Senator Ball’s Town Hall Tour Makes 2nd Stop in Southeast, N.Y.
[3]Brewster, N.Y. – (07/29/11) – A lively crowd turned out for the second stop on Senator Greg Ball’s (R, C – Patterson) Town Hall Tour tonight in Southeast, N.Y. The tour, which provides communities with an update following this year’s legislative session, drew dozens of residents who were eager to ask the Senator questions about ethics reform, state spending, highway repairs and property taxes.
As he did on the first stop of the Town Hall Tour in Lewisboro, Senator Ball spoke about the progress made in Albany during the legislative session, including the passage of the 2% Property Tax Cap that he made the centerpiece of his campaign.
“If you remember the blue signs we put up throughout the district that said, ‘Property Tax Cap Now!’ Well, we delivered on that promise,” said Ball while acknowledging that work still needs to be done on mandate relief.
“Passing the Property Tax Cap forces the discussion on mandate relief. I hope that the members of the town board will participate on my Mandate Relief Advisory Council and share some of the institutional knowledge that you have, so that I can bring those suggestions to Albany next year,” added Ball.
Senator Ball also spoke about the strong ethics reforms that finally passed both houses and were signed into law by the Governor. “Even in Albany, the land that common sense forgot, we were able to pass ethics reform so that a public official convicted of a felony does not receive his pension, which closed loopholes so that our elected officials cannot hide outside income,” said Senator Ball as he addressed the Southeast Town Board.
Following on the ethics theme, Town Councilwoman Elizabeth Hudak asked Senator Ball to pursue legislation that also reforms the election process. “It’s important that the people believe there’s good people in elected office. Moving forward, help us out with election reform to ensure that elections are funded in an open way, to take away the shroud of secrecy that many people suspect of our elected officials,” said Hudak.
As with Senator Ball’s stop in Lewisboro, the Southeast Town Board rang the bell on infrastructure. Councilman Robert Cullen specifically pointed to the Prospect Hill Bridge, which has been closed by the MTA for several years. “There’s no plan to fix it, and a whole neighborhood is cut off,” said Cullen.
Also discussed was the expansion of Route 22, which Senator Ball has fought for and which began in 2010 with Phase I to expand the road at the Route 312 intersection. With Phase II still to be scheduled and the percentage of funding for this region shrinking to 8 percent, Senator Ball committed to fight for a line item in the next Executive Budget.
The Town Hall Tour will be making stops in all 22 towns in the Senator’s 40th District. A full list of scheduled tour dates can be found here [4].
For more information or to speak with Senator Ball, please contact Ali Skinner: (845) 200-9716.
