To the Editor:
At last night’s Meet the Candidates Night at View, Patrick Russell said that if he lost the election for Herkimer County Legislator, the Town of Webb would lose the Ways and Means Committee Chairmanship, but the truth is as follows, according to an e-mail from County Legislator Helen Rose, of District 2:
“For Mr. Russell to mislead voters, to assume he has a lock on the Chairman of Ways and Means, is just more arrogance and misinformation.
“According to the Rules of the Herkimer County Legislature:
“Rule #1 – The members of the County Legislature shall organize and select a Chairman on the First Monday in January at 2 o’clock.
“Rule #2 – The Legislature shall elect a chairman to serve for two years, and said chairman shall not succeed himself after the fourth calendar year of so serving.
“Rule #17 – Committees shall be appointed by the Chairman.
“Rule #18 – The Chairman shall designate one of the appointees as Chairman of the Committee.
“Therefore, per the rules of the Herkimer County Legisla-ture, after this November election, the Legislature will convene in January 2012, select a Chairman and that Chairman will make committee assignments.
“It is untrue and arrogant to first assume that anyone will be re-elected and to presume who will be the Chairman because that will be based on the pool of the elected, and to presume what the committee assignments will be and who will be chairman of any Committee.
“Mr. Russell’s assertions just further illustrate that he presumes that more power and authority is his and is not driven from the people, once they elect their representatives.
“Committee assignments have no relevance to longevity, skills or professional interest.
“I was placed on only one committee… Information Technology… but that hasn’t stopped me from attending meetings and delving into the defective process at play.”
Jon Hansen, Candidate for Herkimer County Legislator, District 15
EDITOR’S NOTE: The term “Chairman” is used interchangeably in the above letter in describing two distinct positions. In some cases it refers to the “Chairman of the County Legislature,” a post currently held by Raymond Smith. In other instances “Chairman” refers to the heads of individual legislative committees, which includes Legislator Patrick Russell, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
