To the Editor:

I am writing in reference to Knox Town Clerk Tara Murphy's letter in the Sept. 15 Altamont Enterprise.

I attended both the town board meetings recently discussed in the Altamont Enterprise articles.  On Aug. 3, at the Knox Town Board special meeting, the town newsletter was discussed.  Town board member Dennis Barber (who has been promoting the idea of a newsletter for some time) made the motion that the newsletter should be sent from the town board and not just from the town supervisor as was written in the copy of minutes circulated among the board members.

The discussion was heated, with Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis displaying his all-too-familiar anger.  The motion to send the newsletter from all members of the board was passed 4-1, the supervisor casting the only dissenting vote.

The subsequent motion, concerning adding a phone number and mailing the newsletter, passed 5 to 0.  Mr. Lefkaditis is now claiming that the town clerk improperly transcribed the minutes, and that the 5 to 0 vote was really to send the newsletter as it stood, without the change voted on moments earlier.

At the subsequent town board meeting on Sept. 13, he tried to publicly embarrass Ms. Murphy, ranting that he would play the critical "six seconds" of tape for the audience at the next meeting, in which he says that he moves the newsletter be sent as it was originally proposed.

His motion actually referred to the placement of a phone number that was discussed just after the change proposed by Mr. Barber, and was so understood by the board members, as was clear from the unanimous vote.  If the motion had been made to ignore the vote of moments earlier and send the newsletter as it stood, why would the four people who voted for the change now vote against it?

Mr. Lefkaditis claims bias in everyone who doesn't agree with him, as evidenced by his inexcusable treatment of Dan Driscoll, when he ranted about Dan's "vendetta" at a board meeting.  (Dan had spent considerable time writing a noise ordinance which would have benefited the town, and which exhibited professionalism, but certainly no bias.)

I would think that Mr. Lefkaditis would be embarrassed by his effort to subvert the intention of the board, but instead he's making an issue of it.  The point is moot, since he sent the newsletter as coming from him only, which actually made some sense as it was a political promotion for him, showing him front and center in all three of the group photos included, and touting his achievements, not all actually his.  In addition, the contact email address given was not that of the town, but a gmail account he had set up.

I think the board at this point might be best served by: billing the cost of printing and mailing to him personally, and having someone else oversee the next newsletter; by supporting Ms. Murphy and publicly noting how well she has been doing her job in spite of the bullying she's been receiving; and by being constantly aware that Mr. Lefkaditis’s goals are rarely in line with those of the town board or, I think, the town in general.

Dee Woessner

Knox

Editor’s note: Dee Woessner is a member of the Knox Conservation Advisory Council. See related story.