To the Editor:
Hello, my fellow residents. First, I want to thank each and every one of you for reaching out to me with your kind calls, emails, and letters, expressing your sadness over my resignation from the town board, and your kind concern and gratitude for my service to you over the past two-and-a-half years [“Bohl resigns,” The Altamont Enterprise, July 13, 2022].

As a fierce defender of your rights, you know that this was a decision I did not make lightly, and that, if there were any other way, I would have stayed, but there are circumstances that make that impossible for me right now. Thank you for trusting me and respecting my privacy in this difficult time.

The question to focus on now is: Who is the best person to carry on in my seat as a true representative of the residents in this town? We cannot lose that voice.

If you want your voice to continue to be represented, if you want someone who can speak truth to power, someone who has no higher allegiance or political aspirations or agenda, someone who is beholden to no one but the residents of this town, I firmly believe your best and only choice is Kevin McDonald.

As you may recall, in last fall’s general election, after Christine Napierski and Amanda Beedle, Kevin McDonald was the next highest ranking registered Democratic vote-getter. As such, the Democrats have spoken and he deserves the Democratic endorsement for this special election.

I urge you: Do not vote for a career politician or someone who has worked for this or any other administration in the past; vote for a true resident with no such alliances, like Kevin. He will fight for you, exactly as I have done these last few years in this seat.

Regardless of politics, Kevin will truly be there for all the residents, with no hidden agenda. He alone will uniquely ask the hard questions that residents want answers to; he will hold people accountable; he will dig behind issues and challenge others to give reasons for their positions on the record; he will bring up the hard issues that others prefer to ignore.

So please, I am asking each and every resident tonight, all of the more than 4,000 people who voted for me, and anyone else who wants residents to have a say in determining the future of this town, I urge you to call the Albany County Board of Elections at 518-487-5060, ask who your Guilderland Democratic Committee representative is, then call them and tell them to select Kevin McDonald to run on the Democrat line as my replacement on the ballot in the general election in November.

I have been involved in this town long enough to know that he is the only person who is just like you, and will fight for you as I have done, and keep the voice of the residents actively alive on the town board, which is something that is desperately needed.

Thank you again for all of your support over the last few years. The Guilderland town residents are some of the best people I have ever met, and you deserve the best.

Laurel Bohl

Guilderland