Please Make sure you are registered to vote. I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about “The Bloc Vote” when they themselves are not registered to vote.
If youare registered to vote: Make sure to request your Early Mail Ballot here. I don’t want to hear anyone complain about “The Bloc Vote” when you have not requested a ballot of your own to vote with.
When everyone votes, there is no “Bloc” to worry about.
You want to change things around Southern Orange County?
1. Make sure you are registered to vote.
2. Make sure you get your Early Mail Ballot.
3. Make sure your friends and neighbors all do the same.
I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. I’ve made my opinions known at this point.
However, I will suggest that if you’re still going to vote for Congressman Pat Ryan and State Senator James Skoufis, you do so on the Working Families Party line and not the Democratic Party line.
Your vote counts just as if you voted on the Democratic ballot line.
But here’s what happens when you vote for Skoufis and Ryan on the WFP line:
-WFP gets better funding from the State and provides a viable alternative for people who are unhappy with the Democratic Party’s tendency to work for the corporations, or as they like to call it, “Centrism.”
-You’re also sending a nice fuck you to the New York State Democratic Party for its repeated failures in representing the people of our respective communities here in Southern Orange County. With the exception of Town of Chester Supervisor Brandon Holdridge, and Monroe Town Councilwomen Mary Bingham and Maureen Richardson, the local Democrats are suss, as the kids say.
So, if you’d like to voice your displeasure about the performance of Senator Skoufis and Congressman Pat Ryan, or if you’d like to voice your displeasure with the behavior of Woodbury Trustees James Freiband, Matthew Fabbro, or about both Democratic party-backed candidates this Fall in Woodbury— John U. Keleman and Tyler Etzel Jr. — you can email the head of the Democratic Party, Jay S. Jacobs, at chair@nydems.org.
Make sure to thank Jay for giving you a reason to vote Working Families Party this Fall. I’m sure he’ll be really happy to hear from you.
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Get A Load Of This:
The South Blooming Grove Village Board meetings are often difficult to watch. This video, from the Woodbury Town Board meeting on September 6th, 2024 is the opposite.
Although the Town Board ultimately ignored them, that’s not the key point to remember here.
They made up their minds to do what they wanted to do long before that meeting even started.
Progress takes time.
Having that many people at a Town Board meeting?
That’s progress. THAT is a win.
That is encouragement enough for more people to come along. And that’s the name of the game right now.
There is strength in numbers.
Because when we all vote, there is no “bloc.”
The People are the bloc.
So, here you have a packed room of sensible residents who are rightfully angry about the Part-Time Supervisor with Full-Time Pay, Kathryn Luciani, and her latest harebrained scheme.
Specifically, after “discovering” that Woodbury has a Town Ethics Code that prohibits her from hiring her son to work full-time at the local Animal Shelter, she wanted to change the Ethics Code. Why? In the Board’s own words, so that they could hire their children to work for the Town.
Mrs. Luciani then fired the Town Attorney, after what allegedly was described as the Town Attorney discovering he had a spine like a real boy after all.
Or so the story goes.
The former Town Attorney has not yet responded to requests to clarify if he was fired over his refusal to amend the Town Ethics Code; specifically so that the Supervisor can hire her son and pay him with your tax dollars. All while the Town Board loudly claims, as they do in the video above, they can’t find anyone to work at the shelter, which is absolutely not true. The amount of effort that went into trying to hire someone to fill that role is probably less time than an episode of “Reservation Dogs.”
If they’re having that much trouble recruiting people to work for the shelter, then they should have planned for a budget increase last year to give better pay and benefits to the Animal Control Officers—something the Supervisor could have proposed during her time as a Councilwoman. Something the board can plan for, right now, as they look to prepare next year’s budget.
You literally have a Super Majority on this Town Board. But instead of actually doing anything, they want to complain about the mean things people are saying about them on Facebook.
As it is in Washington with MAGA Republicans running Congress, so it is here too with the local Republicans on the Woodbury Town Board.
It’s just dysfunction.
They don’t know how to govern.
So instead, they give you Bullshit & Grievance.
And you should not stand for it. Not in Woodbury. Not anywhere in America.
What exactly are these Town Board members so busy doing? Go out there and find literally anyone who is not your kid and pay them a living wage. This is not hard.
By the way: The Wannabe Town Supervisor — Brandon Calore — loudly protested that the attorney was NOT fired fo having a spine.
