‘An extremely weak negotiating position'

To the editor: I congratulate Mr. Berk for his insightful comments about the Village of Kiryas Joel in his letter to the editor in the Oct. 7th Photo News. His statement that “Kiryas Joel has its own village government that takes care of the needs of its village very well” is 100 percent correct. I am glad that someone from SaveMonroe has finally realized this very important fact. Having established that the Village of Kiryas Joel does not need the Town, perhaps we are ready to consider how the Town benefits from the Village. A benefit that directly affects all residents, and is easy to quantify, is a financial one. The Village of Kiryas Joel contracts with the Town for highway services. For 2005, the contract revenue of $190,000 lowered taxes by 7 percent town wide and 9 percent in the town outside the villages. Volunteer fire and ambulance companies are significant community resources and the Town of Monroe is fortunate to have so many residents committed to supporting these organizations. We must not forget the members of the Kiryas Joel Hatzoloh Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Volunteer Fire Company when we consider the valuable contributions these volunteers make to our community. In New York State, town and village governments are autonomous. Towns have no control over village affairs. Monroe had a long-standing tradition of keeping partisan politics out of the villages. SaveMonroe violated this tradition with their endorsement of candidates in the last Village of Monroe election. Now, SaveMonroe candidates insist on meddling in the affairs of the Village of Kiryas Joel. Maybe if Save Monroe had checked their facts or consulted earlier with Mr. Berk, theywould have taken a different approach with the Village of Kiryas Joel. As a result of their actions, they have established an extremely weak negotiating position with almost half of our population. Not a good place to be if you want to lead the community. Sincerely, Peter J. Martin, Ph.D. Councilman, Town of Monroe