Did Democrats MISS The Message?

Watching the Democratic March into the majority, find myself wondering, as one of those who helped them win said majority, did they MISS OUR MESSAGE? Does not seem to matter what issue you pick, they seem to be out of step with what AMERICA wants. The War in Iraq, Social Security stabilization, illegal aliens...with each public statement they are losing the support they had gained, and if they actually make some of the mistakes their comments suggest they are going to make, they will take a blood bath in 2008.

1. Iraq War-we want our troops home, yet the Democrats have remained to quiet as the President moves forward with his plan to SURGE troops into Iraq to quell the violence. We've done the surge before, and once those troops are in theatre, they seem to remain in theatre. The Democrats have only two choices...the first is to simply unfund the war. The second would be to use articles of impeachment, or the threat of them to stop Bush from continuing his folly.

2. The Fence along our Southern Border...maybe to politicians it was a STUNT to appease us (citizens), but we believe in, and want that fence. Yet, Nancy Pelosi and her Blue Dog Democrats don't seem to care what we want, they are determined to abandon said fence.

3. Illegal Aliens...Americans want strong sanctions against those who hire, rent to, or aide illegal aliens, in short enforcement only solutions. Yet this week the talk on K Street is AMNESTY is on its way in the form of watered down earned citizenship, and liberal Guest Worker plans that would not even require illegals to go back home first...as in the Pence plan.

In short, even before they TAKE OFFICE, the Democrats seem to be out of touch with the populace, and if that is so, WE WILL VOTE THEM OUT.

Local To Peekskill, New York...

Mayor Testa and the Republican government in Peekskill New York LOVE TO WORK IN SECRET. They often times take public sessions private, and refuse to put the working sessions on local public access television. In short, Testa and the Republicans do anything and every thing they can to get around Sunshine Laws. To thwart their efforts, the minority Democrats have started putting out a RECAP of the work sessions to keep the public informed of what goes on in these meetings. In support of this OPENNESS in Government efforts, this blog will publish these reports in their entirety as they come in.

Peekskill Common Council Work Session Recaps


As part of our commitment to open government, the Peekskill Democratic City Committee has begun providing recaps of Common Council Work Sessions starting December 4, 2006. Work sessions are public meetings, but are not broadcast on the local government channel and there are no official minutes kept for them. Democrats on the council have long called for these meetings to be aired and for minutes to be kept. To date, the Republican majority has refused to do so.



Council Work Sessions take place on the first and third Mondays of the month at 6:30pm in the City Manager's office. They are public meetings, but the space is tight and there is limited seating available.



Work Session Recaps:

December 04, 2006

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Work Session Recap of Monday, December 4, 2006

Present at the meeting:

Mayor John Testa

Deputy Mayor Catherine Pisani

Councilwoman Drew Claxton

Councilman Don Bennett

Councilwoman Mary Foster



Not Present at the Meeting:

Councilwoman Milagros Martinez

Councilman Mel Bolden
(These two members are paid to ATTEND THESE MEETINGS, and their absenses should be TRACKED.)


Extension of Paramount Theatre Lease for 25 Years



The Paramount Center for the Arts, represented by Jon Yanofsky, Executive Director, and former Mayor Vincent Vesce, Paramount Board Member, appeared before the Common Council to request a long-term extension of their lease on the Paramount Theatre building. Currently, the Paramount Center for the Arts, the non-profit that is housed in the Paramount Theatre, has two years remaining on their lease with the City of Peekskill. Yanofsky and Mayor Vesce pointed out that they have had a very successful run over the last couple of years and the Paramount plays a huge role in the overall image of the City of Peekskill. Yanofsky presented several newspaper clippings to council members to demonstrate this point. Yanofsky also pointed out that the Paramount Center for the Arts has obtained $1.2 million in grants since 2004 that have gone to capital improvements to the building, including the restoration of the ceilings and the new bathrooms. An additional $800,000 will be raised in 2007 for a new loading dock and other repairs. In addition the Paramount has increased the amount of reimbursement it makes to the City for utility costs. In 2007 they will reimburse the City between $65,000 and $75,000. The City still expects to cover approximately $100,000 of maintenance costs for the Paramount building in 2007. However the amount of reimbursement from the Paramount has doubled in the last 3 years.



