To the editor:

For 35 years I have lived and worked in the Town of Manlius. For 34 of those years I was a teacher in the East Syracuse-Minoa school district. I was the Teacher Union President, then the PerDiem Professional Association President for a total of 16 years. I have been on the boards of the Fayetteville Free Library, (chair), Greater Manlius Chamber of Commerce, the FM A Better Chance Program (currently chair). I have served as chair of the Town of Manlius Democrats for the past nine years.

This involvement has led me to want to use my expertise to give our town a new vision. It is a vision that encompasses three components.

The first is Diversity. Like our town, our slate of candidates offers many different components. We want to reflect what our town is; not the same political party, the same gender, the same ideas, that currently makes up the board. We want our residents to know that we are them and represent them.

The second is Efficiency. We believe in getting the biggest bang for our buck. I will be looking at streamlining services and staff in our office and in the town. We will be looking at phasing out the Receiver of Taxes position as other towns have done to save taxpayers’ money. Collaboration within our town and with other towns will help to give us fresh new ideas to keep our taxes reasonable and our services excellent.

The third is Transparency. We need to look at better communication between the town supervisor and board with its residents. Committees and subcommittees of the town, such as the Police Committee and Environmental committees, need postings of their meetings and recommendations. We need board meetings which are not just a rubber stamp of predetermined decisions but interaction between the board and our town residents.

I look forward to listening and working with each resident of the Town of Manlius. I ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 7, so that we can move forward with a new vision for the Town of Manlius.

Nancy Durkin

Manlius