To the Editor:

I was the highway superintendent for the Town of Knox for 16 years and worked there for 16 years prior to my election. I would like to clarify some statements made in the article written by The Altamont Enterprise titled, “Salisbury quits as highway super, cites ‘nasty politics’” posted on Sept. 8,  2019.  The article was unintentionally misleading. 

It was not the supervisor who was nasty, rather the constant abuse he faced from Democrats and their select followers who constantly pointed fingers and accused him of wrongdoing during board meetings. I witnessed this behavior repeatedly personally.

I found it repulsive what was put in print monthly was that Vas was such a bully who strong-armed people, when what I witnessed was the complete opposite.

In the September 2017 minutes, Vas notified the board he was waiting to file the “annual reports” until after the bond violation was cleared up as the previous board and attorney had made costly errors on it.  There was an article by The Altamont Enterprise following where the previous town attorney, John Dorfman, admitted wrongdoing with regard to the bond [“Mea culpa: Off by a year, town attorney admits mistake,” The Altamont Enterprise, Jan. 19, 2017].

At a subsequent board meeting, Vas said the reports were filed, but sometime later, when Vas spoke with the bookkeeper, he realized there was a miscommunication between the bookkeeper and himself and the reports did not get filed. He subsequently admitted to his erroneous statement and the miscommunication between himself and the bookkeeper, and explained some items still needed to be addressed before the reports could be filed.

Vas admitted he had made a mistake because of the miscommunication and apologized for that and not for lying as was printed and is being said by others. He apologized for making a mistake, a human mistake.

Yet the constant harassment by Brigitte McAuliffe has gone on month after month regarding the annual reports. I don’t see the need to plug up a board meeting with this ongoing nonsense about a report that was deliberately filed late.

Yes, filing the report is part of the supervisor’s job, and yet it was taken care of when it was a corrected report and not when dictated by the harassment of others irregardless if it was correct or not.

There were also the months of the fighting, yelling, and screaming from the audience about the employees not being reappointed in January 2019. I appreciate the concern of those who did not, and could not, have the complete story.

However, due to employee privacy, information that was not told to the public, and shouldn’t have been, influenced the decision to not reappoint. A decision I made as the transfer station supervisor.

I would like to commend Vas, Karl, and Kenny for making this tough decision, knowing the ramifications. However, these are true leaders put in a position to make unpopular choices that were not personal in nature.

What it takes to get a job done should not be based on how well you know someone. While I agree that all of these subjects obviously needed to be addressed, as I sat through these meetings, I kept asking myself: How is this nastiness improving the town and how are we accomplishing anything?

It is absolutely sickening how Vas has been slated as a chest thumper, liar, or strong-armer when in reality it was the people in the gallery who were behaving in this manner. I have often asked Vas how he does it. How and why would you continue to do this with the negativity all of the time.  His answer was always, I am doing it for the town and the townspeople; I can take it.

In the past four years, I have seen the constant fighting and yelling from the Democrats, criticizing everything Vas says and does, and it seems to me it’s only because he doesn’t agree with their ideals.

As the Republican chairperson, I have chosen people to run on our ticket that put the town first over politics. If you look at the current slate, you will see we have Democrats, no parties, Independence Party members, and not just Republicans.

We do not all agree on issues and have different opinions about politics in general, but one thing everyone shares is the passion for the town and respect for one another. Unfortunately, I have experienced the Democrats’ behavior of our way or we will belittle and ridicule you.

I ask you to look at the current board members’ limited accomplishments. Mr. [Earl] Barcomb created an Agricultural Advisory Committee, which he quickly handed off to Kenny to manage. He is pushing for a town-wide 30-mile-an-hour speed limit, which I strongly disagree with. I am unaware of other accomplishments, but he often will point fingers and accuse others of wrongdoing.

Mr. [Dennis] Barber has made a seal for the town and has been involved in committees, but once again I don’t see accomplishments because he can only participate if it’s partisan.

I think Traci Schanz has done a good job as town clerk despite the constant harassment at board meetings over nonsense.

I find it sketchy that the Democrats switched to a primary instead of a caucus and no one was notified until the last day petitions were due. I find this to be dirty politics at its finest.

It’s very sad The Altamont Enterprise hasn’t reported more on the many accomplishments Vas has completed for the town. The Pucker Street Fair was successfully restarted, yet the first year not one Democratic party leader attended to support the fair, and only criticized it, which still bothers me.  After seeing the success of the first year, they all jumped on board and tried to take credit.

I personally am happy we have a supervisor who stands up for what is right for the town. Vas has helped me negotiate many contracts, including purchasing equipment and roadwork, and with my highway experience and his financial experience we saved tens of thousands of dollars for the town.  He is a financial genius doing what is right for the town.

Gary Salisbury

Knox

Editor’s note: When I asked Supervisor Lefkaditis last week about his greatest accomplishments for Knox, he named the park playground, community events like the Pucker Street Fair, keeping taxes low, and attracting businesses — like the two new ones in the hamlet, housed in a building he renovated. The Enterprise has covered all of those things.

The story I wrote on your resignation quoted you as calling Lefkaditis “a financial genius” and in no way intimated you had any dissatisfaction with him or his politics. In fact, it was filled with your praise for his work, and his for yours.