Yanofsky and Vesce explained that the Paramount Board is increasingly being asked by potential funders how stable and/or secure their tenancy is in the building that they lease from the City. Funders want to know that the Paramount Center for the Arts will continue to operate out of the Paramount Theatre before they commit significant dollars, particularly for capital improvements to the building. This being the case, Yanofsky and Vesce requested that the City consider renegotiating their lease and extending the term of the lease to 25 years.



Councilwoman Foster asked what is the current term of the lease and how much do they pay the City to lease the theatre. Mr. Yanofsky stated they are currently in a five year lease that expires in 2008 and the Paramount Center for the Arts leases the theatre for one dollar per year. The past practice has been for 5 year renewable leases. Councilwoman Foster also wanted to know how much the City contributed to the capital funds that were expended in the past 3 years. She noted that the City had set aside $50,000 in a capital project fund for the Paramount bathrooms. City Comptroller Serrano and Mr. Yanofsky both stated that the Paramount raised the entire amount of the funds they needed for the bathrooms and the City’s $50,000 reserve fund was not touched.





Councilwoman Claxton stated that she is a big supporter of the Paramount and that she attends almost two shows a month there. She commended the Paramount for its recent record of achievement and noted that it is an important and vital part of the community. She stated that under the current Director and current board there has been a great amount of momentum and success. She, however, was concerned that under previous boards and directors the Paramount did not do well, that there had been serious problems and the theatre had languished as a community resource. She stated that she was concerned that the progress made over the past few years may be based on the specific director and board and given a different director and/or board; such progress may not continue and could possibly regress. History of the theatre showed that this had happened before. That said, Councilwoman Claxton stated that, given a 25 year lease, there would need to be a mechanism built into the lease to protect the City in the event that the director and/or board members changed and the organization again fell into disarray.



Mayor Vesce agreed with Claxton's concern and agreed that previous boards and previous directors at the Paramount, while having good intentions, did not have the expertise to run the theatre. He went on to state that Common Council had an obligation to make sure that the City was protected in the event of an unforeseen eventuality or in the event that the leadership of the Paramount did not fulfill its duties.



Mayor Testa stated the Paramount is doing great things and is unquestionably an asset to the city. He said he supported the measure. Mayor Vincent Vesce suggested it was premature to make a decision at that time and that they are not looking ‘to close the deal” with the council this evening. He recognized there were major issues and concerns that would need to be worked out on all ends before the city could enter such a long-term lease.



A discussion ensued regarding the programming at the Paramount. Councilman Bennett mentioned that there is a theatre season and noted that the Paramount had increased the amount of shows it shows each year.



Councilwoman Foster stated that there needs to be serious protections written into any such lease to protect the City's interest. She went on to point out that many of the major theatres in NYC, Brooklyn, and the surrounding areas work diligently to establish an endowment in order to continue their growth and achieve financial independence. She asked what kind of work the Paramount Center for the Arts has taken to establish an endowment. Mr. Yanofsky stated at this point they have not been able to focus on building an endowment because their priorities had been focused on capital improvements and programming. He noted, however, the Paramount is currently hiring a full-time fundraiser and a marketing director as well, both of whom will address these issues.



Councilwoman Foster went on to suggest that the Council needed information on a 5 year capital plan so that they had a better understanding of the total amount of capital improvements that are still needed before the Board was able to focus on raising an endowment. In addition there would need to be measures written into any long-term lease that focused on incentives for building an endowment fund rather than just negative provisions that allowed both parties to walk away from the lease if the Paramount did not continue its current level of success. There are 2 factors to be balanced: the City needs to protect the community asset but cannot do that on the back of the taxpayers. The Paramount needs to become self-sufficient and an endowment is the only way to do that for the long-term. Mayor Vesce stated he agreed with Councilwoman Foster that the City needed protection and that if we are to move forward with a lease of this length that it would be important that all of this language and concerns be written into the agreement.



