GIANT TSUE-NOT-ME POISED TO HIT HAMLIN!

GIANT TSUE-NOT-ME POISED TO HIT HAMLIN!

Lame Duck tells paper, "I'd like to have it done this year!"
...another genius MARTOON!

...another great Martoon.

The turned-out Supervisors of Hamlin and Kendall have decided to hose down the voters on their way out. Both lame ducks have sprung a plan to sell their water departments to the Monroe County Water Authority.

The vanquished Supervisors have obviously been cooking up this scheme for weeks or months- most likely ever since the primary results came in!

The losers have cobbled together a plan to give their joint water district, and ALL of Hamlin's water assets to Monroe County for an astonishing $1. That’s correct, one dollar.

While a complete and reliable list of assets has not yet been presented it will include, at minimum, a $55,000 loader the two towns recently bought.

“Here is your brand new loader Mrs. Brooks! We hope Mr. Brooks makes good use of it!”
“Thank you! Here is your one dollar Mr Warner. Here is your one dollar Mr. Becker. Don’t spend it all at once!”
“We won’t! Bye!”

This is a very, very serious issue and one can only wonder what our Town Board members are thinking.

Boss Warner wants to ram this deal home and do it without supplying the Board with any hard facts. Warner’s entire career has rested on his ability to drag people into his office, march around blustering and buffaloing, saying nothing, until the victim is too tired and confused to resist. Like leaving a hypnotist’s office the poor soul wanders down the hall somehow persuaded that the Supervisor is right. It is a marvel!

No one knows how this scheme will affect taxpayers. It will be worse still for some local residents who will lose their full-time jobs.

This is an important, complicated decision and the Town Boards have an obligation to every single resident to make sure they have all the facts, all the data AND that it is TRUTHFUL!

Boss Warner has always operated with hidden agendas. That’s why his clique has been thrown out of office. He clearly has an agenda in this matter too. Most likely his scheme is to dedicte most of promised construction credits the County has offered to ensure that his loyal friend and supporter, Judy Hazen, gets a waterline. Additionally, Warner has been observed spending a lot of time huddled with Jim Breslawski, the discredited former Planning Board Chairman, at Breslawski’s farm on North Hamlin Road. Why would the Town Supervisor spend half his mornings in meetings with non-resident Breslawski, one of Hamlin’s largest landowners? Is the timing a coincidence? Not likely...

Warner wants to steam-roll Hamlin taxpayers on his way out the door. It is up to our Town Board to stop him! It may be that a proposal to sell all of the community's water districts and support hardware to Monroe County is a good idea but the taxpayers deserve a thorough accounting of the impact, the true costs and the effects on residents of the transaction.

These are just a few of the things the Town Board MUST look at:

* An exact, and VERIFIED balance sheet for the Hamlin Water Department. They, and the resident, deserve to know how well or poorly the system has operated and the revenue it has generated. If the HWD is profitable, we deserve to know why the Town would GIVE IT AWAY? Future earnings are worth something!

* An exact and verified list of the materials and hardware (including vehicles) which will be handed over to the County for one dollar. This MUST be verified. There can be no excuse for somebody “forgetting” an expensive piece of equipment. “Whoops!” is not acceptable!

*A complete accounting of the local jobs that will be lost and any compensation package the town will offer.

* An analysis of the impact this change will have on the quality of service in our community! The importance of this issue cannot be overemphasized! At present, all Hamlin Water Department employees live in Hamlin! When a customer has a problem the response comes from Hamlin! If the problem is not resolved, and this includes BILLING problems, access to a solution is right here in town. When all of these services are moved out to Rochester how will the residents be affected? This is important!

These are just the basics! Our Town Board must act professionally and effectively in this matter. They must demand and scrutinize all the facts. They cannot be negligent.

THERE IS NO RUSH! Just because Boss Warner wants to serve up some pork on his way out of office is not sufficient reason for the other elected officials to put on an apron and help.

The Blog! urges all concerned residents to attend Monday’s Town Board meeting and speak up. We don’t need to get soaked by a couple of lame-ducks.

Rejecting the bid for Town Justice by publisher Peter Tonery, the citizens soundly recorded their desire that The Blog! continue regular publication. As a Justice, Tonery would have been barred from publishing the highly political news site.

"I know he wanted that Justice job, but this was just too important for the community." said Alfred Campbell, Chairman of the Hamlin Republican Committee and one of the leaders of the effort to retain The Blog!

"It is vital that Tonery continue to publish the website," added James Nesbitt, Chairman of the Planning Board. "The Blog! provides the communitiy with so much essential information- I don't think we could get along without it."

"It is the lifeblood of Hamlin," said outgoing Supervisor Austin Warner III. "I read it religiously."

The problem for incumbents is that they have to campaign on their record. Their record is the public history of their job performance.

Office holders frequently do favors for their constituency. Little things like calling the Highway Supervisor about a lawn ripped up by plows or getting an answer to a question about a water bill, simple things that provide a small service to someone in the community. This earns them some good will and support.

But that is not the job. The job of a Town Board member is to write legislation. They write or repair local laws to better serve the community. This is their only power, this is their duty. The fact that they have contacts and influence inside government is helpful for correcting small, personal issues for citizens, but it is not why they are elected.

Paul Rath’s record as a legislator is dismal.

ACCOUNTING
Rath, a Certified Public Accountant, has never managed to improve the bookkeeping methods of the Town. Hamlin’s accounting methods are archaic and impossible to understand. For years Supervisor Warner has misled and misdirected funding for departments and projects because the budget is impenetrable.

Save for Pat MacIntosh, there is probably no one in local government who actually knows how our tax dollars are spent! And she’s not talking.

Rath has always been in a position to demand a change in accounting. As a CPA he might have demanded an open, transparent accounting process. He’s mentioned it, but never championed it. He never proposed to change it by law.

Hamlin’s budget is as secretive and old fashioned as it was when he first joined the Town Board. The proposed 2006 budget lists an item called “Personnel.” In this category one finds:

Personal Services for $47,529
Equipment for 0
Contractual Exp. for 6000
Total: $53,529

What does this MEAN? Is this open record keeping? Can the public learn anything about how thier money is spent with accounting like this?

Hamlin’s entire budget looks like this! No detail, no explanation, no transparency. No method for tracking payments. This is a “blind budget,” made purposefully to block public scrutiny.

Paul Rath has done little or nothing to improve it. Paul Rath, the CPA. One wonders how his business would prosper if he treated his clients like he treats the citizens of Hamlin.

OPEN GOVERNMENT
As last Wednesday’s meeting demonstrates, Paul Rath is a defender of government closed to the public. That meeting, described below, concerned a proposal to give the Hamlin Water Department to the County. Warner sprung the proposal on the Town Board with no warning. He claimed the “Executive Session” privilege by suggesting it concerned “personnel matters.” The only issue concerning employees was the fact that three local jobs would be lost. THAT is not a “personnel matter” under the Open Meetings Law.

Rath knew that. The moment he learned that the meeting was about public matters, and not protected, he should have acted to cancel it. Paul Rath should have done his duty and made a motion to come out of Executive Session, regardless of the Supervisor’s desire to keep the matter hidden from the public.

According to the Town website, of the 25 meetings from October 2003 (the first date minutes were posted) until October 2005 12 went into Executive Session! Almost 50% of all Town Board meetings ended in secrecy! Six times the reason given was a "personnel matter", three were "litigation matters" and three times, no reason was given! Paul Rath made the motion to go into Executive Session twice, and seconded the motion two other times. All other times he voted "aye", agreeing to the session. Normally it was Warner who made the motion (7 times.)

Almost all of these Executive Sessions were illegal. Lame Duck Supervisor Warner was infamous for lying about the validity of Executive Sessions but where was Rath to stop him? Doesn’t Paul Rath believe in the principle of an “open and honest government?”

Nobody, not one Town Board member, has EVER acted to terminate an illegal Executive Session. They do not respect or support transparent government. Paul Rath and the other Board members seem to believe that election to office enables them to hide decision-making from the voters.

Mr Rath, government and its processes belong to the public. You are not better than any other citizen. It is your duty to promote and protect open government. Mr. Rath, YOU are not royalty.

ACTION
Hamlin faces many serious challenges as a community. Controlled growth is probably the most serious and the one the Town Board has the most direct, immediate power to affect.

Paul Rath has done nothing to address it.

When the DeMarco project reared its ugly head, the stupidity and laziness of the Town Board was revealed. The DeMarco parcel had been zoned for high density housing back in the 1970's. All that time the Board was asleep at the wheel. At anytime they could have acted to rezone the land to prevent a proposal for low-income housing.

Nobody ever acted.

That’s not the worst part. Since the developer dropped the project the Town Borad has still not acted!

At any point after the developer dropped the proposal the Town Board could have rezoned the land and blocked any future problem. They didn’t. They never even talked about it!

They say that fish can only remember things for five minutes. Fish, and the Hamlin Town Board.

Rath failed with DeMarco. Rath failed to get the new Master Plan completed. Rath failed to improve accounting. Rath failed to contest or promote open government. Rath failed to challenge Warner’s divisive and damaging policies.

Rath has failed at virtually every obligation which a Town Board member is elected for.

What is that old adage about leadership? “ Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

Maybe it should end with, “Or don’t get reelected”

SELLING HAMLIN OUT- IN SECRET!

On Wednesday night the Hamlin Town Board met secretly with representatives of the Monroe County Water Authority. The meeting was scheduled to discuss other matters and Town Board members were surprised when Austin Warner called for an “Executive Session.” Both the public and the Town Clerk were kicked out of the meeting!

What followed was a proposal to turn the Hamlin Water Department over to the Monroe County Water Authority!

This idea is not new. Warner discussed it as far back as 1999 when he created the Hamlin Water Committee. That group was charged with persuading Dave Rose, then Highway Superintendent, to use the Highway Department to install waterlines, something Rose had resisted for decades.

Back then, Warner claimed that giving Hamlin’s Water Department to the county was a bad idea. He said that it would not save any money, that we would lose important local services, that it would cut jobs, that County waterline installation was too expensive, and most importantly, he said the County would PAY NOTHING to Hamlin for it!

How does Hamlin benefit from having its own Water Department? First, the service residents receive is excellent. If you have a problem with your water you can be sure someone FROM HAMLIN will be at your door in 30 minutes or less! Second, it was proven, even to the reluctant Rose, that our Highway Department can install waterlines cheaper then the county or outside contractors. If the county takes over, all the work will go to their contractors and the town will lose tens of thousands of dollars in revenues. In addition, the Highway Department might have to cut jobs. That, in turn will impact snow plowing. Third, water users will likely pay more in county fees and service charges.

Let’s look at each of these issues:

SERVICE: Our Water Department employees are RESIDENTS. They live in Hamlin, work in Hamlin and pay taxes in Hamlin. If you live in town, then you are never too far when a call goes out for help. Our Water Department employees have provided many services to residents that aren’t “in the manual.” They’ve helped senior citizens change a washer in a faucet; They’ve advised newcomers to the lakeshore about how to winterize their lines to prevent freezing; They advise home builders on the location of waterlines and easements. That is hometown service.

WATERLINES: Warner had the right idea when he decided that the Highway Department should install waterlines throughout the community. He asked local expert John La Rue to be on the Water Committee. La Rue new the price for virtually every aspect of installation and defeated every objection Mr. Rose made. The Town DOES install waterlines cheaper than outside contractors. More importantly, by having additional summer work, and revenues, the Highway Department can afford to maintain staffing levels sufficient to keep our roads plowed during winter blizzards.

If the County takes over our water, Hamlin will lose at least three local jobs! Three local people, Hamlin residents, forced onto unemployment.

FEES: The Town adds only about TEN CENTS per thousand gallons to the cost of water for providing local service! This charge is added onto what all of us pay for water from the county, so our “savings” would only be ten cents per thousand! But what about other fees? The county charges “rental fees” on meters and there are always new surcharges from someplace for something. NOBODY in Hamlin will save money on their water bill as a result of switching to the County.

What is the motive? Why would Austin Warner spring this idea at this point in time? He has less than two months left on the job. Giving the Department to the County has always been an option, why propose it just as he walks out the door?

This is the $64,000 question. Nobody knows for sure what Warner is up too. If having a local Water Department was good for the five years and ten months of his “reign,” why is it a bad idea now?

Warner has told Water employees, “The Department is not making enough money.” He admits that it is profitable! That means it is self supporting and offsets taxes! If the problem is that the “profit margin” is not high enough he needs to think it through. Gouging residents is probably not the role of local government. A little profit is probably just right.

This is important: Warner is not SELLING the Department, he is GIVING IT AWAY! In other situations the MC Water Authority has pledged or contracted to contribute millions to a community. They have done this in places which could add big profits or where a given town could provide access to other communities further away.

In Hamlin’s case the County has “promised” to “help” with funding new waterlines. Why “promise?” What not “agree?” Why not have a contract stating what they WILL do? Has anyone ever tried to deposit a “promise” in the bank? Is that the best the Supervisor could do for Hamlin? A “promise” to “help?”

So, if the idea harms residents, puts local people out of work, fails to lower the cost of water- WHY would he do it?

We can only speculate.

Some residents think Warner has been promised a job with the Water Authority after he retires in exchange for the gift.

Some, and this has come from several well connected sources, believe he wants to hand out a little pork while he still has the power.

Apparently there has been a proposal to install a waterline down Brick Schoolhouse Road. The plan has languished because there simply are not enough residents to make it affordable. NYS would not approve the water bond and the district would be rejected.

But not if the County “helps!”

Who lives on this part of Brick Schoolhouse Road? Why none other than Judy Hazen! Hazen, of course, is Republican Town Leader and commander-in-chief of the Warner Republicans! Judy Hazen is the boss of the “Good-Ole-Boys.” Hazen was the person who threatened members of the Hamlin Republican committee at primary time saying, “If you don’t carry a petition for Pat MacIntosh, you are OFF this committee!” While Warner’s planned succession failed miserably, it would be normal for Warner to disregard the good of the entire community just to provide his loyal supporter with a perk.

Can anyone doubt it?

So next Christmas, when company is over and a waterline breaks in the cellar, call the Monroe County Water Authority. You can speak to a nice friendly tape machine, like when you call Niagra-Mohawk. Leave a message. They’ll get back to you.

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***UPDATE**** It is widely reported that the reason "The Department isn't making enough money," is because Candidate Pat MacIntosh MISSED A DEADLINE for a water bill payment and that triggered a PENALTY OF $4000!!!

The Blog! will be seeking the records on this!

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PS: This illegal “Executive Session” dealt with obvious public information! Once again, no member of the Town Board had the courage, the ethics or the moral fiber to stand up and STOP the meeting. No protest, no dissent. Warner declared an illegal act and the Town Board members consent to participate. Like the guy who drives the car for the bank robbers- they are just as guilty.