by Kieron Kramer
The Rensselaer County Legislature is a body that seems to suffer from schizophrenia. On the one hand it commends the achievements of the people in the County and memorializes those citizens, beloved by their communities, who have passed away. On the other hand the Legislators have been known to fight tooth and nail about a resolution that they then pass unanimously. Over 90% of the resolutions introduced pass unanimously because at this level of government most of what government does has to be done; there is little choice. So, regardless of party, most of the Legislators vote alike most of the time and treat each other as if they are in one big family.
At the regular County Legislative meeting on Tuesday, February 10, the Legislators spoke as one big family expressing their heartfelt reactions to the death from cancer on February 2 of District 1 Legislator Nancy McHugh, Republican of Lansingburgh. Many Legislators spoke. Minority Leader Democrat Ginny O’Brien said, “Nancy was a woman of integrity who was definitely concerned about her constituents, especially on educational issues. It is truly heartbreaking that she is no longer part of our family here.” Republican Martin Reid said, “When I think of Nancy I think of strength and advocacy. She was everything in the Burgh [Lansingburgh] for the schools.” Chairman of the Legislature Republican Neil Kelleher, said, “We conduct our business tonight under a cloud because of our loss of Nancy. She loved her job, and we loved having her here.”
McHugh was the epitome of decency and civility. She never said a bad word at the meetings about anyone. She will be missed. At the meeting on February 10, her seat was empty, but her desk was full of flowers.
The Dark Side
At this same meeting Democrats Flora Fasoldt and Keith Hammond accused the Republicans of an orchestrated attempt to mislead the public about their votes and in Hammond’s case about his ethics. Hammond was particularly upset that a letter had been written to The Record stating that he had obtained a government job for his daughter. He said after the meeting, “I have six kids; one of them works as a nurse’s aide at the [Van Rensselaer] Manor.” He sees this attack as an unfair campaign tactic. In response to a letter written to The Record by Legislator Richard Salisbury and a monthly report written for The Sand Lake Advertiser by Legislators Reid and Alex Shannon saying that she had voted in the January meeting against a resolution opposing tax and fee increases proposed for the 2010 State Budget, Fasoldt asked that the minutes, in which the votes are recorded, be read. The minutes showed that Fasoldt had voted for the resolution. She asked that the Legislators issue a statement correcting their previous report to the Advertiser and that they be more mindful of what they say to the public. Hammond said after the meeting that he thinks that Republican Legislative Liaison Rich Crist is behind the letter writing campaign. During the session, he asked that the Legislators, and anybody else given a letter to sign, read the letter before they sign it and send it in.
In an email Rich Crist wrote, “Keith is just engaging in his usual tactics of intimidation. He is desperate not to have his record exposed, and he believes he can silence and censor critics, which is unfortunate. Keith has never mentioned his concerns to me, so it just looks like typical political grandstanding from Mr. Hammond.” Cleo Mook, Legislative Aide for the Minority, said in a telephone interview that “Rensselaer County politics is intense, but untrue statements about a Legislator’s voting record is beyond the pale.”
So much for politics of the hardball and softball variety. But here is where the Legislature gets spooky. A resolution was introduced transferring funds from the Capital Fund into the General Fund to purchase computer equipment – a color printer and two computers for the Majority Office, a color printer for the Minority Office and two new computers for Tyler Sawyer’s County Auditor’s Office. The new equipment costs $8,150. This was the only resolution that failed to pass Tuesday evening out of 60, only five resolutions all session had dissenting votes.
The Democrats voted against the resolution because, they said, these kind of expenditures should be part of the operating budget and not taken out of the Capital Fund as if it were a slush fund. They have maintained for years that the Republican Majority has established a budgeting process that doesn’t plan ahead. Mook said that the Democrats had requested the printer in October, thinking it would be part of the budget formulation. “The budget process is opaque,” she said.
But the resolution wouldn’t have been defeated if four Republicans hadn’t voted against it as well. Majority Leader Robert Mirch had cost cutting in mind. “Let’s be fiscally responsible,” he said, “and not give ourselves new computers.”
There is no scarcity of irony in this body. During the discussion Chairman of the Legislature Neil Kelleher said that the Legislature operates in the past and needs these pieces of equipment. He ended up voting no. Shannon said that more advanced equipment equals more efficiency. Reid said that open government results in more documents and that newer equipment is needed to process them. Republicans all. And the Democrats, who have been promoting open government, digitizing records and upgrading this kind of equipment for a while, sacrificed this to make a statement on the budget process. If their strategy was to lodge a protest vote and have the Republican Majority pass the resolution and get the gear anyway, it certainly backfired. Both District 5 Legislators, Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote, who did not take part in any of these exchanges, voted to make the funds transfer to obtain the equipment.
