No. 12, September 2005

An informed voter is the best guardian of democracy.

Welcome to The Rhinebeck Demogram, an email newsletter bringing you information and commentary about current issues, candidates, and events. Published by the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee (RDC) for all the people of our community.

Our email address is demogram@rhinebeckdemocrats.org As always, we welcome comments, questions, suggestions and corrections.

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPAIGN 2005: A Platform to Build Upon

The following open letter to Rhinebeck residents has been published on our website and was released to local newspapers at our party caucus on September 17, at the Rhinebeck Town Hall.

VOTE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th!

CAMPAIGN 2005: A Slate for Our Future

This is an historic year for Democrats in Rhinebeck. It is the first time ever that a Democrat will be running for Highway Superintendent and the first time in three decades that Democrats have fielded a candidate for Town Supervisor. Those two candidacies, plus two more for the available Town Board seats, mean that Democrats are poised to be a vital force in providing a more open, effective, and responsive town government in 2006 and beyond.

Even better - the qualifications of our candidates are outstanding. Read the profiles below and you will see what we mean.

Steve Block, Democratic Candidate for
Town Supervisor

Steve has lived on Pells Road for ten years with his wife, Jeannie Friedman, painter, children's book illustrator and award- winning graphic designer. His son, Benjamin, a developer of web- based software applications, lives in Manhattan.

Born in the Bronx and raised in Westchester, Steve became active with his Pells Road neighbors this year when they successfully resisted town plans to further damage their quiet country road, after the highway department had cut down nearly three dozen mature road-side trees. That dispute brought into sharp focus the more general failure of town leadership to welcome citizen participation, to identify and solve community problems, and to spend public money wisely. Steve believes Rhinebeck residents deserve better and is determined to provide the leadership necessary to reform local government.

Steve has spent 40 years leading effective urban education and municipal reform in New Jersey. His credits include the educational leadership in the case of Abbott v. Burke, the historic and precedent-setting 25-year constitutional battle to increase funding and improve programs for disadvantaged urban youngsters. He has taught at all levels, founded an alternative high school for dropouts, served two terms on a local school board, managed school, district-wide and community-based staffs, negotiated changes in state education policy, and organized and led successful local and statewide movements, campaigns and programs to improve urban politics and public education.

Steve graduated from Williams College in 1965 and received his doctorate from Seton Hall University. Currently, he is on the faculty at Montclair State University, teaching graduate courses in School Finance and Education Law.

Kathy Kinsella, Democratic Candidate for
Town Highway Superintendent

Kathy Kinsella has a broad background in community service and government. She worked as a District Aide for Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried from 1994 -1998 and as District Manager of Manhattan Community Board Five from 1998 - 2004. She is currently Director of Communications for Assembly Member Gottfried, in Albany.

In her work, Kathy has been involved in transportation, land use, zoning, and municipal service issues surrounding large construction projects in New York City. She was instrumental in helping to develop traffic calming design and implementation for some of New York's busiest intersections, such as Columbus Circle, Times Square, Madison Square, and Union Square. She has worked closely with State and City agencies in securing policy and funding for these projects.

As District Manager of Manhattan Community Board Five, Kathy handled all aspects of running a municipal agency. She was responsible for the agency's budget, staff, implementing policy, coordinating the delivery of municipal services, community outreach, and advocating on behalf of the community in the City's budget process.

Kathy works with Rhinebeck's Conservation Advisory Committee. The Committee has an official advisory role to the town board and the zoning board in matters of land use, zoning, preservation, and environmental conservation. She is also Vice President of the Gardens at Rhinebeck Condominium Association.

Kathy believes that government and citizenry must work collaboratively on issues impacting the community.

Ellen O'Brien-Silverstein, Democratic Candidate for
Town Board

Ellen was born in New York City and attended Hunter College there. Following graduation, she worked four years as a manager in the comptroller's office of The Borden Company while serving as a volunteer nurse's aide at The New York Foundling Hospital.

When Ellen married, she and her husband moved to Larchmont, NY and started a family. During this time she continued her personal tradition of public service, serving as a board member of the Parish Council of Saints John and Paul Church, and as President and Treasurer of The Trinity Nursery School in New Rochelle.

