A case of sour grapes

To the Editor:

I was dismayed by Joseph B. Margolin’s letter in the Sept. 15-21 Herald, “What about Hewlett-Woodmere?” criticizing Mayor Ed Fare’s new Mayor for the Day contest. Mr. Margolin asserts that Mayor Fare excluded children who live in Valley Stream and attend District 14 schools. 

The contest was announced in the most recent Village Green newsletter, mailed to every village household. It refers those interested to find more details at the www.vsvny.org website. Simply stated, the contest is open to “Valley Stream sixth graders.” This definition is all-embracing of any sixth-grade resident of Valley Stream, whether public, Catholic, Yeshiva, home, private or military. It does not exclude children attending District 14 schools, as Mr. Margolin bleakly contends.

The Mayor for the Day contest is an “out of the box” refreshing and creative idea. It gives children an opportunity to learn how their local officials serve their community, hopefully leading to first-hand experience in how village government works. All contest participants are winners through the research, writing and learning experience.

Merely five months after his inauguration, Mayor Fare and his administration have injected new ideas and energy into our village. Buying back the old Village Hall is a novel idea to regenerate Rockaway Avenue business. Progress has been made on a dog run and pool renovations. The 9/11 10th year anniversary ceremony left every attending community member with a lasting impression. The skate park is now open, where members can skate safely under supervision. Village team preparation and response to Hurricane Irene lessened damage impact. And great progress has been made in having the FEMA maps reviewed, the focus of the “one-issue” mayoral campaign that Margolin ran against Fare earlier this year.

It is disappointing, disheartening and unnecessarily destructive that Mr. Margolin continues to look for ways to discredit Ed Fare. This myopia resulted in Valley Stream voters returning a 3-to-1 vote against Margolin in the Valley Stream election, where he plied the same methodology to divide and separate the community. It was unsuccessful and inappropriate, showing poor judgment, then and now.

Using his District 14 PTA status to again attack Mayor Fare and attempt to usurp all of the good that the mayor has done, is a feeble excuse. Moreover, it is sour grapes!

Peter Panzarino

Valley Stream