As people get sick and die, there is no local leadership
Dick and Kay Saunders were the original Glens Falls power couple
The Front Page
Morning Update
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
By Ken Tingley
This may be a moment when we want to contemplate leadership.
What is it, how it can shape our communities, and maybe most important of all, do we have any in this moment in time?
Leadership can be found in many places. We often think of it in terms of those we have elected, but it can be found in our churches, nonprofits and even with crusading reporters and editors who cover the news.
I’m 30,000 feet over Georgia and concerned that our community is bereft of the leadership we need. I’m flying home from a Texas city that is far more safe that the small community I have called home for the past 32 years. How is that possible?
Washington County and Warren County have the highest infection rates in the state. Washington County was in the top 20 nationally earlier this week. Just a few days ago, The Post-Star’s daily story on the infection rate and hospitalizations was played conspicuously next to the story of the annual Festival of Trees in downtown Glens Falls. In the accompanying photo of the Festival of Trees, there were several people who were not wearing masks.
Where was the leadership asking for people to look out for each other?
Our community, like so many others in the country, wants to return to a regular way of life that includes holiday traditions like the South Glens Falls Christmas parade and the Festival of Trees, despite the insistence from Glens Falls Hospital officials that it was full to capacity. The Albany Times Union reported Tuesday that many local hospitals will have to postpone elective surgical procedures.
Gov. Kathy Hochul opened up the mass vaccination facility at Aviation Mall even though I’m skeptical there is a demand. There is a need, but not a demand.
North Country Public Radio interviewed Glens Falls Hospital officials on Tuesday, who voiced their frustrations that 80 percent of those hospitalized had not been vaccinated and even when very sick were still balking at being vaccinated.
Rachel Seeber, a Republican’s Republican and chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, praised Gov. Hochul - state’s highest ranking Democrat - for reopening the vaccination site. But for weeks, her press releases have been carefully crafted to ask citizens to follow CDC guidelines without every specifically saying what the guidelines are. If you want to be a Republican’s Republican these days you can’t be caught dead asking regular folks to wear a mask to get a vaccine.
So where are the leaders in our community?
Why aren’t Matt Simpson, Dan Stec, Bob Henke and Seeber crusading across their counties at senior centers and firehouses asking, begging for citizens to look out for each other by getting the vaccine.
You certainly could make the same suggestion for Rep. Elise Stefanik, but she appears to be too busy tweeting abut the dangers of socialism and the price of gas. Sadly, people are dying in our communities and our congresswoman seems oblivious to it.
What hospital officials fear is that things are going to get even worse after the holidays.
I’ve been in San Antonio, Texas the past 10 days where the infection rate is one-tenth of what it is in the North Country. Far more people are wearing masks in the supermarket than what I remember in Queensbury before I left.
Our political leaders should be ashamed of themselves. Providing “thoughts and prayers” to those going to funerals is an embarrassment.
It makes it clear that we the voters are very bad at choosing people to lead us because they are failing miserably.
I’m wondering if someone could get Betty Little to go out into the public and hold town hall meetings about the importance of getting the vaccine. After all, she is retired now and doesn’t have to worry about losing support from the Republican Party.
Saunders death
I can’t help but wonder if Dick and Kay Saunders’ were Glens Falls’ original power couple. Kay served for years on the Common Council while Dick was president of the Adirondack Red Wings booster club.
They seemed to know everyone and always seemed to be in the middle of everything.
Dick Saunders followed Kay to some new challenge with his death at the age of 96 this week.
His obituary said he was looking forward to seeing Kay again.
It seemed like whenever I had business at Dick’s State Farm office on Bay Road, he would come out with a kind word to say. He always wanted to know what was going on.
Glens Falls is the poorer today without Dick.
Of course, his family and friends are having a celebration of his life at a local pub Wednesday. I’m sure both Dick and Kay will be looking over it all with smiles on their faces.
Tweet of the Day
Reminder there were three in Washington County over the weekend.
Nailed it, Ken!! I have no doubt that politics is in play here, and even though I'm a registered Republican, I get the feeling that many Republicans who probably know better are silently sitting on their hands when they know what the answers are. What's even more concerning is that we seem to be developing a cavalier attitude toward the ultimate result, an attitude that seemingly equates with the idea that one or two deaths from this disease every few days is quite all right as long as we have our precious individual rights. I cannot help but shake my head at a philosophy wherein people say no to vaccines and mask-wearing in spite of the daily death toll... And on a related side note, Ken, have you thought about becoming a regular contributing columnist to "The Post-Star"? I know that in these times the paper is absolutely shorthanded. However, columns like these are too often lacking from our paper of record. Too many times, the silence from Cooper and Lawrence Street is deafening. Lee Enterprises seems to have done away with the position of Managing Editor at The P-S, but that doesn't mean our local paper isn't in desperate need of a "voice" that speaks out more regularly on subjects that truly matter in our community.
My thoughts exactly. Our little story from this week. Went to Capital Rep. Must be vaccinated, show ID and wear a mask the entire time. Felt very, very safe. Called The Strand re a show we want to see there. We could wear a mask if we’d like! Canceled that one. When will we get it up here!! When?