Thursday, December 10, 2015

THE 12/10/15 GAZETTE: A LETTER FROM JOHN O'CONNELL

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RE-PRINTED WITH PERMISSION; THE 12/10/15 GAZETTE: A LETTER FROM JOHN O'CONNELL (sent a few weeks ago but only now printed in the paper).

Letter to the editor,

It has been the practice in past elections for the Democratic Party to post inaccurate and false information (usually in a letter in the Gazette) a few days before the election without the opposition party having an opportunity to respond.  This past election was no exception.

The Democratic Party mailed out a flyer a few days before the election stating that, among several false statements, Greg Schmidt raised taxes all four years that he was previously mayor.  The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee determined that the information in the flyer was “unfair”, “the mayor is just one of five votes on the board and cannot himself raise taxes” and in fact “voted against the budget in one of the four years when he was mayor”.  The Committee also used the words “faulty” and “questionable” in describing the other statements in the Democratic Party’s flyer.

I would have thought that the Democratic Candidates would have issued a statement apologizing for the inaccurate and false information stated in their flyer.  Instead, the Chair of the Croton Democratic Committee Paul Rolnick and present Board member Brian Pugh wrote whining letters to the Gazette.  These attitudes are one of the reasons why the Democratic slate lost the past election.

Finally, for those of us who opposed the Croton Point Avenue Project, several of us spoke to the Board requesting that this project be put on the ballot so that the residents of Croton could vote on it.  The Democratic majority would do nothing of the sort.  Now the ex-Democratic Board member is asking residents to “take action” and “make your views known to the new Board of trustees in no uncertain terms”.  I am sure the two or three cyclists who bike to the train station will show up at the next board meeting to share their minority views.

John O’Connell

6 comments:

  1. The irony of the dem letter asking residents to “take action” and “make your views known to the new Board of trustees in no uncertain terms” was not lost on all those residents who oppose and opposed the Croton Point Avenue project. Thank you for your letter John. Better late than never.

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  2. I think the people in Harmon should be ask our opinion, since we're always the ones most affected by these cockamamie schemes.

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  3. Until the local democratic party completely cleans it house, I am never voting democratic in a village election again. I mean it. COMPLETELY cleans house.

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  4. So done with those people. Let's hope this is a start of a trend for political parties having NO importance in village elections. First up, let's get a handle on our financial stuff and cut out the unnecessary items.

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  5. They started last night at the work session. Gallelli and Pugh voted yes to bonding $200,000 for the Gouveia property instead of taking it from the endowment. Walsh, Anderson and Schmidt voted no. That ended that. Mark my words, that place is going to be a money pit.

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    Replies
    1. Don't worry. It will be a bed and breakfast that will make us a fortune!

      Not.

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