THE FIX IS IN

Dear Nieces and Nephews,

That’s right, it looks like the fix is in. Here is what $250K buys for the Village of Kiryas Joel:

·         A Governor’s Veto (2 actually)

·         A friendly Department of Environmental Conservation

·         An amenable Environmental Facilities Corporation

·         A sympathetic Judge

A bargain at twice the price!!!

THE GOVERNOR

The Governor’s vetoes are blatantly obvious. Remember, just days after the vetoes, Mayer Hirsch, Kiryas Joel developer, through LLC’S, donated TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS to the Governor’s campaign committee. Check out the THR for the details provided by Mr. McKenna.

  

 

THE DEC

Two decisions by the DEC call attention to their more than friendly attitude towards the Village. Decisions made despite overwhelming evidence that it is simply a bad idea.

One, the decision to appoint the Village of Kiryas Joel as lead agency for the annexation. NOT ONE of the environmental concerns or anything regarding the environment was even discussed by proponents of the annexation. Yes, the need for sidewalks was mentioned and as you know, only the Village knows how to build sidewalks. And some of the Satmar Community’s other needs were presented, but nothing about the true “overall public interest”, just theirs.

 And their needs are based on their religious practices and folkways. Does the government support your religious practices? Your traditions and culture? No, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t.

Two, the recent decision by the DEC to issue a permit for the *Mountainville well. The DEC, led by Joe Martens, claims that the Village addressed the environmental issues adequately in their decision. They did not. Not given any consideration was the change in  their application from the well as a back-up water supply to a primary supply. NOT even mentioned in the permit is the nearby WOODBURY WELL, which will be impacted, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER HEARING.

And to add insult to injury, when Assemblyman Skoufis asks: (excerpt from full statement on facebook) https://www.facebook.com/james.skoufis/posts/838991769531439    

“The Village of Kiryas Joel apparently responded to the evidence and many comments that were made at last summer's public hearing. Will those responses be released and why weren't they made available before yesterday's announcement?"

...the answer is in a link in the document entitled Response to Public Comments - Notice of Complete Application & Legislative Hearing Kiryas Joel Proposed Mountainville Well No. 1

October 2, 2015 When you click on the link to see the Village’s responses, you get to this informative page on the DEC website: http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/1 03519.html.

 

“The upper echelons of the DEC have been totally corrupted.”  Assemblyman James Skoufis   https://www.facebook.com/james.skoufis/posts/838991769531439  

  

Finally, a politician who is not afraid to say what we are all thinking. Top officials are in-the-pocket of Kiryas Joel. And, funny thing, one of the protesters (republican?) outside a democratic party event, had a sign emblazoned with “Skoufis=NYC Dems” or something similar-it was difficult to read. Anyway, the Assemblyman is not only bucking his own party on this issue but also THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY GOVERNOR!!! (Dear Mr. Sign holder, you should get your facts straight or do you like being inaccurate?)

Another interesting thing about DEC Commissioner Martens is that he used to be a good guy. He actually led the OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE. He was part of “Save the Ridge” in the ‘gunks (Shawangunks) from luxury homes and a golf course. 

But now he thinks it’s OK to OVERDEVELOP AND POLLUTE in Orange County. 

The fix is in. HOW can you sleep at night, Joe?

http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/joe-martens-new-york-state-department-of-environmental-conservation-commissioner-is-leaving-agency-1.10597237

 THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITIES CORPORATION

EFC extended it loan to the Village of Kiryas Joel for the pipeline. Yee, gads!

“NYS Environmental Facilities Corp. said today its board has extended Kiryas Joel's 2010 pipeline loan of $27.9 million for 2 more years”.  https://twitter.com/ChrisMcKenna845

This is the loan for the pipeline construction (and now the development of the well?) that will be recovered through the fees paid to the village from land owners in the annexed area after the annexation occurs. This is a loan based on something that hasn’t happened yet. What lending agency, especially a quasi-governmental one does that? Either they are incompetent or the fix is in.

THE JUDGE:

“New judge assigned to lawsuit by nine municipalities and Orange County against KJ annexation. Catherine Bartlett, not Elaine Slobod”.  https://twitter.com/ChrisMcKenna845

Why is that interesting? For many reasons: 

1- Catherine “Katie” is married to political operative and former county republican chair William Deprospo aka Billy “I-need-KJ- votes” Deprospo. He was seen multiple times at  Republican conventions, hobnobbing with KJ leadership. Billy said: "You want to be a judge?" "Fine, we'll get you a judgeship." 

