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ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS/ NEW MARKET PRESS PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

Saturday,ÊJ anuaryÊ30,Ê2016

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www.SunCommunityNews.com

In BRANT LAKE | pg. 10

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Winter events scheduled

In OPINION | pg. 6

Who’s minding the store

Krazy Downhill race just part of the fun

Are there strings on the checkbook?

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In SCHOOLS | pg. 4

Local admins react to GEA Gov. to phase program out

Source: Warren County CEO to retire soon By Thom Randall

thom@suncommunitynews.com

QUEENSBURY — Warren County Administrator Paul Dusek, who has been a top county official for 20 years, will be retiring in several months, a source in the county government said this week. Attempts to reach Dusek as of late Tuesday Jan. 26 were unsuccessful. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dusek has told other county officials he will be retiring at the end of March. Dusek has served as county Administrator — the top executive post in the government — since March 2010. He started out as county Attorney in 1996. He served both roles — for one salary — between March 2010 and August 2011.

Dusek’ simultaneous service in both roles — which prompted him to work long hours and on weekends for nearly 18 months on a single salary— saved the county taxpayers well over $100,000 in personnel costs. In October, a county sheriff ’s office investigation into a natural gas cogeneration project conducted by Seimens Building Systems reached a corollary conclusion that Dusek did not exercise due diligence in reviewing the project’s contract before the board of supervisors approved it. The contract ended up costing the county money rather than producing savings as Seimens promised, according to an independent engineering review. However, various county officials and citizens have discounted the criticism of Dusek, noting that the cogeneration contract was full of complex formulas to calculate expenses and savings that would only be understood — if at all — by

experienced engineers. They also note that Dusek was serving as county Attorney at the time, not county Administrator, so his role in reviewing the contract was to assure its legal aspects, not whether the engineering principles and formulas would end up producing savings for the county. Known as a decisive, hands-on administrator and fiscal conservative, Dusek has been credited with saving the county taxpayers many hundreds of thousands of dollars by downsizing government in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In the years following the nation’s financial crisis, he conducted a thorough audit of county operations and recommended extensive cutbacks in various county departments, which were enacted by the county Board of Supervisors. This governmental downsizing occurred without any substantial decrease in services to the public, many have noted.

Local H&R Block awards prize in $32 million contest By Christina Scanlon

christina@suncommunitynews.com

78103

Wolf Scouts Den 10 Pack 30 of Brant Lake/Chestertown learned about how the Army serves our community. Pictured from L to R: (Kneeling) Aiden Maston, Daegan Brothers, Robbie Hill, Owen Schafer, Aiden Debugue, Bailey Ackley and Sargen 1st Class Robert Hill. Standing L to R: Myles Walker and Daniel Mattison

WARRENSBURG — One local H&R Block customer is $1,000 richer and it’s not due to the IRS. Christopher Buskey collected his winnings last week after being selected in the company’s nationwide sweepstakes that will award $32 million dollars to the public through Feb. 15. “H&R block is putting the �fun’ back in refund season,” said Heather Thompson | Regional Marketing Coordina-

tor. To do so, they’ve coordinated the “1,000 Win $1,000 Daily Sweepstakes.” Buskey’s name was drawn Monday, the first day of the contest. He, like 999 other winners across the country that day, were notified via email. Buskey learned of the sweepstakes after visiting Reisha Thissell, tax professional, at the H&R Block office at 3856 Main St., Warrensburg, where he had his taxes filed. Anyone who files their taxes at a participating H&R Block

office through Feb. 15 can be automatically entered into the sweepstakes; 32,000 people will win a $1,000 prize. Thissell and H&R staff >> Story Continued | pg. 25


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