The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 16

EDITORIAL eljc ctourtuHKctu J5 ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y., MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1974 16A Hazards business Soviet teamwork OUR READERS WRITE- STRETCH says xNo' on budget The Journal-News is reprinting portions of the following letter, which appeared Saturday, because a typographical error altered the position of STRETCH on the budget in the East Ramapo School District. As the following corrected version states, STRETCH is advocating a no vote on the budget. MARSHAL Andrei Grechko, the Soviet defense minister, trotted out familiar old sabre-rattling rhetoric in a recent speech, insisting that "imperialism" is carrying on preparation for war but that the Soviet Union is "doing everything necessary" to perfect its defense system. This dovetails with a widespread notion that Grechko is the hawk in the hierarchy while party leader Leonid Brezhnev is, at least by Soviet standards, a dove in quest of detente and peace. One remembers President Truman saying once that he had liked Stalin but lamenting that "Old Joe" was a prisoner of the Politburo.

Then, too, Khrushchev was widely featured as a peace-seeking sort of chap who had to be accommodated because there were more formidable ogres waiting to succeed him. THROUGHOUT there is an impression of two wily characters, each working one side of the street. It's reminiscent of the legendary practice whereby two detectives, one playing the "ornery" cop, the other playing a sympathetic type, take turns in trying to thaw out a hot suspect. Analyzing the relatively endearing or dismaying personalities of Soviet officials is, as always, largely a waste of time. The safe assumption is that the contrasts are a form of teamwork, that Soviet capabilities rather than presumed intentions are what count, and that the best proof of Soviet professions of detente rests in what agreements Moscow is willing to accept and observe.

Amtrack advances To the Editor: This year's East Ramapo School District problems are no different from last year's, except that they are more pronounced. Supporters of this latest big-spending team have done no homework. They should be expected to learn that senior citizens, fixed-income people and even those who can afford free-wheeling budgets have a right to expect reasonable budgets that consider the ability of the community to pay, and the educational priorities of students. THE STRETCH candidates, Richard Urovsky, Ab-bie Israel and Al Lamy, know that the good education East Ramapo is capable of providing should not carry the unconscionable price tag of $40 million. STRETCH does not intend to engage the opposition slate in ludicrous and wasteful debates on personalities.

STRETCH suggests to the voter to look at their pocketbooks, read school-tax bills, ask what it is that their children are receiving in East Ramapo, and vote their conscience. We stand firm. STRETCH says no on the budget, and yes on Urovsky, Israel and Lamy. NANCY BERNSTEIN Spring Valley (The writer is chairman of STRETCH, Committee to Stretch Ramapo School Tax Dollars.) ED1U nATDIUB BTNDICATB MATTERS ARE moving right along for Amtrak, the national railroad passenger corporation. The Nixon administration has approved guarantees of $347 million to cover loans to Amtrak.

Ridership was up 18 per cent in April over the same month in 1973. Chicago-New York traffic was up 94 per cent, and New Orleans-Los Angeles up 46 per cent. It's about been established that we need rail transportation to supplement highway travel and airlines. It's also been proven that you can turn around a dying industry like the railroads, despite tremendous backlogs in needed maintenance and turned-off public attitudes. WHAT'S STILL lacking in the recovery of the railroads is complementary activity by local communities and transportation facilities.

The Harmon station, where Amtrak trains stop in Westchester, might as well be in Nebraska as far as convenient accessibility is concerned. And upstate cities like Albany and Syracuse are served by Amtrak stations 'way out of town, requiring expensive taxi rides. More than ever, we need coordinated, master-plan thinking in portation. Every mode of travel can be aided by taking other modes into consideration. Ramapo valuation held valid 'Frost vs.

Assessor' Paying in Sloatsburg VIEWPOINT Barring a friend By JOHN F. McALEVEY Nothing has characterized the opponents of the administration in the town of Ramapo in the last several years as much as their demagogy. On occasion, this has been coupled with outright efforts at deceiving the public in ways very transparent to those who know the facts. The latest such example was the disgraceful exhibition by the mouse that roared in Sloats-burg. The new mayor of Sloatsburg would be comic if he were not so pathetic.

Having no programs to offer for the people of the village, he announced a grand foreign adventure, to wit-attack the town of Ramapo. More specifically, and this is where the transparency occurs, he is going to lead an attack upon the propriety of the town of Ramapo's assessment THE YELPS were to be expected. Roosevelt Island, the planned community being built on the former Welfare Island in the East River, is going to ban dogs. "A dog is like apple said Max Schnapp, president of the Dog Owners Protective Association. That may be a peculiar simile, but Schnapp is probably close to the mark when he adds, "I don't think Americans for long will stand for the keeping out of dogs." What neither Schnapp nor the ex-clusionists seem ready to talk about is a compromise.

