To the Editor:

From walking door-to-door and talking with residents of my county legislative district in Guilderland, I know that many of us are tired of sending so much money to Albany County and not receiving our fair share in return.

Guilderland has Crossgates Mall, Stuyvesant Plaza, and many small businesses. We live with the congestion, we pay for the roads and the police. And for what? So the county can gobble up more tax dollars, hand our hard-earned money to the city of Albany, and send us very little as a thank you.

Partisan politics is to blame. If you side with the Albany city legislators because of party loyalty, then you are neglecting the people of Guilderland who elected you. Though I vote every year, I’m not a member of any party. I was offered the chance to run and I took it for one reason. I want to make sure Guilderland receives the funding we deserve.

My opponent is a career political operative who trumpets his “flipping districts” as a qualification. In fact, I doubt that the county executive would have had the nerve to ask for a 16-percent pay raise while the rest of county workers receive 2-percent unless he counted on political careerists and partisans to approve his unreasonable request.

This careerism and partisanship is why Guilderland has gotten the short end of the county-funding stick. Even worse is that my opponent has received thousands of dollars in PAC [political action committee] money and has contributors as faraway as Central Park West.

I’m skeptical that someone who resides in a million-dollar apartment in New York City cares about the high taxes in Guilderland, the elderly here in need of assistance, or the 19 percent of our school children who receive federally-funded lunches.

I’ve lived in Guilderland for 20 years. My wife teaches at the university. We raised our son here. I spent years volunteering in our school district.

The current tenor of our national politics bothers me. I am not seeking a second career as a politician. To run my campaign, I’ve taken no money from PACs. I want to help my town. I’ll work with anyone who will do that, regardless of party.

I have over 40 years of experience as a journalist and historian. I know something about getting government to behave and do the right thing.

I’m asking for your help. Please vote for me on Nov. 5. And I promise you — I will do everything in my power to make sure that we, in Guilderland, get our fair share!

Peter Golden

Guilderland

Editor’s note: According to the New York State Board of Elections, as of Oct. 29, Friends of Dustin Reidy had $23,774.50 in campaign contributions, the vast majority under $200. Three $1,000 contributions came from PACs: one from the NERCC [New England Regional Council of Carpenters] NY Non-Partisan PAC and two from 1199 SEIU [Service Employees International Union] NYS PAC fund.