Putnam Valley- Yesterday was April Fool’s Day and in honor of that event, I attended a public hearing at town hall regarding Supervisor Tendy’s plan and vision for Oregon Corners. ( First a disclaimer: This report represents my own personal opinion and comments on what took place).

Bully Bob, as he is affectionately known, was in rare, alpha male form, as he took over the show without a word of protest from the other elected members of the board. As the supervisor’s bizarre, sociopathic behavior becomes more pronounced, it seems that the council people are  reluctant to challenge even his more outrageous antics and attacks on the public. It is no wonder that those of us who are critical of the Tendy regime have had to resort to blogging and letter writing to express our opinions. The live meetings have become the modern day equivalent of the bloodsport at the Roman Coliseum, with the hapless citizen trying to publicly comment being thrown to the lions to be ripped apart by Mr. Tendy.

I arrived at town hall just before 7 p.m. where there was some sort of meeting taking place with [...]]]> SHOOT-OUT AT THE OK CORRAL – OREGON CORNERS MANIFESTO

Putnam Valley- Yesterday was April Fool’s Day and in honor of that event, I attended a public hearing at town hall regarding Supervisor Tendy’s plan and vision for Oregon Corners. ( First a disclaimer: This report represents my own personal opinion and comments on what took place).

Bully Bob, as he is affectionately known, was in rare, alpha male form, as he took over the show without a word of protest from the other elected members of the board. As the supervisor’s bizarre, sociopathic behavior becomes more pronounced, it seems that the council people are  reluctant to challenge even his more outrageous antics and attacks on the public. It is no wonder that those of us who are critical of the Tendy regime have had to resort to blogging and letter writing to express our opinions. The live meetings have become the modern day equivalent of the bloodsport at the Roman Coliseum, with the hapless citizen trying to publicly comment being thrown to the lions to be ripped apart by Mr. Tendy.

I arrived at town hall just before 7 p.m. where there was some sort of meeting taking place with Tendy, Cinque and members of the fire department. From what I gathered, their meeting had something to do with length of service benefits for the firemen and women. I was only able to glean this from the conversation that I heard because when I asked what the meeting was about, Tendy told us that it was a “private meeting” about contractual matters. The fire department honchos seemed to be lobbying to increase their benefits and avoid a public referendum. Since nobody would answer any questions, I guess we will all find out after the fact how they are planning to extract more money from PV taxpayers.

By 7:15, Tendy called the meeting to order, called for the pledge to the flag, then Gene Yetter asked as is his wont, for a moment of silence for the brave soldiers in the field who are fighting for our freedom. This is about as close to an independent move by a councilman as we have seen, but since it is nothing more than another blatant plug for Gene’s re-election to office, I find this ploy extremely offensive and hypocritical. Then again, maybe that’s just my delicate sensibilities.

Before I begin on the actual meeting, I want to note that I have lived in Put Valley for over 50 years, and that I have seen many plans proposed for the Oregon Corners business district, including some that are almost identical to the one presented last night. In fact, there is nothing new in the current plan except perhaps Tendy’s allegations that now we have $600,000 in federal funds to install the sidewalks. More on that later.

Most recently, our now defunct Comprehensive Plan Committee dealt with Oregon Corners as part of their work on the Plan. Since 3 of the board members are running for re-election this November, and they need something good for their resumes, it is certainly understandable that Tendy, Wendy and Prissy would make believe that all the other plans don’t exist. As if to prove the point that the issue is already being studied, a letter from the ABACA board to the town board, dated March 31, 2009, was read into the minutes. Here are some excerpts from that letter:

“The concept of Oregon Corners as a destination for both shopping, dining and a gathering place to walk and relax is the lynch pin in making this plan work…….. The following recommendations are for items that need to be developed more fully as part of the overall plan:

Of course, as with the other public input, this letter was basically ignored as Tendy made it clear that HE knows what’s best for Oregon Corners and the rest of the town, so we should all just shut up and sit down and let him get to work. According to Little Caesar, the main problem is that things have always been done a certain way, just not his way. He rhetorically asked “why do you always want to get by?” He’s tired of talking and wants to do something, anything. Now that there is “stimulus money” available for shovel-ready projects, we have to be ready to take advantage of this. He of course didn’t mention that most of NY state’s stimulus money is already spoken for by our large cities, including NYC, or that it is highly unlikely that the Obama administration would start throwing federal money at a small town in Putnam County that wants to beautify its non-existent business district.

