We are fortunate to live in a place where the mayoral candidates are all good people; in fact, most of them even have some good ideas worth voting for. But only one, in my view, has some truly exceptional plans for our village and can make them happen: Jason West. I’ve lived in the village for 12 years, and in this period there has only been one time that I’ve witnessed the difference an elected official can make: that was the time West was mayor (from 2003 to 2007). His intelligence, vision and energetic determination are what is needed in New Paltz, now more than ever. On May 3, I’ll be voting for him, as well as for Ariana Basco for Village Trustee. I’ve been following her career in our community since she was my psychology student seven years ago, and I couldn’t be more proud of her many talents and virtues as an activist and community leader.
Alice Andrews
New Paltz
Friday, April 22, 2011
Matthew Flusser's Letter to the Editor - Vote for Ariana Basco for Positive Change
As a community volunteer, parent and homeowner in the village, I am very happy that Ariana Basco is running for village trustee. In the past few years I have known and worked with Ariana on campus and on issues affecting our village. I have been very impressed with her positive professionalism. Ariana takes a fresh look at environmental and sustainability issues. We worked side by side in order to get more local food on campus. It was not easy and there is more work to do, but we did it together and met goals that many thought were impossible even just a year ago.
Ariana has served on our town police commission. She does not shy away from things just because it can be a hard road to accomplish them. She perseveres and makes a plan and sticks with it to the end. I think we are in a time where we need new ideas and that means fresh eyes and sometimes hard answers so that we can make positive change for our future. The old guard always says, “Now is not the time.” This is the wrong way to be. We have to say, “Now is the time, let’s do it a new way, the right way for the good of our community, state, country and planet!” The time to start change is now and Ariana Basco is someone who can help us start the process of change for our village now. Please join me in voting for Ariana Basco, Positive Party, on May 3.
Matthew Flusser
New Paltz
Ariana has served on our town police commission. She does not shy away from things just because it can be a hard road to accomplish them. She perseveres and makes a plan and sticks with it to the end. I think we are in a time where we need new ideas and that means fresh eyes and sometimes hard answers so that we can make positive change for our future. The old guard always says, “Now is not the time.” This is the wrong way to be. We have to say, “Now is the time, let’s do it a new way, the right way for the good of our community, state, country and planet!” The time to start change is now and Ariana Basco is someone who can help us start the process of change for our village now. Please join me in voting for Ariana Basco, Positive Party, on May 3.
Matthew Flusser
New Paltz
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What You Can Do To Help Get Ariana Elected
* Write a letter to the editor in support of Ariana to the New Paltz Times at newpaltztimes@ulsterpublishing.com
* Write a letter to the editor in support of Ariana to the New Paltz Oracle at oracle@newpaltz.edu
* Host a gathering in order to inform your friends about the importance of voting for Ariana Basco!
* Send emails to your friends about the importance of voting for Ariana Basco!
* "Like" the Facebook group and recommend it to your friends!
* Attend and encourage your friends to attend the remaining debates and forums:
Monday 4/25 7pm Chamber of Commerce Debate @ Deyo Hall on Broadhead in the village
Wednesday 4/27 6pm Main Course Meet-and-Greet with all candidates, hosted by Butch Dener
* Put up a lawn sign. Email arianafornpvb@gmail.com to get one.
* Drive your friends or walk with them to vote on Tuesday 5/3 at the Village Fire House from 12-9
* VOTE on 5/3 for Ariana Basco Tuesday 5/3 at the Village Fire House from 12-9
The 36 Main Fundraiser
Melissa and Haden sing for the crowd at 36 Main supporting Ariana Basco for Village Board!
Mark Portier STRONGLY supports Ariana Basco for Village Board!
Ari! Ari! Ari!
The Oracle: Candidates Debate Village Issues
Candidates Debate Village Issues
Dwindling volunteerism was one of the topics discussed at the forum at Woodland Pond.
“If you don’t have people that are willing to volunteer their time in a village of 5,000 to 7,000 people, it’s disgusting,” said mayoral candidate Jonathan Cohen to a room of about 100 people. “I believe in volunteerism. I believe that is what’s going to save our village.”
Dwindling volunteerism was one of several topics discussed at the Woodland Pond Candidates’ Forum, the first of several village mayoral and trustee debates planned before Election Day on May 3.
Panelists included mayoral candidates Jonathan Cohen, Jean Galucci, Pete Healey and Jason West, as well as trustee candidates Ariana Basco, Rick Bunt, Amy Cohen, Emily Crocetti, Stewart Glenn, Sally Rhoads, Kip Ruger, Martin Sherow and Shari Osborn.
