To the Editor:

Enough is enough! I have stayed out of the town business since the new supervisor took over, but now he is up to his old ways of doing business and knocking my administration to the point where I can no longer sit back, and now I must speak out and give the taxpayer the facts.

Recently, Mr. Snead has come public with his desires to cut salaries and benefits to our hardworking and dedicated town employees.

When I was the supervisor, we were able to provide for all salaries, retirement and health benefits for all  town employees, without any need for a general tax.

For every town budget that I was in charge of, there was never a general tax levy, and we were even able to set aside money into a rainy day fund.

So what has happened to Forestport? Parker Snead…he is what happened!

Mr. Snead has spent and wasted many, many dollars on toys, such as volleyball equipment, croquet sets, and ping pong tables, all of which no one wants nor even uses.

And how about the Woodgate WiFi fiasco at the old school house on Bear Creek Rd.? Mr. Snead had WiFi installed in a building that has no call for it.

WiFi that has to be paid for—month after month after month—when right down the road we already have WiFi at the Woodgate Library—the newly renovated Woodgate Library with state of the art WiFi and LED lighting and new computers and new computer kiosks that the public actively uses.

This is a facility that the town already supports financially in the budget.

And how about the ballfield fiasco? He has made a big mess of the town ballfield, and most recently ordered unauthorized digging that resulted in a cut high voltage power line that cost our tax-paying residents many thousands of dollars in repair costs and pending fines.

And what about nepotism? One of the biggest issues I have with Mr. Snead was his decision to hire Joanne Kwasniewski Ritter’s and Ron Scouten’s nieces to mow the grass at the town ball field for $32.50 per hour when our buildings and groundskeeping crews had successfully completed this work for many years at no extra expense to our town.

And how does Mr. Snead respond to this needless waste of taxpayer money? He writes a poem of rhymes and makes fun of wasting money, and now he is asking our employees to take pay cuts to pay for his follies.

In a recent Letter to the Editor written by Mr. Snead, he stated that the combined salaries of myself and John Isley were $52,000.

#1 I appointed John Isley as Deputy Supervisor because no standing board member wanted to accept the position and all the extra work load and extra hours that it required.

John Isley was a tireless and dedicated worker who attended all meetings and put in hundreds upon hundreds of hours for the town, for a very low stipend of only $2,000 a year.

He put in hundreds of hours of work just on the Woodgate Post Office case, and along with Walter Paprock, they saved it from closing.

#2 Mr. Snead said that I did not have a five-year plan according to a state audit, but he fails to tell you the whole truth.

I had a plan where it counted most. For example, I had a five-year plan for the highway department and buildings and grounds that allowed us to save 75 percent on our costs and saved the taxpayers many thousands of dollars.

#3 Mr. Snead wants to get rid of our health plan for our town employees, but he failed to tell the taxpayers the honest truth about himself.

He applied for the town-sponsored health plan and was denied, then he attempted a back room deal to add the costs of this plan onto his salary and thus give himself a huge raise. Luckily for the taxpayers some honest folks were watching and Mr. Snead’s attempt at a huge raise was denied.

The bottom line is that the Forestport taxpayers are very fortunate to have a quality group of loyal and dedicated employees serving the town, and it would be a disgrace to take away their hard-earned benefits.

Mr. Snead, will you have a zero tax levy in 2015? Will you keep your campaign promise of no tax increases, without stripping away hard-earned benefits? Will you attempt to betray the town employees?

Forestport deserves better than what Parker Snead has to offer!

Bill Hasenauer, Forestport

Former Forestport Town Supervisor