Editor:
Since Ms. Johnson conveniently left out a number of points in her 3-5-14 letter to the Editor I felt I should provide the citizens of Saratoga with the “rest of the story” so to speak. The following are facts, supported by the minutes of the Council Meetings and the people that were there, of the issues between myself and Ms. Johnson.
1. At the 1-21-14 Council Meeting Ms. Johnson presented a number of questions concerning the improvements to Saratoga Waste Facility, some of these were addressed at the meeting but some, including Ms. Johnson’s proposal for the settling ponds were not. At the end of that meeting I caught Mr. Bartlett and asked him if Ms. Johnson’s proposal, about the settling ponds, was feasible. He then informed me that her proposal would not work and explained why. I then asked him to compose a report, that could be read at the 2-4-14 Council Meeting.
2. At the 2-4-14 Council Meeting, Mr. Bartlett was reading this report when Ms. Johnson interrupted him, angrily accusing Mr. Bartlett, of singling Ms. Johnson out and blaming him for her feelings of being picked on, after Ms. Johnson said” Chuck how could you do this to me, that I intervened and explained that neither the Town of Mr. Bartlett singled her out, we just responded to her questions, that her feelings were hers alone, the Town did not create them, and that if she was angry she could direct her anger at me since I was the one that asked Mr. Bartlett to compose the report.
3. During the next few days I was still disturbed by Ms. Johnson’s thinking she could publicly berate Mr. Bartlett, a Town employee and doing nothing more than what he was requested to do that I wrote a letter addressing my concerns. A copy of this letter was public record, which I read at the 2-4-14 Council Meeting.
I stand by my actions and I believe, from the feedback that I have received, and the fact that the whole story has come out, that the citizens of Saratoga will judge my actions to be on the right side of the issue.
Ms. Johnson I think your concerns should have been brought in front of the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board since they are the ones that own and control these entities of our town. The Town only maintains these facilities. I would like to suggest that you not wait until they have evaluated the problem, decided on a solution and then have that solution approved by the EPA and DEQ to bring your concerns to their attention.
Sincerely
Steven Wilcoxson
Councilman, Town of Saratoga
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