Village Board Meeting 11/11/08

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you.

Here's the link to the mp3 file

I read a statement at the first public comment period. I usually set my recorder in front of Tammy Morse (Village Clerk) She apparently didn't turn it on until I had started my statement,

It's been awhile since I have been here to encourage the board to stand for justice, and much has changed. The Bush administration's economic policies have resulted in bringing us the most threatening collapse since the Great Depression, and they used this crisis (as they use all crises) to advance their agenda, this time by transferring our taxpayer dollars (and the taxes of future generations) to the wealthiest 1/10th of one percent , who happen, in this case to be the CEO's of the very institutions that are responsible, along with the Bush Administration, for this collapse. The one trillion dollar bailout package is the greatest theft in history, and they are stealing from all of us, including the local governments of Trumansburg, and Ulysses, and our schools, and health care for our elderly, and our poor.

The election of Barack Obama changes how you should look at this movement of those who seek justice, accountability, and the restoration of the rule of law. Some of you mistakenly thought that this was merely partisan politics. The fact that he has been elected and we are still asking for justice, proves this wrong. Some of you felt that seeking impeachment would threaten the success of the Democrats in the election. This is now a moot point.

I admit that it is unlikely that Nancy Pelosi will allow the House to begin impeachment before inauguration, but her action is not the measure of the worth of your action. You should act so that history will record that you saw the gross crimes of the Bush Administration, and the harm being done to your constituents, and you objected. By remaining silent in the face of these crimes, you ensure that others will attempt the same crimes later.

Is there any member of this board who values the rule of law, and our Constitution, enough to make a motion to pass the resolution to encourage our representatives in Washington to investigate the possibility of impeaching Bush and Cheney?

As usual my statement invoked no response. Oh well.

One disappointing bit of news from the meeting is that the purchase of the old telephone company building by the Village, for use as a community center has apparently fallen through.

The Board approved the purchase of a new defibrillator for the ambulance. Trustee John Hrubos commented that because of expensive purchases like this, the concept of going to third party billing was really a question of when and not if. This got under my skin, but I held my peace until the second public comment period near the end of the meeting.

This is at about the 2 hr, 56 min mark. John defended his "when and not if" comment by complaining about the ever increasing cost of the equipment as if it is spiraling out of control, which it is not. The defibrillator will be fully covered by the allowance in the budget for equipment upkeep and replacement. The increase in the cost of the EMS service, is roughly equal to the rate of inflation. It is far from the crisis that they make it out to be.

Chris Thomas said (in order to get me to shut up) "But Allen, truthfully, you have to hear everything the board is saying, and one thing the board said is that the 'when' includes that tipping point when the symposium is 75% in favor of going to billing because the costs have escalated so much" That's on the record. I was listening, and the board hadn't said that, but I'm glad to have that on the record now. The public will never be 75% in favor of privatizing this important aspect of our community.

Sadly, Jason, our Fire Chief, left after hearing John's "when and not if" comment, and went across the street to the ongoing Town Board Meeting, and reported that the Village Board considered the privatization scheme merely a question of "when". Jason and fellow proprivatizer Rod Ferentino, commiserated with each other over what a shame it was that they had failed to tap into the pool of dirty money from the private for profit health care industry. Rod Ferentino commented months ago on the "paradigm shift" that he saw occurring, that was causing a low response rate from the volunteers. That paradigm shift has apparently vanished. The response rate is way up, and Bangs has had to come out hardly at all. This is thanks to the fact that we beat back the attempt to privatize, and to the work of Jim Mason.

Thank you Jim, and thank you EMS volunteers!