The most important component of citizenship

The times in which we live are replete with challenges to our democratic existence.
We exist in a society which seems to discount honesty, loyalty and altruism.
Citizens chronic apathy is manifested by consistent low voter turnout and a lack of accountability.
Our leaders on all levels of our governments seem to lack a consistent adherence to the inherent values needed for our republic.
Therefore, the most important component of citizenship on any level is our power to vote.
This gift of democracy brings with it a responsibility to be informed and astute.
The recent court appearance and conviction of Mr. Lamm only serves to highlight the importance of voting and the concurrent rule of law. He conspired to subvert a community's voting rights in the quest for profit and social engineering.
Unfortunately, he is getting only 10 months of jail time which is a slight slap on the wrist.
Russians are being accused of meddling in our election process. This is a concern for all Americans regardless of their party affiliation.
Bloc voting has occurred in Orange County for years.
The Environmental Facilities Corporation has granted KJ millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to finance their pipeline.
Yet, Mr. Skoufis and Mr. Neuhaus to whom I have written have done nothing to pursue this misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
And in fact are not being accountable to the voters the are elected to serve.
Politics begins on a local level. The Democratic Party of Orange County is an organization which does not serve any of its voting public. They thought running against Mr. Trump without having a real platform would win them an election. The choice of a candidate was blatantly awful. A young man with no ties to the county or experience was doomed to defeat.
It is difficult to comprehend and process the abhorrent nature of our national political system and the poor choices given to voters from both parties.
It is even more sad that our county and its governmental leadership has discounted the voting public.
The KJ Palm Tree issue has huge ramifications for all the voting public and is it a coincidence that we are having this huge construction at the Thruway Exit abutting KJ?
It is beyond sad that Mr. Lamm received only 10 months for committing voter fraud. The awful take on that is that how many other unscrupulous developers and politicians will trade a slap on the wrist from our legal system in return for millions of dollars in gains.
Voting is our key ingredient for a fair society but it is only as powerful as the will to vote and the choices given to those voters.
Stephen Zecher
Monroe