Give credit where it’s due

It’s only fair to give credit where credit is due—and the progressives of Tusten have done what no other town has been able to do—which is to elect a slate of liberal candidates directly tied into the second-home and arts community.

Many have tried in towns like Highland, Delaware and Callicoon; but mostly it’s just the same old good-old-boys routine (even when it’s a woman). And any challenger to that status quo is met with the full weight of the generational insularity that defines Sullivan County as they circle the wagons and use all political and community levers at their disposal to stay the course.

Wingert’s coalition is impressive and rare—hopefully she doesn’t blow it with pie-in-the-sky do-gooder temptations like the $200,000 esplanade to nowhere, the $400,000 downtown-disrupting bridge, or the $100,000-a-year constable. She might end up longing for the common-sense brakes Mr. Lang applied over the last four years, however heavy-handed and annoying they were.

Charles Petersheim

Eldred, NY