More Wenk Works

This opinion piece appeared in the Townsman, December 18 edition

Woodstock councilman Jay Wenk, in chastising the "previous town board" for not taking a stance against the Patriot Act or on articles of impeachment against President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, now makes it perfectly clear why he is unable to recall who it was from the Committee For Woodstock's Future that had cut him a check for $1000 in apparent violation of New York State election law; the man has simply gone dotty.

To refresh Jay's memory: the previous town board not only took a stance against the Patriot Act, in 2002 it even went so far as to instruct the library, police department and justice court to defy its provisions (they declined). The town board not only impeached Bush once, it impeached him twice (the second time to include Dick Cheney, and if only congress had listened Dennis Hastert, who at the time was Speaker of the House, would be in the White House as you read this). This is two times more than Maurice Hinchey, the New York State legislature and the United States Congress had impeached Bush. Sadly, it is probably less than half the times that the New Paltz board of trustees and the Ithaca city council had taken the brave stances. Get the picture?

And so that you know what a terrific "previous town board" it was, it even took a stance against starting the war in Iraq, and a couple of years later took a stance demanding that we get out of Iraq.

I abstained or voted no on every single stance, but they still passed, and a ton on postage was spent mailing the town board's stances to half the world. I took the position, roundly ridiculed by the smart set, that the town board should concern itself with fixing potholes and keeping a lid on property tax. Of course, people who know me will tell you that I love repression, adore war, and am simply ga ga over Bush.

Whatever my reasons for abstaining or voting no, the town board's reasons for voting yes ranged from sincerity to pandering, but it didn't impact the town budget, except for that wasted postage, so I didn't really care. (The Town never received even a letter of acknowledgment from any of the individuals or institutions instructed to void the Patriot Act, stop the Iraq war and impeach Bush.) If Woodstock town board members must put on a Senatorial hat to feel Important, so be it, I thought.

As Jay Wenk also may perhaps have forgotten, last April 8 the new town board continued a tradition of visions of grandeur by taking a stance urging the government of the People's Republic of China to honor the Dalai Lama's request for negotiations on the status of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Go to the town clerk's office, ask for the minute book and read the resolution yourself. Below is its preamble:

"Whereas the Dalai Lama of Tibet has a bond of kinship with the town of Woodstock and has made a personal visit to our community and has solidified that bond of kinship, and;

"Whereas international media and rescue organizations and democracies worldwide have called this oppression cultural genocide, and;

"Whereas some of those protests have ended in violent and deadly clashes resulting in a high death toll, and;... " etc.

I know you think I made that up, so go read it yourself. It is what happens when little town boards think they're great white sharks and try to bite off these big, horrible issues that rage throughout the world. It's very sweet and all, but really.

Having a forgetful member like Jay who can't even remember who gave him $1000 to run for public office makes it much harder to deal with the world's huge, ghastly matters. Now the town board is contemplating joining Liz Simonson's odd alliance with Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (referred to in the 72 page indictment for corruption as ROD BLAGOJEVICH) in a diatribe against Bank of America for not extending a loan to a failing Chicago business and thereby costing two hundred workers their benefits and severance pay.

I hesitate to take issue with Liz on this because, as she will remind you again and again, she once worked for Penny's (it's been almost twenty years now), which is a BIG CORPORATION, and she knows more about finance and management than you or I ever will. For instance, one of her rules is to be the town board member with the record for number of times not auditing the Town's bills (again, minutes book, town clerk's office).

I'm just a little fuddled by Liz's logic; I thought we were mad at the banks because they made bad loans to people who can't repay them and now the whole financial system is so screwy that the U.S. government, that shining paragon of financial prudence, has to take it over. Now, according to Liz, we're supposed to be mad at Bank of America because they wouldn't make a bad loan to a Chicago business that had the likes of ROD BLAGOJEVICH standing up for it?

Like I said, Liz once worked for Penny's. When she suggested the Town move its money to either Rondout or Ulster Savings she had to be told, after eleven years on the town board, that municipal funds can only be deposited in commercial, not savings banks, and that excluded her two candidates. Jay, had he not gone so dotty, might have recalled this regulation from his first term on the town board (1990-1993) and spared Liz the embarrassment of having to find out from councilwoman Terrie Rosenblum, who has been on the town board for eleven months.

Well, big deal. Whatever bank they stash the money, so what as long as the level of service and interest rate are at least the same as Bank of America's, and it doesn't try to sell us a home equity line of credit? And if the bank is in Kingston or Saugerties, who cares whether the town clerk and the bookkeeper have to drive there every day to deposit town funds? Gas is a lousy $1.88 these days.

Just don't let Jay do it. He'll never find his way back.