Swiss Life

Swiss Life. The title of this piece isn't really fair. Switzerland is not a big country, yet it boasts four National languages, and four different cultures to go along with them. Switzerland is about the size of the state of New Jersey in the US. So Swiss life depends on where in Switzerland you live. The majority of Swiss speak Swiss German, not to be confused with "High German" or "Hochdeutsch" which is spoken in Germany. Of course, High German is taught to Swiss German kids in school and at University, but, the spoken language is Swiss German. Swiss German is not technically a written language; High German is the written language, and the language spoken by newscasters. Swiss German is a musical sounding language- lilting and full of that cchhh sound in the back of the throat, like you would hear in French when pronouncing the French "r". German people may sometimes have a hard time understanding Swiss German. It's THAT different. Some familiar Swiss German speaking cities are Zurich, Bern, Basel, and Luzern, to name a few. 

The second largest region of Switzerland is the French speaking part. This is the region where my husband grew up and lived until he moved to New York at age 29. The Swiss French language is very much like French spoken in France, with very, very few exceptions. The words for the meals of the day are different, and a few numbers are different, for example. But overall, French people have no trouble understanding Swiss French speakers, and vice versa. The French speaking Cantons (think Counties) contain the cities of Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Vevey, and Neuchatel, to name a few. 

 The third largest region of Switzerland, with regards to language spoken, is the Italian speaking part. This is comprised of one Canton, called Ticino. Unsurprisingly, it borders Italy, and a few cities you may have heard of there are Bellinzona, Lugano, and Locarno. The Italian spoken in Ticino is much like the Italian spoken in the neighboring region of Italy, with very few exceptions. 

And lastly, but very importantly, is the Romansh language- an old, Latin based language spoken primarily in the Canton of Graubunden, a mountain region in the east of Switzerland. It is thankfully still spoken, and is being kept alive.  

The foods and culture of the people in the four regions understandably differ from one another. However, there are some aspects of Swiss life, regardless of the region, which are ubiquitous.  

 Cleanliness and transportation spring to mind. 

 I have traveled to many European countries, and I have been all over the US and parts of Canada. I have yet to find a country as clean and well ordered as Switzerland. It is sparkling. It is pristine. And I don't mean just the lack of trash lying around. I mean the sidewalks are perfect. You will never see an old person tripping and falling because there are no cracks or holes anywhere. The roads are meticulously paved at all times. You will rarely see a rundown shack of a building anywhere. Nothing is in ruins, except for the few actual ancient sites which are, in fact, ruins. 

The transportation is heavenly. The trains and trams and buses are spotless and are remarkably punctual. The ease of transport from anywhere to literally anywhere in Switzerland means that young people have almost no motivation to learn to drive. In fact, it's not uncommon for young people to wait until their twenties to get around to obtaining a driving license.  My older son will be 20 this year and it hasn't occurred to him to learn to drive. You can usually get from point A to point B faster, or just as fast by taking public transport. You can reach a remote mountaintop village without a problem by taking public transport. The trains are magic. They are quiet, have clean bathrooms, and comfortable seats. Transportation for the day may often include a telecabin (cable car), a boat, a tram, a bus, a funicular, or a train. 

 I live just outside the city of Zurich, and I am in love with the city trams. They are electric trams on tracks and they run everywhere you need to go in Zurich. They are wonderful. I enjoy traveling above ground in a city because I like to look at the sights.  

There are some traits associated with Swiss people, but I prefer not to generalize about cultures. There are always exceptions, and regionally I believe there are some differences as well. For example, people in Bern are believed to be really sweet. And some Cantons have reputations for being drinkers, or more social, but this is all difficult to truly quantify. 

I have felt very welcome since moving here in 2018. I find the Swiss to be friendly, helpful, patient, and very efficient. Of course, I am not unaware that I am a white woman whose experiences may differ greatly from someone who may not experience the same privilege that I have. 

I tell people, in German, to please excuse my German. I tell them I am learning. People are so kind and speak slowly, or switch to English. Then, most often, they actually apologize to me for their poor English, which is remarkable. I live in their country, and they are apologetic for not speaking English better? That would never happen in the US. Ever. Not to mention the fact that their English is never poor. Most people can communicate in English fairly well. In the cities this is especially the case.  But, don't ask a Swiss German to speak French! They would much rather speak English. And the same goes for Swiss French- they would rather speak English than German. I find this funny since Swiss German children start learning French in school at a very young age, and the same goes for Swiss French children learning German. But, neither has taken a shine to the other's language, generally speaking. I learned this early on when I moved to Canton Zurich. I didn't speak any German when we moved here and so I would ask people if they spoke French or English so I could communicate with them. Most of the people reacted quite expressively that they much preferred to speak English, which is a shame because I do like to practice my French whenever possible! But, no matter, I was grateful that they could accommodate me in English, and still do on occasion when my German fails me. 

 Living in Switzerland these (almost) five years has been a privilege. Of course, we were only here a short time when a worldwide pandemic hit, which absolutely sucked, but I can say that we are all happy with our decision. I've made wonderful friends, I've traveled, attended amazing cultural events like a small-town cowbell festival, and we have enjoyed the natural beauty of this remarkable country. I feel extremely lucky.

Swiss Miss

It has been almost a year since we've moved to Switzerland from Monroe, NY.

What a difference almost a year makes.

It seems more like decades since I kicked up a lot of mud and dirt in the political playground of Orange County, New York. But in reality, my political life there all started in 2012. Almost seven years ago.

I live on another continent now. A whole new life.

You can move anywhere in the world, but your temperament, your values, your passions stay the same.

I read the news every day. The justice chip which has always resided in me is alive and well. The chip was responsible for propelling me into the belly of the beast of the dysfunction and mayhem which was Monroe, NY politics. It is that same chip which causes me such pain and anguish in reading about the state of the world climate, and the frequency of mass shootings in my homeland of the USA.

I sit from afar in frustration. I donate, I sign petitions, and I will continue to vote as is my right as a US citizen. But I cannot hit the streets, pound the pavement, and knock on doors.

I can march for climate in Zurich. I can march for human rights here. I can join Expat activist groups. And I will.

For now, I am enjoying being mom and wife. I am enjoying being here and home for my boys.

My boys missed a lot of evenings of mom-time during those years in Monroe when I led a grassroots movement in NY. I am so happy to be here now. They are my main focus and I am so grateful for that. My sons are happy to be in Switzerland. They love the culture, the ease of transportation, the safety, the proximity to mountains and culture. They have made friends easily and their German aptitude far exceeds my own. I do not wish to paint a perfect picture. No transition, especially with a teenager, is easy. And we have had our bumps this year. But, we have been tremendously supported this year by the local school district. We feel extremely fortunate.

I start up German language lessons again in September. I took a break from German language this summer to focus on the boys.

I am looking forward to getting back into it- and giving it my all. It ain't an easy language, that's for sure.

 I'll keep this entry short. There is much more to come. I intend to make a practice of writing frequently for a few reasons:
1. It's a muscle I used to flex so often when I was leading the grassroots movement in Monroe, and I'd like to keep the muscle active.
2. I'd like to connect with those I care about.
3. I'd like to document my memories because some of them have great significance to me and many others.

Wishing you all peace and love.

Emily

A Movement Begins...

In my last post, I left off at a turning point.

Hundreds of people were attending town board meetings in the fall and winter of 2012.  We were disgusted by the Monroe Town Board's behavior.

Supervisor Sandy Leonard slammed her gavel, and shouted at frustrated residents.  Harley Doles, the Acting Supervisor, rattled off his pie-in-the-sky visions for the movie theater the Town Board had just purchased, without public input, and Councilman McQuade accused citizens of antisemitism for absolutely no reason at all, as often as he could.  Councilman Dan Burke was in a constant state of agitation and irritability, and Councilman Colon was the king of the face-palm. He looked absolutely  miserable.

What the citizens quickly discerned from these unpleasant meetings held at the Senior Center in Monroe, was that this Town Board had no interest in representing all of the citizens of Monroe.

Harley Doles, Acting Supervisor, the man I mentioned in my last post titled "Enter the Villain" was the guy calling the shots.  Sandy Leonard, the Town Supervisor, was merely a figurehead.  An ill tempered one at that, but she wielded no power.

Doles, in relationship to the newly purchased movie theater, was acting on his deluded desires for a legacy.  He wanted his name on the Town movie theater, and he wasn't going to let something as frivolous as hundreds of unhappy taxpayers get in his way.

He was on a mission.  A mission to spend Town money as though it was his own.

He was, and still is, a puppet for the Kiryas Joel leaders who elected him.

The State of New York is an odd and redundant place.  We have Towns.  Then we have Villages which sit inside of Towns.  So, we have a Town Supervisor and Council, then there are Mayors and Trustees who govern the Villages inside of the Towns.  Very redundant.  And wasteful.

In the Town of Monroe, there are three Villages:  Village of Monroe, Village of Harriman, and the Village of Kiryas Joel.

