What a sad moment this morning when I turned to Page 3A to see that Edward Dell, longtime advocate for veterans, had died.
In late June, I had talked to his wife, Laurel Dell, who wrote a lovely thank-you letter to all those who stepped in this Memorial Day, as Ed was too ill to attend. As commander of the Raymond W. DeMeola Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1615, Ed Dell had done so much to keep veterans issues, and remembrances, on the radar. His dedication and hard work led to the creation of the Walkway of Heroes at Camp Shanks in Orangeburg, an embarkation point for soldiers in World War II.
So often now, when reading the Obituaries, we see references to those, like Ed Dell, who served in World War II (Ed was at Pearl Harbor.) It’s such an important part of American, and world history, that’s now fading as the eyewitnesses and heroes leave us. Many, like Ed, were dedicated community servants, seemingly as part of their nature.
Now, with men and women in the military in harm’s way, and in a post-9/11 world, the Memorial Day and Veterans Day services draw more attention (or should). But Ed Dell kept coordinating services, making them inviting to all, during all times. His dedication is appreciated and will be missed.

I dropped in on County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef today, to hear more about the whole lawsuit idea with the Federal Aviation Administration and its airspace redesign plan that has Rocklanders, mostly in Ramapo and southern Orangetown, up in arms.
It’s also become the political football of “who knew what when” and it’s getting rather tiring.
So Vanderhoef explained the idea behind the suit, which he’s now seeking Requests For Proposal from five law firms with expertise in aviation issues. All very interesting, but I pushed about the whole politicizing of the issue, because, well, that’s what I do.
He was clear that the problem here is the FAA and its process, not one town or another, or one section of town. He called the FAA public notification process “a sham” and said that though he’s received knocks from other politicians because his office knew about the plan and had written letters complaining to the FAA, with nary a CC to other officials, the real problem here is the FAA. In fact, he says he found out about the plan from a Bergen County activist, after the public hearing portion had closed, and his office can’t find ANY of the so-called documentation (a newsletter and postcard) the FAA claims it sent him.
He did say, “In hindsight, we should have copied our federal officials … frankly, we were struggling to get the information” and his office wasn’t clear where, exactly, the flight impact would be for quite some time.
“I don’t know if they’re lying or completely incompetent,” he said of the FAA.
There’s no sense in criticism now, he says (no surprise). “The fact is, the FAA didn’t do anything … we did what we thought was appropriate.” He pretty much acknowledged it wasn’t, in hindsight.
More FAA bashing was forthcoming: “An outrageous arrogance of a federal agency,” the Republican said at one point.
So, he’s encouraging the politicking to ease up, and plans to reach out the county execs around the region, including New Jersey.
He even made sure to give credit to Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner for passing on the name of another aviation law firm to check out.
And made it clear that another Democrat, Phil Tisi, assistant to Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence, was the one that made sure a stenographer was at the FAA town hall-style meeting Monday night in Hillburn—not the FAA that had pledged to treat Rocklanders’ comments as part of the Environmental Impact Statement public record.
OK, not handled well, lesson learned. Now, can’t we all just get along?

Today’s Journal News article about the cut-and-paste job on the county Legislature’s portrait is getting a lot of attention. This time, newbie Legislator Jay Hood Jr. not only was appointed to Roman Rodriguez’ seat, he inherited his body, too. (See photo here.) In the article, it was explained that this occurs sometimes, because it’s difficult to get all the legislators together, especially during the summer when their meeting schedule is light.
In the past, Legislator Pat Moroney, who’s well over 6 feet, shrunk to about 5’8”. Legislator VJ Pradhan’s head has been on legislature clerk Larry Toole’s body.
Legislator Connie Coker, D-17th District, also found herself, er, transformed when she was first appointed. Her head was appended to former Legislator Denise Kronstadt’s body. “I love it. Suddenly, I’m tall and thin,� laughed Coker, who I hate to say, is taller than me when she’s in her own body.