Cahill to blame
Kevin Cahill alone used his position to block the Ulster County routine sales-tax extension in Albany. No matter which way he tries to spin it, he is the one with a vote in Albany, and he has to take responsibility for his actions.
Then there is County Executive Mike Hein, Senator Larkin, Senator Tkaczyk, Assemblyman Skartados, Assemblyman Pete Lopez, County Comptroller Auerbach, the Ulster County Legislature, Mayor Gallo, town supervisors from across Ulster County, CSEA — the County’s largest labor union — and the editorial boards of every major newspaper in the Hudson Valley all standing together in agreement that Kevin Cahill needs to fix what he has broken. (Editor’s note: The editorial board of this apparently minor newspaper has yet to take a position.)
The fact is that if he was more focused on reducing unfunded state mandates, counties like Ulster would not need the additional 1 percent sales tax he blocked in the first place.
We do not need typical Albany politics here in UlsterCounty. Kevin calls it negotiation; most of us call it extortion. What he has done is fundamentally wrong. His irresponsible actions have helped no one — not residents of the county, the City of Kingston nor the towns. In fact, his actions have endangered all of us.
James J. Hanson, Ulster County budget director
Kingston
It is only negotiation if both parties participate. Can Hein claim ignorance as to the consequences of his refusal to negotiate? Hein refused, so who should be to blame? He let this happen and now he is pulling all the stops to blame Cahill.
I am sick of these letters from lap dog Hein people who are paid over $100,000 a year with my tax dollars.
Maybe “extortion” is what is used against “stonewalling”… but that’s just more name calling… the problems are all going to be fixed, Ulster County is now legally committed to removing the safety net burden from Kinston and the assembly can meet and fix the problem by November: surely Ulster County can manage that.
Mr. Hein called the hardball game… and that’s how it got played.
The public would have been better served without the hardball.
I guess if the boss tells you to write a letter, you write a letter. Right Mr. Hanson? (Annual County Salary >$112,000)
To correct inaccuracies in this letter, Senator Tkaczyk, Assemblyman Skartados, Assemblyman Pete Lopez have not said that this is “Cahill’s Fault”. They have called for the Assembly to reconvene for a number of reasons such as passing a law to allow the towns of Marbletown and Rochester to share a municipal building, voting on the Women’s Equality Act, Flood Relief for the Mohawk Valley. Judge for yourself if there has been truthful information on this issue coming from certain quarters.
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/08/09/news/doc520455e90bf80607389417.txt?viewmode=2
Mr. Hanson: congratulations, we, the people expect nothing less from hired hands who have no minds of their own. Continue following orders.