Beacon Dispatch

Editorial: Rip Van Winkle Meets ‘We the People’

The feathers are flying on the Beacon Dispatch Web site (http://beacondispatch.com). Whether the topic is local sewer lines or the best hot dog in town, self-described “long-time Beaconites” and newcomers are sparring like feisty cockerels. Perhaps it’s an issue of anonymity (it’s easier to confront strangers online), but it clearly comes from the heart. Why the hard feelings? Over the past few months we’ve done some asking around, and we’ve come to a few conclusions.

About a year ago, Bill Ehrlich, a Manhattan real estate developer, made some public comments about how Beacon should be “re-branded” to attract higher income residents. He’d already bought up many city landmarks at a bargain price, and no one was really sure what he was planning to do. As you’d expect, “re-branding” went over like a ton of bricks with the people who already live in town. Where was their city going? Would they be priced out of their own homes? Property tax increases only reinforced the perception that the “re-branding” of Beacon was already happening, and anyone moving into town, paying higher prices for their homes, were to blame.

Beacon Voices: Dennis Pavelock, Concerned Citizen

by Michael Daecher

Anyone who has attended a meeting at the city council, school board, or planning board, knows Dennis Pavelock. Often carrying Polaroids and testimonials from concerned citizens, he’s been an advocate for better government for years. In fact, he’s only missed about two city council meetings since August, 1995. Around town he’s known as “Persistent Pavelock”, the go-to guy for people who want to get the attention of the people who run this town. After ten years of city meetings, he knows his way around. We sat down one evening with Dennis to find out what makes him tick, and learned that there’s more to the story than meets the eye.  

Are you from Beacon? 

I’m an original Beaconite. I remember Main   St. when you could get everything from a pair of socks to a new pair of jeans.

How did you get involved in city politics? 

I started getting involved about ten years ago over a playground project. The city was updating the Memorial Park playground, and the one up by my house, Green St., was 57 years old and falling apart. So I asked if the council had thought of renovating Green St Park?

Police Overtime Raises Questions

by Michael Daecher

Overtime payments for Beacon police officers exceeded the budget by more than 50% in 2004, and few details have been released to show how that money was actually spent. According to a document provided by the City Administrator, seven officers earned more than the Chief of Police last year, while five officers earned more than $100,000 as a result of overtime payments (see accompanying chart.) Median household income in Beacon is $47,140.

Beacon Police Chief Richard Sassi has yet to provide documentation explaining the need for $375,000 in police overtime for 2005. Chief Sassi was asked to provide the documentation at a city council workshop on November 8. Requests for a comment from Chief Sassi for this article were not returned. 

City Councilman Lee Kyriacou made the request for further details at the November 8 meeting. “This is a simple matter of accountability, and how our tax dollars are being spent,” he said. “In this year's budget we received four pages of details on some new radios, but for overtime the total support consisted of one line stating the number. Period.”