Opinion Page

 

Letter to Editor (Post Star, 3-22-07) 

 

In the March 15th edition of the Post Star I noticed not one, but two, letters signed by Mr. Buono and Mr. Kovac. In the first letter, I find it curios that they mention knowing about the leaking roofs for several years. Then they tied the lack of replacement to the defeat of the $60m bond referendum of 2002! Was letting the roofs go a form of punishment for defeating that referendum? Could nothing be done without that referendum? In 2005 a $25m referendum did pass. Why were these roofs not addressed as the first order of business if they had been so sorely needed in 2002? Both of these men sit on the Facilities committee. Out of curiosity, I went to the BOE web site and searched the Board approved minutes regarding these roofs. Neither man has made a single comment of record during the past year except a very brief statement made in May by Mr. Kovac on an unrelated subject. In fact, neither man has made any comment of record since Mike Brennan became Board President with the exception of the last Board meeting.

The second letter was titled "The Real Truth At Saugerties Central Schools." In that letter, the pair rightfully present the fact that we now have full day Kindergarten and a new program for autistic children. Both are major accomplishments and both master minded by the assistant superintendent. Unfortunately, rather than crow with pride and give accolades to those that worked hard to make this happen, they spent the next three paragraphs taking petty shots at a member of the community that these two see as a threat. In the final paragraph of their letter, they actually suggest that the Publisher of the Post Star should ignore the overwhelming public outcry to keep the Heidcamp report as a regular column and discontinue publishing it. Do I read this correctly? Are they suggesting that we do not understand what we want and they should decide for us? I find it offensive that they tried to silence a popular column because they did not like it's content.

In closing, I have personally attended almost every meeting in the past two years. I find it ironic that these two men have said little or nothing in the past two years at regularly scheduled board meetings yet, now, two letters from them appear in the same edition! Could it be that election time is only two short months away? Could it be they are trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes? It's time for a change, new faces and fresh ideas.

Respectfully,

Tom Ham