Committee Assignments...Corrupting Freshmen?

Let's PROTECT OUR FRESHMAN...I'll Put Them On Committees Where They Can Be BOUGHT! It's all about the campaign war chest, and they need to learn this FAST.

Nancy Pelosi has handed down committee assignments from on high, and seems she has a unique way to "protect" the Freshmen members of Congress...in short, put them on committees that allow them to A) bring home PORK, and B) have access to some SERIOUS DONORS. Is this protection, or brainwashing and corruption? We voted for change...change is not continuing the same old VOTES FOR SALE congress that the Republicans created under Tom DeLay. Not to sound skeptical, but I have my doubts about this kind of a strategy, and think it coops our newly elected members integrity right from the start.

Pelosi Announces Committee Memberships
http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=1962

Washington, D.C. – Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi announced today that the Democratic Steering Committee recommended that Members be appointed to the: Ways and Means Committee, Energy and Commerce Committee, Financial Services Committee, Armed Services Committee, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Steering Committee also appointed freshmen Members to at least one committee.

“This distinguished group of Members will be instrumental in Democrats’ efforts to take American in a New Direction that increases security, opportunity, and prosperity, while restoring civility and integrity to the Congress,” Pelosi said. “These Members will be a strong voice for all Americans, not just the privileged few.”

The new Committee members are:

Ways and Means Committee:

Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon
Congressman Ron Kind of Wisconsin
Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada
Congressman Joe Crowley of New York
Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida
Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania
Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama
Energy and Commerce Committee:

Congresswoman Jane Harman of California
Congressman Leonard Boswell of Iowa
Congresswoman Darlene Hooley of Oregon
Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York
Congressman Jim Matheson of Utah
Congressman G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
Congressman Charlie Melancon of Louisiana
Congressman-elect Baron Hill of Indiana
Financial Services Committee:

Congressman-elect Joe Donnelly of Indiana
Congressman-elect Keith Ellison of Minnesota
Congressman-elect Ron Klein of Florida
Congressman-elect Tim Mahoney of Florida
Congressman-elect Ed Perlmutter of Colorado
Congressman Albio Sires of New Jersey
Congressman-elect Charlie Wilson of Ohio
Armed Services Committee:

Congresswoman-elect Nancy Boyda of Kansas
Congressman-elect Joe Courtney of Connecticut
Congressman-elect Brad Ellsworth of Indiana
Congresswoman-elect Gabby Giffords of Arizona
Congresswoman-elect Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Congressman-elect Hank Johnson of Georgia
Congressman-elect Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania
Congressman-elect Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:

Congresswoman Grace Napolitano of California
Congressman Dan Lipinski of Illinois
Congressman-elect Michael Arcuri of New York
Congressman-elect Bruce Braley of Iowa
Congressman-elect Chris Carney of Pennsylvania

Congressman-elect John Hall of New York With Entergy wrongly trying to relicense their faulty Indian Point reactors, wouldn't energy and commerce have made MORE SENSE?
Congresswoman-elect Mazie Hirono of Hawaii
Congressman-elect Steve Kagen of Wisconsin
Congressman-elect Jerry McNerney of California
Congressman-elect Harry Mitchell of Arizona
Congressman-elect Heath Shuler of North Carolina
Congressman-elect Zack Space of Ohio
The Steering Committee also appointed the following freshmen Members to the following committees:

Agriculture Committee:

Congressman-elect Tim Walz of Minnesota
Education and Workforce Committee:

Congressman-elect Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania
Congressman-elect Phil Hare of Illinois
Congressman-elect Dave Loebsack of Iowa
Congressman-elect John Sarbanes of Maryland
Congresswoman-elect Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire
Congressman-elect John Yarmuth of Kentucky
Government Reform Committee:

Congressman-elect Paul Hodes of New Hampshire
Congressman-elect Chris Murphy of Connecticut
Homeland Security Committee:

Congresswoman-elect Yvette Clarke of New York
Judiciary Committee:

Congressman-elect Steve Cohen of Tennessee
The Steering Committee agreed to continue the Democratic Caucus resolution temporarily removing Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana from the Ways and Means Committee until the ongoing investigation is resolved.

The full Democratic Caucus will vote on these nominations.

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

_________________________________________________________________________



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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Common Council Work Session recaps are brought to you as a service from the Peekskill Democratic City Committee
www.peekskilldems.com
PO Box 686
Peekskill, New York 10566
914-734-1550

Republican Ponies Lining Up For 2008

Right at one week after the decisive elections of 2006 held last Tuesday that swept Democrats into the drivers seat, Republican Presidential hopeful are rushing to officially form exploratory committees so they can begin raising serious amounts of dollars. A Republican Pundit on CNN tonight said the winning candidate in the Republican Primary will need to raise 100 Million dollars just to win the primary...that's some serious cabbage, and means any one winning the nod is already in the pocket of the rich and elite.

McCain was the first out of the gate, officially tossing his hat in the ring over the weekend. Not far behind him was THE RUDI, famous mayor of New York who declared his intentions today. Though not officially in the Race, former governor of New York, Pataki is openning up an office here in the Peekskill area, so you can look for him to officially declare within days.

Bush Supporting, war mongering, stay the course McCain...forget about it. Iraq is not going to turn around soon, if at all. McCain does not support troop reductions and bringing our troops home, but instead wants to greatly increase the troop strength there, and that is not a winning position and makes him unelectable in 2008, not to mention the fact that he's getting very long of tooth...we do not need another episode like Dole's infamous falling off the stage routine.

