By Rebecca Martin
The recent accusations that Lt. Matthews allegedy tried to ‘double dip’ by being paid twice as a city police officer and an SRO at the Kingston High School would be a bold move. Imagine, someone of his stature feeling comfortable to take the chance in requesting to be paid – twice. How could you blame a simpleton like me for questioning the oversight here and wondering where else there might be questionable department accounting?
I’m no expert, but the whole situation inspires my thinking as to who is ultimately responsible. Isn’t this an executive city matter? If so, City Hall is caught with its pants down again. First the safety net and now this?
Come on fellas. Get with the program. You are paid by the taxpayers to manage infrastucture and the budgets that surround it – and that’s really all. How hard can that be? Not so much for those who are qualified. There. I said it.
This is more serious then electing an adminstration out and hoping that another will do better. It’s a matter of professionalism and responsibility, and that has nothing to do party lines. I have a feeling this sort of thing is pervasive and whether it’s a lack of attention or sneaky – we may never know.
In the meanwhile, this isn’t acceptable and Lt. Matthew’s alleged actions may impact more than the budget. It may discredit the cases of some or all of those he put behind bars. With a six figure salary, stealing from taxpayers and then putting our safety at risk is a very serious crime. If he is guilty, then I hope he will be punished to the full extent of the law. Afterwhich Kingston – you’ve got to look more closely at department head budgets – and if that’s too much for you to do – then you don’t belong in the leadership positions that you are in. On that note, Kingston Citizens – we need to be paying closer attention. Our government is a reflection of us and if we are apathetic as a community, then how can we expect anything less?
It’s a bold stance to take, but I believe that someone should be hired to run this city, as I don’t believe Kingston is served by party line leadership any longer. We don’t need the most popular candidate with the most resources to run our city (which by the way, the voter turnout is always a small fraction of the number of citizens in the community. What does that tell you?). We simply need people who are qualified to do the job.