Letter from Michael Stuart

Population Loss

I read and re-read the letter from Nancy last week. Otsego County has a long history of being moved from district to district. Sometimes we are split west to east, and sometimes our entire County flops from west to east.

Now we are being split in half north to south. This is not the fault of the people running for Congressional Office. This is the fault of population loss plain and simple.

New York is hemorrhaging people at an alarming rate. The blame falls directly on our New York State Executive and Legislative branches. Tax and spend policies along with unfunded mandates developed in the Legislature and approved by our Governor are driving this State into bankruptcy and the people leaving do not want to be held accountable for the debt.

Compounding the exodus is the decades-long travesty of political corruption and scandals in Albany. Until the Great Empire State gets back on track Upstate districts will continue to be hacked away until there is just one big red blob on top of many downstate blue dots.

So, Nancy, I ask you to please learn about all our Legislative and Gubernatorial candidates from all parties running for office this November and vote for the people you trust to stop population loss, decrease taxation, support existing employers and welcome new businesses and industries — this is the only way to solve your redistricting problem.

Michael Stuart
Middlefield