Pete on the defense

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

I am responding to a letter from David Quintana, who in a letter last week complained that I had been “notably absent” from a press conference on increasing education funding. I could not attend that event because I was in the middle of chairing a budget hearing for the Public Safety Committee, where I was speaking with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly about getting more police officers on our streets. One would think that a person who would make such a strong accusation would first research their facts.

I have two young girls in the New York City public school system, which means no one in the City Council cares more about education funding than me. Our city needs great schools to thrive, but it also needs safe streets to keep our kids out of harms way. As an elected representative, it’s my job to balance these responsibilities, and I can only be in one place at a time.

Peter Vallone Jr.,
chair, Public Safety Committee
New York City Council

You're upset because he said you weren't there? Since when is noting someone's absence a "strong accusation" of anything? Did you bother to send a representative to the education meeting, Pete? I can't wait until this guy runs for boro prez next year, folks. He may have a nervous breakdown.