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The following appeared as an editorial in Staten Island Advance:

Re: “Lone Voices of Staten Island outrage over bridge tolls hope to spark action,” Advance, Nov. 3:

The overall tone of this article implies that the elected officials here on Staten Island have done little to combat the Port Authority’s (PANYNJ) illegal toll hikes.

Specifically, the author begins the article “With elected officials having delivered their lines and effectively gone off the public stage on the toll-hike issue. . . ”

I would like to set the record straight: Rep. Michael Grimm and other officials continue to exhaust every possible avenue to fight the toll hikes: Discussions with the PANYNJ, weighing in at public hearings, letters to Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie, meeting with federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and most recently filing an amicus curiae brief with Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis in federal court supporting AAA’s action to declare the toll hikes illegal, unjust and unreasonable.

He knows the fight is long from over and continues to explore every option to ensure that the voices of Staten Islanders are heard.

He will not sit back and allow us to be the bailout for the PANYNJ’s debt and mismanagement.

Neither he nor any other Staten Island official has veto power over the PANYNJ or the respective governors. Rep. Grimm knows we are all in this together, and together, he believes we can win the fight to overturn the hikes.

[The writer is district director for Rep. Michael G. Grimm, who represents the 13th Congressional District.]

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