Fool Time Job

Apparently, some of our friends on the extreme Left here in Town have been resorting to some rather nasty tactics in their desperation to get their candidates re-elected to the Supervisor's seat and the Town Board. I've gotten several reports from people who say that people have been calling them under the guise of doing a survey and asking who they were supporting for Supervisor. When the person being queried responds "Carl Chipman," the so-called "pollsters" launch into a diatribe against Carl, focusing on whether or not Carl will have the time to work full time as Supervisor.

This is a classic example of political operatives trying to frame the debate according to terms which are favorable to them. However, referring to the Supervisor's job as "full time" brings to the forefront a far more important question:

How competent can the current Supervisor be at her job when she needs to dedicate full time hours to performing her duties? No previous Supervisor has had to do so. The people of this Town were never asked if we wanted to pay a full time Supervisor. This is a Town of under 8,000 people. What on Earth could have changed in the job from 2003 to today that would turn the job from a part time, small town public service position to a full time, big money burden to the person currently holding the office? Our population didn't double in four short years. The job is no more difficult today than when the Supervisor's predecessor ran our Town.

The previous Supervisor kept our taxes down, with zero tax increases for several years. The current Supervisor inflates her salary immensely amidst out of control tax increases. The previous Supervisor had time to make sure that we all felt like neighbors (except for those who chose not to for political purposes). The current Supervisor takes the time out of her busy schedule to intentionally divide this community into "us" versus "them." The previous Supervisor knew almost everyone by name. The current Supervisor wants to force out everyone she is unfamiliar with and many whom she happens to know. The previous Supervisor didn't speak of Open Government but made sure that we all had our say. The current Supervisor believes in "Closed Open Government" and censors the Townspeople in public forums, forcing many of our elderly and even some disabled neighbors into the winter cold before suspending a Town meeting because she didn't like what we were saying.

By her actions, the current Supervisor has defined her job as full time, abusive, intrusive and dictatorial. What we need is someone who will refrain from defining the position according to his own ideas, someone who understands that the position of Supervisor belongs to the people of the Town of Rochester and wants us to define the office. What we need is someone who, rather than Supervising the Town, will be the Town's Supervisor, someone who will do the people's work rather than working over the people.

The Supervisor's challenger, Carl Chipman, has been endorsed and is supported by not only the Conservative and Republican Parties, but by a coalition made up of members of both those Parties and of Democrats, Independence Party members and those who have chosen not to join a political party. He has former officers of the Democratic Party in his corner. When the Democratic rank and file was denied the opportunity to choose between Supervisor Duke and Carl Chipman, over half of them walked out of the Democratic Caucus.

The support he is receiving transcends party lines and political philosophies. It is a sign that the people of this Town both trust his ability to run our Town as we would have him do and that we recognize the fact that our current Town Board is tearing this Town apart and doing so intentionally.

At a recent Public Hearing, we were told by the supporters of the extremists on our Town Board that we don't need to take our Town back, we need to take our Town forward. Very clever, but what do you do when the ship you are taking forward is headed for the rocks? Do you refuse to admit that the course on which you embarked is a course towards disaster? Or do you accept your responsibility for the catastrophic path you have taken, stop and find another way?

There is no choice, we need to take our Town back and there is only one way to do so. This Town needs Carl Chipman as our Supervisor and his running mates, Tavi Cilenti and Manuela Mihailescu, on the Town Board. We need to turn to a sane, sensible course and become rural, neighborly, friendly once again.

The question is not one of how many hours the Supervisor spends in Town Hall, it is whether we want divisiveness and dictatorial disdain or unifying public service.

You decide.