"סאקע" אין שארפע אטאקע קעגן אלייענס

The Kiryas Joel's 2005 Initiative


This weekend, the Times Herald Record will report that amended annexation papers have been filed with the Town of Monroe requesting that some lands along the mutual border of the Town of Monroe and the Village of Kiryas Joel, be allowed to annex into K. J. The papers were originally filed months ago, but were missing an Environmental Assessment Form.

You can expect that similar papers will be filed with Woodbury shortly.

The request is being made by Kiryas Joel dissidents.

The next step in the process will be public hearings and environmental reviews.

It is quite likely that the matter will eventually reach the Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court. There are a number of grounds on which this request can be challenged in court.

SEQR, the State Environmental Quality Review, will play a large part in the case. So will the question of the quality of life that will be available to residents if annexation does or does not occur.

It is on this question of quality of life that SOCA At Work can help to prevent annexation. We need to talk to people who lived in what is now Kiryas Joel at the time that the village was created.

Anyone who has first hand knowledge of (or access to records about) what happened to these people, needs to contact us. We also need people who are free to do research on this.

The timing of these filings is designed to maximize panic in the areas that were targeted by blockbusters. Fear is the block busters favorite weapon.

We expect the block busting activity to start up again within a few weeks. As soon as that happens we will need to have volunteers ready to head to the target areas on a few minutes notice. We particularly need people who have video or still cameras.

By acting as witnesses and documenting what goes on you will be able to stop the block busting. We are not interested in physical confrontations. We are interested in using the full force of the law.

These are the first two SOCA At Work projects. We need to start them now. Within a few days we will lay out other projects. They all need you.

This is the way that you will protect your communities and your homes - through organized action. We all have to work together and we have to start now.

The answer to annexation hasn't changed: "Not One Inch!"

The way to accomplish this is by working together!

Dissidence Request a Meeting with SOCA_At_Work.

After we put out our Bulletin alerting you to new movement on annexation, Jonathan Swiller was contacted by Pinkus Jakobowitz, a leader of the dissidents, the group behind the annexation bid. He expressed great unhappiness that we tied his annexation moves to the block-busting campaign on Milval and Serpi Lanes in Highland Mills.

It is very possible that the dissidents have had nothing to do with the block-busting and it was unfair of us to assume that they were behind it, but we did point out to him that his annexation moves add to the general fear that feeds the block-busting.

Pinkus and Jonathan agreed that one source of fear is the fact that the residents of KJ and of Woodbury know too little about each other, about each side's feelings and goals and motives. The less we know, the easier it is to make costly mistakes.

Last December Jakobowitz's group, the Kiryas Joel Alliance, put out an ad that stated, in part:

"...we welcome a dialogue, through which we can find ways to work in collaboration and arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to the various issues that currently appear to some as divisive. We are firmly convinced that in this spirit of goodwill amongst all parties, the concerns of each of us may be happily provided for without conflict."

These are positive words, but the only way to find out what is behind them is to put them to the test.

For that reason, a group of members of SOCA AT WORK will meet with Mr. Jakobowitz to see if there is a way for us to live together without conflict or coercion.

We will go into the meeting with our eyes open, but we will have our minds open too. We must never be afraid to talk to people. As we have said before, "when our homes are at stake, there is no such thing as too much information."

We will let you know how the meeting goes.

SOCA AT WORK:

Mindy Prosperi
Nanci Binder
Jonathan Swiller
Robert Fromaget
Shelby Young
Eli Ignatoff
Rud Lawrence
Nahum Bachrach
Jonathan Swiller


Contact SOCA at Work: info@socaatwork.org

Visit our web site and become a member of SOCA at Work: www.socaatwork.org


http://www.socaatwork.org/

The request is being made by Kiryas Joel dissidents.

The timing of these filings is designed to maximize panic in the areas that were targeted by blockbusters. Fear is the block busters favorite weapon.

We expect the block busting activity to start up again within a few weeks. As soon as that happens we will need to have volunteers ready to head to the target areas on a few minutes notice. We particularly need people who have video or still cameras.

To:
From: Info@SocaAtWork.org
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:12:02 +0000
Subject: K.J. Alliance Reaches Out to SOCA At Work

K.J. Alliance Reaches Out to SOCA At Work

Last Sunday, Pinkus Jakobowitz, one of the leaders of the K.J. Alliance
(the Dissidents) met with several of the members of SOCA At Work. The
discussion dealt with exploring ways for all the citizens of Orange
County to live together in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Like any other group, the citizens of K.J. do not all agree with
the leadership of their community. Over the past several years, on
multiple occasions, there have been those within the community of
Kiryas Joel who have spoken up against the policies that the KJ
leadership has pursued in its dealings with the surrounding
communities.

The KJ Alliance is an umbrella organization representing dozens of
congregations that are at odds with the leadership. Together they
represent perhaps more than half of the residents of KJ. Jakobowitz
told us that they understand the need to be part of the community at
large, and says that they would like to be able to work together with
their neighbors to meet their own needs as well as the needs of those
of us who love the semi-rural nature of Orange County.

We, in turn, expressed the hope that this was so, but made it clear to
him that the annexation move by members of his organization worked
against this idea.

This was just a first meeting....a chance to look each other in the eye.
However, we are hopeful that open discussion can lead both sides to a
clearer understanding of each other's positions.

SOCA at Work made it clear that we welcome all residents of KJ as our
neighbors and support and defend their rights as citizens in our
communities. All we ask in return is that they respect the zoning laws
of our communities. As this was just a first meeting no fundamental
decisions were made.

We look forward to future discussions.

Mindy S. Prosperi
SOCA At Work