JOEL GINGOLD ENDORSES DLABOLA AND WATKINS

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To the Editor,

The events of the past couple of weeks have only emphasized the importance of electing Voice of Croton candidates Mary Lynn Dlabola and Sam Watkins in November.

Mary Lynn will make an outstanding Trustee. She has suberb qualifications, will bring a fresh perspective to the Village Board, rather than automatically backing the unpublished agenda of the Croton Democratic machine and, as opposed to the current incumbents, she will listen to you. She is especially interested in your ideas and concerns.

Sam Watkins has served as our Village Justice for two decades. Over that period, he has developed an effective, efficient, and non-partisan court for our village, and, as opposed to his inexperienced opponent, he has exactly the temperament we want and need in our judiciary. Sam has truly earned another term in office.

So electing Mary Lynn and Sam will not only bring two highly qualified individuals to positions of responsibility in our community, but it will send a strong message to the Croton Democratic machine that they can no longer dictate policy and candidates to the citizens of our village. You all know the sordid procedure by which Sam Watkins was refused the Democratic nomination for Village Justice, but the manner in which Nora Nicholson was recently appointed to the highly-paid position of Assistant Village Manager, has demonstrated to us all that we need a change in the way things are done in Croton.

This is not by any means meant to denigrate Ms. Nicholson. While we have not been informed of the qualifications of the other candidates, I know Nora to be an intelligent and effective individual, with a deep knowledge of our village. I’m sure she will fill the position with distinction. But that is not the point.

The manner in which she acquired the job can only be considered another example of the Croton Democratic machine doing what it wants, how it wants, and when it wants, with no input from anyone else in Croton or even from local registered Democrats.

Village Manager Bryan Healy has stated that filling the position was his responsibility alone, which is a perfectly reasonable stance. Yet, for reasons that have never been explained, Deputy Mayor Len Simon, an elected Trustee, was appointed to the selection committee. And, of course, Ms. Nicholson, herself, was a serving, elected Trustee of our village. It is hard to believe that Mayor Brian Pugh was unaware of what was happening, and thus three of our five Trustees were party to the appointment, while Trustees Nachtaler and Slippen, as well as our village attorney, were kept in the dark until after the appointment was made. What were the others afraid of? Or was it simply business as usual for the Croton Democratic machine. “We do whatever we want, and the public be damned!” “We don’t care about procedure or transparency or any of those nuisances which could impede us in what we want to do.”

One point in this whole seamy affair which has not been addressed is that Manager Healy reports to the Village Board. Thus Mr. Simon, and Ms. Nicholson, herself, are, in effect, Mr. Healy’s bosses and how can we know if they (and Mayor Pugh) brought any pressure to bear on him? The whole process may have been completely above board, but the optics are terrible and it leaves a stench over the Village Board and the Village Manager.

Ms. Nicholson had every right to apply for this highly-paid position. But the proper thing for her to have done would have been to resign her seat on the Board at the time she submitted her application. And Mr. Simon should never have been appointed to the selection committee. These would have eliminated any concerns over conflict-of-interest or undue influence. But that is not what they chose to do.

To insure that something like this never happens again, we must minimize the influence of the Democratic machine and elect individuals of great integrity to all positions in our village. People who do not owe allegiance or anything else to party bosses. We must elect the Voice of Croton candidates.

To my fellow Democrats, I know how difficult it is to mark a ballot for another party. It took me a long time to get there. But there is a feeling of liberation and independence when you do just that, and it is imperative for the health of our village.

So vote for Mary Lynn Dlabola and Sam Watkins in November. You will never regret that decision.

Sincerely,

Joel E. Gingold