Editor:

In regards to the upcoming election, I can’t hold my silence any longer. Being the husband of Legislator Lynne Johnson, I have witnessed first hand the time and effort Lynne has dedicated to her job as legislator. I have also witnessed the long hours of countless meetings along with the many phone calls she receives day and night seven days a week.

What is most troubling to me is the published misconception or misunderstanding of the facts regarding the Nursing Home called “The Villages” that has caused her a lot of anguish. I am writing to set the record straight.

The Fund Balance or in other words the set aside cash reserves for “The Villages” is approximately $4 million. The expenditures to offset the loss of “The Villages” is approximately $2 million per year. The fund balance will be exhausted in two years.

The IGT (Inter-governmental transfer) of money from Albany that is used to supplement Medicare and Medicaid payments to “The Villages” will no longer be available in two years because the New York State government is cutting the program.

These two major sources of funding on the revenue side of the budget gives you the false impression that “The Villages” is breaking even or profitable. Nothing could be further from the truth. If “The Villages” had been retained by the county, in two years the deficit of over $2 million per year would have to be raised through the local taxpayers with the cash reserves depleted and the IGT non-existent. This would lead to a double-digit tax increase.

The other important misconception is that by electing a new Legislature body, you can stop the sale of “The Villages.” You can’t! The ownership of “The Villages” was contractually transferred to a separate entity called an LDC (Local Development Corporation).

Twice this transfer was argued in a court of law and both times the judge ruled the transfer was legal. The contract between the County and the LDC is to sell “The Villages” to the best bidder that would meet preset conditions of retaining the current staff and residents along with it being used as a learning center for the Albion Central School.

It is a binding contract and cannot be rescinded.€¨So, in closing, with regards to “The Villages,” it will be sold no matter who you elect and the people who are running for a seat on the Legislature that say “they will stop the sale” are either misinformed or, if they do know the facts, are purposely misleading you, the voting public.

As for me, I WIN either way. If Lynne is elected, the county will retain a very smart and dedicated legislator. If she loses, I get my wife back and she will make far more money in business with less hours spent away from home than she is making as your legislator.

Jeff Johnson
Lyndonville

Editor:

I will make this short and sweet. There are too many unanswered questions to sell the County Nursing Home in Albion, known as The Villages. The citizens of Orleans County need to know:

What might the tax impact of selling “The Villages” be? Hint: Taxes will not go down if “The Villages” is sold.

How are taxpayers going to pay what is still owed on the renovation project through 2026 without the Intergovernmental Transfer funds (IGT), Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements to significantly offset this payment?

Hint: The County treasury only qualifies for this money if the Nursing Home is county-owned.

How can bids start at $5.5 million when renovations alone cost $10 million? Hint: Would you sell your home for a fraction of what is worth?

Will the sale give back to the taxpayers the true value of the facility and the services provided?

It is premature to sell The Villages without answers to these and many other questions. Give the new candidates two years to try to save it or at least give the public accurate information so an informed decision can be made. Your current legislators have given this power to a three person LDC to make decisions and sell it behind closed doors.

If the current Legislators are correct, we will find out for sure in two years. If the Concerned Citizens are correct and it is sold, a tragic mistake will have been made. Orleans County citizens will pay for that mistake for years to come. And we still have to pay for Medicaid residents no matter where they reside!

There are ways to raise revenue by renting empty space, resubmitting Medicaid and Medicare claims for additional reimbursement, collecting back private pay accounts and forming co-ops to increase buying power to name a few.

The “Save Our Nursing Home” candidates have energy and a new perspective to serve the people of the county and save the nursing home or at least give the citizens the answers to these vital questions.

Linda Rak
Lyndonville

(Rak is a candidate for County Legislature, running as a Conservative and also under the independent “Save Our Nursing Home” party.)

Editor:

The Legislature has not done its “due diligence” (its homework) on “The Villages” and has routinely exaggerated its losses.

Not only did Orleans County not even ask The Center for Governmental Research to estimate the cost of a feasibility study as Genesee had done, it has failed to turn “A” and “B” wings into income producing space, leaving them largely useless for 6 years.

