To the Editor:
Berne voters have an abundantly clear choice for highway superintendent — Barbara Kennedy.

Ms. Kennedy worked for G.E. for over a decade on heavy machinery — both constructing such equipment and maintaining those systems. She understands the value of teamwork and intends to run the highway department dedicated to excellence and demonstrably safe results.

She is a professional and our highway department will finally have  qualified management. The kind of professional management that has been almost nonexistent during Mr. Bashwinger’s tenure at the highway department.

Mr. Bashwinger is also chair of the county Republican party and for a long time a member of the school board. When he is not attending to those important tasks, he — until recently — also worked 20 hours per week as a janitor for the Albany County Board of Elections. He also posts anonymous infantile and baseless slurs against Democratic candidates for office on the Republican facebook page. When does he devote himself to the work he was actually elected to do?

If you think  such inattention to the job is without consequence, you would be very wrong. Not too long ago, a highly valued employee of the highway department was killed while working alone in the highway garage in a manner that was unsafe.

The highway department was cited for numerous lapses in safety procedures. These citations were dismissed as mere “paper violations”! A man died under Mr. Bashwinger’s watch —- that is not a “paper violation.” When one of his employees was killed on the job, where was Mr. Bashwinger? At his other job as janitor.

Barbara Kennedy can be counted upon to bring managerial expertise to the highway department. That will be her only job. She won’t be taking out the trash in downtown Albany or making infantile comments about her opponent. You can count on her.

Vote for Barbara Kennedy and bring competence back to the highway department.

Lawrence Zimmerman

Berne

Editor’s note: Lawrence Zimmerman is a member of the Berne Planning Board.