In this month’s issue of the River Journal, the competing candidates in the November 4th Sleepy Hollow village elections bought advertisements. Unite Sleepy Hollow (USH) placed an ad leading with “Democrats (my emphasis) endorse Unite Sleepy Hollow.” To the right of this banner, the ad lists former Sleepy Hollow elected officials and a short list of 18 residents.
As a Sleepy Hollow resident, registered Democrat, and member of my local Democratic committees in Sleepy Hollow and Mt. Pleasant, I believe that USH is misleading the public by presenting an ad implying that they have an official endorsement of the Democratic party, which they do not have.
Marjorie Hsu, mayoral candidate, and trustees candidates, Cory Krall, Jairo Triguero and Jared Rodriguez are officially endorsed by the Sleepy Hollow and Mt. Pleasant Democratic Committees as well as by many current Democratic representatives such as Congressman George Latimer, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assemblywoman Mary Jane Schimsky, as well as the Hispanic Democrats of Westchester and Westchester Asian American Democrats. This talented slate is running on the Democratic and non-partisan TAG party lines.
In its ad and other campaign materials, USH asserts that it is a non-partisan group and that divisive national issues have no place in local politics. USH may have been founded years ago with this intention, but now the group seems uneasy about revealing their Republican and Conservative party affiliations. While most local politics is consumed by local issues like potholes, traffic, and property taxes, Sleepy Hollow has a diverse and vibrant immigrant community, and we have felt the impact of aggressive national policies in our communities. While USH claims they are building a “broad coalition,” it’s not clear who that is, as all the members of the slate come from the same two neighborhoods.
They say they offer a “fresh vision,” and imply they are not connected to the current fiscal situation our village finds itself in, yet the slate is composed of two incumbents who are defending Sleepy Hollow’s high debt, and are on the record this year, as Trustees, championing more of it while promising they will cut taxes at election time. Our high debt is a key factor that has led to the interest payments that have necessitated an increase in taxes to cover essential services.
I agree strongly with one claim that USH makes: “We need elected officials who represent ALL of the diverse communities of Sleepy Hollow.” USH is neither representative of the values of our diverse communities in Sleepy Hollow nor offering a vision that speaks for all of our neighborhoods.
The only slate that, indeed, represents the diversity of our village, drawing from multiple neighborhoods and constituencies is Marjorie Hsu for Mayor and her slate of Trustees (Krall, Triguero, and Rodriguez). They are running as public servants focused on clear communications, fiscal responsibility, downtown revitalization, and sustainable and accessible community development. Check out their positions at sleepyhollowdems.com.
All the candidates deserve our gratitude for running for local office; I believe our neighbors on both slates want to improve our village. However, this stunt, suggesting that USH has the endorsement of many democratic voters, is problematic especially for those of us active in Democratic local committees who took the time to interview our candidates and vote to endorse a slate for the public. If USH aims to obscure who they are and who supports them, how can you trust them to be fully transparent about our fiscal future?
Christine Clayton
Sleepy Hollow
