It's time for a new Sheriff in town - and we certainly hope someone out there steps up to the plate to put an end to the Schiff -Chaboty political (wrecking) machine.
Mike Schiff and "Team Schiff" are more interested in controlling who gets elected and who doesn't in Sullivan County as does his sidekick Undersheriff Eric Chaboty, who has shown an affinity for conspiracy theories.
Both pretend that there are written towing contracts for evidentiary towing and county towing, where none exist (we checked). They have created a virtual monopoly for one favored towing company over many others. Yet, that's all just fine with County Manager Josh Potosek and County Attorney Mike McGuire, the volatile, disgraced former judge whose wife was given a job over 10 other people in Schiff's office last year.
Chaboty, too, smeared the reputation of a competing towing company owner, well respected in Sullivan and who won both "contracts" in 2020. But Chaboty literally chased him out of town with threats of prosecution on trumped up charges of felony insurance fraud that were never substantiated.
Then there was the excessive show of force last week at meetings of the County Legislature where about a dozen deputies were ordered to show up to prevent the public from having a voice against Legislature Chair Rob Doherty. Chaboty was there, too.
Schiff and Chaboty were responsible for costing taxpayers TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars in excessive costs for the new jail due to incompetence. And, when Covid-19 hit inmates in big numbers, their reaction to the virus was slow, they were less than truthful about the spread and their very long delay in moving inmates to the new facility resulted in more cases that might have been avoided.
In addition, Schiff and Chaboty have yet to renounce The Oathkeepers, the far-right bigoted militia group that played a significant role in the planning and execution of the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead, including two fellow law enforcement officers. (In 2013, Schiff and Chaboty spoke a local Oathkeepers event with leader Stewart Rhodes in Monticello...that video has since been taken down and you have to wonder why).
Finally, here we are less than two months from the date that every law enforcement agency in the state is supposed to submit police reform plans that reflect the input of the community. So far, Schiff and Chaboty have shown the public nothing and have yet to hold any public meetings.
Sullivan County has so many superb heroes currently in law enforcement. Here's to hoping one of them has the guts to challenge the corruption that has pervaded the Sheriff's Office and the County for far too long.