According to CGR’s August 2013, “The Future of County Nursing Homes in New York State,” the occupancy rate at “The Villages” is unacceptably low. Billing irregularities abound, and efforts to recover owed reimbursement have not matched Genesee’s.

Losses have been made to appear larger than they are by creative accounting. Two sets of books are maintained. Money received SOLELY because we operate a county nursing home that accepts “hard-to-place” residents is NOT counted against ”The Villages” account because the match for it comes out of the general fund.

Consequently, Mr. Callard claimed a $1.5 million dollar loss in January 2011 and changed it to $365,000 in October of that year. That is a FACT! The County then claimed “an audited loss of $2.1 million” for 2012, when its LDC Board realtor said it was $295,000 (see “The Daily News” for August 23, 2013 ).

It is time to give them a grade. Our votes should be used as a report card. We should give them a (Row) “A” for their excellent attempts to mislead the public, or a (Row) “F” for poor performance as our representatives.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent
Albion

(Kent is a candidate for Orleans County Legislature running under the Democratic and “Save Our Nursing Home” lines.)

Editor:

I have lived and paid taxes in Orleans County for 48 years. In 2009, my mother was a resident of “The Villages” for 5 months until her death at age 97. When I read reports of the decision by the Legislature to sell the nursing home to a private, for-profit corporation because it was “a losing proposition” and was “costing the taxpayers millions of dollars,”  I felt a vital interest in the issue.

Because of conflicting statements in the press, I secured a copy of the 2013 Orleans County Budget and have been studying it for many weeks. I discovered the following surprising facts:  The cost (appropriations) of operating “The Villages” for the year was projected to be $11,273,050. The total income (revenue) was projected to be $11,352,730 – for a projected SURPLUS of  $79,680.

Although the basic operation of The Villages was projected to be a surplus, the payment of $919,856 toward the remaining long-term bond ($8,300,000) for reconstruction  of the buildings in 2007 resulted in a final cost to the county of  $840,176. That’s all. Not millions, like the Sheriff’s Department ($3,013,385) or the Jail ($3,437,418) or Social Services ($12,723,258) etc.

The Grand Total cost to the county taxpayers in the 2013 budget is projected to be $18,678,180. Of that grand total, the bill from The Villages is only 4.5 percent!  Actually, it’s all the rest of the county budget that is a “losing proposition” and is costing the taxpayers millions!!

Another factor that puts the financial facts of The Villages in perspective is that it will cost the taxpayers $50,153 MORE for just the two offices of the District Attorney and Public Defender ($890,329) than for the operation of the nursing home for the whole year!!  And, The Villages employs 101 full-time and 64 part-time people who provide  personal, quality, 24 hour-a-day care to the 120 nursing home residents and up to a dozen rehab patients.

The Legislature is not being “responsible” to the taxpayers by selling off our nursing home when its share of our tax bill is so small and what it provides to Orleans County is so great!

Apparently, the Legislature doesn’t want to know or care what the public thinks about its decision regarding the future of The Villages. Their attitude seems to be that they know what’s best for the taxpayers, and they just ignore their constituents’  wishes.

I left a phone message and sent two letters to my representative on the Legislature. I heard nothing from him until he appeared at my door campaigning for votes for re-election.

In a phone conversation with Mr. Nesbitt, our CAO, he argued for the sale of The Villages by saying that three other counties in the state with less than 50,000 population have sold their nursing homes to private corporations.

This reminded me of what parents reply to their children who ask to do something foolish and say “all their friends are doing it”“If your friends decided to jump off a cliff,  would you want to do that too?”

I wish someone would interview the nursing home employees, residents and taxpayers of those three counties and find out if they are better or worse off, glad or regretful that the sale was made and then report the findings to us before final actions are taken with our nursing home.

So, are there other unstated reasons that the legislators, except Mr. Bower, want to sell The Villages? One legislator told me that he didn’t think the taxpayers should have to pay for the retirement and other benefits that the NH employees receive through their union contract. He said he never had retirement benefits during his years of employment. Yet  Orleans County taxpayers contribute toward all other county employees’ retirement  benefits.

