by Jen White
Nyack needs to change. We have no business playing the game of partisan politics. There is just too much work to do.
We live in a Village with crumbling sidewalks and not enough tax revenue, with empty storefronts and an underutilized waterfront.
There are pockets everywhere of people who feel unheard and disenfranchised, from developers with ideas for responsible expansion of both our real estate options and our coffers, to out of town visitors who’ve heard we have parking problems and don’t want to come anymore.
The merchants fear for their livelihoods and African American families have been asking for a community center for twenty years and no one has even lifted a finger to assess whether it’s something we need or can do. The elderly and the mothers fear crime. The elderly, that they will be victims, the mothers that their children will end up following that path. Five hundred and eighteen Republican voters feel they have no voice in the local government and many citizens worry that their taxes will skyrocket and they won’t be able to afford to raise their children or grow old in the place they love.
It was with excitement, about nine months ago, that I decided to run for Nyack Village Trustee. I had dipped my toes into this kind of community service heading up the Nyack Park Conservancy and working on the Park Commission but running for office seemed like the next logical step in working with others to implement change.
The process of getting elected has been shocking, a bit upsetting and more difficult than I might have imagined. From the moment I decided to run as a Democrat I have been pressured to endorse people whose viewpoints I don’t share, simply because we are Democrats. By the same token, some Republicans who I like and admire and with whom I share beliefs have refused to sit down at a table and discuss issues like sidewalks and development because, simply, I am a Democrat.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
So here’s a crazy idea. What if our Village rejected partisanship and replaced it with practicality. Instead of labels like Democrat, Republican, Working Families, Independence, Green and other national level parties we form our own party. Let’s call it The Practical Party.
It will be a non-partisan party whose goal is to get things done rather than wallow in the “us versus them” politics that paralyzes our nation with vitriol, insider politics and criticism.
The Practical Party approach would match daunting problems with creative solutions to implement effective change. Here’s one example of how that might work to increase revenue for the Village, add more administrative expertise and improve efficiency.
Based on the work the Parks Conservancy has done raising funds for the waterfront, I know that there are lots of places to go besides taxpayer pockets for infrastructure improvements and programming for the lower income members of our community.
The Nyack Treasurer, who has run an enormous chunk of the Village on a day to day basis, is talking about retiring after serving us well. Let’s use this unique timing as an opportunity to explore hiring a part time, non-staff Treasurer and a Village Administrator to take his place. The new administrator could focus on grant writing and bringing in new business, on economic development and serving as a liason to the community of merchants.
At the same time, let’s use this as an opportunity to demand more of Orangetown and the county from the taxes we pay. Let’s also look at restructuring our Village government and reach out to South Nyack and Upper Nyack to find places where we can join forces to increase revenues, improve services, lower infrastructure costs and give the Nyacks’ a worthy downtown and waterfront.
The Practical Party will work hard to promote smart growth and encourage healthy, reasonable development projects that will add some land to our tax rolls. Let’s make Memorial Park and the rest of the waterfront a destination instead of an afterthought.
These are just a couple of big thoughts. But we have to start somewhere. We are a community rich with talent and yet, somehow, not much gets done. Let’s be bold and inspire all of our smart citizens with interesting ideas or thoughts to step up and join the fight. Let’s toss out local partisanship so that Republicans and Democrats can sit down with the Independents and the Green Partiers so everyone can talk about making our Village a better place. Let our Village Board meetings be full because people know that their presence matters and their ideas might help and their voices count. Let’s commit to making Nyack the place we all know it can be.
Oh, wait. Instead of the Practical Party, how about if we call it “Nyack First.”
Jen White is a candidate for trustee in the Village of Nyack.
Bravo:
This is the best comment in the election so far. And would that everyone followed this suggestion.
Joseph Adams
Jen:
As you know already, I couldn’t agree more with your letter here. In the last few months especially I have had similar experiences.
Just this week I had a discussion about partisan politics in Nyack with two long term Nyack residents who I have the privilege to serve with on the ZBA and whom I respect immensely. I learned from our discussion that partisan politics has a long history in Nyack as it no doubt does in other places. While my colleagues and I often engage in spirited debate and don’t always agree, we did conclude that partisan politics in a Village as small as ours certainly hampers the ability of our local government to act efficiently, and does act to lead those not in the partisan majority to feel deprived of a voice in local affairs.
So: it’s time to get a little bit uncomfortable. It’s time to step outside of our partisan parameters. It’s time to have the courage of convictions that when things get a little tough we do not fall back on old patterns that do nothing but protect the status quo. We Nyackers may disagree on a lot of things but one thing is certain: the status quo in Nyack is far from good enough.
The best defense of the common good is a people (village perhaps?) confident its concerns have been heard, united behind a course of action arrived at by democratic (little “d”) consensus and then be inspired to together accomplish a common goal.
It’s time to abandon the political divide. It is time to unite and put Nyack First.
Sign me up.
It’s understandable that partisan politics, even and especially on a local level, can be off-putting for many. Much of what passes for debate and argument in today’s politics is driven by division and personal destruction. However, perhaps the biggest reason that people are turned off by politics is because the issues and debate often seem irrelevant to them. Many people feel that political parties manipulate them because they’re often asked to make hasty choices based upon labels such as “Democrat” or “Republican.”
But the truth is, political divisions are inherent in all political discourse. In Michigan, where I was born and lived until 15 years ago, most municipalities did away with partisan elections decades ago. This, however, did not end of partisan politics in those municipalities. The void left by political parties is typically filled with alliances, coalitions, and confederations that are not transparent to the typical voter. Even worse, by their very nature, voters created their own quasi-parties based on racial, ethnic, and religious lines. Without political parties, we default to creating our own political apartheid, making local politics even more off-putting, and voters become even more confused by byzantine schisms within their communities.
Needless to say, it was refreshing when I moved here and found that I could vote for individuals that I could bond with on issues that were grander than the office they sought. It was good to know that Tish DuBow is a staunch supporter of women’s rights and that Thom Kleiner once worked advocating for the least among us. It was transparent that these people shared my core values, and it made it easier for me to vote for them even before I got to know both of them personally.
I understand that most people don’t live their lives identifying their values as being “blue” or “red.” Most people aren’t staunchly religious or secular, pro-management or pro-union, pro-development or pro-environment, we all fall somewhere on the spectrum on many issues.
However, for the people that are politicians, I don’t believe they compromise themselves by aligning with a party, whether that party be the Democratic, Republican, or Independence Party. I think they do the voters a service by defining not only how they stand on current issues, but giving their constituents an guideline on how they will respond to matters that nobody has yet considered.
Jen is right, however, most people long for a politics where we have real vigorous disagreements and debates about the issues. They like politicians that don’t insist on having a monopoly on what is right or wrong, and don’t demonize our political opponents and their followers. (And, an aside to the person who posts on this Web site and refers to me a “Neo Nazi” when out and about: shame on you for saying such things, especially since you have never met me!)
Barack Obama has asked that politicians extend themselves beyond partisan politics by espousing a “fair minded” approach to public service. He believes in a philosophical approach to politics that understands that truth and certainty are not the same thing. It is a philosophical approach that ultimately has as its goal the pursuit of the common good. It’s politics that espouses cooperation above competition. On a smaller scale, this is what Jen Laird-White is describing.
However, it is also true that President Obama has had to take up the mantle of party leadership when his “common good” politics is attacked by ideologues and hate mongers. The uncomfortable truth is that not everybody, politicians nor citizens, play by these rules and to defend the common good, a politician must often fall back on the comfortable principles and parameters of the political party.