Once again there seems to be misinformation being put out there intentionally. Today it was put out there that the three newly elected board members are the ones that would not allow the new generator to be hooked up. They apparently did this by resolution at the January 4th organizational meeting. The Thurman Informer has obtained a copy of the resolution that mentioned the generator. It in no way states that the generator can not be hooked up. If fact it states:

"Resolution for Electrical Inspection

WHEREAS no electrical inspections were performed on any of the projects involving electrical work last year,
BE IT RESOLVED that the town board directs that Commonwealth Electrical Inspection Service, Inc. be
scheduled to provide an electrical inspection for the water project, youth building, Harris house,
generators and the hookups and any other electrical panel boards or work performed."

All the new board members wanted was safety inspections done on multiple projects that were done in 2017. Nowhere does it state that the generator can not be hooked up.

Thurman Informer has also learned that former Town Board Member, Mr. Mike Eddy was seen at the Thurman Town Hall with another gentleman on Christmas Eve unloading the new generator from his truck and unhooking the old generator. The new generator was left disconnected. How can this now be blamed on the new town board members when it was done before they took office? The new board members requested an inspection, the Supervisor has had 19 days to contact this company, but she has not. In fact, she stated at a public meeting, that the new board members could pass anything they wanted, she was not going to do any of it. Yet, a small group of people who are upset with the election results continue to blame the  new board.

There are accusations that a new board member is accusing the Supervisor of not being out when the flooding occurred on January 13th. There is a statement that the Supervisor was in fact on a conference call with the governor that day. Once again, the Thurman Informer has found out through sources that the conference call actually took place on Sunday the 14th, not Saturday. The governor was not part of the phone call, it was in fact with state officials, emergency and fire officials and multiple local supervisors. Supervisor Hyde actually called Town Board Member Gail Seaman on that Sunday right after the phone call, she stated to Gail Seaman, that she was the only board member she could get in touch with at the time. Cynthia Hyde told Gail Seaman about this call and what was said. The only contact from Cynthia Hyde to board members on Saturday was an email about the date change for the annual audit meeting.

The Thurman Informer has also learned, that in fact, newly elected town board member Doug Needham, was the first board member to go out to find Pat Wood to ask if there was anything that he needed from the board. This has been confirmed.

Misinformation like this is not only vindictive, it is hurtful to the residents of the Town of Thurman. This town can not and will not move forward unless the people that are running the day to day operations work together for the good of the taxpayer, who they work for. Supervisor Hyde has shown publicly that she is not willing to do this. Total agreement is not always going to happen, common respect is expected.

All last year people were saying "Things must be better at the town hall, Thurman isn't in the paper anymore". This is not the best reason to base the capability of a person for a public office, by this we are saying Cynthia Hyde for Supervisor. Let's be honest, Thurman wasn't in the paper anymore because all of the people that kept us in the paper were now in office or supported them.  It is only January 16th, and Thurman is once again in the paper.

January 1st, there was a change on the Town Board for Thurman. This did not sit well of course with any of the previous board supporters from last year, especially Kathy Templeton and Mary Eddy, who ran for office but lost.

All through 2017 we heard Cynthia Hyde claim numerous times that she is not the one that makes decisions, that she works with the board as a whole and they all make the decisions. This way of thinking quickly went out the window when January 1st rolled around. Newly elected Town Board member, Gail Seaman, went to see Cynthia Hyde on January 2nd. She requested a copy of the bank statements for December, so she would be fully informed as to the status of the towns finances as of the years end. Cynthia Hyde rudely told Gail Seaman that she could not come in her office and demand her to do anything. She also told Mrs. Seaman that she would have to stop at the town clerks office from now on and not just come up to her office. Mrs. Seaman was told that she would have to FOIL for the bank statements, a town board member was being told she had to FOIL for financial documents, that not only should be made available upon request by her, but by any town taxpayer. As of the writing of this article, January 16, 2018, Mrs. Seaman finally received the bank statements she requested on January 1st. at 2:25 pm.  These same documents were also requested by Councilman Doug Needham at the organizational meeting as well as Councilwoman Brenda Ackley, who asked Supervisor Hyde for them by email, which Kathy Templeton posted on social media. This information seems a little off. How does a former town board member have information such as who emailed the Supervisor to ask for what and the town board member themselves can not get the information they have every right to have. Mrs. Hyde needs to come to the realization that Kathy Templeton is no longer a town board member.  Apparently Mrs. Hyde has no problem discussing what town board members are contacting her about with former board members.  In fact, Kathy Templeton was one of the first people to get Thurman back in the papers, as a letter from her to the editor of the Post Star appeared in the paper on January 13th, in her letter she states that the newly elected board members do not understand town governance.  I guess Mrs. Templeton fails to grasp the fact that Gail Seaman has been a board member for many  more years than she has.

