By Bill Gerard
Board president
Town of Waterford Sanitary District No. 1
Following is my rebuttal to points raised in Dan Dickinson’s opinion piece in last week’s Waterford Post.
• Agenda approval: The WSD Board President does approve the meeting agenda; however, as the President, it does not give me “awesome power” to make things happen or prevent them from happening, as all agenda issues are voted upon by the Commission.
I do not make these decisions myself.
• Rates: WSD did not blame the Town Hall lease for rate increases (see Waterford Post articles dated April 27, 2012, March 16, 2012, and September 24, 2010).
• Frivolous litigation: WSD is not pushing litigation against the town regarding the Town Hall lease and there is not a frivolous lawsuit.
• “Cadillac” employee benefits: I did not vote twice to expand “Cadillac” plans to more employees. In fact, there was only one full-time employee hired during my term.
• Public comments: WSD does allow public comments at their meetings, which allows communications with the Board.
• Creating the budget: Budgets are not passed without all necessary details being given to the Commissioners at budget approval time.
As documented in the Official Minutes, the Administrator and District Accountant thoroughly explain the budget and all questions are answered prior to approval.
The employees, as in most other municipalities, are bound by the adopted budget.
• Fiscal issues: The July 20, 2012 financial report Dickinson refers to is a financial report that originated on July 11, 2012 and was requested by Dickinson on July 20, 2012.
The District bills quarterly and in arrears. The April– June 2012 bills were mailed July 05, 2012 with a due date of July 20, 2012. This income was not available at the time of the original report.
WSD commissioner Bill Gerard is being challenged by Dan Dickinson in an Aug. 14 recall election. Gerard can be contacted by emailing him at [email protected].
-
-
-
-
-