Op-Ed: How Do I Know What Elected Officials to Trust Around Here?

Today we take a slight detour to talk about Facebook Groups, and what local politician has your best interests at heart (and those who don't.)

Hi. I am working on a long, in-depth report concerning the dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide being released in the Village of Monroe. This situation has been going on for almost a decade; however, it was exasperated by the Village of South Blooming Grove’s direct refusal to activate the ANUE system that was installed during Mr. Joel Stern's tenure. Stern routinely blames the “shortcomings of previous administrations” for anything and everything, but the responsibility for not activating this system falls squarely on his shoulders as it was installed during his reign of terror reign as South Blooming Grove’s de facto mayor.

The situation was further worsened by the direct inaction of Mr. Stern’s “good friend,” Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who failed to intervene in multiple instances over three years despite the full knowledge of the situation being shared with Orange County Legislator Peter Tuohy (who represents Monroe) and Erik Denga, the Commissioner of Orange County’s Environmental Facilities & Services. You mean to tell me the County Executive didn’t know about the dangerous release of a toxic gas located inside a children’s playground?

Yeah, good luck running on that platform, Steven.

And, of course, all of this happened specifically because of Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler’s repeated failure to prosecute Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, and other employees of South Blooming Grove despite being presented with a steady stream of criminal allegations, beginning with verified attempts at Voter Fraud involving Mr. Ekstein in 2021. (Mr. Hoovler, by the way, is up for re-election soon. Do what you will with that information.)

I need to gather a lot of information, and that requires me not to reply to emails or write any news articles while I do so for a few days.

So, while I go and work on that, I’d like to take some time to answer some questions I’ve been getting as we approach the election. The following is an opinion post, that’s why it is labeled as Op-Ed. Some of you will hate it. Some of you will love it. Some of you will start out liking it and wind up hating it, and some of you will start out hating it and wind up liking it. All I will ask is that you take a deep breath, read what I have to say, and then decide.

Oh, one more thing: I want to talk about Facebook Groups for a moment.

I take care of three mentally ill people. So you know what I don’t need in my life? Weird ass text messages from someone at 5 am accusing me of being sketchy for not posting in their Facebook group, when the truth is, I just forgot. In fact, if you look at the numerous Facebook Groups I usually post in, you’ll see I didn’t post this link in question to at least three different groups.

Why? Like I said, I forgot. That kind of thing happens when you have to research, write, proofread, interview, fact-check, and publish an 8,000-word article all by yourself.

So, I’m no longer posting in the Residents of South Blooming Grove Facebook group. The moderator blew a gasket after the New York State Committee on Open Government (COOG) released an advisory opinion on South Blooming Grove, contradicting what they found online about public comment. I requested that COOG provide an up-to-date opinion. I shared their opinion with an attorney who mostly agreed with COOG, and then I published COOG’s opinion. The moderator didn’t like it, so I asked them to contact COOG for clarification, which they did not do. Instead, that person then proceeded to tell people on Facebook the quote from COOG was fake (it’s not) and that the lawyer I consulted with was bad at their job. Finally, they tried to pass off both those statements as “respectful criticism.”

Above: Given that Mr. Chris Maderia has publicly shared his intention to run for South Blooming Grove Village Trustee in March of 2025, I have no problem sharing any of this with you. Voters will have to consider Mr. Maderia’s character and temperament next Spring.

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Nope. We’re Not Doing This.

As a full-time caregiver and a part-time reporter, my plate is full of crazy. I can and will immediately cut people off if they behave in an unhinged fashion. It’s the only way to maintain my sanity. That also means removing myself from situations where unhinged people have any editorial influence over what I’m doing, such as a Facebook group they operate.

A Monroe Gazette post, when I’m doing in-depth reporting, takes about four hours of actual writing. That’s roughly $800 worth of time I could have spent being a marketing and PR consultant. That’s not counting the time spent researching, reading, thinking, and outlining these posts.

