Lisa Douglas received enough petition signatures to force a primary for the with Republican Party nominee Peter Michaelis for the Westchester County District 2 legislature seat on Tuesday. We asked her five questions about her candidacy.

What’s the biggest motivation for you to enter this race?

For the past three years I’ve sat listening to the lip service of our county legislators. They speak of fiscal responsibility, yet spend $1.2 million on GPS systems for golf carts. They speak of lowering taxes, yet they spend 5 percent of the budget on catered meals and cell phones. They speak of lowering taxes, yet they raised our reserves and misrepresented their accounting by increasing the sales tax projections by $2.3 million, added back $2.6 million in non-existent federal aid, took $5 million from the general fund balance, and deleted $10 million in funds that were set aside to pay for the unsettled union contracts. This is not “lowering taxes;” this is creative accounting to fool the taxpayers. Is there any wonder why Westchester is the highest taxed county in the country? All of this accounts for my motivation – we need real, responsible and accountable action for the taxpayers – not the nonsense we’ve been handed.

What sort of qualifications would you bring to the office if you win?

As a U.S. Navy cryptographer, I was trained to see more than what is in front of me, meaning I am able to see the bigger (and potential future) picture. This is an asset, especially working within/or planning a budget. Additionally, my service on the North Salem Board of Education and PTO have called into play fiscal prudency and making smart, cost-effective decisions that have had much success and savings.

Why do think you, and not your opponent, have the best chance for defeating incumbent Peter Harckham in November?

There is not much difference between Harckham and Michaelis. They both have donated to President Obama, sending the message they support big government. I do not. Taxpayers on both sides are worn out by the elites (such as Harckham and Michaelis) leading us around while bemoaning the fact “they understand what we’re going through.” No, they do not.

Taxpayers want a constitutionally responsible person who will lower their taxes without the use of accounting gimmicks and without losing one essential service. One who will help government get out of the way of small business allowing Westchester to blossom again (thereby getting our home values back to where they should be) and one that will care for our seniors. 

My reputation is one of action and results; I have a realistic action plan and, above all else, my words match my actions every time and it is for those reasons that I am the candidate that will beat Mr. Harckham and Michaelis will not. 

What is the biggest challenge facing the Westchester County Legislature right now?

Lowering Taxes and getting out of the way of small businesses.

Most candidates say they want to reduce taxes. How do we go about doing that in Westchester County?

End duplication of services - stop the wasteful spending on festivals, special interest groups, and pet projects. I am a huge supporter of communities. Many supervisors have stated they’d like to have the county roads within their towns back. Let’s give it to them and stop the county from being the nanny. We do not need to consolidate services. We do not need a large county government. What we do need to do is to relinquish the power back to those that know their town’s people and town’s needs better than a group of 17 an hour away. Things like the aforementioned will lower our taxes.

 

Click here to follow Daily Voice Lewisboro and receive free news updates.