If elected mayor, Cohen said he plans to fix poor relationships made between the current village board and members of volunteer groups such as the New Paltz Fire Department. To avoid issues caused by spending, he said he would not accept a single penny of the mayor’s salary.
“I am not a career politician,” Cohen said. “I have a business and believe being mayor is a part-time position. Why should I take $40,000 of the village’s money?”
However, other candidates said a part-time mayor would not be able to serve the community adequately.
Former mayor West said, if elected, he would treat the position as nothing less than a full-time job.
“It requires that much work to not only get the basics done…but to do the research, have the meetings and build the organizations and networks to meet the challenges that we’re going to face in the years ahead,” West said.
Amos Sunshine, a village resident for 56 years, said who he votes for will hinge on which candidate can bring about the unity that the village and town have been sorely lacking.
Rather than dealing with serious issues faced by the community, Sunshine said he has noticed power struggles between members of government.
When mayoral candidate Healey arrived in New Paltz 30 years ago to attend SUNY New Paltz, he said he didn’t differentiate between the town and village because it wasn’t something he thought had any effect on him.
But with bickering now crippling the working relationship between board members, Healey said the issue has reached a breaking point.
“The requirements of the new period we’re coming into are to rationalize and simplify government and thereby make it more effective and make it closer to the people,” Healey said. “At one table with one government, maybe there will be twice as many fights. But at the end of the night there will be a resolution.”
Trustee candidate Bunt said over the past decade, taxes in the village have doubled and housing values have dropped. He said this has made living in New Paltz unaffordable for longtime members of the community.
Bunt said his platform focuses on bringing political balance to the village board, as well as finding ways to solve the financial unrest.
“For too long the political pendulum has swung either too far to the right or too far to the left,” Bunt said. “We must look to have balance on the board and strive to develop a sustainable future for our entire community. We need to seek out intelligent solutions to our problems, rather than expensive reactionary laws.”
The next debate between candidates will be held on Friday, April 15 from 7 to 10 p.m. at SlashRoot and will be moderated by SUNY New Paltz alumnus Justin Holmes.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Crowded playing field - Nine people run for three open New Paltz Village Board seats
Ariana Basco moved to New Paltz seven years ago, coming to town to attend SUNY New Paltz in 2004. Since then, she’s worked with the consumer protection and advocacy group NYPIRG as a project coordinator in charge of community outreach.
“That’s how I got involved in politics,” she said.
After leaving that job in 2010, Basco now works as a bartender at Snug Harbor Tavern in New Paltz. For the last few years, she’s also volunteered her time as an appointed member of the town’s Police Commission.
Despite running on her own slate with the Positive Party, Basco is closely associated with former Mayor Jason West and they share many Green Party ideals -- including a similar stance on the proposed village noise ordinance.
In terms of why she wants to become a Village Board member, she said she had caught the political bug in her time in New Paltz.
“Local politics is absolutely my passion,” Basco said. “I see a lot of potential here in New Paltz. We have an opportunity here.”
In her work with the town government on the Police Commission, Basco has gotten to know the inner workings of Town Hall -- that’s an asset she sees as something that could help her mend the relationship between the town and village. “I’m somebody who’s a bridge builder,” she said.
Not only could the town-village relationship be better, but Basco said she’d like to work to repair the relationship between the village and the SUNY New Paltz campus.
When asked what she would bring as a new member of the Village Board, Basco said she’d like to see the village empower volunteers, attract new businesses and help out farms.
“My objective is to govern,” she said. “Leaders aren’t just supposed to lead, they’re supposed to create more leaders.”
Village leaders can do more to attract good businesses to Main Street, as well as to promote existing stores downtown. Basco said she’d like to see the village work with the Ulster County Transit Authority to help set up better opportunities and “expand public transportation to include Woodland Pond and the Park & Ride.”
“I want to do more to support our local farmers,” she said. “I think that could be fostered by the village.”
Basco said she’s taking a “wait-and-see” approach to the potential consolidation of the town and village.
“I would definitely like to see the study completed, before I make any decisions,” she said, adding that there’s definitely room for more efficiency.
“I definitely see areas where we could have more shared services,” she said, adding that consolidation needed to be approached thoughtfully before dramatic restructuring of the government happens. “We have to study the effectiveness of the government.”
The candidate said she thought the strained relationship between firefighters and Village Hall could improve drastically through building trust and communication. “I think that’s another thing that comes down to cooperation,” Basco said.
Basco would like to work to rehabilitate the current system before moving to a district or other means of fire service.
“We rely upon them to save our lives,” she said. “I think giving them what they need is important.”
