Astorino’s Record in Westchester Makes Him Difficult to Support
A letter to the editor in The Examiner last week claimed that Rob Astorino is best suited to take us forward. But let’s not forget that as a far-right county executive, all he did was take us in reverse.
Under Astorino’s tenure, Westchester’s credit rating was lowered twice, leaving taxpayers with a $32 million deficit, according to independent auditors. He cut the number of county employees by 14 percent and decimated crucial departments by slashing budgets and postponing needed infrastructure projects.
And while Astorino said that better mental health systems were needed to prevent mass shootings, he closed county mental health clinics and cut funding for mental health services by $10 million.
In addition, Astorino made several gimmicky one-shot budget deals to sell county assets in order to meet operating costs and pension obligations, creating a fiscal disaster.
He also cost Westchester communities $25 million in Community Development Block Grants. As a result, young people, seniors on fixed income and first responders find it difficult to live in our communities.
Accordingly, Astorino was defeated for re-election by a resounding majority in 2017. Despite being rejected by the voters, he’s running as Trump’s choice for New York State Senate.
The real way for Westchester to move forward is to re-elect Sen. Pete Harckham, who has done so much good for all of us!
Joanne Scutero
Hawthorne
