Croton Week in Review
A new weekend feature by The Croton Chronicle.
Monday March 31
We started off the week by being the first to report that the upcoming May 20 Croton-Harmon Board of Education elections would be contested for the first time in the past few years. Long-time Croton parents and activists Allison Samuels and Leslie Pollak have thrown their hats in the ring; the two other candidates so far are incumbent Theo Oshiro and Will Begeny, who is a well-known member of the Croton IDEA Advisory Committee and a leader of Croton Pride.
Begeny is basically a replacement for Josh Diamond, who after four terms on the Board has decided to step down—and endorsed Begeny as he did so. The word on the Croton street is that Diamond, always an outspoken liberal/progressive, had antagonized too many villagers—including some liberal Democrats who have long supported him—with his in-your-face insults against Croton conservatives and Trump supporters.
Tuesday April 1
No sooner had the candidacies of Allison Samuels and Leslie Pollak for the Board of Education become known than a smear campaign against them began, mostly via anonymous “accusations.” The essence of these was that the two of them were Trump supporters, which in Croton can often be seen as a serious insult. Samuels and Pollak are actually registered Democrats, but trying to brand anyone who runs against the dominant Croton Democrats as Republicans and right-wingers is a long tradition in Croton. As we pointed out, the same tactics were tried against Croton United in the previous decade, and against Voice of Croton in last year’s election for village trustees. Both of those political groups were actually led mostly by Democrats, not by Republicans.
Wednesday April 2
In an important update to the child pornography case involving Croton resident Eric Kyu, we reported that a tentative plea deal had finally been reached. The case had been continued numerous times since last August when Kyu was arrested during a dramatic raid on his house by FBI agents. He will go before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, probably sometime during the summer, for a final disposition of his case. Whether he will be able to avoid prison time for what is normally considered a very serious offense—child pornography is not a “victimless crime,” as some have maintained—remains to be seen.
Our coverage of the Kyu case comes on the heels of extensive reporting the previous week on the numerous charges against Oliver Fernandez, who was arrested by Croton police for alleged illegal possession of a handgun after driving out of Maple Commons (he tried to flee but patrol cars blocked his escape) and is incarcerated without bail at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. He has other serious charges pending in Ossining Town Court.
The Chronicle’s crime reporting has sometimes drawn mixed reactions in the village. While the stories are some of the most widely read of all, they are not well received by some—real estate agents and village leadership among them—out of fears that they taint Croton’s image and also create concerns among potential home buyers. But we are confident that most villagers understand that journalists should not be picking and choosing the news they report based on such considerations. The truth is the best disinfectant for all ills.
Thursday April 3
Our last post of the week was by Croton resident Rob Abbot, a Guest Editorial calling upon our Congressman, Mike Lawler, to oppose the Trump administration’s spending cuts. In this opinion piece, Abbot argued, among other things:
“Reform of government agencies may be necessary and could require a painful adjustment by the civil servants in those agencies, but that pain should be justified by a thoughtful and transparent approach to reform. I don't think we are seeing that level of care being taken by the people who are implementing the President's policies.”
The Chronicle’s “pages” are open to Croton residents and others writing about Croton-related issues, and our Guest Editorials reflect a wide variety of views. If anyone wants to discuss a submission, please get in touch at TheCrotonChronicle@gmail.com
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Comments policy: Please be polite and respectful at all times.
The smear campaign against these two strong women is just disgusting. Sadly, this is now the status quo here in Croton and to be expected when a candidate dares to run against an incumbent. We need to hold these bullies accountable. Stand up to them when you see them in public! Turn on your iPhone cameras and record them on public property.
Theo Oshiro served an entire 3 year term on the Board of Education and could not pass even the simplest DEI policy. Croton-Harmon School District is near unique for a Democratic area, in not having any kind of DEI policy. We have nothing - zilch, nada, zero DEI policies.
Oshiro spent 3 years talking about DEI and achieved absolutely nothing. His campaign website does not claim a single achievement. For an incumbent, it is amazing there is not a single claimed achievement. Look: https://www.theoforboe.com/achievements
Our neighbor, Ossining, has a strong DEI policy. Our Superintendents recommended starting with this policy years ago, but Oshiro did not want to. As a result we have no DEI policy today. You can't blame Trump for what Oshiro did in 2022 and 2023.
Even Republican Yorktown School District has more of a DEI policy than Croton-Harmon: https://sites.google.com/yorktown.org/boe/boe-policies/0105-title-vi-civil-rights-act-nondiscrimination-and-anti-harassment-in-the
Oshiro spent so much effort being 'progressive-presenting', that in 3 years he did and achieved nothing progressive. They left out anti-semitism from the DEI drafts.