Monday, April 07, 2008

BIG NIGHT FOR QUEENS GALLEY


A terrific show Sunday night at the Bearsville Theatre!

The fundraiser concert for Queens Galley was a huge success. Orleans, with guests Robbie Dupree and Joe Bouchard of BOC put on a great performance. Playing hits like Hot Rod Hearts, Dance With Me, Don’t Fear the Reaper and Godzilla had the audience on their feet and screamin.

I arrived around 7pm for the silent auction and mingled with Kingston and Woodstock notables including Jon Sennett, Donna Hintz, Tim Halpern, Ugly Gus and Jeremy Blaber. The afternoon show was attended by Jim & Marybeth Sottile, Maryann DeGroodt of AGI, and Hon. Karen Peters.

Diane Reeder and hubby (pictured right) and staff did an outstanding job of warming guests with their personality and culinary treats. It was interesting being served by Phil Cosme during intermission. His is a common face at the Galley which served over 6 thousand meals last month.

People, we are in a nutrition crisis. Although Queens Galley does its part, they need support fiscally and volunteer wise. On the grander scope, the number of hungry children should alarm everyone. Those of us in local government do what we can to offset what Washington is doing to this country, but you could reach out and contact neighbors whom you suspect are struggling.

Put the gas prices and Tax/Reval issues aside and make a difference a few houses away.
If you’re reading this, you’ve got a computer and cable and electric and time to waste.
Local and National politics aside, this is our immediate crisis and we should all be a part of the solution.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Let's not hope the 'Aldercreep'
gets his way and the Queens Galley
can have trash picked up at no cost.

Mike Madsen said...

Because of todays article, I know whom you speak of.

There is 43% of the City of Kingston property off the tax rolls. You've heard this before.
What everyone forgets is this is not just not-for-proffs.

Property like government and school buildings, Libraries, churches and grave yards as well as acres of city parks and parking lots.

Non-proffs make up about 2-3% of the total city property, so doing the required shift in doing garbage collection to include an additional 3% of properties really isnt worth the hastle.

Add the cost of another employee to administer the bag sales and manage the revenue and youve got an additional drain on our general tax base.

We discovered this back in 2004 when Gonyea chaired the Gov Reform Committee for 18 months. I dont think Ron knows the history. So give him a break for the first year.

Rebecca Martin said...

Hey Mike,

What about the Pay-As-You-Throw program? Have you had time to check it out? It seems to be extremely democratic, as it makes it so everyone is responsible for their trash - residents and those not-for-profits. It would certainly decrease tipping fees to save tax payers money by making everyone think twice about the trash they create. Based on the powerpoint, raises recycling rates in a grand way too.

Mike Madsen said...

Point noted. The system that the Nobles are offering as an alternative to our current system is an option that we are still digesting.

The public is getting the bigger picture of what is affecting our environment and our wallets. Seperating recyclables from the waste stream is ecological and fiscally responsible.

Im more interested in the RecycleBank proposal at the moment and excited to see the level of enthusiasm that will stir in our constituency.

Thanks for the opportunity to ramble a bit.

Rebecca Martin said...

What about Pay-As-You-Throw and RecycleBank combined? There, you pay for your trash bags (and then perhaps trash less, saving on the $71 per ton of tipping fees) - and with all that was once thrown out now paid as incentives to residents to recycle in the RecycleBank way?

It's a lot to change all at once it seems - but from what I can tell, a win/win as it is as much fiscally responsible as it is environmentally the same.

Really pleased to read that you are interested in exploring ReycleBank further. Bravo!

Anonymous said...

Mike,

What's holding up RecycleBank? Is there proposed legislation in committee? I seem to recall Majority Leader W. Reynolds bringing this up months ago, with no word since.

What gives?

JRS