Morning Read: Gouverneur’s troubled village mayor files personal bankruptcy
The Watertown Daily Times has a painful story from reporter Martha Ellen, looking at the latest twists and turns in the personal financial melodrama of Mayor Christopher Miller of Gouverneur.
Miller is accused (among other things) of cutting off heat to tenants, failing to pay property taxes, and selling a building that was already in foreclosure.
“He’s not an upstanding citizen at all,” said Kyle J. Travis, who signed a lease with option to purchase the South Street properties May 24. “In his political position, he needs to be reprimanded. He needs to take responsibility.”
According to Ellen, Miller is now filing for bankruptcy. There is no mention of his future political plans, though he did acknowledge that the situation might cause his community some discomfort.
“We’re really taking the necessary steps to get things done,” he said. “I don’t care if I get trashed. What bothers me is it reflecting on the village. We’re trying to make things better.”
Miller was elected in 2010, despite the fact that he served prison time in North Carolina for drug possession and served probation for a felony forgery county.
He also has a longish rap sheet and history of unpaid debts in the North Country, according to a previous Watertown Daily Times article.
In a blog post reacting to the Watertown Daily Times story, Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham opines that Miller will be replaced in the next election.
Tags: economy, politics, stlawrencevalley
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In 2011, Miller beat out the incumbent Republican 256 to 227. Using the available census data for the village, I estimate the voter turnout was between 20% and 25%.
Perhaps, it merely a story of people being given second chances. Hopefully, Mr. Miller will get his financial matters resolved. He’s not the first politician to have this type of trouble.
Financial problems are not his only problems. It is a pretty tangled web also dealing with a complaint/ problem from a current employee of the village who was his ex boyfriend (I am not compounding rumor’s, this was reported in the Watertown times).
On the other hand this stuff is no secret in the village. They elected him its not like this was all secret stuff. I think it is bad for the village which has a lot of other issues to deal with.
He’s not the first to have a problem with a ex-boyfriend. These trysts between supervisors and subordinates rearely end well.
In the end, the story is about elections having consequences. When you don’t like the party in power and you don’t adequately vet the challenger, low voter turnout sometimes gives undesired results.
Mr. Miller has a number of personal problems to resolve. Hopefully, he can work things out.
Trysts between supervisors and subordinates are also often against the law, they involve power relationships and your right do not end up well; it opens the village up to a lot of potential legal damages.
But you are right elections have consequences.