Well Spoken
Voters have spoken well and clearly in Shandaken and Olive. Those newly elected to the town boards are all excellent choices, and we wish them well in their future adventures in public service. In both towns, the predominant issue was for general change. In Olive, that need was expressed in a fairly modest fashion via the seating of challenger and GOP candidate Peter Friedel on the board. But it was obviously done effectively enough to push some of the old guard into suggesting that the vote ended up as it did because the ballots weren’t in the order people expected. In Shandaken, there will be a new Supervisor and three new faces on the board.
The big issues in Olive that will need immediate tackling have to do with a widening of the town’s focus away from its city-centric vision of recent years to a number of key community matters that have to do with the changes effecting the town from the outside world. The Olive of 2008 is a much different place from the Olive that greeted much of the town’s administration when it first took office. The question isn’t simply about getting new deals from reservoir taxes, to pay for better recreational infrastructure than most neighboring towns, but about finding new ways to ensure all elements of the community are getting the most out of Olive it can. More people have to be made enthusiastic about their town government, and lured into running for office.
The first big issue facing Shandaken will have to do with the new board’s appointment of someone to fill out the remaining two years of newly-elected supervisor Peter DiSclafani’s term. This should happen at its first reorganization meeting in January, which means discussions should be underway now. Not an easy task, but might we suggest, as a starter, that the four elected men welcome a woman into their midst, as well as someone from the western half of town, the better to provide the sort of balance Shandaken has been needing in its administrative dealings for years now? Several names come to mind… the key is that the appointment not look partisan, and feels honestly unifying.
The election season recently ended was, by comparison to the bitter and highly charged races of ‘03 and ’05, mercifully brief and pleasantly quiet. Full participation by all parties in the highly successful League of Women Voters events was a positive shift. Hopefully, we won’t see any after-the-fact revenge actions in either of our towns when board appointments get made in a few weeks…
We do want to voice our grave misgivings about a last-minute mailing in Shandaken directed at Jane Todd’s candidacy, where information was presented anonymously. This kind of communication, as Supervisor-elect DiSclafani immediately expressed in an Election Day mailer, is completely unacceptable under any circumstances… it amounts to rogue political activity. Similarly, some last minute “joke” signs around Olive played to the same mean spiritedness.
As the election results showed in both towns, such matters are not necessary. Voters are not stupid.
We hope and trust we never see this type of communication used against any candidate’s reputation again. When people act as if an end justifies any means, our public life descends to a level none of us can justify to ourselves or our neighbors. Such does not reflect the public sentiment we have observed that wants better, more open and accountable government.
Now… on to our school board. Anyone looking closely at the figures being bandied about for changes on schedule at Onteora? We’ll keep you informed… and see you at the polls again in the Spring.
PS