contribute 15 percent of their health premiums;
  • change the 14 paid holidays to 13 full days and two half days; and
  • provide 8 ½ paid holidays and 5 ½ unpaid holidays.

Our County’s real estate sales are down 16% over last year and of the sales we’ve had, 12.1% were  bank-owned foreclosures.

Between September 2008 (when the global markets plunged)  and September 2009,  Sullivan’s unemployment rate jumped 2.2% from 6.4% to 8.6% .

The number of families  participating in New York State’s Food Stamps Program has increased  more than 22% during that same time period.

Some grocery stores in Sullivan County no longer accept WIC (Women,  Infants and Children) vouchers because, according to one manager,  it’s too hard and takes too long  to get reimbursed by New York State.   Although  WIC  statistics aren’t available  for 2009,   the  pre-crash numbers for 2008 showed an increase of 15,000 participants over 2007 (a year in which   the number of participants actually decreased.)

The bottom rung of the  Federal & State reimbursement ladder is  occupied by  counties, towns and  local Boards of Education.  They expend their dollars first and get re-paid last.

Local municipalities rely heavily on  sales and property tax revenues.  Budget managers make a best-guess estimate of what those revenues will be over the next year and propose their budgets on that basis.

For sure, it’s a sad state of affairs.  All the counties of New York State are reeling  under the rising costs of services,  crumbling infrastructures and failing revenue streams but let’s be clear here:  consumers and workers are the same people.  If workers’ wages fall as their health care costs climb, they won’t have dollars to spend in our local shops  — locally-owned shops that  are already struggling to stay alive on Main Street.  To ask  workers who generate income for the entire County to cover the shortfall  is as foolish today as it was twenty years ago.  If I still owned property in Sullivan County,  I would send a note to Mr. Fanslau and Mr. Rouis:  “Unfortunately, I  over-estimated my household income this year.  I will be unable to pay my full tax bill.  I hope you appreciate it was an honest mistake and will  stop  sending me those annoying tax reminders.  Most sincerely,  Liz Bucar.”

Twenty years ago,  I and the People’s Voice recommended that workers earning $30,000 or less  receive their scheduled pay increases without bearing additional health care costs.  We further recommended that  managers and legislators take salary cuts.  At that time,  our aggregated  recommendations saved the County nearly $2 million  without breaking the back of a single union employee.

Twenty years ago,  after  grossly overestimating sales tax revenues,   then-County  Administrator/Auditor Paul Rouis (in concert with the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors)  proposed a 60%+  property tax increase and  Union give-backs.   900  residents showed up for the County’s Budget Hearing that year (1990).   Mr. Rouis and most of the Supervisors  were thrown out of office during the  next election cycle. (For those of you who might be  wondering,  Mr. Paul Rouis  is the father of our current  Chair of the Sullivan County Legislature,  Mr. Jonathan Rouis.)

Twenty years ago, claims were made and substantiated by  Teamsters representatives  that  some  employees of Sullivan County Government were paid so little, they were eligible for Food  Stamps.  Those claims have re-surfaced during this year’s  budget deliberations.  I’ve  emailed  Mr. Jerry Ebert of  Teamsters 445  asking how many of our current County workers are eligible for and/or receiving social service assistance.

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*Editor’s Note:   After searching the Sullivan County Government site for more than half an hour today,  a phone call to the Government Center revealed that dates for the Budget Hearing  are solely and  inexplicably posted under an October 14th  Press Release from Jonathan Rouis.  Neither  I nor the clerk found  another  Budget Hearing notice at the County website.     Breathing hopes you will copy and paste the following dates to your personal calendar  (or check the CottageWorks Community Calendar tomorrow):

Informational Town Halls (Public Hearings):   2010 Tentative Budget in the Hearing Room at the Government Center in Monticello, NY

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12  noon

Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7pm.

Solid Waste User Fee  Town Hall meetings will be held on:

–  Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at the Town of Tusten Town Hall, Narrowsburg, NY at 7pm

–  Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at the Liberty Senior Center in Liberty, NY at 7pm

–  Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at the Mamakating Town Hall in Wurtsboro, NY at 7pm

Going forward,  Breathing Is Political will begin covering  the Town of Delaware’s public meetings and encourages others to do the same  in  their  own Legislative Districts and at the County level.  Those “citizen notes”  can  be centrally-collected in a “blogroll” or other forum and will facilitate a coherent  citizen response.  If you believe that political events  in your town and county should be better-attended and more-fully reported, become a  Citizen Journalist.   Email me at  cottageworks@lizbucar.com.

(A partial list of  Township meetings can be obtained  here or at  individual Town websites and a schedule of  Sullivan  County Legislative meetings is posted here.)