Dear Editor,
This letter is to anyone in the Village Of Owego who thinks for one second there is any truth to Rebuild Owego Party’s campaign statements and articles published in the various media outlets regarding the Owego Taxpayers First Party candidates.
Phoebe Morris and Rusty Fuller have great difficulty disseminating the truth and are masters at taking a small fraction of a topic and manipulating it into a twisted mess that misleads voters into believing their political bologna. My past two years as a Trustee have been educational to say the least. I now understand completely why so many very qualified members of our community do not want to be involved with Village politics.
I am proud to say that the Village of Owego has the opportunity on Tuesday, March 15, to elect the Owego Taxpayers First party candidates. Steve May, Earl Hartman, Ed Morton and myself are very qualified and willing to get the Village finances in order. We will establish and implement reliable accounting practices, which will enable the Village to provide the public with accurate financial data and complete annual audits. This will provide a base line for the Village to work off of while we find ways to continue providing our Village with essential services.
Fact – In 2014 Mayor Millar asked Rod Marchewka to step aside and not run for Clerk/Treasurer. After Rod refused to give up his position as Clerk/Treasurer, Mayor Millar had Phoebe Morris run against Rod in attempt to bounce Rod out. That attempt failed.
In 2015 the Village received a 2012-13 audit from our contracted accounting firm, which indicated there is NOBODY in the Clerk / Treasurer’s office qualified to prepare a financial statement. This is why the 2013-14 and 2014-15 audits are still incomplete. NYS audit of Village finances from 2013 and earlier concluded with NYS requiring a corrective action plan from the Village. The Mayor having no idea how to do this had to rely on Trustee May to do it for him.
Fast forward to this year’s election campaign and look who is on the Rebuild Owego Party’s ticket, the one and only Rod Marchewka. Yes, the very same Clerk / Treasurer the Rebuild Party was trying to get rid of in 2014. This is a brief example of the Rebuild Owego Party’s path of sound financial management.
Fact – E.D.U. (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) billing. This was Mayor Kevin Millar’s project that was dumped on Ron Horton to create. Mayor Millar provided Mr. Horton a very short time frame to get a proposal done. The Mayor told the Village board that E.D.U. was the only option available.
Steve May and myself were absent from the meeting in which E.D.U. was voted on in 2014. To be completely honest, if anyone asked me anything about E.D.U. in 2014 I would not have been able to even say what the acronym “E.D.U.” stood for. So, for Rebuild Party endorser, Rusty Fuller, to suggest Steve May and I passed E.D.U. is quite misleading.
Fact – All of the Owego Fire Department and Squad members know without a shadow of doubt the Owego Taxpayer’s First Party not only supports them, but will work hard to solidify their existence. Don’t be fooled by Owego Rebuild Party’s recent claims to be supporting the OFD by looking for funds to refurbish Central station. Rebuild Owego Party member Jenny Ceccherelli stated, “The taxpayers are maxed out, so Central Station ‘is what it is until the roof falls in.’” Ceccherelli continued on to suggest to the Volunteers that they should volunteer their time to fix the building.
Several months back during a board meeting, Trustee May suggested we compile a list of repairs needed on the Central Station building and the Village should make application for grant money. Phoebe Morris is again misleading the voters by stating Rebuild Owego Party had something to do with the idea of applying for grants to refurbish the historic Central Station. Rebuild Owego Party has made no effort in repairing Central Station until this campaign season began.
Fact – I never suggested getting “rid” of DPW. Trustee’s May and I have been trying to pry information out of the Mayor about how the $2.5 million of NY Rising infrastructure funds are going to be spent and how much are we willing to allocate for moving the DPW facilities out of the Village to the same plot with the Town of Owego DPW.
Mayor Millar has not initiated any discussions about this major project with the Village Board. Millar has not explored if there were any cost savings measures that can/should be accomplished with this project. The Town of Owego board members know exactly how they are allocating their $3 million award. Mayor Millar has left most of the Trustees on the Village of Owego board in the dark. There is no transparency on the part of Millar to a process, which will affect all Village residents!
Fact – NO member of the Owego Taxpayer’s First party made any suggestion, or motion, to dissolve the Owego Police Department. As a new Trustee one of my very first conversations with Mayor Millar on the topic of Owego Police Department was initiated by me. I told Mayor Millar we need to invest in OPD.
Mayor Millar quickly advised me the Village would not be investing in OPD due to the taxpayers not being able to afford it. I responded to Mayor Millar that history would keep repeating itself with turnover and personnel issues.
The Village Board has resolved several serious personnel issues in past two years. In 2014, the Chief had one full time officer on paid long term medical leave and one full time officer on paid administrative leave. Chief Vinti was unsuccessful obtaining any lateral transfers to hire which resulted in interviewing candidates for new hire and if hired would have required them to attend a six month police academy training before working on their own. The immediate problem needing to be resolved in 2014 was finding manpower to fill the vacant shifts. The board temporarily fixed this problem by allowing part time officers to work full time hours until viable candidates were interviewed and background investigations were completed. This should be considered responsible oversight by the board.
Also, during this time we approved raising the wage for part time OPD officers. Personnel issues continued to exist beyond 2014 and have been costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of tax dollars in litigation fees. These reoccurring personnel problems negatively impact the community and the effectiveness of OPD.
As of this date, Chief Vinti has every budgeted position filled except for one recent vacancy. So for Mayor Millar and his Rebuild Owego Party to campaign on scaring voters into voting for them or we all will be unsafe is misleading and dishonest. The Village of Owego will always require policing from policing agencies. If OPD was ever abolished it would be because the majority of the Village residents desired it and made it happen. The Mayor and Board of Trustees should not make this decision. There will always be a police presence in Owego regardless of what the taxpayers choose for policing the Village.
The Taxpayers First Party has and will continue to vote in favor of resolutions that are in good faith, sustainable, and in favor of public safety.
Sincerely,
Mike Phelps
Village of Owego, Third Ward Trustee