Luckily, the business and property owners had more intestinal fortitude than the councilpersons; at least they had the guts to get up and make it clear that the Emperor had no clothes, i.e. his plan basically sucks. Phil Keating whose family has always had a presence at Oregon, and who owns a building down there, said that he disagrees with Tendy’s assertion that the area is ugly and needs to be beautified. His building has always been nicely kept. Phil also mentioned the problems of parking for the large tractor trailers that serve the businesses, an idea that was repeated by the other merchants. He said that this is a “pretty” plan but totally impractical, and that we’re creating two separate Oregon Corners. More importantly, he brought up the fact that the first time he saw the plan was on TV; nobody told him, and he should have been invited to participate from the start. He questioned who was going to end up paying for the improvements and maintaining them.

Rita Sharples, owner of Oregon Hardware, also got up to say her piece. It seems she’s not too thrilled with Bob’s plan to destroy her business which has been the main anchor store since 1951. She questioned the alleged traffic study– What days of the week did it take place? Saturday and Sunday are the busy days when Putnam Valley residents come and shop there. Doing the week it is mostly contractors. She said the problem is, they need customers! Many people who go out through Mill St. never go anywhere near Oregon Corners. On top of that, parking will be a nightmare for customers and deliveries. Tendy plans to take away access to her side driveway and other parking spots that are used by tractor trailers. Rita was not a happy camper.

The owner of the liquor store next to Oregon Hardware said in no uncertain terms that if he were to lose the parking spaces that now exist in front of his shop, he would lose his customers and possibly end up going out of business. He pointed out that he has never seen any accidents; (apparently Tendy’s claims of how dangerous the situation is down there are unfounded at best.) I got the feeling that despite all of the discussion about how great the Tendy Parking Plan was, the business owners were still skeptical.

After the business owners got to give their comments, Tendy was finally forced to acknowledge those of us in the audience who had questions. As he realized that Dawn Powell, Sam Davis, John Cohen and myself all had our hands up, Tendy looked like his head was gonna explode. He was barely able to conceal his seething animosity for more than a few minutes before he started a full frontal assault on yours truly. I questioned whether or not anything was going to be done with the Hertzel property which appeared on the plan “as is”. I mentioned the plan for Peekskill Hollow Rd. and that he was not looking at Oregon Corners “holistically.” I questioned Tendy’s claim that there was $600,000 of federal funding out there for installing sidewalks. His explanation was basically that he says it’s so, therefore we must believe him.

I was barely able to get out these few remarks, when Tendy lost it- he started screaming at me, called me a liar, looked at the camera and told the “people out there watching this not to believe anything this woman says.” I must say, I was stunned at the ferocity of his attack. His psychotic behavior has gotten much worse; either he’s lost all self control, or somebody changed his meds. I don’t think I was able to make my points about Oregon Corners. However, I urge whoever is going to run against Tendy this November, to get the video of this part of the meeting, and get it out there. Put it up on your website, Myspace, YouTube, whatever. It will be your strongest argument to unseat this bully whose behavior shows in the most graphic way possible that he is unfit to hold public office.

John Cohen had come prepared with his banjo as he’d composed a special song about Oregon Corners. He got up to say that he would not be singing this night, due to the hostile atmosphere. He criticized Tendy for yelling at me. What a gentleman! Thanks John.

Sam Davis and Dawn Powell both spoke compellingly. I expect that Dr. Powell will be writing her usual report for Plan Putnam so I will let her fill you in on that part. After last night, I would be willing to pay just about anything not to have to attend another one of Tendy’s slugfests. They are emotionally and physically draining, not mention unproductive. I think I would be better off staying home and scrubbing the soap scum off my shower curtains. At least that would accomplish something.

from Patty Villanova

I love meetings.

Thanks Patty for the acknowledgement of my posts. I haven’t mastered your art of rapid fire reportage. It still takes me a couple of days to get the reports out. I disagree with your comment about Priscilla’s clothes. She wears blue jeans with a blouse to meetings sometimes, as if she is like the rest of us, and I appreciate the connection. I remember when the Carmelo crew started the suit thing, and I have never cared for it. The flannel shirt/blue jean board seemed more diligent.

Anyway, the LPID meeting was Saturday at Town Hall, not at our community center. Bob Tendy was dressed “casually” but sat in his chair above us, like the king. He was not as mean as he had been at the board meetings, but he was dismissive nonetheless.

There were a few people there – five residents. Priscilla was there. He didn’t invite her onto the dais with him. Skip, and another non-resident.

He talked about the $15,000 pork (earmark) that Vinnie Leibell got for the Singers Beach monument. Times are tough right now, and I [...]]]> You don’t bring us bagels……. anymore.
Lake Peekskill Improvement District Meeting
March 21, 2009

I love meetings.

Thanks Patty for the acknowledgement of my posts. I haven’t mastered your art of rapid fire reportage. It still takes me a couple of days to get the reports out. I disagree with your comment about Priscilla’s clothes. She wears blue jeans with a blouse to meetings sometimes, as if she is like the rest of us, and I appreciate the connection. I remember when the Carmelo crew started the suit thing, and I have never cared for it. The flannel shirt/blue jean board seemed more diligent.

Anyway, the LPID meeting was Saturday at Town Hall, not at our community center. Bob Tendy was dressed “casually” but sat in his chair above us, like the king. He was not as mean as he had been at the board meetings, but he was dismissive nonetheless.

There were a few people there – five residents. Priscilla was there. He didn’t invite her onto the dais with him. Skip, and another non-resident.

He talked about the $15,000 pork (earmark) that Vinnie Leibell got for the Singers Beach monument. Times are tough right now, and I really can’t see spending that much money when there are so many important concerns. To make matters worse, at several LPCA meetings, no one knew what the monument had said. So let’s give the money back, so it can be used for nurses or schoolbooks or food banks or how about veterans’ benefits. Mr. Tendy was talking about high taxes, yet he is always unwilling to make cuts. Is this the time for this expense?

He talked about garbage cans again. Can we please give it a rest?

He talked about garbage. I think he should call Mr. Hilyer, and ask him for his advertised litter cleanup on Morrissey Drive. There were some complaints about people bringing their garbage into LP because they don’t want to pay to have garbage pick-up. Back at the Comprehensive Plan hearings, I asked that we have a town and county solution to garbage, instead of just building more houses without services. It has been a problem for a long time. I requested that we have tv and computer pickup, perhaps once a month since the county is providing a dumpster. That will probably go nowhere.

I noted, as I went to the meeting, that the dumpster in front of Hugo’s was gone. I had blogged its presence in my last post, and then, it was removed. They say they don’t read the blogs. Bob said he had no idea that the dumpster was there. He seems to think that there was some building without a permit there. He has just discovered that. When the construction began, and the first dumpster was there, Ted Muniak asked him in a public meeting what was happening. Bob wouldn’t answer. Now he says he didn’t know about it. Since he has stated that these are friends of his, wouldn’t it have been friendlier to let them know what the rules were, instead of letting them spend all that money, and maybe have a problem later with their septic and lack of a well?

We talked about the salt storage, but he can’t figure that one out.

I asked about the alleged truck fueling at the alleged Tompkins, and he didn’t know anything about it. How is that possible? What kind of tanks? What is it made of? Where is the tank? Where is my letter? Why hasn’t he seen it? A barrage of questions. Why didn’t I send my letter to him? I finally stopped him and told him that I had done nothing wrong. I had reported it to the building department, and followed up on it. It is not my fault that there is fueling at that location. His aggressive questioning makes it difficult to report problems. I emailed the photos to him. The video wouldn’t go through to his email.

I remember now that Mr. Tendy said at a previous meeting that he knew about the rumors about truck fueling. Did he forget, or was he lying? Wouldn’t you think that a complaint about truck fueling would be notable? The photos were posted on the lohud blog months ago. He says he doesn’t read the blog, but there was a time when he did.

Geese, addling eggs. Is it too late? SOME PEOPLE don’t like the other methods of goose control. I assume that means he favors the BB method, and doesn’t appreciate my objections to it. We had tried to deal with egg addling at budget time, but Bob didn’t want to. He asked how much money is in the LP fund balance. He would like to spend it all the same way he spent Roaring Brook’s.

Someone brought up the site plan violation in front of the gym. There was no approval for that perpendicular parking, or for the removal of the sidewalk. Mr. Tendy seemed not to understand what a site plan violation is.

And Mr. Tendy wants our parking lot again. After all these years, he still can’t seem to figure out how to park there, so he will have Skip paint lines. He wants the town to take it over. He says there is no difference between town and district property. I’m waiting for him to pay my district taxes. He wants to spiff up the lot, and that will make all the difference. He said that he will bring his buds to the next district meeting to pack the room for his plan. (I am paraphrasing.) Why waste their time? The board will do what he tells them to do.

He disapproves of the civic association’s decision not to provide any financial support for his party on our property. He has decided how the civic association should be run, and what they should do. It hasn’t occurred to him that attendance and dues paid are way down since he’s been coming to the meetings and sending out his newsletter at our expense. He knows what civic minded means and he told us. It means volunteering for his party. We should be more like Roaring Brook. He advises some self-examination. The issue of insurance was again raised, and again, he said there is no issue, and would not explain or answer questions. The Lake Peekskill district did not receive any revenue from what was raised for his party, and expenses for using our property were not reimbursed.

He has put a lot of time into calls to the owner of the property next to Belotti’s. He told us that Tompkins and McKinney would maintain the property. He said that right after we discussed complaints about both of those properties. Why doesn’t this make any sense? I’m probably missing something.

As I left, I was looking at the Town Hall parking lot which has needed re-engineering and repair for years. I wonder why Mr. Tendy is so fixated on the Lake Peekskill lot.

DP