ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE:

DOES PETER KNAPP HAVE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

Knapp owns the most viable piece of commercial real estate in Preble. It's the large piece of land on the north west quadrant of 81 and 281. (It has been rumored that Flying J would build there because it is large enough.)

Knapp was just appointed to the Water Protection Committee that will review and make suggestions for changes about our laws. It is reasonable to assume he would oppose any strengthening of our laws that would interfere with a sale or reduce the value of his land. This puts him in a position to influence the WPC and will later vote on his own suggestions. Therefore he has a conflict of interest between serving the interests of the town and his own interests. He should excuse himself from the vote and if that is true then he should not be on the committee now or part of any deliberations about this subject. But he IS on the committee and the only way to prevent his negative influence is at the caucus. If he is put back on the Town Board then there is little that can be done to protect us other than more lawsuits.


Why was Betty nervous?

At first I thought it was because she knew how people would react to her appointment of Peter to the WPC. Betty did look and act nervous when she appointed Peter at the last Town Board meeting. But months ago when Peter was late and didn't come to the meeting everybody was very loose, relieved, cracking jokes etc. When Peter is there they are all tense and nervous... Wonder why. I remember thinking at the time how much nicer it was with him not there but I didn't dwell on it. After Betty's nervousness on appointing Peter it brought things into a new light. Peter usually just sits in his chair staring down at his hands, saying little or nothing. He rarely talks, just listens. I'm beginning to think Betty's nervousness and the tenseness in the room is because everybody is following Peters orders and they are worried they will make a mistake and their ruler will chastise them later. Of course I could be wrong but I've been watching these guys for four years now and that's how it starting to look to me.

Caucus is next month.

INVESTMENT NOTE

It's not just the stock market that's been telegraphing "trouble"about the economy. The price of thoroughbreds has watched Wall Street's gyrations.

Yearlings that sold for an average of $27,295 in 1994 were fetching $54,506 in 2000. But recent sales have seen 20 percent declines from a year ago.

Moral: If you invest in horses, don't expect stable prices.

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Sorry, couldn't resist... I love them groaners.

FOR WOMEN

Man to librarian: Where do I find the book "Man is the Superior Sex"

librarian: In the fiction section.

A WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST:

She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee.
Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box.
Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.
Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl.
And her husband is on the back of the milk carton.

WHAT'S A GOB?

Who's a GOB might be a better question. Is Peter Knapp a GOB? Yep, he sure is. How about Betty Pitman, is she a GOB? Yes again. What then about John Steger who, in case you didn't know is our legislator. I like to think of him as our stealth legislator. We know he's there but you can't tell because he never does anything. And the answer is, Yes! John is a GOB.What about ex-legislator Max Stoker and his wife JP Marilyn Stoker, are they GOBs? Yes, although not as well placed in the GOB community as they once were. At this point you might be wondering what it takes to be a GOB? You have to be connected in Preble and/or Cortland. Is Don Armstrong a GOB? Don has been the town boards lawyer for a long time and has connections in Cortland. The answer is yes, Don is a GOB. There are a number of stealth GOBs around too. These are people who have power but don't show themselves. I'll be talking about them in the future but for now I've made you wait long enough. GOB stands for Good Old Boy. Simple isn't it. The GOBs run Preble and much of the time they do OK by the people. Sometimes they use their power to enrich themselves or other GOBs. Peter GOB Knapp used his power as Supervisor to enrich his GOB buddies Max and Marilyn Stoker when he looked the other way when the Song Mountain well was installed on Stokers property. This led to the sale of that property to Song. By the way the Stokers couldn't sell that land because there is a flood plane running through the middle. But Peter GOB Knapp made the difference and the GOB Stokers made the sale. The next story tells much of the rest of GOB Peters exploits. I'm tempted to talk about Don GOB Armstrong who has his fingers in up to his shoulder but I'm going to save that for later. Next time you see one of the GOBs wish them a GOB day.

Caucus is next month

DID YOU KNOW...

During Peter Knapp's tenure as Supervisor and town board member the following happened:

Billboard put up on Knapp land
Agway plant 'almost' put in on Knapp land
Cell tower put up on Knapp land
Illegal Song Mountain well put in on Marilyn Stoker land
Flying J almost put in next to Knapp land
Illegal rezone of Knapp land to bilk the state out of millions

Cost of litigation for Preble taxpayers: Tens of thousands
Cost of litigation for Knapps: NONE (Knapps lawyers fees, (Leija), were paid by taxpayers)

Income to Knapps... unknown (over $750k) but probably close to a million.
Income to Preble... NONE!

Caucus is next month.