The Village of Kiryas Joel is unique, and illegal.  It's entirely Hasidic and separatist. There is no separation of church and state within this Village, and there is no way for anyone to purchase land or an apartment in this Village if you are not Hasidic.  Complete segregation.
What is also interesting about Kiryas Joel, is that the leaders decide who their citizens vote for.  So, on election day, citizens are sent numerous phone calls, flyers, and even trucks with loud speakers travel throughout the one-square-mile-village, to ensure a high voter turn out every time.  On election day, the Kiryas Joel citizens walk up to their polling place where day laborers are stationed outside with instruction cards for them which tell them exactly how to vote, and who to vote for.

The citizens of Kiryas Joel (KJ), head into the polls and do exactly as they are told.

The leaders of Kiryas Joel then have in place their very own puppets in the Town government, and get whatever they want.  In the case of the year 2013, it was land, land and more land.  But, I will get to that later.

So, Harley Doles was installed in Town government to do the bidding of the Kiryas Joel leaders.

And that he did.

But Doles also wanted a movie theater, and the KJ leaders said, "Sure, go ahead, buy your theater, and have fun!  It will be a great distraction to the people of Monroe when we try to steal 507 acres of land next year!"

So, here we all were.  Sitting in interminable meeting after meeting.  Speaking at the podium.  Getting interrupted, shut down, screamed at, disrespected, abused, and ignored.

It was at these meetings that I met some of the people who I would come to love, and call some of my dearest friends.

Lolie Farrell, for a shining example.  Monroe resident of almost 40 years.  Mother of five, Grandmother of many. And a spit-fire with a heart of gold and boundless energy.

Lolie and I became fast friends and she's like a second mom to me.  My favorite afternoons happen when Lolie stops by for a cup of tea and we talk about Monroe, family, life, and love at my kitchen table.  She's a stunning icy-blue eyed red head who could run circles around most people half her age. 

Lolie stood up, fearlessly, and entered into the first of what was to be two lawsuits against the Town of Monroe against their purchase of the movie theater.  We were in this together, big time.

Our law suit helped stop a lot of the damage which could have been done financially in Monroe since the Judge on the case granted an injunction disallowing the Town of Monroe to open the theater, or do any work outside of necessary repairs until the judge made her decision.  This held the spending at bay for quite some time while we organized, and formed what was to become the largest, most powerful grassroots organization in Orange County, New York:  United Monroe.

By the Spring of 2013, after countless Town Board meetings resulting in more and more enlightenment as to just how bad our Town government was, we were ready to form our non-partisan coalition.

We learned that the voters outside of Kiryas Joel voted their party line in all local elections.  Monroe is almost exactly 50 percent Democrat, 50 percent Republican.  Kiryas Joel, on the other hand, doesn't vote party line.  The citizens vote for whoever the leaders tell them to.

So, if KJ leaders want the Democrat to win that year, the Democrat wins, because half of the rest of Monroe votes Democrat.

I realized this pattern could not continue.  I realized that in order for the REST of Monroe to have some representation in government, we needed to stop voting our party line in local elections.

After all, Town Council people do not decide on gun rights, gay rights and abortion.  This is local government!  There is no reason at all for partisanship on the local level.  At all.

So, I decided to form a third party- inclusive of all, where all Monroe citizens could cast their votes.

At this point, we had hundreds of supporters for the "Save the Theater" movement.  We had hundreds of email addresses, and the Town Board meetings were packed every month.  We had the beginnings of a movement, and we needed to keep up the momentum.

In April of 2013, I scheduled a meeting in the back room of our local pizza place, Planet Pizza, who were so generous to host us.

This was the night we were going to vote on a name for our movement.  I wanted to make sure all of the people who had stepped up since day one were heard and involved.  People like Mike and Diane Egan, Phil Gagler, Cristina Kiesel, Debbie Behringer, Marc Miller, Eileen Ruddy, Neil Dwyer, and so many more.  These people formed the backbone of our organization.

We announced the candidates who would be running against Harley Doles, Gerard McQuade and Rick Colon that coming November of 2013 on the newly formed, "United Monroe" line.

I was going to run for Town Supervisor.  I was a reluctant candidate.  But, having put the word out for people to contact us if they were interested, and having received no responses, I knew I had to put my money where my mouth was.

The months to come would prove to be life changing, monumentally enlightening, and extremely difficult.

 To be continued......

Enter the Villain

You know when you meet someone, and they give you a bad feeling......like, a feeling in your stomach, you just can't quite describe?

I got that feeling the first time I spoke with our Monroe Town Supervisor.

It was like I was being swindled, with every word he chose, every attempt to "win" me over, I became more and more uneasy.

I can deal with a salesperson.  He or she has a sale to make, and they want you to feel good about buying whatever they're selling.  With the Supervisor, it was different.  He was just lying.

