Letter to the Editor: Maranatha Mess Is a Significant Concern

Dear Editor:

The Maranatha mess in Richmondville should be of significant concern to residents of Schoharie County. The vast majority of the capital used to build and operate (however briefly) this for-profit, commercial business came from taxpayers. While public incentives for private business are nothing new and can make sense when they encourage real economic development, the scale of tax payer funds given to Maranatha in the form of direct grants, low interest loans and tax abatement's is staggering and is measured in the millions of dollars. The flow of that money was facilitated in large part by the Schoharie County Economic Development Agency whose Director then retired from the agency to become a consultant to Maranatha. Such a convenient and profitable relationship between a County employee and a developer may not be illegal but it should be.

The primary grant given to Maranatha was based on the condition that an historic structure on the site would be restored. It was a stretch from the onset to consider Maranatha eligible for a “Restore NY” grant (ahead of worthy downtown revitalization projects) but when the barn was pulled down by ropes and a tractor, restoring the barn began to look like a transparent ruse to gain access to public funds. Claims of inadvertent damage to the barn as justification for its destruction are not supported in any way by the evidence. A review of documents obtained under FOIL found no insurance claims, no request for compensation made to the “guilty” contractor, no inspection record, no photos and no reports describing the damage. From a documentation perspective the damage never happened, yet the developer was allowed to spend the public money intended for restoration on other things. What the things are is unclear but it would appear that the money was not used to make loan payments, pay overdue utility bills or make the payments in lieu of taxes granted by Schoharie County Industrial Development Agency. The money is gone and the bills are still due.

The Town of Richmondville made the transfer of public money possible by acting as an agent for the funding. Town officials kept the money flowing despite internal documents, including emails, that warned of financial irregularities, funds released without appropriate authorization and double billing. With absolutely no evidence of the alleged damage to the barn, Town officials kept submitting signed vouchers on behalf of the developer and channeling money to her from State agencies. Town officials signed and submitted hundreds of thousands of dollars in vouchers for what was termed “reconstruction” work, despite the fact that the barn was first neglected, then demolished.

Richmondville Town officials have feigned surprise and plead ignorance to the financial and community disaster that Maranatha represents but they are not being truthful. They knew of the problems with the project from Day One. They knew first hand about ever changing and nebulous design and business plans. They were made aware of inaccurate and incomplete environmental and site plan reviews. They off-handedly dismissed archaeological reviews that warned of significant negative impacts, they swallowed absurd jobs creation promises and they failed to ask for any meaningful evidence that an implausible business plan would not end up as the abject failure it was.

Public officials failed to even remotely exercise due diligence and ignored the obvious – Maranatha was a poorly conceived and executed project that should never have been given millions in public funds. Now that the worst case scenario has played out we can only hope the same public officials who bumbled their way through a multi-million dollar boondoggle can somehow limit further damage to the tax payers and help prevent another large, vacant structure from blighting the landscape and highlighting our embarrassing lack of professional leadership.

Bob Nied

Richmondville

County Records: Sale of CHHA Remains Mystery, Led to Current Issues

The transfer of the County Home Health services was one of the key moments in multiple threads leading to the Fitzmaurice Report. First, the sale was controversial and considered both unnecessary and puzzling to Supervisors such as Phil Skowfoe and Earl vanWormer. Second, the transfer of the agency to a private firm was handed over to Cassandra Ethington, directly leading to her placement as interim Health Director.

The process started at the April 21, 2006 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Former Supervisor Dennis Richards of Middleburgh asked for a review of the efficiency of CHHA at no cost to the County. It would take three years and was seconded by former Schoharie Supervisor Martin Shrederis. The motion was approved without controversy.

The findings of the report were discussed in a July 21, 2009 special meeting. There were questions over why such a transfer should take place. CHHA was described as professional and an overall source of positive cash flow for the County.

