Syracuse Clerk Race
Dear Editor,
MacKenzie, the clerk-treasurer of Millersburg, and I have never spoken.
We have never met. She does not know me. Whatever she is thinking is from Virginia Cazier, the clerk-treasurer in Syracuse.
MacKenzie said that I am not able to answer a direct question, but I have included contact information in my last several editorials. No, MacKenzie has never contacted me.
MacKenzie is right. The clerk-treasurer’s office has not been audited since Virginia Cazier has been clerk-treasurer. The State Board of Accounts is already aware of exceptions and has directed corrections.
The town has recently received a letter from the SBOA requiring compliance to Ordinance 2019-19. MacKenzie, since you have been following the race, by now you have read the SBOA-published letter and also read that the town council has motioned and passed compliance with the SBOA. As of the writing of this letter, Virginia has not complied.
MacKenzie, I have not claimed that money is not being spent wisely as you stated.
All of my campaign signs and literature properly display how they are paid for. Please visit Syracuse and check for yourself. Many of Virginia’s labels have washed off.
MacKenzie, you are right. Town council members are not part-time or full-time employees. We are elected officials.
In Syracuse, we all get paid a small annual stipend and health insurance. This was decided in 2004 by the town council. We are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays.
We do not even make minimum wage. We do not get paid overtime. In 2022, Millersburg paid two of your council members $4,067.56 and one council member $4,776.42.
It seems like you would have known that? Some municipalities include council members in PERF. Syracuse does not.
Regardless, it is not the clerk-treasurer’s decision. I understand that Virginia is so desperate that she is fabricating stories and probably victimized you.
Yes, MacKenzie, I do think employees should be compensated fairly. I, with the council, directed our town department managers to increase employee wages to help compensate for cost of living and inflation increases. The town council directed the wage increase and approved the wage increase, not the clerk-treasurer as Virginia claimed.
So, yes, I do know only the town council has the authority to approve the salary ordinance, and we did.
MacKenzie, after seeing the paper reference Local Government Services, I called them and spoke with one of the partners. She told me the last time she worked with Virginia, it was to reconcile the town’s bank statement. I believe she said they had to go back several months.
MacKenzie, I have been the president of our redevelopment commission through the Oakwood redevelopment, the Polywood development and the development of our tech park, with Aluminum Insights, Travel Star, Legacy Wood Products, Travel Lite, etc. Please call any of the developers and CEOs, attorneys, title companies, to see if I lacked professionalism as you stated. If you check your facts, you will see my signature on nearly every sales contract, closing documents, TIF district documents and tax abatement documents.
Through our development efforts, we have created an estimated $100,000,000 in increased assessed valuation. How are you doing in Millersburg? You clearly have no idea.
Mackenzie, I thank you for your newfound concern for Syracuse. Maybe someday you will care enough to visit or live here. Perhaps you will learn to not embarrass yourself and Millersburg by assigning your name mirroring someone else’s crazed thoughts.
My duties have never been taken lightly, and I have always had the town’s best interest in mind. I have volunteered thousands of hours to make Syracuse a place where people want to live, work and play.
Truly,
Larry Siegel