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Donaldson was remarkable as county legislator

To the editor:

As a former Franklin County legislator from District 7, I have never lost interest in the workings of county government and the activities of those who have served there since my departure. That is why I support Cliff Donaldson in his effort to return to the county legislature and to serve again on behalf of the towns of Franklin and Harrietstown.

Cliff served for 13 years as District 7 legislator, and his performance was remarkable. During times of constricting budgets and unfunded state and federal mandates, he was still able to secure increased county services for our area. Among them were the Motor Vehicles office in Saranac Lake, also the Public Health and Social Services offices, the landfill transfer station, continued funding for the airport and, perhaps most important, adequate annual funding for North Country Community College.

As Cliff has pointed out, NCCC is one of the largest economic assets in the Tri-Lakes. It is by far the largest one over which county government has any control. It was no easy task getting the college located here and perhaps even more difficult to build the campus. It required the cooperation of Democrats, Republicans and independents from both Franklin and Essex counties. Without the campus construction, the state would have closed the college by 1978.

Today the campus is about 40 years old and in need of repair and upgrade. To accomplish this will require a coalition similar to the one that succeeded in 1976. Cliff Donaldson’s past performance clearly shows that he is the best choice to get it done.

Cliff has also served as Essex County manager and New York State Association of Counties president and currently sits on the Olympic Regional Development Authority board, which through the Olympic Training Center maintains a relationship with NCCC. As NYSAC president, he secured a limit on Medicaid payments by counties, which had previously threatened the financial stability of all the state’s counties.

Cliff is uniquely qualified at getting good things done by reaching across boarders and political party lines to do so. We are most fortunate to have someone with Cliff’s record of accomplishment willing to serve on our behalf.

Jan H. Plumadore

Saranac Lake

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