High property taxes

An attachment to our recent tax bills explains that our legislators have no control over nearly 80% of the county’s expenditures. It’s clear that this message is intended to encourage individuals upset about high property taxes to direct their complaints to the federal and state officials whose names and contact information are conveniently provided.

I agree with our county officials that New York State should cover the full costs of federally mandated programs such as Medicaid. By passing a share of these expenses onto local government New York places an unfair burden on those counties (such as Sullivan) that are poorer and have a higher proportion of elderly and disabled residents.

I disagree though with the messaging strategy employed by the county, intended or not. It fuels a belief that our tax dollars are going to undeserving, able-bodied adults. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the money is used to care for our elderly, residing in hospitals, residential care, or receiving in-home care for hundreds to disabled adults, many of whom are in residential care and for low income families’ health care. Rather than fostering anger and resentment through misleading messaging, our officials should be leading us in a campaign to introduce and pass legislation in Albany that would place the costs where they belong.

Mary Ellen Boyd

Livingston Manor, NY

You’ve been had

Thanks to those 78,000 voters in the Electoral College (although Clinton got three million more of the popular vote) The Donald was elected President of the United States. In addition, we now have the Fox News talkers including the likes of Rush, Laura, Anne and Hannity who daily pump his base. They, like Putin, tell him what to do and say on their respective soapboxes. Do his supporters understand that they have been taken for a very bumpy ride with someone who is totally incompetent and unable to think for himself? They, and the Republican Congress, continue to accept all of the lies (more than 7,000 since taking office) and fail to hold him responsible for all the unethical and irrational things he does.

As many know from history class, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Other than Watergate and the McCarthy periods, I can’t remember a worse time in our country’s history. Our democracy and elections are under threat and the Republicans sit by and watch it happen. The recent election gives us some hope that we will survive this attack on our government’s institutions and our democratic values. Hopefully, the Mueller investigation is the light at the end of the tunnel. Whether it’s impeachment or indictments, I feel there’s enough evidence to surgically get rid of this cancer once and for all. I don’t think we can take this continual, daily onslaught of negativity, corruptness and upheaval for much longer. He’s always been a conman and a crook, but he has just gotten worse over the past two years. He loves the daily attention and the power of his office. We will all be better off when we can wash our hands of him and his family.

John Hahn

Shohola, PA

Bum Stewards

I found Ed Wesely’s letter concerning the Pond Eddy Bridge a shot of honesty taken straight up. [“Pond Eddy Bridge a victim of circumstance www.riverreporter.com/opinion-letters-editor/letters-editor-1919]

He lays blame at the foot of PennDot, which is notorious in preservation circles as one of the most reactionary state agencies when it comes preserving civil engineering heritage. But he also levels criticism at the National Park Service’s indifference to the loss.

The NPS relies on the narrative of the overworked and underfunded ranger laboring as we sleep in our beds. But sadly, heritage disappears on its watch.

I was involved in two preservation projects that I believe were lost in part to the NPS.  The first was the steamer Nobska, which was ordered by NPS to be broken up in the Charlestown Naval Yard. The last tall stack eastern steamer was in a dry-dock under NPS ownership. After the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks, we were told the dry-dock would be needed in the case of an attack on the USS Constitution.

The second example is The Textile Memorial Bridge, in Lowell, MA, also called Jack’s Bridge, as writer Jack Kerouac had placed one of his novels there. According to a source within the NPS, which has extensive properties in Lowell, the NPS opposed saving Jack’s Bridge. The rapid expansion of a nearby state college transforming former immigrant neighborhoods also contributed to the loss.

Other major heritage losses under NPS stewardship include the ferry Ellis Island and the steam schooner Wapama, which was allowed to rot to the point of no return near San Franciso.

While the public cherishes the narrative of the hard-working park ranger, the actual losses provide the less savory image of the NPS: as a quack doctor laboring to bury his victims on the hill before the sun rises.

Steve Lindsey

Keene, NH