Leaky Plumbing and the GOP

We can only imagine the effects internally on the town GOP committee after a confidential e-mail from their party chairman was leaked to this publication and provided to federal and state authorities.

The e-mail establishes the expectation of a quid pro quo from Conservative members of the town board in exchange for the Republican endorsements which would permit non Republicans to have the GOP line in the November election. Unfortunately, such a quid pro quo is unlawful under both state and federal statutes as it pertains to public officers elected to a municipal body exercising a discretionary act sought by the Committee in exchange for the value of their party endorsement. The effort could produce both bribery and coercion charges to those offering the deal and numerous charges for those accepting the bribe and providing their votes on a municipal body, the town board.

While the e-mail is examined and in the possession of state and federal authorities, the town GOP finds itself in a most disquieting position of not knowing who to trust within their organization. This is sure to have a chilling effect, not only on committee e-mail correspondence, but on committee meetings themselves which just might include a "cooperating witness" taking the most copious notes imaginable.

But concerns which focus solely on committee members as the source of the leak may be misplaced as the e-mail distribution list includes at least one town board member who delivered his vote for the GOP nominee for town justice, a staffer from the Republican Majority office at the county legislature along with a likely GOP candidate for county legislature who is not on the town board and who needs to finish ahead of his fellow Republican candidates and at least one Democratic candidate in this fall's election in order to win. It is entirely possible that someone thoroughly displeased with Evers as a Republican nominee is behind the effort to discredit the process behind the endorsement and Evers himself as a willing participant in the vote selling scheme.

And what of the judicial candidate? She also received the e-mail declaring that the committee's endorsement may be determined on a number of things, "not the least of which being how the town board decides some issues in the near future that are important to us." We'd like to know what the GOP judicial candidate thought the committee expected from the town board in exchange for their endorsements? Perhaps she would care to post her thoughts here?

Most of all, we'd like to know what issues before the town board the GOP could have been aware of on April 28th the date of the e-mail or April 27th, the day of their committee meeting? Given the fact that the agenda for the next Board meeting of May 14th was not made public for another 14 days on May 11th, the GOP could not have been aware of any agenda items EXCEPT their own agenda item, the appointment of a town justice supported by their committee.

The suspicion and distrust created by the disclosure of the e-mail will make future Republican committee meetings a sight to behold. Mum's the word folks as spoken and written conversation may be subject to unwanted scrutiny. So may we suggest it's time to learn the language of the deaf before you all meet again. You won't have to worry about putting anything in writing and those tiny tape recorders can't copy the gestures of the motioning hands of the "speaker". You'd be a bit better off than Senator Burris and former Governor Blagojevich find themselves at the moment with their wiretapped conversations suggesting, not unlike the town board of North Greenbush, that their public denials contradict evidence in the possession of authorities.

The Supervisor Speaks

Well, the Evers team of Desso, Spain and Kern is learning to dance when Evers challenges their authority. Yesterday, the Supervisor decided to cancel a regularly scheduled town board meeting for this week, May 28th. Trouble is, he has no authority to cancel a meeting of the board without their consent.

Evers failed to produce any agenda for this week's meeting, either because no one submitted items for consideration or because Evers didn't bother to assemble them. The town clerk made phone calls to board members telling them that Evers either bungled the agenda or there was none to assemble. Either way, he failed to call the board members who must agree to cancel a meeting before ordering a cancellation notice.

Now maybe this week, the infraction will turn out to be no big deal, that is if there was nothing of importance on that agenda to be acted on. But someday, if the Board fails to clarify Evers unilateral action, there may be something of importance on the agenda that Evers doesn't want considered, like for example his refusal to call a required meeting to revote on the Comprehensive Plan. So boys, if you let him get away with it, you may live to regret it when its something of importance to one of you that goes undecided because of a reckless "stop me if you can" Supervisor at the helm.