Section: Letters

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Bill Burton's Summer Energy Tips

July 6, 2010

Dear Neighbor,

Did you know that Con Edison provides consumers with many cost-saving and energy saving tips? I thought I would pass some of these useful offers along to you to help cool your summer bills as well as your home.

Cool your home more efficiently

Con Ed is offering a $30 rebate to residential customers who replace their room air conditioners with Energy Star models. Energy Star A/C’s are at least 10 percent more efficient than standard models. For an application, visit: http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/PDF/Room%20AC%20Form.pdf

If you have central air-conditioning, keep the condenser unit’s coils and fins clean. Remove grass, leaves and other debris that may collect on them.

Green your home

Con Ed recommends that you shut off your computer daily. If you leave the computer on, the fans are running constantly. For your laptop and PC, check the power management function. Put it in sleep mode whenever possible or turn the monitor off when not in use.

For printers and scanners, turn them off at night.

Avoid printing whenever possible! The less you print the more energy you save all around.

Replacing a boiler, water heater or refrigerator? Contact Con Ed to see if you are eligible for a rebate. Better yet, let Con Ed know when you are replacing your refrigerator and they will arrange to pick up your old refrigerator at no charge in order to recycle it.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

— Bill Burton, Westchester County Legislator, 9th District

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A Plea to All Who Seek Closure of Indian Point

June 19, 2010

To the editor:

On the eve of Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival here is a plea to all who want to see Indian Point closed. A small group of people will be staffing the Indian Point table in the activist section of the festival all weekend. If you are coming to the festival, stop by for an update and to give the people there a break. We will be asking passers by to write letters and could use some more note cards. Rent for the space and copying expenses are high. If you have not made a donation in awhile, put some money in the jar. Most importantly, don’t leave this struggle up to those behind the table. You can, and must play a part in this struggle.

Entergy is circulating many half truths and outright lies in regard to Indian Point. With the exception of some stories in the Daily News, coverage of this complicated issue by the media has been mostly press release journalism, with every Entergy press release printed in local papers pretty much as written. No critical questions are asked and no facts are checked. It is frustrating for those of us who know the facts. Entergy, a multi-billion dollar corporation, is spending millions of dollars to undermine public opinion and the elected officials who want to close the plant. And they are succeeding,

The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition does not have a media budget, but we do have a grass roots movement comprised of residents who are knowledgeable, concerned for the future of their communities, and know how to speak up. That is how we convinced local and state government to get involved in the first place. Now that the action has moved into the courtroom and NRC hearings it is off of the front page and is easy to forget. That is what Entergy is hoping for and if that is what happens they win this battle by default.

It is critical that those on this list serv continue to speak out - to neighbors, friends, candidates for office and elected officials. If you know what you want to say, read no further. Stop and pick up the phone, write an email, or just simply talk to someone about your concerns. If you need more information, take a look at the Indian Point Fact Sheet that will follow as a separate email and link and use the information in whatever way suits your needs. What is listed in the fact sheet is accurate and verifiable. People are entitled to different opinions but not the different “facts” that the Entergy propaganda machine is churning out. At a minimum, everyone in a 50 mile radius of Indian Point needs to understand what is in the fact sheet and everyone on this list serv has a part to play in making that happen.

Do what you can. But do something!

Sincerely,

Marilyn Eie, Westchester Citizens Awareness Network

See also: Indian Point Fact Sheet

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Time Running Out for BP and the Gulf

June 8, 2010

To the editor:

On day 50, as BP tentatively announces that they may be able to capture 20% of the leaking oil from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico, time is running out.

My patience, and that of the American people, is running out. The patience of the fishermen, hotel workers, seafood processors and residents of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida are already exhausted. As pelicans die by the thousands, fish and sea mammals are also doomed by swimming through and ingesting oil on the surface, or in underwater plumes. New computer models, reportedly, show the massive oil spill reaching the Florida Keys and being carried up the Atlantic Coast by the Gulf Stream. Oil on the beaches of Long Island by July, then New England, then Europe by September.

BP has forfeited the right to run this crucially important operation. My concern has long been that BP’s interest is not the same as the national interest, or the best interest of our environment. That has been evident in the callous and flippant remarks of BP’s Tony Hayward, such as “I’d like my life back, too” when discussing his 11 employees who died in the explosion. Or his early dismissal of damage from the gushing well because “the Gulf is such a big ocean.” Hayward’s language has even caught on with Admiral Thad Allen, talking about the new cap and riser “producing” 11,000 barrels a day. Any talk about production shows that they are still thinking profit, not environmental protection.

It is time for the Obama Administration to declare a national emergency, gather the assets needed, and get this well shut down fast.