So, I lose money doing this stuff. And I’ve lost a lot of money doing this since the project started in February.

That’s ok, but it also means I don’t get paid enough to put up with crazy.

So, I’m changing my Facebook policy. If you like these posts, I’m going to count on you to post and share them in your favorite Facebook Groups.

I’m not going to be doing it. There are too many weird ass people around here, and I can’t fight a war on two fronts between weird-ass people and holding powerful people accountable.

When you’re a reporter, people only like you until they don’t. That’s the job. And that’s fine, but I can’t research stuff like the hydrogen sulfide situation — I don’t see The Photo-News or the zombie Times-Herald Record doing it, do you? — And deal with weird ass people at the same time.

Alright? Alright. Let’s get to this Op-Ed, since it’s relevant to what I just explained …

“Who do you trust! Hubba, hubba, hubba!”

I’ve received this question more than a few times over the past week. I suspect that as we get closer to the election, I will receive it more and more. So, if you don’t mind, today I’m going to answer that question, along with the variation on it that I’ve also received: How do I know who to trust in the community?

Let’s start with political party, because on the local level, it doesn’t really matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. It only matters if you’re an asshole, and we’re surrounded by assholes in Orange County.

Remember: One of the biggest scams of the 21st Century is both political parties convincing voters that they are on a team and that you have to support every team member no matter what.

In Woodbury, you may see that happen in November with Tyler Etzel Jr. and John U. Keleman, a lifelong Republican turned overnight Democrat, both running as Democrats. Many people may go to the polls and vote for both of these guys just because they have a D next to their names.

It’s going to be up to Woodbury residents to remind their friends and neighbors that just because you’re a Democrat doesn’t mean you’re one of the good guys (See also: State Senator James G. Skoufis).

Of course, the same thing that’s true for Skoufis is equally true for Dorey Houle. All because she has an R next to her name does not mean she’s one of the good guys. She’s not.

Skoufis and Houle are both assholes.

I can prove that easily to you.

Let’s start with Skoufis: When I asked his Chief of Staff, Emma “Frederick Douglas is Not a Journalist” Fuentes why Senator Skoufis has not requested that the DEC revoke the permits of Keen Equities, despite factual evidence (in the form of a $200k+ fine by the DEC) of misbehavior, Mrs. Fuentes said, “Only you would stoop so low.” When Skoufis was asked directly why he did not write this letter, he did not provide a response. When asked why Mr. Skoufis has yet to visit South Blooming Grove despite residents not having clean air or clean drinking water, Mr. Skoufis instead decided to go hang out with the deeply unpopular Woodbury Town Board members. (More on them in a minute, but you can see the picture below.)

So, who do you trust? Judge people based on what they do, not just what they say. And this is what Senator Skoufis did instead of helping the people in South Blooming Grove and coming to any of their meetings.

That guy on the far right? According to two eyewitnesses and a police report that is in the process of being released via a FOIL request, allegedly assaulted a disabled teenager.

Now let’s talk about Mrs. Houle.

Since 2022, Mrs. Houle—as the Liaison for the Village of Monroe for the Town of Monroe—has known about the hydrogen sulfide situation in the Village and said and done absolutely nothing about it. In Monroe Village Mayor Dwyer’s words, “I haven’t seen her once.”

Now take a look at Mrs. Houle’s campaign material and count the number of times she has mentioned “THE BORDER!” versus the number of times she has mentioned South Blooming Grove, Clovewood, Orange County Sewer District 1 being over capacity, the hydrogen sulfide situation, high prices at the grocery store, the cost of prescription medication, etc.

That’s who Mrs. Houle is. In a lot of respects, she’s a clone of Skoufis. They’re both political climbers looking to step on your throat to get to where they want to go. The difference comes down to harm, which we’ll discuss in a moment.

