Liable to Libel
Town threatens legal action against SAGA rep

by Katie Cahill Saugerties Times March 10, 2005

For nearly a year, Steve Haun has been trying to get a reaction from the Saugerties town board regarding a claim by his organization, Saugertiesians Against Government Abuse (SAGA), that during this year's revaluation certain property owners are being unfairly assessed by town assessor Stephen Ryan and former assessor Paul Pavlovich. On March 1, Haun got that response, in the form of a letter from town attorney John Greco, stating the town would not brook "false allegations of criminal wrongdoing" and that if it continued the town would pursue legal action.
Since this summer, members of SAGA have gathered information in an attempt to substantiate their belief that certain individuals, particularly newcomers, are being targeted for unfair assessments, while members of the board and other town officials are receiving assessments below that of comparable properties. Both SAGA and Haun have purveyed that message repeatedly at town board meetings and in letters to the editor to various local publications, including this newspaper, and on occasion have suggested, as in Haun's most recent statement to the board, that unsavory practices may be at hand. In a recent Saugerties Times letter to the editor, after naming a property specifically owned by Pavlovich that Haun believes to be underassessed, Haun wrote, "The 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution entitles me and every other American to EQUAL PROTECTION. Apparently, Paul Pavlovich, you do not care for the Constitution."
It continues: "Is this an indication of how you are showing Stephen Ryan the ropes, how assessments are done in Saugerties ..." and to town board members, "...is this how you exercise oversight of the assessor's office. CRIMINAL?"
Drawing on this and other letters issued by Haun, Greco wrote in response, "If these slanderous and libelous statements continue, legal action will ensue. We will not sit back and have you continue to defame the good character of our town's employees and consultants."

ASSESSING THE SITUATION
To date no specific action has been taken, Greco said on Tuesday, and the town has yet to make a formal decision on whether or not it will seek legal action at all. "The charges would be libel, slander and perhaps other causes of action, but there has not been a decision to bring any action and I'm hoping it's not going to be necessary." Greco said, adding, "But frankly if [the accusations] were to continue I would recommend to the town board that they authorize an action."
While Greco said he could not say whether Haun's concerns were or were not valid, he said, "SAGA or Mr. Haun, or anyone in town that wants to air grievances about assessment, are free to do so at the town board meeting, but let's keep the discourse on a civil level and not make allegations that are untrue and inflammatory and are slanderous and libelous.
"We think the suggestions that are being made by SAGA that there's some conspiracy on the part of the assessor and town board to infiltrate assessments or to show favoritism is totally untrue," Greco continued. "The assessor's office is not intentionally over-assessing anyone or treating anyone unfairly.
"We just had a town-wide revaluation," Greco said. "A lot of properties were adjusted, some upward, some downward, and the town is making sure everyone is assessed fairly."
Regarding Haun's case against Pavlovich, Greco continued, "Mr. Haun had proposed that there was a comparable piece of property that was assessed for more than Mr. Pavlovich's property. I've been told by the assessor's office that in fact, Mr. Haun is mistaken about the so-called comparable property and that there was a large structure on that property."
As for the properties of other officials named by Haun, including town supervisor Greg Helsmoortel, Greco commented that he was "not up to speed on those specific properties."
"I will say this," Greco said. "I know that the revaluation was done and I heard from one town official that her assessment had doubled, so there's not any favoritism. In fact I took it on the chin myself."
Greco said that if someone has a complaint, they can contact the assessor's office informally and they can sit down with the assessor or his assistants and express their concerns. The assessor's office will then review the information and make a determination, he explained. "If someone is not satisfied, they can file a formal petition with the board of assessment review, a local body that consists of three residents of the town, which meets in May at the formal grievance day," Greco said. "They are available all day and well into the evening."
If a property owner is still not satisfied, Greco said, depending on the property, they can take the issue to small claims court or to the Ulster County Supreme Court.
"A person can come to a town board meeting, we encourage that," Greco said, "that's democracy. But let's stick to the facts and not make personal allegations."
The town would like to come to a peaceful solution outside of the courtroom, Greco said, and that his letter might make the organization reconsider their actions. "I'm hoping that Mr. Haun and SAGA perhaps inadvertently stepped over the line, and that my letter will help them reflect more over what they say."
On the other side of the issue, Haun remains adamant that his accusations are justifiable.
"I didn't find the letter credible," he said of the notice he received from Greco. Why not? "Because of the facts, the facts that were published on the Ulster County information services (www.gis.co.ulster.ny.us/pviewer)," Haun said. "I'm reporting my findings and I'm not speculating. I'm not pulling numbers out of the sky. I asked for an explanation.
"If it's a crime in Cairo, is it a crime in Saugerties?" Haun asked, referencing an article that appeared in the Daily Freeman, which he used in his most recent presentation to the town board on February 16. The October 12, 2003 article detailed the arrest of the Cairo assessor on charges of official misconduct after he reduced the assessment on a property he purchased in the hamlet of Round Top.

AND IN THIS CORNER
As for his reaction to Greco's statement that "if these slanderous and libelous statements continue, legal action will ensue," Haun said, "If I'm libel than the Ulster County information service is libel also. I'm just reporting my findings and I'm asking questions, comparatively speaking. I do not want to slander or libel anybody, I just want some answers."
Haun said he will not stop researching or reporting his findings; however, he says, both he and SAGA will "have to be very careful about what we say in the future. Our whole objective is to be factual," he said. "We're trying to reveal as much information as possible."
Haun has sent SAGA's message to the New York state commissioner of investigations, Joseph Lavin, who, Haun says, has forwarded it to Ulster County assistant district attorney Katherine Van Loan. Van Loan commented on Wednesday that the matter was "under investigation."
"I just want to emphasize that we're not here trying to do anything other than report the facts as we see them in square footage and acreage and what that leads us to believe," Haun said.

A PEACEABLE SOLUTION?
As for how this issue has influenced both outsiders' and insiders' views of Saugerties thus far, Greco says that from what he can tell this issue has not had a negative effect on possible future residents. "I haven't heard of that, but I suppose the potential is there," he said.
In terms of how this response could affect the public commentary at town board meetings and the public's general willingness to speak at town board meetings, Greco holds a similar opinion. "I would hope not. I think that people know what the bounds of free speech are. In the same way that you can't go into a crowded theater and yell 'fire,' you can't go to a town board meeting and make claims that someone is a crook or a criminal if there's no basis for it," Greco said. "I think this town board has a long history of running an open government and up until this point we've been very fortunate in that we haven't had any problems."
Greco concluded that he hoped "that people will continue to come in and exercise their right to free speech and to participate in government."

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