Careless owners of dogs are responsible for most of the objections to the canines' presence, Maybe you can't stop the dogs from barking, but you can exercise control of their behavior outdoors on a leash. As for the Roosevelt Island esthetes who declare that "dog droppings won't blend in" with the brick-type paving material, they should be able to exercise a little imagination and innovation to provide a few areas for dog runs. THE "CITY of the Future," whether on Roosevelt Island or anywhere else, would be a less humane place, on balance, without the presence of man's best friend. To the Editor: Since The Journal-News sought to discuss the tax problems of the village of Sloatsburg in its editorial column, it is my wish to receive equal publication time. The editorial was written without one question asked of the village clerk or board members.

The insinuation was that the village was having trouble economically. Nothing could be further from the true facts. As a matter of record, the village of Sloatsburg will end its current fiscal year with a surplus of about $40,000. This after delivering all I repeat, all -necessary municipal services to its taxpayers. THIS WRITER has attempted to have your paper verify his accusation of unfair taxation by making use of any and all records in the village office.

That offer still stands; you may at any time check our records for receipt of services given by the town of Ramapo. You will find none. The present problems have arisen because the amount of tax dollars demanded by the town of Ramapo has steadily increased over the past several years. Last year, after their "most accurate and equitable appraisal," the amount from each village taxpayer sent to the town of Ramapo was approximately $150 per landowner. There are approximately 900 landowners and the arithmetic is simple.

One can see at a glance, using low figures, $135,000 is paid for nothing. This year appraisals were up 20-35 per cent on verified figures. Are we stupid to complain about spending so much for nothing? If all municipal services are given by the village, of what benefit is the town? This is the primary question. INCORPORATED villages deliver at their level all necessary services. The town provides nothing but a receptacle for tax dollars.

The taxpayers can afford that luxury no more. We do not need governmental leeches for our hardearned dollars. The town lives in the luxury of legislative fiat. The villages provide economical services and pay for the existence of the town. We really don't need them.

They need our tax dollar to continue to build their domains. Again, I offer you all available records to ascertain the validity of our statements. We pay dearly, and receive nothing. To add insult to injury, we are reappraised to pay even more. THOMAS B.

SMITH Sloatsburg (The writer is Sloatsburg village mayor.) Gag-rule progress the benefits they allege are being denied them, a very simple remedy exists. If the village is disincorporated, the town will bear the full responsibility for all municipal services, the town will build sidewalks in Sloatsburg where they may be needed as it does in other parts of the unincorporated town; the town will provide municipal refuse collection, probably more efficiently than the village does at present, and the salaries of the unnecessary local officials such as Mr. Smith and his board of trustees and their various boards and commissions can be saved the taxpayers of the village. The town of Ramapo's assessment program is a good one in fact, it is the best in the State of New York. It is being emulated by other communities and may one day become the pattern for the handling of real property assessments on a statewide basis.

Until that day comes, however, those puny individuals who have not the courage to tell people the truth only give us a measure their own stature by attacking one of the few programs in the state really designed to be as fair as possible in administrering a bad state law. The Ramapo program, by being fair, is only demonstrating how bad the real property tax is. Other communities hide the fact. The people should know and then they should go after change in Albany. So much for the mice that roar from Sloatsburg.

As for those other people in Ramapo, who for political or selfish reasons are attempting to put pressure on the town board to scuttle the constant re-evaluation method of assessment, they should be advised that this is not a matter which the town board can control. NEITHER THE supervisor nor the council-men legally have any control over what the assessor does in this regard. A commendable first step in the State of New York's program for assessment reform of a few years ago was to remove the political element from the assessment programs by giving qualified assessors virtually life-time tenure. This was to protect them from political pressures and enable them to do an always unpopular job free of the concern for "who knows who." Even in Ramapo, some members of the town board tried last year to interfere with the decision to follow the state law fully and go on a 100 per cent valuation basis. The decision went against them.

No one, least of all the town assessor, is arguing that there will not be cases of mistakes or errors, but this is what the informal conferences and subsequently the grievance procedure is for. The Ramapo system was not only good at its inception but unlike most others it should become better each year. It is infinitely per-fectable. What it requires is more public understanding, not blasts of confusing and deceitful demagogy. (The writer is a former town of Ramapo supervisor.) THIS SAME brave statement was made last year in an effort to discredit the town's new valuation in 1973 for the purpose of aiding the candidacy of Tom France.

The mayor of Sloatsburg in the case of Frost vs. Assessor, an action which had no merit other than that it generated headlines and encouraged the politically sound ideas (for the outs) that there was some hope of upsetting the new roll. No mention has ever appeared in the press to the effect that this litigation was dismissed on its merits by the court. Even before this be- trayal of the worthlessness of the suit could occur, counsel for the village successfully negotiated with the town attorney the quiet abandonment of the matter. It should be noted that Sloatsburg still has the same legal advisor.

