To the Editor:

As a rebuttal to the editor’s note regarding Councilman [Anthony] Sherman’s response to my letter to the editor on Oct. 24 [“The town should help fund its cemeteries”], I want to say I cannot believe his statement that he provided all information digitally to New York State.

If he did provide the information on each burial I’m not sure to whom or why, which is all well and good.  The fact is he was holding onto the original burial forms that must be filed with the town clerk within the town where the body interment took place.

The New York State Division of Cemeteries does indeed get a year-end report, which is filed by the treasurer of the cemetery; during Tony’s time as president, Liz Hopkins was treasurer. She did, indeed, send them every year as required.

For the record, some cemeteries in New York State are not even registered with the New York State Cemetery Association. The state’s Department of Health also gets a copy of the death certificate, which comes from the funeral home.

According to Tony Sherma’s statement about the file cabinet, that it was in the same shape as he received it, I have to completely disagree as I found burial transplant forms for his three-year term were filed within files in the cabinet, which was totally dented and jammed so the drawers would not open. 

Therefore, if he couldn’t open it, how did they get in there?

Just the same, why weren’t the records given to the cemetery officers and why did it take almost three months after his removal as president to provide the trustees with all records? If the position was too much for him, he should have stepped down.

Thank you for printing my letter so people know the truth and he doesn’t transfer the blame on others.

Please note that my being president of the cemetery board has nothing to do with Richard Filkins and I’m not sure why our relationship had to be mentioned.  

Betty Filkins

President

Westerlo Rural Cemetery

Editor’s note: The Enterprise policy is to note close personal and political connections on letters.

Betty Filkins is married to Richard Filkins, a Republican councilman on the Westerlo Town Board; he is not up for re-election. Democratic incumbent Councilman Anthony Sherman is up for re-election. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Democratic Clerk Kathleen Spinnato, also up for re-election, told The Enterprise last week that there was a gap in documents— Body Transfer Forms — from 2015 to 2018 but said that, since then, Betty Filkins had delivered the missing documents to the town hall.

Spinnato also said of cemeteries, “They are a separate entity from the town.”