Let's not Everybody Panic

I'm supporting Rob Calarco for county legislator but I still want to know what the Republicans have to offer, so from time to time I check their site, waiting for the day when they will announce some specific plans about how their philosophy will work in county government.

What happens in Washington is not a metaphor for Suffolk County. I would like to hear something specific from them about what they plan for my town. I am trying to keep an open mind.

Yesterday I went to John Giannott's campaign page. My jaw dropped when I read a chat he was having with a friend about how he had screwed over a local business. The fact that he was jerking them around didn't bother me so much as the idea that he would go on his official campaign page to malign a local business that hadn't done anything wrong.

is the type of business we should be proud to have in Suffolk. They sell professional outdoor equipment. It's mostly top of the line American manufacturing at it's best. I love going in for a browse even though I'm never going to buy an eight thousand dollar lawn mower. I respect good machinery. And I trust them to fix what little stuff I do have.

Yesterday I sat down and talked to Don Pruce who inherited the business from his father. He told me the saga of what he and his loyal employees had to go through to get emergency generators in for the storm. They've been through enough natural disasters to know that people will be turning to them for help when there's an emergency, a blizzard or a hurricane. They don't run a home improvement center, their business is more for people who need dependable equipment. But when a disaster is looming they feel they should answer the call.

The big box stores keep emergency equipment in huge warehouses in the Midwest ready to move quickly when needed. They sent most of it to the Carolinas,  Virginia, and New Jersey. So we in Suffolk were facing a logistical shortage as usual.

Don Pruce managed to score a shipment of generators for us from a contact in Marietta, Georgia. The only problem was the courageous truck driver had to track with the storm through the entire trip north. But he made it here by Sunday, a little late and a little beat up but he made it. He was a hero for his family. And Don's employees who had waited for him through the night were grateful.

But not John Giannott. He had ordered one of those generators but he panicked and went out and bought a second generator from Lowe's when he heard the shipment was running late. Better he should have two than somebody else should get one. Then later of course he asked for his money back from Carl's Equipment which they gave him, no questions asked. He couldn't resist being rude to the manager though, because he didn't get his generator fast enough. How inconvenient.

But to top it all off he had to go on his campaign page and trash talk Carl's Equipment! Give me a break. The world does not revolve around you Mr. Giannott. And if you think it does, we don't need you as our representative in the County Legislature. We need someone who is friendly to our businesses now more than ever.