Letter to the Editor: Milone Looks Toward Future

Dear Editor, Neighbors and Friends,

 

Now that the dust has settled with respect to elections, it is time to continue focusing on issues of importance concerning both the towns and county. It has been no secret that flood mitigation efforts have been ongoing and numerous meetings have already taken place involving many state and federal agencies attempting to come up with not only a plan to address future flooding events, but also to acquire the necessary funding needed to implement them. I am pleased to say once again, that our Assemblyman Peter Lopez and Senator James Seward as well as our Congressman Chris Gibson, have been in the forefront on this issue ever since my calling upon them for assistance.

 

It is also important for you to know that there is currently a major movement to afford the County Board of Supervisors opportunity to address both the New York State Assembly and Senate regarding the issues of mandate relief to our county as well as reform on the recently passed Safe Act-two major issues which effect every Assemblyman’s and Senator’s district throughout the state. It is our hope to have our voices heard, and if necessary, summon the assistance of the general public through possible letter campaigns or demonstrations. Once again we have petitioned our Assemblyman, Peter Lopez and Senator James Seward for assisting us in this effort.

 

The introduction of solar energy to our county buildings and residents is another major issue being dealt with. This issue holds much excitement for county residents particularly with respect to cost savings that should be considerable. There are state contributions available pertaining to the implementation of solar energy, which the county should be taking full advantage of.

 

There also remains the issue of reconstructing County Government pertaining to policies and procedures being put in place, which have never before existed including disciplinary procedures for department heads. Our entire county workforce must be reassured that a new day has come with respect to workplace environment. Employees shall no longer work in fear and they must come to know how very much they are appreciated. There is necessity for new direction and it is my personal opinion that a county manager is needed to prevent our county from continuing to flounder from day to day causing lack of direction and the loss of accountability. The residents and employees of Schoharie County deserve better than business as usual.

 

The agenda concerning issues to be addressed and achieved is quite lengthy and I remain completely optimistic that the newly elected supervisors will not fall victim to the issue of control and that each will do their best to work with others concerning all the issues at hand. The struggle for power and control between political parties has caused major setbacks in our Democracy. It is past time for all elected representatives to work in the best interest of the people we represent. Our future depends on it. While change is not always easy to acquire we must remember that the people have given our county a fresh start. Hopefully the people will remain vigilant on the call for change.

 

Gene Milone

Gallupville Man Arrested for Removing Handicapped Foster Daughter's Teeth

Often times reporting the news brings both the good and the controversial. Unfortunately, this is just terrible. Stephen Walker of Gallupville was arrested after the family dentist discovered something unnerving. Walker's 8-year old foster daughter was complaining about mouth pain. When  the dentist checked the girl's mouth, three teeth were missing-- allegedly forced out of the mouth by Walker. The girl is mentally disabled.

Photo and story references credit Times Union

The dentist gave the information to Schoharie County Child Protective Services, which then handed the case over to the State Police. Walker was arrested and charged with two counts of felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child on two counts. He is held on $10,000 cash bail or $5,000 bond. He is due back in court on November 25th.

Quiltbug to Trade Food for Fabric on Thanksgiving Weekend

The Esperance based Quiltbug Quilt Shop at 169 Main Street (Route 20) will be trading fabric for food to donate to local pantries on Friday and Saturday of next week. Food pantries are traditionally low in their reserves following Thanksgiving and Quiltbug is encouraging people to bring non-perishable food items to their Esperance shop to help those pantries restock, with donations above $5 value earning an in store purchase discount certificate.  

 

There will also be a celebrity at the shop to sign autographs on Friday from 12:30-2:00 and to raise funds to provide bullet proof vests for police dogs: local celebrity dog Thor, who was featured in American Dog magazine this month, and who's owners will be selling his calendar with all proceeds going to the aforementioned cause that is run by Vested Interests organization.

 

If you have any questions concerning the food bank fundraiser or Thor's appearance please contact Kris Driessen at 518-875-9400 or by email at Quiltbug.com@gmail.com. The shop will be open ten until five on Friday and ten to three on Saturday.

