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Massena DMV employees blast critics of new county clerk Regan; say others have also fired deputies

Posted 3/30/11

MASSENA – One retired and three current employees of the St. Lawrence County Department of Motor Vehicles Massena office are blasting critics of County Clerk Gavin Regan’s firing of a deputy …

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Massena DMV employees blast critics of new county clerk Regan; say others have also fired deputies

Posted

MASSENA – One retired and three current employees of the St. Lawrence County Department of Motor Vehicles Massena office are blasting critics of County Clerk Gavin Regan’s firing of a deputy clerk.

The DMV workers say that he’s only doing what other clerks have done before him.

Regan’s decision to fire first deputy clerk Republican Mary Lou Rupp and appoint Cathy Streeter in her place has drawn fire from people who claim the move was politically motivated.

The entire Massena DMV office staff, however, writes in a letter to the editor that Regan did nothing improperly, and former county clerk Patty Ritchie did the same thing when she was appointed to the post.

The entire letter runs below:

To the Editor:

This letter is to address the rash of disparaging letters, and the irresponsible and inaccurate statements that have appeared in Chuck Kelly’s column since Gavin Regan was appointed to serve out the term of St. Lawrence County Clerk.

First we’d like to thank Mary Lou Rupp for her service and dedication, both in her years as DMV Clerk and her two years as First Deputy Clerk. We have nothing but respect for Mary Lou, and wish her well.

We also would like to congratulate Cathy Streeter for her long-overdue and well-deserved promotion and recognition of her 21 years of exemplary service in the County Clerk’s Office.

Mr. Regan’s appointment and subsequent actions are strictly politics as usual. It was known from the day Mrs. Ritchie resigned the office that someone would have to be appointed to finish her term. She temporarily appointed Mrs. Rupp. The governor, as was his right and duty, then made a permanent appointment. It should surprise absolutely no one that the person he appointed was a Democrat.

The Deputy clerks serve at the discretion of the County Clerk. Mr. Regan chose to operate at this time with only one clerk, and chose Mrs. Streeter, with her 21 years experience, over Mrs. Rupp, with her two years experience. And while Chuck Kelly and some others decry the partisan maneuvers of the Democratic Party, it should be pointed out that Mrs. Streeter is a Republican. It should also be pointed out that Mrs. Ritchie replaced Orin Thomas’s Deputy Clerks when she was elected, and she was of the same political party as the departing County Clerk.

Much has been made of Mrs. Rupp’s inability to get the legislature to approve the hiring of a new clerk to fill a shortage in the DMV. We’re led to believe she was refused on more than one occasion, until Mr. Regan’s imminent appointment made them change their minds. The truth here is that when the DMV clerk left in December for a different job in the county, newly-appointed Mrs. Rupp made a decision to hold her position open for her for 90 days, in case she changed her mind about the career move. You cannot fault the legislature for not filling a position that is not officially vacated.

A few people have pointed out that the smart thing to do would be to put Mrs. Rupp back into the DMV workforce, thereby preserving her employment with the County and filling our vacancy. This would have had the added benefit of having a fully-trained and very capable clerk step in to the opening as opposed to having to train a new employee during our busiest time of year. That does sound like the ideal solution, and all of us in the DMV would have welcomed her back with no reservations. One little problem – the position of DMV Clerk is a Civil Service position, and Mr. Regan cannot arbitrarily fill this position with someone who is not on the current Civil Service list. This is not politics. This is New York State law.

So we had a vacated elected position. The Democratic governor did what he was supposed to do, and filled the vacancy from within his own party. Mr. Regan accepted the appointment, and chose his own staff, as was his right. Now we, the taxpayers of St. Lawrence County, should let the gentleman do the job he was hired to do, which is running the only departments within the county that make a good deal of money for the county. Then in November, if you still don’t want to vote for him, then don’t vote for him. Just base your decision, as we will, on his job performance, and not on the recent misleading political backlash.

Arline Murphy, 24 years at St. Lawrence County DMV
Maureen Hoxie, 35 years at St. Lawrence County DMV (retired)
Janet Otto-Cassada, 15 years at St. Lawrence County DMV
Dori Morrell, 8 years at St. Lawrence County Clerk’s Office, 2 years St. Lawrence County DMV