The RUDI...OK, lets be honest here. He did a MAGICAL JOB during the aftermath of 9/11 but was not really a good mayor, let alone a great mayor before that disaster fell upon our shores. His positions on key issues are all WRONG for the majority of Republicans, and once things start getting closer to the primaries you can look for some serious swift boating to sink his run. PAtaki...he is a sleeze, and not even going to discuss his run. I lost all respect for the man when I saw him attending an event in upstate NY at the old Plattsburgh Air Base...he was off to the side speaking to his cronies and made a very derogatory comment about what he REALLY though about the people of the area.

So, three major hats in the ring, and my money say NONE of them can get elected. So, who else will toss their hats into the Republican Ring, and for that matter who is going to go up against Hilliary...not talking a great pretender in a second tier governor, talking serious contenders here.

John Hall's Letter To Faithful

The day after the day after, and we have our first word down from on high, so thought I would share it here. One interesting note about the letter...seems Sue Kelly is wanting a recount, and has withdrawn her concession.

John Hall's Letter to the Faithful

Dear Sherwood,
By now, most of you have probably heard the good news, but for those of you not glued to the TV news ...
WE WON!!
Our amazing campaign ended last night with amazing, suspenseful, ultimately jubiliant victory party. With 97% of the precincts reporting, we've earned 51% of the vote. (The rest of the votes are coming in from heavily Democratic areas). You can watch part of my victory speech on the Times Herald Record website.
There are hardly enough words to thank you for supporting me in this race. Six months ago, the pundits said the 19th was a "solid Republican" district. The powers-that-be wrote us off, from both parties. The media treated us like a novelty.
But you believed. You had faith. You could see what the "experts" could not: That people power can still triumph in America. That small donations can beat $2 million in corporate lobbying money. That one motivated volunteer is worth 1,000 attack ads. That hope and truth can still overcome fear and lies. That the good guys do, in fact, win in the end!
Despite Sue Kelly retracting her concession and asking for a recount, you and I and everyone in the Hudson Valley knows that we won. I should note that I agree with Sue Kelly's statement that every single vote should be counted. This is America, and if any election proves the power of one single vote in our democracy, this is it. We are confident that when the ballots are tallied, our margin of victory will give me a clear mandate to represent New York's 19th District.
I, for one, will not let this legal wrangling cloud our celebration. Instead, I will offer you my sincerest, warmest thanks. This campaign was nothing without supporters like you. I hope you feel incredibly proud of this historic victory. It is mine. It is yours. It is OURS.
You fought hard for me. Now it's my turn to go to Washington and fight for you. Because our fight for change, and justice, and truth has only just begun. Stay with me as we take our dreams to Washington.
Most sincerely yours,
John Hall

Thoughts and Musings The Day After Victory

John Hall, Congressman elect for New York's 19th district. Sure if you would have asked the political pundits about John Hall's chances to unseat Sue Kelly just 48 hours ago, you would have found some serious doubters. Yet, his staff (Amy, Beth, Jonathon, Tate, Emily, Vane and so many others) and their tireless rag tag group of dedicated activists never gave up, never stopped believing, and have pulled off a stunning upset of 6 term Republican Sue Kelly.

I was there, was a small part of the whole that made it all happen. Was in the audience last night when John Hall (and his family) stood up on the stage to give his acceptance speech to all those who had worked so hard to effect change, toiled into the wee hours of the night to send a new voice, our voice to Washington, DC. We did it! John Hall is going to Washington, DC...he will be sworn in January 3rd, 2007. The party broke up at just after midnight, and with the fog settling in I drove home through spitting rain wrapped in the warmth of our collectively hard fought win, high on the reality that the Democrats had WON BACK THE HOUSE. Home, I could not sleep, did not want to sleep. So, I turned on CNN to get the latest news on the fight for the Senate and enjoyed a three fingered glass of Single Malt Scotch, falling off into dreamland at around 2:00 in the AM.

Now, it's the next day and I find myself sitting here happy, yet sad as emails trickle in. Our man won! Yet, now what? The urgency is gone, that adrenalin which kept me up until 2 and 3 in the morning making video's for You Tube still lingers, but there is no place to put it. As reality settles back in, there's this sudden void where the campaign had been. No need to scour the Internet looking FOR STUFF, any stuff that might help out. No pressing deliveries to be made, no phone calls to make, no fellow conspirator's with whom to speak with about our chances, or lack there of. We won, but now where do we go, what do we as individuals do with that energy we'd harnessed for the election? I'm happy, but a part of me wants to cry at the loss that is just now settling in.

There are some options...out on the porch of the Victory Party last night, hanging out with my fellow smokers, I heard that Pataki is opening up and office here in Peekskill to explore a run for President in 2008. For many of us, he's as HATED as Sue Kelly was. Maybe I should put up a Pummel Pataki Blog, get my attack program up and running early, as I do not want him in this town. I already have some DIRT on the man that could come in handy. Do I want to use it now, and try to blow him out of the water early, or keep my powder dry for use should he win the Republican Nomination. Maybe for now, should just seek out some fellow partisans, and maybe picket outside his office once it's officially up and open. I want to be a part of the process, but still want to do it ON MY TERMS. That reality comes with its own set of problems...one thing I learned in this race...as a lone rider with your own agenda, you can play a role, but you'll never be truly ON THE INSIDE. Do I want on the inside? If I do, could I ever really change enough to play by the rules I've spent most of my life avoiding like the plague? I thought at 50 these self discussions were over and past.

Shades of the Beatles as bits and pieces of old lyrics drift in and out of my reality, the proverbial No Where Man, or perhaps the fool on the hill. What to do, and where to go as I search for yet another great adventure, always the adrenalin junkie looking for that next fix, while at the same time not wanting to commit to a system I've never really trusted. Think I'll post this on both my John Hall and Gather Democrats Blogs, and then go make a fresh pot of coffee.