WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. November 10, 2005: The citizenry of White Plains continues to talk about the Mayor's victory Tuesday, and why it came about. A reader writes about lessons learned from Tuesday's voter action (or lack thereof), and what White Plains and the Common Council should do in the future:

While I appreciate WPCNR's extensive coverage of the city elections this year, your piece that claimed that 'Power lays low' was just dead wrong.   If this was a 'laying low' campaign, then I must need a new dictionary. 

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We had a dozen folks leafleting the train station the day before the election, a good number of volunteers making phone calls nights and weekends for several weeks before Election Day, walkarounds in the neighborhoods for weeks, and much letter writing, e-mail and other activity.  

 Frankly I think that you've missed the boat on the campaign all along, and you don't seem to get that not bombarding the residents with glossy fliers or large obnoxious signs on lawns is hardly 'laying low'.   It is grassroots politics at its best, and despite the defeat, the Power campaign has nothing to be ashamed of.

You also missed the boat on many aspects of the Delfino campaign, e.g the rally in Delfino Park last Sunday.   I went by there around 2 and if there were 100 people there, it was a lot (and not the 300 you reported), and a large number of them looked like kids to me.   Others who went by at other times saw the same thing.    

What I didn't see was a lot of enthusiastic folks rallying to the Mayor's cause, and I haven't exactly seen much sign of large numbers of volunteers to his campaign as well.     

As far as his last mailing went, that you seemed to think was brilliant, frankly,  I thought it was whiny in tone.   What was most interesting was him giving out an e-mail address to contact him--this from someone who said in public at the LWV (League of Women Voters) debate that "I don't use the e-mail" (not much to brag about for a $140K CEO of a modern suburban city in 2005).   I hope that he will be continuing with e-mail in the future.

This all being said, I think that Power lost, or at least didn't get much closer than he did, mainly for three reasons:

   --the late start-Dennis should have been off and running in January instead of June.   Whether it was lack of direction on the Democrat's part or just circumstances is hard for me to tell.   Either way Dennis did not have nearly enough time to tell the citizens of White Plains who he was.

    --not enough money-as the line from the Dylan song goes "money doesn't talk, it swears", especially in politics.    Getting outspent 5 or 6 to 1 is a hard way to go even in a local election.   The Democrats clearly need to convince contributors that they have viable candidates and do their fundraising early.

    --low turnout-the turnout as I saw it was particularly low in African -American and Hispanic communities which were more likely to support Dennis.     Also, not nearly enough Democrats turned out.   The party needs to find ways to get this vote out a lot better.   As a community we need to get more of our residents active and involved in the process.

I disagree strongly with those like 'WPCitizen' who think that the Power camapign was a 'chicken little' message.   I think that it was important to raise all the concerns the Power campaign raised, and that it was balanced with a positive vision for balanced growth and a livable city for ourselves and our children.   

The issues that were raised in the campaign--more open government, affordable housing, quality of life in the residential neighborhoods, balanced growth--are all issues that the Mayor will need to address in his next term.    He said in his victory speech that he will do so, and if he does, then I and other Power supporters will gladly work with him to acheive these goals.   But if he doesn't,  then no one should be shy about pointing this out.

I congratulate the Mayor on his victory, but would caution him and others from taking it as a 'mandate' to do whatever they like.    The President thought he had a mandate in 2004, and look where he is today.    Again, we can all work together for the betterment of this city, but dismissing real concerns out of hand as 'negativity' and 'grumbling' won't cut it.    Folks on different sides of the issues need to respect each other a bit more and tone down the rhetoric.

In my humble opinion, for the future, the Democrats on the Council need to take a more critical view of the Mayor's agenda and proposals, and can still work cooperatively when needed and to everyone's benefit--Glen Hockley spoke in this vein during his victory speech, and I hope that he influences the rest of the Council in this regard.  

Even more importantly, with Larry Delgado off the Council it is incumbent on the Democrats to find a qualified Hispanic candidate to step up in the next election (assuming Bob Greer will not be running again).    The lack of a Hispanic on the Council (and on the Board of Education with Maria Valentin's departure) does not befit the diversity of our community.

One a side note, I was particularly disturbed by your comment on Dennis Power's wife taking ill.   That is not exposing a 'cover-up', it is cheap journalism and disrespectful of his family.     Should all candidates have to disclose the health status of all of their family members?  Are you prepared to do that?     That comment was not your finest moment.   It betrays all the lofty goals you state that your website is aiming for.

Onward and upward.

Steven Rabinowitz