Editor, The Spotlight:
I have been watching the growing internecine warfare in the Bethlehem Democratic Party with some amusement. As I have noted before, politics in Bethlehem is in a sad state. We have a civil war going on with the Democrats, a basically ineffectual Republican Party and various other groups, fringe and otherwise that make up the town. Pam Robbins believes that “Reform” Democrats are the majority and that could (or could not) be the truth when it comes to Registered Democrats. However, neither “Reform”, nor regular Democrats are sufficient to dominate the Town of Bethlehem unless the voters let them.
There are 9,445 registered Democrats and related fringe groups. There are, however, 13,674 of the rest of us including Republicans, Conservatives, Independence Party and 5,590 unaffiliated voters (of which I am one).
So, what’s a voter to do? My suggestion is to vote for the person you think can do the job. I crossed swords with Jack Cunningham several times when he was supervisor but grew to respect him. He lost by only a small margin as I recall, surprising even Messina. All this malarkey about his job and his party affiliation is just that. What should he have done after losing, go on the dole? Since when do Democrats criticize their party officials for being party officials? I would prefer that the Town Board not be dominated by any one faction and it seems that this is what is being attempted.
I intend to vote for Jack. He knows the town and its issues. Since this is a presidential election year, a lot of voters that do not deem local elections significant will be coming out. Only 42 percent of you voted in 2011 and that is something to be ashamed of. There will be a lot of straight party line voting in 2012 (which is foolish) and I urge voters to choose the best candidates for all the positions.
Bring back Jack!
Philip W. Carter
Slingerlands