On October 16, 2009 another discussion was held over whether a transfer of CHHA to a private company was necessary. There were similar questions regarding the arrangement, with Supervisor Skowfoe stating that if the agency broke even or made money it should be kept. Board of Health President Betsy Bernocco said, "You have invested money in the CHHA over the last several years that we believe will start to pay off on the collection of the services." Supervisor Mann of Blenheim made a motion, seconded by Supervisor Vroman of Summit to put out a request for proposals on the sale of the agency. Only Supervisors Skowfoe and Larry Phillips of Seward voted no.

At the November 10, 2009 meeting, similar concerns again arose. Top on the agenda was the CHHA, and documentation supporting the existing structure were presented. One was a positive letter from Bernocco followed by one of Dr. Thomas Greenlees, a member of the County Board of Health. He wrote in part: 

"Current Health Department revenue figures show that the Nursing Department has turned around the CHHA deficit and is coming very close to paying for itself.  I well realize the financial crisis that the county is enduring but I also realize that should we lose our Home Health Agency it may very well lead to the eventual demise of our organized county health department."

At the January 15, 2010 meeting, it was revealed that the County Board of Health carried a motion opposing the transfer of the CHHA. Former Supervisor Goblet motioned, seconded by Skowfoe, to support this position. The Board approved, with the exception of Mann. After this Supervisor Barbic of Seward even asked, "are we seriously looking at this?"

There were sporadic mentions of CHHA throughout the first portion of 2010, with concerns about keeping services open and about potential costs. The next in depth discussion happened during executive session on June 2 during a special meeting. There were no minutes taken of the discussion as it took place during executive session.

There was even further concern at the June 30th meeting. County Attorney West explained that other counties privatized their CHHAs because they often had more than one. Supervisor Murray of Cobleskill stated that he was "shocked" that HCR, the firm that was eventually chosen, "does not have to take calls." Seperately, there were questions on why HCR would be the firm to privatize, when a local company like Bassett Health Care was already involved within Schoharie County. There was then a motion to begin negotiations with HCR with the intent of having them take over the CHHA. This was made by Mr. Singletary.

The conversation seemed to become fatalist, almost as though the decision had already been made behind closed doors. Former Supervisor of Richmondville Barlow even said, "everybody is assuming this is a done deal and they should not assume until it is a done deal.  We are still in discussion." Dr. Greenlees told the Board:

"We were in a hole with mismanagement the CHHA did lose money.  When Jack Vanesky report revealed problems the Board of Supervisors said they would give us 18 months to turn thing around and we have done that.  In the 1^st quarter of 2010 we brought in $342,000.  Vanesky’s projections for 2010 are $1,263,000.  We are headed in the right direction." 

The question was then brought to a vote with multiple Supervisors voting yes, including Shrederis, Murray, Richards, and Singletary. Against were Mr. Barlow, Mr. Bradt, Mr. Brandow, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Manko, Mr. Skowfoe, Mr. VanGlad and Mr. VanWormer.

At the next meeting of July 16th, more details of the potential sale were discussed, with Skowfoe saying, "I am disappointed in the Board of Supervisors.  You are moving forward with little communication with the Board of Health and the Board of Health is against this." On August 20, Bernocco relayed to the Board that the Board of Health held a meeting and that the agency did not lose money. County Treasurer Cherry said that "we are about breaking even and providing a critical service to residents."

On November 19, 2010 the major work was done. Supervisor Richards announced that the State had approved the sale of the CHHA to HCR. The same meeting Supervisor Goblet made the motion to allow Cassandra Ethington to run the transfer of the CHHA.

A year later at the December 9th, 2011 meeting after there was severe concern that severe layoffs would hit the County, an old issue resurfaced. HCR was defaulting on payments to other counties that this could be a concern for the County's budget. An email from Bill Cherry was read, stating: "It is my understanding that counties will not be receiving the payments that they expected from HCR from the sales, and some counties are now withholding all fees that they are being billed for by HCR."

In April 2013, payments again were an issue as County Attorney West explained that HCR was behind on payments.

How the transfer of a major agency out of the hands of the County while opposed by the Board of Health is still a mystery. There have been bits and pieces of how the process convinced Supervisors to vote for the action but the initial impulse and the discussions behind the scenes are still murky. This transfer caused many of the issues that the County is dealing with today and remains controversial to many Supervisors and employees involved in health care in the County.

County Board Faces Tough Choices Over Leadership

 

If Tuesday's unofficial Town Supervisor results pan out from all 14 races, Republicans will head into the new year with control of nine county board seats or 55% of the weighted vote, leaving newly elected and veteran lawmakers to choose between continuing the bipartisan Skowfoe alliance or returning to the traditional partisan divide.

Which brings up the daunting question of who would Republicans support for Chairman of the Board in the latter option?

Tuesday's election fostered in four rookie Republican lawmakers onto the board, while the relatively new Mr. Lape enters his third term and the four remaining veterans have two former Chairmen in their ranks, neither of whom share a semblance of commonality towards the other besides the (R) next to their name.

However, one political consideration could narrow the Republican list down to one former Chairman who served through out most of the previous decade. That consideration being that after three years of rancor and discord - caused largely by a now-removed band of supervisors - the county board needs someone in the middle to lead and who has respect from both sides of the table.

Although that option is appealing with the board split narrowly 55-45% in weighted votes, all three of Tuesday's "too close to call" races featured Democrats, including Board Chairman Phil Skowfoe, clinging to razor thin margins. If the worst was to happen to their opponents, Republicans would hold a two-thirds super majority vote with no clear opposition for Board Chairman, further clouding the political waters and whether a sense of moderation would feel necessary.

On the flip side, several Republicans joined the Skowfoe alliance in the aftermath of the conservative faction's obvious failure in governance, and the question has to be asked if a feeling of loyalty still exists to the Fulton Supervisor after a contentious year long fight. All it will take is one Republican to remain in the alliance for Mr. Skowfoe to remain Chairman, granted he claims victory in his still undecided race.

Of course, all of this will be decided in due time, but with both sides largely sharing a common foe in the last election we can only hope that sense of bipartisanship lasts into the new year and beyond, as the county board has a lot of serious issues facing them in the coming years and it would be best if everyone worked together to resolve them behind one leader.




Middleburgh Library Holding Book Discussion November 19th

On Tuesday, November 19th the Middleburgh Library will be hosting a book discussion. Below is their post on Facebook.

Post by Middleburgh Library.

Veterans Day Spaghetti Dinner at SUNY Cobleskill

The SUNY Cobleskill Culinary Program, Student Veterans Association and Community Service Club are hosting a spaghetti dinner on the evening of Veterans Day to "express appreciation to our veterans for their service to our country."

All proceeds raised in the event will go to the Wounded Warriors Project, with the cost for the general public being $5 per head and free for participating Veterans. The event will be held on campus at Bouck Hall's first-floor ballroom and will be open from five until seven Monday evening.  

Flood Grant Meeting Tonight

A meeting on the plans for $12 million in funding through New York State is being held tonight in Schoharie. The meeting regarding the Community Reconstruction Zones will be from 7pm-9pm in the Schoharie Town Hall. $3 million was awarded to each the Town of Esperance, Village of Esperance, Village of Middleburgh, and Village of Schoharie.

We get the following from the Schoharie Promotional Association Facebook page. (Their FB page is worth a like, by the way)

Up to $3 million is available for the Village of Schoharie to help rebuild our community, revitalize our local economy and protect us from future flooding. Come bring your ideas and concerns to add to the draft plan or just plan to attend to learn about progress so far.

Letter to the Editor: Thank You for your Courage

Dear Editor,

 

While I have remained silent with respect to your articles, I wish at this point in time, to express my deepest appreciation.  There is much to be said for your willingness to seek out the truth.  Your commitment to write about your findings has been comforting to many, including myself.  You are a breath of fresh air and I congratulate you for your diligence.  The support you have given to identifying those individuals in county government that have been a part of ongoing wrongdoings, deception and criminal activity has been outstanding.

