Letter: Re-elect Pete Harckham

Pete Harckham deserves our vote and support for his re-election as County Legislator.

Pete Harckham is responsive, diligent, caring, and results driven. He listens to citizen concerns and takes immediate steps to address them. When I reached out to Pete on a pressing matter of consequence for our communities and environment, Pete took immediate action to affect the outcome. Pete responds to issues, not number of citizens raising them. Pete Harckham proves that selfless, genuine, concerned, hands-on representation is not something of the past but continues to be found. 

As voters, we must exercise thoughtfulness and responsibility for our living and that of unborn generations. Extreme weather events and outdated systems imperil our drinking water and septic infrastructure. We expect our drinking water to be clean, free of septic and stormwater contaminants, yet someone must know enough and care enough to ensure this happens. Pete Harckham has worked tirelessly to protect our drinking water from septic and fertilizer discharges. He has initiated and led efforts for septic infrastructure integrity through a comprehensive septic management plan. Legislator Harckham has secured funding for local towns to study and protect drinking water and wastewater systems. To the delight of all who know a sustainable future is based on clean, renewable energy, Pete Harckham leads on renewable energy initiatives and recycling legislation.  Addressing concerns with the quality of the air we breathe, preventing asthma in children, and reducing respiratory illness, Pete Harckham is a leader on clean air initiatives, among them anti-idling legislation, bike-friendly mass transit, County-wide energy efficiency audits, electric service vehicles, and clean, hybrid buses. 

As voters, we have a responsibility to preserve the bases of our living and those of generations to come. To do so, we have the responsibility to vote for elected representatives with the know-how and leadership to preserve quality of life by protecting the health of our communities and environment that sustains us.  County Legislator Pete Harckham is a leader we need and must vote to re-elect to continue his work for all of us.

Julie Hellene
Somers