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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. August 4, 2017 (Provided to WPCNR with request for publication):

Open letter to Hon. Mayor Thomas M. Roach

Dear Mayor Roach:

We understand that you, John Martin, John Kirkpatrick, and Justin Brasch have filed a challenge with the Board of Elections regarding the signatures that were collected on petitions for Milagros Lecuona, Alan Goldman, Saad Siddiqui, and Michael Kraver to get their names put on the ballot for a Democratic primary this September.

This is well within your right. The procedure that is in place with the Board of Elections should provide enough assurance that, if the signatures on these petitions are deemed invalid, your opponents will not be allowed to run. What we do not understand, however, is why a lawsuit has also been filed against them. It is unclear to us what purpose this lawsuit serves.

Saad Siddiqui in particular is a longtime friend of the Greer family. He has been friends with Alexis since their years at White Plains High School, and he spent a great deal of time at our house speaking about politics and history with Councilman Bob Greer, who as you may recall served on the White Plains Common Council for over 15 years.

Saad is the kind of candidate Bob would have endorsed: an honest, intelligent, idealistic, concerned citizen who has gotten involved in politics for the good of this city and its residents. He has dedicated his professional career to helping those in need, from his early work as a legal aid attorney to his current private practice. He has consistently devoted his considerable energy to community service and social justice, and he is a District Leader for the White Plains Democratic City Committee.

Saad and his family cannot support his portion of the burden of this lawsuit with their own money, and lawsuits are so expensive that his campaign dollars may run dry simply to help his slate pay legal fees. If this occurs, Saad and at least some of the other members of his slate may become unable to run at all.

We would like to believe that using a lawsuit to drain the campaign coffers of fellow Democrats is not your intent. However, with an established challenge procedure already in place that does not involve such costly measures, it is difficult to see any other intent behind the lawsuit.

Perhaps even more troublingly, the lawsuit as filed by you and the other members of your slate seeks to invalidate all the signatures collected by the members of Saad’s slate.

Doing so would effectively silence the voices of many of those you are sworn to serve and runs counter to the Democratic ideals Bob held so dear. Again, it is within your right to challenge petitions before the Board of Elections, but we respectfully request that you withdraw this unnecessary lawsuit.

Sincerely,

Helen Greer and Alexis Greer Heidenberg