Severe Squall Predicted in County Today

If you are about to head out somewhere, you may want to rethink your plans for an hour. From the National Weather Service:

A Line Of Snow Squalls In Schoharie County... At 237 PM EST...Snow Squalls Were Detected By Radar.  These Snow Squalls Were Located Along A Line Extending From Schoharie To Richmondville...And Moving East At 35 Mph. Snow Squalls Will Be Near... Middleburgh By 305 PM EST In New York This Includes Interstate 88 Exits Between 19 And 23. Snow Squalls Producing A 15 To 30 Minute Period Of Heavy Snow And Near White Out Conditions Can Be Expected. Generally An Inch Or Less Of Snow Will Accumulate...But The Severity Of The Snow Squalls Will Significantly Reduce Visibility And Cause Extremely Hazardous Driving Conditions

Green Shirts Leaving Schoharie County

In an emotional ceremony on Monday, December 18th the hundreds of volunteers that assisted flood victims across the County were honored. The Green Shirts, affiliated with the Reformed Church are leaving after two years of service in the area. Many are moving on to help other flood victims affected by Hurricane Sandy. From SALT's press release:

Over the past two years, over 500 Green Shirt volunteers from all over the United States and Canada have come and donated a week or more of their time to helping to rebuild our homes and community. Many of these volunteers have come multiple times and stayed for 2 or more weeks at a time. Collectively, they have volunteered for over 53,000 hours - worth over $1,025,000 of inkind labor. 

In addition, the Green Shirts have spent over $225,000 in our area, supporting our local economy while rebuilding it. After the initial meetings between SALT and World Renew Regional Managers for New York and New England, Doug and Pat Guikema, reported to World Renew that the SALT recovery group was "one of the best organized, ready to lead the recovery efforts that they have had the privilege to work with" in the 10 years since they've been involved with World Renew and, that SALT was "ahead of the curve for Long Term Committees." 

"Closing down our Schoharie site comes with many mixed emotions," said Doug Guikema shares. "We are thankful that we were able to complete the homes that we did, and yet we know there are more families waiting for the assistance they need to finish rebuilding their home yet, and that makes it difficult to leave."

Opinion: Give Bleau a Chance

In the aftermath of Tuesday's final count of absentee and affidavit ballots in the Town of Wright's too close to call Supervisor race between Democrat Karl Remmers and Republican Amber Bleau, which Mrs. Bleau won by just five votes, the response by some individuals to the Republican's victory was disappointing to say the least.

Ranging from allegations of being a replica of former Supervisor William Goblet, who's passing earlier this year led Mrs. Bleau to assume leadership as Deputy Supervisor, to concerns over her participation in a tri-party advertisement that together formed the county's Conservative Party faction, residents ranging from readers of the Schoharie News to county officials have expressed skepticism and worries over her election to the county board.

These worries are nothing new. We have been hearing them for weeks now at the Schoharie News, but after interviewing Mrs. Bleau two days before the election and reviewing her record of service in the Town of Wright, we believe them to be exaggerated and would ask everyone to give the Supervisor-elect a chance to do her job before casting final judgment.

The election is nothing more then an educated guess as to who we think will do the better job in office, particularly between two non-incumbents as such was the case in this situation, with our guess either being proven to be accurate or inaccurate by their actions in said office.

Mrs. Bleau's focus is primarily on the growth of Wright by improving public services and expanding business in the town of fifteen hundred plus citizens, a job she is well prepared for because of tenure on the town board and her de facto leadership position since early 2013, while she also eases into her equally important role of representing her neighbors on a county-wide level in the currently fluid state of affairs of Schoharie politics.

With that said, could we please give the Supervisor-elect an opportunity to prove herself before casting the first stone and disregarding her leadership experience and qualities just because of her inclusion in an political advertisement that she was invited to join and did so in good faith? Obviously, the reasonable answer would be yes... Only time can vindicate or ostracize the voters of Wright for their decision on November 5th.

Reminder: Schoharie News to Join WSDE on Talking Schoharie Program Wednesday

 

Just a reminder for our readership: Schoharie News editor Timothy Knight and WSDE 1190 AM owner Ed Sherlock will be co-hosting the Talking Schoharie program on Wednesday morning from nine until ten on your source for premier local radio coverage.

Also - with the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, coverage will be spotty at the Schoharie News as we take a breather from the nonstop current of investigations, political news stories and covering county affairs, but we will continue to monitor the pulse of Schoharie County and update with news as it comes in as well as the continued publication of community events.

As always, feel free to send tips and community news to aaaabraves@yahoo.com and if you have an opinion, perhaps concurring with or arguing against that of the Schoharie News or a local politician, we publish letters to the editor as we receive them and without editing.

Once again, we can not offer enough thanks to our wonderful readership and we hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week. We will be deciding on several potential changes at the Schoharie News while enjoying the break and working on a couple of outstanding stories from the past couple of weeks.

