Dear Editor:
I’ve spent the last 20 years in Sleepy Hollow. What makes the Tarrytowns special is that we are, above all else, a community. People from these villages live here for generations, often in the same houses they grew up in. Our kids go to school together by grade, not neighborhood. Our fire fighters, EMTs, and ambulance drivers are volunteers from our ranks. Our village workers, postal workers, and public works staff are also our next-door neighbors. Republican, Democrat, and everything in between, when one of us falls, we are there—together—to pick them up.
So, I was particularly saddened when I received a note from the Unite Sleepy Hollow mayoral and trustee slate laying out their fiscal plan for the Village. Their plan is simple: take out debt to pay for our needs and drain the general fund to pay for tax breaks. In other words, mortgage the Village today to satisfy ourselves, and leave the bill for someone else to deal with tomorrow.
That’s not who we are. Is it expensive to live here? Yes—too expensive. But sacrificing the financial stability of the Village for the short-term gain of its current residents will only make it more expensive for the next generation to live here. Saving for the future is not a bad thing—it’s necessary. And paying taxes isn’t something to be avoided, it’s how we fund our schools, our Village services, pave our roads, fix our water system, and maintain our parks. It’s part of our responsibility to each other. As neighbors.
Those who know me know I am not a partisan. I vote for people and policy over party. I’ve voted for Unite Sleepy Hollow in the past. But, this time, I’ll be voting for the Sleepy Hollow Democrats–Hsu, Krall, Triguero, and Rodriguez. The reason is simple: because I can’t vote for people whose policy is sacrificing the long term health of our community for their own short term personal gain.
Doug Bloom
Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow
