Amherst Times

Our Town Clerk, Susan Jaros, decided to resign effective July 26, 2008.  This past July 7^th at the Monday night Town Board meeting the Board chose Marjory H. Jaeger to be our new Amherst Town Clerk.  The vote was four to three.  The four Council members who voted for Miss Jaeger were Dr. Weinstein, Guy Marlette, Shelly Schratz and Supervisor Mohan.

The selection of Miss Jaeger was a surprise considering Dr. Mohan had already put forth Mary Wik’s name for this position.  Mary is the Deputy Clerk and has worked in the Town Clerk’s office for over ten years.  Mohan couldn’t get the votes to support Mrs. Wik because the Republicans on the Board had already decided on Miss Jaeger knowing full well that Dr. Mohan was going to vote with them.  Mohan asked the Board if they could amend his resolution and change the name from Mary Wik to Marjory Jaeger.  This is not amending his resolution, this is changing the resolution.  The Board went ahead and voted for this changed resolution, which is illegal, therefore the vote was also illegal.

It was a done deal even before the meeting began.  I was told by two Republican board members, that Miss Jaeger had the four votes needed to be selected because Mohan had already agreed to vote with the three Republicans on the Board. The public “support” he showed for Mary Wik was just that.  It was for show. 

Miss Jaeger is on our Planning Board as well as the Vice President of the Amherst Republican party and is the Republican representative at the Board of Election office downtown.  This is a full time job, as is our Town Clerk position.  Since she was appointed to the Town Clerk position, not elected, she will have to work the required 40 hour week.  She will also have to give up her seat on the Amherst Planning Board.

Miss Jaeger, freeing yourself to devote your time and energy to your new full time Town Clerk’s position, would be a smart move.  (Would she even CONSIDER maintaining her Board of Election job while also working as our Town Clerk?) 

The appointment of Miss Jaeger angered Board Democrats. They accused Dr. Mohan of political patronage because there was no posting of the job; none of the Board members had the opportunity to read Miss Jaeger’s resume or qualifications; and no paperwork was submitted to any Board members prior to the meeting.

Miss Jaeger is a personal friend of Guy Marlette, Shelly Schratz and Dr. Weinstein.  These three plus Mohan voted for Miss Jaeger with none of them knowing her work history or qualifications.  The only reason she was given the job was that she is an influential officer of the Republican Party.  

Mark Manna made it clear that Dr. Mohan was not a man of honor; that he lies about almost everything.  The other Democrats, Dan Ward and Debbie Bucki, also voiced strong opposition to Dr. Mohan’s method of selecting Miss Jaeger without knowing anything about her, as he stated.

Mohan did write in a memo on July 8^th, after Miss Jaeger was already voted in as our new Town Clerk at $70,000 a year, that he had a telephone conversation with her on July 8^th.  It was during that conversation that she informed him of her biographical data. 

So, for once Mohan didn’t lie.  At the Monday night  meeting he said he never met with her or had any conversation with her.  At that time he was telling the truth.  He knew nothing about her when he voted with the three Republicans to make her our new Town Clerk.  Brilliant.  The Town Clerk is privy to very private information about the Town and the people who work, or worked, in town. A background check on Miss Jaeger is essential before she takes this position. 

This whole affair must be turned over the State Comptroller for a full investigation of possible corruption by the four members of the Town Board who acted on selecting someone they knew little about; her work history; or her qualifications to serve as our Town Clerk. There should be a background check on this “candidate.”  Shelly Schratz is the strongest advocate of checking the criminal past of new employees but in this case she ignored one of her strongest positions.  Why?

Now the public knows that none of the four Board members who voted for Miss Jaeger knew anything about her past employment record, did not review any background check, nor did they know her qualifications for the job, they should demand another vote.  This time it would have to be without Miss Jaeger’s name involved because the four members who voted for her have made her damaged goods.