Does Mayor Bramson and the Democrats on Council not have better things to do here in New Rochelle than bully veterans and everyone else who has any sense of pride in being an American? Are there not pot holes on your street that haven’t been repaired in months? Have your taxes not tripled in the past ten years, while big developers are reaping the benefits of tax abatements? Are there not less cops on the street than ever in the recent history of this city? Why are your cops working for so many years without the legal protection of a contract? What about the members of our Fire Department, has Bramson and his Democratic Council members not left New Rochelle with less fire protection in the form of manpower than ever before? Has Bramson not tried numerous times to close another fire station? Is the City of New Rochelle better off than it was several years ago; safer, cleaner more financially stable? Yes, the police department, fire department and department of public works are doing a heck of a job, but thanks to Mayor Bramson and his Democratically controlled council, are they not forced to do that job with one hand tied behind their backs? Is morale amoung the city’s public safety employees not at an all-time low?
These are the questions that Mayor Bramson and Democrats on Council should be focused on. Not whether a historical American flag should be removed because some political group who Bramson and his Democrats oppose chose to adopt. Will Old Glory be the next flag to go? Mayor Bramson says that the Gadson flag is a political symbol for the Tea Party Movement. If you go to their Web Site http://www.teaparty.org/ you will immediately see that both the Gadson flag and the American flag are displayed. Does that mean that the stars and stripes will be ordered removed on all city properties in New Rochelle by Bramson and Council Democrats in their next step to forward their liberal agenda and strip everyone in this city of their constitutional rights? Does New Rochelle’s Mayor and Democrats who control the City Council beleive that everything in life is political? Is this why they were elected, to bully everyone who opposes their liberal agenda? Bramson further insulted the veterans by calling the Gadson Flag issue, one that he created himself, nonsense. The real nonsense is that New Rochelleans have tollerated the many unsolved issues mentioned in the first paragraph of this article for too long and not demanded real change in this city.
Elections at the local level should be about property taxes and a high level of services, like police, fire and public works. They should not be about political party politics. That is exactly why the issues mentioned above have continued to worsen in this city. People are in the habit of voting blindly according to their party registration rather than voting for the people they beleive will make their community a better place to live. That must change soon in New Rochelle, before this city becomes totally unrecognizable to people who have lived here for a while. That must happen before people can no longer afford to or want to live here any longer.
This entire Gadson Flag issue is an embarrassment to every resident of this city. Elected officals disrespecting our veterans, without whom there would be no New Rochelle or America for that matter, is behavior that should not be tolerated by any resident of this city. It shows a real lack of patriotism, appreciation and gratitude toward those who stand between us as Americans and our enemies.
Mayor Bramson and the Democrats on Council seem to loose their perspective whenever they deal with the veterans. Rather than communicating honorably and negotiating in good faith with the veterans, Bramson goes into ‘Bully’ mode and his Democratic partners on Council go along for the ride. It is obvious that none of them did their homework regarding the Gadson Flag. They showed the same disrespect toward the veterans and lack of patriotism when they denied them the right to a fair hearing regarding the New Rochelle Armory, instead they tried to turn that piece of New Rochelle’s sacred history into a fruit stand. It was no fruit stand after the towers fell on September 11th and it was temporarily put back in service. It was no fruit stand to the many members of the military who passed through it in service to our country.
The Mayor’s lack of respect and appreciation for New Rochelle’s sacred historical symbols and sites should not be tolerated. His lack of leadership regarding the Gadson Flag issue and his disrespectful manner in dealing with our veterans should not be tolerated either. New Rochelle needs a Mayor who can muster some real leadership on Council, considering all the negative issues that New Rochelleans are forced to put up with in this city. Mayor Bramson and the entire City Council should vote to return the Gadson Flag to it’s rightful place at the Armory and move on to resolving the many negative issues New Rochelleans have tolerated for too long; Public Safety, Public Works, Property Taxes and maintaing New Rochelle’s precious history.