As I see it, Board members have as much of a right as anyone else to send letters to the editor. Indeed, I’d submit that this type of correspondence is to be encouraged, not derided, as it both serves to enhance the public’s knowledge of the political process and illuminate the thinking of individual Board members.
I'd also draw a distinction between losing graciously and abandoning your ideals and opinions. To my knowledge, John McCain, while gracious in defeat, has not embraced the Obama agenda.
With regard to your other points, fair enough. The Board needs to do some thinking. Add maybe Trustee Sacchi has shown the way.
Consider this: Assuming that we are not going to see the draconian service cuts threatened by the 2010 preliminary budget, and will be spending undesignated reserves to balance the budget, we will burn through these undesignated reserves by late 2010 to early 2011. After that, in order to maintain services, we'll need to tap into capital funds or sell Village assets, or increase revenue. If we decide that tapping capital funds and selling off assets is unacceptable, we'll need a tax increase. However, even if a tax referendum was on the April 2011 ballot, and passed, we would not get the receipts until Fall of 2012. By then, we will have been forced to either cut services, or spend the capital funds or sell Village assets or take out tax anticipation bonds.
It seems to me that the only responsible thing to do is for the Board--the entire Board--to put politics aside, recognize the problem and take a serious look at getting a tax referendum on the ballot for 2010.