Appraiser Bob Speaks

History IS a good teacher…

Not too long ago, an unassuming man living in Milan talked his way to the political table by trumping up his resume and using scare tactics and innuendo to sway the voters; he was elected Supervisor. Once in office he closed access to government, garnered control over the finances and changed the lock on his door. Checks were written without board approval, banking documents went missing and financial reports were late (if ever) and always wrong and terminated relationships with the very people who helped him get elected.
NO, WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT VAN TALMAGE…
Some years back, before Mr. Jeffreys became Supervisor a gentlemen, very similar in his approach and speech to Mr. Talmage, made his way into local politics; his name was Vincent Scelba. But now, all too eerily, it’s as if this man, who was run out of this town on a rail, is back, look at the similarities:

Talmage, like Scleba, looks sincere and plays the “aw shucks” country boy
Talmage, like Scelba, smiles broadly but does little but mouth platitudes
Talmage, like Scelba, has little management skill
Talmage, like Scelba, preyed upon resident’s fears that “things were bad”
Talmage, like Scelba, and needed change” and a significant majority bought the ruse.

Talmage, like Scelba, has cut-off access to our local government
Talmage, like Scelba, fails to file monthly reports timely, and is always wrong
Talmage, like Scelba, writes checks without board approval
Talmage, like Scelba, has lost or altered financial information
Talmage, like Scelba, has changed the locks on his office
Talmage, like Scelba, has turned his back on Milan residents who elected him.

What else does Talmage and Scelba have in common? Well, he fought endlessly with the Town Clerk, claiming that she didn’t manage the office properly (although she’d been in the office for a very long time) he felt he needed to provide the oversight…sound familer.

Fortunately, the board at that time saw Scelba for the charlatan he was and worked in a bi-partisan way to forge ahead and meet the needs of the residents; too bad that this bunch has chosen to ostracize their longest resident member and allow those with no history and little experience to foist one horrific law after another on top of our townspeople, shame on them.

Why attack a sitting town clerk? Mrs. Gill is not up for election…YET. You see, Mrs. Gill is anathema to them. She is everything they despise. She has a long history in the community, raising children, working as a volunteer, and a long history of helping everyone. From their perspective she has got to go.Mrs. Gill, earlier as Deputy and now as the Town Clerk and has been through several administrations; she provides continuity and history and to some degree a conscience to the boards; all clerks have done this.

But this board wants, no needs her gone, because she stands in their way of their tyranny. To facilitate her end, they were priming Ms. Gelardi to ascend to the position. If they could create an impossible and hostile environment they could undermine her office with the help of Ms. Gelardi and at the same time publicly humiliate Mrs. Gill by complaining about all aspects of her position. In short, make her want to quit and then appoint Ms. Gelardi to the vacancy.
Their ruse was discovered, confronted and derailed.

Ms. Gelardi was let go for insubordination. Plainly and simply put, a deputy works at the pleasure of the Town Clerk, not the board, not anyone but the clerk. State Law has made it that way so that the vital function of the office can be managed effectively, without manipulation by the legislative body, the town board.

Their cowardly act at that Friday morning’s massacre of the clerk’s budget was unprecedented and should be attacked by everyone in this town who pays property taxes. If they fail to live up to the budget as presented to the public last November and which was taxed to you and I this January, what reliability will we ever be able to expect from this bunch.Resolve today to ends this tyranny at the General Election in November.

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