Still waiting for the right to respond
I write to expose the lies, cowardice and hypocrisy of the right, but I never get a response. Nonetheless, here I go again.
Republicans are persecuting pregnant women and transgender children while cowering in abject fear of incurring the wrath of Donald Trump. What incredibly brave people these gutless wonders are!
Liz Cheney has more courage than all of you macho men in the GOP. Speaking of macho men, when will Sean Hannity undergo waterboarding? Nineteen years and counting. Republicans are outraged by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the killing of innocent civilians. George W. Bush did exactly the same thing in Iraq. Where was the righteous Republican outrage then?
Do any of you conservatives out there have an answer? Not a chance.
Paul Sator
Gloversville
Give public input on water meter plan
It’s clear certain members of our town board here in Rotterdam are secretly pushing a water meter plan.
As a resident, I was shocked to first read about it in the newspaper, and like many of my friends and neighbors I had heard nothing from our town representatives.
Since then, I received a letter from Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, who is calling for a public hearing. I’m a senior on a fixed income and I agree with Mr. Santabarbara.
This needs to be a public policy discussion, and that means with public input.
Sadly, watching the town board meetings, I can’t help but feel that we’re going to be stuck with water meters at a very high cost to taxpayers. They’ve made no progress at all.
The meetings have been degraded to nothing more than political grandstanding and smoke-and-mirrors distractions, none of which will solve the mess the town has created.
As much as they want to blame others, we elected them to do a job. I hope they give it a try sometime soon.
Geraldine Szawiela
Schenectady
Preserve historic Amsterdam area
Amsterdam brownfields can be turned into emeralds and sapphires on the necklace of the Chucanunda Creek in the heart of Amsterdam.
An April 13 article in The Recorder (“Brownfield redevelopment targeted at summit”) told of 902 acres in Amsterdam included in a state and federal program aimed at cleaning up these brownfields.
Many of these brownfields are directly along the historic and environmentally valuable North Chucanunda Creek.
The 3-acre Five Corners site and the 5-acre Old Paper Mill site could be joined to the beautiful new Flat Rock Park to make a large jewel on this Chucanunda necklace.
Let us all encourage our leaders to make the North Chucanunda Creek Trail a priority and preserve and protect it.
John Naple
Amsterdam
DAs must charge higher in DWI fatals
On Nov. 1, 2020, an intoxicated Oscar Lopez killed Amanda Lopez in a head-on crash. This week, I was shocked upon hearing that Judge Matthew Sypniewski had acquitted Oscar Lopez of the most serious charge.
In preparation, District Attorney Robert Carney meticulously researched other DWI cases where defendants were convicted of second-degree murder and upheld on appeal.
Using a chart, he objectively showed how the relevant facts in the Lopez case were among the most egregious. Despite the judge’s ruling, Carney deserves credit for seeking a second-degree murder conviction.
For the victims of drunk driving, justice begins at the charging phase of each case.
Depraved indifference is the standard to prove second-degree murder. I have attended many DWI trials where the defendant showed depraved indifference.
Yet, prosecutors never charged these defendants appropriately, resulting in a slap on the wrist.
I hope other DAs, considering second-degree murder in a DWI case, use Carney’s example as a blueprint. I take my hat off to DA Carney and ADA Kimberly Waldin for their pursuit of justice for the family of Amanda Slavin. Second-degree murder in these circumstances is a very high bar. Lopez was found guilty of seven other lesser charges.
So there is still an opportunity for Judge Symniewski to hold Oscar Lopes accountable at his sentencing on May 31.
William Aiken
Schenectady
The writer is president of Remove Intoxicated Drivers.
Tague should put people over party
Maybe someone should remind Chris Tague that he was elected to represent all of the people of his district in the state Assembly. Some of us don’t care about his other job as the Schoharie County Republican chairman.
Assemblyman Tague, your act of blaming the other side for everything is getting quite tiresome. It only serves to rile up your most ardent base. I do understand and agree that one-party rule is not good for New York state, but I’m sure we wouldn’t hear one word from you if your party controlled everything.
Assemblyman Tague, please, just once try putting the people before your party. You never know you might actually accomplish something.
Jerry Fiore
Summit
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Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion
