Going back in time to four years ago, seeing Mayor Jason West lose the mayoral election was extremely disappointing. Many people regret not voting for him after being subjected to the last four years of Mayor Terry Dungan and his lack of care, or should I say unwillingness to promote new ideas beneficial to our community into action like Mr. West did.
Our community faces several challenges to get things working in the right manner again, such as allowing new businesses, not affecting our open space vistas, using the Village Master Plan to assist in guidelines for proposing new laws, utilizing our budget wisely to keep repairs ongoing and things operational, while allowing for more affordable housing by creating density within the village where it belongs. All of which are on Mr. West’s agenda if elected to office again. I have heard and discussed many of these issues and others with village residents and village business owners. The majority feel that if Mr. West is elected again, these issues could be dealt with head on because he has experience as mayor and knows the position well.
To keep the game fair, you need a referee. That’s the only way to propose a unification of the village and town government. I agree with Mr. West and others that studies should be done and consultants hired to test the feasibility of this idea. However, this community does not need four more years of ignoring the problems at hand. Too much time could be spent on this issue alone. And the result could be nothing getting done. At the end of the day, we are not going to be able to get rid of work trucks or employees. As of right now, the village and town public works departments need every person they have to keep up with maintenance. Plus, everybody on both boards work for a volunteer-like salary. Where will we save? I, as many of the other residents of this community, feel things would work a lot smoother if the town and village could work together respectfully.
Let’s keep our village government progressive, responsive and transparent by voting for Mr. Jason West.
Richard Cusanno
New Paltz
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