DearFriends and Neighbors,
Upon return this weekend from a trip, I read the Letter to the Editor¹ from Supervisor Bill Kenny who said “Shame on the seven supervisors who voted no confidence in Paul Dusek.” Mr. Dusek is the Warren County Administrator and former County Attorney. I was one of those seven supervisors² who voted no confidence and initiated the confidence resolution.³
It’s not every day someone casts shame on you in the newspaper, so here is my response. As you go through this keep in mind the supervisors look to the County Administrator and County Attorney for direction on what to do. Then each supervisor decides the issue and everyone takes a vote.
So the no confidence vote could be interpreted as a disapproval of past actions of the board of supervisors. This obviously struck a nerve with some of the long standing supervisors like Mr. Kenny.
Listed below are the reasons why I voted no confidence and it was not for the reasons stated by Mr. Kenny in his letter:
1) Handling of the Nursing Home Sale: On September 24, 2015, I documented the terms of the nursing home sale versus the approved RFP (Request for Proposal). Not one objective the county set in the RFP was achieved: www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/106-Not-Even-Close.pdf.
2) Accuracy of information: On May 14, 2015, I wrote the county administrator stating I’d lost confidence in him to provide accurate information: www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Confidence-email.pdf.
3) Timely Budget information: On February 19, 2015, I wrote the county administrator after receiving accurate budget information directly from the nursing home administrator versus from the county administrator’s office. This included IGT payments received summer of 2014, but not previously included in the budget forecast (4-year plan) used during the budget process – www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Westmount-budget-numbers.pdf.
Note – Based on my email the county administrator’s office adjusted the budget forecast numbers (4-year plan) for the February 20, 2015 board meeting, but the 2015 budget had already been approved without this information included.
4) Impact of the Cogen on the Nursing home negotiations – 2013: Selling the Cogen as part of the nursing home sale was not a deal point in the RFP. I asked the negotiating team specifically about the Cogen and the impact it had. There was no mention of the Cogen having an impact on the negotiations with Fort Hudson. Here are the meeting notes, see page 5, last paragraph: www.warrencountyny.gov/gov/comm/health_services/2014-04-15.pdf).
Fort Hudson disagreed publicly saying the Cogen was a factor. Reported April 17, 2014 in The Post Star: www.poststar.com/news/local/cogen-plant-affected-nursing-home-bidding/article_c94a7336-c673-11e3-a48a-001a4bcf887a.html.
5) Budget process: Supervisor Jim Brock believes the county is in violation of county law § 354⁴ detailing how the budget process should be handled. I agree with him. Here is the email to Chairman Geraghty and Budget Officer Thomas on why five of us chose to vote no to the 2016 budget:
www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2016-Budget-Process-Email.pdf.
6) Handling of Airport FBO contract renewal: In 2013, Warren County approved the renewal of the FBO contract a multi-million dollar five year deal without properly vetting it, without following the usual committee process, and without doing due diligence – read more: www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/36-June-26-2013-Airport-status.pdf.
7) Road Repair and Maintenance: $659,715 allocated in 2014 for road repair and maintenance was left unspent even though there was plenty of work to be done. I found out by making an inquiry on June 28, 2015 – www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/100-Warren-County-Roads.pdf.
8) Siemens GeoThermal: On the heels of the Siemens Cogen are questions and issues with the Siemens GeoThermal system at the Warren County Municipal Center. Some believe it is even a bigger problem. Here is my email: www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/113-Here-We-Go-Again-GeoThermal-System-11-18-15.pdf.
9) Siemen’s Cogeneration Plant: The controversy surrounding the Siemen’s Cogeneration plant is well documented. Here are a few of my emails: www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/108-Siemens-Energy-Projects-10-8-15.pdf; www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Stinks-to-High-Heaven1.pdf; www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/98-Cogen-The-Right-Thing-to-Do.pdf.
10) Warren County Culture: In voting no confidence, I felt it was time to take a stand and call for new leadership in order to change the culture at Warren County. Only by getting in new people will this change. Below are two newsletters discussing how decisions are made at Warren County:
www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/79-Information-is-Power-1-12-15.pdf
www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/76-The-More-Things-Change-12-8-14.pdf
The supervisors who voted no confidence did so based on questions and issues with past decisions made at the county under the direction of the County Administrator and passed by the board. It goes well beyond the Siemen’s Cogen controversy.
Mr. Kenny alleges these supervisors “ignored the basic foundation of the legal system: innocent until proven guilty.”
Yet not one of these individuals ever stated Mr. Dusek was guilty of anything, and not once did they call into question Mr. Dusek’s integrity. It is all captured on the public record.
Right from the start the old guard on the board tried to make this something it was not. Supervisor Conover (Bolton) added to the confidence resolution an apology to the Dusek family to “sincerely apologize for any embarrassment” that a police investigative report caused. Supervisor Taylor of Glens Falls led an effort to hire an attorney to investigate the investigators report (since retracted).
People are tired of the old school tactics, e.g. Shoot the messenger not the message. Change the narrative and ignore what people are really saying. I was curious about this phenomenon, you see it all the time, and decided to look into it. It led me to Leon Festinger who is the father of the theory of cognitive dissonance⁵. Festinger said:
“A MAN WITH A CONVICTION is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”
I’ve experienced this while on the board and it is at play here. People naturally want to avoid dissonance and in some cases will use any method to do so to deflect criticism. It can lead to calling others names. Like saying those with a different point of view are “shameful.” Another tactic to avoid dissonance is to change the narrative by telling a whole different story. Like saying some supervisors are “ignoring the basic foundation of the legal system.” This kind of approach is now being challenged at the county.
There is a new type of supervisor on this board and they have formed a vocal minority. They are standing up to the bullying tactics. Challenging, questioning and looking for a better way. This drives the long term supervisors like Mr. Kenny nuts, but it isn’t going to stop. Mr. Kenny knows it. He is getting off the board after 18 years.
Mr. Dusek’s own attorney called for the confidence resolution. Did Mr. Kenny expect all of the supervisors to get in line and vote for confidence? Not the vocal minority. They said OK you want a vote of confidence? We’ll offer up a vote of confidence … and seven of us voted NO.
Mark Westcott
1. Bill Kenny’s Letter to the Editor: http://poststar.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letter-to-the-editor-paul-dusek-hasn-t-been-found/article_c47cbc13-f571-51dd-bdac-8ef3dadb2c0d.html
2. List of supervisors who voted no confidence in the County Administrator: Mark Westcott-Queensbury, Doug Beaty-Queensbury, Rachel Seeber-Queensbury, Peter McDevitt-Glens Falls, Jim Brock-Glens Falls, Ron Vanselow-Johnsburg, Evelyn Wood-Thurman.
Note – Newly elected Claudia Braymer-Glens Falls and Matt MacDonald-Glens Falls can be added to this list. Both stated publicly they would have voted no confidence.
3. Here is my email titled “More Attorneys” Explaining the Confidence Resolution – http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/110-More-Attorneys-10-17-15.pdf.
4. Here is county law § 354: http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Budget-Process.jpg.
5. Leon Festinger and Cognitive Dissonance: Some interesting reading here. Sources: http://www.azquotes.com/author/46197-Leon_Festinger; http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/leon-festinger.html; http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/09/16/cognitive-dissonance-and-polit/; https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-eDNpDzTy_dR1b0iB/Festinger-Riecken-Schachter-When-Prophecy-Fails-1956_djvu.txt.