Mike Solomon for the Bedford Central School Board

The road to reform is a long one, but we have made some enormous strides in the last two years. Two years ago, we defeated two terrible school budgets that represented the old, union-driven way of doing business. Last year, the school board got religion and proposed a responsible budget, and it passed, with our help. We also defeated an incumbent and got the incredibly qualified Graham Anderson onto the board. Graham has proved a hard working and responsible board member. None of the disaster scenarios propagated by our opponents came to pass.

We need to send the board someone else who has the experience and backbone to stand up to the union, because it is the union and their insane demands that threatens our town and our children, and drives up our property taxes to the highest in the nation. That someone is Mike Solomon.

You have heard me speak in the past of the Suozzi Commission. This statewide commission made some excellent recommendations to the governor on how to control spiraling property taxes. Mike was on that commission. How fortunate are we that he’s willing to serve on our school board?

Albany, in partnership with the teachers union, is now at the heart of our problems, passing laws like Triborough. Mike knows the people and the landscape in Albany like no one else in our town. He would be a tremendous asset to the board, but most particularly in the area of legislative outreach, something board member Erika Long is also working hard on. (Two years ago, the board was part of the problem. Now, I’m pleased to say, they have become part of the solution. The voters may have helped with this epiphany. Our union and our state legislators need a similar epiphany.)

There’s a lot of other great stuff about Mike. He has a daughter at BVES, so his campaign is not simply about controlling costs. Mike knows that great schools and reasonable budgets are not mutually exclusive.