Republicans pledge to wage an aggressive and truthful campaign

To the Editor:

The best campaigns shed new light on important issues and offer voters clear contrasts.

Incumbents often claim criticism of their performance is “negative campaigning.”  They’d prefer voters get a steady diet of photo ops and tired slogans.

We saw an example of this in last week’s article about the Democratic candidates for town offices in Guilderland, all of whom are either long-term incumbent officeholders or people who served this administration in political patronage jobs.

Guilderland can no longer afford such complacency. The crushing property tax burden this 14-year administration has produced through an unfair assessment process, the reasons why we have the highest paid town board in the area, and how they can justify voting themselves a raise again this year as well as why we have such poor transparency that the supervisor’s salary isn’t even clearly listed in the budget, are all issues that ultimately impact residents and deserve to be fully and publicly vetted.

Republicans pledge to wage an aggressive and truthful campaign that holds the incumbents accountable on these issues and many others because that’s what residents deserve.

We also plan to avoid personal attacks and focus on the issues, and wish that the Democrats would make the same promise, and allow the public to decide whose proposals are better.

I challenge all of the Democratic candidates to further the public’s ability to compare our visions for the town by agreeing to several public debates. I am ready, willing, and able to sit down and work out agreeable times, dates, and formats with Chairman [David] Bosworth anytime, anywhere. Since we live only a few blocks away from each other, I’d like to think he could find the time to sit down with me by the end of August.

In the meantime, our Democratic opponents should start practicing what they preach in relation to running a positive campaign.

When we announced our slate of candidates for this year, just two months ago, Supervisor Ken Runion told The Enterprise that his opponent, Mark Grimm, didn’t have a single sound proposal during his four years on the town board. When you consider Mr. Runion actually voted for some of Mr. Grimm’s proposals, these personal attacks do nothing to move the town forward, and don’t match up very well with the intentions stated by the Democrats in last week’s article.

We pledge to stand up for you and, if necessary, take the heat on your behalf. Republicans will offer voters a clear choice in this election, including offering our own plans and critiquing the records and plans of our opponents. That isn’t negativity; that’s democracy at work.

Matt Nelligan, chairman
Guilderland Republican Committee    

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