Two Important Events for South Blooming Grove & Woodbury Residents Tomorrow

South Blooming Grove's Budget Workshop and Woodbury's explanation of how the Planning and Zoning Board works are where you want to be on Monday, October 28th.

Today's post is very short because I need to work on the privacy podcast. (That’s the first of three steps I must take to write my new book.)

But.

There are a couple of really important things I need to flag that are happening tomorrow (Monday), October 28th, that area residents will want to pay attention to, especially if you live in and around South Blooming Grove and Woodbury.

Let’s get right to them, shall we?

South Blooming Grove Budget Workshop - 8pm at 811 Route 208, Monroe, NY

There is no public comment at this meeting. I don’t want to see people go and then storm out because there isn’t public comment.

Or storm out for other weirdo reasons, like thinking you don’t have to sign up to speak when New York State’s Committee on Open Government clearly said you have to.

Remember, despite what you might have been told, while you MUST sign in to speak …

You do NOT need to provide your real name and address.

So, why should you be there if you can’t speak?

It’ll be your first chance to question Mr. Joel Stern before and after the meeting since the Clovewood decision. So, get your smartphones and cameras, and feel free to ask him before and after the meeting about his employment by Jacob Gold (the second largest shareholder of Keen Equities).

Here’s something else you can ask him before or after the meeting:

Stern, as de facto Mayor of South Blooming Grove (and Keen Equities associate), told the Orange County Department of Health that Clovewood would NOT be connected to South Blooming Grove’s municipal water infrastructure.

But surprise, surprise, as soon as Mr. Stern received word of the Clovewood approval, he put out a statement, through his hate group’s newsletter, that said …

So, Mr. Stern was — once again — caught lying to the Orange County Department of Health. It’s also yet another example that local municipalities and concerned residents should bring to the attention of DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar.

Why? The DEC has wide legal latitude to reject permits from what it deems bad actors. Those grounds include not just the permittee (such as Keen Equities) but also people acting on their behalf, such as Mr. Joel Stern (who works for a Keen Equities shareholder).

-More importantly, though, at least in terms of Monday evening, there is GREAT concern about how much money is being spent by Mr. Stern, within the South Blooming Grove Village budget, to further enrich himself.

For example, Public Safety, Emergency Medical Services, and Fire are all entities that he operates via his hate group. In fact, you should feel free to ask Mr. Stern if he can clarify if the South Blooming Grove Office of Emergency Management actually exists, and if so, if it’s separate and distinct from his other organization, the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove.

(You’ll note that, Mr. Stern has newly purchased village vehicles kept inside the UJC’s headquarters.)

Since Mr. Stern also draws a paid salary from Village residents in his position as Confidential Assistant to the Mayor (and not Assistant Mayor as he insists), Village residents should also ask Mr. Stern to clarify how much money he’s stealing from them and putting into his own pockets.

Oh, and you might want to ask about the Director of Transportation, who makes $92,000 a year but apparently works a no-show job. Mr. Dov Guttman is the highest-paid employee in South Blooming Grove, and nobody has seen him once.

And then there’s questions about how much South Blooming Grove residents are going to be expected to pay under Mr. Stern’s new garbage scheme …

This is all a long way of saying, you should listen to the budget workshop presentation carefully.

While there is no public comment, there WILL be a hearing on the 2025 budget at the NEXT South Blooming Grove Village meeting.

Attending this workshop is the only way to prepare for that public hearing because the Village of South Blooming Grove categorically refuses to provide any information to its secular residents upon request.

(In fact, there’s a hell of a discrimination lawsuit to be made if someone were to, oh I don’t know, request a copy of the proposed 2025 budget being discussed and was denied access to it. Just putting that out there. Do with it what you will.)

Woodbury Planning Board Land-Use Open House - 7 pm at 455 Route 32, Highland Mills (entrance behind the Firehouse)

Many of you have questions about how the Woodbury Planning and Zoning Boards work.

These questions are understandable, given that Village Trustee James Freiband has stated that both boards should be eliminated and replaced by decisions rendered by the Village Board.

And then you have Etzel Jr. and John U. Keleman running around and talking about zoning in ways that can generously be described as “deceptive.”

But many of you have legitimate questions as well.

For example, Can The Woodbury Planning Board force Woodbury Common to have a train station and pedestrian crossing bridge?

The answer is no. They cannot.

BUT!

You, the people of Woodbury — not to mention all the Unions you’re about to hear from, and Orange County officials who want an exemption from the sewer moratorium for the Common — can demand that Simon (the owner of Woodbury Common) include both a pedestrian crossing bridge and train station via a Developer’s Agreement.

If they have $2 billion for stock buybacks, Simon has plenty of money to pay for the train station (about $500 million) and bridge (cost TBD) without blinking.

It would also be a win for our local unions, because the construction of the train station and pedestrian bridge would mean even more jobs for its members.

How do you know if the Union leadership is looking out for their members and the community many of those members live in? They’ll mention the train station and pedestrian crossing bridge over Route 32.

If they don’t? Then you can safely ignore them as working on behalf of Simon, the owner of Woodbury Common, and not their members.

Otherwise, why would the Union leadership pass up an opportunity to ask for even more Union jobs, to say nothing of improved safety and less traffic, when Simon asks them for a favor?

So, yes. You should go to this event if you live in Woodbury and would like some clarity on how things work.

Given that Mr. Fabbro, Mr. Freiband, Mr. Keleman, and Mr. Etzel Jr plan to fire your planning board chairman and replace him with Mr. Richard Cattagio — currently the subject of a New York State Human Rights violation investigation and verifiable corrupt dealings with the Satmar members of the Highland Lake Estates Board — you should go and ask Mr. Gerver why these fools are so hell-bent on firing him.

(The answer is: They want to do away with your zoning protections and let their friends, Mr. Wayne Corts and Mr. Joel Weber, finally develop that golf course.)

You can also ask the boards whether or not they move “too slow” which is a frequent complaint from my Haredi brothers and sisters who often have business before the Board.

(The truth is, they don’t move slow at all. Your Planning and Zoning Boards do this really fucked up and crazy thing called following the laws of the State of New York.)

And hey, here’s one more question you can ask:

Woodbury Town Supervisor, Kathryn Luciani, who took money from Clovewood developer Keen Equities, wants to put a road through Town Owned-land surrounding Woodbury Junction. That land is supposed to be forever green space.

(She’s doing this to benefit the developer of Monroe Common along with Herr Cardone in Monroe. Not surprisingly, Mrs. Luciani and Mr. Cardone and State Senate Candidate Dorey Houle refuse to request the DEC Commissioner formally revoke the Clovewood permits.)

Why not ask the Planning and Zoning Board members if they approve of Mrs. Luciani’s latest giveaway to the developers?