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Supervisor Rutkey reflects on term
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| Paul Crossman/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers Greenport Supervisor John Rutkey at work in his office in Greenport Town Hall recently. |
By Paul Crossman
Greenport Supervisor John Rutkey has chosen not to run for re-election this year after nearly 18 years in service of the town, but not because he’s tired of the work. The reason, he told the Register-Star, is because his grandchildren are beginning to grow up, and the long-time supervisor wants to spend more time with his family.
And after 18 years of working to better the town and the community, he probably deserves it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever looked at [being supervisor] as something that was difficult,” he said. “I’ve tried to listen to what the people have asked me and what their concerns are, and I try to give them an answer. It’s not always what they want to hear, but it’s always the truth.”
“Basically what the supervisor does is set the tone for what direction he wants to take the town,” he continued. “You get that direction from the citizens who live there. That’s what I did.”
Throughout his years in office the local resident has worked with the town board on many projects to better the town, both large and small.
Initially when he became supervisor, Rutkey said that one of the largest problems he could see had to do with the infrastructure, as the town was spending nearly $100,000 a year to fix problems with water and water lines. In order to combat this, Rutkey and the board at the time replaced all the water lines on Friss Tract and Green Acres Road, saving the town thousands of dollars each year in repair costs.
Some of the roads, said Rutkey, were also damaged or beat up from these water projects, and so for the third year in a row the town has now allotted extra money in the budget to reblacktop the roads, a project he hopes will be finished by 2010. He added that the highway department arranged things in such a way that the blacktopping didn’t take time away from any of their other projects.
Rutkey has also made several intermunicipal agreements with neighboring towns which were beneficial to everyone involved, and helped in the creation of the senior housing on Joslen Boulevard —a goal of his since he entered office.
Another point of pride about his time in office, according to Rutkey, has been his efforts to update the equipment in the highway and water departments. As the equipment was updated, the departments were able to do more and more of the work in-house rather than having to use outside contractors, which saves tax payers money, he said.
Along the same lines, Rutkey also worked hard to encourage all the departments to use outside contractors as little as possible.
“We have a pretty talented bunch of people who work with us,” he said. “This allows us to do a lot of things in-house. We built the garage and the pavilion stage [in Greenport Town Park], expanded the park kitchen, and built a storage and announcers booth.”
Another major money-saver for the town instituted by Rutkey and the town board, was making a slight change to the town insurance plan, and eliminating out of network benefits —something the board calculated that the town spent about $1,000 on annually. This one minor change to a plan in place for a long time saved the town $250,000 on just the insurance premium alone.
One of the most popular projects Rutkey has helped put into effect is Greenport’s Friday Night Concert series, which is free to attend and takes place in the park throughout the summer. The concerts are always heavily attended and geared towards senior citizens, and funded by donations from local businesses.
“We are able to give some back to the community with the help of businesses in the town,” said Rutkey. “It worked out really well.”
Though he has enjoyed his time in office, there were some trying times, and Rutkey confessed that recently the toughest thing for him was attending all the night meetings.
“With my grandkids being more active, my family is just more important,” he said. “I’d rather go to a ballgame or a concert than a meeting.”
Despite being excited about being able to spend more time with his family once his term ends, Rutkey is disappointed to be leaving a position where he can continue to do good for the community. Despite the night meetings and occasional hassles, he told the Register-Star, he really enjoyed the job and didn’t regret any of his time in office.
“I would like to thank the residents for giving me the opportunity to support them,” he said. “I appreciate all the support. I wouldn’t change the last 18 years for anything.”
Supervisor Rutkey still has several months left in office, and says his biggest concern before he steps down is creating a workable budget for his successor to work off of.
“I hope I can put together a good budget for next year. That’s my big project right now, I owe it to the people in office and the taxpayers.”
He said he would also like to thank the various board members and town employees he has served with over the years.
“You don’t do this job yourself,” he said. “If you don’t have a good supporting cast, the job just doesn’t get done.”
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
And after 18 years of working to better the town and the community, he probably deserves it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever looked at [being supervisor] as something that was difficult,” he said. “I’ve tried to listen to what the people have asked me and what their concerns are, and I try to give them an answer. It’s not always what they want to hear, but it’s always the truth.”
“Basically what the supervisor does is set the tone for what direction he wants to take the town,” he continued. “You get that direction from the citizens who live there. That’s what I did.”
Throughout his years in office the local resident has worked with the town board on many projects to better the town, both large and small.
Initially when he became supervisor, Rutkey said that one of the largest problems he could see had to do with the infrastructure, as the town was spending nearly $100,000 a year to fix problems with water and water lines. In order to combat this, Rutkey and the board at the time replaced all the water lines on Friss Tract and Green Acres Road, saving the town thousands of dollars each year in repair costs.
Some of the roads, said Rutkey, were also damaged or beat up from these water projects, and so for the third year in a row the town has now allotted extra money in the budget to reblacktop the roads, a project he hopes will be finished by 2010. He added that the highway department arranged things in such a way that the blacktopping didn’t take time away from any of their other projects.
Rutkey has also made several intermunicipal agreements with neighboring towns which were beneficial to everyone involved, and helped in the creation of the senior housing on Joslen Boulevard —a goal of his since he entered office.
Another point of pride about his time in office, according to Rutkey, has been his efforts to update the equipment in the highway and water departments. As the equipment was updated, the departments were able to do more and more of the work in-house rather than having to use outside contractors, which saves tax payers money, he said.
Along the same lines, Rutkey also worked hard to encourage all the departments to use outside contractors as little as possible.
“We have a pretty talented bunch of people who work with us,” he said. “This allows us to do a lot of things in-house. We built the garage and the pavilion stage [in Greenport Town Park], expanded the park kitchen, and built a storage and announcers booth.”
Another major money-saver for the town instituted by Rutkey and the town board, was making a slight change to the town insurance plan, and eliminating out of network benefits —something the board calculated that the town spent about $1,000 on annually. This one minor change to a plan in place for a long time saved the town $250,000 on just the insurance premium alone.
One of the most popular projects Rutkey has helped put into effect is Greenport’s Friday Night Concert series, which is free to attend and takes place in the park throughout the summer. The concerts are always heavily attended and geared towards senior citizens, and funded by donations from local businesses.
“We are able to give some back to the community with the help of businesses in the town,” said Rutkey. “It worked out really well.”
Though he has enjoyed his time in office, there were some trying times, and Rutkey confessed that recently the toughest thing for him was attending all the night meetings.
“With my grandkids being more active, my family is just more important,” he said. “I’d rather go to a ballgame or a concert than a meeting.”
Despite being excited about being able to spend more time with his family once his term ends, Rutkey is disappointed to be leaving a position where he can continue to do good for the community. Despite the night meetings and occasional hassles, he told the Register-Star, he really enjoyed the job and didn’t regret any of his time in office.
“I would like to thank the residents for giving me the opportunity to support them,” he said. “I appreciate all the support. I wouldn’t change the last 18 years for anything.”
Supervisor Rutkey still has several months left in office, and says his biggest concern before he steps down is creating a workable budget for his successor to work off of.
“I hope I can put together a good budget for next year. That’s my big project right now, I owe it to the people in office and the taxpayers.”
He said he would also like to thank the various board members and town employees he has served with over the years.
“You don’t do this job yourself,” he said. “If you don’t have a good supporting cast, the job just doesn’t get done.”
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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