• Document Cloud
  • FOIL–Your Right to Know
  • See Through NY
  • Tax Exempt
  • Environmental Justice
  • Campaign Finance Reports

Preserve Ramapo

www.preserve-ramapo.com

  • Home
  • Join our email
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • The Archive
You are here: Home / 2017 Election / Village Elections–Vote Tuesday

Village Elections–Vote Tuesday

March 19, 2017 by Michael Castelluccio

Preserve Ramapo asks that you support the following candidates in the Village Elections this Tuesday March 21. 

Chestnut Ridge
Committee for Chestnut Ridge
Sam Presti Mayor
Howard Cohen Trustee
Richard Miller Trustee
Joseph Suarez Justice

Airmont
Preserve Airmont Party
Peter Blunnie Trustee
Kevin Warbrick Trustee
Anthony Benedict Justice

Pomona
We have decided not to endorse individuals in Pomona for this election cycle. Please see the Commentary on Pomona (below) for more details.

You can get further information including polling places at the Rockland Board of Elections website here.

Even if your village has a slate of candidates who are unopposed, please go out and vote to show your support for the work they do for you. Vote!
_________________________________________

Problems in Pomona

­­­The village of Pomona faces a very uncertain and dangerous future. Regardless of who the new trustees of the village are, they will face a generational divide, a religious divide and a huge lawsuit that was imposed on the village by an extraordinarily well-financed real-estate interest.

To some extent, Pomona’s problems are of its own making. The village’s political leaders have done little to welcome newcomers to the village, but their efforts were made especially difficult by the rapid change in Pomona’s religious composition. At the same time, many new residents remain largely unaware of what is at stake.

Much of Ramapo’s leadership has been indicted or already pled guilty to federal charges. What does this have to do with Pomona?  First, most of the village of Pomona exists within the town of Ramapo. Many newcomers to the village are barely aware that Ramapo exists. Second, we should note that this unsavory leadership has been supported by religious residents who have been told that this leadership is defending them from anti-Semites. Consequently, Ramapo’s corrupt leaders have been able to do whatever they wish as long as Ramapo’s real-estate developers rule the roost.

The results have been terrible. Ramapo has endless traffic jams, much of the housing in Ramapo is substandard, and the beginning of a huge and expensive sewer expansion has been launched. And Ramapo’s tax base has been eroded by an inexcusable expansion of tax exempt properties. The result is a terrible financial situation that is already reflected in huge real-estate tax increases in Ramapo including Pomona.

Unfortunately, the situation is much worse than is already obvious. We are still waiting for Ramapo’s financial audit for 2015, which is more than a year overdue. We expect this to be an honest audit only because both the feds and the NYS Comptroller are watching.

Will the village of Pomona become the home for perhaps 4,500 new residents including rabbinical judges in training and their families? This would be a village within a village sponsored by Tartikov. Will Pomona become a miniature Ramapo?

Review these articles for a quick overview of the problem of the proposed Tartikov Rabbinical College: Will Pomona Become a Training Site for Hasidic Judges, The RLUIPA Legislation (see page 1042, The New York Times “A Court Decision Elbows a Village in Favor of Religious Rights.”

New York State has sophisticated and comprehensive land use planning requirements. These have been ignored in Ramapo with predictable results. Unlike Ramapo, Pomona has insisted on its right to follow NYS procedures. Tartikov has insisted that it has the right to bypass state planning requirements and go directly to federal court. So, after informing Pomona that it has enormous financial resources, Tartikov abused the legal process of discovery and forced Pomona to spend over a million dollars just for that part of its legal battle.

This strategy has, not surprisingly, encouraged discontent within the village. No one wants to pay $2,000 a year in village taxes just to support a lawsuit, but the alternative is worse.

­­­­­­­­­­­­Will these arrogant folks be able to run roughshod over this small village?  A “voluntary” settlement with Tartikov will not be the end of Pomona’s problems. It will just be the end of the beginning.

Robert I. Rhodes, Ph.D.
Chairman, Preserve Ramapo

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: 2017 Election

Preserve Ramapo tree no border

Preserve Ramapo online since 2003

Recent Posts

  • New push to give East Ramapo monitors veto power
  • Chestnut Ridge law allowing residential houses of worship, a dream for some, is under fire
  • East Ramapo announces mid-year teacher layoffs, combined classrooms
  • East Ramapo Board of Trustees Voting Results
  • Finally, a choice for East Ramapo voters

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015

Calendar listing for Posts

March 2021
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Facebook

Other Links

Airmont,

Pomona,

Montebello,

Suffern,

Sloatsburg,

Hillburn,

Spring Valley,

Chestnut Ridge,

New Hempstead,

Wesley Hills,

Town of Ramapo,

Town of Clarkstown,

Rosa4Rockland,

Rockland Water Coalition

East Ramapo Central School District

Power of Ten -- East Ramapo for the Children,

Strong East Ramapo,

East Ramapo Videos,

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in