To the Editor:

When you can’t match somebody’s record, you try to attack their character.

Gavin Regan, county clerk, has never said he initiated working with New York City car dealers; he even gave Patty Ritchie credit for a great idea when he was recently interviewed on WCKN. What he did do, and say, is that, within weeks after being appointed, he traveled to NYC and touched base with some dealers who had fallen away, and he also added several new dealers to those who work with our DMV. This effort has brought in added revenue to the county.

Later, he contacted all car dealers to see if they would be satisfied with a 2 to 3 day turn-around on their paperwork, instead of overnight response. Not one dealer quit working with our county; this move saved thousands of dollars and comp and over-time that had been spent in the old system.

Mr. Regan’s “office on the move” is very different in scope and purpose than just visiting the Ogdensburg Expo, as was previously done, and which Regan and staff also did this winter. Now the office goes all over the country, whenever and wherever, 10 or more people need passports. This will be a great convenience for school groups and organizations planning group trips abroad.

A recent letter stated that county clerk Regan was taking credit for creating a military discount card for honorably discharged veterans, and this was not big deal because many other counties already have done this. So what! At least our county clerk is attempting to get county vets the same privilege that some other vets have.

Always a gentleman, Regan has never pointed out the waste of years of billing the old fashioned way, which cost the county thousands of dollars in wasted man hours, paper, and postage. He just quietly started electronic billing, which should have been done years ago.

Recently, a longtime Tax-Map-Specialist, a Republican, pointed out how Mr. Regan instituted some shared service with the real property office that resulted in savings $12,000. This is another example of his looking at the entire operation for ways to be more efficient and less costly.

His reports to the legislature list real accomplishments that Regan has indisputably achieved, including bringing in more revenue than ever realized before. He has been endorsed by the CSEA; The Central Trades Council, representing members of the AFL-CIO; The United Auto Workers; the Democratic Party; and the Working Families Party. He has earned the people’s trust and votes on election day.

Mark J. Bellardini

Chair of the St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee