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Letter to Editor (Post Star,
3-22-07)
Dear Editor,
At this time, I have no problem announcing my
candidacy for the Saugerties Central School
District Board of Education, and I have no reason
to be ashamed of that fact, as some have implied.
My record as a School Board Member and past
president stands on its own merit. For the past six
years, I have given of my time and energy out of a
sense of civic responsibility, and it has been my
goal to be a part of the improvement of the
educational system within our district. From the
beginning, my agenda was to address the needs of
the children of this district and not the needs of
any political interest group.
Heidcamp on the other hand, cannot claim the
same. For the last year, George Heidcamp has
written a weekly column in the Post Star in which
he has discredited the School District, its
Administration, certain board members and teachers.
His motives for such Report are now coming to
light; we now know that, in fact, he is running for
the School Board, and it is now apparent that from
the first day of its appearance he has used his
"Report" to run a smear campaign against his
potential opponents. It is a fact that Citizen
Heidcamp picked up his petition to run for the
School Board on Tuesday, March 13. Prior to that,
also a fact, he attended a BOCES workshop for
potential School Board members, all the while,
using the Heidcamp Report as a forum. Heidcamp does
hold two political town positions. He is the
chairperson of the Conservative Party and he is the
President of the Police Union. His intentions in
his "Report" and his run for a seat on the Board
are and have been, make no mistake, politically
motivated.
What does Heidcamp hope to accomplish as a
member of the School Board? Interestingly, months
ago Heidcamp was overheard in a local business
establishment espousing his desire to run Mr. Rhau,
Superintendent of Schools, "out of town." How does
he propose to do that? As a School Board member, he
would be in a position to realize that end. In
addition, on a separate occasion, in another
business establishment, citizen Heidcamp was
overheard running his campaign. During that
conversation, he even promised his listener that a
vote for him would lower School taxes!
What Heidcamp does not realize is that there
is a shortage of competent Administrators. If he
does run Rhau "out of town," who will replace him?
The district will have to spend much more money for
someone much less experienced. Recently, in Ulster
County, Onteora hired a Superintendent from
California for $155,000 per year plus benefits,
after an extensive search. Previously, the
Saugerties District had had seven Superintendents
in ten years. The source of much of that
instability was the previous political "poisonous
atmosphere." That was how Brenda Peters, a highly
regarded Administrator, described the district when
she declined the appointment of Superintendent.
When Heidcamp and his political associated declare
that we need someone from the town to fill our
highest Administrative position, might I remind
everyone that we had such a person in Brenda
Peters?
For those community members who have been
depending on the Heidcamp Report for their facts
pertaining to the School District, I encourage them
to get a less slanted and less self-serving view by
attending upcoming Board meetings and/or using the
School website, www.saugerties.k12.ny.us, as
opposed to Heidcamp's website. The School posts
School Board minutes and upcoming Board agendas, as
well as other pertinent information regarding
School policy and events. For those without
internet access, please contact the Central
Administrative Office with any questions/concerns
you may have.
Stay tuned… more to come… I will,
in a future letter, demonstrate Heidcamp's ability
to "lower taxes(?)."
Respectfully,
Vincent A. Buono Jr.
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