United Monroe

09/16/2020

Congratulations to United Monroe’s Debbie Sommerlad Behringer on her re-election as Village of Monroe Trustee. We wish all of you the best as you serve the Village of Monroe for the next four years.

Thank you to all who came out to the polls to support Debbie’s dedication and hard work for our community!

09/15/2020

Good afternoon Village of Monroe voters. We received several messages and calls from people concerned that the vote scanner at Village Hall is not working.

We checked on the situation and wanted to let you know that you CAN vote.

All votes will be counted. If they are not run through the scanner, they will be counted along with the absentee ballots once the polling place closes.

Please get out and vote to re-elect Debbie Behringer as Village Trustee!

-John A.

09/14/2020

VOTE TODAY SEPTEMBER 15! - The United Monroe Executive Committee is proud to endorse Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for re-election to the Village of Monroe Board of Trustees.

Debbie’s Monroe roots grow deep. She is a lifelong resident and a mother of 4 children who attend Monroe-Woodbury schools. You’ll often see her at Pop Warner football and school lacrosse games, scouting events, and fundraisers supporting community members and organizations.

As a founding member of United Monroe, Debbie has worked tirelessly in her advocacy for accountable and transparent local government. From the first protest outside the Monroe Theater after it was purchased by the prior Town Board in 2012 - until today as a Village Trustee - Debbie has invested thousands of hours of her time in civic service for the betterment of our community.

As your Trustee, Debbie has:
• Expanded the Village’s open space by passing resolutions to annex parkland.
• Introduced and passed a Peddling and Soliciting law that requires stringent background checks and permits for solicitors and prevents residents from being disturbed by unwanted solicitation.
• Introduced and passed the property maintenance law
• Curtailed the expansion of transient housing through Village legislation, and
• Adopted fiscally responsible and transparent budgets, including a 0% tax increase for the current Village Annual Budget.

Debbie Behringer has helped to make the Village of Monroe a safer and more sustainable community.

But there is more hard work to be done. Let’s keep this team together to do it.

The United Monroe Executive Committee fully supports Debbie Behringer for re-election to Trustee of the Village of Monroe.
Please join us in voting for Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for Monroe Village Trustee on September 15 from 9am to 9pm at Village Hall.

08/26/2020

UPDATE AND NEW ELECTION DATE! – The United Monroe Executive Committee is proud to endorse Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for re-election to the Village of Monroe Board of Trustees.

Debbie’s Monroe roots grow deep. She is a lifelong resident and a mother of 4 children who attend Monroe-Woodbury schools. You’ll often see her at Pop Warner football and school lacrosse games, scouting events, and fundraisers supporting community members and organizations.

As a founding member of United Monroe, Debbie has worked tirelessly in her advocacy for accountable and transparent local government. From the first protest outside the Monroe Theater after it was purchased by the prior Town Board in 2012 - until today as a Village Trustee - Debbie has invested thousands of hours of her time in civic service for the betterment of our community.

As your Trustee, Debbie has:
• Expanded the Village’s open space by passing resolutions to annex parkland.
• Introduced and passed a Peddling and Soliciting law that requires stringent background checks and permits for solicitors and prevents residents from being disturbed by unwanted solicitation.
• Introduced and passed the property maintenance law
• Curtailed the expansion of transient housing through Village legislation, and
• Adopted fiscally responsible and transparent budgets, including a 0% tax increase for the current Village Annual Budget.

Debbie Behringer has helped to make the Village of Monroe a safer and more sustainable community.

But there is more hard work to be done. Let’s keep this team together to do it.

The United Monroe Executive Committee fully supports Debbie Behringer for re-election to Trustee of the Village of Monroe.
Please join us in voting for Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for Monroe Village Trustee on September 15 from 9am to 9pm at Village Hall.

03/25/2020

**A message from our great volunteers at the Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps**

"The Monroe Volunteer Ambulance is taking the Coronavirus situation very seriously. Our leadership is participating in daily briefings. We are responding to all calls with the proper protective gear for the safety of our patients and crews as well. This is an ever evolving situation and we are doing our best to remain up to date. The county dispatch center is screening callers for potential exposure, and we ask anyone who calls 911 to be truthful in their responses for the safety of all involved and the community at large.
The health and safety of our community is our mission and we wish everyone health and patience in these unprecedented times."

