Support Rotterdam roads, back Lamora
“All politics is local” so said Tip O’Neill, famous Speaker of the House. I would submit that it can’t get any more local than the street on which you live, in my case, Ghents Road.
In next month’s election, I will not be voting for Mr. James Longo for town of Rotterdam highway superintendent. In June 2012, as superintendent, an independent officer by statute, Mr. Longo oversaw the destruction, by a developer, of a large vehicle turn-around which was an integral part of the western end of Ghents Road. Further, Mr. Longo allowed the developer to seize that same property for the building of a home.
The turnaround, on this dead-end road, was built 20-25 years ago, ironically, while Mr. Longo was a town Highway Department employee. The turnaround was paved while he was superintendent of highways.
For all the years of its existence, it was maintained and plowed by the town of Rotterdam Highway Department. This portion of Ghents Road was used by vehicles, including large school buses, trucks, waste haulers and fire trucks to turn, in one sweep, without having to use someone’s driveway.
Mohonasen school buses and other large vehicles now have to do a three- or five-point turn between two homes where small children live. Some Monday mornings, waste haulers back down the entire road, approximately half mile, at 6 a.m., unsure of how they would turn around at the end of the road.
Finally, multiple requests to Mr. Longo while he was superintendent regarding drainage problems and standing water on this street were never acted upon, despite promises to do so. I will be voting for Larry Lamora to keep this post. During his brief tenure, he has been very responsive to the issues regarding Ghents Road, despite being hamstrung by the current town administration, which has not budgeted any funds for pavement.
Del Pierce
Rotterdam
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