And it turns out that the Democrats already had the printer in their office, which motivated Mirch to sarcastically ask how they could have managed to purchase it before the resolution was even passed. According to Mook, workers for the Majority had delivered the printer to the Minority Office earlier. Apparently, the powers that be considered the passage of this resolution as a done deal and so no answer to Mirch’s question, albeit rhetorical, was forthcoming.
The very next resolution considered, which added $175,046 back into the Capital Fund from a surplus of funds budgeted for improvements to the Legislative Chambers, was passed with all the Democrats voting nay, still based on the principal that this is the wrong way to budget. The figures for the Capital Fund in this resolution were inaccurate because the transfer of $8,150 out of the Capital Fund proposed in the earlier resolution did not occur. Oh, well.
To top it off, a news release was circulated by the Democratic Minority the next day titled “Rensselaer County Democratic Legislators File Police Report.” The release said, “Rensselaer County Democratic Legislators filed a report with the Troy Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department after discovering someone had entered their office to remove a printer before the office opened this morning.
“The incident was reported to building security and a full report was subsequently filed with authorities by Legislator Keith Hammond. The incident report from the Rensselaer County Buildings Department states that Neil Kelleher, Chairman of the Legislature, requested that the security guard unlock the Minority Office to admit two staff members from the Republican Majority office who removed a printer.
“‘I’m astounded at the lack of respect for our office shown by this incident,’ said Minority Leader Ginny O’Brien. ‘It’s reasonable to expect that a locked door securing both official documents and personal effects will not be violated. A phone call to notify us, or merely waiting until the office opened, would have been appropriate.’
“The Democratic Legislators are calling for convening the Ethics Committee to investigate the incident and for instituting a written protocol for accessing department offices by individuals other than officials and employees working in that office.”
Rich Crist wrote in an email, “The Legislature operates as a department in the County, therefore, under the charter Neil [Kelleher] has the ability to retrieve equipment from the department if necessary.”
In Memoriam – Arthur Gifford
The Legislature passed two resolutions memorializing the death of two citizens from the Eastwick area.
The first was a resolution in memoriam of Arthur E. Gifford of Hoosick Falls who died on January 18. The resolution said, “…we honor a man who devoted his life to serving his community and country.” According to the resolution, Gifford was born and raised in Hoosick Falls and was the son of the late Ira E. and Edna V. Dutcher Gifford. Arthur was a graduate of Hoosick Falls High School and, in July of 1968, was inducted into the United States Army serving a tour of duty during the Vietnam War in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Mechanized Division, out of Fort Hood, TX. In August of 1969, he earned the rank of Sergeant and became an expert marksman with both M-14 and M-16 rifles. He was awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Service Stars, a Bronze Service Medal and the Purple Heart. In July of 1970, he was honorably discharged to the Army Reserve. Arthur worked at the Rensselaer County Highway Department for over forty years, working his way up through the ranks until eventually becoming the road supervisor. He retired in July of 2008.
The resolution went on to say, “As an active member of the community, Arthur was a member of the Boyntonville United Methodist Church, the V.F.W. Post #1332 in Bennington and the American Legion Post in Hoosick Falls…Arthur E. Gifford will be missed by his family, his wife of 35 years, Barbara Ellis Gifford, his son, Terry R. and Amy Gifford, his daughter, Kelly Jean Gifford and Timothy Hayes, and two grandchildren, Riley Clare Hayes and Sophie Grace Hayes, as well as his extended family and his buddy ‘Poppa’s Cat.’”
In Memoriam – Leona Goodermote
A resolution adjourning the Rensselaer County Legislative meeting in fond memory of Leona E. Goodermote was passed. It said, “…It is with particularly deep sadness that we conclude this evening’s deliberations in honor of a truly respected member of the community…On Tuesday, the sixteenth day of December in the year Two thousand eight, Leona E. Goodermote left this world to enter another…It is the collective sense of this Legislature that the life of Leona E. Goodermote be memorialized and eulogized, for she was respected and admired by all who had the privilege to make her acquaintance and even more so by the many who could call her their friend.”
According to the resolution, Leona was born on May 21, 1922, to Edward and Mary Philpott. She had two siblings, a younger sister Elsie and a twin sister Leila, who passed away October 13, 2008. She was a graduate of Hoosick Falls High School, Class of 1941. In May 1943, Leona married Earl Goodermote and together they moved to Potter Hill in 1951. At that residence they started a farm with about 2,000 chickens and 40 cows. Leona loved her farm, her cows and her chickens. Besides the farm, she worked for many years at Stanley Tools in Bennington, VT. In her spare time Leona was a wonderful seamstress and shared her talents with many 4-H students. Leona E. Goodermote will be missed by her family, her daughter, Maria Nowak, her son, Lester Goodermote, her sister, Elsie Domine, her seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren as well as her many friends and acquaintances.
The resolution concluded, “The Rensselaer County Legislator concludes its deliberations in memory of Leona E. Goodermote and extends its deepest sympathy to her family, fully confident that her contributions to her community will live on to serve as a legacy for all.”