Sunday, May 5, 2013

Lyme Supervisor Scott Aubertine ~ GOING BACK ON MY WORD.......OR AM I ?


 The letter below was written by Lyme Supervisor Scott Aubertine
 It was posted on this blog 10/5/2011

Ever since posting my article about “We the people”, I have not had a good nights sleep. There is no doubt that the results of a referendum vote of “We the people” should, and hopefully always will be, binding.

A survey, like the one we did for the wind issue, offered more than a referendum vote in that we allowed not only registered voters, but taxpayers to participate as well. The survey results were very clear. Four hundred thirty seven (437) respondents from Chaumont, Three Mile Bay and the surrounding agricultural areas were in favor of wind development. One thousand one hundred fifty two (1,152) from Pt. Salubrious, Three Mile Point and Pt. Peninsula were against wind development. One thing is apparent from this survey. Mostly “seasonal” residents responded one way, and the “year round” residents responded the other way.

The “seasonal” versus “year rounder” war continues. It is sad, but true. It has always been sad, but true. And, as more and more farmers were forced to sell their land, more and more seasonal residents came. But where do they come from? I have been on the fire roads, I have seen the license plates. They are from Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Florida. I have had to search deep within myself. I have had to be honest with myself. I have to be honest with you. Are those license plates the plates of town of Lyme residents? My answer to myself was “No”. Those people live in Rochester, Syracuse, Pennsylvania, Florida, etc. They pay taxes, yes, but they are not residents of the town of Lyme. They are part time residents, weekend warriors and occasional visitors to the cottage that has been in the family for years. I have had to ask myself, “who do I represent”? Do I represent the people in the town of Lyme, or do I represent the residents of the town of Lyme? Do I represent the “seasonal” or the “year rounder”? Do I represent the taxpayers, or the voters who put me in office? The voters are the “year rounders”. I suspect that may change after the “seasonals” read this. And that’s fine if a “seasonal” wants to change their voter registration and risk losing their exemptions “back home”.

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt if I disappointed you anyway because you didn’t trust me to begin with. That’s fine too. I have to be honest with myself and with you.

This survey clearly shows the divide between the “seasonal” and the “year rounder”. I am a “year rounder”, over the last thirty to forty years I have made friends with “year rounders”, I live among the “year rounders” year round. They are my friends and long time acquaintances. They are the residents of the town of Lyme…year round. My first priority is to represent those residents of the town of Lyme. I do not want to walk into the post office, or the diner or the local stores and shops and not have an old long time friend speak to me because of this issue. I would rather lose the election, than lose friends.

This is my story, and this time, I’m sticking to it. I am going to follow the advice of the town attorney. I am going to follow the wishes of the year round people of the town of Lyme. I will NOT vote to ban wind turbines. I will NOT vote to adopt a law so restrictive it effectively keeps wind development out of the town of Lyme. The “year round voters” have spoken.

My apologies to the "year rounders" who have since retired and go south for the winter. This is not about you. And, I suspect you still vote here anyway because this is "your home". My apologies also to the "year rounders" who live on the Points. This is not about you either.

I guess this is just an honest expression of my feelings about "the seasonals". Sorry I feel that way. It's probably not right, but that's how I feel. Now I can get some sleep!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This letter's chief virtue is it's honesty. The conclusion after wrestling with this dilemma would not have made it into the north country version of 'Profiles in Courage.' It would have made it, however, if the author had opted on representing all his constituents and then apologized to friends for putting their personal concerns aside in an attempt to be a model public servant.

Anonymous said...

How does Aubertine handle the inevitable changes in his town dynamics when his old dear friends retire and move to FL and other places more convenient in the winter? For example, in the Cape the former supervisor and the former bp lease holding planning board members and numerous other diaper hangers, voters for wind and good old boys are now part timers. They have become the very people they hate when it became time to count their election losses. What are the rules?

Anonymous said...

What is the objective in posting this letter at this juncture in time?

The town of Lyme has adopted a wind law,and has stood together (including Supervisor Aubertine) publicly with the Town of Cape vincent, delaring they will defend and not negotiate these local laws.

We should be devoting 100% of our efforts to fighting for our right to have our laws stand.

This is a fight against BP and the State of New York, not the town of Lyme supervisor.

Why not let the town of Lyme conduct their own politics?

Anonymous said...

Everything has a reason.

Anonymous said...

7:59

Political season is upon us. Putting a public officials documented record out there for the public to see is important.

This will be a contentious political season and it will get messy. Already Voters for Wind have been passing around a two year old letter that accuses a Cape Vincent home owner and taxpaying couple of voter fraud that was never proven. But in their desperation, Voters for Wind are digging up old dirt and refreshing the false accusations.

If you notice in Mr. Aubertine's letter he alludes to the choice of where to vote as being something wrong. If he still believes what he wrote then, voters may not feel his sense of democracy fits with their idea of good government.

Same with Justin Taylor his very, very close relationship with Iberdrola's Jenny Briot should be a matter of pubic record.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately Scott has the last name, Aubertine
I am not sure if he is as extreme in wanting
to give our community to BP as Darrell
Aubertine, his wife and his less than
ambitious kid is.

Anonymous said...

Nobody will want to live in this area soon, not because of the wind turbines but because of all the nasty vicious people who now live here! Anonymous from May 6th at 3:00 PM, saying something so negative about someone's child is nasty plain and simple. It says a lot about your character!

Anonymous said...

8:48

You are right, he is just a child. He does not even show up to a town meeting unless his mom is there too and sometimes his sister. But, he is a political candidate put out there by his mother and father and Uncle for the purpose of taking back the Cape and giving it to Bp. It is like those miss princess contests, I guess.

Your are right, he is somebody's child.