Once her two stepsons and two daughters were grown, Ellen returned to her professional life, founding a successful medical consulting firm which she operated in Manhattan for 20 years.

Thirteen years ago Ellen and her husband Martin, a retired surgeon, moved to Rhinebeck. She has been a Starr Library volunteer and for the past nine years has served as Director of Patient Access Services at Northern Dutchess Hospital, in which role she oversees the operations of patient admission, registration, switchboard, the Sleep Lab, the Eye Clinic and the Stanfordville Community Health Center. She also holds the position of Corporate Compliance Liaison, reporting to the parent corporation, Health Quest.

Ellen's work and life experience, coupled with an open-minded approach to problem-solving, makes her an ideal candidate for the Town Board. Her ability to listen to all sides of an issue has earned her the reputation of being fair, honest and dedicated to the task at hand.

When asked why she is running for the Town Board, Ellen has a simple answer: "I would like to contribute to the community that I am proud to call home."

Dod Crane, Democratic Candidate for
Town Board

Dod is an established resident of the area, having moved to Rhinebeck in 1950. He attended the Rhinebeck Central Schools and graduated from Red Hook High School in 1962. He and his wife Dorothy now reside in the village, where their children Johanna and Lee both attended Rhinebeck Central Schools. In 1966 Dod obtained a degree in history from Haverford College and then entered the US Army, serving until 1969 when he left the service as a First Lieutenant.

He reentered civilian life as a software engineer for IBM in Kingston and remained with the firm, primarily in management positions, until 1984, when he resigned to form his own business developing PC-based software.

Currently Dod is co-owner and President of Software Consulting Associates, a developer and provider of municipal software products (assessment, tax collection, building department operation, utility billing, planning and zoning) to municipalities from Lake George to Long Island.

This involvement with municipal software has provided Dod with a detailed understanding of government processes, and has led him to establish close relationships with many key municipal managers in the southeastern New York region.

If elected to Rhinebeck's Town Council, Dod looks forward to using his management skills, knowledge, and experience in the service of all Rhinebeck residents.

A WEBSITE IS BORN: www.rhinebeckdemocrats.org

The Rhinebeck Democratic Committee is proud to announce the launching of its website, timed to correspond with the 2005 election campaign season. Visit it to find the profiles and pictures of the Democratic candidates for Dutchess County and Rhinebeck town offices who will be on the ballot on November 8.

The site's permanent pages are designed to make a variety of political and community information available to all in the Rhinebeck area. There are easy links to all levels of government and to a Rhinebeck area news service. Information about the local political landscape is provided, along with registration and voting information, including an election district map.

An archive of the publication you're reading now - The Rhinebeck Demogram, both current and past issues - is available in a more reader-friendly form than we can provide via email (the email version will continue to arrive in subscribers' mailboxes).

Plans for the future include a page of elected and appointed officials. The website was conceived, designed and executed by Rhinebeckians Bill Ayton, David Hoffman, Kathy Kinsella, Steve Sansola, and Tess McKellen. The Rhinebeck Democratic Committee hopes that the site will appeal not only to Democrats in the area, but to any voter looking for information on area issues.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

" The best politics is good government."

(Adlai Stevenson, quoted by Mario Cuomo in The New York Times,
8/26/90)

SPOTLIGHT ON STATE LEGISLATION:
The Family Health Care Decisions Act
by Kathy Kinsella

The Family Health Care Decisions Act, sponsored in the State Assembly by Richard N. Gottfried (A. 5406) and in the State Senate by Kemp Hannon (S. 5807), would establish procedures for making health care decisions on behalf of patients unable to decide about treatment for themselves. Each year in health care facilities across the state such decisions have to be made for children, patients whose capacity is temporarily impaired, and those who will not regain capacity.

In practice, most health care providers consult family members prior to treating an incapacitated person. However, in order to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment, existing state law requires that an adult patient have signed a health care proxy or otherwise provided clear evidence of his or her wishes. In fact, New York and Missouri are the only states in which current law denies family members any legal role in decision- making.