Basco is another person who didn’t exactly like the way the proposed noise ordinance came out of the subcommittee and onto the board table.
“I think we definitely need a noise ordinance. I don’t know if this one tackles the problems that we have,” she said. “I think what we’re dealing with is a lack of communication, rather than something that needs to be legislated.”
A lot of good could come from a communication between neighbors with noise complaints, she said.
“That’s how I got involved in politics,” she said.
After leaving that job in 2010, Basco now works as a bartender at Snug Harbor Tavern in New Paltz. For the last few years, she’s also volunteered her time as an appointed member of the town’s Police Commission.
Despite running on her own slate with the Positive Party, Basco is closely associated with former Mayor Jason West and they share many Green Party ideals -- including a similar stance on the proposed village noise ordinance.
In terms of why she wants to become a Village Board member, she said she had caught the political bug in her time in New Paltz.
“Local politics is absolutely my passion,” Basco said. “I see a lot of potential here in New Paltz. We have an opportunity here.”
In her work with the town government on the Police Commission, Basco has gotten to know the inner workings of Town Hall -- that’s an asset she sees as something that could help her mend the relationship between the town and village. “I’m somebody who’s a bridge builder,” she said.
Not only could the town-village relationship be better, but Basco said she’d like to work to repair the relationship between the village and the SUNY New Paltz campus.
When asked what she would bring as a new member of the Village Board, Basco said she’d like to see the village empower volunteers, attract new businesses and help out farms.
“My objective is to govern,” she said. “Leaders aren’t just supposed to lead, they’re supposed to create more leaders.”
Village leaders can do more to attract good businesses to Main Street, as well as to promote existing stores downtown. Basco said she’d like to see the village work with the Ulster County Transit Authority to help set up better opportunities and “expand public transportation to include Woodland Pond and the Park & Ride.”
“I want to do more to support our local farmers,” she said. “I think that could be fostered by the village.”
Basco said she’s taking a “wait-and-see” approach to the potential consolidation of the town and village.
“I would definitely like to see the study completed, before I make any decisions,” she said, adding that there’s definitely room for more efficiency.
“I definitely see areas where we could have more shared services,” she said, adding that consolidation needed to be approached thoughtfully before dramatic restructuring of the government happens. “We have to study the effectiveness of the government.”
The candidate said she thought the strained relationship between firefighters and Village Hall could improve drastically through building trust and communication. “I think that’s another thing that comes down to cooperation,” Basco said.
Basco would like to work to rehabilitate the current system before moving to a district or other means of fire service.
“We rely upon them to save our lives,” she said. “I think giving them what they need is important.”
Basco is another person who didn’t exactly like the way the proposed noise ordinance came out of the subcommittee and onto the board table.
“I think we definitely need a noise ordinance. I don’t know if this one tackles the problems that we have,” she said. “I think what we’re dealing with is a lack of communication, rather than something that needs to be legislated.”
A lot of good could come from a communication between neighbors with noise complaints, she said.
Brian Obach - Support for Ariana Basco
I have worked closely with Ariana Basco for the last few years. We co-chaired the SUNY Environmental Task Force, a campus/community group that does environmental education and advances measures designed to achieve ecological sustainability. Ariana is now running for the New Paltz Village Board and I offer her my strongest endorsement. She is exactly the kind of person that we need to navigate the challenges that we’ll face in the village in the coming years.
Ariana’s greatest asset is that she is a bridge builder who is able to work well with everyone. She has a gift for bringing people together to find practical solutions that are agreeable to all. She has experience working with diverse segments of our community, from her service on the Police Commission to working with the SUNY administration and students. In every context she is able to foster cooperation and to find common ground. This is precisely what we need on the Village Board today.
The last several years have been characterized by infighting between the village, the town, the college and within the Village Board itself. We have many difficult issues before us, from consolidation to the noise ordinance to development and planning issues. Ariana Basco will act as a voice of reason and the positive, calming presence that will be needed to achieve agreement among groups that have already staked out firm positions on these issues. While fighting to advance specific interests is to be expected in politics and while we should not begrudge those who have chosen to run for office on the basis of their own particular cause, we also need people on the board who can mediate between those voices. Ariana is just such a person.
In addition to possessing the qualities that will enable the board to effectively address contentious issues, Ariana Basco has a platform that everyone can support.
She is committed to strengthening the downtown business district, to sound environmental policies, and to building the local economy and tax base by fostering tighter business-to-business and consumer-to-business ties, all areas in which she has experience given the positions she has held to date.
Ariana Basco is someone who will advance the values that we all share to devise policies that will unite and strengthen our community. I hope you will join me in voting for her on May 3.
