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Putnam Valley Town Supervisor is Running for Your Money Again
Dear Editor:
Putnam Valley Town Supervisor Sam Davis is running for re-election this November. Your vote should be an educated one. Here's what some may have missed after Sam took office in 1/06:
He started off by appointing his "live-in partner of ~20 years, Dawn Powell, as his personal secretary at $46,000 instead of the official $32,000 to start. The Board members reduced it to $36,000. The Ethics Board deemed Sam's actions had the "appearance of impropriety" and censured him. Sam sued the town and the Ethics Board to reverse that decision.
The Hon. Jonathan Lippman of the NYS Supreme Court, Westchester County, ruled on 4/5/07 that Sam's hiring of his live-in partner as his now "Confidential Aide" was not unethical (the old law referred to only married couples but has since been changed to prevent such abuse of power again). Judge Lippman dismissed the Article 78 Sam brought against the townsfolk and Ethics Board. Therefore, they were not guilty either. Sam remains censured, and refuses to give any of the $5,000 in legal fees back to the innocent people he frivolously sued. I think his salary should be garnished.
Despite having declared bankruptcy before, Sam appointed himself Budget Director, and pocketed the $7,000 a professional would have earned to do it. After calculating the budget, Sam arrived at a 21% tax increase. The Town Board had to borrow ~$700,000 from the General Fund to lower it to 12.75% in order to ease some of the residents' tax burden. The General Fund had about $1.8 million in it when Sam Davis took office. Now it contains only ~$300,000 or less. Customarily, the town should have ~$800,000 in it for emergencies. To show good faith, Sam could put the $5,000 back into the General Fund!
In early 2006, Sam had his office enlarged and soundproofed and now wants to spend your money on an expensive photovoltaic system for Town Hall, despite a nearly empty till. It could take ~15-20 years to recover the cost. Several house rich/tax poor folk have had to move out of this upscale town, especially since McMansions were and still are being built in Putnam Valley. New development, it seems, is geared toward having the wealthy replace the middleclass.
Many have said that Sam usually arrives late at Town Hall (~10 am or later) and leaves, often with Dawn, without telling his staff where he's going. He says you can call his cell phone, (but they're not always reliable or turned on). In my opinion, Sam will always enjoy taking advantage of the power he enjoys as town supervisor. Whatever fiscal responsibility Sam pledged to uphold in 2006 appears to have been defined by Sam to mean the opposite.
Joni Mercado
Putnam Valley
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