12/4/08 Letter to the Editor re AP Fields Commentaries

Certain recent commentaries and letters have asserted that Supervisor Brancati was the "chief advocate" for the Legacy Fund/A.P. Farms proposal, and that he reversed himself by voting "no." In fact, Mr. Brancati worked hard to see that the case for this proposal got a fair airing. To make that happen required that he work with the County at various levels to make sure that preconditions for making the offer were attainable. Only by doing this would we even have had a chance to go through the process and see whether the project might be a net benefit to the town. Would our residents have been satisfied with anything less than such a good faith effort? This was not a case of "good guys" vs. "bad guys" -- it was an example of the supervisor doing his job by exploring all the options and putting them on the table. Mr. Brancati remained objective and uncommitted up until the vote. His statements were always measured, and he made it clear that the decision should be made on merits only. This is not "spin" -- it's all there in the public record.

On the whole, I have found the atmosphere on the town board this past year to be civil and productive. I do not expect us all to agree on everything. Nor do I expect critics to “go easy” on us -- but I do expect their comments to be reality-based, and well intentioned. That has not been the case thus far. I am hopeful that well-meaning colleagues and neighbors will direct the focus back to sensible and objective analysis, constructive ideas and cheers for the many doing the good and hard work.