The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

The news out of New Hartford seems to get more convoluted with every passing day . . . Today we find out that silence reigns supreme in New Hartford -- nobody official is talking about what happened with the bond vote and recount(s). Per the article, on Tuesday the Town Clerk invited residents to look at the results of the recount, but on Thursday a request to examine the voting records was denied . . . and the requester was told it would take up to the week of April 16th to respond to the request. Town Councilman David Reynolds said,

"The town clerk is going to respond in an appropriate manner"

Sorry, but the Town Clerk's response to date has been wholly inappropriate.

The public is well aware that Town government tried to sneak the bonding into place last October under the radar, but got caught by an astute resident. A group of residents mobilized, worked hard, and successfully petitioned to force a vote . . . only to have the vote (which by law had to be conducted in mid-January) abruptly canceled and rescheduled by the Town Board through an irregular procedure so it could have more time to "sell" the bonding to the public. The vote finally takes place, and the results were announced by the Town Clerk last Friday that all proposals were defeated. The Town Clerk, last Friday, had to have been confident that her count was accurate in order to announce the results without reservation. As we've previously said, had a recount been announced and machines impounded to a neutral's custody at that time, it would have been understandable given the closeness of the storm water proposal -- but that's not what happened. Instead, the public is later told that a "recount," which took place under suspicious circumstances, has a proposal passing . . . and now the public is being denied the chance to see relevant documents until the week of the 16th.

There is a strong odor about this. Making people wait until the 16th gives plenty of time for various officials to "get their stories straight" and maybe even to manufacture evidence.

New Hartford is starting to sound like the old Utica of the 1950s. Maybe we should start calling it . . . "Sin Suburb."