Supervisor Rights: Town board ‘has enriched the old guard for generations’

Among Putnam County’s six towns, the residents of Southeast seem to be the most dissatisfied with town government, according to a recent survey conducted for the Courier. Nearly three-quarters of those polled in Southeast said they are unhappy with the performance of their town board.

The town received the lowest ratings in Putnam, with 74.5 percent of respondents saying the governing board was doing a “fair or poor” job, and only 1.8 percent saying the board was doing an “excellent” job. The survey, conducted by pollster Kieran Mahoney for the Courier, had a margin of error of +/- 5.65 percent.

Southeast Supervisor Michael Rights responded with a long pause upon hearing the results of the survey, before saying that he was not surprised. Rights named three main issues currently facing the people of Southeast: illegal immigration, the widening of Route 22, and high property taxes. He also said the Southeast town board “has enriched the old guard for generations.”

In the Courier survey, nearly every Southeast resident polled—96.4 percent—said illegal immigration is a serious problem.

According to Rights, the board is divided, with himself and Councilman Dwight Yee on one side, and the three other board members on the other. Rights accused those members— Councilmen Robert Cullen, Elizabeth Hudak, and Roger Gross — of defeating votes for public bidding, denying requests for proposals, and of making unwise financial decisions. “There is obstructionism and preservation of a gravy train that has served the old guard for years,” Rights said. “There is a definite split and the majority is protecting the gravy train for their friends and cronies.”

Upon hearing of Rights’s accusations, Councilman Cullen said he wasn’t even surprised.

“He’s so crazy,” Cullen said. “He’s the old guard now. Unfortunately we have a divided board sometimes but it depends on the issues. A lot of times Liz [Hudak], Roger [Gross], and myself do side with each other.” Cullen and Hudak both began their terms of office to the town board this past January; meanwhile, Gross, Rights, and Yee began their terms in 2008.

“From what I hear from people, they are dissatisfied with Yee and Rights,” Gross said. “Other than the rhetoric, all [the residents] are hearing is arguing, but things are getting done.” He explained that the board has been accomplishing such projects as capping the Southeast landfill, widening Route 22, approving the state line for the shopping mall, improving the Spring House well district.

Rights was elected as supervisor in 2008; he has been asked to resign by many residents since he was arrested and pleaded guilty to DWI charges in 2008—just 13 months after he crashed his car and was brought up on DWAI charges.