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Candidate calls super 'master of late checks'
By Paul Crossman
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Valatie Village Attorney Patrick Grattan, a candidate for Kinderhook supervisor, issued a press release recently, criticizing the way long-time Supervisor Doug McGivney handles finances, targeting the time it took for Kinderhook to make a payment to the Valatie Rescue Squad. He also claims McGivney tried to borrow over $500,000 to pay routine bills.
But McGivney said the attacks are politically motivated, just in time for the November election.
“I’m not disputing that the town needs to pay its bills,” said Grattan, “but there is a better approach to the management of town finances than hastily-called meetings to approve costly borrowing.”
The meeting referred to took place Sat. Aug. 29 at 7:30 a.m. for the purpose of approving the town to borrow up to $300,000.
The reason for this, said McGivney, is that the town had used some regular funds to pay vendors for flood clean-up and damage after the current storm in expectancy of the quick receipt of the FEMA funds. When these funds took longer to arrive than expected, McGivney thought it would be best to make sure the town had money to pay all bills until it was received.
Though the town approved borrowing up to $300,000, McGivney says that the FEMA funds came through the following Monday, and thus no money was actually borrowed.
“We did not end up borrowing the money,” he said. “We did the prudent thing and got ready to borrow it in case FEMA took even longer to reimburse us.”
The town board at the time agreed it was better for the town to pay the vendors out-of-pocket and possibly have to take out a loan themselves than to force vendors to wait for the FEMA funds, as many small businesses in the area couldn’t handle the delay in payment.
Grattan also raised the issue of the town’s delay in making budgeted payments to the Valatie Rescue Squad as an example of why the town may need his leadership.
But McGivney credits the lack of payment to a misunderstanding and said the check was mailed in March, and when the Valatie squad never received it, the town ordered a stop payment.
“I sent another one immediately,” he said.
McGivney said the squad was not angry, but did request interest accrued from January until the check was in the mail. He calls it legitimate and plans to bring the request up at the next meeting.
Grattan though, said mistakes like these shouldn’t happen, and vows if elected to keep the public aware of town finances.
“The people are entitled to know where their tax dollars are being spent,” said Grattan.
McGivney says the website posts the budget for anyone interested in reviewing it, and that monthly breakdowns are available at town hall.
He calls Grattan’s tactics ‘political maneuvering,’ and maintains he acted correctly.
“This is politics as usual,” McGivney told the Star, “and we could see this coming. We were promised the money from FEMA, and the prudent thing to do was prepare in case of another delay.”
Grattan disagrees.
“It’s not a political attack,” he said. “The people deserve to know how much it costs to run the town government on a monthly basis. I think it’s entirely legitimate to ask why it took eight months to get a check maybe three miles.”
Both McGivney and bookkeeper Pegeen Mulligan-Moore are furious over allegations they have not kept town’s best interests and request a full audit of their books by the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com. To comment directly on this story, visit our website at www.registerstar.com.
But McGivney said the attacks are politically motivated, just in time for the November election.
“I’m not disputing that the town needs to pay its bills,” said Grattan, “but there is a better approach to the management of town finances than hastily-called meetings to approve costly borrowing.”
The meeting referred to took place Sat. Aug. 29 at 7:30 a.m. for the purpose of approving the town to borrow up to $300,000.
The reason for this, said McGivney, is that the town had used some regular funds to pay vendors for flood clean-up and damage after the current storm in expectancy of the quick receipt of the FEMA funds. When these funds took longer to arrive than expected, McGivney thought it would be best to make sure the town had money to pay all bills until it was received.
Though the town approved borrowing up to $300,000, McGivney says that the FEMA funds came through the following Monday, and thus no money was actually borrowed.
“We did not end up borrowing the money,” he said. “We did the prudent thing and got ready to borrow it in case FEMA took even longer to reimburse us.”
The town board at the time agreed it was better for the town to pay the vendors out-of-pocket and possibly have to take out a loan themselves than to force vendors to wait for the FEMA funds, as many small businesses in the area couldn’t handle the delay in payment.
Grattan also raised the issue of the town’s delay in making budgeted payments to the Valatie Rescue Squad as an example of why the town may need his leadership.
But McGivney credits the lack of payment to a misunderstanding and said the check was mailed in March, and when the Valatie squad never received it, the town ordered a stop payment.
“I sent another one immediately,” he said.
McGivney said the squad was not angry, but did request interest accrued from January until the check was in the mail. He calls it legitimate and plans to bring the request up at the next meeting.
Grattan though, said mistakes like these shouldn’t happen, and vows if elected to keep the public aware of town finances.
“The people are entitled to know where their tax dollars are being spent,” said Grattan.
McGivney says the website posts the budget for anyone interested in reviewing it, and that monthly breakdowns are available at town hall.
He calls Grattan’s tactics ‘political maneuvering,’ and maintains he acted correctly.
“This is politics as usual,” McGivney told the Star, “and we could see this coming. We were promised the money from FEMA, and the prudent thing to do was prepare in case of another delay.”
Grattan disagrees.
“It’s not a political attack,” he said. “The people deserve to know how much it costs to run the town government on a monthly basis. I think it’s entirely legitimate to ask why it took eight months to get a check maybe three miles.”
Both McGivney and bookkeeper Pegeen Mulligan-Moore are furious over allegations they have not kept town’s best interests and request a full audit of their books by the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com. To comment directly on this story, visit our website at www.registerstar.com.
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