To the Editor:
Berne needs a change. Over the past two years, numerous situations have illustrated the mismanagement that is rampant in Town hall:

— The state comptroller faulted the town for its poor fiscal management. Records were so poorly maintained that even the chief financial officer, Sean Lyons, and his deputy, Dennis Palow, didn’t know how much money the town actually had;

— The highway department was assailed by the state’s Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau for among seven deficits, the lack of safety protocols and the failure of supervision. Could that be because the highway superintendent was working half-time at another job in Albany?

— The New York Coalition for Open Government cited the town for disallowing public participation in meetings where the public’s views, concerns, and opinions should be expressed to the officials charged with representing them.

The list goes on: illegal firings, the hiring of unqualified replacements for those workers, the disbanding of volunteer committees, a budget increasing from just over $2 million to $3.1 million in just one year. 

There is an alternative to this. Responsible leadership can be had.

When you go to the polls, please consider voting  Row A or D: Peggy Christman, Barbara Kennedy, Tim Lippert, Patrick Martin, Jenn Merrill-Fuller, Jean Guarino, Debra Flagler, Melanie Bunzey, Al Raymond, and Alan Zuk.

Your vote will be for strong, experienced leadership. Your vote will be for hard-working individuals who take their roles seriously, and will return Berne to the respected, well-run town it once was. 

Karen Schimmer

Berne

Editor’s note: Karen Schimmer, a Democrat, did not seek re-election to the Berne Town Board, leaving office in December 2019.