 

The struggle to stamp out corruption at all levels of government will continue without a doubt and it will take committed individuals to carry on that effort as well as journalists like yourself to help expose the truth.  I wish to thank you for believing in those of us who have been on the front lines struggling to unveil what the facts really were pertaining to allegations of targeting, harassment and discrimination in our county work place.

 

I wish to thank you for your courage, stamina and unbiased opinions.  You exemplify what true journalism is about.  Your website has and will continue to be a source of information to Schoharie County residents.  As an elected representative of the people, I could not ask for anything more than for you to report  what is factual.  You have captured the attention of many.  Please stay committed to what is right and I thank you personally for believing in me.

 

Gene Milone

New Board Faces Challenge, Opportunity

A headline like the one can be written about nearly every election. The same could have been said after the 2011 election when Supervisors had the opportunity to focus on bringing the County back from the flood. While this did occur in many cases, the infighting over the last two years has poisoned much of the discourse.

However, the new County Board of Supervisors is under new management with many new faces representing the town governments.

There are many challenges for the Board-- including many that cannot be resolved overnight or all listed here.

Tying Up Loose Ends

The Board will have to choose who will be the next Chair. Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe is ahead by two votes in his race against Frank Tatten with absentees still yet to be counted. The Supervisors could pick Mr. Skowfoe to serve another term if he wins. Former Chair and Esperance Supervisor Earl van Wormer could be chosen as a bridge between the experienced and new members of the Board. Carl Barbic of Seward has been mentioned, but at 86 may be deemed too advanced in age.

The Board will have to decide what to do with Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington, who is currently suspended.

The Board will also need to carry out an overhaul of many of its policies as requested by the Fitzmaurice and Walsh lawfirm in the Report.

Economic Development

Sharon and Middleburgh may be growing, but there are still struggles across the County. With the Guilford sale in the competent hands of Bill Cherry, a deal is more likely but is still a large undertaking. On top of this, economic damage from the flood still haunts large portions of the County.

Cobleskill's tepid economic growth under Tom Murray also needs to be corrected as businessman Leo McAllister prepares his new administration. On the County level, issues revolving around Planning Director Alicia Terry's poor handling of the Guilford situation will need to be addressed.

Political Reform

Obviously the changes made in the wake of the Fitzmaurice Report will be large, but it only represents a small part of the overall picture. Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone argued recently that a County Executive is desperately needed and the weighted voting system the County currently uses is showing its age.

Ethington Came Perilously Close to Gaining Control of Majority of Important County Departments

While the Todd Ethington campaign ended in ignominity last night it only shows part of the unfolding story. As documents, emails, and interviews showed, Cassandra Ethington effectively wielded a great amount of control in County civil service.

However, as more information is coming to light, her role keeping tabs on employees, creating alliances with powerful office holders and department heads, and using fear to keep people from speaking out became devastatingly effective until the Fitzmaurice Report hit the headlines.

Personnel Department

Cassandra Ethington was hired by the County Board after being fired from her previous job for allegedly purchasing concert tickets on the company credit card. Having only an associate's degree from Cobleskill in culinary arts, Ethington allegedly re-wrote the civil service posting for her job as Personnel Director to place herself in the position. (Clarifying edit: The above information comes from various sources involved in the County government.)

Health Department

Cassandra Ethington received help from members of the Board of Supervisors to hand over the County Home Health services to a private company. Assisted by Supervisors such as Martin Shrederis and Bill Goblet, she led the transfer of the services-- which then led directly to her appointment as interim Health Department Director as assisted by Dan Singletary.

Ethington's tenure saw a purge of employees that she deemed a threat. Setting an example, she undermined former Health Director Kathleen Strack and positioned herself to replace her. She fired multiple employees, some under allegedly illegal circumstances and subverted the administration of Asante Shipp-Hilts, who was supposed to serve as de facto  Health Director.

