Aloof Legislature doesn’t want opposing views, democratic process

Editor:

Perhaps as more people in Orleans County are becoming aware of what we have at stake by moving The Villages from the public to the private domain, there is a growing fear that the citizens are starting to know the real deal.

As I engage with people around town about keeping The Villages in the county sphere of control, many of them have made the comment: “Well, it looks like this is a done deal.”

Let me clarify some major points that raise questions about this statement. At present there is pending court action to thwart the efforts of the Legislature with their hand-appointed LDC. What process do you think was utilized to come up with the three male members of the LDC? Certainly not a democratic one! Why couldn’t the Legislature open this up to the public? I’ll tell you why – they want to dictate to us what they want and take away the choices we have. Why else would Chuck Nesbitt be working so hard to go around speaking out about the Legislature’s agenda?

Have any of the groups he has spoken to sought out the point of view of opposing factions? The county’s lawyers tried to draw a parallel at the May 7th court hearing with Judge Punch. They made some ludicrous comparison of rural Orleans County to some place in New York City to justify the creation of this LDC. Please, give me a break. Walk down Main Street, county leaders. One needs to only see the obvious contrast between a thriving metropolis and a deprived rural community which is trying to grasp some semblance to purpose by holding fast to a viable asset such as The Villages. We are in no way comparable to an urban setting such as NYC.  Let us not forget the upcoming elections which may hopefully bring in some new blood to revive the processes that built America.

Any time a governing body becomes so aloof and ignores the people, a greedy monster threatens the moral fiber of our society, and the constituents – the ones who are supposed to be represented by that body – become mere pawns in a manipulative game.

“The closest thing to being cared for is to care for someone else.”

– Carson McCullers, The Square Root of Wonderful

Mary Bannister
Albion, NY