I hope you had a wonderful Holiday season.
With the new year upon us it’s time to begin focusing on the road ahead. The 2024 election is the most important election in my lifetime. The irony is that as important as the coming election is it’s difficult to overcome the urge to tune politics out. After all, the dysfunction, vitriol, and misinformation in our political system is simply awful.
In Frank Bruni’s column in the New York Times today he says,
“The final battle may be between resignation and determination, between a surrender of our ideals and the resolve to keep reaching for them, no matter how frequently and how far we fall short.”
Political dysfunction can create a feeling that it's all a waste of time and that common sense and good governance aren't possible. But each of us needs to fight that feeling and be active and engaged in whatever ways we can if we’re going to preserve the ideals of our democracy. Giving up is a win for those who are causing the problem.
And believe it or not, being engaged has produced some important successes in the past year including electing a Democratic supermajority for the first time in Rockland County Legislature history; as well as bills passed in the State and signed by the Governor to ban bee-killing pesticides, move our local elections onto statewide ballot years, have schools provide voter registration and pre-registration forms to 16 & 17 year olds so they can vote when 18, prevent the dumping of nuclear wastewater into the Hudson, increase the minimum wage, and more.
Locally, your engagement resulted in the Planning Board voting unanimously to deny Monsey Affordable Housing Inc. a conditional use application for the property at 111 South Liberty Drive. Congratulations to the members of the Planning Board and to everyone who came out to voice their opposition to this project.
In addition to the Presidential election this year we’ll be working to help Mondaire Jones regain his seat in Congress, send Chis Eachus back to the Assembly, and Pete Harckham back to the Senate.
Before all the work starts, we'll be kicking of the new year with our Annual Winter Gala on February 1st, where we’ll be honoring the Stony Point Seals with the Making a Difference Award for the amazing work they do for needy families in Stony Point. This is an excellent opportunity for you to come out and celebrate a wonderful community organization.
So this year we hope that you can find a way to join us and support the work of electing good people to office.
In appreciation,
Pete
