In my tenure on the town board there have been times that I have felt very strongly that explaining my opinion on a particular issue may be lost in translation in a workshop, public meeting or an article in the local newspaper. So here it goes again...

The Town Board started purchasing surveillance cameras in 2014 due to an initiative by the supervisor to protect the town's assets in an attempt to address vandalism and curb the dumping of garbage and debris along the town's roads. I understand that in today's world many private businesses and governmental agencies have opted to install camera surveillance systems for such reasons. So as these purchases were agreed upon by the entire town board I have questioned each purchase in attempt to insure that tax dollars were spent wisely.

Over time I have been critical of a number of aspects of the camera surveillance program. There is a clear lack of transparency in the administering of the camera surveillance program. The viewing or monitoring of these cameras is totally random and subject to the supervisor's whim. Presently there are five cameras in town hall; five cameras at the highway department, four cameras at Lippman Park and one at the Nappi filtration plant. The approximate costs were $22,650 in 2014; $8500 in 2015 and $688 thus far in 2016, totally approximately $32,000. To date there has not been one incident which was resolved with the use of the surveillance cameras.

To be clear and concise what needs to happen is:

1. Formulating a written policy establishing purpose or justification.

2. Definitions

3. A written policy for purchasing and establishing a camera surveillance system must be prepared and adopted by the town board. Such a system must conform to New York State and federal standard guidelines. Initial costs include expenses such as cameras, software, site preparation, and the installation of either wired or wireless network to connect the cameras. The ongoing costs of maintenance, utilities, upgrading systems, and monitoring are often overlooked or underestimated. Privacy implications must be clearly identified.

4. Collection of personal information using a surveillance system — retention of records, logs, FOIL process.

5. Auditing and evaluating the use of a surveillance system

There has to be an effort by the town board to do their due diligence when expending tax dollars to establish a policy that can and will allow for auditing and evaluating a camera surveillance system to judge whether it is a benefit to the town.

Terry Houck, councilperson
Town of Wawarsing

I have heard people cite disruptions by anti-Trump forces at political rallies to be a threat to our democracy, and I agree. However, there have been recent actions by those associated with the right wing that are an even greater threat. A number of GOP legislatures and governors have recently enacted legislation designed to prevent those who they consider political enemies, from exercising their right to vote. These laws were enacted to supposedly prevent voter fraud, but to date there has been no demonstrative proof that points to even the slightest degree of such fraud.

Also, the Republicans in the Senate have refused to even interview a Supreme Court nominee put forth by the president, even though it's their constitutional duty to do so. Isn't that a threat to our democratic values?

I agree that it's time to once again restore respect for those with whom we differ, but let's not point solely to a tiny few left-wing disrupters at Trump rallies. Let's include the foes of democracy on the right, as well.

Marshall Rubin
Youngsville

That is the question. As spring has finally sprung, I opened my eyes as I always have at 5:30 a.m., and I looked out my window to see the morning sky as I always have to see the beauty of nature. But, for the past year or two, I look to see if the sky is blue or grey, or if it has lines going from West to East in a long straight path that covers the entire view from my window. Paths that stay visual in the sky for much longer than normal contrails that follow commercial airplanes, and are no longer white, but more like a slightly pinkish grey.

The sky is very rarely blue as it was in the past. The clouds are no longer white and puffy that often looked to me like faces lying on their backs looking up or like animals flying. Now, they are simply straight lines in the beginning and then turning into grey skies. When I first saw them, they looked like number signs, but now they seem to dissolve more quickly and go mostly horizontally.

The night before I wrote this letter, Time Warner had dropped out for a while, so I turned on my radio to hear an interview on Steve Romaine's show with Dane Wigington, a former employee at a California based energy corporation and now the main researcher of "chemtrails," normally called a conspiracy theory (ergo "contrails") and the creator of his website: GeoEngineeringWatch.

I now have to admit that since I'd been looking at the sky every morning and then occasionally visiting GeoEngineering, I usually rolled my eyes, but as time went on, I more frequently closed my eyes, out of just plain fear. After hearing the brave people speak their minds on the show last night, I've decided to join them and "come out" publicly and admit that that I do believe in chemtrails.

As I asked myself why I chose to be so brave at this moment, I remembered that I had recently seen a documentary on the Holocaust and was forced to remember how dangerous the human species can be.

If you're still reading this, you know that we are the most powerful species on earth and we've already caused the extinction of numerous others and more that are in the process.. For one example, we are losing honeybees, which we need in order to pollinate our food. So even if you believe that humans can survive anything, let's remember that we need many of the other species, as well as plants and trees in order to function. Bottom line here is let's keep our air and water safe to eat and drink. Let's not close our eyes to what's happening and start to protect all of life on earth.

Jill Paperno
Glenford

Thinking about the recent celebration of Israeli Independence day on May 12, I reflect on the events leading up to this commemoration.

I keep in mind that on November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 181 which called for the partition of the British ruled Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

This resolution led to David Ben Gurion's subsequent proclamation on May 14, 1948, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel (i.e. similar to the U.S. Declaration of Independence).

The response of Arabs was immediate and violent. They rejected the partition and Arab armies from surrounding Arab countries promptly attacked the fledgling Jewish state vowing to drive the Jews into the sea. In the vast disruption prompted by the Arab-initiated war, several hundred thousand Arabs became refugees and hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to leave their homes in North Africa and Arab countries. Hundreds of thousands of local Arabs chose not to flee in 1948 and they became the source of the 1.7 million Arabs who today are full citizens of Israel.

