Siegel, Diana Deserve Chance to Serve Full Terms in Yorktown
Yorktown residents are fortunate to have four capable candidates for Town Board to choose from when they go to the polls on November 3.
Incumbents Susan Siegel and Thomas Diana and challengers, Democrat Ilan Gilbert and Republican Ed Lachterman, all have demonstrated in their own ways a commitment to the community and a desire to improve the quality of life in Yorktown and make it more affordable.
While it’s difficult to recommend the election of only two, one candidate does standout among the rest and without a doubt should be given a chance to serve a full four-year term.
Siegel, a former supervisor, is obsessed with being a councilwoman and it shows. She is a tireless worker who does her research on every issue and presents her point of view backed with solid facts. People may disagree with her opinion, but no one can ever accuse her of not doing her homework.
She has proven to be an effective voice in countering Supervisor Michael Grace and doesn’t flinch when she is subjected to political attacks. She always strives to get Yorktown the best bang for its buck and is a consistent defender of the environment.
If there is a constructive criticism to be made of Siegel during her 11 months as a councilwoman it is sometimes she tends to morph back as if she is still supervisor, which isn’t fair to Grace, who did beat her fair and square back in 2011.
Otherwise, there is no reason not to return Siegel back to the board.
Filling the second seat is not as clear cut, but Diana, who has only been on the board since March, has stuck to his convictions and should be given an opportunity to see what he can accomplish in a full term.
A lifelong Yorktown resident, retired area police officer and a local business owner, Diana has seen the town transform over the years and has a solid grasp of the challenges it currently faces.
When he successfully ran in a special election in the spring, Diana vowed to raise awareness about the heroin epidemic in the area, and he delivered by creating the Yorktown Citizens Task Force Against Heroin that has brought to light just how prevalent the drug problem is, especially among youth. The Task Force has held several well attended forums and identified some possible ways to counter the situation.
What Diana has not achieved, so far, is being an independent thinker on the board as he promised, siding almost exclusively with Grace and fellow Republican Councilman Greg Bernard. Diana explained it away as the three Republicans being “like-minded” on most issues, but it would be refreshing for him to actually take a stand in opposition to disprove Siegel’s claims that he’s a “rubberstamp.”
Nonetheless, nine months is not a fair amount of time to fully judge Diana as a councilman, so voters should offer him a second chance.
Gilbert served for five years as a town justice and was nominated by Grace to fill one of the vacancies on the board when they occurred, but he wasn’t able to get support from the majority of the board. His campaign has been centered on the Town Board members getting along better, but every governing body needs checks and balances, which currently exists.
It’s clear Gilbert would put the best interests of Yorktown first but his involvement in town issues in recent years has paled in comparison to the others in this race.
Lachterman, current president of the Yorktown Lions Club, has been very active in the community with various causes and has extensive experience managing large budgets, which could be very useful during the town’s budget deliberations.
The lone reservation with Lachterman is he appears completely enthralled with Grace and the supervisor’s agenda. He has basically stuck to his party’s “Move Yorktown Forward” theme without distinguishing himself enough to dethrone Siegel or Diana.
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