To the Editor:
Many thanks and much appreciation to all my supporters who worked hard on my campaign for Guilderland Town Board. No one can win an election alone. It takes a small army of volunteers willing to commit their  precious free time to help their candidate persuade people and get out the vote. 

I am very proud of the campaign we ran. I am proud that after the primary we were able to come together and work together while staying true to our platforms and without making any negative personal attacks on our opponents.

I also want to compliment my opponents on running positive campaigns. I know how hard it is to take time away from family and work. It is a sacrifice and no one would do it unless they were committed to a higher purpose. Thanks to everyone who ran, because of all of us, the residents of Guilderland were given an opportunity to have a choice and a voice in their local government. 

I want to also reaffirm my personal commitment to always act with civility and professionalism and to work with and listen to all residents of Guilderland, even if we do not always agree and even if we are enrolled in different political parties.

I believe in working together and coming together for the common good. We can argue and have disagreements but, as this past election has shown, there is more that unites us than divides us.

My comment on Election Night about rejecting the values of the national Republican Party was not intended to attack my opponents individually [Letter to the Editor, “Judge candidates on merit, not party,” The Altamont Enterprise, Nov. 11, 2021]. I was in the heat of the moment, watching my party unfortunately lose other local and national races and I was happy that the voters in Guilderland were not following the national trend.

I am not about personal attacks. I do not choose my friends based on their political persuasion. As my role model Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who was close friends with Justice Anton Scalia once said, I attack bad ideas, not people. Justice Ginsburg gave credit to her friend Justice Scalia because her legal opinions were improved and strengthened after reading his opinions.

Now that I will be serving as your Guilderland town councilperson, I am looking forward to a healthy debate and discussion of ideas with the politically diverse residents of Guilderland, including my former opponents. I believe the election revealed that there is a lot of common ground between us. We can make progress together.   

Christine M. Napierski

Guilderland

Town Councilperson-elect