To the Editor:

According to the Republicans the fund balance was wasted. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is amazing to me how some have completely ignored the lasting impact that the second longest economic downturn has had on our economy.

The fund balance wasn't wasted, it was used to maintain services and prevent large tax increases on the public. It has been easy for the Republicans to complain but so far I haven't seen them offer up any truly viable alternatives.

Would they have hiked local property taxes even higher just to preserve the size of the fund balance? Raising property taxes at an even faster rate earlier on in the great recession wouldn't have helped our economy. It would have accelerated our unemployment problems because people would have even less money to spend. It would have made an already difficult time for our citizens even worse.

The Democratic majority has done our best to keep property taxes down. Under our leadership we reduced the size of government in a responsible way through attrition over the years to avoid laying off workers. We found new efficiencies and reduced or eliminated entirely county costs for some programs. Our leadership has orchestrated a responsible reduction in the size of government.

Our government operations are about as lean as possible with a reduction of over 150 positions. Would the Republicans have laid off workers instead of cutting through attrition? How much would the unemployment benefits cost the county taxpayer under such a scenario and how much higher would the new unemployment rate be in our county? If given control would they take us down the road of privatizing every government service they could?

In general, the minority party has acted as an active opposition party rather than as constructive partners during this difficult time. Our focus has been to solve problems and sometimes it can be difficult. It is even more challenging when our partners across the aisle engage in personal character attacks with raised voices and take every opportunity available to engage in obstruction. The minority party complained about investments in county infrastructure funding. County bridge ratings have actually improved over time. We had a resolution to put any cuts in this year's budget into an additional infrastructure fund of which we have added almost $276,000 so far and we are not done yet. They voted no on the resolution. The same resolution also included bringing the tax rate down to 2%, which we have done.

Many molehills have been turned into mountains in the media due to some petty politics from the minority party. For example, Democrats have focused on public safety. There is no doubt that the county faces some challenges with criminal activities and yet the opposition voted to oppose improvements to our justice system. Already there is a vast disparity due to mandates in the funding for prosecution and indigent defense. We chose to solve a problem and they chose to obstruct and even voted no on their own proposal for space for the D.A's office.

The fact that is the majority has maneuvered County government through some rough waters. We have made decisions based on logic and facts. I'm not saying everything has perfect because in some cases perfection wasn't attainable in these difficult times. But when the other side has no plan, no vision and no hope and can only vote no then they don't deserve to lead. They have spent a lot of time and energy stoking fear and anxiety.

They have peddled so many misrepresentations it is difficult to know where to begin in addressing them. Given that Halloween is around the same time as Election Day, it is my hope you don't fall for Republican scare tactics. Don't let them trick you. Don't be afraid.

Those that engage in dispersing fear and anxiety don't deserve to govern. Elect the ticket that has been engaged in solving problems. County government has been making strides to improve and we have turned the corner with an improved outlook from Moody's and a significantly lower unemployment rate.

Vote for a future with more opportunity on Election Day.

Jonathan Putney

Chairman of the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators