To the Editor:

It’s hard to believe than any candidate running for the St. Lawrence County Legislature this year would be advocating that the county spend its large fund balance on doling out pay raises and hiring new staff – but that apparently is the position of District 10 Legislator Margaret Haggard of Potsdam.

In a recent interview with local media, Mrs. Haggard is quoted as saying “We need to provide all the departments in the county with the necessary staffing … also investing money so we retain people. The turnover, I’ve noticed, seems to be an issue in many departments. I think we need to take a look at being competitive so we can keep people employed. We have excellent, excellent people working for us… they need to be compensated equitably so they don’t leave to go other places.”

She also advocates pouring more money into the county’s already bloated and ill-supervised community services bureaucracy, by spending down a county fund balance in excess of $30 million.

Mrs. Haggard’s idea, even for a liberal Democrat seated in a college town is foolhardy to say the least.

Instead of giving out pay raises to county workers, and hiring more staff, county government should be consolidating and paring back its workforce. Government is not an employment agency. And the taxpayers of St. Lawrence County can’t afford to pay more.

As the Mayor of Ogdensburg I am involved in discussions over sales tax distribution with the county and towns and villages and I have yet to find a local village or town leader who is not worried about finances, money and the burden on taxpayers following the worst pandemic in 100 years.

Businesses are struggling and local government jobs at the town and village and city level are on the chopping block, yet Mrs. Haggard wants to hand out pay raises and increase the number of employees within the St. Lawrence County government. Perhaps her husband who heads the legal team at the Department of Social Services will be in line to benefit.

The Democrats already embedded in county government, amplified by those like Mrs. Haggard, have shown us over the years that they are good at spending taxpayer money and bloating the government staff in Canton. For that reason she should be voted out of office.

Brenda Spurbeck, a Republican running for office against Mrs. Haggard is a much better suited candidate for the District 10 seat. As someone who works in health care she understands the medical and social needs of the residents of the county and her district. However, unlike Mrs. Haggard she is much more fiscally conservative and does not believe in throwing taxpayer money against the wall to see what sticks.

In short, Mrs. Haggard is another tax and spend liberal. Ms. Spurbeck, on the other hand, is a fresh face to local politics with conservative views that can only help curtail out of control spending by the Democrats already seated in Canton.

St. Lawrence County does not need another ultra-liberal representing Potsdam on the county board, and that is exactly what you will get with Mrs. Garner Haggard and her outdated philosophy of spend, spend spend.

Vote for Brenda Spurbeck for the St. Lawrence County District 10 seat in Potsdam on Nov. 3. She’s a fresh face with fresh ideas. A vote for Brenda Spurbeck will help stop county officials like Mrs. Haggard from wasting our taxpayer money.

Jeffrey M. Skelly

Mayor of Ogdensburg