From the supervisor: The holidays are here

By Janet Aaron

Skaneateles Town Supervisor

The holiday season is upon us and I have to say that Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It is a time to slow down and just reconnect with our family and friends and appreciate what we have.

Watching how brave Tim Green was to go on national television to speak about his challenges with ALS and bring awareness to this crippling disease, makes us realize how precious each day is.

We all pray for Tim and his family. That is what small towns do.

I think we all feel blessed to live in this beautiful community.

I am grateful and honored that I have been allowed to serve this community in our local government for 35 years. I can tell you that I am definitely biased when I say that local government is the best government.

Our town government is filled with dedicated employees and devoted board members who live in this community and want what is best for our wonderful town, just as you do.

The difference between federal, state and county government and ours is that we live here, our kids go to the same school together, we know our residents on a first name basis; we are friends.

Our decisions are hard, and we try to approach each challenge by studying all the information, reaching out for professional help and talking to our residents to hear their thoughts. We represent you, we work for you. We value and need your input.

All boards in the town receive little to no compensation for the commitment they have made.

I hope that whatever project is before any of the boards and for whatever decisions we need to make, that everyone is treated with respect and civility. Let’s not let certain bad behavior demonstrated at times by our highest level of government, permeate down to our community.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and as our community embraces the Dickens Christmas events, may all good things of life be yours, not only at Thanksgiving but throughout the coming year.