As a long-time resident of Woodbury and supporter of NYS Senator James Skoufis, I read his August 2-8, 2024, letter to The Photo News editor in shock and bewilderment. I did a triple take that he wrote this. How could, or why would, James ever demean, insult, and bully the people of any local municipality as was done to the people of Woodbury in this missive? The letter’s content (deficient in full factual disclosures and accuracy) and imperialist, biased tone are way out of character for James and, indeed, are indicative of poor character. James has never shown a side like that before and now must answer for the statements in this letter.
James, are you inserting yourself into purely local political matters in places where you are not a resident to interfere in normal government functions and impose your will? Woodbury has a two-tier government structure that is legal, legally followed, and established by the will of the people.
Are you trying to nullify the will of the people? The people of Woodbury often disagree on substantive matters and civilly pursue resolutions through established, transparent channels and institutions including the courts, as has been the case for decades. The process is called democracy. It largely works, even when the disagreements get heated. The people of Woodbury conduct themselves as grown-up adults. We are not errant children. And, are you coercing us, the people, with threats of harassment and slanderous accusations of being liars and worse should we disagree with you and reject your special legislation proposal, a proposal that the public has not even seen?
What happened to the ages-old approach of inviting greater dialog, involving the public? Woodbury has no “madness” between the town and village operations calling for special legislation — the vague description of which in the August 2-8 letter smacks of some kind of power grab that certainly undermines the will of the people and degrades the community. However, if you are aware of improprieties going on in either of the Woodbury governing boards, you can and should call for NYS interventions of investigations and then pursue existing related remedies. Jumping to special legislation as a solution to “straw man” nonproblems is frivolous at best. That does not put Woodbury first. By the way, combined Town and Village taxes are and have been largely the same as for a single governing entity. You offer no savings. Tell us, please, who exactly benefits from this special legislation and how they benefit as part of your accountability to voters.
Millicent Treloar
Woodbury