Editor, The Spotlight:
It has been with no little amusement that I have followed the back and forth between the political factions in Bethlehem over the recent assessment. It seems to have been a sloppy job done by some sort of spreadsheet formula with little or no thought involved. Now, we need to spend more money to straighten things out.
Even though the Town of Bethlehem is governed by what the mainstream Democrats call the “Left Wing of the Democratic Party,” I don’t see a conspiracy here. Just incompetence with some ideology mixed in. Americans no longer trust government at all levels from Bethlehem to Washington, and skepticism is an automatic reaction.
Given the Greenies predilections for green space, might it have been prudent to carve out some exemptions for land occupied by working farms or large plots of land left undeveloped. Maybe that is too sensible (or is that something controlled by the gnomes in the Legislature?).
Anyway, as I have said time and again — if you voted for the incumbents in the Town Board or, worse yet, did not vote at all, you deserve what you get. Shut up and take your medicine! Unfortunately, the rest of us have to take it too.
Philip W. Carter
Slingerlands