Instead he suggested that the Town Attorney was let go due to other deficiencies. That’s been the party line for friends of the Supervisor today. But it’s worth pointing out this same Town Board, fully aware of the previous town attorney’s “deficiencies” re-appointed him in January at the annual re-organization meeting.
Had they had enough of a problem, they could have cut ties with the attorney then.
So why now?
I couldn’t tell you what the case is here.
We know that, like her mentor, Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone, Woodbury Town Supervisor Katrhyn Luciani has compulsively lied to the public. She claims, as the latest example, that she has never sent text messages to Senator Skoufis and that she was not the person who reached out to him to intervene.
Intervene in what exactly?
Well, if you’re paying attention to the meeting minutes for Woodbury’s Town Board, you’ll note a steady stream of resignations emanating from the Woodbury Animal Shelter.
Mrs. Luciani, allegedly — since she did not properly comply with the FOIL request in my opinion — contacted Senator Skoufis to intervene (re: stop) the Village of Woodbury from coming in and righting the ship of what appears to be a disaster at the animal shelter.
Senator Skoufis, looking to stay in office long past his sell-by date, then came out of nowhere and publicly proposed a plan to “save taxpayer money” (it won’t) and “Stop all the in-fighting” (ditto) by creating a Unified Woodbury Town Board.
And then, wouldn’t you know it, there wouldn’t be an IMA and the potential for losing the shelter.
You know, the place her kid works at?
You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.
Hey. Speaking of freak shows …
Did you see the videos from those out-of-touch rich assholes running as Democrats for Woodbury’s Board of Trustees?
In the first video, Tyler Etzel Jr. claims that taxes have increased by 41% in the Village of Woodbury over the last three years. He’s wrong, of course.
According to Village Treasurer Desiree Potvin:
When the village was formed in 2006, it had basic government (village board, village clerk, consultants).
In June 2007, the Building/Planning/Zoning transferred to the Village.
In January 2008, the Water, Sewer and Fire transferred to the Village.
In January 2016, the Highway and Street Lighting transferred to the Village.
During this timeline, it is impossible, and unfair, to judge an increase in Village taxes since departments were transferred from the Town to the Village which would by default increase Village taxes (should have decreased Town taxes). (Emphasis Added.)
Below is property taxes paid by Mayor Giacomazza prior to the transfer of functions being completed:
From June 2016 through May 2025 the difference in Village Tax is $8.39 and Water is $14.43. So, over the last ten years Village taxes increased about 0.57% and water increased 16.32%.
All of these amounts are available for public view:
Watching Tyler Etzel Jr. do math is a lot like watching Scott Steiner do math, but way less entertaining:
Here is the second bullshit claim made by Tyler Etzel Jr. and John U. Keleman:
Not only is Mr. Etzel and Mr. Keleman exhibiting a complete and total inability to do math, in this video they are also demonstrating a complete and total inability to read.
“Where is all this money going?” “I have no idea.”
This is all publicly accessible information. To stand in front of a whiteboard and pretend like you don’t know how your local government functions speaks to both your own personal ignorance and your disdain for the people you want to vote for you.
So, Mr. Etzel and Mr. Keleman are being utterly disingenuous by saying they don’t know where Woodbury residents’ tax dollars are spent.
(Both claims, by the way “Where’s all the money going?” and “the taxes are out of control!” are things Etzel Jr. previously ran on in his last failed attempt at public office. I guess if it’s broke, why fix it?)
God deliver me from Trust-fund assholes like this guy and these two wealthy meatheads.
Let’s go back to Mrs. Desiree Potvin to explain away this bullshit:
“Fire Inspection Fees are listed in the Village’s Fee Schedule, which is adopted June of each year (also attached). They were recently changed (about two years ago I believe) to be more detailed to accommodate all types of possible fire inspections that may exist in Woodbury to be sure a fair amount is paid based on the inspection type. I am sure the Village Fire Inspector, Timothy Finnegan, can explain them further. I believe the annual average amount paid by each store in the Woodbury Common is about $350, as an example.”
So, there you have it.
The Democratic Party thinks you’re a bunch of suckers who are going to vote for Keleman and Etzel Jr. simply because they’re Democrats.
And the Republicans in Southern Orange County thinks you’re a bunch of suckers who can’t stop them from doing whatever it is they want to do, so fuck you.
I’ve had enough.
Have you?
Register to vote. Get your early mail ballot. Make sure your friends do the same. And then, because voting is not enough: Organize.
We’re stronger together.
You’ll see.
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