What’s Really So URGENT………………….

It appears that the Town of Ulster has the leadership necessary to make difficult decisions in trying economic times! 

Changes approved by the Town Board acting as Town Police Commission on Thursday regarding the reorganization of the Town of Ulster Police Department are welcome and necessary. Years of blown budgets, out of control overtime and unnecessary use of official police vehicles have no place in this tough economy. 

The Taxpayer ‘gravy train’ is over! 

There is no doubt, politics being what they are, detractors of the Quigley Administration will find ways to criticize this Town Board and of course Supervisor Quigley himself for this reorganization, however, if the past administration had done its due diligence when spending the ‘people’s’ money we would not be in such dire financial straits to begin with and such cutbacks would not be necessary. 

Ulster is Your Town Too applaud Supervisor Quigley for standing up for the residents of the town. Anyone with some concept of reality would understand this was not a move to weaken the Town Police but, with the limited ways of cost cutting available, a tool in keeping the budget in the black and avoiding higher property taxes for it’s residents. 

I’m sure there will be other decisions critics will weigh in on, but the Town of Ulster Police withdrawing from URGENT should not be one of them. 

URGENT, (Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team), is well represented by the County Sheriff and City of Kingston Police Department.  Many of the daily operations are in the City of Kingston where Town of Ulster Police has no jurisdiction anyway. If the concern is the loss of shared services, lets face it, when was the last time Town of Ulster Police acted alone at a major crime scene. County Sheriff, State Trooper and at times even Federal Agencies like DEA and FBI are on scene offering their assistance and expertise. I’m sure it behooves these agencies to keep Town Police informed. After all they too would be at a loss if the information highway was to become a ‘ONE WAY’ street. 

It has become painfully obvious that the financial reporting of the Woerner Administration left much to be desired. Unraveling the books is often an adventure and always a mystery, one which would have confused even the likes of Sherlock Holmes. 

In the short time he has been in charge, Jim Quigley has done an admirable job of maintaining, even improving necessary services as well as getting control over frivolous and unnecessary spending, especially in light of the recklessness of his predecessor. 

Just a side note, If toes have been stepped on and egos dented downstairs at the Town PD, all we can say is get over it, many town residents have lost their jobs, some even their homes, a few detectives can afford a little loss of personal pride.