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Local Columnist LaunchesLand Use Website

January 3, 2006– Gallatin, NY– James Sheldon, whose newspaper column, “Views From Gallatin,” has won acclaim as a leading voice on land use issues in the Hudson Valley, announced today the launch of a new website designed to expand the reach of the column and provide readers with broader coverage of the financial costs of rapid development.

The website, LittleTownViews.com, is “a community catalyst and information resource dedicated to the proposition that we all have the right to live and raise our children in a small-town setting,” said Mr. Sheldon, a journalist, financial analyst and consultant.

Anchoring the site is “Views From Gallatin,” his widely respected land use column that also appears monthly in The Independent of Columbia County and The Millerton News in Dutchess County. The column draws on Mr. Sheldon’s professional background to quantify the financial impact of rapid growth on rural communities. Past columns have also highlighted planning techniques and tax policies that have helped many municipalities reduce the high public cost of private development, promote affordable housing and support local agriculture.

In addition to expanding the readership of the monthly column and launching a more frequent “For The Record” commentary, the website aims to serve as a clearinghouse for other resources that can help public officials and citizens better understand the pros and cons of growth and craft the policies that can best implement their views.

“I am very excited that readers who sign up as members to the site free of charge will not only have ready access to my columns and other postings but will also be able to exchange their comments, questions and sources of information with each other,” Mr. Sheldon said. “The site can easily be expanded to include a live, on-line forum on land use and municipal finance issues if the demand is there.”

LittleTownViews.com, Mr. Sheldon writes in the site’s Statement of Principles “is neither pro-growth nor anti-development in its vision, neither right nor left in its political leaning, neither for nor against ‘progress.’ Rather, our central view, based on in-depth research and level-headed analysis, is that runaway growth of the sort proposed for many of our rural towns would lead to substantially higher property taxes, more crowded schools, less affordable housing, and little economic gain other than for the developers and builders whose high returns we, the taxpayers, would be forced to subsidize.

“Responsible government, thoughtful planning and active community involvement do not stand in the way of progress; they are essential ingredients in helping us all define what we view as progress itself.”

Mr. Sheldon said he hopes to earn a return on his investment in the site through additional consulting contracts, new speaking engagements and advertising from a limited number of site sponsors.

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