Speaking of harm: Mrs. Houle’s running mate, Tom Lapolla, is a clear and present danger to residents living in the 99th Assembly District. If you live in Monroe, Woodbury, Cornwall, or anywhere else in the 99th, you are morally and ethically obligated not to vote for that man.

Why? Because …

Lapolla’s brand of bullshit kills.

Nationally, you may see this phenomenon happen with Republicans going to the polls and voting for Trump despite their deep reservations about his character, mental fitness, and previous track record as one of our nation’s worst presidents. All because he has an R next to his name.

In Trump’s defense, while I think he’ll still be at the bottom of the list for years to come, I’ll remind you that George H. W. Bush will probably be considered worse than Trump, given his whiffing on a chance to stop climate change.

And then, in Harry Truman’s case as the future all-time worst president, creating a situation where the American government had to lie about the existence of Non-Human Intelligence for nearly a century.

(No. I’m not kidding. Read the article.)

I’ll die on this hill: President Harry Truman will go down as history’s worst American president, yes ahead of Trump, for knowing about the existence of aliens and beginning a program instead to gaslight the American people for nearly a century, causing rampant distrust in the government and birthing thousands of loony conspiracy theories that have got people killed, instead of simply saying, “Yeah. There are aliens.”

All of this is to say, the people telling you to “Vote Blue” or “Vote Red”? These people don’t care about you.

The Republicans don’t care about you. They haven’t since Nixon. (Why Nixon? Because not only did Nixon create the Environmental Protection Agency, but he also advocated for a Universal Basic Income, which was killed by …

The Democrats. Yes. Democrats voted down a Universal Basic Income in the 1970s, which led to the hodgepodge and torment of our modern welfare bureaucracy, as detailed below. Watch this and tell me how this isn’t cruel and evil shit that we put our most vulnerable citizens through every day, and then remember that we had an alternative, and the Democrats voted to kill the alternative just to stick it to Nixon.

So, yeah, The Democrats (mostly) don’t care about you either.

Both parties work for the corporations and the oligarchs, not you. They may say to you that you’re on their team, but they are most definitely not on your team.

If you want further proof of that, look no further than the continued existence of the Electoral College, the Filibuster in the Senate, and the lack of universal healthcare coverage, which we could easily pay for if the Corporate Tax Rate was 52% like it was under President Eisenhower and if the IRS was well funded and staffed to go after the wealthy tax cheats.

It’s not Democrats vs. Republicans. It’s not Trump vs. Harris. It’s not Liberals vs. Conservatives. It’s everyone against the Oligarchs.

All this bullshit about the border and trans people? It’s just noise to divide and distract everyone from dealing with the real problem: we’re living through a second Gilded Age.

And this time? Teddy Roosevelt — a Republican by the way — isn’t riding in to save us.

How do I know who to trust in the community?

By now, you’re probably sick of me quoting Maya Angelou and saying, “When people tell you who they are, believe them.” So I won’t do that again here.

So instead, I’ll tell you to play a fun game. Count the number of times someone says “I” or “Me” instead of “we” and “us” when they’re speaking at public meetings. (On Facebook, it’s a bit different. It’s easier to hide intention. That’s why you have to listen for when people speak at meetings. It’s much harder to hide your intention, particularly when people talk off the cuff.)

More often than not, people will give themselves and their intentions away based on the language that they use.

I’m not going to name names here. I’m just going to encourage you to be mindful of the language that’s used by people when they’re speaking. You can find some great examples by going through the archives of The Monroe Gazette and watching Village of South Blooming Grove meetings and Woodbury Village Board meetings.

Another thing to look out for is when someone parrots a talking point by bad-faith actors. So, for example, at this point, it’s clear every member of the Woodbury Town Board is a bad-faith actor, despite our incumbent State Senator deciding to hang out with them.

And you’ll notice that the Town Board members routinely call for “unity” and dismiss what they see on Facebook as “gossip” and “rumors.”

