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Viloria-Fisher for Legislature
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In her 11 years as county legislator, Vivian Viloria-Fisher has grown from a political neophyte to a confident and effective champion of the needs of her constituents and Suffolk's generally disadvantaged.
The role of county legislator, unburdened with the local demands of zoning or fixing curbs placed on the town, nor yet charged with crafting the criminal code or confronting major civil rights issues like the state Legislature, is therefore uniquely suited to both advocacy and handling quality of life legislation that can fall through the cracks elsewhere in government.
Viloria-Fisher has excelled in those capacities. She has passed ground-breaking legislation to preserve the local and global environment — such as bills to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, ban gasoline pollutant MTBE and ironite fertilizer from sale in Suffolk, establish an open space preservation fund and require energy efficient construction of county buildings — as well as those to protect its inhabitants, for example banning smoking inside bowling alleys and tanning bed use by minors, and demanding the state require insurers to cover cervical cancer testing.
She has also emerged as a leading advocate for working families and the underprivileged. Her legislation had the county establish a Welfare to Work Commission, temporarily expand the number of Social Services Department caseworkers in the face of overwhelming demand and heighten screening requirements for day care providers.
An immigrant herself, Viloria-Fisher has sought to defend migrant workers from discriminatory legislation and political grandstanding that contributes to the climate of hate and violence surrounding the illegal immigration debate in Suffolk. Without seeking publicity, she has taken quiet efforts to integrate migrants as protected, productive contributors to the Suffolk community.
Suffolk law only permits Viloria-Fisher one more term in office, with which she has pledged to, among other goals, push a surtax on the use of bags in shopping centers as a conservation and waste reduction effort. Based on her record of accomplishing improvements to residents' environment and social safety net, and eager to see what reforms Viloria-Fisher may be able to accomplish at the likely height of her county career, The Village Times Herald endorses her for re-election.
Her challenger, Peter Busacca, is dedicated to improving his community, focusing on quality of life issues such as traffic mitigation in his leadership role in the Port Jefferson Station — Terryville Civic Association. While we endorse his opponent for county office, we urge Busacca to continue his much-appreciated civic efforts.
While we back Viloria-Fisher wholeheartedly, we don't support all her inclinations. This past term has seen her call repeatedly for moderate property tax rate increases, which may achieve benefits such as an expanded police force, but on balance is simply too much to ask of a population struggling with a recessed market, low home values and high unemployment.
Moving forward, we urge Viloria-Fisher to continue her environmental and social justice advocacy without requesting more money from Suffolk residents at a time when they can least afford to pay.
We ask you to vote for Viloria-Fisher.
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Copyright 2010
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