BERNE — Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger is accused of politically threatening the highway superintendent of another town in order to help his friend get a job, which he denies.

Robert Rhinehardt, who has overseen the highway department of Charleston, in Montgomery County, for 11 years so far and is seeking re-election, told The Enterprise this week that Bashwinger had approached him at a Montgomery County Republican endorsement meeting in the town of Fonda last month.

He had urged Rhinehardt to hire his friend, Robert Laffety, “in return for [Laffety] not running against me” for highway superintendent, Rhinehardt claimed. 

In addition to being Berne’s highway superintendent since 2015, Bashwinger is the former chairman of both the Berne and Albany County Republican committees. He has been criticized in Berne for using strong-arm tactics to achieve his political aims.

Rhinehardt, who had not met Bashwinger before the meeting in Fonda, said he was “flabbergasted” by the request, and brought the story to the Daily Gazette, which first reported on it. 

Bashwinger told The Enterprise this week that he was at the meeting to support Laffety’s wife, who is seeking local office, and had approached Rhinehardt about hiring Laffety but denied that it was a threat. 

“Bobby [Laffety] is one of my guys who used to work for me so I’ve known him for about 15 years,” Bashwinger said. “I said the guy is looking for a job … he would be a good fit for your job.”

He said he had advised his friend not to challenge Rhinehardt for the highway superintendent position immediately after applying for a job with his department, and that he shared this with Rhinehardt. 

“It was all within 20 seconds, maybe less,” Bashwinger said. “We sat down and they picked the candidates and Bobby didn’t put in for highway superintendent.” 

Although Laffety did not go through with a nomination to the superintendent position at the meeting, he is now seeking to challenge Rhinehardt in a primary and is in the process of getting signatures, Bashwinger said. 

Rhinehardt told The Enterprise that he had not looked at Laffety’s application before that encounter, and ultimately decided against hiring Laffety based on job-related factors. 

Laffety could not immediately be reached for comment. 

“It’s unusual,” Rhinehardt said of the situation. “I mean, [Bashwinger’s] crossing big lines to get over here, and I didn’t know who he was.”

Under Bashwinger’s leadership, GOP officials in Berne had spent more than $15,000 of town funds on investigations into their Democratic rivals, none of which turned up actionable wrongdoing.

When he butted heads with former Supervisor Kevin Crosier, a Democrat, about a four-day workweek for highway employees, Bashwinger led roughly 50 protestors in front of the town hall.