Brian Obach
New Paltz
Ariana’s greatest asset is that she is a bridge builder who is able to work well with everyone. She has a gift for bringing people together to find practical solutions that are agreeable to all. She has experience working with diverse segments of our community, from her service on the Police Commission to working with the SUNY administration and students. In every context she is able to foster cooperation and to find common ground. This is precisely what we need on the Village Board today.
The last several years have been characterized by infighting between the village, the town, the college and within the Village Board itself. We have many difficult issues before us, from consolidation to the noise ordinance to development and planning issues. Ariana Basco will act as a voice of reason and the positive, calming presence that will be needed to achieve agreement among groups that have already staked out firm positions on these issues. While fighting to advance specific interests is to be expected in politics and while we should not begrudge those who have chosen to run for office on the basis of their own particular cause, we also need people on the board who can mediate between those voices. Ariana is just such a person.
In addition to possessing the qualities that will enable the board to effectively address contentious issues, Ariana Basco has a platform that everyone can support.
She is committed to strengthening the downtown business district, to sound environmental policies, and to building the local economy and tax base by fostering tighter business-to-business and consumer-to-business ties, all areas in which she has experience given the positions she has held to date.
Ariana Basco is someone who will advance the values that we all share to devise policies that will unite and strengthen our community. I hope you will join me in voting for her on May 3.
Brian Obach
New Paltz
Meet & Greet with New Paltz Village Board Candidate Ariana Basco
Tuesday, April 12 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
36 Main Restaurant
36 Main Street
New Paltz, NY
The Committee to Elect Ariana Basco to the New Paltz Village Board
Invites You to a New Paltz Meet & Greet with Our Candidate
Tuesday, April 12 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
@ 36 Main Restaurant
36 Main Street, New Paltz, NY
Live music by Ed Daley and Melissa Pelino
$20 per person
~ two complimentary cocktails of beer or wine with an assortment of hors d'oeurves
~ stay for dinner and receive a 15% discount off your entire check
Invites You to a New Paltz Meet & Greet with Our Candidate
Tuesday, April 12 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
@ 36 Main Restaurant
36 Main Street, New Paltz, NY
Live music by Ed Daley and Melissa Pelino
$20 per person
~ two complimentary cocktails of beer or wine with an assortment of hors d'oeurves
~ stay for dinner and receive a 15% discount off your entire check
RSVP here
Basco, Party of One
As graduation approached in the spring of 2008 and plans to attend graduate school to become a philosophy professor fell through, Town Police Commissioner and co-chair of the Environmental Task Force Ariana Basco said her only goal became to stay in New Paltz.
Nearly three years later, Basco, from Astoria, Queens, is running for a four-year term on the New Paltz Village Board going solo under the Positive Party. Basco, who considers herself a “community organizer” and not a politician, said her choice of party has a lot to do with the foundation of her work. Aside from wanting to bring positivity into the New Paltz community, Basco also wants to run a positive campaign.
“A lot of people run slander campaigns and make themselves look good by making other people look bad and I don’t want to partake in any of those kinds of things,” Basco said.
As village trustee, Basco wants to strengthen the village’s core economy by making it more sustainable and facilitating collaboration between local farms and local businesses. As a SUNY New Paltz graduate, Basco also wants to help integrate the students into the New Paltz community and make them feel like they are a part of something bigger.
Even though politics were not a part of her life while studying philosophy at SUNY New Paltz, Basco said that within her first or second year at the university, she knew she could live in New Paltz “forever.”
“When I first got here, I knew I loved it,” said Basco. “I just felt an energy in New Paltz that I really was receptive to. I felt like I could flourish here in some ways but I had no idea what I was going to do.”
After getting her first job out of college at Dunkin Donuts on Main Street, Basco applied for a job as project coordinator and community outreach director for New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) at SUNY New Paltz, a job which she left less than a year ago.
With NYPIRG, Basco said she was given the resources to be able to speak about the environment, a cause she had developed interest in throughout high school. Describing it as “political boot camp,” NYPIRG was Basco’s introduction to politics, public policy, campaigning and community organizing, sparking her interest in local politics.
“Basically, I realized my skill set…I realized that I’m good at bringing people together. I’m good at communicating these ideas,” she said. “I look at the people who are doing it and they’re not good at communicating these ideas so when I realized my skill set, it made me feel like there was a responsibility there to move into it.”
Aside from NYPIRG, the Police Commission and the Environmental Task Force, Basco has worked and collaborated with a number of clubs and organizations throughout the years, including Brook Farm Project, Climate Action Coalition of New Paltz, Family of New Paltz, New Paltz GreenWorks, the New Paltz Democrats, the Working Families Party, and the United University Professions union.
