Grafton

To the Editor:
As part of this fall’s election campaign, false statements are being made about the Grafton Assessors office which need to be corrected. Let’s set the record straight.
My salary and my clerk’s salary were set based strictly on our experience, proficiency and knowledge. There was no increase in salary for extra work related to a revaluation and no agreement to complete a revaluation by 2012.
When formulating the 2011 budget, there was some talk about a revaluation, and some money was put into the contractual line of the budget for data collection in case we were able to get started on a revaluation during that year. We did not get started that year because the Town Board did not authorize a revaluation that year, and the money budgeted for data collection was never spent. Allegations that money was wasted or that my Clerk and I accepted money for work that was not done are baseless and irresponsible.
The Assessors office cannot begin work on a revaluation until the Town Board passes a formal resolution authorizing it. A resolution authorizing a revaluation was not passed until a few months ago, at the July 8 meeting this year.
My Clerk and I are honest hardworking people serving the Town of Grafton, and we ask that political statements about us stick to the facts.
Sincerely,
Craig Surprise, Grafton Assessor 2010-2013

To the Editor:
Mrs. Goyer presented a dismal picture of our Town website in last week’s issue of the Eastwick Press. Unfortunately she did not tell the whole story, so here is the rest of the story.
After being appointed supervisor in late March, I was informed by Town Board Member Rick Ungaro (in May) that he no longer wished to participate in maintaining the existing Town website. The Secretary to the Supervisor, Mr. Joseph Allain, volunteered to step up and fill the vacancy created by Mr. Ungaro. In short order it was determined that any updates to the existing site needed to be passed through the owner of the website. (It should be noted here that the website Mr. Ungaro set up was not owned by the Town, hence the $500 set-up fee and ongoing monthly charges.) This third party involvement caused needless delays in postings and resulted in continuing expense to the Town.
Mr. Allain approached me about creating a new website that could be controlled from the Town offices, I discussed the idea with the Board members individually and received no negative feedback. I then told Mr. Allain to proceed with the project. In less than a week he set up a new website. The cost to the Town was merely his time, no set-up fee and no update or monthly fees. This website is now maintained by Mr. Allain. Postings can be made immediately without involving or waiting for a third party action.
This new website is a work in progress. Mr. Allain is currently awaiting the Town Board minutes which he will post when he receives them from the Town Clerk. The changeover of the website was announced at the August Town Board meeting and again there was no negative feedback from any Board member.
The new website is located at www.townofgraftonnny.org.
Please visit the site, inspect it and call the Town Hall to give Mr. Allain any suggestions you may have for it; please remember it is still a work in progress.
I must also address the quote that Mrs. Goyer used when she wrote that I said, “It will be looked at when we have the time.” She failed to mention the rest of the sentence which was “We are very busy right now straightening out the mess left by the previous administration.” I believe that most of our Townspeople are aware of the numerous problems left over from that administration.
I would like to ask Mrs. Goyer to turn all her wonderful energy away from negativity to productive projects thus aiding in moving the Town forward. Cathy can be a very capable force, and she could be a real asset to the Town and our people. C’mon Cathy, let the chip fall off your shoulder and work as part of the team.
Thank You,
Frank Higgins
Supervisor, Town of Grafton

To the Editor:
Roadblocks are bountiful in Grafton! Except they are the type you can’t see with your eyes. For months possibly years, residents asked the Town Board to start a Town website. Finally under the direction of Supervisor Ray Darling in 2012 the Town had their website, managed by Councilman Rick Ungaro through a Board approved web designer. Start up cost for the first year to the Town was $500 and was now down to approximately $20 a month. Pertinent information as well as information required by law such as tax rolls, meeting minutes, legal notices, etc were posted.
Now step in appointed Supervisor Higgins who announces at the August Town Board meeting that the Town has a new website being managed by his secretary to save the Town money. This website wasn’t approved by the Board; the decision to do was made solely by the Supervisor without formal Board approval. No new Town Board minutes have been added to either site since Councilman Ungaro stopped managing the site in May. In fact, the original website has been closed and none of the minutes were moved to the new site! By New York State Town Law and by ruling of the Committee on Open Government, governing bodies are required to post minutes 2 weeks after meetings are held. Prior to our original website, our Town Clerk always did her job by posting the minutes on the board outside the Town Hall but since the creation of our website, they need to be placed on the web as well. This should be a priority of the Supervisor and all the Board members to see that all citizens of our Town are informed about what is going on with our Town government. If you are disabled and can’t get to a place to read the minutes where they are posted, you are being discriminated against by the Town of Grafton! This has been brought to their attention many times. The last response from the Town Supervisor on this subject was, “It will be looked at when we have the time!’ I didn’t realize we only have to follow the law when we have time! I didn’t realize we can discriminate against the disabled if we don’t have time to follow the law! I didn’t realize we can keep the public in the dark about what is going on in our Town because we don’t have the time to follow the law!
If the current Town Councilmembers were truly for “open government” and “transparency in our government” as their political signs around town state, then why wouldn’t they be doing something about getting the Town minutes on the Town website so the public could be informed?
Please demand that your Town officials keep us informed!
Catherine Goyer
Grafton