In November of 2012, my neighbor called me to tell me that our brand new, six cinema multiplex theater in our village was purchased by our Town Board.

The theater had gone out of business, rather quickly.  Not because people weren't attending movies, but, because the owner had gotten himself into legal and financial trouble and wound up in prison.

The bank took the building, and subsequently auctioned it off.

The Town Board, at a budget meeting, with no public present, and without any prior public input, resolved to purchase the movie theater, at auction, the very next day, for up to one million dollars.

The Board sent one Councilman to the auction where he won the bid for $880,000.

The Town Board had no business plan and no fleshed out, concrete idea as to what they could or would do with this building.  In the Times Herald Record article, Board members mentioned that they planned on possibly using the building as a Town Hall.

They took it off the tax rolls which means the School District alone was losing $40,000 in tax revenue.

There were two other bidders at the auction who wanted to buy the building to open up a movie theater, which would have kept the building on the tax rolls.

So, after I received the phone call from my neighbor, and read the Times Herald Record article covering the Town's purchase, I decided to make a few phone calls.

My sense of curiosity couldn't let this one slide.

My first call was to then Town Supervisor, Sandy Leonard.  She was unavailable to take my call.

My second call was to one of the bidders on the building who was named in the Times Herald Record article.  He is a successful developer, and in fact, is responsible for the construction of the Eitz Chaim Synagogue in Monroe.  He was kind enough to take my call, and he shared with me his intention was to buy the building and open the movie theater. He had done his homework, understood the structure of the building, and shared with me some of the issues the building had, including water damage as well as the need to upgrade the projectors.  He also shared with me his surprise that a municipality would buy such a building since the floors are slanted for stadium seating and are not built for office use.

My next call was to Acting Supervisor, (current Town Supervisor),  Harley Doles.  This is where that feeling comes in.  That bad feeling.  That feeling that you're talking to a shyster of epic proportions.  That the person on the other end of the phone is cunningly calculating your angle, and is playing to it, while speaking in a stream of non-sequitur sales pitches, oozing deceit and corruption.

I said, "Councilman Doles, I'm calling to ask about the Town Board's purchase of the movie theater".

The first thing out of Doles mouth, instead of a positive, reasoned explanation, was this:

"Yes, Ms. Convers, did you know that the other two bidders were going to turn the theater into an office building?  We saved the building!"

He is the savior in this story.  And he is also a liar.  I know this, because I had just spoken with the other potential buyer, who didn't give me a creepy, weird, ominous feeling at all.  In fact, the other guy is a husband and dad of two kids and lives in Warwick, and was quite friendly and kind.

I went on to say, "What are you going to do with the building, Mr. Doles?"

Here's where it gets even more odd.

I had done a charity theater production for the Presbyterian Church earlier that year.  Doles was a member of the Presbyterian Church and knew that I was in that production.  Here was his angle.

"Ms. Convers, you like theater, don't you?  You know the Troiano's? They're going to run the theater!  We're going to have stage productions, and they're going to run it!  It's going to be great!"

I shared with Mr. Doles my concerns about their lack of a concrete plan, and the fact that they spent almost a million dollars on a building without taxpayer input.

He continued to bob and weave and convince me that I will love it, because I'm "in the theater".

The Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center is only minutes away and has been struggling since it was built.   Museum Village has a community theater troupe and a theater.  The School District has multiple plays each year.

I was a theater major in college.  I do love the arts.  I don't love liars, and I don't trust a man like Harley Doles to provide me with arts and culture.  Nor do I want someone as disjointed and irresponsible as he is to use my tax dollars to provide a cultural center for me.

I decided to attend some Town Board meetings to get a look at our government at work.

I was not alone.  Many people showed up to the Town Board meeting which immediately followed the Town's purchase of the movie theater.  And for many different reasons, people were not pleased.

It was the Town Board's response to this displeasure that was the most enlightening.  It was immediately apparent to me that the Town Board was not working for the people in that room that night.

There were other forces at play here, and the more I organized and the more I attended meetings, the more I understood the level of corruption we were dealing with.

To be continued..........

Why Blog?

In my small New York town, we've created a movement.

A movement for change.  A movement for preservation.  A movement to end and expose corruption wherever it lives.

This blog will be a place for me to talk about our movement, the amazing United Monroe organization, and its unbelievable volunteers. 

I'll be writing about how we got started, and how we grew to be the largest grassroots group Orange County has ever seen.

I'll be writing about our message and our story.

In my own words.

This is my first blog entry.  I will commit to posting a new entry every week.

I hope my readers find it interesting, educational, and if I'm lucky, inspiring.

Thanks for reading.

Emily