johnbyronkuhner.com

While going around door-to-door yesterday evening an older gentleman said to me, “You’re John Kuhner? I’m voting for you for sure.” He went on to explain that “some woman I never saw before” was at the Town Dump passing out leaflets “saying you were a communist or something like that and when I saw all that propaganda, I said, ‘that’s the guy I’m voting for, he must be pretty good.’” I was a bit curious as to what he was referring to, so he showed me the letter, from the “Seriously Concerned Citizens of Denning,” which I want to respond to briefly.

My place in the letter is relatively small – I get two paragraphs on the second page. I’m not called a communist (nor is anyone else), and I’ll quote the letter in full so everyone knows what I’m responding to:

Mr. John Kuhner: Regarding repairing the “temporary” bridge located by Town Hall, John may we point out that this is a county bridge. The taxpayers of this town should not be responsible for repair and/or upkeep. No one wants increased taxes. With respect to maintaining the river, you would need to speak with NYC DEP, Not NYS! In order to do anything to the State Forest, you would need a constitutional amendment.

John, you may wish to consider relevant facts on any future postcards you have printed. As for communicating more with the town’s people, other than mass hard copy mailings which is costly and goes against going green, what could you possibly suggest? Information regarding town meetings and agendas are on the website and posted outside Town Hall, Sundown Church Hall, the Recycling Center and the Post Office. Minutes are open to the public to read on our website. We are currently working on a mass emailing effort.

The condescension of the above paragraphs are indicative of the letter’s tone: the goal is to make it seem like I’m ignorant of basic facts. Anyone who’s read my campaign materials knows that I know the temporary bridge is a county bridge. Here are the relevant three sentences from my letter:

We’ve had an unsightly and noisy “temporary” bridge outside town hall for the entire time I’ve lived here, and it’s time to get a real bridge installed. This may involve harassing the County and being the “squeaky wheel” in Kingston, which I can certainly do. But someone with authority needs to get this problem solved, whatever it takes.

Obviously I’m not ignorant of the fact that this is a county bridge. I am not advocating for the Town of Denning to take over the repair or upkeep of this bridge. I am advocating for our local elected officials to solve our local problems. Ultimately, no one in Kingston cares as much about that temporary bridge as do the people who live right near it and have to listen to cars rattle over it all day. Local officials need to be our advocates with county and state officials – this is how things get done, and this is one of the things we should expect from them. We’ve been hearing that the bridge will be replaced for years now. I don’t see how any of our incumbent elected officials have any credibility on this issue.

On wildlife management: saying that you need a state constitutional amendment to manage the deer population is not true. The deer population is managed as it is, and those management plans will be responsive to political pressure. In our area (Wildlife Management Unit 3A) no doe tags were issued this year, because the state believes that the deer population is too low. This is because their interest is buck harvest, and this area’s buck harvest quota is 3 bucks per square mile, and the current (reported) harvest is only 1.2 bucks per square mile. They are hence hoping for an increase in deer population. But their quotas are out of line – this forest cannot support that kind of annual buck harvest. You can tell this by the fact that throughout the area no trees are regenerating except for a few white pines and beech. Beech has become almost useless as a canopy tree because of beech bark disease, which in our area kills almost all the beeches over about eight inches in diameter. Similarly almost all other herbaceous species besides ferns and goldenrods (and about half a dozen others) are getting wiped out. The deer pressure also greatly decreases the effectiveness of the Stream Buffer program, as it is exceptionally difficult to revegetate the riverbanks under such deer pressure (which is why state and city need to work together on that program). As I pointed out in my letter, we can’t solve this problem without working with upper levels of government, but we should be applying official pressure and informed pressure. I spoke with an old logger here in town and asked him how the forests had changed in his lifetime, and he said, “You know, it’s gotten worse every year.” Denning’s forests are Denning’s problem, and Denning’s government should be looking for solutions for Denning’s problems.

And that is the larger issue I would like to point out with this letter. I think upper levels of government can only work effectively when there is input from down below. We should not be satisfied with our town officials saying, “this is a problem but it’s not my responsibility so I’m not going to do anything.” We elect officials because we want someone to take some responsibility. That may involve making phone calls, or writing letters, or making visits. But I think we can ask for that, and in fact, since we’re a small town, we need that if we’re actually going to solve our problems.

As for communication, let me start with the obvious: to my knowledge, I’m the only candidate for Town Council who has communicated at all – who has offered any ideas, or shared them with the public. And this is part of a pattern which I think we should try to break out of. For example, David Brooks’ letter was the first time I had ever heard of a town sewer system – and I would certainly like to hear what other people have to say about that. I spoke to David about it and he said that it was going to include “the whole town.” It is impossible for me to believe that there are going to be underground sewer pipes running between every house in town – the cost would be incalculable, and with almost no benefits (what problem is this solving?). But this was just sprung on us as part of the campaign for Town Supervisor. If there really is a plan to do this, I’d like to have some official communication from the town to this effect.

And in the end, the “Seriously Concerned Citizens of Denning” aren’t interested in communication, or dialogue, because they haven’t even put a name to their opinions. I don’t see why we can’t speak honestly and openly as neighbors in this town. I think we should get a break from this type of politicking and this type of angry hysteria. The letter ends by saying that we shouldn’t let Carl Landon (and I guess by extension, me) “destroy” this town. I don’t think this type of hateful hyperbole should be rewarded. Let’s elect people who can work with everyone, with patience and human decency.

And on that issue, I want to respond very briefly to the attacks on Carl.  I’ve never known Carl to be anything other than gentle, kind, intelligent, nice, a good neighbor and a good human being.  Neither he nor anyone else in this town is perfect, but I know I can work with him and I know that he can work with anyone who offers basic civility.  He has not picked any fights here, and to my mind that puts the right very firmly on his side.  I don’t see why people in what should be a very nice town here feel the need to be vicious – it’s counterproductive.

P.S. I’m told that the person who was handing out these letters at the Dump was our Town Clerk, Joy Monforte. I will go visit Joy today to get confirmation or denial of this.

Update: I visited Joy and she refused to tell me who wrote the letter, though she says it is “100% true.”  I pointed out that it wasn’t truthful in any relevant way in my case, and she reiterated that it was “100% true.”  She says that she did not write it but the person was with her when she was campaigning yesterday at the Town Dump, and if that person wanted her name known she would have signed her name to it.  Joy is running unopposed, so she doesn’t need to do too much campaigning.

Update 2: Joy has pointed out that she campaigns every year to answer people’s questions, even though she runs unopposed.