Middleburgh Library Discussion Tonight

The Middleburgh Library will be holding a discussion on the future of the Library tonight. The event at 7pm will discuss how the institution and its activities will expand. All are invited:

We're hoping to get a representation of all the different populations in Middleburgh-- town officials as well as ordinary citizens, primary residence or second home owner, library users and non library users, older residents, and younger ones! This is your chance to tell us what really makes this library important to this community and what we need to do to keep it that way. We're looking forward to hearing what you have to say-- please come!

More details can be found here on Facebook.

Maranatha Faces Potential Foreclosure, Loss of Physical Assets

Following months of public concern and speculation over Maranatha's financial situation, of which there was a general consensus that they were in dire straits, the Schoharie News has learned through researching a tip provided to us earlier in the week that owner Stella McKenna is close to losing control of her $5 million project because of millions in outstanding debts.

 

According to legal documentation posted on the Schoharie County Clerk's database, Ms. McKenna was served with not only a verified complaint by NBT Bank that seeks the collection of Maranatha's equipment and inventory due to their defaulting on a $50,000 note, but she also received a verified foreclosure complaint from the New York Business Development Corporation.

 

The latter complaint was filed on November 13th - last Wednesday - and stated Maranatha defaulted on the "conditions of the Note and Mortgage by omitting and failing to pay installments for principal and interest which were due on August 1, 2013, and each and ever month thereafter." The total sum of the project's debts to NYBDC are over $1.5 million, with it consisting of $1,482,062.57 in principal owed and the remainder being interest.

The day after on Thursday, November 14th, NBT Bank's complaint was filed and its contents show that the project defaulted on a roughly $50,000 note with the balance being 99% principal to interest owed. As part of the note's agreement in February, 2013, that provided NBT with collateral in case of Maranatha's failure to pay its bills - the local lender is seeking to legally acquire all equipment, records and inventory as a result of late September's default.

It is not known whether this will impact investor Da-Lai Wu's efforts to acquire the failed project or how its other interested parties might react to this substantial development, but one thing is for sure - Ms. McKenna's time to salvage what remains of her project, which she spent years putting together, has apparently run out.

 

Middleburgh Fire Department to Host "Breakfast with Santa"

The Middleburgh Fire Department and their Ladies Auxiliary will be hosting a breakfast with good 'ole Saint Nicholas on Sunday, December 8th at the fire house from seven until eleven that morning with Santa stopping by from the North Pole around eight for approximately two hours. 

Cost of attendance is $5 per adult, $3 per senior citizen or six to twelve year old, while children under five are admitted at no cost. The breakfast will be served buffet style with the menu featuring pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon with the choice of several beverages ranging from coffee to juice to wash it all down. 

There will also be children's activities, which will be provided by the local Boy and Girl Scout troops.  

Smith, Skowfoe and Bleau Victorious in Supervisor Races; Conesville Still Without Highway Superintendent

The Schoharie County Board of Elections convened yesterday morning for almost four hours to count hundreds of leftover absentee, affidavit and military ballots in all sixteen towns from November fifth's off-year election. Voters in the Towns of Blenheim, Fulton and Wright finally learned who they elected as their respective Town Supervisor, while the final results in Conesville left residents still without an elected Highway Superintendent heading into the new year.

Blenheim
 

One of the three too close to call Town Supervisor races was decided just five minutes into this morning's count, with Democratic challenger Sean Smith winning seven of nine absentee ballots and Blenheim's top job over twenty-year incumbent Republican Robert Mann Jr. Mr. Smith received plenty of well wishes and support from members of the county board and other officials in attendance.
 

Conesville
 

The biggest surprise of the morning came from the Town of Conesville's Highway Superintendent election between Stephen Young and Larry Brandow, with Mr. Young heading into the day with what was thought a safe eleven vote lead with twenty-nine ballots yet to be opened. However, as luck would have it, Mr. Brandow carried the absentee and affidavit count overwhelmingly by a decisive 20-9 spread, which resulted in the two candidates ending the day with 154 votes apiece. 

Fulton

 

Entering the morning not knowing whether he would retain his position as Town Supervisor in Fulton, let alone the Chairmanship of the county board, incumbent Democrat Phil Skowfoe nervously paced back and forth across the Board of Supervisors chambers as he and his Republican challenger Francis Tatten awaited the results of their highly competitive race, of which the difference was only two votes in the incumbent's favor. With twenty-seven ballots to count Mr. Skowfoe needed only thirteen of them to claim victory, instead he received sixteen and a narrow seven vote victory to boot.

