Sour grapes

I was somewhat surprised by Dennis McWatters’ letter in last week’s edition in which he states: “the ultimate winners for councilman won because of the 4,290+ votes that they received from the voters in Kiryas Joel...” He explained that if you were to “...exclude those voting districts...” in that village, the results of the election would have been different. I am wondering why Mr. McWatters was surprised by the election results or by the amount of voters who turned out from one community versus the number of voters in the Town of Monroe. I have resided in Monroe for more than 25 years and for the majority of elections in the past, the voters in the Village of Kiryas Joel have undoubtedly determined the results of our Town Council. I do not recall hearing from Mr. McWatters in the past when, for many years, the Republican majority on the Town Council were also seated as a result of civic responsibility in that very village. Mr. McWatters only now admits that these results “...are nothing new since previous election outcomes have been determined by the bloc votes from KJ.” In fact, Mr. McWatters and his slate met with the mayor of KJ seeking his endorsement and asking for the support of the voting bloc. I suspect we would have heard little from him had he garnered the KJ bloc vote. I do agree with Mr. McWatters on one issue: Considering there are 11,179 registered votes in Monroe who reside outside of KJ, voter turnout is disgraceful but that is a nationwide problem. I have been working as an election inspector for at least 10 years. With the exception of the Presidential elections, I myself have been disappointed at the voter turnout and have difficulty in accepting what I perceive as apathy in our community. We are very fortunate to live in a country with democracies and rights that other countries can only hope to one day have. Makes me wonder how many citizens appreciate what we have in our great country. God bless the U.S.A. Paulette Browne Monroe