Beacon Dispatch

Possible demotion for Chief Sassi?

The Poughkeepsie Journal has the latest on Beacon Police Chief Richard Sassi, who was the subject of a disciplinary hearing on Friday.

Kindergarten registration starts March 13

According to the Beacon School District Web site, kindergarten registration will take place on the following dates and locations:

• Glenham ElementarySchool : March 13 & March 14
  
• South Avenue Elementary School: March 15 & March 16
• J.V.ForrestalElementary School: March 20 & March 21
• Sargent Elementary School: March 22 & March 23

Parents/Guardians who miss the assigned dates above must report to the Registrar at the District Office in order to register their child for Kindergarten. Applications for the South Avenue Magnet School Full Day Program will be available upon request at each building.

Beacon police chief files suit against the city

The Poughkeepsie Journal reported today that Beacon Police Chief Richard Sassi filed a federal lawsuit on February 8 accusing city leaders of "trying to fire him in retaliation for his outspoken criticism of their handling of police spending and other, unrelated city matters." As reported in the Beacon Dispatch last month, Chief Sassi's son recently filed a suit against the city after being denied a promotion in the Beacon Police Department. According to the Journal, the two suits have been combined into one larger complaint.

Hillary Clinton: hard to be ambivalent

Today I had a brief conversation with a friend at the coffee shop about Jonathan Tasini's challenge to Hillary Clinton for New York Senator. I had to admit that I like Hillary Clinton, perhaps more as a person than as a Senator -- she's smart, pragmatic, and articulate on a wide range of issues. Then I found this forum on Topix.net (a site that aggregates local news) where people were responding to an article saying that Republicans think she's too angry for the American people. It's a fascinating thread, and a darn good site to keep up on local news here in Beacon.

Worth checking out -- I find it's hard for anyone to feel ambivalent about Ms Clinton...

And They Say Water Only Bothers Mad Dogs

In what's turning out to be a continuing PR nightmare, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports today that the latest edition of the City of Beacon water bill again has residents up in arms.

Due to the fact that the company contracted to install new water meters has been unable to complete the job—the company that manufactures the new meters ran out of stock—City residents have again received higher than normal water bills. The reason? Because the City is now operating on two separate, incompatible, water accounting systems, the current bill is based upon an average of resident's last four bills.

While City Administrator Joe Braun told the Journal that, "Meter readings are cumulative, so if the estimates are too high or too low this time, those discrepancies will even out the next time the city takes actual readings," several people that the Dispatch spoke with stated that their bills were still much higher than has been typical over the last several years. For example, one house, which has had no occupants since mid-summer and no apparent leaks, received a water usage bill for over $100. And the last two bills received have both been estimates, not actual readings.

The real issue here is the considerable lack of communication coming from City Hall. Given that the last higher-than-usual water bill was met with such ire, you'd think that those at 1 Municipal Plaza would have thought it wise to forewarn City residents that this month's bill still might not reflect actual usage. While the City Administrator, Mayor, and Council can be forgiven for making this kind of mistake one time, the same lack of courtesy a second time reeks of a smug disregard for the people who actually have to bay the bills.

Editorial: Too much (development), Too Little (planning), (But it’s still not) Too Late

Spend a few minutes here on the Beacon Dispatch web site and you’ll discover that there’s a minor furor going on with regard to the City’s recent million-dollar pseudo-bond, which resulted in 500 hundred residents signing a petition to put the bond to a referendum. There’s also a continuing debate about the development/salvation of the Hiddenbrooke property and whether or not this and a number of properties within the Beacon City limits—including University Settlement—should be developed and how.

Mi-Ro’s Closes – The End of an Era

Beacon's last old blue collar bar fades away

by Jack Sine
photos by John Fasulo

In the fifties and sixties when Beacon’s dye plants, hat factories, and rubber fabricators were booming, beer ran down Main Street from Fishkill Creek to the Newburgh/Beacon ferry slip like a frothy tributary of the mighty Hudson River.

Back in that day there were 37 bars in Beacon, 28 of them on or near the East Main Street/Main Street corridor that connected the base of the mountain (and most of the factories) to the ferry slip on the Hudson where two ferries, the Dutchess and the Orange, carried thousands of workers back and forth to their jobs. In those days, before government scolds decided they could tell us what we should and should not consume, there was no such thing as social drinking. If you drank, you drank – and almost everyone drank. After a hard day’s work in the factories, a cold one sure went down easy, but not as easy as the second and the third, and so on. Up and down Main Street the beer flowed like the waters of the Hudson accompanied by the clatter of bowling machines and the clicks of shuffleboard pucks.

Master Plan Update

by Sara Pasti

Since July 2005 Beacon’s Comprehensive Master Plan Committee has met on a monthly basis to discuss issues related to the master planning process and to organize the community input phase of the planning process. During the same time period, Beacon’s planning consultants have been developing a Basic Studies document that describes Beacon as it exists today.

Officer Sues City Over Discrimination

Lawsuit challenges nepotism law

by Michael Daecher

Beacon Police Officer Richard Sassi, Jr. has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Beacon after being denied a promotion in the Beacon Police Department. Sassi is suing the City of Beacon, Mayor Clara Lou Gould, City Administrator Joe Braun, and six city councilman, alleging he was denied the promotion to detective in retaliation for disagreements his father, Beacon Police Chief Richard Sassi, has had with the City Council.

When a Bond Is Not a Bond

Possible referendum and current City council leaves the future unclear for Hiddenbrooke

by Jeffery Battersby

Just prior to the end of its last session, the Beacon City Council voted to approve a $1 million bond, to allocate funds for the purchase of the Hiddenbrooke property on De Puyster Avenue. The property is currently owned by the Preshrock Corporation and is slated for development. The fact that the City could incur such a large expense without a referendum came as a surprise to many Beacon residents who expected that, if the City were to secure a bond it would have to be put to a vote. But, according to the City Charter, the City of Beacon is not required to put bonding issues before the community as a referendum.