To the Editor:
I have lived in Sleepy Hollow for 39 years and I must admit it. I am a life-long, liberal Democrat who has never voted for a Republican in a state or national election in my life. I was elected two times to serve as Village Trustee and later served as first independent Chairman of the Local Development Corporation. I am also one of the founders of the Unite Sleepy Hollow Party. I took on that endeavor because I believe to my core that our Village issues are NEIGHBOR issues, not national or state policy litmus tests.
This upcoming Village election is not about liberals vs. conservatives, or Democrats vs. Republicans. It’s about competence vs. complacency. Despite its name, the TAG party has been the least “transparent” party in our village history. The TAG/Dem slate is responsible for your taxes going up 24% over the two years they have been in control. Neither they nor you have any idea why. The current TAG/Dem slate consists of strong supporters of Mayor Rutnya’s original campaign and his first and only term. That two and a half year term has been a disaster, overseen by an unprepared Mayor who halted a multi-decade plan because it wasn’t his, who cried wolf over imagined budget shortfalls that never took place, and we all paid the price.
The Unite Sleepy Hollow Party was and is proud to have played a major role in turning a 96-acre brownfield site into a billion-dollar private/public development. The efforts related to the East Parcel were so successful that they were the cover feature on the New York State Economic Development Agency before the TAG/Dem crew brought it all to a halt. This must be turned around. The demands of that work continue. We can’t afford another inexperienced group of people blundering their way through a very steep learning curve, abandoning 20 years of planning and meticulous budgeting. Just look at where that path took us under TAG/Dem “leadership.”
Please take a look at the www.unitesleepyhollow.com website to review the candidate profiles and explore their platform. Don’t be fooled by claims of Democrats Vs Republicans being the issue here. The Unite Sleepy Hollow Party has a track record of running competent neighbors willing to put in the effort, be they Democrats, Republicans or Independents.
David Schroedel
Sleepy Hollow
