JOIN THE MAYORAL WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN FOR MACK CUNNINGHAM!

As I’ve walked through Rye and talked to people over the last few months and especially recent weeks, the growing discontent with the "choices" for Rye Mayor in this year's election is amazing. We have a choice between two Republicans who are essentially always at each others' throats; and both have been sitting on the City Council through one of the most scandal ridden periods in Rye history. 

One (Joe Sack’s “Rye United” ticket) has recently taken in an awful lot of donations from contributors in the Development industry: http://www.elections.ny.gov:8080/reports/rwservlet?cmdkey=efs_sch_report+p_filer_id=C01041+p_e_year=2013+p_freport_id=E+p_transaction_code=B).  Interesting that this particular surge in donations happened right around the same time zoning issues regarding the size of buildings were coming before the City Council. Interesting also, that Joe will not disavow the ridiculously large structure developers want to put down at Playland. Not looking so good.

The other Mayoral Candidate Peter Jovanovich is suddenly professing to us that he will engage in a law suit with Westchester County to stop the building of the Sustainable Playland Sports Monstrosity and protect Rye’s interests while simultaneously continuing to support the SPI plan - the center piece of which is this 95,000 square foot Field House.  Part of his spiel is touting the effectiveness of our City Planning Commissioner Nick Everett in helping with this fight – while never mentioning that Nick Everett is an Advisor to Sustainable Playland and has been on board with them since their inception and helped develop the whole plan, and potentially stands to make money off of the construction of the Field House.  Can you say “conflict of interest”?  How about the phrase, “recuse oneself”?  See a stunning connect-the-dots here at www.lausdeo10580.com for detailed explanation. It will make your head spin.

I have listened to both Joe Sack and Peter Jovanovich. And am I sold on neither. Of biggest concern for me personally, among the plethora of controversial issues that have been going on in this town for the last few years is Playland.  Sustainable Playland is now at the forefront of that issue because of their proposed plan for this "Field Zone" which will occupy Playland's parking lot with outdoor astro-turf soccer fields and a 95,000 square foot, year round use, indoor sports values and quality of life –year round!

BOTH of these men knew about this mess while sitting on the City Council the whole time that SPI has been trying to get their hands on that public land for private development, use and profit. They have sat back, endorsed it at every opportunity they’ve gotten and said nothing. NOTHING. They never asked a hard question of SPI, neither one ever stood up to their social connections and political cronies and told them “Hey, maybe not such a good idea for the local residents and the community at large, can’t go along with this.” Neither one of them was looking out for Rye on that one.

Until the City Council meeting of 10/23/13, both Joe and Peter have unequivocally supported SPI since its inception, all the way, straight across the board, with no questions asked. In October of 2012 they unanimously voted with other Council members to endorse the plan, which at the time included the Field Zone. Mack Cunningham and Steve Vasko both spoke out against it that night, the Council didn't listen. I got up at the March 20th Council meeting, and then the following meeting again on April 3rd and spoke out against the SPI plan – which did indeed contain plans for this Field House at that juncture - neither Sack nor Jovanovich looked into it. Then I got up and railed on them at the October 9th Council meeting where Catherine Parker cake-walked SPI through a “presentation” that made no mention of the Field House and its size. Still nothing. No response from any sitting council member at all. Not a one of them would look into the matter -  including Joe and Peter. It took until October 23rd, when there was finally a packed room of angry citizens for each of them to start their own version of back peddling and damage control on this very serious issue facing Rye residents. And boy have they been back peddling in a scramble leading up to Election Day.

What I say to both Peter Jovanovich and Joe Sack is: Not good enough. Too little, too late. Right in keeping with each of their tenures on City Council to date, it's an analogy for their approach to all the serious issues facing Rye, line by line, pretty much without exception.

The voice that has been speaking out against this SPI Field House the longest, with the most rationale, making the most sense? Mack Cunningham.

You DO have another choice next week, Rye. It's called a 'Write In" vote. If, like myself, you were reluctantly planning to vote for one of what you consider to be the "lesser of two evils" or are so disgusted that you weren't planning to vote for Mayor at all, exercise your right to use this option.  It’s very simple: at the bottom of the ballot sheet, each column has a small box area where you can write in the name of an alternate candidate not on the list for that position.

Click on this link to see a sample ballot so that you can have a visual before you go to the polls (taken from Orange County sample ballots):

http://www.orangecountygov.com/filestorage/124/126/1210/554/BLOOMING_GROVE_3%2C5%2C_10-12%2C_14.pdf

I'm going to write in a vote for a well respected non-candidate, who's not even running, but who clearly has the common sense this City badly needs: former Councilman Mack Cunningham.

You can click on this link to show support for this burgeoning write in movement:

www.writeinmack.com

And for those of you concerned that Mack may not serve because he chose not to run a few months ago, I have it on good authority that if he actually got elected, he would answer the call.

Deirdre Curran

Rye, NY