News from Goshen:

The
$83,000,000
Boondoggle

There really is a two building solution, in spite of what Wong & Roddey say. A rebuttal to...
The Goshen Chronicle

WONG DOESN'T GET IT!

REBUTTAL TO THE LATEST CHRONICLE ARTICLE ON THE ORANGE COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER ISSUE:

The latest episode of the Goshen Saga (Episode 6) should say it all. It is about a legislator who has been intimidated by some in her community out of her fear of not getting reelected.

She does not have the courage to stand up to the corruption that has caused the current situation with the Government Center. She does not have the common sense to see the very real future benefits to her community and the rest of Orange County.

And, she has no loyalty to her colleagues in the legislature.

Corruption and neglect, contempt for the voters of Orange County has caused the condition the Rudolph building is in. It was deliberate, and money appropriated to provide for the maintenance of the building was misused over the years for other projects. We will never know where that money went. We know where it didn't go.

Siding with the dark-side in supporting the CPL Plan with its inflated costs guaranteed to generate huge profits for Phillip Clark, and caving in to the threats from the Office of Court Administration is an affirmation of the malfeasance and corruption of all these many years regarding the desecration of the Rudolph Building.

Ms. Wong should know better, but she doesn't and it is clear that she needs to be replaced as your legislator.

There are many reasons to replace Wong, and they are represented by her failure to recognize the financial and social benefits of the Kaufman Plan. A legislator who cannot recognize that placing a structure like the Rudolph Building on the tax rolls will generate local revenue year after year; that generating sales tax revenue from point-of-sale transactions at the Art Center will also generate revenue; that successful artists will purchase materials and supplies from local vendors and stimulate the local economy; that the new Goshenites will increase local foot traffic so that local small businesses will start to thrive along with the return of Government Center patrons who would return to the new OCGC created as part of the Kaufman Plan package; that creating an arts based cultural center and saving the Rudolph Building will increase tourism and generate more revenue, just does not deserve to represent her constituents.

Add to that the additional $27,000,000 cost, and I believe she needs to go. She just doesn't get it, and Goshen will pay the price.

While you're at it, throw Roddey and his gang of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," monkeys out of office; they clearly don't have the Village's interests at heart.

It is not down to the facade; it is much more than that. A rebuttal to...
The Goshen Chronicle

The conversation is not down to the "facade." The facade is just a smoke screen used by partisan operatives working under orders from Mr. Ed to obfuscate the issues.

Amo, the one-person Independent caucus on the legislature, is really a republican in disguise, and he is there to throw curve-balls meant to confuse any discussion. Amo has been to the many meetings in which mold has been ruled out as a real hazard in the building. Over and over again various experts have testified that there is NO MOLD problem related to the exterior walls of the Rudolph building.

Only the organic items left in the building which includes fabrics, sheetrock, certain types of insulation, carpeting and all other like materials produce mold, and they could have all been removed long ago. Further, after drying out the building, air handlers in the building should have been used less in order to contain the mold spores growing on the organic material from migrating through the building.

There is a viable alternative plan brought by Gene Kaufman that solves almost any problem one can possibly imagine. His plan faithfully renovates the Rudolph Building and would protect Goshenites and local residents from being looked at as red neck provincial hicks who's reactionary views would destroy a valuable landmark building.

His plan would also put the building on the tax rolls, saving residents of Goshen and the County thousands of property tax Dollars every year. The Kaufman Plan would bring a vibrant new industry to Goshen to stimulate the local economy, and bring much needed street traffic to the struggling small businesses of the village. This new industry based on loft-style apartments and live-in studio space for successful artists could also provide "point of sale" sales tax revenue for items purchased locally at the facility. A nationally recognized dance artist has interest in the space, and it is people like him and activities generated around the arts and the historic nature of the Rudolph Building that will bring an increase of tourism to Goshen and the immediate area.

The Kaufman Plan in addition to the above, is formulated to provide for a new Orange County Government Center on a portion of the existing parcel of land on which the current Government Center resides. It will get the Unified Court System back into their Division 3 facilities 18 months sooner that the CPL Plan.

But, the real benefit which is foremost on the minds of taxpayers is that all of the above, all of what Goshen has been clambering for all these four years, can be had for $27,000,000 LESS than the CPL Plan which was inflated by result oriented estimating to generate a certain amount of money for the pockets of our politician's friends which would be partially returned to them as campaign contributions.

$27,000,000 is a lot of extra money to be paid back by the struggling taxpayers of Orange County who's income have not kept pace with food costs and other necessities that have risen in price. I didn't know that Orange County taxpayers were flush enough to giveaway $27,000,000 by over paying for a half-assed solution to the Orange County Government Center problem.

County politicians who owe their positions to Mr. Ed Diana and their wealthy republican backers, are saying they have no choice; the Office of Court Administration is forcing us to move forward with the CPL Plan, and if we don't we will be stiffly fined by OCA and we will loose State Aid relative to the necessary bonding on the back end of this project.

But, OCA is required to file applications with the NYS Historic Preservation Office for any project tied to State Aid, and I interpret State Aid as being State Aid no matter which end it comes from. Is OCA and Judge Alan D. Scheinkman above the law.

The alliance between our legislative leadership, the County Executive and Judge Alan D. Scheinkman couldn't be more cozy. They are suited to each other, and all of them are comfortable with the atmosphere of corruption that swirls around them. Scheinkman does not care how much our property taxes will rise by bonding an extra $27,000,000. He has a personal agenda that is driven by ego and greed.

So, I guess you all have to decide whether you want to be the chumps labeled around the world as the fools who destroyed one of the most important architectural landmarks of the 20th Century, and who were gullible enough to buy a plan that cost you $27,000,000 more than necessary, while maintaining a stagnant local economy.