Does Mr. Smith have any more basis for the same lawsuit this year than Mr. Frost did last year? And if the village did not have a case last year, does he propose to abuse the judicial process again or does Mr. Smith betray his hand when he suggests "busloads of people" as the mechanism for change this year? This unique aspect of the town of Ramapo's new computerized assessment data bank is that it enables the town roll to be kept currently up-to-date each year. There will be new figures every year and they will reflect current values based on what people have actually been selling their property for in the previous year.

The people who receive notices of adjustment, particularly upward, are being encouraged to the erroneous conclusion that this will represent a concomitant increase in the taxes they will pay. This is not the case. It may or may not be so. The tax rate on the new aggregate valuation of the town will be affected by what the school districts and town plan to spend. If the spending does not go up faster than the increase in ratables.

the tax rate could come down. The way to reduce the tax burden is not by arguing in favor of an inequitable tax roll. This is unconscionable. It is sheer demagogy and utterly deceitful, besides being immoral. It is necessary to control the level of spending of government.

IF THE administration in Sloatsburg would like to achieve for the residents of the village THE DAILY PROGRESS, a newspaper in Charlottesville, last week stood for progress in the endless struggle to keep the nation's courtrooms open to public scrutiny. A judge warned of a contempt citation for anyone who disclosed the fact that a motion had been filed in his court attempting to quash a grand jury proceeding against county officials charged with misconduct. Protests against so-called gag rules have been mounted before, and sometimes have been successful. But the court cases have gone on to conclusion while the gag issue is decided, and it becomes the judge's easy duty merely to say, "Sorry about that!" But this time, when the Daily Progress appealed the gag rule, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered a recess in the grand jury proceedings until the question of press freedom is decided. IN OTHER WORDS, the issue is not empty satisfaction on the part of the news media in winning an academic argument, but whether judicial process is tainted from the start if it isn't conducted in the light of public scrutiny and responsibly reported by the press.

That's what friends of freedom have been saying for a long time, and recognition of the principle by appellate courts is truly the "great victory" noted by the Daily Progress. The difference on 304 Tip from Oshkosh wards; 25 cents for grocery boys; 50 cents a bag for bellboys and skycaps, and 75 cents for errands by hotel I I HEAR the one about the traveling salesman from Oshkosh? Name's John Schein, his line is nuts and bolts. His sideline is reforming the touchy world of tipping. This effort has acquired the dimensions of a modest movement, in which Schein is augmented by 2,500 members spreading the gratuity gospel. Schein has the old-fashioned notion that tips should be given only for good, prompt service "not because we are embarrassed or guilty." Anyway, Schein has compiled a list of standard tips, as follows: 15 per cent for waiters and waitresses, bartenders, cabbies and room service; 10 to 25 cents for restroom attendants' 20 per cent for beauticians; 50 cents Vor barbers; $1 for win' ste To the Editor: As an unhappy resident of Route 304, New City, who has made numerous complaints to the Clarkstowji police and the state Department of Transportation to no avail, I am curious to know why the Bardonia area is so well patrolled by the Clarkstown police with radar teams and every so often by the evasive State Police.

I live on Route 304 between Kings Highway and Johnson Lane, which is considered the straightaway by the nightly drag-racing teams. They race back and forth each night well into the wee hours with absolutely no interference. WHEN THE police are called, they inform us that there is always a car out there and also that it is a state road, meaning, of course, that they don't want to be bothered. And, believe me, they certainly aren't. They ignore this end of Route 304 like the plague.

What I would like to know is what's the difference between Route 304 in Bardonia (could it be that many of the Clarkstown officials live there) and Route 304 in New City? Somehow, I always thought it was the same road, but obviously the police department thinks otherwise. JOSEPH L. GEORGE New City i THE JOURNAL-NEWS Evening Journal Established 1889 Daily News 1915-Consolidated 1932 Published daily and Sunday. Except Certain Holidays at 53 Hudson Avenue, Nyack, Y. 10960 by Westchester Rockland Newspapers, Inc One Gannett Drive, White Plains, Thomas P.

Oolan, President and Publisher, One Gannett Drive. White Plains, Louis A Weil, III, Executive Vice President, One Gannett Drive, White Plains, John A Sutter, Vice President and General Manager; Douglas WcCorkindale, Secretary; John Purcell.Treasurer, One Gannett Drive, White Plains, NY; William Chanin, Editor. National Advertising Representative, Story Kelly-Smith, Inc 740 Third Avenue, New York, 10017 MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL The Associated Press is entitled to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper as well as all A P. news dispatches All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved Elm wood 1-2200 ELmwood 6-3550 HAverstraw 9 4904 Night Phones Editorial 358-2201, 2202, 2203, 356-3551, 429-4905, 4906 Sports 358-2206, 356-3552, 3553 Family 358 2679 Sunday Dept. 52257.