Deputy Mayor Pisani stated the Paramount is a wonderful place. She noted she was a board member of the Paramount during the dark days, but said sometimes we need to take a risk and she supports extending the lease for 25 years at its current one dollar a year rate. She said endowments are great, but we should take baby steps.



Councilwoman Foster said the Paramount has done a wonderful job taken those baby steps and now its time to take bigger steps.



Councilwoman Foster asked about the concerns expressed by some business owners about the “dark periods” in December. Councilwoman Claxton asked about January and why there were fewer productions in January and over the summer months. Mr. Yanofsky stated that the only dark periods are Thanksgiving weekend and the week between Christmas and News Years. That there are a number of productions and films held in December. Mr. Yanofsky also stated that there were two live shows in January, which were traditionally slow months in the theater business, and that the Paramount showed films 4-5 days per week over the summer, as well as accommodating rental productions and making Wednesday evenings available in case the City’s Parks and Recreation Riverfront concert series was rained out.



City Manager Dan Fitzpatrick stated the City will start to address the issues raised by the Common Council and they will have continued discussion on the matter.



Fireman's Memorial

Fire Chief James Howard appeared before the council to update them on the development of a Fireman's Memorial, which will eventually be placed at the waterfront. The design of the memorial will have 6 pillars (one representing each of the six fire stations in Peekskill) and atop the memorial will be the refurbished fireman's bell that now sits on the land adjacent to the Columbian Engine Firehouse on North Board Street. Additionally, a statue of a fireman will stand under the bell.



Because grant monies were obtained and must be exhausted by July of 2007, Chief Howard was requesting that the City provide additional funds to help cover what they have not been able to raise themselves in order to complete the project during the required timeframe as outlined in the grant. The cost would be roughly an additional $15,000 from the City. A presentation was made by the designers of the memorial showing previous work they had done. It was suggested that upon completion of the memorial it be housed in storage until such time as it can be located on the land that is scheduled to be redeveloped at the waterfront.



The common council agreed to move forward, Councilwoman Foster stated there were extra dollars available from monies not utilized by the Paramount Center for the Arts.



Staircase and right-of-way

City Attorney Bill Florence addressed the council regarding ownership of a set of concrete stairs that go from Howard Street to Carhart Avenue. Questions had emerged at prior meetings regarding who owns the staircase and who has liability for the staircase. After Florence's presentation it was still unclear as to who owned the staircase and who was responsible for the upkeep. Florence suggested the stairs were very steep and represented a safety issue.



Councilwoman Claxton pointed out the stairs are used by school children going to and from Hillcrest School and in light of the absence of sidewalks along Husted Ave and other roads leading down to Main Street, it was the safest available path for the children. Florence suggested "safe" was interpretive. Claxton replied that unless the City was willing to build sidewalks so that the children had a safe path home, then the stairs present the safest path of travel for the children, unless the city expected them to walk on the side of a steeply sloped road with vehicular traffic.



Councilwoman Foster asked if any one knew exactly when the stairs were built and the relationship of those stairs to the building of Hillcrest school. She also stated that after the last discussion on the issue she took a tour of the area and also noted that there are no sidewalks in that immediate neighborhood and no direct route from Main Street to Hillcrest school unless the stairs were used. Based on the maps Corporation Counsel was showing them, she thought the stairs may belong to the City. She also mentioned that Husted Ave had a lot of bus traffic directly before and after school at the same time as the school children would be walking along that street if the stairs were closed.



Mayor Testa said he has not seen the location yet and will have to go take a look. City manager Fitzpatrick apologized to the council for not having provided more clarity on the issue since their last discussion on the matter.



The meeting adjourned at roughly 8:30pm.



THE NEXT COMMON COUNCIL WORK SESSION IS MONDAY, DECEMBER 18TH AT 6:30PM IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.



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www.peekskilldems.com
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Peekskill, New York 10566
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Our Democrats Preparing To SELL US OUT?

