Yes, Sleepy Hollow Neighbors’ Safety Is A Local Concern

I had the privilege of attending a forum for the Sleepy Hollow mayoral and board of trustee candidates, held earlier this month at Kendal on Hudson. Many issues were discussed, and much attention has been given in these pages and elsewhere to the two slates’ differing views on the state of our village finances.

In the Question segment I broached another very important topic. I asked Jim Husselbee, Unite Sleepy Hollow candidate for mayor, the following: “Since your slate says it’s a united slate and not a Republican slate, what is your attitude toward President Trump’s deployments of ICE?” Husselbee replied that ICE is a national issue and he hopes it will not become a Sleepy Hollow issue. He concluded: “Does that answer your question?” I shook my head to say No.

Mr. Husselbee’s answer was shocking. How could an incumbent trustee be ignorant of the multiple surprise visits by ICE that have terrorized a significant portion of our community since January, with and without warrants? Is he unaware of how many parents were afraid to attend their child’s Sleepy Hollow High School graduation last June? Of how many are afraid every day when they pick up their little ones from school? Doesn’t he know that many downtown businesses are suffering because residents are afraid to patronize local hair salons and restaurants?

How could anyone, especially an elected public servant, maintain that ICE is not a local issue?

In contrast, Sleepy Hollow Democratic candidate for mayor Marjorie Hsu raised her hand immediately and talked about ways to help our immigrant neighbors. She described how personal this issue is to her as an immigrant herself, living in a 50% Spanish-speaking community.

Candidate Hsu reflected on the Know Your Rights advocacy she had outlineed to our current mayor and other community leaders last fall: After the first ICE raid in Sleepy Hollow in January, she reached out to Neighbors Link to help develop the multi-layered municipal response we now use. And she coordinated, and participated in, preparation exercises with our police department and other officials. Neighbors Link has since helped other villages use the plan they’d co-developed with Hsu.

Husselbee’s answer left us with only three possible conclusions: 1)He is woefully disconnected from what is actually happening in the village he seeks to lead or 2) he doesn’t care what is happening to the part of our population whose paths he rarely crosses or 3)he is beholden to the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.

 The good news is that by casting our votes on November 4th for Marjorie Hsu, Cory Krall, Jairo Triguero, and Jared Rodriguez, we don’t have to choose between a financially healthy village and our social conscience. The Sleepy Hollow Democrats (on our ballot we can vote Row A all the way) are the best choice for our pocketbooks and all our residents.

Muriel Fox

Sleepy Hollow