Your Letters for Nov. 20, 2025

Please do your job

There is a lot of angst about how it is the BOE’s obligation to cherish historic buildings in perpetuity, to stop advancing an idea or project if it fails at the ballot box, and to provide a K-12 educational experience that satisfies every parent’s expectation. Spoiler alert, that ain’t the job.

The BOE’s duties are: 1. Hire a superintendent and monitor results. 2. Be frugal. Accept the best and lowest bids for goods and services. 3. Approve policies such as hiring practices, pay scales, graduation requirements, busing routes, investments, ballot initiatives, curriculum, and the thousands of other policies needed to guide the daily operation of a multi-million dollar system. Note, there is not much you can do about the 80/20 strings attached to the funds that trickle down to you from Federal and State Agencies, so live with that frustrating reality as best you can.

Meanwhile, we have to pay taxes to support public education. In return, we want you to maintain an economical and efficient system and to employ a superintendent who will deliver a fair, practical, and beneficial educational opportunity to all students.

Do your job. Please.

Dennis Weiser
St. Joseph

Mamdani or Marx?

Hang on to your hat as Mamadi takes over New York they are in for one Big ride! As you read this just think like a politician “it’s only money” — yours.

• He believes in expansion of the Marist theory
• Lived most of his life in subsidized housing
• Only been in the workforce for 3 years since graduation
• His campaign refused to provide his resume
• A proud Democratic Socialists of America member, is anti-police
• Accusations of antisemitism for his fierce, long-running criticism of Israel
• Ill-prepared to preside over a city — esp. one of 8 million
• Naturalized citizen in 2018, background is born in Uganda, still owns property there. Rents it for $300-500 a night!
• Believes the future is “equity”. He has been absent on 50% of the votes in while in office.
• Tells people they are worst off today and need the socialism form of Marxism. The capitalist system has too many inequalities. Socialism will solve all these problems, a social utopia.

His campaign promises:

• Free busing—$800 million
• Universal child care-from age 6 weeks to 5-year-olds—pre-K-3k expansion—est. Cost $5-7 billion a year, but Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategics puts it at $9.6 billion.
• City owed grocery stores at wholesale prices — estimated cost: $60-100 million. The city owned groceries owned store do not need to make a profit.
• Minimum wage of $30.00/hour by 2030
• Eliminate tuition fees at City University of N.Y. — $800 million
• Community safety department — $1 billion
• Rent freeze — but he wants to build 200,000 more units to rent

Est total cost $112.3 billion. Just get it from a corporate tax increase — 7.25% to 11.5%. He is forgetting the state controls any tax increases in N.Y.

He proposes tax increases of income of $1M> to 5.9%. New rates >$5M at10.3%. $25M, pay 10.9%.

The governor is worried that these will cause flight of the citizens, N.Y> leads the nation in lost citizens.

Mamdani has called the N.Y. police “racist”, anti-queer, threat to public safety — replace by the above community safety department which would answer 911 calls for mental health crises.

No mention of stopping illegal over the road truck drivers who can’t read, understand of know what the traffic signs mean! And this clown wants to arrest Netanyahu if he comes to N.Y.

More freedom for immigrants to refuse to assimilate, that hate America, who resent our Judeo-Christian traditions.

Hire 50 new City Department of finance auditors — he says will get him $165 million in taxes.

Mamdani, also, while saving city contact reforms to the tune of $300 million.

He is basing everything on raising taxes for his “wish list,” just raise the taxes by 2% levy will get him around $4 billion? It is only about $20,000 per citizen. He said roughly $10 billion is more than enough to fund-his most far-reaching policy promises. (Are you as confused as I am with his pulling money out of every pocket)? N.Y. there are more tax increases proposals so brace yourself!

It’s more of the “you can’t beat ‘free.’”

This is the same path taken by Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol-Pot!

Ben Pecora
St. Joseph