The phytoplankton and other tiny organisms at the bottom of the marine food chain are essential for all higher marine life. Krill and shrimp and herring feed tuna and whales and sharks. Floating seaweed helps to transfer carbon dioxide into oxygen. Oil and dispersants are toxic chemicals that concentrate in the food chain, and the amount released by this catastrophe will probably result in the largest mass killing of marine life in recent history.

A terrible crime, a grievous sin against nature is being committed, getting worse by half a million gallons or so per day. The immediate blame must be on BP, Transocean, and the officials who licensed the well without a guarantee that a backup plan existed for catastrophic failure. We must hold them accountable. We must clean up this spill. And we must finally move away from the polluting technologies of the past into a clean, sustainable energy future.

Sincerely,

John Hall (NY-19)

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Teri Lukin Seeking Reelection to Croton Harmon School Board

April 22, 2010

To the Croton Harmon School District Community:

I am writing to thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent you on the Croton Harmon School Board, to let you know that I am running for reelection and to ask, once again, for your support.

With your help, what I learned during my first three-year term has proved invaluable to my goal of successfully representing our community’s needs. When I first ran for office, I thought that as the parent of two teenagers who grew up in Croton schools, as a director at Time Inc., and as a longtime volunteer and past Croton Little League president, I had the wide view needed to well represent our community’s varied perspectives. But during my first term, I have been amazed at how much I had to learn.

Thanks to meaningful conversations with community members, community forums I helped initiate, research and reading, regular attendance at school board conferences and meeting and lobbying our state officials, I am grateful for a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing our children and our schools and the concrete and potential ways we as a school district can and should address them.

Our community is well aware of the delicate balance we face. We want to effectively nurture and educate our children, to help them overcome their challenges and maximize their gifts. And we want to responsibly limit our tax burden, especially now during the economic crisis that confronts our nation and community. We can only accomplish this by soliciting the input, critique and help of our community.

One reason I first ran for office was to improve two-way communication between school administrators and parents and taxpayers. We now hold regular town hall meetings to solicit input.

Although we face significant hurdles ahead, together we have already accomplished a great deal. As the school board vice president, I successfully urged the board to set, track and create action plans to achieve board and community goals — in addition to evaluating and supporting administration goals as past boards had done. I helped persuade fellow school board members to take an active role when making the tenure decisions that can affect our tax dollars and Croton school children for generations.

I support our community’s goal to conserve energy. Our district recently entered into an energy performance contract with Honeywell International Inc. that guarantees that the cost for all the energy-efficiency upgrades our district makes will be covered by savings on energy bills or Honeywell will reimburse the difference. This contract will allow our district to replace boilers at PVC Middle School, retrofit lighting and fans, add GPS wireless clocks and unit ventilators and install a solar photovoltaic system - all with the guarantee that their initial costs will be covered by energy savings.

While I am proud of the progress we have made, I am aware of the significant challenges our schools and our children face. Please contact me at tflukin@aol.com or 914.271.2098 to share your suggestions on how, together, we can move forward. And please vote for me on May 18th.

Yours truly,

Teri Lukin

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Do Your Part to be Counted!

March 26, 2010

To the editor:

I want to ensure that all residents in the Ossining-Croton-Briarcliff-Cortlandt Manor area are fully counted in CENSUS 2010.

The census is the cornerstone of local government and schools funding. Every person who is not counted leaves our community short $2,700 for each of the next 10 years—almost $30,000 will be lost in the forthcoming decade.

The census is mandated by the United States Constitution. The amount of money available in federal and state aid to local communities depends, in great part, on information that comes from the Census and as such this funding goes to support so many critical areas, including education, public transportation, road construction, hospital, nursing homes and other health service programs.

By now you should have received your Census 2010 questionnaire. If you haven’t, you will be receiving it by the end of this month. The questionnaire has only 10 questions and takes only a few minutes to fill out.

The importance of completing it cannot be overstated.

Please do your part and be counted!

Best regards,

Bill Burton, Legislator District 9

Editor’s note: For more information on the 2010 Census, please visit http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

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A Huge Victory for Affordable Health Care

March 22, 2010

To the editor:

Today we took a huge step forward in our fight for affordable health care for all Americans. I cast my vote in favor of health insurance reform because it was the right thing to do.

It was the the right thing to do for the woman in Warwick who was dropped by her insurance company in the middle of her breast cancer treatments. It was the right thing to do for the family in Wappinger whose premiums are soaring because of their son’s pre-existing condition. It was right thing to do for the Seniors in Somers who are stuck in the Medicare donut hole, paying more than they can afford for the medications they need.

