Silly Clerk, Malls are for Shoppers and Dain is not helping you.

My Dear Nieces and Nephews, the following was said by our County Clerk in reference to the closing of the Port Jervis and Newburgh Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices and consolidating the services in Middletown.

ANNIE SAID: “My desire is to make access to services that people use the most, more convenient than ever,”

But you are not doing that Annie Rabbitt. The "consolidation" makes no sense. Not if you live in Port Jervis or Newburgh and have to drive to Middletown.  We do realize the drive to Middletown is (approximately) 20/25 miles respectively, as the crow flies, but it is not so simple. (Traffic, winding back roads for some, etc) And people in Monroe, the majority of whom work in areas south, (NJ, NYC, Westchester etc) are not driving in the opposite direction to go to the DMV.  If you want to increase access, what about Saturday hours? In Monroe?

And as far as the proposed kiosks in shopping malls, think about it! If you are an Orange County resident and you need to go to the DMV, not do any shopping, are you going to go to the Galleria or the Woodbury Commons? What local person is going to battle the traffic, struggle for a parking space and deal with the general congestion at an overcrowded mall to avail themselves of DMV services? Or were you thinking folks should just use the valet service in the Commons? Those that are able to do so will simply go on-line.  (Here comes the sarcasm, Cari Nipoti!) Certainly, the Pennsylvania shoppers at the Galleria, will utilize the New York  DMV services and the shoppers from NYC, Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Europe will certainly stop by the NY DMV kiosk in the Woodbury Commons to renew their licenses. Really? Who are you helping?

After hearing from some legislators who represent the areas where the DMV office closures were targeted, Annie has reconsidered and stated the following.

ANNIE SAID:“As of today, Annie Rabbitt is open to those two suggestions from the legislators,” 

(at first referring to herself in the third person-we thought only Auntie Alibi did that- and then switching to the first person)“I have to be open-minded to ideas and suggestions.”(Thanks to THR  for quotes)

And we hope that you do that. But the big question is: WHAT ABOUT GOSHEN? Why is no one talking about Goshen?
 
Did Kyle Roddey anger you in some way? Does a truly central location bother you? Or did you get marching orders from the County Executive, Stevie Thunder?

Also, one may notice that while the County Clerk is making all these policy decisions, where is Marie Steets, Deputy County Clerk-DMV  (845) 346-1290? 

In charge of the DMV and strangely silent.

But even more disturbing is that the County Executive initially voiced his support for the  closure plan and expressed this through his spokesperson, DAIN PASCOCELLO!

DAIN SAID:"Consolidation of county services makes sense after years of mismanaged budgeting. The county clerk has presented a realistic plan to reduce costs while enhancing DMV services at a regionally accessible location. This proposed action follows a similar path taken by other Hudson Valley counties and tracks with the growth in recent years of online license renewals and other automated services that reduce the need for brick-and-mortar DMVs”

For entertainment purposes, let's look at this a piece at a time. 

1- "Consolidation of county services makes sense after years of mismanaged budgeting"

Does that mean that the former Orange County Clerk, Donna Benson, mismanaged the budget? Donna Benson? You know, the one who improved services at the DMV making it more service oriented and user friendly? That one? Oh Dain! Be careful when you play the blame game!

2- "...at a regionally accessible location..." Dain, what would you know about travel times to Middletown from other points in the county? If you need to go to the DMV, you have only to travel the short distance to Beacon from your home in Hopewell Junction (all outside of Orange County, for you neophytes.) on your way to/from work. So what do you care if the offices in OC are consolidating???

3- And we are really getting sick of this "other counties are doing it" mentality: "This proposed action follows a similar path taken by other Hudson Valley counties.." (Playing off what mothers around the world have said to their children, using various bridges): "If the other counties jumped off the Newburgh-Beacon bridge should we do it too?"

4- "...tracks with the growth in recent years of online license renewals and other automated services that reduce the need for brick-and-mortar DMVs” Ut-oh! We hope the County Clerk didn't hear that! Annie is trying to INCREASE revenue for the OC DMV not decrease it. If people utilize the online services; the revenues go directly to the state and cut Orange County's share! It generates no income for the county! And you should also consider that there are still some people who are unable to utilize on line services. Or, heaven forbid! someone may have a question that is not answered on the website.

Is Dain uninformed, purposefully using misinformation or just saying something that sounds pretty but means nothing??? Has Dain graduated Magna cum Loud from his uncle's school of doublespeak: "The William Pascocello School of Administration"?

You decide.

We look forward to Dain's next statement. We'll be listening.