10/27/09 - My response to the Cortland Standard - Letter to the Editor

I wrote and sent this Letter to the Editor of the Cortland Standard in response to the Article written on 10/26/09.

To the Editor:

Enough is enough. I read the article in Monday’s Cortland Standard and simply cannot let Mr. Daniels’ published comments continue to degrade the leadership and the performance of elected officials and professionals on the Cortland County Legislature.

Mr. Daniels indicated that “he believes in guiding people toward a desired goal and replacing them if they get off course and refuse to be corrected”. He then indicated that he ousted Carol Tytler, Tom Williams and myself “because they were overstepping their boundaries and unwilling to work with him, in some cases costing the county money”. There are 19 members of the Legislature elected by the people working toward providing the best services at the lowest cost, not 18 rubber stamps following the wishes of one person. The County is not intended to be run as Mr. Daniels’ past employer Hevi-Duty Electric, nor as Chrysler Corporation of whom Mr. Daniels has fondly quoted Lee Iacocca in “lead, follow or get out of the way”. Well, we can see how those two companies have fared in history based on that philosophy.

Mr. Daniels’ actions over the past year are in my opinion neither communicative nor collaborative with the Legislature and the public, and the Chair has practiced nothing short of what I would consider typical bullying behavior. Mr. Daniels appears to have used his power as Chair to promote his agenda and discount and discredit those who do not share his ideas and follow his lead. His unprecedented realignment of Legislators and Committees would appear to have been done such that Mr. Daniels can control the Committee Chairs and the County business without resistance. He even unleashed a tirade on an innocent taxpayer at a recent candidate forum, speculating on a reason a homeowner would not buckle to a County demand for their longtime family property as if it were fact. What a shame!

Ms. Tytler, Mr. Williams and I were not given any advance notice from Mr. Daniels before we were publicly chastised and removed from our Chair positions. We were neither given an opportunity to discuss the issues nor refute the claims of Mr. Daniels. We were told “end of discussion”. When a member of the Legislature made a motion to request that Mr. Daniels’ own highly touted Board of Ethics investigate Mr. Daniels’ claims against those who had been reassigned, Mr. Daniels himself voted against the matter. Why is that?

I believe that Ms. Tytler and Mr. Williams are two of the most thorough, thoughtful and well spoken people on the Legislature. They ask difficult questions in order to get information and to weigh their decisions. They do their homework and aren’t afraid to vote against a resolution that they feel is not in the best interest of the people they represent. In my opinion, they were simply doing their due diligence as elected officials and Chairs of their respective committees.

Mr. Daniels specifically claimed that I interjected myself into the DMV project, causing unnecessary delays and costing the county money. This is categorically false. It should be noted that early in the project the B&G Committee established a project timeline, which was formally distributed to members of the County Legislature. The schedule was adhered to, including a public hearing meeting scheduled at my request and several presentations by the consultant during Committee meetings. The building was developed between the consultant and the Department Heads with direct oversight by the County Administrator and minimal input by the Committee, and when the project came in higher than expected the B&G Committee responded proactively to de-scope the project and prepare it for immediate redesign and rebid the following month. Our efforts resulted in the revised project saving close to $400,000 over the original cost. Our Committee kept the project on task despite Mr. Daniels’ assertion, and I provided a timeline for this project as well as the South Main Street site for Mr. Daniels to review after my reassignment - as he only attended a fraction of the B&G Committee meetings in 2008. My interjection into the project was to correspond with the consultant when County personnel were not responding to their requests for information… in an effort to keep the project moving and coordinated.

I have moved out of the 8^th District, which required me to resign from the Legislature earlier this year. I stand by the decisions that I made and I feel that I did my best to consider and preserve the long term future of the County, with the exception being my nomination of Mr. Daniels as Chairman of the Legislature. I now live happily in the 14th District – and John Daniels is my representative. I have not yet seen Mr. Daniels in my neighborhood campaigning, but based on my experience, if he stops by I will tell him that I will not be voting for him on November 3. I have spoken several times with his opponent and I will be voting for Susan Briggs. I believe in her ability to communicate both civilly and succinctly with the people and with other Legislators. She has a firm handle on the issues facing the County and is well prepared to make tough decisions.

Chad Loomis, Homer, NY – Former LD#8 County Legislator