It appears that the legislators’ minds were firmly made up BEFORE the Public Hearing last Feb. 25^. Less than 30 minutes after the hearing (not two days), five of the six legislators present (Callard, Eick, Johnson, Rush and Smith) voted to proceed with the formation of an LDC that would find a buyer for The Villages. (Mr. Bower voted nay.)

Our Legislature has become like an oligarchy “government by a few, especially a small faction of persons.” But we still have the power to change our county government’s actions by voting for individuals who are more responsive to our wishes. If we don’t, we have no right to complain.

I’m thinking the only way the sale of The Villages could be at least paused and reconsidered would be if the Legislature, recognizing the ground swell of opposition,  would table the issue until after the voters have the opportunity to voice their wishes at the ballot box. That’s the way a democracy works.

Diana Dudley
Albion

Editor:

Like everyone else in Orleans County I received a campaign mailer this past week from the Republican incumbents on the County Legislature. What stunned me about the piece was the use of the word “divisive” to describe the diverse slate of candidates who are campaigning to unseat them.

How are opposing candidates supposed to run for office? Must they promise to match the incumbents’ views in order to be considered authentically “non-divisive”? Do the incumbents believe that there is something inherently wrong about opposition candidates actually having different views? That a candidate is offering a different point of view is not divisive.It is how democracy works.

Not surprisingly, the purpose of the mailer is to undermine the effort of Concerned Citizens of Orleans County to stop the Legislature from selling The Villages of Orleans to a for-profit business.The effort of Concerned Citizens has inspired a diverse slate of Democrats, Conservatives, Independents and even (gasp!) Republicans to run for the County Legislature in November with a pledge to stop the proposed sale of The Villages.

In order to save our county nursing home, residents of each town have two at-large challengers and one district challenger to choose from on Nov. 5.

So, yes, I am offended by the use of the word “divisive” in this campaign literature from the Republican incumbents.I think the mailer demonstrates the fear of the incumbents that the county-wide effort of Concerned Citizens has been getting excellent traction with voters.In this respect I agree with the motivation behind their campaign flyer: they are right to be worried.

James Renfrew
Clarendon

Editor:

The Nursing Home is NOT closing, nor was it ever closing. To save the Nursing Home from closing and not bankrupting the county taxpayers, it is being sold. The residents will still be there, the employees will still have jobs and the services will be available for future residents.

Since all attempts to increase revenues, including having Public Health and Board of Elections located in the building and paying rent, were unsuccessful and losses continue to grow, the only option left to save this facility is to sell it to a private sector firm that is in the nursing home business.

Considering that 94 percent of the facilities in the state are privately run, this is the right thing to do, using the elderly as a political pawn is the wrong thing to do. Government should not be involved in health care at any level, the private sector does everything better than government can ever do it.

To address the financial issues facing our county, the Legislature has cut departmental expenses to the bare bones without effecting services.  We have reduced the county workforce by consolidating job functions when someone retires, consolidating departments to reduce the number of management and sharing services with surrounding counties to keep programs available for our county.

The Legislature works closely with the EDA on attracting and retaining businesses. I am the legislator assigned to the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors to keep communications open so that business concerns can be addressed and to insure that all are working together to promote our county.

Tourism is a $20 million dollar industry for our county. The fishing in Oak Orchard is one of the top spots in the country, with people from as far away as Europe coming here to fish. When this fishing spot was in jeopardy of closing, the legislature negotiated a deal to keep it open.

The current issue facing tourism and recreation is the dredging of the harbor. There are spots where the water is only three feet deep due to sediment build up. Funding has been secured to have the harbor dredged and help keep tourism alive in our county. We are voicing our concerns over the new lake water level recommendations to the state and federal authorities.

We are also working to cleanup “brownfield properties,” to get them back into the private sector and back into productive use.

Orleans County and Genesee County share our director of Public Health. We are spearheading this shared service in the state. Our Department of Health is one of 18 health departments in the country and the only one in the NYS to receive federal money to access the success of this shared service.

To address the ever-increasing cost of Social Services, the Legislature is working with the DA’s office and law enforcement in fighting fraud. Last year DSS stopped the payout of $1.7 million and recouped $88,000 from fraud violators.

