More letters to the editor

To the editor: I am a 20 year resident of the Town of Woodbury. On Tuesday, Sept. 13, I am seeking the support of enrolled Republican voters of the 4th District to serve as your representative on the Republican Committee. The 4th District contains much of neighborhoods around Rose Lawn Road, Adrienne Drive, Cindy Lane, Rutledge Avenue, Hollis Street, Elm Street, Park Avenue and others. The Republican Committee is responsible for governing our town Republican Party as well as selecting candidates to run for office. I will bring more than a decade of political experience to our town committee, which I had previously served on from 1997-1999. I have worked hard for our party, its candidates and its principles. I feel quite strongly that our committee under its present leadership is not living up to the principles of our party nor is it serving the best interests of you, the enrolled voter, nor our candidates. For instance, did you know that as an enrolled voter you cannot attend Republican Committee meetings even though they have been held on town property paid for by you, the taxpayer? Does that sound very open? Let's say you are interested in switching to the GOP or want to become involved in the process. How are you supposed to do that if you cannot attend the meetings? As a Republican resident of this community I was also deeply outraged when our committee endorsed no candidate for supervisor this year. This is the primary responsibility of the committee. It would be one thing if the committee chose not to support the incumbent, but to put up no one was an abdication of the committee's responsibility. I pledge that if elected I will: 1. Present a motion to open all Republican Committee meetings to the public (unless certain sensitive business requires an executive session). 2. Fight for a set of by-laws which spell out specific rules that the committee must govern itself by. 3. Initiate a frank and honest discussion about how we should endorse/nominate candidates for office, be it by caucus or petition. 4. Push the committee to launch a full-scale effort to increase our Republican enrollment before we turn in another Democratic suburb of New York City. I invite your support as well as your questions and concerns. Please visit me online at http://electbooth.blogspot.com/ or e-mail me at electbooth@optonline.net. James Booth Town of Woodbury, District 4 Highland Mills