Press release from East End Dem Women:
East End Dem Women PAC (EEDW) announced last week their endorsement of Kathy Walsh (I-Centereach) for Brookhaven Town Superintendent of Highways. Walsh, who currently serves as a Brookhaven Town Councilmember, will be on the ballot for the March 5th special election to complete the term of former Highway Superintendent John Rouse who was elected in November as a Suffolk County Court Judge.
East End Dem Women is a Political Action Committee which supports qualified progressive Long Island women who wish to serve their communities through public service.
Walsh, who is running on the Democratic line, was elected to the town board as Republican but changed her party affiliation to the Independence Party last month.
East End Dem Women Brookhaven coordinator and founding Chairwoman Jennifer Maertz, referring to party labels, stated “The letter next to a candidate’s name is not important to us. Our focus is her knowledge and qualifications for the position she seeks, support of women’s rights and equality as well as a dedication to electing more women to public office. We are happy to announce that Kathy Walsh has met our endorsement standards.”
Walsh also brings to the table her experience as acting Brookhaven Town Supervisor during Superstorm Sandy. “Kathy Walsh exhibited a high degree of professionalism and capability throughout the Superstorm crisis. That experience and her work on the Town Council provides Walsh with a unique skill set to lead the highway department through any situation.” said Brookhaven Town Democratic Chairman and former NYS Assemblyman Marc Alessi.
Maertz added “After the recent blizzard where the health and wellbeing of Brookhaven residents were put in jeopardy for days because of the failure of highway management, the public needs to be assured that the candidate we elect for the position of Highway Superintendent is someone with the knowledge, experience, and determination to take charge in a crisis. Kathy has exhibited those qualities along with a compassionate understanding of the needs of the community during such a crisis. Most importantly she has proven that she can put politics aside and work with both parties to get the job done.”
Polls will be open on Tuesday March 5th for all registered voters in Brookhaven Town.
-She has NO knowledge or qualifications for the job, show me her engineering experience. You want a supervisor with a PE license, electing Walsh would be like naming a CEO of a company with no business experience or MBA. -The only reason you are supporting her is becuase she is a women. I think EEDW is a sexist group.
Having said that, here are the problems I have with Mrs. Walsh. The campaign literature, which supports her, alleges corruption in the Highway Department. Since Mrs. Walsh never distanced herself from those statements, we can only assume that she agrees with them. I suggest that if Mrs. Walsh or anyone else who sends those fliers know anything about such corruption immediately contact proper authorities and be more specific with the public. Otherwise they should recall those statements and apologize for misleading the public. Furthermore, since Ms Maertz is quoting Mr. Alessi and the said allegations originate in the New York State Democratic Committee maybe she or he can help explain those corruption allegations to us. I find it also very opportunistic that Mrs. Walsh changed her party affiliation in order to have her name on the ballot. The best choice that the voters have is to write in a candidate. Two of them have been mentioned on the Patch. See http://millerplace-rockypoint.patch.com/articles/poll-can-voting-for-a-write-in-candidate-make-a-difference "Jon Vershek, of Sound Beach, and Michael DePaoli, of Lake Grove, have both made their cases for write-in votes on Patch."
People are chosen for leadership positions because of their race, gender, or political persuasion, rather than on whether they are qualified technically to perform a job. What does Ms. Walsh know about maintaining highways? Someone please tell me! Does she hose down her driveway once in a while? Please, write in Michael DePaoli or Ed Koch on March 5th. Had Enuf