Living in Dryden

An election-year conversion? (and more lies, alas)

Back in June, I kept hearing rumors of a possible Republican primary for Town Justice. I knew that Republican Committee Chair Jim Crawford supported Drug Court, but apparently he wasn't the only one. As summer went on, however, it seemed clear that the Republicans had reached an accomodation, avoiding a primary but still leaving Clauson's interest in Drug Court an open question.

In today's Journal, Clauson appears to take advantage of that accomodation, arguing that:

"I refer a lot of people there," Clauson said. "Without a doubt, I have in the last 90 days referred or asked people if they would like to go to drug court, and they all have said no. That's not my fault."

That says nothing at all about his performance before the past 90 days, something his clerk doesn't keep track of. (You'd think someone might remember.) It's hardly a strong record from which to attack his opponent.

The Journal also seems to have run out of paper for its opinion page, running just a single page of letters and consigning the rest to the Internet. One that made the printed page (but not the Web), from attorney Michael J. Dick challenges my own letter to absentee voters, which emphasized Leifer's taking seriously the prosecution and incarceration of criminals, a key part of what the justice courts are supposed to do. I did not claim that Leifer would personally prosecute or incarcerate, and I would be surprised to hear that Clauson opposes the prosecution and incarceration of criminals.

(An earlier version of this article, based on an early draft of the letter, was angrier at Dick. I still wouldn't want him as my attorney.)

In print and on the web is a letter from Joe Solomon of Dryden seeking reader support for his campaign for Town Board. On the web, and only on the web:

• David Makar of Dryden takes a hard look at this race and what it means for Dryden.

• Brent Nelson of Freeville, apparently Town Supervisor candidate Cheryl Nelson's son, seems to think that Democrats are puppets. It's a painful sign of how far Dryden Republican politics have fallen this year that a candidate's son would send that kind of bizarre allegation to the paper. (He also quite plainly doesn't understand that Democrats lack the party discipline that Republicans display at least occasionally.)

• Barry Rollins of Ithaca writes to support Cheryl Nelson for Supervisor.

• Former Town Board member Dan Tier of Dryden supports Stan Marcus for Town Board.

• Jean Locey of Dryden writes to support Jason Leifer for Town Justice

• Linda Shutts of Dryden writes to support Mary Ann Sumner for Town Supervisor and David Makar for Town Board, and notes that she:

  cannot remember seeing a local campaign where one side so mirrored the ugliness of national politics. Having little substance to recommend their candidates, the Republicans have resorted to name calling and personal attacks.

• Brian Morgan of Freeville writes to endorse Chris Clauson for Town Justice.

• Mary Ann Sumner of Freeville writes to explain why she is running for Town Supervisor

• Jason Leifer of Dryden explains why he is running for Town Justice.

That should be the last round of letters in the Journal on local elections. I wish they'd indulge in some fact-checking, but I'm not surprised that an unscrupulous Republican campaign has led to at least a few unscrupulous letters.

On the bright side, Darts & Laurels has two Dryden-related laurels. The Finger Lakes Land Trust sends a laurel to volunteers who helped clean up "an enormous roadside dump in the Town of Dryden", and Linda Kelley sends a laurel to Peggy Brewer and the folks at Laser & Brewer for their compassion when she realized she had lost a valuable piece of jewelry.