Cahill to blame
Kevin Cahill alone used his position to block the Ulster County routine sales-tax extension in Albany. No matter which way he tries to spin it, he is the one with a vote in Albany, and he has to take responsibility for his actions.
Then there is County Executive Mike Hein, Senator Larkin, Senator Tkaczyk, Assemblyman Skartados, Assemblyman Pete Lopez, County Comptroller Auerbach, the Ulster County Legislature, Mayor Gallo, town supervisors from across Ulster County, CSEA — the County’s largest labor union — and the editorial boards of every major newspaper in the Hudson Valley all standing together in agreement that Kevin Cahill needs to fix what he has broken. (Editor’s note: The editorial board of this apparently minor newspaper has yet to take a position.)
The fact is that if he was more focused on reducing unfunded state mandates, counties like Ulster would not need the additional 1 percent sales tax he blocked in the first place.
We do not need typical Albany politics here in UlsterCounty. Kevin calls it negotiation; most of us call it extortion. What he has done is fundamentally wrong. His irresponsible actions have helped no one — not residents of the county, the City of Kingston nor the towns. In fact, his actions have endangered all of us.
James J. Hanson, Ulster County budget director
Kingston
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