People power saved Valley View

Through grassroots efforts, a group of concerned citizens rallied Orange County against the closing of Valley View Nursing Home. Through their efforts, the county legislators had to work long hours to find the money in the proposed budget from the County Executive to keep Valley View open in 2012. Those six to seven hours of committee/legislative meetings last week exposed the dysfunction of our county government. We have a legislator who had an “inexplicable mental lapse” and reconvened a meeting to do a revote because he meant to vote No; a committee that didn’t follow the rules in the county charter in order to have a revote, and then the vote on four plans that I am sure the legislators didn’t have time to review and had to vote on the last plan standing - not the plan that would have been in the best interest of Valley View and the taxpayers. The fight is not over. This week one of the committees voted for a Request for Proposal (RFP) to get bids to sell Valley View. I urge everyone to continue to attend the committee/legislative meetings and hold our elected officials accountable. We need this process to be open and transparent. A big thank you to the residents of Valley View and their families; Vanessa Bisone and Bill Oliphant of CSEA; Hudson Valley Area Federation; Union members from within and outside the county and concerned citizens that joined forces to save Valley View. My message to the legislators: We will remember in 2013. This past election a county legislator didn’t listen to his constituents and he was fired; so please welcome your new colleague, Matt Turnbull, who will represent District 11 for the next two years. Sonia Ayala Blooming Grove