‘A Great Big Thank You’

Editor,

     This is a great big thank you to all who voted me back into office as your Town of Warwick Justice. Those who know me well understand that I have no agenda and that I am best competing against myself, not others. Love the job, hate the process. I have a caretaker’s mentality so will continue to improve our court system, technology and operations for those that come after me as your future judges. I will continue to interpret and apply the law to every case presented – fairly, impartially and to the best of my abilities.

      Special thanks to Bob Krahulik and Mike Sweeton, my co-chairs who always kept me in a straight and focused direction these last 10 months; the other candidates, Mike, Jim and Russ, and members of our campaign committee who worked so hard through Primary, Early Voting and General Election; those of you who wrote wonderful letters for me to the papers; our great Town of Warwick Police; friends and neighbors who planted and/or allowed all those very ugly political signs on their properties (that I hope are all gone now); the kindness and expertise of the newspapers, the Dispatch and the Advertiser, and WTBQ; those of you that knew when I needed physical and verbal ‘hugs’ and kindness to bolster my spirits; and most of all, my husband Floyd whose help was invaluable to all of us as candidates. We ran a very positive Primary and General Election campaign, that focused on qualifications and experience, and one in which I am very proud to have participated.

      Besides being a letter of thanks and appreciation, this is a letter of caution. There are about 34,000 people in Warwick and only approximately 22,000 are registered to vote. That in itself is not good. We all have a right to vote but only about 30% of the registered voters just exercised that right. That leaves a majority of Warwick that did not vote, and therefore has no right to complain about anything. You live in a small community where your local elected officials and candidates are all within reach to discuss issues, qualifications and experience. Local elections are personal and affect you directly. You need to compare the individual persons, not just their political affiliations, to make a fair determination.

      If you vote by party alone, you fall into a state and national political trap where your local government is only as good as the weakest person elected and a (outside-State/Federal) mob mentality controls with a ‘them’ against ‘us’ stance. Do you dare to cross party lines for the right person for the job? I hope so because that is how I have always been elected. We need to be kinder to one another, this is Warwick after all and why you chose to be here!

NANCY DEANGELO, JUSTICE