Donnery: I will not be bullied

To the editor: I have always considered myself a lady, and although small in stature, I will not allow my opponent, Mr. Caruso, to bully me by distorting my record or by questioning my commitment to the Town of Woodbury, as he and his Republican committeemen attempted to do in their letters to The Photo News of last week. Once again, Mr. Caruso is a day late and a dollar short! In 2004, I secured a verbal agreement with the County Executive at a taped public meeting to have him bring Woodbury’s need for a greater share of the sales tax to the next negotiation table. I have also thanked Mr. Diana publicly, and again, it was taped. Mr. Caruso tried to mislead the voters into thinking that he took some action in 2005 to obtain the same agreement. Since I had already received Mr. Diana’s commitment the previous year, I fail to see what progress Mr. Caruso is bragging about. In a similar past effort, my opponent thought he had found a way to embarrass me by appearing before the Woodbury Town Board during a televised meeting to publicly correct me on county sales tax information that I had provided, when in fact I later had to appear again to correct him. Oh well, Ralph. Two weeks ago, my opponent’s desire to try again to inflate his importance backfired on the very floor of the legislature where I serve. Mr. Caruso signed up to speak at the end of a meeting and proceeded to read from a law, suggesting that we consider a resolution calling for a tax incentive program for our firemen and ambulance volunteers. He was unhappy when he was told his three minutes had ended and he still had another page to read. Had he attended our meetings, or done his homework, Mr. Caruso would not have had to be told that we had already passed such a resolution. If Mr. Caruso is going to throw mud, he should aim better. Better yet, aim higher. Instead of throwing mud, why not talk about the issues that are important to people of the community. That’s what I’ve tried to do and will continue to do, but I refuse to be intimidated by you or your antics. I have worked hard for the people of the Town of Woodbury and the Town of Highlands and I will fight for them as long as I am their County Legislator. Sincerely, Roxanne Donnery Orange County Legislator, District 14, Towns of Woodbury and Highlands