Letter to the Editor: Rebecca and Harold Oliver Deliver an Election Message

Oswego needs you to pay attention and care.

It is very hard to get voters to the polls for local elections. Some say they are not as important as the major elections...but that is far  from the truth.  The April 5th election is a “major” election for the voters of Oswego because the result will affect you every day that you live here.

Voter turnout in the 2007 and 2009 elections were astoundingly low.  Are you ready?  In 2007 only 4,516 votes were placed out of 27,376 registered voters!  It only took 2,000 votes to become the village president!  Is this really the decision of the majority?

Then again in 2009, only 3,372 votes were placed out of 29,900 registered voters.  That’s only an 11.29 percent turn out!  We are asking the majority of Oswego to not be the silent majority three times in a row.  We need you to care enough about the future of Oswego  to place your vote in the April 5th election. 

 It has been made even easier for you.  From March 21st thru the 31st , you can place your early vote right at the Village Hall.  Mon-Thu 8-5pm; Fri 8-6pm and even Saturday 8-12pm.

Why should you care and why should you vote?

Sadly, the Village has become more about Village politics rather than Village business.  That is not the right path for any village or city to follow.   The voters of Oswego are Oswego’s customers.  Your real estate taxes pay the bills and the Village board needs to hear and listen to the majority of Oswego about how you want the Village business handled.  Not just the few that elected them. 

What has happened in Oswego and how does it affect you?

Over the last four years a very negative and non-productive “NO” coalition of 5 elected officials and their supporters have gained control and fractured our Village Board and our Village. 

They have been more concerned with spreading inaccurate information and fear than performing their job.  With this mindset they have not and cannot function responsibly or in the best interests of the Village. 

The NO Coalition state they are representing the “mandate” that elected them.  But is an 11.29 percent voter turnout a mandate? 

In the newspaper and on the blogs it is an endless onslaught of biased statistics and unfounded statements that are designed to bring only fear and blame to the voters minds.  

Even though they have asked for it, the residents and businesses have yet to see a vision or plan for Oswego other than a plan of “NO”.  Layoffs and cutting expenses are only half of the solution to Oswego’s financial problems. 

The other half is creating revenue and jobs and we have yet to see any plan for that.

Why do we care?

We know that you are asking yourself why we, Rebecca & Harold Oliver of HRM Properties, would take the time and effort to write this letter.  The answer is a simple one. Oswego has been a big part of our life for most of our lives.  My family came to Oswego in 1963 to own and run the Dari-Boat (n/k/a the Dari-Hut) and Harold graduated from Oswego in 1972. 

We opened Oswego’s first music store  in the Wilhelm Building in 1975.  We have been in this Village for many, many years and we love Oswego.  We built Mason Square beginning in 1995. With Mason Square and our other developments, we have helped to create many jobs, businesses and greatly increased real estate and sales tax dollars for Oswego. 

Although it has been said that we received TIF dollars and incentives, there has never been one dollar paid to us for any development that we have built in Oswego or Yorkville.  We are tired of this NO Coalition telling the “Old-Timers” how bad it is in Oswego.  We disagree!  Oswego had EVERYTHING going for it until this NO Coalition gained control and started moving Oswego backwards.

It is also very important for you to understand that the Alexander Square project is no longer a part of Oswego’s future plans nor should it be an election issue.  It had a time and a window of possibility and now that window is closed.  It doesn’t matter who is or who is not elected...Alexander Square will never be back on the Village agenda. 

During the last 4 years, in some way or fashion, the NO coalition has managed to stop or stall  every development presented to them. Thus stalling and walking every positive development  into our current economic decline and recession.  All developers and businesses have been treated in this way. 

Hundreds of jobs have gone to the wayside or to other towns.  Hundreds of thousands of tax dollars could have been created to help the residential tax base.

What can you do to help and support your village?

• Be respectful and help Oswego become united instead of divided by voting for candidates that are respectful of you and Oswego.
• Select candidates that will stop the negativity that compromises the Village of Oswego’s integrity outside its boundaries.
• Be cautious of single issue candidates and “NO” coalitions.  Coalitions have no place on ANY board.
• Become informed and learn the candidates’ positions on all issues important to Oswego and its future.
• Don’t assume that the best candidates will be elected without your vote!

Ask yourself these questions and find the answers then please vote April 5. 

1. Can Oswego afford 2 or even 4 more years of no growth, no new jobs, no new revenue?
2. How many important issues are stopped in the Committee of the Whole meeting so they never make it to the Village Board meeting?
3. How many important issues never get a motion on the floor or a second, so there is no vote to go on their voting record?
4. How many more empty buildings can Oswego and downtown survive?  And for how long?
5. Where is the plan to bring business and enterprise to the Village?  Where are the jobs and new real estate taxes?
6. How many jobs and business dollars have been lost in Oswego by the NO Coalition's negative actions or inaction?
7. What is the business plan of the Village besides laying off employees and cutting expenses?  Where are the new jobs and revenue?

Rebecca and Harold Oliver, HRM properties & development