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062894 Budget opponents spread negativism ‑ DAWN SANGREY Bedford Hills
As one of the many people who Worked to pass the school budget in Bedford, I have been amazed by the disinformation and innuendo about the election. The opponents of the budget seem 'determined to continue their campaign to undermine public confidence in the schools. If they can't win in the voting booth, they'll say the election was rigged.
The school budget was passed With more than 2,000 "yes" votes, 8 percent of the total, in the largest turnout in district history.
James Markowski and Joseph Giardina are claiming election fraud. Mr. Markowski ran for the school board last year with more partisan zeal than anyone in recent memory; in fact, he might be said to have introduced politics into Bedford school elections. His well‑financed campaign marked the flrst appearance of those large white plywood signs and featured such tactics as the last minute public distribution of the salaries of every employee in the school district, a move which made impossible any rational discussion of the salary issue. But Mr. Markowski will be remembered best for his encouragement, only last year, of the "no" vote which left us with two budget defeats and a climate in which negativity has been fostered and manipulated.
Last year's tactics helped to create this year's election atmosphere, and it was not a pretty sight. Instead of a discussion of educational issues, the campaign degenerated into name‑calling and nastiness. Literature attacking Karen Schecter, Joseph Giardina's opponent, in ugly personal terms was stuffed into shopping carts. And surely Mr. Giardina knows that nobody has proposed busing any children in Bedford out of their community schools, another anonymous claim made about his opponent.
I think we'd all be better off if school elections were less political.