Basically one month from the day when the 110th Congress is seated, and it is looking like the Democrats may sell out the American people, and even worse, the Middle Class. Nancy Pelosi as a part of her supposed aggressive first 100 hour agenda may in fact raise the minimum wage, but this stand alone legislation is no longer stand alone, the rich and elite wrangling behind CLOSED DOORS to get offsets for this GIFT to our nations most deserving. This is disappointing, and means little if the whispers concerning illegal aliens is true.

Rumor on the street in Washington, DC is that Democrats are prepared to TAKE THE MONEY of both Big Business, and racist special interest groups such as La Raza and run as they push through a wrong and unfair AMNESTY. Yes, amnesty for 12-20 million illegal aliens and their 4.5 million bastard Anchor Babies. The fact that our wages are being depressed over $200 BILLION a year does not matter. The fact that these illegals are guilty of no less than four crimes in being and working here does not seem to matter. The fact that many lower and middle class neighborhoods are being destroyed DOES NOT MATTER...the Democrats seem to be suggesting to us that we do not matter, as they have a chance to WHORE THEIR VOTES just as the Republicans did for 12 years, and GET AWAY WITH IT.

Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations...NOT EXACTLY...seems that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party think they can PULL A FAST ONE ON US. Here is how it goes down. They will implement most of the recommendations, then with a slight of hand trick hope we do not notice the MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF ALL was swept off the table....specifically, the one calling for ONLY ONE COMMITTEE, at most two to oversee the intelligence community. You see, now that the Democrats are back in power, Nancy and other OLD BULLS want their own red meat...committee chairs, and implementing this sector of the 9/11 recommendations would eliminate nine committee chairs....GOD FORBID!

They might get away with one and three, but MARK MY WORDS...if the Democrats move to vote and Amnesty (earned citizenship) and increase the guest worker program, WE WILL VOTE THEM OUT IN DROVES IN 2008.

Activists NEED To Set a Price

Candidates on both sides of the isle are courting activists...read grass/netroots individuals. In the 2006 election, our work, efforts and money were the crucial difference in a lot of close races, and some not so close races. In short, they want our volunteerism, love our dedication to a cause once committed, and the money is and extra added value. Problem is, once the dust settled after the 2006 elections, many of those Congress people we grass/netroots got elected into office are not taking us to Washington with them. In short, we were good enough to have around UNTIL AFTER THEY WERE ELECTED, then the distancing and excuses started to come in.

I spoke to one unnamed Congressman, and was told that the grassroots that got them elected would not be going to Washington with them...seems we don't fit into the system that well. Hello, we worked as hard as we did, sweated our BLOOD because we wanted the system changed. We don't want business as usual, and we do not want Congressional/Senatorial offices run the way they have been in the past, which is to say only well healed large financial donors get direct access, while the rest of us get the traditional thanks for your inquiry letters signed by an electronic signature machine.

2008 has to be DIFFERENT, we cannot allow ourselves to be used, then pushed off to the sidelines once again. If the BIG GUNS wanting to run for President, or for a Congressional seat want our help, we need promises, and ONES WRITTEN IN INK, as in a signed contract. You get elected, we go to Washington, we get a seat at the table for a change. In short, the politician wins, we win, we ARE A PART OF STAFF. A few sandal wearing, blue jeaned, dead head T-shirted, long haired grass roots activist would do Washington a WORLD OF GOOD, and this old hippie for one is tired of doing ALL THE WORK to get these folks elected, then finding our side dumped at the altar.

*NOTE TO ACTIVIST...it is time to DERAIL Presidential hopeful, former Mayor Rudi Guiliani's primary run. It's simple...not only does his company have a MAJOR multi-million dollar contract with Indian Point, on November 22nd he ENDORSED Entergy's bid to renew this aging and decripid facilities license for another 20 years. Set your sites on this environmental pariah NOW.

Nov 25, 10:43 PM EST
Presidential candidates court activists
By HOLLY RAMER and MIKE GLOVER Associated Press Writers
AP Photo/GERRY BROOME
Advertisement

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- He does not come armed with posies and poetry, but when it comes to courting Democratic activists, John Edwards is a determined suitor.

