Seeking to remove a longtime adversary, Schoharie County Treasurer Bill Cherry asked Seward voters to replace incumbent Larry Phillips last week.
Mr. Cherry took the unusual step of reaching into town politics because he believes “that Mr. Phillips should be sidelined before he drives property taxes higher than he already has.”
In response, Mr. Phillips called the Treasurer a bully and said his appeal to Seward voters showed Mr. Cherry was “desperate and losing control over county finances.”
The two men clashed several times over county finances the past few years, most recently over county appropriations for the Chamber of Commerce last fall. Mr. Phillips, a former Chamber director, wanted more county funds for the business organization, and Mr. Cherry fought––and lost––for a lower amount going to the Chamber.
Mr. Cherry said Mr. Phillips lashed out at him after the Board of Supervisors approved the Chamber money, “and for me, that was the final straw.”
Using his own money, Mr. Cherry sent 1,100 letters, one to each Seward voter except Mr. Phillips and his wife. He omitted them, Mr. Cherry said, because he didn’t want to drag the Phillips family into the dispute.
In the letter, Mr. Cherry argued that Mr. Phillips often voted for salary increases, had a conflict of interest in the Chamber debate and is a frequent advocate of higher government spending.
He also urged Seward members of both parties to select candidates other than Mr. Phillips, a Democrat, at their summer caucuses.
“I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is,” Mr. Cherry said last week. “Larry Phillips should not be in public office. I’ll do my best to make him a private citizen.”
Although he’s in a small minority on the Board of Supervisors, Mr. Phillips has had success convincing other supervisors to go along with some spending increases, such as the Chamber appropriation.
That instance was one factor causing Mr. Cherry to resign as budget officer in April, when he cited a difference in philosophy with supervisors. The county should cut spending in difficult economic times, Mr. Cherry said, but supervisors seem to be leaning the other way.
And he sees Mr. Phillips as one of the instigators.
“Am I doing this for political purposes? Absolutely,” Mr. Cherry said. “I’m using my own money to point out to the people of Seward that his vision of government spending is completely against mine.”
Mr. Phillips, however, countered that his vision of government spending is correct. If the county can funnel more money to the Chamber for promotion, bringing in more tourists, that would increase sales tax revenue and lessen the pressure on property taxes, he said.
Holding down spending and having the county be debt-free––an achievement Mr. Cherry points to––“hasn’t brought new business here.”
As for salary increases, Mr. Phillips said Mr. Cherry, in his preliminary 2007 budget, recommended higher salaries for supervisors than supervisors themselves finally approved.
Mr. Cherry, he said, can make budget recommendations to supervisors, then avoid controversy because supervisors have the final say.
“He always comes clean,” Mr. Phillips said. “He can make recommendations, but he can’t vote. And then he can blame the outcome on supervisors.”
Mr. Phillips denied the conflict of interest charge, saying he was no longer a Chamber director when the debate occurred.
And he fired back at Mr. Cherry’s wife, Sherry, working in the county Treasurer’s Office.
“I question the nepotism of he and his wife working in the same Finance Department,” Mr. Phillips said. “Who’s watching the fox there? How come nobody questions that?”
Mr. Cherry hopes his letter encourages Seward voters to select other candidates. Mr. Phillips said he was thinking of not running for re-election this year, anyway.
Now he’s reconsidering.
“This letter may entice me to run,” Mr. Phillips said. “There are a lot of people who support what I say and do. I talk straight, and I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m doing what I do to try to make the county a better place.”