Getting money from our State-level elected officials will be like squeezing water from a stone. So, if we can’t make a difference in the context of the town, then I don’t know of other options.

When public money is handed out from our elected officials in Albany it is rarely, if ever, used for the good of the general public. Instead, it is used to serve particular constituency subsections, corporate interests, or special interest groups. The $1.6 million grant for a new chicken slaughterhouse in New Square is a good example. Our State Senator has doled out the most discretionary funds—or member items—of any other State-level legislator in the nation, yet virtually none of that money goes to general welfare of his constituency; rather it goes to private groups or institutions that can help ensure his incumbency.

The State Senate is broken. Albany is in gridlock and the governor is being forced into using draconian, even Dickensian measures to balance a budget because Pataki’s millionaire’s tax cuts remain in place. The rich get breaks so they can better recreate, but working class families can’t afford vacations anymore. And what good are “staycations” when there’s much less places for recreation.

As I said, I’m not enthusiastic anything in Albany will change soon, so I’m not looking hopefully in that direction.

And although our current town supervisor and council majority (and our Town Clerk for that matter) are now beholden to the local chapter of the tea-bag movement, I think examining this at the town level is the best shot that we have. We’ve got to take measures into our own hands within Orangetown.