Santa Monica Partners' Goldstein takes Warwick Valley board to task once again

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 12 - Warwick Valley Telephone Co. shareholder Lawrence J. Goldstein, affiliated with Santa Monica Partners, LP, wrote another letter to the company's board of directors, once again voicing dissatisfaction with the company's management and direction.

"As for management you have none. The last two CFOs quit, all of the vice presidents quit and the CEO quit - why you tolerate his (Herb Gareiss) remaining on the board is another amazing and unbelievable thing, since he has been the architect of our decline in the past several years," Goldstein said in the April 12 letter, included as part of a schedule 13D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Goldstein also stated in the letter that "Revenues are down, profits have turned into losses. You simply don't work in a business that's happy and let's not imagine that happiness and growth will ever be conjured up by shifting board compensation upward by triple."

The investor ended by saying: "What a drag - for me to write this (and for you to have to read it) because I really might have been the guy to save the telecom business from itself. Goodbye."

Over the past few weeks, Goldstein has written to the board drawing attention to the fact that over half of the board never invested any of their own hard-earned money in the stock of the company they control. He has also berated the board for the lack of a strategic plan and the decline of the Warwick Valley's stock.

Goldstein has also urged the company to sell, a company news release stated.

The reporting persons beneficially own 130,889 shares, or 2.4%, of the Warwick, N.Y., communication services company's stock.

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