54°
To the Editor:
The enthusiasm with which Democratic leaders in White Plains and Chappaqua have endorsed David Buchwald, a tax attorney and member of the White Plains Common Council, as their choice to run against Assemblyman Bob Castelli in the newly renamed and gerrymandered 93rd Assembly District should be a cause for alarm among northern Westchester taxpayers.
In 2010, Assemblyman Castelli won both a special election and the general election as a reform candidate with bipartisan taxpayer support. This sent a message to the leadership in Albany, which contributed to the unprecedented level of reform that was achieved over the past year, most recognizably, the partial repeal of the MTA tax and the governor’s 2 percent property tax cap.
Even so, bloated pensions and ever-increasing unfunded mandates remain the mother's milk of Albany politicians, as the state's public employee unions and other lobbyists continue to exert their pressure over the state Democratic leadership. Westchester remains the highest taxed county in the nation and residents continue to flee in order to avoid the unconscionable tax burdens.
That northern Westchester finds itself in the same assembly district as White Plains is the fault of the Democratic leaders of the assembly. But this November, if we vote for a White Plains machine politician to represent us in Albany, the fault will be ours.
Bob Sullivan
South Salem, N.Y.
Comments (1)
Was the Governor's 2% tax cap that has an exemption for increases caused by run-away pensions or the PARTIAL repeal of the MTA Tax without provisions for an audit, a real attempt at reform or a Democratic ruse? Northern Westchester taxpayers need to keep up the pressure by returning proven, reform-minded politicians like Assemblyman Bob Castelli to Albany to finish the job.