Nancy Peifer
Monroe Volunteer Ambulance President

03/21/2020

Important information from Monroe Village Mayor Neil Dwyer.

03/17/2020

Some important news about the rescheduling of village elections. Stay healthy everyone.

In an effort to keep New Yorkers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo late Monday issued an executive order delaying village el...

03/08/2020

The United Monroe Executive Committee is proud to endorse Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for re-election to the Village of Monroe Board of Trustees. Debbie’s Monroe roots grow deep. She is a lifelong resident and a mother of 4 children who attend Monroe-Woodbury schools. You’ll often see her at Pop Warner football and school lacrosse games, scouting events, and fundraisers supporting community members and organizations.

As a founding member of United Monroe, Debbie has worked tirelessly in her advocacy for accountable and transparent local government. From the first protest outside the Monroe Theater after it was purchased by the prior Town Board in 2012- until today as a Village Trustee - Debbie has invested thousands of hours of her time in civic service for the betterment of our community.

As your Trustee, Debbie has:
• Expanded the Village’s open space by passing resolutions to annex parkland.
• Introduced and passed a “no-knock” law barring realtors from unwanted solicitation
• Introduced a Village-wide property maintenance law
• Curtailed the expansion of transient housing through Village legislation, and
• Adopted fiscally responsible and transparent budgets
Along with Mayor Neil Dwyer’s administration, Debbie Behringer has helped to make the Village of Monroe a safer and more sustainable community.

But there is more hard work to be done. Let’s keep this team together to do it.
The United Monroe Executive Committee fully supports Debbie Behringer for re-election to Trustee of the Village of Monroe.

Please join us in voting for Debbie Sommerlad Behringer for Monroe Village Trustee, Row “C”, on March 18th at Village Hall.

02/12/2020

Big news for the people of Orange County!

Assembly bill A7699B, which would allow the people of towns and cities in Orange County to democratically vote for land preservation funding, passed the Assembly with massive bi-partisan support.

Yes, the vote was 143-5!

If made into law, towns like Monroe, Chester, and Blooming Grove could put the question of preservation funding to a democratic election. If we vote "yes", our towns would be permitted to enact a fraction of a percentage transfer tax, paid by the purchaser, on every land sale. The proceeds of that transfer tax would be dedicated to the purchase of open space to be held "forever green".

This is the same type of program that residents of the Town of Warwick have enjoyed for many years. In return for this fractional transfer tax, Warwick has set aside hundreds of acres that will remain protected as farmland and open space - forever.

Because of programs like this, Warwick homeowners enjoy some of the highest home values in Orange County.

This bill is identical to the one that passed both the Assembly and Senate last year for Ulster County. It was later on signed into law by Governor Cuomo. For reasons that are still unkown to us, a bill for Orange County - which was passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly - was blocked from a Senate floor vote.

Assembly bill A7699B is now back in the Senate Local Government Committee as Senate bill S6224B. It is sponsored by Senator Jen Metzger, who represents parts of Orange and Ulster Counties. It is co-sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger, who represents the 28th Senate district.

New York State government is in a position right now that it has not been in for many years - one of the two major political parties has majorities in both the Senate and the Assembly. The same party has control of the Executive Branch - meaning the governorship.

It is time for the ruling members in New York State government - who are committed to ecological action and conservation - to get this bill passed and signed into law as soon as possible. We cannot afford to wait until the very end of this legislative session, only to "just miss" on our opportunity to democratically decide on the future preservation of our communities. We cannot afford to have this bill sit on a desk in a committee room - especially during a time when the majority of our leaders are in agreement over environmental protection and land preservation.

We urge you to contact our State Senators, James Skoufis and Senator Jen Metzger, and let them know how important it is for us to get a fair chance to take part in democratic elections for land preservation in our communities.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s6224/amendment/original

We know that both of our senators are very responsive to social media messaging. Please reach out to them today, and let us know what kind of responses you receive.

Includes towns and cities within Orange county in the definition of designated community for community preservation funds; authorizes the imposition of a real estate transfer tax.

01/14/2020

The Town of Monroe is now emailing monthly updates. Our Town Government has been working hard, obtaining close to $2 million in grants for water and infrastructure projects.