CSEA Union

Cassandra Ethington's role in the local branch of the CSEA union is unclear, but it has become obvious that she held an important kingmaking role with the union. Her role as Personnel Director blocked any employees from appealing straight to the County. Meanwhile, her influence with the union caused employees to feel that she would know about complaints and punish offenders. In fact, her role exposing confidential information allowed her to know intimate details that she could use against employees.

Sheriff's Department

Todd Ethington's victory yesterday would have effectively handed control of law enforcement in Schoharie County to his wife Cassandra. However, even before the race the Ethingtons jockeyed for more control in the Department. Both Todd and Cassandra were vital campaigners for Tony Desmond in 2009-- and reports are circulating that Todd expected a gift (possibly a promotion) for his role putting Desmond over the top.

The Ethingtons soured on Desmond and Cassandra attempted to wrest control from the Sheriff. Her layoff list would have targeted rivals of Todd and decimated the Department-- against the wishes of Desmond. She said that she wanted some of the layoffs to she how 'she could run the jail.'

Board of Elections

Cassandra Ethington attempted to reshape both the staff and the Board of Elections, attempting to take control from both the Republican and Democratic Parties. This effort was rebuffed.

Conservative Party

Todd Ethington was named the Conservative Party's candidate earlier this year. Conservative Party Chair Bill Hanson had been hired by Cassandra-- who manipulated the civil service requirements to force his hiring. The Conservative Party was key in supporting many of Cassandra's allies on the Board of Supervisors, including Martin Shrederis, Dan Singletary, and Tom Murray.

Planning Department

Close Ethington ally Alicia Terry runs the Planning and Tourism Department. Ms. Terry was allegedly involved in Ethington's abuse of civil service law and fired at least one employee under suspicious circumstances.

Budget Office

When County Treasurer Bill Cherry temporarily gave up his role as Budget Officer, Alicia Terry stepped in as one of two new Budget Officers to take his place. Ms. Terry's tenure as Budget Officer allowed Cassandra the latitude to create the parallel 'hit list' of layoffs that devastated the County in late 2011.

Board of Supervisors

For a brief period under the Chairmanship of Ethington ally Harold Vroman, the Conservative Party faction controlled the Board of Supervisors. During this tumultuous period, Ethington accelerated her attempt to take over many Departments, using the flood as a way to manipulate Board members. By 2011, Ethington had control over many important facets of County government and having power that rivaled both the Chair of the Board and County Treasurer. Her control over these differing Departments acted as a trap that would prevent serious inquiries into her activity.

This was changed after the 2011 elections. New Supervisors such as Gene Milone of Schoharie forced the issue. Complaints about Ethington reached an apex in the aftermath of the flood and Mr. Milone took the politically risky step of starting the process that would lead to the Fitzmaurice Report.

For Cassandra Ethington, her effort to control County government and civil service came perilously close to victory. Before the release of the Fitzmaurice Report, her role in the mess in Schoharie was regarded by some as 'hearsay' and a 'witch hunt.' Her control over multiple Departments allowed much of the criticism to be stifled.

It is safe to say that if the Fitzmaurice Report was delayed even further, Todd Ethington and his allies would have done substantially better at the polls. Instead, the succession of the Report and the corruption emerging from the Conservative Party led Mr. and Mrs.'s Ethington's final tally of 15.6% yesterday.

Another Heroin Arrest in Cobleskill

A 41 year old was arrested for possession of heroin in Cobleskill. This follows another bust just several weeks ago. Joseph Panetta of Cobleskill was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors, possession of a controlled substance and of a hypodermic instrument. He was held in jail and had a court date yesterday.

Winners to be Named in Blenheim, Fulton and Wright Supervisor Races on November 19th

Voters in the Towns of Blenheim, Fulton and Wright proved to be a indecisive bunch in yesterday's election, with all three of their supervisor races decided by six votes or less according to unofficial results posted by the county Board of Elections and we wont know who the winners are until Tuesday, November 19th. 

