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Opinion: St. Lawrence County treasurer candidate cites education as key to treasurer job

Posted 10/27/16

To the Editor: I am writing to ask for your vote on Nov. 8 for county treasurer. Of the three candidates running for this office I have the most education with a master of business administration, 8 …

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Opinion: St. Lawrence County treasurer candidate cites education as key to treasurer job

Posted

To the Editor:

I am writing to ask for your vote on Nov. 8 for county treasurer.

Of the three candidates running for this office I have the most education with a master of business administration, 8 years of employment with the county 4 ½ of that being deputy county treasurer.

I have more education, management and financial experience than my two opponents combined. I sit on the board for Lights on the River and the Board for SeaComm Federal Credit Union.

While with Public Health I saved the county over 500K by purchasing vehicles for the traveling nurses. I argued against closing the Home Health Care using my master thesis which proved closing it would not save the county money and may actually cost money due to the way state reimbursements are done.

The board decided to close it anyway. After 3 years my evaluation has proven to be true.

I would like to address the recent issue over some of the bank accounts not being balanced. In 2012 the board charged the former county administrator to cut payroll costs to mitigate tax increases. Departments were told they all need to “feel the pain.”

The other deputy and I strongly advised against any staffing changes. The position chosen was responsible for bank reconciliations. There was no one in the office who would be able to take over those responsibilities including me as the deputy. I was responsible for accounts payable and writing all the checks for the county.

Under GAAP and GASB it would be a violation of regulation. The person writing the checks cannot be the person reconciling the bank statements. In the discussion, the former treasurer indicated that he would help with reconciliations. That never happened. Additionally, neither deputy had any power to change these actions.

Renee Cole, without question, inherited this problem. The former treasurer should have gone to the board in 2013 and 2014 to let them know of the problem and hire someone to take on the responsibility of reconciliation.

Your education and experience are what qualifies you for a position. A political party is merely an avenue to get there. It’s in the best interest of the county to look beyond politics and look at who is best suited to the position.

I am a registered Republican but am on the Independence line on the ballot and I would appreciate your consideration.

I have been endorsed by former county treasurer Bob McNeil.

Bob Santamoor

Candidate for St. Lawrence County Treasurer