Letter to the Editor: GOP Email Ire is Smokescreen

To the Editor,

I give the Republicans credit for their creativity in trying to divert attention from Supervisor Grace’s pet project, building a new $4.8 million highway garage, by creating a non-issue of an alleged violation of privacy. I’m referring to the outrage from the Republicans in response to the email blast that Councilman Patel sent out last week that was critical of the highway project.

No one’s privacy has been violated. The Democrats have, and always will, respect the privacy of the town’s residents.

The Republicans are making much ado about nothing. In the digital age, the official NYS Committee on Open Government has determined, unequivocally, that the release of email addresses on lists maintained by a municipality is not “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

How many emails did you get yesterday from people you don’t know? If you’re like most people who use email, if you’re not interested in the subject line or don’t know the sender, you immediately hit the delete button. End of issue. Your privacy was not violated.

Alternately, if you took the time to open the email and decided you don’t want to get any more messages from that person, you hit the “unsubscribe” link. Again, end of issue. Your privacy was not violated and you won’t get any more emails from that person.

Where’s the crisis? Why did the Republicans feel it necessary to hold a press conference, call a special Town Board meeting and make numerous robo calls about a non-issue?

The Republicans say they won’t use government resources for political purposes. I guess that means they won’t be using the Board of Elections’ voter files to send you their campaign mailings later this month. The voter files, which are public records, include your name, address, party registration, voter history, and even your age.

If the Republicans mean what they say about not using government resources for political purposes, then I’ll expect Supervisor Grace to stop using the town’s audiovisual equipment and the Town Board meeting room to produce his Grace Notes program which, after all, only presents HIS partisan side of any town issue.

In the remaining weeks of the campaign, let’s get back to debating the real issues facing Yorktown, like whether we need a new $4.8 million highway garage when our roads, bridges and drainage are in urgent need of repair.

Elliot Krowe

Co-chair, Yorktown Democratic Committee