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Willfulness and arrogance

Lise Kennedy, Neversink
Posted 12/7/21

I would like to provide my counterpoint to Robert Doherty’s “A View From A Reader” column in the December 3, 2021 issue, which the Democrat is publishing in four parts, thus …

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Willfulness and arrogance

Posted

To the editor:

I would like to provide my counterpoint to Robert Doherty’s “A View From A Reader” column in the December 3, 2021 issue, which the Democrat is publishing in four parts, thus providing Doherty, the Chairman of the Sullivan County Legislature, with a free platform, while other readers such as myself are limited to 300 words. Doherty faces losing his Chairmanship in January.

Even Doherty’s most doggishly devoted followers must have had to suppress a twitch at his claim that he did not pay his taxes in order to provide the readers with the opportunity to showcase in this column that the county’s taxes are too high. Why didn’t he even pay tax bills for his numerous properties that were less than $100? Either he couldn’t or wouldn’t, and that will remain a mystery, but it does exhibit his character of willfulness and arrogance. He certainly managed to pay them off after there was a public outcry exposing this irresponsible behavior. Of course, when somebody fails to pay taxes, their share of the tax burden falls on others.

Doherty theorizes that Sullivan’s high taxes are preventing development and people moving into Sullivan County, and that businesses have crumbled in the last two years of his Chairmanship due to the taxes. It’s amazing to me how he consistently avoids mentioning the pandemic. COVID-19 is the main cause for many small businesses failing, but it has also brought a huge influx of new Sullivan County homeowners and businesses, to the benefit of our local economy. Doherty goes on to pretend sympathy for those who have lost their properties due to tax foreclosure and claims credit for having blocked the construction of a visitors’ center to keep taxes lower. By the way, see the article about economic relief for homeowners on page 12A. This is COVID relief funding that Doherty will not be able to divert again from the many individuals suffering from the harsh impact of the pandemic.

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