The next time Thurman was in the papers for a political purpose was today, January 16th. Supervisor Cynthia Hyde was in the Boos and Bravos section. She received a BOO for not turning over financial documents when asked for by Gail Seaman. Coincidentally, this is the same day that Gail Seaman did receive the bank statements. So much drama from the Supervisor for something that took a matter of moments to achieve.

The Thurman Informer was able to obtain a copy of these bank statements as well, and no they did not come from Councilwoman Seaman, nor any other Board member. After a quick look over, there are a few things that we feel needs explaining. For one, where is the documents that prove the Highway Dept. only had $5000.00 to be transferred into their new bank account? The other startling number was that the town now only has $44,930.08 in the Reserve account, which Cynthia Hyde always refers too as the "savings" account. This account has $117,528.46 in it at the beginning of 2017. Well folks, it is in a very sad state now. Supervisor Hyde and the previous board have gone through $72,598.38 from this account in less than a year.

The main fact that needs to be pointed out is, Supervisor Hyde, the taxpayers expect you to do the job you were elected to do. This means working with the town board and making financial documents available to them. Doing what the town board directs you to do as chief financial officer. The remark you made at the organizational meeting of, "You can pass anything you want, I am still not doing it" is not acceptable. With all of the emergency issues going on in this town now, people have enough to worry about without you playing king of the mountain with the town board.

A copy of the December bank statements are below for your viewing. We as taxpayers we have to hold our town government responsible for our tax dollars, if you see something you don't understand, reach out to them and ask about it.

The regular monthly meeting was held this past week, on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. This was the first meeting since the elections were held. Cynthia Hyde and Joan Harris will be the only two that will carry over into next year on the town board. If nothing else, the demeanor of all town board members have changed since the election. For the past few months, Mr. Eddy has been asked by the residents attending the meetings to please face them and speak up. He refused to do so. This past meeting a resident placed an audio recorder on the table in front of Mr. Eddy, if he won’t speak up then the taxpayers have a right to record the meeting themselves, if it does not interfere with the meeting proceedings. This has been done in the past by Mr. Eddy’s wife, Mary Eddy. She was never told to remove her reorder, nor was her recorder touched, removed, or banged with a clip board, but this is exactly what Mr. Eddy did to the person’s private property. Mr. Eddy, you only have one more month to go, how about trying to at least go out with a sense of civility.

The town board was in executive session for roughly 45 minutes, the reason was to discuss a matter of collective negotiations under the Taylor Law. The Taylor Law has to do with the Union negotiations for the Highway Dept. A PDF booklet written by CSEA will be attached below.

Upon returning, the town board took questions from the floor. Councilwoman Joan Harris referred to the many boxes of CPE kits that were left in the Supervisors office by the past administration. She commented on the fact that they went from the floor to ceiling. When asked by a resident if they still had them, no answer was given. These kits belong to the Whitespace project. These kits are used to hook people up to the internet, they are very costly and were purchased with grant money that the town received. It was very disheartening to hear them being referred to so nonchalantly, and giving no response to the person who asked if they still had them.

The town board was also asked why they did not go out to bid for an operator for Whitespace, they instead just gave the job to Rainmaker Network Solutions, with Councilwoman Harris stating that it only made sense since he built the system. Supervisor Hyde once again made the remark that they were not the ones that got “rid” of Mr. Engelmann in the past. Once again, simply laying blame on the past when it would be better to answer and take responsibility for what the board did this year. Councilwoman Harris once again asked a member of the public to produce a resolution from the past that was passed looking for an operator. This is a pattern of Councilwoman Harris. She seems to think the public should do her job for her. These resolutions are part of the town’s records, and are all on file in the clerk’s office. All she must do is ask the clerk to get this information for her.

Supervisor Hyde also stated that quotes were received for a new generator, however, she felt it would be best to wait until the new year and let the new board handle this. There are still 6 weeks left in this year, this current board is still responsible for handling town business, however it would see them are all fine with passing it off to the new board. Councilwoman Templeton nodding in agreement with Supervisor Hyde. Quotes should be opened and awarded in a timely manner. It is not fair to the companies that gave these quotes to be held up. However, it has become very apparent that this board operates on personal feelings instead of what is right for this town. This is not a proper way to run this town or to move it forward.

After reviewing the video of this meeting, it is very apparent that there is a lot of hostility on the part of the board members as to the outcome of the elections. The new board will consist of three new members that may not always agree with the Supervisor or Councilwoman Harris. This should be a good thing for the tax payers, as all taxpayers will be represented at the board table. It is evident that Supervisor Hyde and Councilwoman Harris are not going to be willing to work together as one board. This is a chance for them to rise above the past animosity and do the right thing, this however, is a fairy tale ending that the Town of Thurman will never see we fear. Agree to disagree, work together and move our town forward please.

Good luck and God Speed to the new Thurman Town Board. Thank you for stepping up and taking on the responsibility and hard work it is going to take to bring our town to what it should be.