Wright
 

Roughly two dozen observers waited out the remaining eight towns to hear who would win Wright's contest between Democrat Karl Remmers and Republican Amber Bleau, where the Democrat held a three vote lead on election night with forty-five ballots left to count. As anticipation built amongst the audience, the machine decided not to work - delaying the final process for almost five excruciatingly long minutes - which was followed by the Deputy on patrol accidentally turning off the room's lights, adding to the anxiety of everyone in attendance. But after all was said and done, Ms. Bleau carried the absentee and affidavit ballots 26-18 over Mr. Remmers, winning the election by five votes and finally ending the Town of Wright's ten month long lack of representation on the county board.

 

Conservative Party Did Not File Campaign Finances, Appears to Violate State Law

The Conservative Party of Schoharie County has played a major role in local politics over the last decade under the tenure of current Chair William Hanson. From 2007 to the present it has staked out an independent tack, endorsing multiple candidates across the County for races from Supervisor to Sheriff to County Clerk.

However, as the third largest party in the County it is required to disclose financial transactions so long as they are above $1,000 total. Since 2007, there has not been a single filing.

There is every reason to believe that the Conservative Party has been involved financially in multiple races across the County. Direct evidence came this year in a mailer attacking County Treasurer Bill Cherry and Supervisors Carl Barbic, Gene Milone, and Phil Skowfoe. On the bottom of the mailer, it stated that it was paid for by the Conservative Party. Considering that 4,000 placards were printed and mailed-- it is inconceivable that the total cost was under $1,000.

When researched, there is no filing for the party at all. Not even a basic statement or a quarterly election summary. Not a mention of the mailer or its cost, as required by law.

State law is clear on the issue. On the NYS Board of Elections website there is no room for error.

Committees are required to file either an itemized campaign financial disclosure report, an In-Lieu-Of Statement (if qualified), or a No-Activity Report, as described, for each filing period: 

Itemized Campaign Financial Disclosure Report 

An itemized campaign financial disclosure report is a report disclosing the financial activity for a specific reporting period, detailed on applicable schedule(s), and where at the close of the reporting period, the aggregate of receipts or expenditures of the campaign have exceeded $1,000.

If there is no political activity or fundraising of over $1,000 the committee can report this instead and there would be no money figure attached. Still, with the creation and distribution of the infamous mailer, this does not seem plausible. Since this is the case, how could election law not be followed by a large party in Schoharie County?

New County Board's Weighted Vote Totals by Party, Faction

As asked for by our readers, we are happy to bring you the totals of the weighted votes controlled by the Democrats and Republicans and those that were endorsed by the Conservative Party or not.

Democrats and Republicans, * Denotes Conservative Party Backing

Cobleskill - 481 (16.2%) (R)

Middleburgh - 352 (11.8%) (D)

Schoharie - 326 (11%) (D)

Richmondville - 241 (8.1%) (R)

Esperance - 204 (6.9%) (R)

Sharon Springs - 184 (6.2%) (D)

Carlisle - 176 (5.9%) (R)

Seward - 164 (5.5%) (D)

Wright -155 (5.2%) (R)*

Jefferson - 129 (4.3%) (R)

Fulton - 127 (4.3%) (D)

Gilboa - 122 (4.1%) (R)

Summit - 112 (3.8%) (R)*

Broome - 95 (3.2%) (R)

Conesville - 73 (2.5%) (R)

Blenheim - 33 (1.1%) (D)

Total Democrats: 6 seats- 1186: 39.9%
Total Republicans: 10 seats- 1788: 60.1%
Total: 2974

Total Non-Conservative: 14 seats- 2704: 91.0%
Total Conservative: 2 seats- 267: 9.0%
Total: 2974



Town of Wright Final Elections Results

The Town of Wright has not seen a Supervisor since the death of Bill Goblet. The infighting left Amber Bleau as de facto Supervisor, unable to represent the Town at the County level. On election night Mr. Remmers led by a scant three votes. However, with over two-dozen absentee ballots left to count, Ms. Bleau wound up with the lead.

Bleau (R-C)- 343: 50.4%
Remmers (D)- 338: 49.6%

It is unclear if there were any affidavit ballots counted in this race but it was the closest in recent memory.

Skowfoe Wins in Fulton

Incumbent Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe has pulled out a dramatic victory in the Town of Fulton race. In the first results, Skowfoe led Republican Town Councilman Frank Tatten by just two votes. With the absentees counted and certified today, Skowfoe expanded this lead.

