LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
Politics has always been “the art of compromise.” And compromise requires differing parties to debate and discuss openly their positions and be willing to listen to each other in order to find common ground. Doing so is what the public expects of us elected officials.
Since (Forward Township Supervisor Dave) Magiske’s initial resignation on Nov. 19, 2024, I have attempted to reach a compromise on an appointment with (Supervisor) Tom DeRosa. But such compromise is seemingly impossible with DeRosa when he says “… why would I do that (accept letters of interest) when I’ve already made up my mind…” ( MVI 12/5/2024) Surprisingly on March 15, 2025, DeRosa placed an ad in the MVI soliciting letters of interest from township residents to be submitted by April 1, 2025. It seemingly appears that DeRosa was inviting citizen interest.
Eight residents responded to the ad, a significant expression of interest from the public in my view.
On April 2, 2025, I texted DeRosa and requested he call a special meeting so we could review the applicants, discuss their qualifications, in my hope of reaching a consensus and appointing a candidate we could both agree on. DeRosa did not respond.
Rather, he has decided not to work with me on a compromise candidate and instead he has called a meeting of the vacancy board for next Monday, April 14, 2025.
DeRosa appointed the chairman of the vacancy board on Jan. 6, 2025, (with Magiske unresigning on Jan. 5 so that he could vote in favor of DeRosa’s candidate to chair the vacancy board). So, it appears “the fix is in” to appoint DeRosa’s candidate.
Apparently DeRosa advertising the vacancy and soliciting letters of interest was nothing but a ruse.
The politics of democracy is rooted in the spirit and practice of compromise. It’s the opposite of authoritarian rule.
Democracy vs dictatorship. It’s on the ballot May 20, 2025.
Dave Levdansky
Forward Township supervisor
