Week of March 3

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Week of March 3

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2002

Answers

Don't forget to check some recent entries at the end of last week's page.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2002

When people say "toss them all out." I hope we can simply say, Marino is one of the people who has worked to stop the undermining of the district by Joe, Rose, etc. He is not the problem...but rather is standing up, paying close attention, and working to stem the blood flow. Yes, he's passionate and outspoken, but in the service of the district...and not mean and not nasty and not actively working to undo what the board and public have agreed to ( Doan vs. Bennett is a case in point.)

Tobe PS Always fun to do some physical labor with friends and colleagues...glad we able to hep a bit.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2002


Tobe wrote - "When people say "toss them all out." I hope we can simply say, Marino is one of the people who has worked to stop the undermining of the district by Joe, Rose, etc."

The problem, as I see it, is that people don't get it. They just understand the dysfunction of the board whether it is Marino or Doan...they just want them all out. It will be harder to elect Marino than Kathy or Neil because of that. They don't understand the dynamics which we have all witnessed so closely. I have heard many Olive Democrats say "I'm voting for Doan as this district needs a watchdog".

We have to make it known that we are as interested in fiscal responsibility as they are. We can be watchdogs and make the dollar go further than Doan without his divisive practices. We can work together with the teachers to create better productivity...yada yada yada That's a message we have to hone.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002


Morty Schiff has offered his residence as a meeting place for the next SOS meeting scheduled for Saturday March 16th at 10am.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002

Is March 16th SOS meeting also the interviewing of cadidates? Is anyone else running besides Marino, Kathy and Neil? if not, what's the point?

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002


I don't know where Morty lives, and who I would be on the way for, but to anybody willing to give me a ride, it would be much appreciated.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002

The next SOS meeting is not this Saturday but one week after on March 16th, 10am at Morty Schiff's home. Thank you, Morty, for your gracious hospitality.

Morty lives at 307 Acorn Hill Road in Olivebridge. Parking is limited down the driveway but people can park on the road and walk down. I will post another reminder before that date. Morty's number is 657-5758 for directions but I will try to post them beforehand as well.

On another note, I spoke to Laurel Herdman this evening and expect her to attend this meeting as well. She is undecided about running but has expressed an interest in SOS and helping us out. She will be thinking about the future as I explained to her where we are, presently, with our endeavours. She sounds great.

She had also heard, although a while back, that Rose will not run. But that is totally unconfirmed.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002


The March 16th agenda is yet to be determined. If Laurel H. does not run and Michael G. is out of the running than we will be discussing more current campaign issues I'm sure.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2002

More on the Kingston School Board follies

One online letter comments that the Onteora virus is beginning to spread.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2002


The SOS DBA (Doing Business As) is official and a bank account has been opened in that name which means that we can all start to solicit funds. Checks can be made out to SOS and sent to PO Box 7, West Shokan, NY 12494

I came up with an idea for reaching out to new constituants which I would like to share. I spend about 1 1/2 hrs driving per day to and from work. I love to listen to NPR during this drive. But recently they have their fund drive going strong so I simply jot down names with the town from donations from the Onteora district contributing funds to the NPR drive. I think many of these folks could be 'our' voters in the upcoming election so I will use my NPR list to add to the favorable voter list of people we call before the election to encourage their vote.

I wanted to share this to ley everyone know that we should be thinking about ways to solidify our voter lists.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2002



Great idea, Jim. Let's also remember to get names of anyone outside of the group who writes letters to the editor supporting our issues, or other issues that indicate that they are intelligent and fairminded. Volvo drivers too? :)

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2002

Note new email address: video@hvc.rr.com Tobe

PS I found the November 6, 2000 meeting, in which Joe Doan offers engineering and also at first says it'll cost $2500 total, for the backstop, etc.,, and later in the conversation says fundraisers can pay for the backstop, so it'll be no cost to the district. Tobe

PS video coming soon to a cable channel near you.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2002


Tobe - can we get the opportunity to see the video before it goes to cable?

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

Video...what video? seriously...happy to show the softball tapes to one and all...in fact that as always my intent...since we are close to the election..corrdination is key...I am wating to see what happens with Shaw and legal issues/ and or SED before releasing it. Soon we can have a vidoe party..Jim brings the popcorn :-)

Morty, nice letter in the Woodstock times...available online at www.woodstocktimes.biz....Hope you sent it to the Townnsman and Freeman...anyone know how to get letters to the Phoenicia Times??? Tobe

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


I want to let you folks know I may be a bit distracted and out of the loop for a bit. My father-in-law, Basil, died suddenly on Monday, and Ted's gone off to England for the week to be with his mom and family.

