After reading Michael Turton’s article Film & Forum Bring Heroin Crisis Close to Home, it occurred to me that not once was our county legislator, Barbara Scuccimarra mentioned.
It was Legislator Scuccimarra who fought to obtain a School Resource Officer (SRO) for Haldane with a portion of the cost being paid by Putnam County. She was the person who made the arrangements with the film producers of this outstanding documentary about the heroin crisis to come to Haldane in the first place. She attended the screening, presented the opening remarks, and introduced the speakers.
On several occasions Principal Brian Alm acknowledged and thanked her for her efforts in bringing about this Forum. Why then, not once did the writer of this article mention she was present, much less the significant role she played? Were these facts omitted as an oversight, sloppy reporting, or as way of demonstrating bias in support of the candidate running against her?
I have come to know Barbara Scuccimarra personally over the past few years. She works hard to help our community. She worked at a local business in Cold Spring for many years and her two children attended local public schools. She has never sought recognition, it’s not her way, but come on, be fair and give credit where credit is due!
Joselle Cunane
As Ms. Cunane suggests, it does appear that partisan bias is preventing Philipstown.info from fully informing its readership.
In the May 13, 2015 issue, the PCNR reported that Barbara Scuccimarra had introduced the Great Healthy Yard Project at the Town Board’s monthly meeting. In their June 10 issue, the story headlined “Great Healthy Yard Project Pushed by Scuccimarra” reported that this project was unanimously endorsed by the County Legislature.
The purpose of this project is to stop contamination of our fresh water supplies by asking homeowners to sign a voluntary pledge to not use RoundUp in their yards and gardens, preventing runoff into our streams, ponds and aquifers.
In March 2015, the World Health Organization published findings of their cancer research agency that Glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp, is a probable carcinogen.
I would think that residents of Philipstown would want to be informed of environmental concerns such as this, and of ways that they can mitigate pollution. But this news never made it into The Paper’s reporting on that May Town Board meeting.
It would be a shame to think that an excellent resource like Philipstown.info would deprive their readers of important information because of political bias.
Another item Mrs. Scuccimarra has not gotten nearly enough credit for is all of the hard work she put into working across public and private; Republican and Democratic; and federal, state and local lines in finding a permanent home for the Cold Spring Post Office.
There were many who got involved over the years in listening to the concerns of those of us who live in the Foodtown vicinity, including many of our current and former Village trustees, all of whom were very helpful and informative. I love the small town approachability and openness exhibited by all of our county and local elected representatives. This is how it should be.
But Barbara stood out as a consistent voice of reason over the last two plus years on the need to get the postal workers out of that trailer and into a permanent home AND in an appropriate location. Always quick to return phone calls and rather than giving me a list of reasons why something couldn’t happen, she was always armed with a list of things she was working on and folks she was talking with at the USPS, federal, state and local levels to make sure something acceptable to all would eventually happen.
I appreciate the responsiveness and the “can-do” attitude that she put into this issue. She deserves a great deal of credit for the ultimate decision to locate the post office in one of the new Butterfield buildings.
I don’t let “D” or “R” designations or how issues are reported in the press determine who I support. I’d like to think that the vast majority of my neighbors think the same way. Barbara Scuccimara has earned my vote and I look forward to another term of her approach to representing ALL the people of Philipstown.