The Catskill Chronicle

Dear Editor:

Regarding the dismal state of the US economy, I don’t know what arrows Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke has left in his quiver. But to pull our country out of the ditch, back from the brink – rather than already focusing on Election 2012 – Washington better start bringing home the jobs at least as fast as it brings home the troops from Afghanistan. All the outsourcing in recent years constitutes a major difference between the current recession and those of the past, also a primary reason the recovery has been so pathetic.

Closer to home, I was pleased to read that SUNY New Paltz had finally named a new president. But, to have blown $100K in the process?

From where did that inordinate sum of money come and how was it spent? Let’s hope the steps taken searching for someone to replace President Golladay at SUNY Sullivan will be monitored to prevent history from repeating itself.

Regardless of whether a posted position is for the local library director, public school administrator, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, or the president of a state university, it shouldn’t be necessary to wine/dine candidates in royal fashion to determine who is best suited for the slot. In fact, refraining from doing so may help reduce the incidence of situations whereby new hires do an about-face after but a few days on the job.

On yet another Sullivan note, given the ongoing drug- and gang-related crime that has been plaguing Monticello, in particular, I’d hope our lawmakers would push to have the County designated by the Federal Government as a “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area,” as recently was the case with neighboring Orange County.

Sullivan so designated would mean that State and Federal law enforcement would team with our local police and sheriff’s departments to combat the alarming increase in violent crime here.

Susan Kross

Dairyland, NY