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Massena Republican impressed with Regan

Posted 7/5/11

To the Editor: As a lifelong Republican, I did something recently that was very unusual for me. I attended a Democratic fundraising dinner given for St. Lawrence County Clerk Gavin Regan. I sat with …

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Massena Republican impressed with Regan

Posted

To the Editor:

As a lifelong Republican, I did something recently that was very unusual for me. I attended a Democratic fundraising dinner given for St. Lawrence County Clerk Gavin Regan.

I sat with my daughter, a DMV employee of 25 years, and a couple of her coworkers, and was pleased to be joined by Cathy Streeter. Not just pleased to meet her because of all the good things I have heard about her, but also because I now knew I was not the lone Republican in the room. Despite what recent letters have claimed Ms. Streeter is a Republican, and Mr. Regan’s decision to keep her as his first deputy over Mrs. Rupp was not politically motivated.

At the dinner I was impressed by Mr. Regan. He’s a confident, well-spoke individual with a solid resume. He talked on the lengthy process leading to his appointment, and just how carefully he was chosen. He talked about the vetting process to choose Cathy Streeter as his First Deputy. Having worked in a managerial position for General Motors for 28 years, I can tell you that any manager, faced with the choice between a well-liked employee with just over two years experience, would have made the same choice as Mr. Regan.

At this point I have to ask this: if Mrs. Rupp is elected, will she keep the long-tenured and experienced Ms. Streeter, or will she also exercise her right to appoint her own Deputy? Considering the outrage Mr. Regan’s firing of Mrs. Rupp caused, this is a question that should be directly asked and answered.

He then talked about some of the programs he is starting – like the revenue-generating “Traveling Passport” program, his cost-cutting electronic billing system, and the county-wide ID and discount program for veterans he is working to implement.

As a WWII veteran, I liked the promise of this program. He talked about fighting to keep the revenue generated by our DMVs through downstate dealer transactions. Yes, this downstate dealer revenue idea of Patty Ritchie and her Deputy Clerk at the time, Patricia Rabideau. Since Mrs. Rupp was still working as a DMV clerk when this program was conceived and successfully implemented, neither Mr. Regan nor Mrs. Rupp can take credit for it. Both, however, have kept the program going, and Mrs. Regan plans to continue and expand it.

Finally, Mr. Regan stressed that he will run a positive campaign, focusing on his job performance and avoiding the typical negative tactics that we see so much of in present politics.

We can only hope that Mrs. Rupp and her supporters can take a page from Mr. Gavin’s book.

James C. Murphy, Massena