February 2009
An (apparently) on-going study of the inept, irresponsible and unethical management of the town’s finances in the hands of Supervisor Barrett, our purported Chief Financial Officer
So, my fellow residents, more time has passed and the financial mess that is Milan seems to know no end.
If you haven’t already, please read my previous “Outraged Resident” articles to get a running start on this–now thirteen-months-and-counting–story. (You can see them by scrolling down the page in this column.)
Caught up? OK, so now let’s address that letter we all got in early February. You know, the one that arrived in our mailboxes looking like an official town communication from the Office of the Supervisor? The one that was signed only by Supervisor Barrett and his co-Republican board members, Bobbi Egan and David Byrne? The one that tried to reassure everyone that all was financially sound in town? In case this isn’t ringing a bell, there’s a copy here. Well, as it turns out this was not an official mailing. This was really a political mailing masquerading as an official mailing. And as if the abuse of the office weren’t offensive (illegal?) enough, it also seems that lots of the information in that letter was wrong!
And now let’s go to the proceedings of the February 9th town board meeting. Though the early portion of the meeting was a lengthy discourse on other issues, the financial business of the town eventually and inevitably took center stage. And once again, the latest facts regarding Supervisor Barrett’s mismanagement of the town’s finances surfaced. Here’s the most recent sampling of the mishandling of Milan’s funds–that is to say, your and my funds–in the hands of our “Chief Financial Officer”:
- payroll discrepancies;
- checks cut and signed by Barrett without required board approval . . . to be paid by our taxes;
- lots of bounced checks;
- lots of bank charges for lots of bounced checks . . . which, if not successfully appealed by our supervisor, to be paid by our taxes;
- alleged attorney invoices for (Republican) political advice . . . to be paid by our taxes;
- attorney invoices for work that could have been handled for free . . . to be paid by our taxes;
- thousands of dollars in penalties for a missed payment to the NYS retirement system (for our hard-working town employees) . . . to be paid by our taxes;
- refusal to re-appoint VanDeWater and VanDeWater as the town’s attorneys, despite their solid history with the town, their superior skills, and their favorable fee structure . . . and instead the continued “interim” use of Gellert and Klein at a higher cost to the town . . . to be paid by our taxes;
- use of thousands of dollars of town funds to hire a webmaster to redesign and manage Milan’s website . . . when volunteers have raised their hands repeatedly to update the current website for free . . . when only minimum funds have been allocated for public communications in the budget . . . when the supervisor’s account is already over-budget (and so early in the year!), so fund transfers (from other budget lines) will be needed to compensate for this non-budgeted outsource hiring . . . and when the money, according to our supervisor, will then come from “somewhere”. . . to be paid by our taxes;
- and, saving the best for last: THOUGH IT’S MID-FEBRUARY, 2009, STILL NO CLOSED BOOKS FOR 2008 . . . most surely to be paid by our taxes!
Thank goodness our Democratic board members, Ross Williams and Diane May, remain undaunted and committed to their jobs. In addition to pointing out the above financial infractions to Supervisor Barrett, May read aloud a request that she and Williams have just submitted to the New York State Office of the Comptroller for a review and audit of Milan’s books. Copies of this request were passed out to the audience along with a memo to the town’s residents explaining why they believed this was necessary. You can see both here.
OSC pdf <--->Dear Milan Citizen
While most property owners in this country fear their investments are no longer worth what they ought to be, it seems those of us in Milan have the distinct honor of worrying even more: As the town’s finances continue to spiral, so potentially goes our tax base, and so potentially goes the value of our homes.
The next regular town board meeting is Monday, March 9th at 7:30 p.m.
Please plan on attending so you can hear–first hand–what’s going on.
And despite the Republican majority’s wish to quiet the Democratic minority’s voice, or despite their efforts to divert attention away from the real issues, make a point of speaking up! This is your town, your tax money, your property values!
* * *
And finally, a note on anonymity . . .
Much of the “righteous indignation” expressed at the beginning of the February 9th town board meeting focused on anonymity. Specifically, many audience members demonstrated their furor against the unknown author of an emotionally charged letter that was posted in early February on this website.
Personally, I found this fury particularly ironic, as many of those individuals who rose to speak so vehemently and passionately against anonymity are the same players presumed to be the “anonymous” authors of www.milanunited.com–a website that, for years, has hidden behind its cowardly cloak and (until only very recently) one that has been a constant source of the vilest outpouring of slander, epithets and personal attacks against the higher profile Democrats in our town. Ironic, because one of these same individuals in the audience said of Councilwoman May, head down but in a most audible voice, “I hate that woman!” and then refused to stand and own the comment. Yes, definitely ironic.
You might then (logically) ask next how I justify my own anonymity. In answer I will tell you plainly that it has not stemmed from shyness about my point of view, but rather from a true concern for my own personal safety. You see, these same milanunited.com “anonymous” folks, in addition to regularly spewing bile on their website, have also been known to trespass, deface property, and bang on doors in the dark of night. They and their cohorts have been the perpetrators of hate crimes and attempted intimidation. In fact, in the same February 9th meeting, one of their legion nearly physically assaulted an audience member across the aisle for upholding an opposing point of view. In short, these thugs have exhibited behavior foreign to my upbringing, behavior foreign to any civilized person’s upbringing. And, until now, it has rendered me fearful.
However, I have come to the conclusion that my reaction is just what fear-mongers hope to effect. And I have returned to my center, if you will, believing that only signed words should be put into public circulation. After all, how strong or valid can a position be considered if it isn’t identified by its proponent? So as of this article, I, the “Outraged Milan Resident” will now (tah-dah!) be signing my name.
I will also be sure my home security system’s video surveillance is in fine working order.
Evelyn Bartin |