I hate to be the one to break it to them, but people in Woodbury? They’re pretty god damn unified. The thing is, they’re unified against the current Town Board, so Supervisor Luciani and the three surviving members (I really, truly hope one of you runs a write-in campaign against the Unlected Councilwoman, Sandra Capriglione) are constantly calling for “unity” to insinuate that there’s a division.

There isn’t one. Woodbury IS united.

So, how do you know who to trust beyond the use of “I” and “Me” versus “Us” and “We”?

Look out for people parroting talking points from the bad-faith actors. If you see someone — again, not naming names here — get up to speak, and they call for “unity” and dismiss what’s being said online as “gossip” and “rumors” you can identify pretty easily who they’re coordinating with. Those are Mrs. Luciani’s repeated talking points on her behalf and to your detriment as a community.

All I can do is highlight the ways people will always, always, always give themselves away.

(Personally, I tend to avoid or otherwise ignore those who go heavy on the “I” and “Me” language at these things. But you do you.)

Who Should I Vote For Then If Everyone Sucks?

Well, for starters, Chris Eachus doesn’t suck. You should vote for him.

Woodbury Village Trustees Susan Fries-Ciriello and Vic Ferrarelli don’t suck. You should vote for them.

Everyone else that’s on the ballot this Fall? It’s tricky. I wish I had a better answer other than, “Vote for the shitty candidates like Skoufis and Ryan and then make sure to primary them.”

But … That’s my answer. Nationally, the stakes are too high to let the MAGA freaks take over Congress. That doesn’t mean the Democrats are much better, but they won’t harm you. And that’s the key to answering this reader question.

I encourage you to think of this specific election cycle in terms of, “Who’s going to hurt me less?”

Trump vs. Harris? Harris is probably going to be a one-term president who won’t change much of what’s already happening nationally. So if you like Biden — I do — then she’s a good choice.

If you don’t like Biden—and there are absolutely things he whiffed on, like not using the Defense Production Act to move manufacturing of our prescription medications here instead of overseas, which would have reduced the price and ensured the quality of them was up to snuff—then…

Listen, all I’m going to say is this: Trump wants to round up everyone in this country that he and his flunkies decide are here illegally, whether or not their evaluation of that status is legit or not. That program will cost billions of dollars and tax the resources of absolutely every federal, state, and local agency.

You may have seen Allison Esposito’s campaign commercials where she says “out of control government spending is driving up prices at the grocery store.” That’s not true at all.

But if you disagree with me, and that's your right, all I’ll ask is that you go ahead and ask Mrs. Espoisto how out-of-control government spending on deporting millions of people, using her logic, will lower prices at the grocery store.

Seriously. Ask her that one question. That’s all I ask you.

If the choice is Houle vs. Skoufis, Skoufis is going to hurt you less. He sucks. He should absolutely be primary’ed the second this election cycle is over, but between the two, he’s more likely to do nothing, while Houle is more likely to do something harmful.

Skoufis sucks. Skoufis needs to go. But the right way to get rid of him, and Pat Ryan, is through a Primary. Not in a general election when their opponents are dumb (Houle) and parroting Trump talking points (Esposito.)

So, that’s how you address the “Who to vote for?” question when everyone sucks.

“Who’s going to hurt me less?”

Here’s a quick scorecard:

Chris Eachus won’t hurt you.

Tom Lapolla will.

Susan Cierello and Vic Ferelli won’t hurt you.

Tyler Etzel and John Keleman will.

Dorey Houle will hurt you.

Skoufis won’t hurt you, but he sure as shit ain’t going to help you either.

Allison Esposito will hurt you.

Pat Ryan won’t hurt you, but he sure as shit ain’t going to help you either.

Unfortunately, that’s the state of American politics.

If you want things to change? Well, there’s a plan, and if you listen, I’ll share it with you. But you gotta listen.

Use your head. That’s all I’m asking.

And if you can’t? Keep the crazy to yourself.