Until flooding from Irene and then Lee pummelled the Middletown hamlets of Margaretville, Fleischmanns and Arkville, Jake Rosa -- a local sawmill operator who's currently the town's deputy supervisor -- had no intention of seeking the town's top elected office. But since the devastating floods, Rosa says, he has been asked by many local residents to throw his hat in the ring.
With incumbent Len Utter stepping down, and three relative newcomers to town politics in the running (Joe Moskowitz, Marjorie Miller, and Wayd Jaquish, all running as independents), Rosa -- a registered Republican -- says he thinks Middletown needs someone with more town government experience at the helm.
Below: A letter from Rosa announcing his intention to run as a write-in candidate. --Ed.
I’m writing to announce that I’m running as a write-in candidate for Town of Middletown Supervisor. When I was asked earlier this year to consider running, I didn’t petition to be on the ballot because I felt that I wouldn’t be able to put in as much time as our current supervisor and that it would be a disservice to my fellow citizens. I no longer have that concern and here’s why:
Up until August 27 I was excited and looking forward to January’s changes in our local government. This year two critical people in our government’s day-to-day operations, Town Supervisor Len Utter and Town Clerk Russell Schebesta, are retiring. They’ve given many years of dedicated public service to Middletown. They will be greatly missed and need to be thanked. Their retirement meant we would be going through a big transition. It meant that there would be new faces and fresh ideas. Together we would go through a learning curve as new people adjusted to their roles.
But my feelings changed August 28th after Irene came to visit our quiet little town. After the water receded and we assessed the devastating damage, it became quite obvious that this isn’t the time for on-the-job training for someone who, even with good intentions, hasn’t actively served in the political leadership of the Town or County or been involved in our day-to-day operations since the flood. As Deputy Supervisor this past year I have been in the trenches every day. We have an immense amount of work to do right now and I am ready for the task.
Now is not the time for inexperienced leadership. We must rebuild our community. This mess will not be over with by January 1, 2012. It probably won’t be done by January 2014. It took over three years to get everything back to normal after the flood of ’96, and even longer to get paid from FEMA, and that was during good times. There is an enormous amount of work that is being done right now, needs to be done before winter, and much more to be done over the next few years.
I have been pressured by many local businesses and residents to run, before and post- disaster. I’ve been told that we urgently need someone in charge, someone who has been entrenched from the start in this flood recovery process. A good family friend asked me why I wouldn’t run. When I told him, he said: “Not running because you think that you couldn’t do as well as the past supervisor is foolish. You need to look to the future. No one can change the past, and you are the most qualified to lead the town into the future.” After pondering his remarks for a few days and looking at the many complicated aspects of rebuilding, I realized that he was right.
I am now entering the race for supervisor as a write-in candidate. It is going to take time for our community to heal, but I feel that together we can overcome this disaster with someone with direct experience. And I am in the middle of it. That’s why I’m asking for your support. Over the coming weeks I plan to meet one-to-one with as many of you as possible to explain why you should write in Jake Rosa for Town of Middletown Supervisor and why for Middletown’s sake, you should vote for Jake.
Sincerely,
Jake Rosa
Member of Town of Middletown Board,
Deputy Supervisor
Correction, 8:04pm: An earlier version of this story mentioned only Joe Moskowitz and Marjorie Miller as candidates in the race for Middletown supervisor. Wayd Jaquish of Fleischmanns is also running. Thanks to Moskowitz for pointing out the oversight.