When I originally ran for office, I promised I would vote for anything that moved us towards universal health care coverage. Today I feel much closer to delivering on that promise.

Since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put health care on the national agenda, American Presidents on both sides of the aisle have made attempts to improve our health care system. For far too long, health insurance companies have been able to deny coverage for treatment ordered by doctors and drop coverage when you get sick and need it the most. Today I was proud to vote to end those unfair practices.

I have talked with many of you about your personal situations. You inspired me to fight as hard as I could for the health insurance reforms you deserve. That’s why you helped me get elected and why I voted for for major health insurance reforms. Because it was the right thing to do.

Your Representative,

John Hall, NY-19

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I Will Vote YES

March 21, 2010

To the editor:

After listening to thousands of constituents, meeting with health care professionals, and reading the pending health care insurance reform bills, I have decided to vote YES on Sunday.

I held more than 80 public events and meetings to get input from local families, businesses, and health care professionals. I’ve heard from local business owners in Stony Point and Somers who told me they couldn’t afford the annual double digit increases in the insurance premiums for their employees. I sat in a living room in Warwick where a woman told me her insurance company canceled her policy while she was undergoing treatments for breast cancer. I heard from countless Seniors who are trapped in the Medicare donut hole and have to choose between food and medicine because they can’t afford to pay more for their prescription drugs.

Tomorrow the House of Representatives will take an up or down vote. I will be voting YES and here is why. The bill:

• Immediately protects people with preexisting conditions
• Prevents insurance companies from dropping people when they get sick
• Prohibits annual and lifetime caps on benefits
• Closes the Medicare donut hole for prescription drugs
• Provides tax credits for small businesses who provide coverage for their employees
• Allows young people to stay on their parents’ coverage until they turn 26, and
• Allows 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured to have access to high quality, affordable health care

You elected me to solve the problems we face. The status quo is unacceptible. We all know someone who is harmed by the current health insurance system. Just saying no will not change anything. This bill demonstrates we can make progress towards achieving our goals.

I will cast my vote YES

Sincerely,

John Hall, NY-19

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County and State Budget Town Hall Set for Sunday

March 19, 2010

To the editor:

This Sunday, March 21, along with Legislator John G. Testa and State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, and I will host a “Community Town Hall Meeting” to provide residents with information about state and county budgets as well as issues of concern and to solicit community input.

Please join us! We’ll be at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library’s Constance Dyckman Community Room, 185 Kings Ferry Road (corner of Tate Avenue), in Montrose, from 2 pm to 4 pm.

We’ve scheduled this town hall meeting to provide you with an up-to-date exploration and discussion of the county and state budgets. We welcome questions and will provide as much information as possible.

— Bill Burton, Westchester County Legislator, District 9

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An Update on Healthcare Reform

March 17, 2010

To the editor:

This week, as the sun shines and spring is starting to arrive, the debate on health care reaches a fever pitch in Washington. Our phones are ringing off the hook with citizens offering opinions pro and con. Emails from supporters of reform and opponents are cascading into our inbox, and the streets around the Capitol are full of people carrying signs. Democracy is alive and, well… conflicted.

Almost everyone says they are for some kind of reform, and that the current system needs to be changed. The question is whether the compromise between the House and Senate bills is the right way to go, and whether the votes to pass it will materialize.

I campaigned in 2006 and 2008 saying I would support any measure that moved America closer to universal coverage for health care. I would have preferred a strong public option, voted for a somewhat weaker version in the House bill only to see it removed by the Senate.

I am still evaluating the effect of the new version on my constituents, and last minute changes are still being made. But here’s the decision I face:

Vote for a bill that bans insurance companies from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, lowers the cost to seniors of their prescription drugs, sets up a national exchange similar to that enjoyed by members of Congress so individuals and small business can negotiate lower premiums with the strength of a huge bargaining pool, and eliminates co-pays for regular checkups and diagnostic procedures. A bill that also requires all Americans to get health insurance, but provides affordability credits to those who can’t afford their premiums. A bill that will lower the federal deficit significantly over the next two decades, according to the CBO, but which is paid for by some new taxes which are unpopular with many people.

Or, vote against the bill and hope to have a chance to advance a better solution, perhaps piece by piece, in the near future.

The backdrop against which this is happening is a series of premium increases by health insurance companies, like the 39% increase just announced by Anthem Blue Cross in California. Small business and individuals in the Hudson Valley have been telling me about one-year increases of 25% to 35%. When inflation is almost flat, when wages are stagnant, when the economy is still struggling to recover from the recession of the last two years, these premium hikes are unjustifiable and, in my view, immoral.