Skowfoe* (D)- 230: 50.8%
Tatten (R)- 223: 49.2%

* Denotes incumbent

Smith Wins in Final Tally in Blenheim

Newcomer Shawn Smith has officially unseated 20-year incumbent Bob Mann in Blenheim. The 27-year old attorney ran a vigorous campaign and expanded his lead over Mann in the final tally. In the original count, Smith was leading by 6.

Now, with the absentees counted, Smith won by a larger margin.

Smith (D)- 77: 53.5%
Mann (R)*- 66: 46.5%

* Denotes incumbent

Shipp-Hilts Affidavit Points to Collusion with Ethington, Perjury

Details of the infamous Fitzmaurice Report lay out step by step how Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington oversaw a "reign of terror" within county government that resulted in both her control of the Health Department and the termination of public employees based solely on Mrs. Ethington's personal agenda.

This brings us to the curious case of current Health Department Director Asante Shipp-Hilts, who following the Report's revelations of collusion and subordination to Mrs. Ethington, is facing her own removal from power by a Board of Supervisors intent on cleansing the county of the now-suspended Personnel Director's tenure.

Ms. Shipp-Hilts, who has largely escaped public ridicule to this point, appears to have lied in an June, 2012 affidavit in Grimes v. Schoharie County that claimed that after she "arrived at the Department, I was the immediate supervisor of all staff in the Department, plain and simple." Adding that she saw "no rational basis why petitioner would have as she seems to contend, believed Mrs. Ethington was to [sic] holding herself out as head of the Department even after my arrival."

This is directly contradicted by evidence contained within the Fitzmaurice Report that not only documents Mrs. Ethington's takeover of the Health Department - before and during Ms. Shipp-Hilts' county employment started in May, 2011 - but by her own admissions made to investigators. One of which conceded that Mrs. Ethington held the power as the appointing authority in regards to Kim Euler's layoff in late 2011, with additional information showing Mrs. Ethington signed off on it as the "appointing authority and the Interim Director of the Health Department."

Even more troubling is the fact Mrs. Ethington appointed Ms. Shipp-Hilts to the position of Epidemiology Coordinator on April 26, 2011 as the "Appointing Officer with the title of Interim Public Health Director typed under her signature." Which begs the question of how Ms. Shipp-Hilts could have possibly believed she was in charge or made subsequent statements indicating the same when she was clearly hired under the authority of Mrs. Ethington, who was then Interim Health Director.

Mrs. Ethington said as much in a June 14, 2011 memo to Eva Gigandet that stated Ms. Shipp-Hilts "is your immediate supervisor and I am in charge administratively over the health department on a day to day basis until further notice," and again in October, 2011 when she described herself as the "Acting Director, Public Health Department" to co-budget officers Alicia Terry and Paul Brady. Just three months later Mrs. Ethington would sign a letter to then Deputy Director of Public Health Ian Feinstein as the Interim Public Health Director with Ms. Shipp-Hilts listed as only the Epidemiology Coordinator.

All of this proves the glaring inaccuracies of Ms. Shipp-Hilts claims in her June, 2012 affidavit, but that document itself contradicts her past statements in that neither Mrs. Ethington nor Ms. Shipp-Hilts claimed that holding the position of Epidemiology Coordinator constituted control of the Health Department until former health officials initiated lawsuits against the county because of Ethington's actions as Interim Director, with Shipp-Hilts having no say whatsoever in the administrative functions of the department she supposedly was the head of from her appointment in April, 2011 onward.

With November 1st's motion to suspend Ms. Shipp-Hilts fresh in mind, and the Board of Health's subsequent expression of total confidence in her abilities at last Friday's meeting, her fate as Public Health Director could very well be decided by the inaccuracies of both her affidavit and the contents of the Fitzmaurice Report that clearly demonstrate her lack of authority over the embattled department and even that of a subservient role to Mrs. Ethington.

Education Forum Tuesday at Schoharie Central

All are invited for an Education Forum at Schoharie Central School on Tuesday, November 19th at 4pm to discuss issues revolving around the field of education. Assemblyman Peter Lopez and Senator James Seward have assisted in setting up the event meant to bring in more perspective on modern teaching.

There is no formal format but much of the conversation will likely revolve around two upcoming bills in the State legislature regarding Truth in Testing and Common Core. There will be an opportunity for educators to speak about the issues and ask questions. These concerns in particular have grown since New York State became involved in Common Core.

