To the Editor:

When a new President takes office, he gets to choose his own Secretary of State. That doesn’t mean the former Secretary was doing a bad job; it doesn’t mean the President is vindictive; it just means that a new office holder gets to choose his own staff!

I am sick and tired of Gavin Regan’s opponents trying to picture Ms. Rupp as a wronged martyr and paint him as a villain. He chose to have one Deputy to save the county money and to do the work of the other Deputy himself. Do you really think CSEA would have endorsed him if he had done something wrong?!

Long before Ms. Rupp announced her candidacy, and while he was being vetted for the position, he talked to the Legislators and County Administrator about what was expected. He kept hearing “You must raise revenues and cut costs.” So, he decided to be a “hands on Clerk” and use only one deputy. This would save almost $70,000 in salary and benefits and make him learn all aspects of the job more quickly.

He chose to keep Ms. Streeter, a Republican with 21 years of experience, who many lawyers said was the “go to” person in the office, over Ms. Rupp, a Republican with 3 years of experience. He tried to get Ms. Rupp a job back in the DMV section but couldn’t do so because NY State law requires you be on the Civil Service List, and she wasn’t.

As Maureen Hoxie, a 30-year DMV employee wrote in the papers: “Her (Ms.Rupp’s) rise from DMV clerk to First Deputy was also merely an appointment, and not one based on any particular abilities. She was simply the only person willing to accept the job from Ms. ritchie, as everyone knew the job was just that - a political appointment with no job security.”

Since the opposition can’t attack Regan’s good record, they are, again, using slander. Isn’t it curious that they never mention that Patty Ritchie, as was her right, replaced 2 Deputy Clerks when she took over from Orin Thomas.

Just remember, Mr. Regan has cut costs and raised revenue from last year. He has increased the number of NY City car dealers working with our county.

By electronically filing all billing, he has saved money. Instead of just appearing at a few civic events, his “office on the move” is going all over the county to groups of 10 or more who need passports.

This will help school groups and civic organizations. His idea to share services with the Real Property Office resulted in savings of $12,000, according to Jim Race, a long time Tax Map employee. He is actively working on a military discount card.

What did Ms. Rupp accomplish during her 2 ½ months as Acting County Clerk?

Throughout all of these allegations, Mr. Regan has been a gentleman.

He knows he has done nothing wrong. The opposition feels if you tell a lie long enough, someone will believe it. I believe most fair people won’t fall for it.

Because he is doing an excellent job, Gavin Regan has my vote for County Clerk.

Ernie La Baff

Norwood