OD Character Smears . . . Perhaps someone could clue me in on the reasons for these:
- Herbert Cully : Mr. Cully is the new Town of New Hartford Attorney. While allegations were made against Mr. Cully's firm, there are no indications whatsoever that Mr. Cully was involved in anything questionable. So why did the OD run the story with the negative headline implicating Mr. Cully? If only the OD had done some investigation of the prior Town Attorney's actions as Town Attorney and/or Republican Chairman, perhaps some of the trouble New Hartford finds itself in could have been avoided. There were certainly plenty of leads . . . specifically that attorney's invoices. . . .but the OD was hand's off. The lack of even-handedness suggests an agenda.
- Princess Lenska : The OD's latest "Polish Princess" smear was used to criticize the Roefaro Administration's economic development efforts, implying that they are a fairy tale. It is obvious that the OD has it in for this Mayor. . . . and criticizing his policies is fair game and what is expected of a newspaper. But why drag Princess Lenska into this issue? She invested a substantial sum of money in a Utica landmark with plans to turn it into something that would benefit the community. Instead of welcoming her investment the OD questions her authenticity. If the OD was sincerely concerned about Utica's economic development it would have applauded the investment. Again . . .What's the agenda?
[Regarding the OD and the Princess, please pick up January's Utica Phoenix for some very good articles on this topic.]
The OD pushes for windmills but doesn't seem to see their connection to power lines (which OD allegedly opposes). It was sort-of fitting that a few days later we read that NYRI was not giving up on its power line. Of course! . . . How else could the power of windmills reach the market?
New Hartford . . .
The wealthiest community in the area had to borrow to make payroll! WOW.
Anyway, the New Year is off to a good start and there will be plenty to talk about. Thanks for reading.
5 comments:
I have missed your shorter but more frequent blogs on news stories of local interest. I look forward to seeing them again.
Please stop refering to Princess Lenska. There is no such thing as Polish royal titles. The Poles were historically ruled by five families. They, in order to maintain balance of power and equality of rule, banned the use of titles. They had no Polish kings, queen, princes,etc., Titles were only bestowed upon outsiders brought in to front for the families. This was much like the French brought in to represent ruling Italian families. The Germans also gave fake titles to Polish Nazi sympathizers. One, Count Alfred Potocki has descendents in this area. His title was not traced back to Polish royalty even though the Potockis were one of the ruling families. As a matter of historical fact Lenska cannot be a Princess. If she wants to invest here, fine. If people want to pay her for fake knighthoods, god bless them. But, please get your history correct.
The Hartford incest seems to never stop. Now the new supervisor is promoting Delia as the Planning Board head. He's a vested Republican operative and major party fund raiser. Why should such a partisan head the planning board? What happened to the quest and need for new, independent blood?
To Anonymous #1 above -- Thank you for the history lesson. But this issue isn't about history.
It's about respect. . . . and it's about welcoming a newcomer.
The Princess apparently believes her title to be authentic, and she may have documentation to support her claim. . . . but I see no reason to demand proof because there is no issue pending where the authenticity of her title is relevant.
As I pointed out in The Princess, the Marchesa and the OD . . . the title is not as important as what one does . . . or, perhaps, what one does with it.
The Princess wants to establish a Polish cultural center here in Utica. While the nay-sayers may say "Why Utica?" I say, "What would be a better place than Utica?"
Utica has a long history of welcoming people from all over the world to become part of the American Melting Pot. Italians, Poles, Irish, Germans, Welsh, Syrians, Lebanese etc have all become Americans -- here in Utica -- and added their foods and customs into the mix. We've also intermarried . . . perhaps horrifying our grandparents . . . but resulting in some interesting family traditions. As the years pass, sometimes we lose sight of where some of our traditions come from . . . and, more important, maybe lose sight of WHY our ancestors came to these shores.
Two or three generations out, a cultural center can become an important reminder of these things.
An Italian cultural center was established several years ago. Unfortunately, the founder packed it up and moved it to Albany! We could use another one.
An Irish cultural center is in the works. Hopefully this gets off the ground soon.
In 30 years or so, the time will be right for some enterprising people to establish Bosnian, Russian, Burmese, Vietnamese etc cultural centers.
Right now, the timing couldn't be more perfect for a Polish cultural center, such as the Princess proposes.
Until I have a good reason to stop,
out of respect for Princess Lenska and what she proposes to do, I will continue to call her by her title.
The idea of a fake Princess representing Polish culture should be repolsive to all. In a city steeped in history as Utica is, it should be even more repolsive. Are we so desparate we should welcome all under any circumstance? Do we want a city with dubious representatives from a police chief who took the wrong exam to a Princess who may be a con? I think we better know who we are dealing with on a very factual, verifiable basis on all levels.
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