By Michael Kaufman

I tried in vain to differentiate between the knaves and fools among the 12 Orange County legislators who cast 12 futile votes Thursday to authorize the sale of the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation. The vote came after several hours of public comments that again made it abundantly clear to everyone in the packed auditorium (except for the aforementioned 12 knaves or fools) that the overwhelming majority of Orange County residents want to keep Valley View publicly owned.

I wish I were an expert in interpreting body language or had one with me during the session. He or she would have been able to explain why some legislators’ faces turned red as beets and others slunk into their seats and avoided eye contact with audience members. Curlie Dillard, the sole Democrat among the 12, was careful not to attract attention to his self and uttered but one word during the entire session, a quick “yes” during the roll call. Democratic Caucus Chair Jeff Berkman, whose plan to “save Valley View by downsizing it” (and selling some beds to a private for-profit company) was dead in the water before the meeting started, appeared humble as he explained his reasoning. In the end, however, he joined the rest of his caucus (with the exception of the aforementioned Dillard) in voting “no” and denying County Executive Steve Neuhaus the requisite 14-vote supermajority he craves.

Chairman Steve Brescia did an admirable job of running the meeting and keeping a straight face while knowing that nothing said—no matter how factual, eloquent or passionate—would change his mind or those of the other 11 knaves or fools.  Was that stress-induced rosacea on Legislator Michael Amo’s face or was it that red because his bow tie was too tight around his neck? Amo, introduced by Brescia as “party leader Amo” because he is chair (and sole member) of the legislature’s one-man Independence Party caucus, voted “yes” after a peculiar but apparently sincere soliloquy lamenting that more isn’t being done to enable families to care for loved ones at home.

Republican Dennis Simmons got red-faced as he listened to a host of veterans who questioned the legislature’s commitment to the men and women who have served in the military to protect our rights and are now in need of care. He’s a veteran too, he said, and recited his name, rank, and serial number to prove it. He said he knows from experience of his own family members that you can get really good care from low-paid workers at private nursing homes. He objected to those who would “besmirch” those workers’ reputations! (He also complained that former County Executive Ed Diana’s reputation got “besmirched” on a previous occasion.) This was after several speakers cited statistics comparing the large number of complaints filed against Focus, the private operator said to be the favorite to take over Valley View, versus the small number of complaints filed against Valley View. One of the complaints against Focus involved sexual abuse of an elderly woman and Simmons thought it was a cheap shot to mention it.

Majority Leader Melissa Bonacic did not seem at all uncomfortable as she thanked the veterans in attendance for their service and assured them that this legislature (which as presently composed seems incapable of governing its way out of a paper bag) would see to it that all current residents of Valley View would receive the same level of care if Valley View were sold to a private operator. Her reasoning was twofold (and also places her squarely in the fool category): “It’s the trend,” she explained, adding that counties all over the state are getting rid of their nursing homes and that she’s scared. Her second reason? “I don’t believe the county should be in the nursing home business.”

But that is precisely the point. Valley View has thrived lo these past 183 years because it is not a “business.” It has been publicly owned, supported by tax dollars, and provides a vital service to the residents of Orange County. Assurances from Bonacic or any other county legislator that the quality of care will be maintained for current and future residents if the facility is privatized must be taken with at least 12 grains of salt. And speaking of future residents, here are some other things to consider: Orange County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state in terms of population. The so-called middle class is shrinking here as it is throughout the USA with no end in sight to the rise in wealth inequality. People are living longer. Taken together this means more people among the lower 99 percent will be in need of the services provided by Valley View simply because they won’t be able to afford to pay for equivalent quality care at a private facility.

Thanks are in order to the nine legislators who stood fast against the bullying of the county executive and his minions in the legislature. Several deserve special mention, most notably Republican Mike Anagnostakis, who has put in many hours studying the flawed 2015 budget proposed by Neuhaus and has suggested reality-based alternatives to the sale of Valley View, upon which the Neuhaus budget relies. Unflinching support for Valley View also came from Democrats Matt Turnbull, Roseanne Sullivan, Chris Eachus, and Myrna Kemnitz.