Off-topic, but if any of you have any _personal_ experience with fake death announcements in forums in which you've participated, please email. I'm in a certain amount of hot water for publicly daring to suggest that independent verification of a death announcement on a forum last week might be warranted, due to many aspects which just didn't add up. I've got access to the major Internet hoaxes such as Kaycee Nicole, and will be happy to share once I write this up as an article some day, but for now I need documention of any hoxes you've known about personally.

Call the Phoenicia Times directly on that and ask!

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002



Carol - Condolences to you and your family and please, express my sincerest sympathy to Ted -

Don't know of any obit hoaxes but I did have a friend who had their obit printed erroneosly in the NY Times. Seems an actress with the same name of the character my friend played in a soap opera died onstage in summer stock. The NY Times came up with with a match in their data base and printed my friend's death notice by mistake. "The news of my death has been greatly exaggerated" never seemed more appropriate.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


Pat, Kathy and I are getting together on Saturday to discuss how to present a workshop on special ed. and we'll find out if Barbara Boyce will want to participate. It's annual review time, so, Barbara is swamped and overwhelmed.

Carol: My condolence and sympathy as well.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


Carol, our best wishes are with you and Ted.

Glad to hear Melissa and Kathy are taking care of the presentation.

Glad to hear that SOS is ready for checks... Do we have any bites on a "fund-raiser" ??

Not too soon to write specific fact sheets...I would oike usd to consider a series of printed sheets for inserting in the Freeman, W Times and for handing out. Can we be ready with the first two or three by April 1st?? What are the topics...We can print on two sides of a page.

Perhaps Neil, Kathy and Marino can fashion one about goals that we could publish and spread far and wide..It could be the "big picture" from which we grab smaller details for the ongoing campaign....their platform, so to speak.

Then there are the Doan Deeds Pages with an emphais on expenses...We need a complete list of Doan's projects or legal proceedings that have cost money to the taxpayers. And we need to get specific figures..

Some that come to mind are: Transportation promises and reality Softball field promises and reality Shaw investigations Special ed report 6 latest investigations Poley litigation Erratt litigation legal expenses to defend district against Ricci/Mercer petitions submitted with Doan's support

and?????

Tobe

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


I would suggest that we come up with a timeline calendar for the campaign at the next SOS meeting.

The strategies which I believe are most important is to first get the names out there and go for name recognition with credentials. The first step of this will occur with any publciity we gather from the Bennett move. Next, we can arrange a press conference or press release with the candidates names, credentials and goals perhaps before the March 25th meeting so that the news can be melded into coverage of the meetings as suggested by Bill Kemble.

Then after the word is out on the candidates, we arrange for the issue challenges with media ads and such. This, in my view, would be around mid April at the earliest. Challenging the issues too early in April may give the opposition too much time to fashion a response. Don't forget that candidate petitions aren't due until April 15th so we really don't know who is actually running until then.

But of course, I'm open to any discussion about this before the meeting so we can save time then. I'll check the archives and see where we were last year.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


The archives suggest that we didn't select candidates until the Monday after the Saturday March 24th interviews. So March 26th. But after that we were on fire getting ads and signage together.

Should we design a new sign or keep a similar design. I liked Ted's design but felt the letters visually were too small. Any thoughts? I particularily liked the design of the brochure and woul;d like to follow that design for this year. Beth Bliss has indicated she can take the photos.

We should plan a campaign of ads in the various newspapers with a budget for each ad and a total ad budget. Including brochures.

Remember we have no money as of yet and my name is on the account!!!! Yikes! Please send contributions.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002


Interesting side bar - Joe Doan Contacted Kevin Cahill's office on Thursday inquiring about how to go about getting a $750,000 grant! I guess he is not really up to speed on things...but aside from that....we gave him a copy of a grants newsleteer, and told him he needed to submit a specific request in writing. Talk about better late than never...well, at least he making an attempt.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002

It may seam nice, but Doan is once again a renegade! Do any other board members know about grant getting? There are people who are grant writers in district! Another micro managing tactic to try and look good. Like dah!

I was out with Jeff and his teen group swimming at Holiday Inn. We got pizza next door and Mr. Doan was eating with a lady friend...dark long hair, baseball cap worn L.A.style? Hmmm. Florida friend? My friend and I chuckled at the idea of sneaking a photo, but he'd scream "photosensitive!"

