To the editor:

I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Kate Pringle and Mark Cardwell in the upcoming Village of Pelham Manor election for trustees.

I believe Pringle and Cardwell can finally help Pelham Manor address one of our most pressing issues: flooding. Starting with Hurricane Ida in 2021, countless village residents (my family included) have put tens of thousands of dollars into our homes to repair damage, including from raw sewage, and to try to prepare for future floods. Neighbors have had to evacuate their homes during storms carrying babies through chest-deep flood waters in the night. Some families have lost multiple cars.

Sadly, our current board of trustees has not been up to the challenge. Necessary investments in the stormwater capacity and the sanitary-sewer system are simply not going forward. In fact, the current board won’t even say the phrase “climate change” at meetings. (They say “changing weather patterns” instead.) The current board is only looking at fixes for one- to 10-year storms while we are being hit with 50- to 100-year storms every year now.

Pelham Manor cannot afford—literally cannot afford—to maintain the current status quo. Luckily, I believe this election offers us two great candidates who are motivated to finally address this generational crisis head on. Pringle is a skilled attorney who has been speaking out about these issues at trustee meetings since 2015. Cardwell is a volunteer Pelham Manor firefighter who has held senior positions in many agencies and knows the challenges our community faces.

We don’t have to keep making the same expensive, self-defeating mistakes. Let’s vote for change on March 19.

Erica Winter

923 Esplanade