Thanks to them and the handful of other Democrats who voted no, Valley View will now be funded for a full year instead of a few months. But this fight is far from over. The private nursing home operators see gold in “them thar hills” of Goshen. And Neuhaus and his knaves and fools will continue to do all they can to hand it over to them.

Michael can be reached at michael@zestoforange.com.

By Michael Kaufman

Isaac Bashevis Singer might as well have been describing Orange County when he wrote, “The village of Chelm (Orange County) was ruled by the head of the community council (county executive) and the elders (county legislators), all fools. The name of the head was Gronam Ox (Steve Neuhaus). The elders were Dopey Lekisch, Zeinvel Ninny, Treitel Fool, Sender Donkey, Shmendrick Numskull, and Feivel Thickwit.” Take your pick if you live in any of the legislative districts represented by a Republican other than Mike Anagnostakis.

Lest we forget Orange County’s own little Chelm, the village of Kiryas Joel, populated by members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, is represented by “Shlemiel the beadle” (Michael Amo) of the Independence Party. “I could be the Elephant Party and they’d elect me,” Amo proudly told the weekly Chronicle in an interview last year.  “Many of my colleagues know that if they do not belong to a mainstream party, they are not going to get elected. For me, I don’t have to worry about that.” He said he switched from being a Republican to the Independence Party because of the latter’s commitment to fiscal conservatism. “We want to make sure that if we spend a dollar, we get a dollar’s worth of work,” he explained in true Shlemiel-like fashion: His votes on key issues such as privatization of Valley View and rebuilding the government center in Goshen would ensure quite the opposite, however.

It is also no secret that Independence Party endorsements in the Hudson Valley are guided by influential Republican State Senator John Bonacic and fellow Republican wheeler-dealer Langdon Chapman. The idea is to attract voters who like to think of themselves as independent rather than affiliate with either of the two major parties. The strategy is working. As reported by the Chronicle, the number of Independence Party voters in Orange County rose from roughly 500 voters in 2008 to more than 10,000 in 2012, making it the fastest-growing bloc of voters in the county. Most are aged 18 to 34. And, as it turns out, quite a few reside in Kiryas Joel, where bloc voting is observed almost as strictly as kosher dietary laws.

And so it was that a select group of villagers of Kiryas Joel came to the aid of Orange’s own Gronam Ox (Neuhaus) by registering as members of the Working Families Party in order to  vote in that party’s primary election to determine its designated candidate for county executive last year.  As reported by the Times Herald-Record, “Democratic candidate Roxanne Donnery had gotten the customary blessing of the Working Families Party to run on its ballot line, but found herself challenged by her adversaries in the Village of Kiryas Joel, who petitioned for a primary and signed up dozens of new voters in the labor-backed party.”

The newly registered Working Families voters were provided with a hand stamp to use to print the name “Niki Lee Rowe” on the ballot. Ms. Rowe wasn’t really running for county executive. But she received enough “stamp-in” votes to deny Donnery the Working Families line on the ballot in November. And lo and behold,  Ms. Rowe is also none other than “Mrs. Shlemiel,” aka the wife of county legislator Amo.  An election inspector confiscated the stamp and turned it over to Gimpel the Fool (David Green, Orange County’s Republican election commissioner). One can imagine Green pulling at his beard and rubbing his forehead to show that his brain was hard at work, before ruling that stamping Rowe’s name on ballots was legal, although circulating the stamp inside the polling station was not.

This brings us to the present, as the fools now in charge of governing Orange County ponder the latest developments regarding their ill-fated, ill-advised $74 million renovation plan for the Orange County Government Center. More on this subject next week.

VALLEY VIEW UPDATE—Upwards of 200 people attended Sunday’s rally in Goshen to save the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation from privatization. The event, organized by the Citizens for Valley View (CVV), was not covered by the Times Herald-Record, but you can learn more and keep up with future events by checking out the group’s Facebook page.

EVENT OF INTEREST—An all-star group of musicians and poets will present “A tribute to Harry Smith Anthology to benefit Hungry for Music” at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 14, at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. Hungry for Music provides musical instruments to underserved children with a “hunger to play.” The concert culminates a month-long Hudson Valley music instrument drive sponsored by RadioWoodstock. Click here for more information and a list of performing artists.

Michael can be reached at michael@zestoforange.com.