By Maral Yashar
Tuesday June 18, 2013 was a remarkable day in Great Neck electoral history. Fourth term Mayor Kreitzman got a surprise with a substantial write - in vote from candidate Pedram Bral. Kreitzman's response was to be disappointed. What a shame.
The democratic foundations of our country seem to be crumbling at the very hands of its elected officials. Great Neck has certainly changed over the last 30 yrs. It has become more diverse. And that is something to celebrate. That is after all, the American Way. (By the way so is a write- in vote, completely American and allowable. Isn't Democracy beautiful?)
So what happened on Tuesday? We got an email/text/phone call that someone we know and trust in our community was interested in being a write-in candidate. And we went to vote. Although Bral received 232 votes, more than 232 Great Neck residents came out to vote and support him. So what happened? They found out they weren't registered to vote! They didn't even know anything about the process. They went online and tried to register. Great Neck now has more involved and interested residents.
So what's there to be disappointed about? Kreitzman would have liked a discussion of the issues. I'm not so sure what the issues are. In fact I didn't even know there were Mayoral elections coming. There was no outreach. At least not to my disenfranchised community.
So I guess there are a few questions to ask. Where have we been for the last eight years? And. Mayor Kreitzman, where have you been for the last eight years? Not what have you done. But where have you been? Where is your outreach to this emerging group of citizens and voters?
What a mistake to be disappointed. Be American. Be positive. Be patriotic. Be excited. Your town, our town now has more civically minded citizens. There can be discourse. There is nothing disappointing about that.
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