Not the George I know

I read a rambling letter from Kelly Myers in last week’s paper. I was completely shocked that our town supervisor would publicly attack a private citizen in this manner. It seems she is reacting out of paranoia because she heard through the “grapevine” that he may run for supervisor. Should you not confirm your fear before attacking a private citizen? Even if he was to run, would you not be better off attending to your own performance and not looking over your shoulder for possible contenders?

I have known George for over six years now and Ms. Myers portrayal is nothing like the man I know. As school board president, he has led meetings professionally and honestly. He has kept us informed, participated tirelessly and certainly helped improve the district in many ways. George has been elected president for the last four years not because he is a bully but because he performs his job extremely well.

Finally, I am disappointed that Ms. Myers drags the school board into her fantasy by posing the questions she did. First, I would like to address her question as to George’s whereabouts on the Monday evening in question. As she is well aware, George attended security meetings all day Sunday with various law enforcement agencies and then a lengthy meeting with various school employee task forces that night. He was not able to attend the Monday evening meeting but asked that I attend on his behalf. In fact I spent some time with Ms. Myers that night and if she had asked, I would have told her he had another meeting that could not be postponed. I contacted George around 11 p.m. that night to brief him on the meeting. As for her allegations of a $2 million dollar deficit, I contacted the school administration to determine where this information came from. The administration confirmed that Ms. Myers had not contacted anyone within the district administration regarding any deficit. There is no deficit. She then asks “how did the budget get so out of control?” – the budget is not out of control. Spending has been held – what has changed significantly is the amount of money we receive from the state. This has been explained numerous times in public meetings. If Ms. Kelly really cared, she could contact the superintendent from time to time about her concerns. Ms. Myers should be trying to strengthen the relationship between the town government and the school district but instead she attempts to cast aspersions on it in an attempt to assassinate the character of one individual.

Ms. Myers, the damage you have done is not irreparable. I invite you to a school board meeting to see how well it operates, ask your questions and state your concerns.

Tom Ham
Saugerties