Ralph’s Good Little Boy

Ralph wants control

It's slowly (oh so slowly) dawning on him that, as the Town Supervisor lacking a majority of votes on the Town Board, he's not going to get it.

Time for plan B.

That's B as in Burke.

Well, to be honest we're far beyond plan B.  

We're past Q and R and S.  Ralph has tried so many times to take over Woodbury.

So let's call it plan T as in Tommy.

Tommy isn't even pretending that he's not Caruso's boy.

The two of them are knocking on doors together.

Tommy suffers from delusions of adequacy.

He may actually think that he's going to be Ralph's partner, but that's not the way things work in Carusoworld.

Give the boy a lollipop.

Just don't give him anything dangerous.

Like a vote.

                         To read other posts by Uncle Betty click here.

What We Don’t Know and What We Do

So far we don’t know why the Town Board suspended Police Chief Vasquez and so we have no way to evaluate the move.

However, the Chief’s release of a recording that he made during a meeting some months ago with Ralph Caruso does give us a great deal of information about how Caruso acts as Supervisor.

The tape can be heard in its entirety here:

https://soundcloud.com/vasquez4sheriff/woodbury

Starting at around 6 minutes in and then again at about 28 minutes Ralph attempts to force the Chief to give police vehicle repair business to McKenzie motors stating repeatedly that as Supervisor he wants work to be given equally to all town vendors.

In and of itself this would be quite laudable.

However the Chief explains that McKenzie has not only been ripping off the police department, but has done dangerously shoddy work on the police cars.

Amazingly, Ralph states quite plainly that he doesn’t care.

“I want it done, plain and simple,” he says.

For some reason Ralph is willing to allow tax money to be wasted and police officers to be put at risk in order to enrich Glen McKenzie.

Ralph says: “I’m the guy with the ultimate responsibility.” But if something goes horribly wrong it’s Woodbury tax payers who’ll be on the hook.

Also, Ralph doesn’t get that he isn’t the guy with ultimate responsibility.  Ultimate responsibility lies with the Town Board as a whole.

If a town board wishes to give a supervisor special powers it can vote top do so.

During the town reorganization Ralph repeatedly asked for more power and the board repeatedly said no.

Ralph doesn’t understand that. 

He’s never understood that. 

And as long as he’s Supervisor he will refuse to understand that.

                                        To read other posts by Uncle Betty click here.

OK, Now It Matters

Ten more days until the election, so the Uncle will stop binge watching Netflix and pay attention.

Among other things we've got the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Q and A on Tuesday, and with all the various Town and Village candidates invited it will look like a Republican primary debate.

Can we borrow that nifty Air Force One from the Reagan Library?

As the Uncle understands it (which may well be wrong) the event will take place October 27th at the Central Valley Elementary School starting at 6:15.

SIX FIFTEEN?  

Can that be right?

OK, we'll double check that.

Alan Kula's Odd View Of Free Speech

It seems that the Pieman has returned to the Burma Shave type signs that he previously used in 2004 when OCEAN supported Bonnie Kraham in Monroe for the State Assembly.

What are Burma Shave signs?

They look like this:

Great poetry it ain't, but it does seem like a pretty straight forward sentiment. 

Yeah, so?

Well, a fellow named Alan Kula has a problem with it.

Here's what he posted on Facebook:

Anyone in touch with someone from the Town Clerks office in Woodbury? On Ridge Road heading toward RT105 someone put up small signs sending some sort of message that makes no sense. Unless these were approved by the Clerk's office I would like them removed first thing Monday.

I will be calling.

so?

Well, first of all, does it really make no sense to suggest that you should know the facts before you vote?

But more to the point, let's say that Alan Kula honestly can't get his mind around that.

Why does that mean that the signs should be removed?

Is there a new Kula test for free speech?

If Kula doesn't understand, then you don't get to say it?

Mistreating Ralph

The Uncle has been accused of being just a Caruso bashing site.  

How unfair!

We bash so many others as well.

Actually there is a different site that appears to go out of its way to create the impression that Ralph is a lying megalomaniac.  

I'm not recommending them, they're filled with rumors and out right lies.  

But if you're going to accuse us of painting a terrible picture of Ralph, you should see who's really doing that.

For What It's Worth

The Uncle's new blog (this one) has passed 15,000 page views.

That's either 15,000 different people reading it once

or one terribly lonely and bored person reading it 15,000 times

or some mix in between.

What should that mean to you?

Not much, I guess.

Ordered To Volunteer?

So, now that Caruso's own district (the folks who know him best, perhaps?) have voted him off the Republican Committee, which sitting member of that happy group will Ralph order to resign so that Don (the Ankle Biter) Siebold can appoint Ralph to the vacancy?