The Legislature has hired another part-time fraud investigator to further this effort.  We know there are those who need assistance and they should receive it but those trying to cheat the taxpayers out of money should be denied and prosecuted.

I support and work with SPOC in their efforts to stop the reopening and expansion of the landfill in the Town of Albion. I have met with Gov. Cuomo’s office, Sen. Schumer’s office, Sen. Gillibrand’s office, Sen. Maziarz, Assemblyman Hawley, local DEC and State DEC officials and experts from around the country regarding leachate and orphan landfills.  This landfill should not reopen. The only ones who will benefit are those that own the landfill. The rest of us pay the price.

Thank you. It is an honor to be your public servant in this great county.

Donald Allport
Legislator At-Large
Gaines

Editor:

To the Hard-working citizens of Orleans County: On Oct. 23, the Orleans County Conservative Party handed County Legislature Chairman David Callard 1,100 signatures to repeal the 4 percent fuel tax on home heating oil, gasoline, diesel, propane and wood.

We want to thank all of you who signed that petition. Our chairman, Allen Lofthouse, was even willing to compromise at just the home heating oil to start. The answer was the same as it was when asked to do this in 2008.

“Sorry, we feel for you, but we the government can’t afford it.” Five years later and still the same answer. This is the same Legislature that is bragging for its re-election touting all the great things it has done – Done for government, the employees of government and those attached to government.

For you, they can’t even throw you a few crumbs so you can be warm or drive to work. What they will be throw you is a tax increase. These county elites are out of touch with you. I advocate voting them all out.

On Nov. 5 invoke the declaration of independence and the term limit clause on these incumbents that have overstayed their welcome. Vote on Row C the Conservative line. We are regular people and we are fighting for you.

Paul Lauricella Jr.
Lyndonville
Vice Chairman Orleans County Conservative Party

Editor:

A while back, I wrote an observational editorial commenting on the resistance concerning the transfer of the county nursing home to a private firm. I pointed out that it would be good for taxpayers and the only changes the residents would experience would be positive in nature. I wondered what the critics were trying to save the nursing home from?

The upcoming election literature cleared up my confusion. Mr. Kent and two or three friends, according to the handouts and published items, are trying to save the nursing home from reality! They seem to be climbing on the backs of the “frail elderly” while attempting some sort of transparent political power grab here in the county. I have not read one comment or suggestion addressing real issues confronting county taxpayers.

New York state mandates, the so-called SAFE act, emergency communications, enhancing tourism, lowering taxes, the plight of small business all seem to fade away while they rage against a well thought out, thoroughly discussed, voted upon and court approved policy insuring the nursing home’s long term viability.

In a situation where an issue has to be created it usually involves “the children.” In this election cycle, the attempt is being made to turn the well being of a group of truly vulnerable patients into a vehicle to propel this group into a position to do … what? I have not seen one reality based proposal or suggestion put forth.

The burden that increased taxes produces is real. The quality of life and day-to-day care of the nursing home residents is real. Responsible, pragmatic and visionary county government is real. Attempting to create division to satisfy vested interests and political “wannabes” is not.

There is one more mystery to be solved. Why would a local political party, labeling itself “conservative,” support candidates whose sole purpose in running seems to be maintaining the expansion of government, via ever increasing taxes, into an area best served by the private sector?

Paul J. Blajszczak
Medina

Editor:

Have you ever heard the expression, “You get what you pay for?” There are many situations in which this phrase aptly applies. Here are just a few:

Fine wine If you’re having a dinner party and trying to make a good impression on your boss or your in-laws, you probably don’t want to start it with a glass of “Two Buck Chuck” from Trader Joe’s.  Spend a little more – it’s worth it!

You’re ready to pop the question to your girlfriend of five years. Just a hunch, but you wouldn’t think of shopping for that engagement ring at Big Lots. Spend a little more. It’s definitely worth it.

When your teen-ager has passed his/her road test and it’s time to help buy a first car, do you go out and buy some old thing that barely runs and has just barely passed inspection? Of course not – your children are precious to you and you want them to be safe. You spend a little more and you know it’s worth it!

