On September 24th Cablevision recorded the following
debate in their studio.
Listed in three parts.
Part 1 (9 min. 25 sec)
Part 2 (9 min 45 sec)
Part 3 (10 min 07 sec)
On May 24th The Beacon Democratic
Committee unanimously endorsed Steve Gold for Mayor.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Democrats tap Gold for Beacon mayor bid By Leigh
Gomez Poughkeepsie Journal
BEACON -
Democrat Steve Gold is expected to face Republican Fred Antalek in the race
for mayor on Election Day in November.
The city
Democratic Committee announced its endorsement of the city councilman
Thursday at the Howland Cultural Center.
Antalek did
not return a call for comment Wednesday night.
After 18 years
in office, Mayor Clara Lou Gould, a Republican, announced May 10 she would
not seek another term.
The
57-year-old Gold was inspired to run after seeing the problems the city
faced.
"When the
Department of Justice gave violations to the city police to the extent it
would have to take over the department, I knew something was wrong," Gold
said.
When a
Mountain Lane home almost burned to the ground because there wasn't enough
water pressure to put out the fire, something was wrong, he said.
Leadership stressed
Gold, who
serves as councilman-at-large and has been a city councilman for the last 10
years, believes the wrongs can be corrected by organized leadership.
Gold wants to
move the city forward by making it "affordable for residents, providing
needed leadership to city services and keeping it an exciting place to live,
work and visit."
He would do
this by putting a stop to uncontrolled overtime and avoiding unnecessary
lawsuits against the city at the expense of taxpayers, Gold said.
The amount of
overtime city police must work due to too few officers costs the city a
"staggering amount of money," Gold said. He said he would hire enough
officers to patrol Main Street and eliminate the need for overtime.
Pursue grants
If elected, he
also plans to explore the various opportunities to apply for grants to
support the city. For example, the city knew about a restoration grant for
the Tioronda Bridge built in 1872 but did not apply for it, he said.
Once Gold
found out about the grant six months ago, he "shepherded it through city
hall to be certain that the grant was filed on time," he said.
"I have a
vision," Gold said. And keeping excitement in the community will act as "the
engine that moves the economy forward."
Before the
general election in November, Gold may first face competition from resident
Clark Gebman, 51.
Gebman, also a
Democrat, said he plans to petition to run in the primary election in
September.
In order to be
on the primary election ballot, a candidate must obtain 161 valid signatures
of city residents, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran
Knapp said.
The following resolution was submitted
to the City Council on Monday May 7th....
Resolution: Main Street Police Protection
Whereas Beacon’s Main Street is the center of commerce
and tourism, and
Whereas the safety of our residents and visitors are of
paramount importance to the wellbeing of all concerned, and
Whereas the general perception of a safe and clean Main
Street creates an atmosphere that is essential for the successful operation
of shops, businesses and the promotion of tourism, and
Whereas a safe Main Street is one of the items
recognized by the Draft Comprehensive Plan as being important to the
residents of Beacon,
Be it here for resolved that the Beacon City Council
offers the following guidelines to the Beacon Police Department.
Weekend afternoons and evenings, and all weekday
evenings will have a Patrol Officer or when possible officers assigned to
any of the following tasks:
1.Foot patrol to walk the length of Main Street
2.The operation of the Bicycle Patrol
3.The operation of the Cushman vehicle
Furthermore be it resolved that
1.All police vehicles when on patrol will travel on Main Street going
to and return from their assignments.
2.Any time when there is an excess of two officers available to respond
to emergency calls, those excess offers should be assigned to one of the
three patrols outlined above in numbers 1,2,3.
3.While upholding the law, we request the Main Street officers pay
special attention to loitering, littering and loudness.
These guidelines are to be followed when possible
however it is understood that actual assignments and duties are matters
under the jurisdiction of the Police Department and are not being directed
by this resolution.
The following article appeared in the Beacon
Free Press in February 07
Reassessment in Beacon
Much pain is associated with the Beacon
reassessment. I have received many calls about the financial problems the
reassessment will cause, with one extreme case where a family will pay more
than $400 a month. Many complain that the new values are too high, even when
compared to houses which sold when the market was at its peak.
So what should we do now? Take action to be
certain there are no mistakes. The leading cause of a wrong reassessment is
mistaken information about the 35 variables that describe your home. Call
MJW Consulting at 866-814-7114 (the company performing the reassessment), go
to the MJW website at
www.reassess.org
where you type in your code to verify their facts about your home, or can
call our Assessor at 838-5025 (who is working diligently to help).