The former North Carolina senator and 2004 presidential running mate never fails to propose when he calls Jim Demers - and he calls often.

"I don't think there's ever been a time I've talked to him when he hasn't concluded by point-blank asking if I'll sign on to his team," said Demers, a Democratic activist in New Hampshire.

Even before the votes were cold in the November election, the ritual courting between potential presidential candidates and Democratic and Republican activists in early primary and caucus states was well under way in anticipation of the 2008 presidential election.

The pairing of White House wannabes with grass-roots activists and local political leaders - a mating dance known in political parlance as the "ground game" - has a serious purpose. Often a relative handful of activists and party regulars determines the outcome of the early primaries and caucuses, which in turn can either launch or torpedo a presidential bid.

Frequently it is the candidates with the best field operations who triumph. Successful field operations rely on influential and skillful local activists to turn out supporters.

Campaign Reform Has to Be Across The Board

The Democrats seem to be approaching corruption in Washington, and in politics in a fashion that is ALL WRONG. Having been a victim of robo calls myself, I support putting an end to them, but that barely scratches the surface. Further, targeting ONLY 527's is not the way to end corruption in Washington, DC. If the Senate wants to consider serious penalties, including jail time, let it be an across the board solution that targets EVERY ONE.

Further, any such legislation should address other areas of corruption in a comprehensive solution. There should be an end to all gifts to elected officials and their staff...no more free lunches, no more tickets to sporting/entertainment events, and no travel...this should include a complete ban on elected officials and staff having access to private planes at greatly discounted prices. Special Interest groups like the Ripon Society, and Even the Blue Dog Democrats should be outlawed, so that the government again becomes one run by and for the people, instead of one owned outright by Corporate America and Special Interests Groups of all types. Lastly, it is time to REMOVE all barriers to forming alternative political parties.

Jail Time for Below-the-Belt Campaigns?

By Paul Bedard
Posted 11/15/06
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/061115/15jail.htm
The new Senate Democratic leadership is planning to pass campaign finance reform that would impose jail time on politicians and political groups that make moves to suppress the vote or lie about candidates.

Blue Dog Democrats Need to Stop Barking

The contentious fight for the Majority Leader is over, and despite some wanting to turn it into a slam on Nancy Pelosi's leadership abilities, the theatrics were nothing more than a distraction from the real issues facing Democrats, the Congress as a whole, and our nation. In short, we have far larger fish to fry, more important issues on which to focus our attention on...yet, in the never ending struggle to maintain business as usual, the Blue Dog Democrats are barking like a rabid pack of mutts smelling red meat. They need to shut up and get down to the real business they were sent to Washington for...Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House, and it is her choice, priviledge and right to name the next leader of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. That choice should be made based on the best person for the job, not who gets another feather in their bonnet. The Blue Dog Democrats want the feather, and are willing to back a poor choice in their quest for same...SHAME ON THEM.


Do the Blue Dog Democrats really think Americans care about their 44 member strong coalition of *supposed* centrist? We do not, and will not unless all of you as a collective whole show us you are capable of GETTING ALONG, and doing the peoples business now that you have the majority. We've seen enough of infighting and power struggles while the Republicans were in charge. Congressman Mike Ross said, "We don't want to be obstructionists, but we don't want to be a rubber stamp," He then went on to say, "We want to bring the party back to the middle." Mike Ross makes a BOLD assertion in assuming America wants a centrist Democratic Party. What we do want, is ACTION ON ISSUES, not rhetoric and infighting within our party.

We want CHANGE in Iraq, want those in Washington to figure out how to force Bush to abandon his failed "Stay the Course" policy. We want immigration reform that DOES NOT grant Amnesty to 12-15 million criminal illegal aliens, and we want our fence. We want to see legislation that saves Social Security, and brings down our National Debt.

If the Blue Dog Democrats need something to do right now, I'll give them a suggestion. Spend some money to hire a web designer, your site is pathetically ugly, the presentation found lacking and unoriginal.