LETTER: LEADERSHIP, TREAMWORK, EXPERIENCE, & WORKING TOGETHER.

To the Editor:
I am writing in response to Grace Kull’s letter regarding her experiences with the Cooperstown Police Department. While I find it admirable that the police department responded quickly and kindly, it would seem to me that the better option would have been a call to our 911 call center so that they could have dispatched the appropriate help. Ms. Kull’s experience has no relevance on the debate regarding the future of our police force.
The threats to the Village of Cooperstown are no graver than they were 50 years ago. Certainly, times have changed, but our community is still a close-knit assemblage of caring, neighborly people who work together for the betterment our all. Back then we had two officers who handled the policing needs of the village. Then our two officer force had one police car (and it wasn’t a gas-guzzling SUV). We did not have 24/7 village police force coverage, but we knew, as we would today, that the sheriff was close by and the State Police force was also at our disposal. We felt secure, and we were kept safe.
Obviously, it is comforting knowing that we have a local police force available in the event of the unforeseen, but today the real threat, with government budgets near collapse, is that the village government cannot continue to spend all of its resources (your tax dollars) on payroll and benefits while it neglects its roads and infrastructure.
Nor can we continually turn to the taxpayers of the village and ask them to dig deeper into their already strained personal budgets. School districts, state and federal governments (not to mention prices at the gas pumps) are all already doing that. We cannot kick this can down the road any further. The day has come to make the tough decisions, find ways we can save, and reallocate resources while causing the least amount of pain.
There is a slate of candidates for trustee who are especially skilled in fiscal management and have the fortitude to make these tough decisions, and to help Mayor Booan return the village government to fiscal soundness. Matt Schuermann, Jim Potts, Phil Lewis and Joan White have vowed to restore the priorities that will allow the village to fix roads, maintain sidewalks and repair infrastructure while making sure that village residents are safe and secure.
Vote for the winning team. Vote for Matt Schuermann. Vote for Jim Potts. Vote for Phil Lewis. Vote for Joan White.
I am not resident of the village but I have lived in the Town of Otsego all my life.  You need put in office the residents who care about the Village of Cooperstown and want to keep it a nice place to live.
I would hope you would vote for LEADERSHIP, TREAMWORK, EXPERIENCE, & WORKING TOGETHER.
SHEILA M. ROSS
Fly Creek