December 15, 2005

EDITORIAL: ESPOSITO SHOULD STOP SHIFTING THE BLAME (GATES-CHILI POST)

Gates Supervisor Ralph Esposito ought to call off the attack dogs, own up to the fiscal problems on his watch and move forward to correct the problems.

Just a reminder to Esposito that the election is over, and he won, despite a serious fiscal crisis on his watch that has resulted in increased taxes for residents, wage freezes for employees and a scathing report from the State Comptroller's office on his plan for addressing the problem in 2006.

A more extensive audit of the town's fiscal operation is coming.

Rather than accept the criticisms, Esposito and the Town Board have resorted to tired old claims that the real problem is partisan attacks on his administration, both from Gates Democrats and now the Comptroller's office.

Esposito might or might not be correct that the auditors got a few things wrong on a few figures, but the big picture is this: During the election campaign, he pilloried Democratic opponent Susan Swanton for "lies" and "irresponsibility." Now he's using the same tactics against the comptroller's office.

That ignores the elephant in the living room. By his admission, the town did indeed use revenue anticipation notes two years in a row. "Revenue anticipation notes" is a euphemism for borrowing for operating expenses. Worse, he borrowed more the second year than he did the first year.

It is extremely unusual for a town to do that; it's like a family buying their groceries on a charge card.

To his credit, Esposito was open about the problem, even before the campaign season swung into high gear. Esposito did make some budget cuts and increase taxes, which we gave him credit for. He also insists those revenue anticipation notes will all be paid off this year. We'll see.

But he ought to stop with the blather about critics "lying" and being "politically motivated" and deal with the criticisms in a straightforward way.

If the Comptroller's office was really politically motivated, it would have released its report before the election, not after.

In fact, the comptroller would have done more for the voters if it would have done that.

Esposito ought to do his part for the voters by getting the town's fiscal house in order, because the problem lies within.

And that's no lie.