Dear fellow North Country citizens:

As we listen to today’s news of over 40,000 new coronavirus cases in the United States, we should thank our lucky stars for a governor who listened to the health experts and followed the science.

I am alarmed at Assemblyman Stec wanting to take emergency powers away from Gov. Cuomo. At no time during the last three months has Cuomo acted in any manner except to protect the welfare of New York state citizens. His measured response to the pandemic is what has brought us to Phase 4 and allowed us a reasonable amount of freedom.

Have there been missteps? Yes, but those were early on, before we all had our heads around the seriousness of the disease. They were honest mistakes and ones I would think the governor sincerely regrets.

For my money, the governor should keep the emergency powers until the pandemic in the rest of the country is under control. A health emergency of this scope demands speed in attacking it. It is unwieldy to expect the Legislature, particularly in this time of partisanship, to run a response to a health emergency. We need a clear-eyed leader who makes sound decisions based on science, not wishful thinking. That is our governor and his health department.

Parmelee Tolkan

Lake Placid