The second step is to compare your house’s
reassessed value with other homes that have sold recently. Although the
temptation is to make a comparison with your neighbor’s home, it will not
help when you go to Grievance Day. The Board will only consider your house
in comparison to other homes that have actually sold. This week MJW will be
publishing a list of home sales on their website:
www.reassess.org. It will also be
available at City Hall. Use that list as the basis for your comparison.
If you believe that you have reason to go
before the Grievance Board, be sure you complete the forms properly. John
Watch of MJW says that an improperly completed form is a common reason to
dismiss a grievance. And if the Grievance Board rejects your claim, consider
taking it to Certiorari Court. Judges will sometimes consider evidence in a
more liberal manner than a Grievance Board (they pay taxes too).
While much of Dutchess County is going through
the same reassessment pains as we are, I cannot give a “free pass” to our
City Hall or any other administration in Dutchess County. Too much time has
passed since the last reassessment in Beacon (1988). If done earlier the
burden may not have been so bad. The delay even hurts homeowners who are
going to pay less now, because they may have been overpaying for all these
previous years. Thankfully the City Administration has learnt its lesson.
Going forward the Council agreed to reassess one third of all homes every
year, so the city will be fully reassessed every three years.
The following article appeared in the
Beacon Free Press on April 2, 2007, revised April 17, 2007
Your reassessment is
important; therefore, I am offering these updates to my letter from last
month. I previously identified two steps to investigate your
reassessment. (1) Confirm that the 35 variables describing your home are
correct by calling MJW 866-814-7114, or go to their website at
www.reassess.org, or call our Assessor at 838-5025. (2) Obtain the list
of homes sold to compare to your reassessment.
The lists of sold homes are
now available at
www.reassess.org; however, they are identified by a property key and
not by address. The owner of MJW has agreed to my request to republish
the list. Until then, here is how you can get the addresses of homes on
the lists: (methods A or B)
2.
Enter the 6 digit lot
number. (It is the 6 digits located in the Property Key column of the
house list you downloaded, for example: xxxx-xx-123456-xxxx.)
B:
1. Go to www.dutchessny.gov
2. Click on the top navigation
text "find a department" and select "Real Property Tax"
3. When the page opens, select
"ParcelAccess"
4. Answer "yes I accept" then
click “Beacon” on the Dutchess map
5. Enter the 6 digit lot
number. (It is the 6 digits located in the Property Key column of the
house list you downloaded, for example: xxxx-xx-123456-xxxx.)
People have commented to me
that the staff at the Assessor’s office are cooperative and
knowledgeable. The Council agreed to additional staff to reduce any
waiting time and the Administrator has been monitoring their workload
carefully so you should not run into a delay either by phone or in
person. Your Council representatives and the Mayor want to know if you
have any difficulty with the process.
Steve Gold,
Beacon City Council
"I want to be Mayor of Beacon
because I have a vision. I’ve acquired this vision after being on the
City Council for ten years and learning what works and what doesn’t work.
I’ve also acquired this vision after numerous comprehensive planning
meetings where we discussed land use, residential density, opens space, main
street, traffic, etc.
My vision for Beacon is first and foremost to be an affordable place for its residents,
second is to provide needed leadership to our city services and third to
keep Beacon moving forward as an exciting place to live, work and visit.
Being Mayor is all about how we reach
our goals as a city. It's about being sure the public is best served
by the actions of the Boards, Committees, Councils and administrative
departments such as the Police, Fire and City Hall. Through leadership and
brining the best out of the people, we can accomplish our goals together.
The point of making Beacon an exiting
place to live, work or visit is that tourism is the engine that fuels
Beacon’s economy. From a vibrant and lively Main Street we will create a
win-win situation. As commercial property values increase and so will our
city’s revenue. And as we build more apartments on and around Main Street
they too will help stimulate the economy and add to Main Streets vitality.
People will want to live here because it is enjoyable, people will want to
work here because it is interesting and people will want to visit here
because it is a fun place to be. The result will be a smaller tax burden for
all homeowners, neighborhoods will be improved, and property values will
increase.
Lastly being Mayor is also about telling the
amazing story about our city so others will come to Beacon to enjoy our
unique Main
Street shops, view our majestic mountains, the powerful Fishkill Creek which
runs through the heart of the city, the historic Hudson River and most of
all experience our good natured
people from over fifty different cultures. "
