X

Regan doesn’t play politics as clerk

Posted 11/3/11

To the Editor: I have been following many of the articles/comments regarding the County Clerk campaign and can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like it! Therefore, I felt compelled to …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Regan doesn’t play politics as clerk

Posted

To the Editor:

I have been following many of the articles/comments regarding the County Clerk campaign and can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like it! Therefore, I felt compelled to offer the following facts:

Patty Ritchie changed the image & service provided by DMV by opening satellite offices in SLC. This improvement was made the very first month she came into office; this has not changed and will not change in the future.

Mary Lou Rupp began employment in June of 2003. Taking credit for opening the satellite DMV offices is impossible because they opened before she worked there.

The position of County Clerk is about a lot more than DMV transactions. Whether an attorney filing a lawsuit, an employer requesting criminal background checks, the Court system needing a file, applying for a passport, obtaining a copy of a deed or divorce papers, renewing your notary public license, starting a DBA or applying for or amending your pistol permit; many important things take place here.

MARY LOU RUPP

According to many recent letters, “she knows the offices backwards and forwards.” Not true, I’m afraid. Yes, Mary Lou was a DMV employee, which there is state-mandated training for. Any employee working in this department receives the same training. However, like anyone, after having been out of that environment for a couple of years Mrs. Rupp answered only the basic questions about DMV procedures in January 2011 and referred all others to the DMV office.

This is the reason DMV has trained Supervisors in the office and it is their daily update of information (via computer from Albany) and instruction that ensures the work is being done and done correctly.

As far as Mary Lou’s work experience in the Clerk’s office, interestingly enough, she spent her 3 years in this office choosing to NOT handle the filing of lawsuits, divorces, recording deeds, mortgages, etc., or to even answer the phone; even though she intended to run for County Clerk. Seems to me, and I see the work everyday, Mary Lou would want to do at least what an entry-level index clerk is expected to do; considering the importance of these tasks and her desire to offer better customer service.

In January 2011, Mary Lou was not experienced in calculating recording costs on a deed or mortgage (something the clerks office does all day everyday when people purchase homes or refinance their mortgage).

I don’t call this lack of skill “being in the trenches” after having been there for 3 years. Hard to improve something you know nothing about.

I think she should have spent a little more time by her boss’s side learning these things. Has anyone asked Mary Lou why she refuses to participate in a debate against Gavin? It’s easy to tear apart his answers after an interview but at least he speaks!

Mary Lou has been invited to several debates. Gavin offered to clear his schedule in order to participate with her but she refuses.

Mary Lou should have no problem stepping up to bat in a debate when you hear all the rave reviews about how much experience and independence she has from her supporting letter writers and after working in the office for so long.

I have yet to see a support letter without Patty’s name tossed in. The Governor had the right to appoint a County Clerk and fire us—Patty warned both of us from the beginning. We knew the risk.

Patty was also very upfront about the fact that with Mary Lou announcing her intentions to run for Clerk it would be more likely that she would go and I would stay. Patty knows her politics.

GAVIN REGAN

Appointed to County Clerk position by Governor Cuomo; has made a seamless transition into office despite all the complaints, chaos and spotlights shone upon him.

Gavin has a wife & 3 children. His wife, a Registered Nurse, has been active duty military for the past 1 1/2 years, now stationed in California.

During this time Gavin has needed to operate as a single parent, a busy political candidate and has still managed to be a successful hands-on County Clerk who treats employees with fairness and integrity.

He visits all DMV offices far more than any other County Clerk I have seen (and without putting in for mileage reimbursement) and is constantly working to improve the workflow between offices.

Several letter writers have complained about the change in office hours. Gavin did not institute these changes; the County Administrator and Board of Legislators mandated it as a way to keep the lights and heat off a few extra hours per day in an effort to reduce costs and to stay in step with all other County Departments. Gavin took advantage of this situation by staggering the hours in DMV to 2 shifts. This step enables the 8-4 shifts to work uninterrupted from 8-9 am on the downstate dealer work and eliminates the need for overtime.

Meanwhile, the 9-5 shifts can “work in” more downstate dealer work in the afternoon when things are not as busy. The previous revenue figures would be more accurate if the overtime was subtracted out.

Many of the practices under Mrs. Ritchie and Mrs. Rupp were questionable. Not just the out-of-control overtime and comp time some employees were allowed but the reward system used for those who supported them politically.

Employees (or their family members) willing to volunteer at “Campaign headquarters,” were rewarded. (Gavin Regan has never invited us to meetings where you were instructed to check the box on the form for what you would be willing to do: march in parades, sign/write letters, make phone calls, get petitions signed, go door to door.) Working the civil service list so that 12 of the 17 DMV employees are from either Ogdensburg or Heuvelton?

Supervisory positions for a relative and a neighbor, a job for a cousin, probation waived for a family friend?

Friends and relatives allowed to fill temporary employment positions while co-workers were out on long-term sick leave. No list involved. I didn’t hear any grumbling then.

The DMV supervisor has always been allowed take every Monday and Friday off all summer long during DMV’s busiest season?

Most Supervisors are expected to be in the office and forego a 4-day work week when the workload is so heavy that overtime pay reaches an all time high. It is also the reason why they get paid a higher salary than those they supervise.

I believe these practices may be a big part of the reason SLC now has an Ethics Committee. I have experienced firsthand what happens when you don’t “help” at their political functions.

You get passed by for promotions, stuck with the worst jobs, and excluded from office discussions. Ask the 5 DMV employees who are not from Heuvelton or Ogdensburg if they are treated differently—I can tell you they very seldom got offered overtime when all the others were cashing in on it and they were normally the employees who had to travel to the satellite offices if someone called in sick.

Am I putting my job on the line by writing this letter?! You bet I am!! I was put directly in the middle of this crossfire and I am simply telling you what I know to be true.

Mrs. Rupp and her supporters have accused me of many things in an attempt to discredit my character since I can be a stronghold for Gavin.

Yes, I accepted a promotion and a raise to continue doing a job I have been doing competently for many years. Does that make me a traitor and a backstabber? No, it makes me a person who does not live for politics and just wants to earn a living.

I was upfront with both Mrs. Rupp and Mrs. Ritchie that, if given the opportunity, I would be staying on if a new County Clerk was appointed as I needed the income and health insurance benefits.

Most people I know would have had to do the same thing.

The Rupp crew can portray me to be a disgruntled employee after being passed by for a promotion, malicious, spiteful or whatever they choose. I have continued working long after being passed over.

I am a smart, hard-working person who will deal with whatever is put in front of me; I did it then and I will do it now.

Gavin Regan could fire me January 1st if elected. Mary Lou Rupp can get rid of me for writing this letter if she wins. Either way I turn someone is going to be unhappy with me.

I don’t expect pity or sorrow; I know the risk. All I can say is that while doing my job for the last seven months I was given the opportunity to see what a difference it can make to have someone in charge who promotes hard work, integrity and fairness.

I don’t care what political affiliation he is or how he got the job. Gavin is, by far, the better candidate!

He has the intelligence and the supervisory skills to run an office of 25+ people and generate some healthy revenue; SLC needs that more than anything else.

Someone needed to get this point across--I felt strongly enough about it to put my job on the line!

Won’t you please take a moment to think about it? Mary Lou Rupp is not the best candidate and she is not Patty Ritchie.

Cathy Streeter Race

Deputy County Clerk