If your aging parents need a little extra help in the home and you have to find someone to help out, do you hire the cheapest person you can find without fully checking references? It’s not likely that you would consider approaching the problem in this manner. Parents are too important for money to be an overriding and deciding factor in whom to hire. You want caring, quality, honest and dependable people. It definitely is worth some extra money.

Now, suppose your parent(s) have to leave home and take up residence in a nursing home when they no longer can safely remain in their own homes. Will you likely want the best quality care you can find for them? I’m sure the answer is a resounding “YES.”

Consider this: We who live in Orleans County have a quality, 4-star rated county-run nursing home – The Villages of Orleans – right here in Albion.  The employees who have been responsible for that 4-star rating – the nurses, CNAs, cleaners food service workers, office staff, social workers – are all highly trained, caring, local, tax-paying workers who provide excellent care for our infirm and vulnerable seniors. And for this kind of excellent service, we pay a really miniscule amount each year on our county tax levies.

Does it make sense to sell this nursing home to a private operator with the real possibility that there could be a decline in the quality of care provided and a questionable long-term survival outlook for that nursing home if profits aren’t sufficiently high?

To me, the answer is clear – it should NOT be sold!  And even if we have to pay a little more to keep it a public facility – IT’S DEFINITELY WORTH IT!

Please get out and vote on Nov. 5. All current legislators who are running for re-election are committed to selling our nursing home. Consider casting your vote on the Democratic, Conservative, and Save Our Nursing Home lines for candidates who want to keep “The Villages” a public facility.

Kay Walter
Town of Barre
Member of the Concerned Citizens of Orleans County

Editor:

Despite what I keep hearing, running a county government is not a one-issue proposition. We face numerous issues. Limiting yourself to one issue as a candidate is not doing the public a service. Evaluating the whole picture based on a limited view does not lead to sound decision-making.

Did you know that 94 percent of nursing homes in the United States of America are not owned by state or county government? In fact, U.S. News and World Report does a ranking of all nursing homes in the United States. Thirteen of the homes in Western New York were given an elite ranking by the U.S. News and World Report. Based on the rhetoric, you would think that they were all county-owned public facilities. In reality, none of them were; twelve were private and one was a VA facility.

Did you know that there are 17 counties in New York State with less than 55,000 people? Only three of those counties own a nursing home (it used to be more). In the arena of public services, this is a high end, non-mandated item.

Unfortunately, it’s one that is getting a lot more expensive. I realize that this is an emotional issue. But, losing millions on this operation doesn’t make sense. If we can see that a high level of service is maintained at no cost to the county taxpayers aside from their capped Medicaid contribution that every county makes (whether or not they operate a nursing home), don’t we have an obligation to see that it happens? Many counties and many with more means than Orleans County are making the decision to exit the nursing home business for this very reason.

Did you know that when the county asked for help from the CSEA a while back, we received a copy of the Chairman’s letter back from CSEA with a handwritten note on it that simply said, “No thank you!!”?

There has been a lot of talk about what the CGR study said. Very little of it has been based on the actual conclusions. There are four major points that were part of the actual conclusions.

1. “Despite a frequent assertion that county homes offer the highest possible quality of care, the data are mixed on this.” (p. 137)

2. “recent sales of county nursing homes, the evidence suggest that generally low-income and other safety net individuals have not fallen through the cracks or been forced to go outside the community for nursing homes services.” (p. 134)

3. “Residents at the time of sale have been well taken care of and generally, with some exceptions, county nursing home employees seem to have been fairly treated and absorbed into the new owner workforce as appropriate,” (p. 137)

4. “On balance we conclude that it is generally better for a county to sell its nursing home than to either close it or continue to lose significant amounts of taxpayer money, as long as it is able to sell to a responsible buyer meeting carious criteria and expectations important to the county.” (p. 138)

We have been elected to do what’s best for all the residents of the county. That is what we are doing based on all the information. The Villages will be there for our residents for a long time to come. We are saving the nursing home and we are trying to save everything else in the process.

William Eick
Shelby
Legislator, District 1 – Clarendon, Ridgeway & Shelby #1, 2, 4