To the editor:

I was the chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Committee for 13 years and a Democratic state committeeman for eitght years. During all that time, I was a volunteer for former county Legislator Cliff Donaldson campaigns, and in fact it was Cliff who urged me to become a Democrat.

This year he is again running for the Franklin County legislature, and I am proudly supporting him in this campaign. He is now running on an independent line called the Common Sense Party. He is asking voters of every party to join him under his big tent and help our end of the county get its fair share of funds and the services we have been doing without. It’s time for the south end of the county to send a real fighter to Malone.

Cliff Donaldson is far more than just a talker; he is a doer. While he was in the county legislature he chaired the committee that oversaw the building of the Franklin County Courthouse annex.

He took the lead in solving the landfill situation when the state Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner personally visited Franklin County and informed both local leaders and county officials that all town landfills were to be closed and properly capped. It was Cliff who pushed for a county-wide solution to the landfill problem. Today the county is served by a state-of-the-art landfill in the town of Westville and transfer stations that dot the county.

When the state of New York came to Franklin County and had plans for closing down the 100-plus-year-old county jail, it was again Cliff who led the way in building a new county jail facility so that the county would not be paying boarding costs for its inmates to counties around the state where beds might be available.

He is still involved in governmental affairs as a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, where he is bringing his leadership to oversee the day-to-day operations of the authority, but he also assists with overseeing millions of dollars in construction costs to build new venues and refurbish the 1980 Olympic venues.

We don’t need a talker in the county legislature; we need a proven doer and that is why I am supporting Cliff Donaldson for Franklin County legislature.

Sincerely,

Joseph Pickreign

Former chairman, Franklin County Democratic Committee

Saranac Lake