Let's Put an End to the Irresponsible Fiscal Oversight

The Post below is from East Greenbush Truth.  It's too good not to be a "guest editorial" on the Gadfly.  Read Away!!


We are 11 days away from one of the most contentious elections in East Greenbush and our East Greenbush Republican Committee has failed to file 5 of the last required financial disclosure reports to the Board of Elections.  This is the same committee that has helped run our town further into the ground over the last 4 years.  This is the same committee who is supporting a CFO who has also played a hand the deteriorating condition of our town’s financial records. Our town’s credit ratings have fallen below junk bond status, with 3 of our general obligation ratings now completely withdrawn because our CFO, under the leadership of our EG Republican party, has failed to provide an audit of our town much like the committee backing him has failed to file their required financial reports.  Our Supervisor has failed to provide a verified audit in his tenure as our town’s CFO.  We not only became the laughing stock of the Capital District when our town was put under a microscope during the casino fiasco, but we were embarrassed to find out that we paid two respectable accounting firms nearly $70,000 to attempt to complete an audit but were unsuccessfull because our financial records are too much in disarray.
The committee is requred to file a 32 Pre Primary Report, an 11 Day Pre Primary Report, a 10 Day Post Primary Report, a 32 Day Pre General Report, and an 11 Day Pre General Report – none of which has been filed.  New York Election Law requires that any candidate or committee raising or spending, or expecting to raise more that $1,000 must file.  Candidates and committees must disclose all financial activity made in connection to their own campaign or in support of a candidate.  Candidates who do not exceed the $1,000 threshold may file an “In-Lieu-Of-Statement,” however NY Election Law prohibits constituted and party committees from filing such statement.  NY Election Law 14-124(4) states:  “The only committee that can file In-Lieu-Of-Statements are authorized committees supporting one candidate or a committee solely supporting or opposing a ballot proposal/proposition.”
If there is no financial activity, then such candidate or committee must file a “No Financial Activity” report.  It is factual that the East Greenbush Republican Committee has incurred financial activity.  In the July 30th Advertiser, Ed Gilbert wrote an ad supporting Keith Langley that was explicitly paid by the East Greenbush Republican Committee.  Ironically, this piece was to call out former candidate Michael Poorman for failing to file his required financial disclosures.  (https://eastgreenbushtruth.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/ed-gilbert.png)  On September 3rd The East Greenbush Republican Committee paid for two ads in The Advertiser, “A Message from East Greenbush Republican Town Chairman Dan Fiacco ‘Supervisor Keith Langley Deserves Re-Election'” (https://eastgreenbushtruth.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/republican-committee.png) and the infamous “Turnaround” ad (https://eastgreenbushtruth.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/langley1.png).
The East Greenbush Republican Committee has hosted at least two fundraisers since the July Financial Disclosure Report, one on August 11th when they hosted the “Fundraising Reception in Support of Larry Lenartz and Trent Tibbitts” and the other on October 13th for their “Celebration Event.”  Both events requested that checks be made payable to the East Greenbush Republican Committee.
In 2011, before our Supervisor took office Moody’s had actually upgraded our credit rating from “negative” to “stable.”  Two years later when our Supervisor was in office for a year and a half we were put on a list of cities/towns facing bankruptcy.  Almost 4 years into our Supervisors role as CFO Moody’s downgraded us and withdrew our credit ratings.  Is this the person or committee you trust?  The pattern of our CFO and his respective Republican Committee failing to provide the necessary financial disclosures (for our town, a verifiable audit) needs to end.  We the residents can make that happen on November 3rd, 2015, our town has suffered enough!

Mr. Langley is "Stone Walling"

Supervisor Langley is making the claim that he has reduced the millions of dollars interfund debt in East Greenbush to $300,000.  He is supposedly doing this with the “support” of the Annual Update Documents (AUDs) submitted to the Office of the State Comptroller.  A couple of weeks ago, Moodys Investor Service moved East Greenbush from “Junk Bond” status to its watch list and then to no rating at all based on the fact that East Greenbush has failed to produce certified audits of its submitted AUDs.  There is a simple solution.  As the Chief Financial Officer of East Greenbush, Mr. Langley could certify his submitted AUDs upon which he is basing his campaign claims and submit them for audit by a competent CPA firm. 

I believe that the reason East Greenbush doesn’t have certified audits for the recent years is that the administration doesn’t want to get a “qualified” opinion from the CPA on the financial statements.  The Independent Auditors Report, Management Letter and the Notes to the Financials would be a real help in getting financial matters in order, but these elements of the audit report would also list the failures of management.  That’s why we don’t have the audits.  The probable “qualified” opinions from the CPA firm would also expose the claim of the Supervisor that he has reduced the inter fund debt.  Moodys called his hand, and he has no cards to play. 

By refusing to aggressively resolve the Town’s financial condition issues, Mr. Langley is also preventing the other Board members from having the information necessary to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities in the management of the Town.  Ms. Matters and Ms. DiMartino should be pointing that out to the Attorney General and the State Comptroller.  If they are being prevented from performing the oversight provided for by law, the Attorney General and State Comptroller should be intervening.  Mr. Langley could be getting dangerously close to a Financial Control Board.

Residents Forum on Tuesday Evening

Town Board Candidates Debate Tonight - Residents Forum Next Tuesday

EAST GREENBUSH TOWN OFFICES

Candidates Debate

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Columbia High School Auditorium

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

6:30 – 7:30 p.m. – Candidates for Town Board Debate

7:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Candidates for Supervisor Debate

Free and open to the public.

All candidates for Supervisor and Town Board have been invited.

The public will be able to submit questions at the event.

East Greenbush First Residents Forum

Envisioning a New Future for Our Town

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Elks Club, 683 Columbia Turnpike

7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Participate in a dialogue about the future of our Town.

Meet the East Greenbush First Candidates

Jack Conway for Supervisor

Tina Tierney for Town Board

Tom Grant for Town Board

The "Clean Break" Ballot

Here's the sample ballot for November 3rd.  EG1st is on Row I at the bottom.  There are literally "millions" of reasons not to return either major party "machine" to power in East Greenbush.  Those millions are out of our pockets and into theirs.  Time to put a stop to the sleaze and the inside deals and the nepotism and the patronage and the favoritism.  Time for some honest and transparent government.  Take a look at the ballot and remember it.  Some of the reasons for voting EG1st are in the following link and in the letters from yesterday's Advertiser.

https://eastgreenbushtruth.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/lies-and-deceit-change-is-needed/

October is Decisive

With the Supervisor and Town Board candidate's Debate and the Resident's Forum sponsored by East Greenbush First, October will be a decisive month for our Town.  Please mark these dates and plan to attend.

Jack Conway on Ethics

This letter was in last week's Advertiser.  It's an important statement which needs to be read and understood by residents and voters.  If a decent code of ethics had been in place, followed and enforced in the past, we'd be in less trouble as a municipality.