Last spring Basco helped organize the Local Choice meeting which brought together local farmers with institutional food service providers such as universities, hospitals and school districts in an effort to facilitate business relationships that would link local institutions and local agriculture.
The region’s beauty, mountains, rail trail and agricultural richness have inspired Basco to stay in the community but the people of New Paltz are not far behind.
“There’s an energy here. The people that are drawn here…they’re open-minded and eccentric and I really love them for that,” she said. “I feel like it’s the kind of community where we have a lot of potential. There are all of these people with all of these skills and if we all come together, we could make something big happen.”
Basco will be holding a campaign kickoff event at Oasis on March 29 at 10 p.m.
Nearly three years later, Basco, from Astoria, Queens, is running for a four-year term on the New Paltz Village Board going solo under the Positive Party. Basco, who considers herself a “community organizer” and not a politician, said her choice of party has a lot to do with the foundation of her work. Aside from wanting to bring positivity into the New Paltz community, Basco also wants to run a positive campaign.
“A lot of people run slander campaigns and make themselves look good by making other people look bad and I don’t want to partake in any of those kinds of things,” Basco said.
As village trustee, Basco wants to strengthen the village’s core economy by making it more sustainable and facilitating collaboration between local farms and local businesses. As a SUNY New Paltz graduate, Basco also wants to help integrate the students into the New Paltz community and make them feel like they are a part of something bigger.
Even though politics were not a part of her life while studying philosophy at SUNY New Paltz, Basco said that within her first or second year at the university, she knew she could live in New Paltz “forever.”
“When I first got here, I knew I loved it,” said Basco. “I just felt an energy in New Paltz that I really was receptive to. I felt like I could flourish here in some ways but I had no idea what I was going to do.”
After getting her first job out of college at Dunkin Donuts on Main Street, Basco applied for a job as project coordinator and community outreach director for New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) at SUNY New Paltz, a job which she left less than a year ago.
With NYPIRG, Basco said she was given the resources to be able to speak about the environment, a cause she had developed interest in throughout high school. Describing it as “political boot camp,” NYPIRG was Basco’s introduction to politics, public policy, campaigning and community organizing, sparking her interest in local politics.
“Basically, I realized my skill set…I realized that I’m good at bringing people together. I’m good at communicating these ideas,” she said. “I look at the people who are doing it and they’re not good at communicating these ideas so when I realized my skill set, it made me feel like there was a responsibility there to move into it.”
Aside from NYPIRG, the Police Commission and the Environmental Task Force, Basco has worked and collaborated with a number of clubs and organizations throughout the years, including Brook Farm Project, Climate Action Coalition of New Paltz, Family of New Paltz, New Paltz GreenWorks, the New Paltz Democrats, the Working Families Party, and the United University Professions union.
Last spring Basco helped organize the Local Choice meeting which brought together local farmers with institutional food service providers such as universities, hospitals and school districts in an effort to facilitate business relationships that would link local institutions and local agriculture.
The region’s beauty, mountains, rail trail and agricultural richness have inspired Basco to stay in the community but the people of New Paltz are not far behind.
“There’s an energy here. The people that are drawn here…they’re open-minded and eccentric and I really love them for that,” she said. “I feel like it’s the kind of community where we have a lot of potential. There are all of these people with all of these skills and if we all come together, we could make something big happen.”
Basco will be holding a campaign kickoff event at Oasis on March 29 at 10 p.m.
Flags go up Early candidates announce New Paltz Village Board run
Village resident and police commissioner Ariana Basco has said that she will be running for a four-year term on the Village Board, going solo on the “Positive Party” line.
“There is too much negativity in New Paltz politics right now, and I for one want to bring what’s possible and positive to the table,” she said.
Basco, 24, is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz. “I think that there are so many residents with so much to give that are not getting involved with local government, and I think I could help bridge that gap. We need their assistance and input.
“I’m someone without an agenda. I just want to see the village be more sustainable, strengthen our local retail, agricultural and SUNY New Paltz connections in a way that makes it economically and socially viable for all.”
“There is too much negativity in New Paltz politics right now, and I for one want to bring what’s possible and positive to the table,” she said.
Basco, 24, is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz. “I think that there are so many residents with so much to give that are not getting involved with local government, and I think I could help bridge that gap. We need their assistance and input.
“I’m someone without an agenda. I just want to see the village be more sustainable, strengthen our local retail, agricultural and SUNY New Paltz connections in a way that makes it economically and socially viable for all.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)