By Larry Vetter
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
The quote above is one of the most oft cited quotes these days. It seems to pop up in conversations and articles at least weekly. It has become quite applicable to the Town of Smithtown. I propose that if we continue to elect our town officials and conduct our town business the way we do, we make this quote our official town motto.
I am the Democratic nominee running for one of the positions of Town Council. Since my nomination, only five short months ago, we have had a number of blips within the town.
The Smithtown animal shelter supervisor resigned under a cloud. That was soon followed by three resignations of volunteers helping to steer the shelter on the right course. That was followed by a rift within the town council as to who knew what and who told what and who didnʼt say what.
The Smithtown Parks Department had two top officials resign suddenly “under a cloud of controversy” after the public demotion of an employee and a subsequent letter from that employee. Please tune in later because I am sure there is much more to unfold.
The Smithtown highway superintendent resigned also under a very dark cloud. There is a felony charge waiting, as well as an unresolved lawsuit against the town.
There is nothing funny about this chain of events. While this is going on, government is not. Now add the fact that there is a 104 million dollar budget attached to this dysfunctional display. As voters, we are now tasked with Election Day 2015 on November 3.
There are several choices ahead. We can re-elect two incumbents who have been in office 12 years and 8 years respectively. By their own admission, they have been ineffective while the above has been going on. The supervisor has blocked them, the supervisors chosen officials have blocked them and fellow town board members have blocked them. They are now asking us to ensure another four years of stagnation, by re-electing them to the same position among the same people to accomplish what? The same thing? Please refer to the quote at the beginning of this letter.
Another choice is to elect a new Republican candidate for office. She has vowed in her own op-ed pieces to continue the work that the supervisor and town board have been doing by voting for all programs put forth by the supervisor and keeping Smithtown the same as it has been. Sounds like a nice plan if we were running efficiently. However, please refer to paragraph three as well as the quote at the beginning of this piece.
I am the fourth choice. I have no ties to the town board. I am a private citizen who has worked within the private sector my entire life. I bring a great deal of very useful experience to the table. I also bring a record of success and accomplishment. I am not looking for a new career or a patronage job and instead will attempt to move the town forward. I think independently and have watched for 35 years as our town has slipped. I have published my entire campaign within the local newspapers and on-line so that there are no questions as to how I intend to move forward. My opponents underestimate me by simply pretending I donʼt exist.
November 3, 2015 is a much more important date than most people realize. It is an opportunity for everyone to revisit the Einstein quote and decide whether we want to continue as we have been for so long, or if we want to begin steering Smithtown toward a path that is filled with promise for the future and a desire for improvement. Local issues matter a great deal and local elections are decided by the few. If you ever wanted to have your vote matter, now is the time.
Larry Vetter is the Democratic candidate for Smithtown Town Council