Editor, The Spotlight:
My name is Wanda Zygmuntowicz and I’m a candidate for Town Council Member of Clifton Park.
Like many communities in upstate New York, we are facing great challenges. We all know this. Clifton Park and our Saratoga region are at an important crossroads – where we need to balance unprecedented and dramatic development with land conservation to ensure the continuation of a healthy environment, a scenic landscape, local food production, and a high quality of life.
Smart public and private investments in true green Infrastructure and in a variety of local businesses – based on a thoughtful assessment of what Clifton Park needs – will pay dividends for many generations of our residents.
However, in our town, it seems as if we are not fully engaged in proactively examining options for what will best provide a healthy economic environment for businesses as well as support the best interests of all our residents. As a business owner and a home owner, I know that Town Hall can do better.
It is a town leader’s responsibility to ask the right questions that will answer what our residents need most. As a Town Council member representing YOU, I will work with the rest of our town board – regardless of our individual political affiliations – to ask the questions that will focus us on bringing town development back into balance, urban sprawl under control, true open space preservation and infrastructure improvement, responsible budgeting, and proactive partnership with ALL businesses and residents to balance our cultural, farm and business community needs instead of focusing merely on the wants of a few with influence or loud voices.
Today, rather than continuing frustrating patterns of reactive tactics, we need fresh thinking and new ideas to create and manage workable development policies for residents AND business owners, and well thought out green and social initiatives for Clifton Park that are not only proposed, but finally implemented and managed successfully. Our town needs more responsible stewards of not only our financial, but also our natural resources to provide for a healthy and sustainable community for our families and our neighbors, and to protect and improve our quality of life. We need to lead our town in a way that benefits ALL of Clifton Park without regard to politics or self interest.
This November is your opportunity to help transform the town board to an actual representative body of our residents and to have an open and accountable government with tolerance of different opinions and appreciation of new ideas. The voters of Clifton Park deserve a real choice this November 8th – to elect new town board members that are ready to lead and ready to serve with fresh perspectives. Clifton Park needs a team with clear vision for today and tomorrow – a team that knows how to not only work together but can collaborate with other groups to help move Town Hall to do better. We need a new approach to town leadership that is ready to seek creative answers, ready to protect both our financial and natural resources, and ready to respect and listen to ALL our residents. I believe this is our most urgent need and it’s why I am running for Town Council.
As I go door to door, I am holding conversations with as many voters as I can. I hope to find you at home and talk with you about what Clifton Park needs and get your ideas about our priorities. I am convinced that with a focus on identifying the right priorities and through open, respectful and thoughtful governing, we will define and achieve our ideal town vision for today and tomorrow.
I ask for your vote to represent you in our town government. You can find out more about me and the principles I believe in, and some solutions for the challenges we face by visiting http://sites.google.com/site/zygmuntowiczfortowncouncil/. Here is where you can also send your questions and ideas directly to me and indicate your support so our message can reach all your neighbors.
And finally, I hope you will give me your vote on November 8th.
Wanda E. Zygmuntowicz
Clifton Park