The process is convoluted and obscured by politics. Republican members of the House spoke out forcefully to keep insurance companies exempt from anti-trust law, then voted en masse with Democrats to stop monopolistic price-fixing and collusion. It appears that not one Republican in the House or Senate will vote for the reform bill this week, although many of their ideas were incorporated in the final language.

And regardless of their complaints about using the reconciliation process in the Senate, Republicans have used it more than Democrats in the last three decades. The Bush tax cuts were passed on reconciliation using a simple majority of 51 Senators. So were children’s health insurance, welfare reform, and COBRA (which stands for Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). So the process is legal, constitutional and fairly common.

The question for me is not so much process, as content. Will my constituents, and all Americans, benefit from this bill? Will analysis of the final language convince me that more problems will be solved than created? I will let you know when and what I decide. Meanwhile, thanks for all of your input, and for the privilege and responsibility of representing you.

Sincerely,

John Hall, NY-19

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Croton Election Bottom Line: 'Forward Thinking' Versus 'No Thinking'

March 15, 2010

To the editor:

Well, here they go again.

Our opponents have no ideas and nothing to offer the Village. So they are once again broadcasting their patented brand of nonsense to Croton voters. Their campaign of disinformation and distortion does nothing but waste time, discourage voter participation and degrade our political process.

We have NEVER advocated for over-development, high-density housing or a shopping mall at the train station. Those are but three of the stream of baseless, unsupportable claims made by our opponents. Their constant reliance on such tactics only serves to make clear that they have nothing to say about how they would help this Village to move forward.

Thanks to your support last year, we accomplished more for this Village than our opponents did in the previous four years. These are but a few of the many facts regarding our fiscal responsibility:

• We lowered your Village taxes, without cutting a single service.
• We decreased wasteful spending, cutting over $250,000 from the budget.
• We increased future revenue potential by pursuing significant grants.
• We conducted a mid-year budget review and cut spending without cutting services. A FIRST FOR CROTON!
• We began a program to use fewer resources, and use them in a more sustainable way. ANOTHER FIRST FOR CROTON saving taxpayers even more money.

The accusations from our opponents of “frivolous spending and lack of fiscal responsibility” seem comical coming from a man who bloated the budget by $4 million while in office and a running mate who is an active tax evader.

In the past year we also made strides to increase the quality of life in the Village. For example:

• We fought to establish a farmers’ market, which was wildly successful.
• We developed a community garden, which residents asked for—planting will begin this Spring!
• The fabulous new Croton Landing Park was finally dedicated and opened, with tremendous help and cooperation from the County and State.

We must plan for the future by taking actions today. We need to increase the commercial tax base in Croton, so that we can reduce the tax burden on homeowners and preserve our diverse and wonderful Village. We believe we can’t do anything without extensive community input. That’s why we conducted a thorough study, and solicited extensive public comment, before enacting the re-zoning of the Harmon business district. This is the kind of forward-thinking, citizen-driven change that Croton needs in order to keep Croton, Croton.

Consensus doesn’t mean that everyone agrees. A vocal minority opposes revitalization of Harmon. Their last minute filing of an Article 78 lawsuit (a complaint that the Village didn’t follow rules about changing zoning) is simply a political ploy. That much is clear from the timing—they had four months to file and chose the week before the election. This is a frivolous lawsuit—we took great care to follow all the rules and provided multiple opportunities for community input—and it will cost taxpayer money to defend.

Our opponents’ lack of vision is astonishing. And their inability to take any action other than saying “NO!” is tragic for the Village. They opposed the Harmon re-zoning plan because they don’t seem to comprehend that under the previous zoning restrictions it had become very difficult for the property owners to generate sufficient income without charging rents so high that many buildings now stand vacant. Something needed to change, and, with your help, we changed it.

Similarly, our opponents don’t grasp that our train station parking lot is Croton’s #2 source of income (second only to property taxes) and say “NO!” to investigating revenue potential there. The more we increase revenues from the parking lot, the more we can cut the tax burden on homeowners. Did you know that every space in the lot is sold and there’s a waiting list of over 300 people? So we are doing a professional study to explore the possibility of generating more income there. Our opponents seem to have forgotten that they actually voted for this study.

Unlike our opponents, we know we must plan for the future and actively seek solutions to our community’s problems. Leadership requires planning and action. Saying “NO!” is not a plan. Doing nothing is not an option. The Journal News recognized this in their endorsement of us on March 9, 2010.

That’s the kind of leadership we will continue to provide for our Village. We can’t do that without you. We humbly ask for your vote on March 16, 2010. Polls are open from 6 am to 9 pm at the Municipal Building.

Sincerely and with respect,

Ann Gallelli and Richard Olver

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