In the September 17, 2008, edition of the Tioga County Courier there was a letter to the editor titled, "County's position is clarified" by Dale Weston, Chair of the Tioga County Legislature.

 Chairman Weston, regarding point one in your letter, you stated that Legislator McEwen was not in violation of the Hatch Act. 

 With all due respect Chairman Weston, you have failed to address my original question and concern. You have a letter from the Office of Special Council, Hatch Act Unit in Washington, DC which clearly stated that Mr. McEwen and 
County Attorney Mark Dixson were informed that Mr. McEwen was covered by the Hatch Act, and as such his candidacy for Tioga County Legislature was in violation of the Act. OSC determined that Mr. McEwen was covered by the Hatch Act because as Deputy Treasurer he had duties in connection with Federal grants Tioga County was receiving. That information was sent to Mr. McEwen in October 07. As you are trying to set the record straight, would you please for the last time answer this question and stop avoiding this issue.

 Was Mr. McEwen at the time of the original notification in violation of the Hatch Act and what is going to be done about his illegal candidacy?

 With Mr. McEwen's refusing to remove his name from the ballot at the November 07 General Election; I feel that he placed the County in a position of unethical behavior and perhaps a potential legal action against the county.

 Regarding your comments on the two resolutions that allocated a total of $30,000 to Mr. McEwen  one for technical support and one for technical training, you stated that Mr. McEwen should be applauded for helping us with a problem no one else had the ability to solve.

 Question: As CEO of Tioga County, why would the Treasurer's Department, which has an annual payroll of approximately $423,254 and a staff of about 12 not have had an individual trained to step in to continue the county finances in an emergency that might have removed Mr. McEwen from his position as Deputy Budget Officer?

 What is wrong with our County Legislators? They passed two Resolutions totaling $30,000 when only  $3,275 was needed.

 It appears they don't have a clue on how to estimate the cost to achieve certain goals.

 Mr. McEwen has 25 years of experience in county finances, I would have expected these estimates to be within 10% not off by 90%.

 It bothers me that you and the legislators have put in the local paper that Legislator McEwen should be applauded and that this was a savings to the taxpayers. Who couldn't have met a budget that was more than $26,000 too high.

 Question: Regarding Resolution 240-08-why was this resolution retroactive to July 31, 2008 until the end of the budget process?

 Was Mr. McEwen providing technical support with no official authority to do so?  Was he then not under contract with the county and was he in violation of 
the Hatch Act?

 It is my understanding that if a comptroller position was created in Tioga County that it would eliminate the need for a budget officer and the treasurer position would be reduced to part-time.

 With that thought in mind why would you have taken the time to train a new deputy budget officer? Why keep the position of Treasurer at all? Why not have the position of Comptroller an elected position? The people of Tioga County deserve a voice in this selection. So many questions still go unanswered  with no answers in sight.

 We have sixty-two counties in New York State. There are nine counties with the title of Comptroller, four of those counties also have the title of Treasurer. The following counties stated that they have a position of a County Comptroller. Albany, Broome, Dutchess, Essex, Monroe, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Suffolk.

 We are a very small county in rural New York, once again, I strongly feel that we do not need to create another layer of government; we simply must have the treasurer's department work more effectively and efficiently.

 In closing, Chairman Weston, I sincerely hope that you will address my original question regarding the October 07 letter to Mr. McEwen from the OSC, and why was Resolution 240-08 made retroactive and why the rush for a County 
Comptroller?

Thank you,
Gloria Whitmore