Pat, Bruce and I met at Kathy Hochman's. We'll follow up our strategies and logistics and present to SOS meeting March 22nd for approval.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002


Of course, the usual way a grant process might work is that the person who spots a grant opportunity brings it to Hal or to the board and suggests the administration might want to consider it...then if it's appropriate it'll come back to the board with an administrator as the lead person... Tobe

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002

I spoke with Laurel Herdman today regarding her interest in running for the board and SOS. She has given it much thought and decided that it may not be the right year for her to run. She indicated that she would like to work with SOS and better learn the issues. She will be attending the SOS meeting on March 16th (Melissa-NOT 22!!!) at Morty's. Be sure to give a special thanks to Laurel for her thoughtful consideration and her appreciation of SOS and where we are now with our candidates. She is great and I think we can all look forward to working with her.

This leaves our agenda open on the 16th to be more focused on election/campaign issues rather than candidate selection. It gives us about a two week jump on where we were last year. I would like for everyone to think about a timeline and calendar of where and what we should be doing before election day. Let's give serious thought to all community groups to whom our candidates can speak and of any public arenas where we can be a presence. If you have an idea, please, present it to the bbs and we can add it to the calendar.

Candidates should be starting to write a short goal statement on their candidacies and we can help edit the statements which can be later included in press and media releases. Neal has a great letter ready but other shorter versions will help for us to write pamphlets and such.

Things are going well but we need to establish some funds. This may not be feasable until after the candiates declare their intentions. But if anyone can contribute the check can be made out to SOS and mailed to me or SOS at PO Box 7, West Shokan, NY 12494 Please Send Money!!! Thanks.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002


Over the past two years, Joe Doan has attacked/defamed/insulted many, many indivduals and groups. This is a recollection of mine which is bound to be incomplete, so I'm asking for help to complete it. I believe it will prove to be a valuable tool in the uncoming campaign.

1 All racial and ethnic groups: removed the Onteora anti- discrimination policy so that the Indian mascot could be restored

2 Tanya Washington, NYS Attorney General's office, Civil Rights Division: ignored her plea for compromise and rushed the removal of the anti-discrimination policy

3 Mike Grehl and the Transportation Department: and just what are the numbers on this privitazation?

4 Kathy Ailey, auditor: bullied her into resigning after the duplicate checks fiasco

5 The High School students of Onteora: stalled, waffled, and then opposed the seating of a student rep on the board

6 Hal Rowe: how many thousands has this attack cost us?

7 Barbara Boyce, and all of Special Ed: again, investigations and reports costing thousands, yielding nothing positive

8 Robin Sears, and the whole health staff

9 The entire Bennett school community: unrelenting opposition to the Bennett reno/addition project

10 Onteora teachers: too many days off, right?

11 John Donahue, former Onteora attorney: fired

12 All the applicants for the Rose Ostrander seat: never even got interviewed

13 Curry Rinzler: tried to get me removed from the Facilities Committee

14 Tobe Carey: his camera lies, right?

15 Beth Blis: she's causing him to go blind.....

16 The Woodstock Times and the Kingston Freeman: printing lies, lies, lies

17 Meg and Merino: responsible for all the bad stuff on the board

18 All the bus-riding students of Onteora: they need to be watched by video surviellance cameras

19 Programs for the Arts and their providers: no $ for this !

20 Dennis Geisler and all past school boards for carrying too large a fund balance, plus the infamous buyout of Dennis

21 The entire stall of the Middle and High Schools: bring in the dogs!!

22 The entire Phoenicia school community, for bad test grades

23 Randy Collins and Beth Lipton: watch out for your private life

I know there's more. Please help add what you can. I see this list as a valuble source of votes and possibly to use in our ads.....

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2002


I had a long phone talk with Michael Goodman yesterday. He concluded after our last meeting that the candidates had already been picked, and has no further interest in running this year. He will support the SOS candidates, but is very busy with Little League and Soccer, so probably won't campaign actively. He may continue to participate in SOS, but that's unclear.

Sooo...we don't really need the interview process this year. Michael G. was right, I think, that Marino, Kathy, and Neil are our candidate, and very good ones. I think we should formalize this at our next meeting, though, if I understand this right, the candidates won't be official until their petitions are certified and approved on April 15.

So, April 15 would be the official kickoff of the campaign, and we have until then to do a lot of work preparing. This should be organized at our next meeting. Certainly, here in Woodstock, people won't focus on the BOE election until after the highway dept. garage issue is decided, and I hope that will be by 4/15 or so.....

Then, our campaign will be short, sweet, intense, comprehensive and victorious!!!!

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2002


Though we may not need the interview process if we are supporting those three, it might be useful for them to undergo it just to get used to having to talk about policy questions before groups of people and face questions on the fly, as well as let our side gain more understanding of the individual candidates' positions.

Given Curry's rather encyclopedic list, is it perhaps true that the only person left in the district who Doan has not insulted is Ed Bolzetzian?

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2002


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