Seems like the former Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature wants to chime in on Fred Wadnola's laughable letter about the UCRRA. Dave Donaldson, once a candidate for comptroller and from what we hear no fan of Auerbach felt compelled to "whack the wad" with the following letter appearing in the Kingston Times.
Donaldson on RRA
I have attempted to stay out of the fray in regard to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency and the County Comptroller’s report.
Comptroller Auerbach claimed in his report that the Legislature has been lacking in their oversight with the UCRRA since its inception. Although there is validity to the report it certainly doesn’t tell the whole truth.
It doesn’t seem likely the UCRRA will ever be self-sufficient simply because there is no county facility that takes the trash; it is shipped to other counties and that cost (net service fee) is charged to the County. That fact, along with the reality that the agency lacks the power to control the flow of trash generated within the County, makes it impossible to turn a profit, hence higher net service fees. But, as the comptroller points out, the Legislature is charged to monitor the UCRRA’s budget closely to assure the taxpayers pay the lowest net service fees possible.
During the ’90s the Republican controlled Legislature had a laissez-faire oversight. People like former Democrat Legislature Gary Bischoff from Saugerties constantly poured through the UCRRA budget with a fine-tooth comb and attempted to keep the agency on its toes. One such thing Gary pointed out was that the agency’s attorney fees were nothing short of staggering compared to other counties. Charlie Shaw, the head of the agency at that time, would repeatedly cry it was politics and that the Democrat minority was just attempting to discredit the agency. Rather than admitting there may be a problem, the Republican Legislature defended the UCRRA, ignored Gary’s call for better oversight, and kept handing over higher and higher net service fees.
In January 2006-December 2009 when the Democrats controlled the Legislature, I had the honor of serving as the Chairman. We worked with the Republicans as much as they were willing to work with us to make changes that would create what I called “Better Government at a Better Price.” The UCRRA was one of the agencies and departments that were considered in need of better oversight. One of my first acts as Chairman was to appoint Democrat Brain Shapiro from Woodstock to chair the Environmental Committee. One of the committee’s charges was to oversee the UCRRA. Brian worked with Gary Bischoff, the Agency’s Director Mike Bemis, and the UCRRA board to assure all spending was needed while constantly looking for more efficient ways to deliver the service. That diligence brought about the lowest net service fees in the history of the agency, which in turn proves the Comptroller’s point that better oversight of the UCRRA can save money. The Comptroller could have drew attention in his report that the net service fees were the lowest under the Democrat controlled Legislature but instead he attempted to not have an appearance of politics and issued a blanket report to warn what a lack of oversight could do.
The response from the present chairman of the legislature, Republican Fred Wadnola of Ulster, along with various members of the new Republican-controlled Legislature, was nothing more than a resort to the same old tactics of screaming politics and claiming the comptroller is just attempting to discredit the legislature. This was the same argument used when the cost of the jail was being questioned, as it was when the UCRRA was running up staggering bills. It is amazing how things never seem to change.
David B. Donaldson
Kingston
I have attempted to stay out of the fray in regard to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency and the County Comptroller’s report.
Comptroller Auerbach claimed in his report that the Legislature has been lacking in their oversight with the UCRRA since its inception. Although there is validity to the report it certainly doesn’t tell the whole truth.
It doesn’t seem likely the UCRRA will ever be self-sufficient simply because there is no county facility that takes the trash; it is shipped to other counties and that cost (net service fee) is charged to the County. That fact, along with the reality that the agency lacks the power to control the flow of trash generated within the County, makes it impossible to turn a profit, hence higher net service fees. But, as the comptroller points out, the Legislature is charged to monitor the UCRRA’s budget closely to assure the taxpayers pay the lowest net service fees possible.
During the ’90s the Republican controlled Legislature had a laissez-faire oversight. People like former Democrat Legislature Gary Bischoff from Saugerties constantly poured through the UCRRA budget with a fine-tooth comb and attempted to keep the agency on its toes. One such thing Gary pointed out was that the agency’s attorney fees were nothing short of staggering compared to other counties. Charlie Shaw, the head of the agency at that time, would repeatedly cry it was politics and that the Democrat minority was just attempting to discredit the agency. Rather than admitting there may be a problem, the Republican Legislature defended the UCRRA, ignored Gary’s call for better oversight, and kept handing over higher and higher net service fees.
In January 2006-December 2009 when the Democrats controlled the Legislature, I had the honor of serving as the Chairman. We worked with the Republicans as much as they were willing to work with us to make changes that would create what I called “Better Government at a Better Price.” The UCRRA was one of the agencies and departments that were considered in need of better oversight. One of my first acts as Chairman was to appoint Democrat Brain Shapiro from Woodstock to chair the Environmental Committee. One of the committee’s charges was to oversee the UCRRA. Brian worked with Gary Bischoff, the Agency’s Director Mike Bemis, and the UCRRA board to assure all spending was needed while constantly looking for more efficient ways to deliver the service. That diligence brought about the lowest net service fees in the history of the agency, which in turn proves the Comptroller’s point that better oversight of the UCRRA can save money. The Comptroller could have drew attention in his report that the net service fees were the lowest under the Democrat controlled Legislature but instead he attempted to not have an appearance of politics and issued a blanket report to warn what a lack of oversight could do.
The response from the present chairman of the legislature, Republican Fred Wadnola of Ulster, along with various members of the new Republican-controlled Legislature, was nothing more than a resort to the same old tactics of screaming politics and claiming the comptroller is just attempting to discredit the legislature. This was the same argument used when the cost of the jail was being questioned, as it was when the UCRRA was running up staggering bills. It is amazing how things never seem to change.
David B. Donaldson
Kingston
Well there is the reason that nothing got done to fix the RRA under Donaldson. He appointed retards to the oversight committee.
ReplyDeleteI can fix this with one resolution. Vote to cut off funding to the RRA. One of two things will happen, either the RRA will get its act together or about a dozen other companies will be tripping over each other to take their place.
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