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To read
Rhau's letter to The Post Star,
click
here
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Where's the
Beef?
I feel compelled to respond to Richard Rhau's
recent letter (Saugerties Post Star,
1/25/07). What an attitude! Apparently Rhau just
doesn't get it! He claims that "running the
District occupies most of [his]
time"....obviously the balance is devoted to
getting as much as he can from us, whether that
consists of money, food, travel or other benefits
Rhau is obviously feeling the heat, and so he wrote
a letter hoping to justify his actions and thus
save face with the public over the $160 he
inappropriately received. "Me thinks [Rhau]
doth protest too much." Me also "thinks" Rhau "art"
a very stubborn man. Instead of spending all that
money on an ad, why not just return what almost
everyone feels he is neither entitled to nor
deserves.
Rhau's hopeless attempt to discredit and stir up
negative opinion against me with his "Saugerties
attack dog" comment won't work. His claim that I
"artfully" mixed one-third fact with two-thirds
fiction woven in and passed it off as the "truth,"
as well as his accusations about "casting
suspicion" and damaging reputations are all
nonsense; and the average person is not falling for
it. With convoluted rationale, Rhau clearly feels
that pointing out the truth is worse than the truth
itself. He certainly has a right to such a twisted
opinion, but let's face it, if any reputations have
been ruined, the origin of that damage has been
failure on the part of his administration coupled
with greed. Much to the contrary of what he'd have
the reader believe, what I've done has been to
expose wasteful spending of taxpayers' money and
improper conduct of certain elected officials and
members of the administration. I stand by my claims
and have documentation to back them up. If Rhau or
cronies can produce evidence to the contrary, then
I welcome it. After all, I am only human, and when
I make a mistake, I am the first to stand up and
admit it. There is no mistake here, however, and to
this day, neither Rhau nor his cronies have
produced one shred of evidence to the contrary.
Rhau throws around a lot of fractions: one-third
and two-thirds here; half-truths there. We hear
much about "half truths" and "innuendoes," Trust me
folks, if Rhau and his cronies could prove me wrong
they wouldn't hesitate for one-tenth of a second to
make sure it appeared on the front page. So, cut
the fractions and produce the beef, boys, I'm up
for the challenge.
And, speaking of Rhau's paid ad in The Post
Star, in which he reprinted the school
attorney's "opinion" on why he should not have to
repay $160 to the District, Rhau neglected to
mention the official "Opinion" of the New York
State Controller's Office (which, incidentally, is
controlling, and carries much more weight than the
opinion of the attorney). Following is an excerpt
from the State Comptroller's audit report:
"Regardless of the District's
position and its counsel's
opinion [emphasis
added] on this issue, the fact remains
that the Superintendent received $450 a month
for the use of his personal vehicle, but was
still reimbursed separately for his actual
vehicle mileage to attend a conference."
The Comptroller's recommendation, again in their
own words, states:
"The board should consider obtaining
reimbursement from the Superintendent for the
inappropriate
[emphasis added] $160 travel
reimbursement."
So, you are the judge, do you believe an
ordinary "opinion," or the official
"Opinion?"
Before I close, I want to share with readers one
of the most disturbing and outrageous acts of
conduct by an elected official that I have ever
heard. It is alleged that a particular board member
(who will remain unnamed at this time and who, by
the way, sits at the end seat during board
meetings) took a $20-bill from his pocket while
suggesting that other board members also chip in to
help pay the $160 to Rhau. If these allegations are
true (and I have no reason to believe that they are
not), then this board member should do the right
thing and resign.
Folks, this is exactly why I say we need change
on that school board. As long as Rhau's cronies
control the board, it will never end until new
faces are elected.
George D Heidcamp, Sr
10-12-06
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