Nothing in the early settlers' Zionist vision entailed exploitation or expulsion of local Arab populations; rather within that 1948 declaration of independence was a pledge to develop the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants and to assure all inhabitants equal political and religious freedoms. While the implementation of that vision is far from perfect, I wonder how much more perfect it would be if not for the Arab wars of 1948, 1967, 1973, and the constant wars of attrition caused by Palestinians and surrounding Arab countries in the years since.

How different the middle-east would be now if in 1948 the invading Arabs, hell bent on destroying Israel and its Jews, were successful. But they weren't and they have allowed that fact to fuel their hatred and violence ever since.

Susan Puretz
Saugerties

I'm very proud to live in upstate New York where Bernie won every place except big cities of Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Well done Albany!

I suspect many of you were disheartened when we got the news that HRC had won New York. I hope you are aware of all the shenanigans that happened in Brooklyn. No doubt we are up against a powerful machine that operates best in large metropolitan areas. But just in case you are not in tune with what is happening in remaining states, please know that voters across the country are reacting well to the silly primary voting rules designed to keep the establishment in power.

So chin up, Bernie is not done. Our political revolution that he has begun has a long way to go, but it's far from over.

Ralph Childers
Saugerties

A recent story on minimum wage concerns noted that "many workers — especially those in precarious situations — fear they'll be fired if they speak up," which reinforces why now more than ever we need to unionize our workforce.

Whether $15, $5 or $2 an hour, this exploitation of private sector workers has and always will continue. Now more so with the extensive loss of American manufacturing jobs overseas and the attack on private sector labor unions in the U.S. over the last 50 years from the same like-minded individuals who put their own interests and greed ahead of their workers, constituents and nation.

Give the protection to the "feared" worker through unionization with collective bargaining, bring home the jobs we have sacrificed to the global gods and put our hard-working American citizens back to work again.

Eric Schofer
Fort Montgomery

I read an article recently regarding supervised heroin sites. Who would advocate for sites of this nature? This does nothing to quell the heroin epidemic, instead it promotes the use under the guise of saving lives. Those who deal heroin are going to benefit from this "controlled environment" and, those who need help will continue to die regardless. If this becomes a reality, the concept speaks to how far out of control we are regarding the use of heroin and what comes with it.

I would prefer an attempt to increase the use of Suboxone or Methadone, this would make a difference in the quality of life we strive for. It makes no sense to supervise injecting illicit drugs under close supervision to deter overdoses. Instead, let us lobby for more treatment openings without the "wait" time. If we commit to treatment instead of enabling we are sure to overcome the heroin epidemic that spares no life.

Andrew Marino
Newburgh

I read a letter recently that included a quote from the writer's favorite college professor , who said..." Figures don't lie, but liars can figure"...which I think is quite true.

People can take things like employment figures and twist them just about any way they want... as I suspect the letter writer may have done. Obama did not say that "manufacturing has added almost a million jobs." The quote was "our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three (years) ." And Politifact.com found this true. But whatever the numbers...the statement that Obama did not create "one new manufacturing job" is simply not true.

At least Obama didn't take the conservative route of Europe into complete austerity, as it has failed badly in most countries. Which is why today, as bad as it may seem to some, our economy is far better than Europe's and the rest of the world's. And by not extending all of the Bush tax cuts, and making the rich pay a little more, it has helped Obama to cut the deficit by more than two-thirds. Also true on Politifact.

But since people likes "numbers," I would like to answer the question of "Who has performed the most acts of terrorism in the past 16 years in this country?" by using "numbers" based on the unfortunate number of American deaths: Jihadist Attacks: 2015 – San Bernardino, 14; Chattanooga, 5. In 2014 — Washington-New Jersey "spree," 4; Oklahoma "beheading," 1. In 2013 — Boston Marathon, 4. In 2009 — Little Rock Shooting, 1; Fort Hood shooting, 13. In 2006 — Seattle shooting, 1. In 2002 — Los Angeles Airport Shooting, 2. This gives us a total of 45 people.

Right Wing American Extremist Attacks: 2015 — Colorado Planned Parenthood (after the highly viewed Fiorina "lies of horror" during an early debate), 3; Charleston Church — 9. In 2014 — Las Vegas Police, 3; Kansas Shooting, 3; Blooming Grove Police Ambush, 1. In 2012 — Tri-State Spree, 4; St. John's Police Ambush, 2; Sikh Temple, 6. In 2011 — Fear Militia, 3; In 2010 — Carlisle Pa Murder, 1; Austin Plane Attack, 1. In 2009 — Pittsburgh Police Ambush, 3; Holocaust Museum, 1; George Tiller Assassination, 1; Prima County Arizona, 2; Brockton Mass Murders, 2. In 2008 — Knoxville Church, 2. In 2004, Tulsa Bank Robbery, 1. For a total of 48 people. Sources easily available.

So at 48 to 45, it looks like our "good-ole-boy" (and probably "Christian") flag-waving, home-grown-militias, and right-wing nut-jobs are still just a little bit ahead of the Islamic Jihadists for U.S. terrorist attack deaths over the past 15 years, since 9/11.

Gilbert Hetherwick
Saugerties