Thornton has earned your vote
If you are voting for Leeanne Thornton for the Town Board on Tuesday, you can skip this letter. Everyone else, please read on.
Leeanne deserves your vote. She brings to governing a positive, professional, responsible, can-do, let’s work to together, community- first perspective. Her 12 years of experience in local government and longtime participation in community organizations informs her judgment on real issues important to Saugerties. She knows the importance of fiscal restraint. As a taxpayer and working woman, she understands the need to budget wisely. During her service on the board, Leeanne has supported smart economic growth. She has effectively and tirelessly supported numerous community organizations. Not lip-service support. Hands-on action.
Having observed Leeanne at Town Board meetings and worked with her as a member of the Esopus Creek Conservancy and the Conservation Advisory Commission, I know, first-hand, of her ability to effectively serve Saugerties. Leeanne Thornton has earned your vote.
Mary O’Donnell
Saugerties
Incumbents have done well
Saugerties is a well-governed town, and Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel, along with Town Board members Leeanne Thornton and Fred Costello, have conducted the town’s business in an inclusive and nonpartisan manner. Please join me in voting for their re-election on Tuesday so they can continue working on behalf of the Saugerties community.
Chris and Patti Kelly
Saugerties
Baseless accusations
To present I have made no attempt to rebut Gaetana Ciarlante’s seemingly endless attacks on the competency and transparency of the members of the Saugerties Town Board. It’s simply not worth my time to respond to her senseless ridicule based on ill-conceived, and entirely unworkable, visions on the function local government. My efforts are better spent dealing in the realities of the daily operation of the municipality.
Unfortunately, Ms. Ciarlante has sunk to a new low with her comments in the Oct. 22 article on the supervisor’s race that suggests there is some nefarious scheme among board members to use our positions of authority to enrich our private business ventures. Her baseless accusations have moved from the realm of personal opinion to slander. I now feel compelled to respond.
To suggest that members of the Town Board are somehow in cahoots and profiting from tax foreclosures, simply because we have a connection to the real property market, is entirely unfounded and absolutely ludicrous. She suggests, “board members may be profiting from having a first-hand knowledge of which properties are in distress.” There is no “first-hand” knowledge available to a Town Board member that isn’t equally available to any member of the general public. Tax rolls are public records open and accessible to anyone who wants to view them. Furthermore, the tax foreclosure proceeding is carried out by the County of Ulster based on a published list of delinquent properties that are offered for sale at a public auction. Anyone can contact the Department of Finance at any time and request information on what parcels may be eligible for auction or what surplus properties the County may have available for purchase. The same goes for properties subject to mortgage foreclosure. All real property records are open to the public and available for review in the County Clerk’s Office. To suggest that any member of the board has “insider” information from which they can profit is idiotic and undeniably false.
Ms. Ciarlante is certainly entitled to her opinions on the operation of the Saugerties town government and the performance of the members of the Board. I welcome anyone to address their grievances with me at any time. But, to besmirch the reputation of an elected official through slanderous comments based on distortions is simply uncalled for. If Ms. Ciarlante truly believes there is any legitimacy to her allegations, I invite her to present her evidence to the Town Ethics Committee for a thorough investigation. I can assure you they will find nothing. She “can’t prove any particular wrongdoing” because there quite simply isn’t any! I’d suggest in the future that if Ms. Ciarlante doesn’t have the proof to back up her ridiculous claims she would do well to keep her absurd opinions to herself.
William M. Schirmer
Saugerties Town Board
Editor’s note: We informed Mr. Schirmer that the inclusion of his name among those other Town Board members mentioned by Ciarlante in our interview was erroneous. He replied that the letter stands as a defense of the integrity of his fellow Town Board members, regardless of whether his name was uttered or not.
The clear choice
Next week, Saugerties residents will be faced with a choice as to who will represent us in the Ulster County Legislature. Although I have only known Angie Minew for approximately two years, she has impressed me with her eagerness to get involved in community activities and her feistiness in attacking problems with a no nonsense attitude yet always willing to listen to the opposing side in order to come to a resolution.
Angie is a valued member of the Saugerties School Board and has been vocal and not backed down on her stance against the Common Core Policy being pushed by our government.
Angie’s tenaciousness and penchant for getting involved in many activities that affect the residents of our community, along with being a business owner and full-time mother to three children, makes my choice for who to vote for very clear. It’s Angie Minew all the way!
James Bruno
Saugerties