The reason being is that there are still uncounted absentee and affidavit ballots greater then the margins in all three towns: Blenheim has eight absentee ballots to count with Democrat Sean Smith leading incumbent Republican Robert Mann 70-64, while Wright still has 34 to count with Democrat Karl Remmers holding on to a slim three vote lead (320-317) over Republican Amber Bleau and Fulton voters submitted 24 absentees in the even tighter contest between incumbent Democrat Phil Skowfoe and Republican Francis Tatten, where Skowfoe leads by only two votes (214-212).

And keep in mind none of those totals include affidavit ballots, which are subject to challenge and according to statistics are counted anywhere from 64.5% to 79.5% of the time, further clouding their impact in this year's election. 

Deputy-Commissioner Sara Davies-Griffin told the Schoharie News in a email this afternoon that they will be opening the absentee and affidavit ballots on Tuesday, November 19th at nine in the morning on the third flood of the county building and that it is open for all members of the public to witness. 

Uncertainty is guaranteed to be a theme of November 15th's county board meeting, as two of the longest serving members - who challenged each other in January's organizational meeting - wait to see if they will be returning for another term on the board, while the Town of Wright's chair will remain vacant for yet another month.

Vroman Only Ethington Ally Left on Board

Only one open member of the Cassandra Ethington caucus remains on the Board of Supervisors after yesterday's wave election. Supervisor Harold Vroman of Summit was unopposed in the election and in fact had the Republican, Democratic, and Conservative lines.

The former Chairman of the Board has been among the most obstinate members of the Board of Supervisors. On Friday he was the only person to vote along with Dan Singletary of Jefferson to not suspend Cassandra Ethington and not to release the second portion of the Report.

Vroman also donated money towards Dan Singletary's re-election bid, paying for an ad in last week's Cobleskill paper. His involvement in the Conservative Party mailer was also suspected.

Mr. Vroman is a long-time incumbent and was at the middle of many of the negotiations surrounding the issues with the Health and Personnel Departments. Much of the most extreme infighting between the Supervisors themselves came under his tumultuous tenure as Chair of the Board.

Mr. Vroman still remains popular in Summit, receiving almost all the votes yesterday while unopposed. Mr. Ethington also carried Summit-- which he only did there and in Jefferson. Ousting Mr. Vroman would be a particularly difficult task.

However, he is just one member of 16 now with Ethington's support.

Election Rundown: Desmond, Milone Re-Elected; Galasso, Murray Defeated



 

While citizens of Schoharie County rewarded Sheriff Desmond with 48% of the vote and four more years atop the county's law enforcement apparatus, residents of Cobleskill were less kind to their two leaders: voting incumbent Town Supervisor Tom Murray out by six hundred votes and Village Mayor Mark Galasso by almost two hundred.

 

Esperance and Schoharie residents voted to re-elect their incumbent Supervisors despite them facing two well organized opponents, with Esperance voting overwhelmingly to "Keep Earl Supervisor" and Schoharie standing firmly behind Gene Milone. Mr. Milone's victory in particular speaks volumes to the amount of trust his constituents have in his ability after two years of fighting the powers that be to not only better serve the citizens of Schoharie but to cleanse the county government of inrooted corruption by motioning twenty-one months ago for the initiation of what would become the Fitzmaurice Report.

 

Two Supervisors from the southern portion of the county, Mr. Mann of Blenheim and Mr. Singletary of Jefferson, lost to a pair of young men in their respective races - with Mr. Mann losing by just six votes and Mr. Singletary by sixty, while two races remain too close to call without the inclusion of absentee ballots: Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe, who currently heads the county board, leads his opponent by just two votes and Karl Remmers leads Amber Bleau by three in the Town of Wright.

Supervisors Bradt, Barbic, Lape, Van Glad and Vroman either handily defeated their opponents or faced no opposition at all, while Republicans Bill Federice and Bill Smith of Conesville and Broome respectively trounced their Democrat counterparts. Former Town of Broome Supervisor Anne Batz lost in her bid for Town Clerk, while former Village of Middleburgh Mayor Bill Ansel-McCabe failed to remain on the Middleburgh Town Board.

