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Philipstown for Democracy?
Dear Editor:
In past years, I can only blame myself for having gone to the polls and voting for whoever happened to be affiliated with the Democratic Party, and for not having done my homework, I take full responsibility. Knowing what I know, after having attended as many local governmental meetings as possible in the last two years, I realize that being either apathetic or uneducated regarding the local election process, and subsequently not paying attention to what local politicians do with the power we as voters grant them, can be a grave mistake.
For me, this November, will be different, this time around, I am an educated voter who has witnessed the decision making process here in Philipstown first hand (well, maybe I haven't been privy to the back-room dealings and negotiations, but one can only do so much.)
In the twenty six years that I've been voting, I will for the first time, be voting for a dreaded Republican. Prior to the pending election, I'd have never believed that I would, or could vote for a candidate who shares party affiliation with the likes of GW Bush, who many might agree is the worst president in history, including some of our local republican candidates. But it's true, when the general elections roll along in November, I'll be pulling the lever for Vincent Tamagna.
Why? You may ask, because I've met with him and although he'll be the first to admit that like the rest of us, he's not perfect, I found Mr. Tamagna to be intelligent articulate and approachable. I came away from our meeting believing that he truly does have the best interests of Philipstown and it's constituents as his primary agenda.
Having said that, I don't think we as a community could do much worse than Bill Mazzuca, I could name a myriad of reasons for having come to this conclusion, and probably will going forward, but the most obvious reason, has been the recent Butterfield Library referendum quagmire. Mr. Mazzuca feels, as does our democratic town board, that when the majority speaks, he has, in some bizarre autocratic, megalomanical way, the right to trump the will of the people.
Instead of saying I was wrong, I didn't do the job that Philipstown constituents pay me to do (contesting the referendum in a timely manner and adequately educating the public regarding the tax implications prior to last fall's election) and admitting that he and the Democratic Town Board simply didn't, and don't "have Philpstown constituent's backs."
I recently came across Mr. Mazzuca's 1999 platform at http://www.hvgateway.com/ pdcpl.htm where eight years ago, Mazzuca made the following claims: 1) Develop, adopt and implement a Town Comprehensive Plan. 10) Enact a steep slopes law. 11) Finally, now that most of our drainage problems have been fixed and the general condition of dirt roads improved, we can adopt a policy that eliminates the need to pave dirt roads. What a joke, this election, let's all do our homework.
Russ Cusick
Philipstown
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