To the Editor:

It seems that our Knox town supervisor and his allies are trying to guarantee their victory by monopolizing the party lines on the November ballot so only their slate of candidates will appear under every party line, limiting your choices. Although they are already on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines, they are forcing a primary election to try to get the Democratic line as well.

I understand that the supervisor and his running mates are worried about their ability to get re-elected — they should be. This is the gamble of a desperate man, done to increase his chances of getting re-elected in the face of incompetence, lies, and unethical treatment of volunteers, employees and residents alike.

His credibility is shattered. But more importantly, this is another unnecessary cost to taxpayers and, if they are successful, it would reduce voters’ choices. Why does this matter? If they can divert even a few votes by appearing under the Democratic ticket, they greatly increase the chance that the Democratic candidates will be defeated.  

Over the past year, I have gotten an up-close and personal view of the people currently in office and quite a few of the people who are running for office this fall. Here are my observations:  

Our supervisor has failed to fulfill the primary duties of the office he was elected to fill. When asked why the town was out of compliance with financial reporting, from April 2018 to December 2018 the story told by the supervisor was the same denials of “we are up-to-date on filings and OSC [Office of the State Comptroller] is incorrect in stating we are out of compliance.” (This can be verified by reviewing the town board meeting minutes posted on the town’s website; see April and May 2018 minutes).

In December, the supervisor was asked if the town had published the financials in the town’s official newspaper (see December 2018 minutes; this is required when the financials are not filed with OSC).  In January, after finding out that the town was being audited by the State Comptroller’s Office, the supervisor changed his story about the status of the town’s financial filings.

The January 2019 meeting minutes indicate that the supervisor led a discussion about the filings. I have a recording of that meeting.

He didn’t lead a discussion; he was being grilled by angry citizens and board members who had been lied to. Over the past two months, the supervisor has been trying to put a new spin on his failure by blaming the bookkeeper.

Both the State Comptroller’s Office and the Department of State are very clear that the supervisor is the party responsible for completing and filing the financial reports. If he is incapable, or unable to do so and delegates that to the bookkeeper, it does not remove his responsibility for making sure it is done.  (And it certainly doesn’t explain lying about it for months.)

In August, the town board voted to move forward on submitting a rezone proposal. I filed a public integrity complaint against the supervisor and the board for lack of transparency, as they were moving forward without providing a map for the public to see what they were doing.

I have witnessed certain members of our board state that they didn’t understand what they were being asked to vote on, yet they voted. I think, when you don’t understand something or can’t give an informed answer when one is demanded of you, you have an obligation to recuse yourself. If you don’t understand what the question is, I don’t know how you can provide an answer, or do you just not care what your answer is?

Three of our five board members (Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis, Karl Pritchard, and Ken Saddlemire) voted to terminate three highly valued transfer station employees on New Year’s Day for unexplained reasons. This stupidity has cost our town dearly, and we don’t even know what the financial damage to the town is yet.

Two of those employees have been reinstated, but the third hadn’t worked at the transfer station long enough to be protected under Civil Service Law. It is my understanding that this gentleman had never even been spoken to about any issues in his three years of employment with the town, yet he was terminated.

There is nothing about Supervisor Lefkaditis that speaks of honesty, integrity, or leadership; rather, it has been established that he lies, blames others, and uses people until he gets what he needs and then discards them. He feels rules, policies, and procedures don’t apply to him and, most importantly, he feels he doesn’t owe us (you and me) explanations. This mantra of “we don’t have to answer questions” has also been adopted by Councilman Pritchard.  

We deserve elected officials who are beyond reproach. Not perfect, but people who care about all town residents and are accountable to us. People who will talk with us and answer our questions. People who will perform the duties that come with the position they were elected to, not pick and choose what is important to them.  

If, like me, you feel that elected officials are there to serve all the people, not just the people that elect them, then you have no choice but to  vote for Russ Pokorny, Earl Barcomb, Dennis Barber, Joan Adriance, and anyone else who is not associated with Vasilios Lefkaditis.  

For the record, I am not running for office, so my letters to the editor are not campaigning. Rather, I am asking for a return to common decency in our town.

In the past 14 months, the people who I have dealt with at town board, planning board, and zoning board of appeals meetings who have been the most knowledgeable, insightful, respectful, and supportive are the very people that the supervisor and his followers have been bullying and belittling at every opportunity.

Brigitte McAuliffe

Knox