Friday, November 02, 2007

News-Review endorsements

We've got our voters guide on the News-Review Web site, with the paper's endorsements.

This wasn't easy. We hated not endorsing a candidate in the supervisor's race. Our reasoning is explained in the endorsement. Personally, I'm still not sure which lever I'm going to pull in that race.

Some people have expressed surprise about our endorsement of Ed Densieski for Highway Superintendent. That wasn't easy either. Certainly, Ed showed lack of judgment as an elected official two years ago in starting a business with Calverton sandminer/trucker Mike Cholowsky, a convicted felon. But he says he has dissolved the partnership and, while Densieski Fuel is still listed as an active corporation in N.Y., that doesn't mean the partnership with Cholowsky is still active. And there was never, at any time, any indication that Ed did anything illegal or unethical as a result of that business association.

Ed came across during the candidate interview we conducted as the better candidate, plain and simple. Gio is a heck of a nice guy. But he didn't seem to possess the vigor and verve the job is going to demand to make the changes the department desperately needs. The only reason to withhold the endorsement from Ed would have been because of his previous business partnership — and a very short-lived one, at that — with someone who has a criminal conviction in his past. That simply didn't seem fair to us.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure, Ed says his business with Cholowsky has been dissolved, but if you check the NYS Department of State website's corporation search the business is still "active." Who's fooling who?

Anonymous said...

Ed, has been around for 8 years in a capacity where he could have initiated and accomplished many things for the town. As I look back I really can't associate Ed with anything that exemplified his 'leadership' qualities. He always seemed to be against something, generally not positive about issues, except of course issues that were near and dear to his heart. Most of the time these were issues that were contrary to what the citizens preferred. To summarize I would have to say that Ed is not the most open-minded person, which is a trait that many good leaders have. I don't know, but to me he doesn't show me the leadership qualities you seem to think he has and that the job needs.

Anonymous said...

Does Ed's involvement with a convicted felon make him a felon?

If Mr. Cholowsky has paid his retribution to the state, is he not free to conduct his life as anyone else?

If you don't like Ed, don't like him. However, he is the candidate who is most fit for the job.