Most people want and expect family members or others close to them to decide about treatment when they become too ill to decide for themselves. Our state law denies this basic expectation. It also prevents family members from refusing treatment despite a deep commitment to respect the patient's values or a desire to discontinue treatment that imposes excessive burdens on the patient without offering hope for cure, recovery, or relief from suffering. Few families have the emotional or financial resources to pursue judicial relief from the inhibitions of current state law.

The proposed legislation promotes the wishes and interests of incapacitated patients by establishing a process for determining incapacity, for identifying the person who will act as surrogate, and for specifying standards for surrogate decisions. The bill contains many safeguards to protect the patient's interests. It also recognizes the importance of family and other close relationships during a period of illness.

For those patients who have no surrogates and are therefore the most vulnerable, this bill would facilitate access to needed treatment.

The Family Health Care Decisions Act has been reported from the Assembly Committee on Health and is now before the Codes Committee. The companion bill has been introduced in the Senate and is before the Rules Committee. To become law, the bill must be passed by both houses and signed into law by the Governor.

More information about this bill and others may be accessed through the Assembly website at <http://assembly.state.ny.us/> or the Senate website at <http://www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/>

CAMPAIGN 2005: Numbers That Count

In this election season, the numbers that count are voter deadlines:

 

CAMPAIGN 2005: You're Right to Vote

REGISTER NOW! There are ample opportunities to register, with very little effort. Forms can be obtained at the post office, from our village and town halls and from the Dutchess County Board of Elections, at 47 Cannon St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Civic activists at the Farmers' Market tee shirt booth every Sunday at the Rhinebeck municipal parking lot not only provide the form, and help you complete it, but will deliver it to the Board of Elections for you by the deadline, October 14.

IF THERE ARE ANY CHANGES SINCE YOU LAST VOTED, such as address or name, you can re-register, using the basic voter registration form. You may also change your party enrollment by re- registering with the standard form. Just be aware that a change of party enrollment will not go into effect until after the next general election. But that will not affect your ability to vote on November 8.

REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT if you cannot vote in person on November 8. It's important to remember that in this process you will be submitting two documents -- an application for an absentee ballot and the ballot itself. The application forms are available from the Dutchess County Board of Elections (845-486- 2473), from the Rhinebeck Village or Town Hall, and from the Farmers' Market tee shirt booth on Sundays through October 9. Once you receive your ballot, it must be mailed back to the BOE by November 7.

YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION at your polling place if you are a first-time voter. "First-time" indicates both new voters and those who are voting in a particular polling place for the first time. Proof of ID should not be necessary if you have provided acceptable proof (NYS driver's license number or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number) on your voter's registration form. If, however, ID is requested by an election inspector in your polling place, show your NYS driver's license. If you do not have a NYS driver's license, you may provide a student or employee photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, or some government documentation which shows your name and address. To avoid interruptions and frustrations, we recommend that every voter, old or new, take photo ID to the polling place on November 8.

TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU VOTE (if you haven't received a yellow postcard from the Board of Elections which tells you), call the BOE at 845-486-2473.

CAMPAIGN 2005 AND BEYOND: Staying Connected

The most difficult aspect of achieving participation in local government and politics is communication. There are jobs to be done, and ideas to be shared and -- though the activists may sometimes doubt it -- there are people out there willing, even anxious, to participate. In order to bring together the people with the job, event, or idea, it's necessary to have good communication.

As you know, the subscriber list for The Demogram is used solely for the purpose of distributing The Demogram and our 300-plus subscribers seem to appreciate that. So the Demogram policy will remain in effect. The Demogram subscriber list will not be used for other purposes, no matter how closely related the Demogram goals and the goals of other ventures may be.

However, in order to advance the cause of good government, we need a larger core of activists; there is a need to improve and expand the (Yahoo) Rhinebeck Democrats' mailing list, designed to inform those interested of relevant meetings, issues, public forums, social events and volunteer opportunities. Inclusion on the Yahoo list will indicate the individual's willingness to be a more active Democrat both during the national election cycles and during the years with a local focus as well.

Please consider becoming a more active Rhinebeck Democrat. Send your name and email address to Linda Souers (lsouers@optimusarchitecture.com) or to Tess McKellen (tmac1337@aol.com), using "active Democrat" in the subject line.

CALENDAR