TV forum
Grimm chides Runion, appeals to school board

GUILDERLAND — For the second time in a week, Mark Grimm, a Republican candidate for the Guilderland Town Board, has used televised public meetings as a forum for his campaign.

Last Thursday, he questioned the all-Democratic town board about its handling of an investigation into complaints against the town’s former police chief, James Murley.
Grimm said that there were "oversight problems" surrounding Chief Murley’s retirement. He asked the board to "make every document available."
Murley resigned in May after being suspended without pay in March. He was accused of sexual harassment; misconduct in connection with interaction with a vendor; violations of the town’s ethics law; and misconduct regarding the maintenance of complete and accurate attendance and leave records. (For full background coverage, go to www.altamonteneterprise.com, under "Archives" for Feb. 15, March 1, 8, 15, and 22, April 5, and May 3.)
Grimm also told the town board that the search for the next police chief should be an "open process" with public input.

On Tuesday, Grimm appeared before the Guilderland School Board to complain about a letter Supervisor Kenneth Runion had sent to Conservative Party voters before last week’s primary. Grimm said Runion had unfairly portrayed a school-district committee.

He wrote a letter to the Enterprise editor this week, voicing similar concerns.

Grimm has served on the district’s Citizens Budget Advisory Committee for four years. The committee holds a half-dozen televised meetings where administrators present a spending plan in detail and then answer questions and concerns. After committee members make their recommendations, the school board advises the administration on changes it would like to see and ultimately adopts a proposal that goes to the voters for the final say.
About three quarters of this year’s budget review committee supported the spending plan as proposed by school administrators; Grimm was not among them. He said that, in six years, the budget had gone form $62 million to $82 million with 340 fewer students, which he called "a red flag that indicates the money isn’t going to the students." He has consistently urged the school board to "change the culture of unrestricted spending."
Runion wrote his letter to Conservatives in support of Democratic town board incumbent candidates David Bosworth and Michael Ricard, pointing out that the town’s tax rate is lower than the school district’s and saying: "The school tax is levied by the school board, not the town board and is voted on by the taxpayers""
Alluding to Grimm, he went on, "The Republican candidate has served on"[the school district’s] budget review committee for the past four years. The budget review committee has recommended tax and spending increases for each of those four years. The school tax has increased for the average taxpayer in the Guilderland School District by over 18% during his watch. The Republican candidate claims to be a ‘seasoned watchdog’ and a ‘leading taxpayer advocate.’ As such, he has been a member of a budget committee that has increased your school taxes by over 18%. Is this the type of ‘watchdog’ and ‘taxpayer advocate’ you want on the town board""
Grimm told the school board Tuesday that he considered the "friction healthy" on the budget committee and that diverse opinions were valuable.
He said the committee had been attacked by Runion and that Runion had made an "extraordinary mistake" in his letter by mischaracterizing the role of the committee. Grimm said Runion’s criticism could have a "chilling" effect on the recruitment of volunteers for the committee.

He asked the board to confirm that the committee is advisory only and to send a letter to Runion.

The school board, following its usual protocol during public-comment sessions, did not respond to Grimm’s assertions.

After the meeting, The Enterprise asked board President Richard Weisz if he had a comment. "He’s technically correct," Weisz said of Grimm. The citizens’ committee is advisory, he said, and the budget proposal is "passed by the school board."
Runion, reached by phone yesterday, stood by his letter. "Whatever I stated in my letter I believe was accurate," he said.
He went on, "Whenever you serve on a committee, it’s part of the process. You can’t divorce yourself from that; you have to live by whatever the majority decides."
Runion also said, "Mr. Grimm is an advertising consultant. He likes to get TV time as a means of furthering his political ambition."
Grimm describes his Guilderland business, at the Mark Grimm Communications’ website, as a "media relations and public speaking training firm."

— Jarrett Carroll contributed comments from Thursday’s Guilderland Town Board meeting to this story.