NEWS
Questions Still Unanswered by the Report
The Fitzmaurice Report certainly has cleared the air around the Schoharie County Civil Service. It has also brought to light many alleged transgressions headed by a group around Cassandra Ethington.
Still, as bad as Ethington's actions were she was not the only one involved. She was aided by Supervisors such as Tom Murray, Martin Shrederis, Harold Vroman, and Dan Singletary, but she was still just one person in the larger food chain and these Supervisors alone could not seize the entire County government or civil service without a wider net.
How could this happen? How did this happen?
What appears to be unsaid throughout all this is how the mechanisms that placed Cassandra Ethington in charge of so much were created. Now we know how she engineered her takeover of the CHHA transfer and the Health Department, but not other vital questions.
How did Todd Ethington receive the Conservative Party nomination for Sheriff? How could he receive the nomination even when challenged by incumbent Tony Desmond without a caucus or primary?
How did the Conservative Party find the money to bankroll major races across the County? The Party is the third largest but is still paltry in size and scope compared to the Republicans and Democrats. The Conservative Party has bankrolled two County Clerk races, two Sheriff's races, and multiple Supervisor races across the County since 2007. Yes, some of the campaign was paid for by the candidates themselves, but we are talking about thousands and thousands of unaccounted-for dollars.
How did Cassandra Ethington's "reign of terror" stay out of the eyes of the Supervisors for so long? Was there an intentional cover up or did the complaints never reach the top?
How could Cassandra Ethington hire multiple allies-- including Conservative Party Chair Bill Hanson-- and her own mother without a review from the Board of Supervisors?
Who set up and paid for the crooked campaigning in the Town of Jefferson? If Singletary did not-- then who did?
There are even more questions than this and the Schoharie News will do its best to get to the bottom of each one. However, it appears that the Report created more questions than answered them. It appears that the corruption in County government had more strings than from Cassandra Ethington.
Still, as bad as Ethington's actions were she was not the only one involved. She was aided by Supervisors such as Tom Murray, Martin Shrederis, Harold Vroman, and Dan Singletary, but she was still just one person in the larger food chain and these Supervisors alone could not seize the entire County government or civil service without a wider net.
How could this happen? How did this happen?
What appears to be unsaid throughout all this is how the mechanisms that placed Cassandra Ethington in charge of so much were created. Now we know how she engineered her takeover of the CHHA transfer and the Health Department, but not other vital questions.
How did Todd Ethington receive the Conservative Party nomination for Sheriff? How could he receive the nomination even when challenged by incumbent Tony Desmond without a caucus or primary?
How did the Conservative Party find the money to bankroll major races across the County? The Party is the third largest but is still paltry in size and scope compared to the Republicans and Democrats. The Conservative Party has bankrolled two County Clerk races, two Sheriff's races, and multiple Supervisor races across the County since 2007. Yes, some of the campaign was paid for by the candidates themselves, but we are talking about thousands and thousands of unaccounted-for dollars.
How did Cassandra Ethington's "reign of terror" stay out of the eyes of the Supervisors for so long? Was there an intentional cover up or did the complaints never reach the top?
How could Cassandra Ethington hire multiple allies-- including Conservative Party Chair Bill Hanson-- and her own mother without a review from the Board of Supervisors?
Who set up and paid for the crooked campaigning in the Town of Jefferson? If Singletary did not-- then who did?
There are even more questions than this and the Schoharie News will do its best to get to the bottom of each one. However, it appears that the Report created more questions than answered them. It appears that the corruption in County government had more strings than from Cassandra Ethington.