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Editorial: Bringing out the best
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Much has been said in the past few weeks deploring negative campaign ads originating from both Democratic and Republican camps. We agree that attack ads should have no place in the debate over the town's future that ought to characterize the Smithtown election season.
But this year's campaigning has also offered moments of inspiration and model behavior to us close observers. We'd like to take a moment to share a few of these glimpses which we feel restore some faith in elected officials, in contrast with the disgust and disenchantment that political trash-talking imparts.
The first is an action not taken. Democratic county Legislature candidate Errol Toulon Jr. did not play the so-called "race card," despite having police called twice on him while campaigning door-to-door in June due to obvious racial bias — for example, Toulon, an African-American, was stopped by cops while stumping in mostly-white Nesconset when a homeowner reported him as "a black man with black gloves breaking into a home."
Toulon could have garnered great sympathy by immediately drawing media attention or campaigning extensively on the roughly 95 percent Caucasian town's potential prejudice. He did neither, but spoke mainly of issues important to him and his constituents — increased law enforcement and support for youth development. He is to be commended.
His successful opponent, Legislator John Kennedy Jr., also belied the self-aggrandizement associated with politicians. So caught up in coordinating anti-heroin efforts, he had little time to raise funds, and was forced to go into Tuesday without having made any district mailings and relying on 30 campaign signs left over from the 2007 election. However, this paper was told by sources close to Kennedy, when supporters sought to make major donations in the past few weeks, Kennedy instead asked them to fund local food pantries and soup kitchens, which are stretched to their limits to meet the recession-heightened demand. He too is to be commended.
It's unfortunate that space does not allow us to invite the public in for the private candidate debates hosted by The Times of Smithtown leading up to our endorsement issue. For had they attended the debate between the four council candidates, they would have witnessed one of the most cordial, fact-based, issues-centered dialogues in our experience. By the time the 2-hour debate closed, multiple candidates on both sides of the aisle had expressed their belief that each man running, their mates and opponents alike, had a deep love for Smithtown and would make an excellent public servant.
In fact, the rapport established across party lines may continue into the future. Democrat Craig Tortora said that victorious Republican Kevin Malloy had, as of Wednesday, already held out a hand and asked Tortora to continue their policy discussions. With the lack of any opposing party member in the soon-to-be monolithic Republican town government, officials who actively court dissident points of view to improve the overall quality of decision-making are especially valuable. The four council candidates as well are to be commended.
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Copyright 2010
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