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I was shocked but not surprised this week to read the headline, "Gas, Electric Rates Going Up" in the Kingston Freeman. According to the report under that headline, we should expect to pay an increase in our gas and electric bills of up to 11%. This, of course, is on top of the skyrocketing cost of gasoline (and other automobile expenses), home heating, health insurance and food, as well as enormous capital expenditures for school, town and county projects (such as school repairs and jail costs), an increase of 49% in County taxes, lawsuits, state and town taxes, millions in school bonds, hundreds of thousands for salaries and benefits for the school administrators, thousands for conferences, meals, travel, car rentals, cell phones and credit card bills. etc. Over the past five months I’ve furnished the public with factual information about how the Saugerties School District has been spending our taxpayer dollars. I’ve offered an abundance of documentary evidence to illustrate and substantiate the allegations of what I feel is wrongdoing on the part of the Administration–even to include the possibility of illegal acts. I have also submitted an official written complaint to the Board to request that they investigate these charges. Although school officials have thus far turned a deaf ear to my complaints, I’ve now had verbal assurance from new Board President Brennan that he is in the process of researching the allegations. If, as and when I receive answers, regardless what those answers may reveal, I will both include them in The Heidcamp Report and post them on the watchdog web site. Stay tuned....
Rhau and the Beauty Parlor In the meantime, Rhau continues using the District cell phone to make hundreds of calls from coast-to-coast (whether or not they are personal, many were made after school hours) without any burden of accountability or checks and balances. One particular call that caught my attention was one made at 5:53 p.m., to the "Prime Cut Hair & Nail Studio" in Medford, New Jersey, where Rhau has his home. I wonder if that was District business or was Rhau making an appointment to get his hair styled or his nails done? Of course, we will never know the answer to that since the Board has neglected to set policy or procedures to record or log his calls in order to identify those that for qualify for District business from those that are personal. Remember the audit report where it was stated that the New York State Comptrollers’s Office recommends that school districts strengthen their policies and oversight on spending and adopt polices relating to spending on travel (conferences), meals and refreshments, cell-phones, and credit cards? Remember the audit noted that the Saugerties Board of Education had adopted written policies to address these spending areas, saying that it’s the Board’s responsibility to monitor the practices and procedures for compliance? Have they? Are they? You be the judge. Although Rhau’s contract allows him to attend the annual NYS School Boards’ Association, one state and two national education conferences/workshop/seminars per year, it also states that he must notify the Board of his selections–which he has failed to do. It further states that the superintendent is authorized to incur "reasonable" expenses while attending professional conferences previously approved by the Board and that the Board shall receive notification of all out-of-state business travel. As you will no doubt recall, no record, document or minutes indicating that Rhau notified the Board of his selections exist! No record, document, or minutes exist that indicate Rhau received prior approval from the Board before attending any conferences. No record, document or minutes exist indicating that Rhau had notified the Board of his out-of-state business travel. Richard Rhau has a responsibility and an obligation to adhere to all terms and conditions of the contract that he signed. It is evident, therefore, that by attending conferences in Orlando, Boston and San Diego which cost taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars without proper prior authorization from the Board, Rhau knowingly, willlfully and wrongfully violated the terms and conditions of the Contract. At any rate, if former board president Buono had been aware of any planned excursions, he certainly kept it a secret from the rest of the board, as a majority of the board members had no knowledge that Rhau had gone on these spending sprees until I told them! Buono, himself, not only had a responsibility and obligation to the District to make sure Rhau’s Contract was adhered to, but to the taxpayers as well. This, obviously, he has failed to do. While I realize the Board can’t fix the past, they certainly can prevent it from happening in the future. This would be accomplished by establishing a level of checks and balances to make the Administration more accountable to the Board. Hopefully Board President Brennan will be more responsible than his predecessor and monitor the practices and procedures for compliance. Time will tell.
The County is Costly, Too Meanwhile, while I await a response from school officials, I would like to share some information regarding the cost of health insurance for both the School District and County Legislators. It cost the School District more than $6,000,000 each year for health insurance (including $18,000 for former superintendent Karen Hong and Michael Singleton and wife). Taxpayers also pay almost $218,000 each year for health insurance for 33 part-time county legislators. That, combined with their salaries, totals just under $560,000 each year. It should be noted, however, that at the May 10th county meeting, Legislator Cummings, in a attempt to reduce the 2006 county budget, introduced a motion to "Eliminate Health Insurance Benefits for Part-Time Legislators." The motion was seconded by Legislator Joe Roberti, Jr., and would have meant a savings of about $218,000. Unfortunately the motion was defeated in a 22-10 vote. Voting "yes," in favor of eliminating health insurance benefits for part-time legislators were legislators R.A. Parete, Sheeley, Alfonso, Busick, Cummings, Fabiano, Gerentine, Harris, Nooman, and Roberti, Jr. Voting "no," and electing not to eliminate the health insurance benefits were legislators Bischoff,, Aiello, Dart, Distel, Stoeckeler, Gregoriva, Shapiro, Kraft, R. Parete, Berandi, Cahill, Provenzano, Terpening, Bartels, Liepman, Felicello, Rodriguez, Zimet, Donaldson, Loughran, Lomita and McAfee. Interesting. Please visit www.saugertieswatchdog.com .
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