Most interesting of all, Town of Carlisle residents voted to elect Dave Laraway - host of the Northeast Gardner Show on WSDE - in addition to incumbent councilman Robert Smith with roughly 330 votes for both of the candidates, while in the Town of Summit the Democratic nominee for Councilman received only 8 votes against his Republican opponents, the lowest vote total for a candidate on the ballot this election.

The biggest winner of the evening was District Attorney James Sacket who received well over seven thousand votes, or around 85% of all votes cast county wide, in a dramatic showing of confidence by the citizens of Schoharie County in his prosecutorial abilities. 

"Tri-Partisan" Ad Was Kiss of Death at Ballot Box

The candidates endorsed by the Conservative Party placed an ad in last week's Cobleksill paper together, hoping to carry themselves to victory. Instead, every opposed candidate on the ballot yesterday faced defeat. Only Harold Vroman won-- and he was unopposed.

Three races are too close to call but have the Conservative Party-backed candidates lose. Many of these candidates were allies of Todd and Cassandra Ethington.

Vote in Our New Poll: Are You Satisfied with the Overall Election Results?

With the sweeping changes at the County and Town levels, the Schoharie News is running a new poll to see if you are happy with the overall results. It is over on our sidebar right now.

Vote and share with your friends.

County Coroner Results

Donna McGovern has won another term as the Coroner of Schoharie County by a large margin.

McGovern, Donna	6963	100.0%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for McGovern, Donna	89
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for McGovern, Donna	275
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for McGovern, Donna	407
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for McGovern, Donna	1236
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for McGovern, Donna	226
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for McGovern, Donna	437
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for McGovern, Donna	337
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for McGovern, Donna	196
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for McGovern, Donna	322
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for McGovern, Donna	693
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for McGovern, Donna	476
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for McGovern, Donna	758
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for McGovern, Donna	428
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for McGovern, Donna	384
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for McGovern, Donna	239
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for McGovern, Donna	460

District Attorney Results

Incumbent District Attorney James Sacket cruised to re-election unopposed today by a wide margin. The 20 year veteran had the Republican Party's backing.

Sacket, James L	7494	100.0%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for Sacket, James L	99
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for Sacket, James L	301
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for Sacket, James L	438
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for Sacket, James L	1224
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for Sacket, James L	235
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for Sacket, James L	500
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for Sacket, James L	358
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for Sacket, James L	210
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for Sacket, James L	353
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for Sacket, James L	757
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for Sacket, James L	506
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for Sacket, James L	872
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for Sacket, James L	449
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for Sacket, James L	410
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for Sacket, James L	269
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for Sacket, James L	513

Town of Broome 2013 Election Results

The Town of Broome has five races this election day, four of which are hotly contested. Incumbent Supervisor Anne Batz is now running for Town Clerk.

Supervisor

Smith III, William M	228	65.7%
Micheli, David A	119	34.3%

Clerk

Wood, Donald K	201	56.6%
Batz, Anne M	154	43.4%

Councilman

Vance, Dale	224	32.6%
Wood, David L	223	32.5%
Schafroth, Frank J	151	22.0%
Jackson, Kermit E	89	13.0%

Assessor

Schmidt, Irene

243

100.0%

Highway Superintendent

Wayman, Jason S	193	52.4%
Parker, Michael A	175	47.6%

Town of Carlisle 2013 Results

There are two of four contested races in Carlisle including for incumbent Supervisor Larry Bradt.

Town of Carlisle

Supervisor

Bradt, Larry R	342	66.7%
Bortell, Susan M	171	33.3%

Clerk

Crofts, Colleen

470

100.0%

Councilman

Smith, Robert L	350	38.6%
Laraway, David	322	35.5%
Cross, Linda K	235	25.9%

Town of Gilboa 2013 Election Results

All unopposed races in Gilboa tonight.

Town of Gilboa

Supervisor

VanGlad, Anthony

200

100.0%

Councilman

Tompkins, Norwood	193	51.1%
Pickett, Dorothy	185	48.9%

Assessor

Molle, Thomas V

213

100.0%