Opinion: Board Must Re-Institute Grimes and Gigandet

Nearly two years ago Town of Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone motioned for an investigation to look into allegations of wrongdoing, misconduct and harassment operating within Schoharie County government. It was initially supported overwhelmingly and soon after developed into one of the hottest points of contention on the Board of Supervisors after the tangled weave of corruption started to become unraveled.

The results of this investigative report, with a final price tag in excess of $300,000 that took almost a year to complete after a firm was selected, was damning to Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington: not only did she systemically work with allies on the county board to take over the Health Department following Kathleen Strack's resignation but she fired several employees within that department and others for blatantly personal reasons.

Among those wrongfully terminated, according to the Fitzmaurice Report, were Penny Grimes and Eva Gigandet, two former employees of the Health Department who were intentionally singled out by Mrs. Ethington and fired for decidedly personal reasons - Ms. Gigandet for example was told by the now-suspended Personnel Director that the federal grant money provided for her position could be "better spent elsewhere" and was summarily released without further reason, which at the time led to confusion on the Board of Supervisors over who exactly was in control of the county's health apparatus.

With early November's suspension of Mrs. Ethington and Friday's appointment of Charity Bender to serve as interim head of the embattled Personnel Office, apparently resolving the ongoing management crisis within one of the county's most important departments, there is still one aspect of this entire affair that must be dealt with: restitution for both Ms. Grimes and Ms. Gigandet.

Both of these hard working and experienced Health Department professionals deserve to be rehired not only on the merits of their job qualifications, which are extensive, but to right the unquestionable wrongs of Ms. Ethington's "reign of terror" that resulted in two years of hell for these women that despite separate lawsuits wouldn't be vindicated until the late October release of the investigative report. 

As the Schoharie News reported earlier, the Board of Supervisors will be meeting on December 10th to both approve of the 2014 public budget and to consider reinstating Ms. Grimes and Ms. Gigandet's jobs into the Health Department's budget. The latter proposal faced mixed support at Friday's county board meeting with lame duck Cobleskill Town Supervisor Tom Murray stating that the State Supreme Court had already ruled that they weren't wrongfully dismissed, apparently oblivious to the contents of the report. 

However, at least to the Schoharie News,  it is common sense that final justice should be served as a result of Fitzmaurice's findings with that being the re-institution of both Ms. Grimes and Ms. Gigandet to the county Health Department, which must be approved at the December 10th meeting by the Board of Supervisors in a demonstration of full understanding of the damaging effects Ethington's tenure had on the daily operation of county government and on the lives of her personal targets, who were fired with complete disregard of their credentials and dependent on Mrs. Ethington's agenda.

County Board to Meet on Reinstating Fired Employees

The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors will be meeting to discuss the overall budget proposed by Budget Officer Bill Cherry and will have an extra item on the agenda. Extended discussion was held on Friday revolving around several employees fired during the tenure of suspended Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington.

Multiple Supervisors spoke about what to do about employees that were let go in late 2011 such as Eva Gigandet and Penny Grimes. Mrs. Grimes spoke to the Board and discussed how she worked her way into her position and "earned" her paycheck. Esperance Supervisor Earl vanWormer echoed similar sentiments, calling for reinstatement.

Seward Supervisor Carl Barbic supported a similar tack, but under further consideration. He requested a further look into the budget before making such a decision. After this, Treasurer Bill Cherry said that he would again look into the budget to allow restitution and that he would support such a re-hiring.

Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone asked for a special meeting to discuss such a re-hire, saying that it was not fair to leave the former employees waiting to know what would happen. He said that the Board should "come to conclusion" on the issue. He called it a "no-brainer" and said that the employees were "wrongfully dismissed."

Cobleskill Supervisor Tom Murray disagreed, stating that the State Supreme Court said that the employees were not wrongfully dismissed.

A majority on the Board did not agree with a consensus call to hold a special meeting at this time.

Penny Grimes Speaking to the Board. Photo Credit SCHOPEG

Former employee Penny Grimes spoke again, asking Mr. Murray what he meant. Murray stated that he did not believe that the Fitzmaurce Report "holds a lot of merit." Grimes stated that the voters supported what the Board did regarding the Report. She said that she was "sick and tired" of other people implying that the Report was a "pack of lies" while looking in Murray's direction. She said that she would not want to sue again, but could in the future.

Watch part of the exchange below. Video credit from SCHOPEG.

Instead of a special meeting, Phil Skowfoe instead asked for the consideration of these issues on December 10th during a regular budget meeting.