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20030921/NEWS/309219999

                                                        

                                                                                                                             

2- Catherine Bartlett Deprospo has a history of conflicts between the expected behavior of a judge (or judicial candidate) and political activity. Currently, her personal vehicle has a myriad of bumper stickers sporting very definite political views, which does not assure anyone of the impartiality expected from a judge acting in the Supreme Court. In the past, she has been accused of behavior contrary to the Judicial Code of Conduct

Section 100.3 A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently. (A) Judicial Duties in General. The judicial duties of a judge take precedence over all the judge's other activities. The judge's judicial duties include all the duties of the judge's office prescribed by law. In the performance of these duties, the following standards apply. (B) Adjudicative Responsibilities.

   (1) A judge shall be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it. A judge shall not be swayed by partisan  interests, public clamor or fear of criticism. https://www.nycourts.gov/rules/chiefadmin/100.shtml#02

    “Some say Bartlett broke judicial code in 1997, when she ran for a seat on the Goshen Republican Committee and another ostensibly apolitical seat on the bench at the same time.

    They criticized her when she was among a group of Goshen officials who took heat for expensing $70 worth of booze at an Association of Towns meeting in New York City. They called her harsh for sending a 93-year-old man to jail on a misdemeanor.

    And while most judges shy from the limelight, Bartlett has attracted criticism for voicing her opinion, whether she was participating in political fund-raisers or advocating a merger between Goshen's town and village courts. http://www.recordonline.com/article/20030921/NEWS/309219999

 3-Catherine Bartlett Deprospo replaced Rick Golden as County Attorney.

However, the county continued to retain Mr. Golden as an attorney on a case by case basis, in the event that Ms. Bartlett was not able to represent the county for whatever reason, like a conflict between her official duties and her “relationship” with the Republican Chairman.  (e.g. Brady/Brown v. County of Orange, the former represented by Bill Deprospo and the county represented by the county attorney’s office.There was a chinese wall between her and her subordinate assigned to the case(s). Deprospo won the case(s) and Katie, by way of marriage benefited, despite the chinese wall.)

**Richard Golden is currently one of the lawyers for the muni’s in the annexation lawsuit.

 4- Catherine Bartlett Deprospo, a Republican, was recently re-appointed by Governor Cuomo, a Democrat, as a Court of Claims judge for another ten years. ***This enables her to be an ACTING Supreme Court Justice. Governor Cuomo, who received the $250K from KJ through LLC's associated with KJ's Mayer Hirsch.

Certainly it is not time for payback. “Thanks Gov, I’ll take care of it”; that would never happen in Orange County.

To recap:

 

Catherine’s husband is the former political party chair, who courted the bloc vote of KJ.

Catherine, it appears, is no stranger to conflicts and brushing them aside.

Catherine and Rick, both Republicans, worked together for the county.

Catherine Bartlett Deprospo was just re-appointed to her second term as Court of Claims judge by the $250K governor.

No conflicts? If the municipalities involved in the lawsuit* against KJ don’t have a burr under their saddle on this, then they are fooling themselves. And they are doing their constituents a grave disservice.

Think about it.

 Looks like $250k bought a great deal of assurances and that "money well" isn’t dry.

                   

          

*Cornwall is one of the municipalities involved in the annexation lawsuit against KJ and the Mountainville Well is an important piece of the puzzle. Interesting that Richard Randazzo is running again for Supervisor. Wasn’t it during his tenure that the Mountainville well was sold to KJ? 

**Owing to a perceived perception of an appearance of a conflict of interest, it is agreed to by all parties hereto that the information flow between the Participating Municipalities and the County regarding all matters within the contemplation of the Municipal Cooperation Agreement, and this Amendment thereto, will be accomplished by and between Richard B. Golden, Esq. of Burke, Miele & Golden, LLP (Special Counsel to the Village of Monroe — a Participating Municipality) and Sharon Worthy-Spiegl, Esq. (Deputy County Attorney). All protections shall be put in place to ensure that the County Attorney Langdon C. Chapman, Esq. is not included as a person in the County to receive such information and confidences passed on to the County by the Participating Municipalities and/or its various counsels (including, but not limited to, the law firm of Bryan Cave) (From the Municipal Agreement see Auntie’s post 10-5-15)

*** Catherine Bartlett Deprospo does NOT hear CRIMINAL cases. Ask the DA in Rockland County as to why. Or look at this: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2009/D23758.pdf  to understand how that came to be. 

IS this Judicial conduct???Check it out

http://courts.lohudblogs.com/tag/acting-new-york-state-supreme-court-justice-catherine-bartlett/