The Hudson Independent: News for Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, NY

Point/Counter Point

A Government Too Big To Succeed

by Lawrence W. Reed

Once upon a time in America, most citizens expected government to keep the peace and otherwise leave them alone. We built a vibrant, self-reliant, entrepreneurial culture with strong families and solid values. We respected property rights and promoted competition. We understood that government didn’t have anything to give anybody except what it first took from somebody, and that a government big enough to give us everything we want would be big enough to take away everything we’ve got. Americans practiced fiscal discipline in their personal lives and expected nothing less from the people in the government they elected.
Not anymore.

Point/Counter Point

In Defense of Bailouts

by Jeffrey Fisher

In his 1996 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton announced, “The era of big government is over.”  Beginning in 2008, the era of big government bailouts began.

Point/Counterpoint

Should a Super Stop & Shop be Built on Route 119?

Point:
‘Size Does Not Matter’

Jacqueline Miller

There are numerous reasons why the proposal to build a Super Stop & Shop on Route 119 should be rejected. Perhaps the main one is that, in my opinion, the Stop & Shop chain is mediocre at best. As far as I’m concerned, it defies logic and a sensible business plan to have a supermarket of this quality planned for a community of discriminating tastes and affluence.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Should County Government Be Eliminated?

POINT: Residents will be better off without the ‘invisible layer’

Paul Feiner
Greenburgh Town Supervisor

County government is considered by many to be an “invisible layer” of government — a government most people don’t identify with. The county budget for 2008 exceeds $1.7 billion dollars, and according to the county budget office, about 75 percent of it consists of unfunded mandates that the state or federal government require the county to oversee.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Should parents monitor their children’s communications?

Point: ‘Their need for protection outweighs any right to privacy’
Cliff Berger

Technology opens up a perverse world that is challenging for children to understand. We are our children’s guardians, protectors and teachers. It is imperative that we monitor their use of text messages, e-mails, instant messaging and personal Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook (photo by istock.com).

Point/Counterpoint: Should Dogs Have to be Leashed in Public Parks?

Point: No Leashes for Dogs
by Helene F. Rubinstein

Dogs are not children. Dogs are not logical. Dogs are not people. Dog lovers know this. Dog lovers are not people who just own dogs, but people whose dogs are an integral part of their lives, who have compassion and empathy for them and care about their mental well being, who want to give back to them some of what they give to us. And, yes, these people have “lives.” They are parents, grandparents, married couples, singles, doctors, lawyers, writers, photographers, secretaries, students, janitors and construction workers. Dogs are great equalizers.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Should Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow Be Merged?

A Brief History of the Question
The area now occupied by the villages of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow was known colloquially and almost interchangeably by those names, and was a settled area, a “village,” from the late 1600s until the late 19th century. The seals of Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant include the organization date of 1788 indicating the time that their boundaries were established.

During the 19th century, as the population of the area increased and with the rise of commuting by rail to New York City, residents began to seek more political autonomy from township and county. In 1870 and 1874, Tarrytown and North Tarrytown incorporated, respectively. The border between the two villages was roughly the border of the towns of Mount Pleasant and Greenburgh, i.e., the Andre Brook in Patriot’s Park.

The villages first saw a need for reconsolidation only 30 years later. In March 1914, a proposal to consolidate was passed by North Tarrytown but rejected by Tarrytown. Workers at the auto plant in North Tarrytown and the Women’s Civic League of Tarrytown were the primary supporters of a merger. When the New York Attorney General ruled that women could not vote in the villages, the proposal was defeated. 

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Extra large houses: monstrosities or practical family-friendly homes?

POINT:
How can we stop the spreading plague of McMansions?

Mark Fry

McMansions are overly large, taste-lessly designed, cheaply constructed personal palaces crammed onto tiny lots with no regard to the effects on the surrounding neighborhood.

According to the National Home Builders Association, the average size of new homes increased nationally by 17 percent between 1987 and 1999. At the same time, the average lot size decreased by close to 27 percent. Typical size is 5,000 square feet, and typical occupancy is an average family of 2.7 persons. That’s 1,850 square feet per person.

McMansions are seen as veritable temples to the gods of conspicuous consumption. They seem to say: “Look at me! Look how rich I am. Look how big my house is!” They will always have a two-story “atrium” foyer, a “great room” that is simply grandiose and a master bedroom and bath suite with his and hers lavatories and a Jacuzzi. Cathedral ceilings are a prerequisite. The front facades are clad with materials that look almost like real stone, almost like real wood and almost like real stucco. The proportions are not even close to correct. The rooflines make the “House of the Seven Gables” look simple by comparison.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Should the Tappan Zee Bridge Be Replaced or Repaired?

POINT: The Global View in Favor of a New Bridge

Maureen Morgan

Contemplating the future is tough for most people, particularly if the future may contain dramatic changes. To many residents along the Hudson River it is simpler just to hang on to the known rather than face the potential disruption caused by the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. But let’s contemplate a really disruptive change, one that raises a dramatically different perspective on what the future of the TZB should be. We are referring to the end of cheap oil on which our current “way of life” depends.

But don’t we just have to pump more oil? Wrong! The world’s oil reserves are approaching peak production, meaning that from here on the number of barrels pumped around the world will decline, no matter how much is pumped and the price will soar. Already Mexico’s largest oil reserve is not meeting its projected output. Russia is said to have overtaken the supposedly largest reserve of all, Saudi Arabia. North Sea oil production has already reached peak. A reality check – U.S. oil reserves began the decline in world oil reserves, “peaking” 35 years ago.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

Should the Government Ban Trans Fats from Restaurants?

POINT: Banning Trans Fats Will Not Solve Health Issues
Jill Rose

I am not pro trans fats but I am uncomfortable with the idea that the government could potentially decide what I cook with. If butter becomes unfavorable again, or if sugar goes on the chopping block, then what? What of the traditional recipes passed on by many postwar mothers? What of The Betty Crocker Cookbook or recipes in The Joy of Cooking? Crisco was always a favorite of pie makers, but now lard is considered taboo. What next?

Alas, science prevails, and what we’ve learned about trans fats today changes things for tomorrow. But, we are not talking about banning the sale of trans fats altogether, only the sale of it in restaurants.