There is also a link to subscribe to future email notifications on this webpage.

Thank you to the Town Board for your hard work!

12/20/2019

Congratulations to the citizens of towns and villages in Ulster County for their recently passed preservation bill. The bill became law earlier this month when it was signed by Governor Cuomo.

This new law for Ulster County means that voters can approve a transfer tax on home sales in their municipality. The funds from these transfers would be used to purchase land for perpetual open space and preservation.

This is a purely democratic process. A resolution by a town or village must be approved at the ballot box by the voters. For an example of how preservation funding works, one can simply look to the Town of Warwick, which enjoys some of the best home values in Orange County and hundreds, if not thousands, of acres set aside for green space and farming.

Last year, Senator Jen Metzger sponsored preservation bills for both Orange and Ulster Counties. Both bills passed the assembly with bi-partisan support. The Ulster bill passed a bi-partisan Senate vote and became law.

The exact same bill for Orange County was never sent to the Senate floor for a vote. Two identical bills for neighboring counties, both in dire need of land preservation, were presented to our state representatives. One is now a law, the other - ours in Orange County - was blocked from reaching the Senate for a vote.

This is where we stand today: Ulster County residents have the right to determine their future regarding preservation, while we in Orange County do not.

A brand new legislative session begins with the new year. We ask all of our supporters to contact their representatives in Albany to urge them to send an Orange County preservation bill to the Governor in 2020.

Please ask your representatives:

1. Why did this bill not get voted on in the Senate?
2. Will you support and vote for an Orange County preservation bill during the upcoming session?

Please feel free to tell us how our representatives responded in the comments below.

Members of Assembly:

Karl Brabenec: 845-544-7551
Colin Schmitt: 845-469-6929
Aileen Gunther: 845-794-5807
Jonathan Jacobson: 845-562-0888

Senators:

James Skoufis: 845-567-1270
Jenn Metzger: 845-344-3311

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on Friday that enables Ulster County towns and villages to tax property sales and use the proceeds to buy land or

12/17/2019

Hello Friends,

I've received several messages over the past couple of weeks about the development that is being built in Palm Tree / KJ across from the NY State Police barracks on Nininger Rd. It seems that some people are spreading the misinformation that the land those apartments are being build on are related to the Palm Tree separation agreement.

That is simply not true. Here are the facts:

1. The land across from the Trooper barracks has been in Kiryas Joel since 1983

2. The owner of the land, Irving Bauer, held off on building on the lot for several years due to an internal dispute with the KJ leadership.

3. Plans to develop the land in KJ was announced on September 2, 2016 - see the linked article.

On the date of the announcement to build 1,500+ units on this land, United Monroe had not yet sat at the negotiating table with KJ's leadership to discuss dividing Monroe into two towns - Monroe and Palm Tree.

Even though we were months away from negotiations - our first meeting was in March 2017 - the UM Executive Committee knew one thing with 100 percent certainty. That is, the addition of 1,500 housing units and 3,000+ voters would accelerate the influence of the KJ bloc vote on Town elections. Had UM not negotiated for the peaceful separation of KJ into a new town, the KJ bloc would have already outnumbered the rest of Monroe voters by the November 2019 Town election.

Had KJ not separated into Palm Tree, Monroe as we know it today would be a different town beginning January 1, 2020.

We can only guess why a very small group of people would want to make you believe that this development was somehow a result of United Monroe's and their supporters' volunteerism or the agreement which reduced the amount of acres that were included in Palm Tree. But again, it is simply not true.

To provide some perspective, we are also attaching a color-coded map to this post:

1. Red area: the 70 acre development across from the State Police barracks, in KJ since 1983

2. Olive green areas: 164 acre annexation, approved by the prior Town Board in 2015

3. Pale green areas: 56 additional acres added to Kiryas Joel in exchange for their separation into the Town of Palm Tree.

Please take a few moments to read the Times Herald-Record article from September 2, 2016 and to review the color coded map.

People may try to revise history, but the facts are indisputable. As much as a few people try to spread fear and doubt about the decision that 75% of us made to support separation, we have the truth.

Thanks and have a great holiday season!

-John A.

https://www.recordonline.com/news/20160902/1500-new-homes-proposed-for-kiryas-joel