Richard Evans: For Village Government Representing The People

Dear Village Residents,

From a young age, I knew that the Village of Patchogue would be the place that I would plant my roots in and raise a family in one day. My affinity for this beautiful waterside community began when I was a small child, and my father would take me crabbing by Mascot Dock. It was those memories, coupled with my love of the water, my passion for the arts and the diversity of the community that has drawn me to Patchogue. Last year, my application for was accepted, and I moved to the Village that I now call my home.

The “American Dream” is unique to every individual. It can be a single mother working two jobs to make sure that her child has an opportunity to go to college one day. It can be the immigrant that came to our country for a better life. It can even be the father that worked nights, but still made time to take his son crabbing on the one day he had off. My American Dream was to own a small business. I have combined my talents in the arts with my love for the outdoors and my background in construction to formulate a landscape design business.

People ask every day why I chose to run for Mayor. I can answer this question with dozens of responses; however, the commonality of each is the idea that I love my community and want to make it a better place to live. I truly believe that when a government no longer represents its people and the needs of the people, we must become the government. This Village of Patchogue no longer represents us. I am not a person who will stand on the sidelines. Instead, I am a person who stands up to make a difference with a new vision for the Village.

Candidates frequently run for office making empty promises simply to get votes. Some of these template promises heard over and over again include: stopping wasteful spending, ending corruption, having an open government, adhering to ethical standards and of course, lowering taxes. These are all great things that every elected official must fight to do. Unfortunately, they rarely hold up to these promises and just use them to get votes. Many of the times they are even part of these systems and/or administrations they promise they will fix. There should be consequences when these promises are not upheld. Enough is enough!

I am a proponent of the Nu Village “Declaration of Principles” which lists basic principles that elected officials should abide by and encourages the People of the Village to have greater involvement in local government. Frequently, politicians try to strip the powers from the people to evolve themselves or their own agendas. I know of another document that many elected officials forget to adhere to – The Constitution of the United States of America. These principles were the foundation of that which made us great, and can continue to serve as a reference on how to keep us great. This is true at all levels of government. We have an advantage being an incorporated Village. This provides us with the ability to govern locally from the bottom up rather than be governed from the top down, allowing a government that molds to the needs of its citizens. Unfortunately if misused, it will just create an additional layer of bureaucracy and taxation.

As for my campaign, I am running as a sole candidate without any trustees. I believe our political system would be better off if we stopped voting for parties and started voting for individual candidates. An elected official’s (aka public servant) allegiance should be solely to the citizens they represent, not to a political party. As a sole candidate, I speak for myself; my message will not be altered to fit a party message. As Mayor, I would not have any loyalty to one trustee over another trustee. I have taken no campaign donations specifically so that the residents would know that I will not owe any favors to any donor, corporation or organization. I have a grassroots campaign, getting my ideas out by going to door to door with brochures and putting up a handful of signs. My brother in law put my campaign facebook page together. I have only used my personal savings – not a penny from any individual or entity to finance my campaign. I have been fortunate enough to have a hard working team of volunteers that together with me believe we will make our community a better place for all.

Sincerely,

Richard Evans