We like to think of our Letters to the Editor section as a town square, where residents of all walks of life can stand up in front of their neighbors and share their opinions about the events of the day.

That’s why we call it “Your Voice.”

It’s the section of the paper where you, the readers, have your opportunity to comment on what’s going on around the country and around your community, to illuminate and, hopefully, educate your neighbors, friends and your government representatives.

We believe an open public forum that invites and respects differing viewpoints is good for our communities and our democracy.

As we’ve done every year since 2015, we take this time to thank and recognize all of our readers who shared their voices through our newspaper.

In 2025, we published 1,555 letters from 826 individual writers. That’s about 130 letters a month. The number of letters published in 2025 represented an increase in letters over each of the previous two years. Each writer’s name appears in the list below.

This past year, you had plenty to say about a lot of important topics.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the first year of the second Trump administration accounted for a lot of your letters - including your opinions on President Donald Trump himself, the MAGA movement, the DOGE cuts, DEI, food prices, immigration policy, tariffs, the Epstein files, the Israel-Gaza war and the Ukraine war.

You also wrote about broader issues such as climate change, the environment, free speech, the political parties, crime, hate, veterans affairs, the federal budget, healthcare, guns and protests.

Many readers also took the time to share their views on issues more directly related to state and local matters.

Niskayuna government and the election was a particularly hot topic in 2025. Also among the most written-about topics were the St. Clare’s pension issue, the Schenectady County library, local school and municipal elections, local politics, state government, homelessness, taxes, trash and recycling, and pollution.

Some of you even used our forum to thank a local health center for their care, a local organization or individual for their contribution to the community, or a Good Samaritan for their kindness.

There was no shortage of topics, and no shortage of people willing to share their views about them.

As one can see from reading Your Voice regularly, we welcome comments from all political points of view. The decision to publish a letter has nothing to do with the editors’ personal or political points of view.

We require readers to base their opinions on an honest interpretation of the facts. because we don’t want readers deliberately misleading others. While we don’t hold writers to strict journalistic standards for accuracy, we will reject letters that spread misinformation by promoting proven lies or debunked theories.

As such, we reserve the right to edit letters for grammar, style, length, libel, accuracy and offensive language.

And while we welcome disagreements on issues, we do ask that readers be respectful of one another so that individuals feel welcome to share their viewpoints.

Because we receive so many letters and because we only have a finite amount of space in which to publish them, we limit writers to 250 words for general letters and 200 words for letters specifically related to elections.

By far, most of the letters we reject are because they exceed our word limit. We do give writers an opportunity to resubmit their letters to fall within the limit.

Writers are also limited to one letter every 30 days. This ensures that one writer doesn’t dominate the forum and allows us to publish a wide variety of reader viewpoints in a timely manner.

All writers are required to sign their name and provide the name of their community, and we verify the identity of our writers.

For more information on our letters policy and how to submit a letter, visit our website, https://www.dailygazette.com/site/forms/online_services/letter_editor/. We also still accept letters via regular mail, but the online form is the most effective way to reach us.

We believe a healthy democracy starts with the sharing of opinions and ideas. By submitting letters to Your Voice, you are contributing to that.

We thank you for the time and effort you put into your letters. We encourage our writers to continue to write in 2026, and we welcome contributions from new writers.

Have a safe and happy New Year.

— Mark Mahoney, Editorial Page Editor.

LETTER WRITERS 2025

Aaron Able

Claire Ackerman

Greg Adams

William Aiken

Rebecca Alamillo

Vince Alescio

Al Alexander

Kevin Allen

John Amidon

Patrick Amyot

Marcia Anderson

Michael Andolina

John Angilletta

David Apkarian

Mary Beth Arcidiacono

J. Heinrich Arnold

Eleanor Aronstein

Carl Atkins

Corey Ausfed

John H. Babcock

Laurie & David Bacheldor

Paul Bahrmann

Mary Baker

Bruce Ballan

Mark Barkyoumb, Sr.

Dave Barnes

Jennifer Barnes

Fred Barney

Amanda Barone

Kathy Barrans

Walt Barss

Vesta........

© The Leader Herald