Croton Week in Review: May 13-16.
Fighting antisemitism, an interview with two school board candidates, a flurry of court cases, and a controversial letter by our school superintendent and board president make for tense week in Croton
Tuesday May 13
Today the Chronicle featured a Commentary on a letter published the previous week in The Gazette by a group of Jewish and Christian clergy. The letter called upon the Croton-Harmon school district, and the village of Croton-on-Hudson, to adopt a definition of antisemitism promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA.) We traced the history of this definition and pointed out that many civil libertarians—including the main writer of the definition years earlier—had come to have concerns that the definition could be used to suppress free speech about sensitive issues like Israel’s war in Gaza. Some have proposed alternative definitions that would supposedly avoid such problems, especially at a time when President Donald Trump is seen by many to be weaponizing antisemitism for other purposes.
Wednesday May 14
Today we published a lengthy Q&A style interview with two candidates for the Croton-Harmon Board of Education, covering a wide variety of topics, including antisemitism in the schools, the alleged failure of the board and district to routinely respond to parent concerns, and the year long fight of the school aides to get a decent contact. The election will be held next Tuesday, May 20, in the Croton-Harmon High School. Allison Samuels and Leslie Pollak are competing with incumbent Theo Oshiro along with Will Begeny for the two available seats. The election has been hotly contested and marred by smear tactics.
Back in April, Oshiro and Begeny had also agreed to be interviewed by the Chronicle, but then did not respond to repeated requests to actually schedule the Q&A session.
We also reported on a flurry of criminal cases involving events in the village or Croton residents. They ranged from an alleged scamming of a resident out of $20,000 to accusations that a Croton man had thrown an explosive device at a property on Van Wyck Street. The Croton Village Court will be working overtime in the coming weeks adjudicating these cases, and the Chronicle will be as well, covering them.
Thursday May 15
This day we published two Guest Editorials, one bidding goodbye to Pastor Bette Sohm of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Croton, and the other supporting the New York for All Act, which would prevent law enforcement from cooperating with ICE in cases of immigration enforcement. As always, we invite Crotonites of all views to submit Guest Editorials to TheCrotonChronicle@gmail.com or contact us to discuss your ideas.
Friday May 16
We ended the week on a controversial note, with an editorial sharply criticizing Croton-Harmon school superintendent Stephen Walker and school board president Ana Teague for publishing an official letter to the district that we believe unethically weighed in favor of candidates Theo Oshiro and Will Begeny over Allison Samuels and Leslie Pollak—a violation of their obligation to be neutral in the election. The editorial has generated much discussion; one commenter suggested that Teague, as a public official, may have violated New York ethics laws against political activity in the workplace.
The Chronicle will be back with election coverage after the voting takes place on May 20, when district residents will also decide whether to approve the 2025-2026 budget.
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