Vote Row A All the Way

This letter to the editor was submitted by Mark Lewis of Brewster Road:
I am supporting the Democratic Party candidates of Christi Acker for Supreme Court, George Latimer for County Executive, Tim Idoni for County Clerk, George Fufidio for County Court and Arlene Gordon Oliver for Family Court. They are the pro-choice candidates endorsed by the Westchester Coalition for Legalized Abortion.

Judge Christi Acker – Judge Acker is running for Supreme Court. She is the only candidate running for Supreme Court who has been rated Highly Qualified by the Independent Judicial Qualifications Commission of the 9th Judicial District and Well Qualified the Westchester Bar Association.. Judge Acker's lengthy legal career has spanned almost twenty five years and includes her work as a judge, court attorney, and litigator in both trial and appellate-level courts.

George Latimer – George Latimer is running for County Executive. He has vast experience as a County Legislator, Chair of the County Legislature, Assemblyman and State Senator. We have worked with George when he represented four districts in Scarsdale as a County Legislator. Whatever the issue, even when it did not deal with the four districts George represented, he was there for us. When the County wanted to put in a double decker driving range at the Saxon Woods Golf Course, George opposed and helped stop it being placed there.

When George was a County Legislator, the Democrats won a majority for the first time. George became the first Democratic Party chairman of the County Board of Legislators. Under his time as chairman, he either cut or froze the County tax levy for three straight years, so George understands budgets. In contrast, Rob Astorino promised a 20% cut in the County Budget, which he never delivered.

In an article last week in the Journal News it stated that from 2011 to 2017 Scarsdale actually had a 29% increase in our County taxes and Greenburgh had a 12% increase in their county taxes. What happened to our 20% decrease Rob that you promised us?

This year, Astorino submitted a budget with a $15 million hole in it because he tried to rush through the privatization of the County Airport. This proposal was opposed by the Scarsdale Forum and the League of Women Voters. In addition it was pointed out by both groups that he was overestimating the amount of sales tax money that would be collected. So far the County is short another $10 million in sales tax collected. If this holds up the County will have to take it out of reserve funds. Moody's and other credit rating companies have already downgraded Westchester County's bond rating from AAA to AA1. This will cost us money in the future when we need to borrow money to repair roads.

He has been a co-sponsor of legislation to end the statute of limitations on rape and early voter registration and campaign finance reform. He also voted for equal pay for women.

He co-sponsored legislation to Raise the Age which raises the age from 16 to 18 for minors in N.Y. to be tried as juveniles instead of adults in N.Y.S. courts. We were only one of two states that tried 16 and 17 year old children in adult courts instead of Family Court.

George opposed hydro-fracking in N.Y.S. He saw what hydro-fracking did to drinking water in other states and wanted to ensure that our drinking water was safe from chemicals used in hydro-fracking.

George Latimer supports gun control. He voted for the County safe gun storage act and for the N.Y.S. Safe Act on gun control.

Tim Idoni – Time Idoni is running for County Clerk. As County Clerk, he has lowered the operating budget by over 30% and reduced staff by 35%. Tim has eliminated months long backlogs by instituting online systems that have revolutionized county clerk operations statewide. He has expanded community outreach, serving us closer to home. i.e. processing passports.

George Fufidio – George Fufidio is running for County Court Judge. George was rated Highly Qualified by the Independent Judicial Elections Qualifications Commission of the 9th Judicial District and Well Qualified the Westchester Bar Association. George is a member of N.Y.S. Permanent Commission on Sentencing. This commission was selected to review state sentencing guidelines. He was a former Assistant District Attorney and former Deputy Chief of the Homicide and Special Investigations Bureau. George was the former Co-Chair of the Westchester Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. He is also an Administrative Law Judge.

Arlene Gordon-Oliver – Judge Arlene Gordon-Oliver is running for Family Court Judge. Judge Oliver was rated Well Qualified by the Westchester Bar Association. Arlene has served as an Acting Family Court Judge when the Family Court is not in session and Family Court issues have to be heard. She was President of the Westchester Black Bar Association and served on the National Bar Association's Board of Governors. As a judge, Arlene has heard thousands of civil and criminal cases that involve families and children, domestic abuse, endangering the welfare of children, and the exploitation of children. She has also acted to improve the lives of Westchester families and children, including establishing community-based programs to protect children from Internet predators, human trafficking and abuse; and supervision of programs for at-risk children.

Ben Boykin – Ben Boykin is running for re-election for County Legislator. He has fought to hold down property taxes. He is a committee member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and is currently reviewing the proposals to lease Westchester Airport. Ben is a Certified Public Accountant which helps him review the County Budget. He has voted against the last two budgets because he felt they were not balanced. He has fought to protect our most vulnerable citizens and has worked on solving flooding and infrastructure issues.

Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday November 7, 2017.

Remember to vote Row A All The Way.
Mark Lewis
Chair, Scarsdale Democratic Town Committee
Mark Lewis
98 Brewster Road
Scarsdale, N.Y. 10583
915-723-3766