Archive: Opinions

I read with interest your publication's lengthy interview with Mike Sigler re why he was again running for County Legislator.

I couldn't help but wonder why Mr. Sigler believes he could possibly do a better job than the incumbent, Pat Pryor. In fact, during his interview, he even admitted: I think last time a lot of people didn't think I was involved enough in the Town. That's fine. I can fix that. I'll go to more town meetings.

Mr. Sigler must have his head in the clouds if that is all he thinks he will need to do to be the quality of legislator that Pat Pryor has been for this community for the past four years.

In addition, in his interview by the Editor, he as much as admitted that he'd had 'issues' during his last term of service on the legislature and at the time of his last run. Well, Mr. Sigler, everyone has issues in their lives. Perhaps Mr. Sigler should have RESIGNED from the legislature at the time these issues were at the forefront of his life so his constituents could have been better served by someone else. Let's face it - he was entrusted by the public to be our representative and woefully failed us.

I have lived in this community for almost 9 years. For the first 5 years, I didn't even know we had a legislator. This is because the only thing Mr. Sigler did was collect his salary and go home. When it came time to campaign for reelection, even his campaign efforts were meagre, at best. He just expected to be funded by the Republican party and reelected - he treated the voters of this community as rote dummies and with contempt.

Pat Pryor didn't do that. She visited EVERY SINGLE CONSTITUENT in her district. She listened to the voters. She valued their input and information and she learned. Most of all, she valued their vote on election day, and will do so this November as well.

When Pat was elected after many months of very hard work, she continued her hard work to this day. She has never wavered. She has been a very dedicated and conscientioius legislator and, hopefully, the voters will permit her to continue to be just that for the next four years. Her door has always been open to her constituents. Her participation at the Legislature as well as her continued high communication levels with her constituents have been outstanding. Unlike her opponent, Pat Pryor doesn't have to 'fix' anything. She is doing everything a good legislator needs to do NOW, will continue to do so and deserves our votes on election day.

	Editor's note: Ms. Hegarty jumped the gun on this part.  We typically schedule elections interviews over multiple issues, so it is not unusual that we would interview one last week, and the other the week after.  In fact our interview with Pat Pryor was already 'in the can' when Ms. Hegarty's letter arrived and is in this week's issue.

I call on the Editor of LansingStar.com to also interview Pat Pryor for the purpose of determining why she is again running for this position, what she has accomplished in the past, what projects are still ongoing and what she hopes to continue to accomplish. Unlike Mr. Sigler, she will not have to aspire to future accomplishments (that Mr. Sigler did not even attempt while he was in office) but, instead, will be able to tell the people of this community what she HAS DONE and how these and future issues that come before the legislature will be considered with how to benefit the constituents of her district.

Elisabeth Hegarty
Lansing, NY

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