April 5, 2017
To the Editor:
I have just finished reading “On my mind” by Legislator Karl
Graves in the latest edition of the Cuba Patriot and Free Press. Once again in
his attempt to discredit me and/or the Sheriff’s Office, Legislator Graves has
“jumped the gun” and reported facts that are untrue. The grant he is speaking
of is the Division of Criminal Justice Services Police Protective Grant which I
clearly stated in my Memorandum of Explanation presented to the Public Safety
Committee on October 24, 2016.
I had been approached by a local police chief who was
interested in applying for this grant, but the grant specifically stated that
it had to be applied for through the County Administrator on behalf of
interested departments in the county. The maximum total grant was $25,000.00
and was to be split among the departments who joined in the application. A
total of eight departments participated in the grant application. The Sheriff’s
Office and the Alfred, Wellsville, Cuba, Friendship, Angelica, Andover and
Independence police departments. In January our application was approved and we
were awarded a total of $24,979.00 with the Sheriff’s Office receiving
$7,207.00. The other awards were: Cuba PD $4,437.00; Wellsville PD $4,321.00;
Alfred PD $4,006.00; Angelica PD $1,831.00; Andover PD $1,393.00; Friendship PD
$1,111.00; and Independence PD $673.00. This grant also listed specific
equipment that could be purchased; rifles, ballistic helmets, ballistic
carriers and plates. The equipment that the Sheriff’s Office is purchasing will
be available to any local police agency to use if needed in an emergency.
Today’s memorandum of explanation that I presented to the
public safety committee was to accept and budget the money awarded in the
grant, as is required by county rules, not to apply for the grant. Legislator
Graves also reported that the Resolution I mentioned in the MOE (255-16) was
incorrect and pertained to OFA and Total Senior Care, and he had reported “my
mistake” to the County Administrator and Public Safety Chair. I have attached a
copy of resolution number 255-16 to this letter and as you can clearly see it
states “Authorizing the County Administrator to apply for funding from New York
State under the Police Protective Equipment Program.
Legislator Graves also states in his letter “these cases are
so obvious that anyone caring enough would find the truth”, well; the truth is,
once again, you were wrong.
Sincerely,
Ricky L. Whitney
Allegany County Sheriff
