March 27, 2008 09:58 am
—
CCS team
says thanks
Last weekend the Girls’
Varsity Basketball Team
completed a season that they
will fondly remember. We
would like to recognize the
following for their generous
support, from the send off
breakfast to the parade into
town. Please accept our apologies
if we have left anyone
out. — Bassett Healthcare,
Christmas Around the Corner,
The Cooperstown Crier,
the Cooperstown Volunteer
Fire Department, CVS, The
Daily Star, Danny’s Market,
Essential Elements, The
Freeman’s Journal, the General
Store, Great American,
P&C Foods, Brian Horrey
Photography, The Sage Center,
Sal’s Pizzeria, Matt and
Maureen Schuermann, Spurbeck’s
Grocery, Straws and
Sweets, Tino’s Pizzeria, and
The Village Cobbler. We also
thank all the parents who
made the breakfast such a
success.
The girls’ team has received
many quality life lessons
from this experience. It
was exciting to watch them
play to a 25-1 record and an
appearance in the New York
State Final Four. Although
they did not return as State
Champions, they received
something more valuable,
the support of their community.
It was wonderful to see
the overwhelming number of
people who attended the
games to support our girls.
This community offered support
in so many ways from
spectators and fans to signs
and parades.
We know that these young
ladies appreciate how kind
so many people were and
how lucky they are to be in a
community that is so supportive
and nurturing to its
young people. This valuable
lesson will one day benefit
the community in which they
choose to live.
Julie and Michael Cring
Cooperstown
Katz thanks
voters
I’d like to offer my congratulations
to Doug Walker
and Jim Vrooman for well
run campaigns. Fewer than
60 votes separated these two
candidates in a very close
vote. Congratulations also to
Neil Weiller for his election
to the Board, and to Mayor
Waller for her re-election.
My best wishes to Paul
Kuhn. I have had the privilege
of working with Paul for
three years and he has always
come to opinions
through hard work and with
great sincerity. There are
long hours and many meetings,
as well as serious research,
that are part of doing
a thorough job as a Trustee. I
promise to continue to work
hard in confronting the challenges
that are present for
Cooperstown, and to meet
change head-on and make it
work for the Village of Cooperstown,
not against it.
I wish to thank all who
wrote letters on my behalf.
Every letter was eloquently
written and respectful. They
were all greatly appreciated.
To everyone in the Village,
those who cast their votes
and those who chose not to,
those who voted for me and
those who didn’t, please
know that I will continue to
represent to the best of my
abilities the diverse opinions
of the many constituents in
our beloved hometown.
As always, I welcome your
phone calls and your comments
about issues affecting
our village. Thank you all for
giving me the opportunity to
serve you.
Jeff Katz
Cooperstown
Board wants
aid restored
The following is an open
letter to Sen. Jim Seward
and Assemblyman Bill Magee
from the Cooperstown
Central School Board of Education.
We are writing to express
our grave concerns about the
State Executive’s proposed
budget and its ramifications
for the Cooperstown School
District. Last year the New
York legislature created
“Foundation Aid” to consolidate
numerous operating
aids to be distributed among
school districts based on a
formula that would make
school aid predictable, adequate
and transparent. Under
this formula, school districts
like ours would receive
a minimum increase in school
aid of 3 percent over the aid
received last year. The monies
proposed by the Executive
branch in its proposed
state budget fall woefully
short of reaching these
goals.
In addition to cutting the
guaranteed minimum increase
to our schools, the
proposed aid is arbitrarily
based on the district’s combined
wealth ratio, disregarding
any differences in
community costs, needs and
resources that we face. Moreover,
the predictability of
Foundation Aid was meant
to facilitate long-term planning
of our future needs and
resources. Manipulation of
the foundation aid formula
takes away this ability.
We applaud the proposals
set forth by both the State
Senate and the State Assembly
to restore Foundation Aid
to school districts to the levels
promised in 2007. Furthermore,
your proposal to
restore BOCES aid, which is
currently slashed under the
Executive budget, is another
laudable proposition. Our
BOCES provides invaluable
cost-sharing services and the
proposed cuts would adversely
affect projected revenue.
We urge you to follow
through with funding commitments
made in the budget
enacted last year. We
hope that you sustain your
current proposal to restore
this aid.
We also respectfully request
that you work toward
passing a budget in a timely
manner. Without a firm commitment
from the state, we
are forced to ask our taxpayers
to pass a school district
budget based on speculation
rather than on concrete numbers.
We thank you for your
consideration and your commitment
to public education.
Board of Education
Cooperstown
Sad about Game
I have been reading with
interest of how the Hall of
Fame game will be played for
the last time.
It is sad that this tradition
is coming to a close.
But I always look at life
as the cup half full not empty
and try to look for the options
in situations like this. Just a
thought, but what about getting
former players to come
back and play in a game and
maybe even some Hall of
Famers.
I am no expert on matters
like this, but would Major
League Baseball have any
power to control such an arrangement,
since the players
would be retired?
I would also think that
the Baseball Hall of Fame
would have some connections
to get a hold of such players.
Yes, the quality of play
might not be as high but just
as entertaining.
Doug Walter
Northumberland, Pa.
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