Editor, The Spotlight:
In the last two years John Clarkson has managed town government with skill, openness, efficiency and compassion. His vision led us to fiscal stability while, at the same time, maintaining and enhancing services that benefit our entire town. John Clarkson’s leadership style brought the expertise of many of our citizens to Town Hall to participate in a variety of volunteer committees and initiatives. He implemented operational and management efficiencies that resulted in a $776,000 award to the town. He has worked to correct and eliminate some of the fiscal tricks used in the past to shuffle, postpone and hide fiscal responsibilities.
In addition to getting the annual budgets under control, John has implemented multi-year budget planning and presented a capital plan to address essential long-term needs of our aging infrastructure as well as quality-of-life planning issues. We can all appreciate John’s determination and success in “right sizing” our workforce and expenses while seeking greater efficiency and increased revenues.
John has also taken a forward looking approach to the town’s economic development and planning. From an innovative sign ordinance that reduced roadside clutter to tree plantings and sidewalks as well as openness and availability of numerous meetings, he has encouraged community involvement and fostered initiatives to keep our town attractive.
We all have opinions about government, budgets, taxes and municipal responsibilities and I think, using whatever measures you use to formulate your own opinion, you will conclude that John Clarkson has put our town in a better place in the last two years. In the next few weeks we will see political assertions from others – check their arithmetic, look at the shallowness of their promises, and challenge their deceptive practices. Most of all, compare their one-line assertions with John Clarkson’s accomplishments. We should all welcome, with enthusiasm, another two years of John Clarkson as Town Supervisor.
John Smolinsky (Bethlehem deputy supervisor) and Ellie Prakken
Delmar