CANAJOHARIE - After 18 years as Canajoharie town Supervisor, Robert McMahon is calling it quits, saying he's tired of the politics and the games.
The longest serving member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, McMahon announced his resignation effective March 31 and walked out of Thursday's Town Board meeting.
McMahon said he'd been considering stepping down since November's budget season and he began preparing for it when he requested not to chair the Board of Supervisors' Education Committee this year. He had held that position for at least the past decade.
"It's just getting worse. You try to do your job, do the logical thing, but all the time you see things that make no sense," he said.
McMahon said he feels at age 77, it's time for someone younger to take the helm.
"I can't get a 30-year mortgage," he joked. "I think we need a younger generation to give a different perspective."
McMahon says board members had illegal, secret meetings behind his back, including a meeting with a real estate broker to discuss buying property for a town barn.
He said some council members are not as informed as they should be and do not consider his suggestions. He said they ignored suggestions he made last year that he said may have helped the town avoid the 43 percent property tax increase in the current budget.
"It's quite irritating. I work every day to do the job I was elected to do, and [some of the council members] show up once a month and have no idea what is going on," he said. "Then they start giving you directions. It's frustrating."
Councilman Herbert Allen said he had heard rumors but didn't learn of McMahon's intentions to retire until he read it Thursday afternoon as one of the top items on the board meeting agenda.
Allen was appointed deputy supervisor at the meeting after the board rejected a recommendation by McMahon to appoint his son, Mike McMahon, as supervisor until the term is up.
Allen, who said he has no intentions to run for the supervisor spot in November, said the board would consider McMahon's son, a retired naval officer with a master's degree in political science, despite the fact that they voted not to instate him Thursday.
"Mike knows a lot of people, and his father would be there to answer any questions," Allen said. "The board wanted more time, and Bob got a little mad, so he left."
Allen said the board members couldn't have appointed Mike McMahon supervisor if they wanted to because Robert McMahon never gave the board a letter of resignation.
"He wanted us to vote on a resolution to have his son become supervisor for the rest of the year, but without a resignation we couldn't act on something that hasn't happened yet," Allen said.
Allen disputed McMahon's assertions that the council did not listen to his suggestions and that it had meetings behind his back.
"His thoughts were considered, but you have four other people," he said. "We didn't see things his way, that's all."
"We had a discussion with the Realtor, but it wasn't a meeting. We looked at some land and there was no discussion on it ... There were no decisions made on anything," Allen said.
Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Vito "Butch" Greco said McMahon will be missed. He said as the longest-standing member on the county board, his knowledge and insight were invaluable.
"Bob is a man that would sit back and listen, and when he spoke, everybody listened. He's probably the most knowledgeable individual [on the board]," he said.
Greco said he has a lot of respect for McMahon and will miss him on the board both as a friend and colleague. He said McMahon has always been focused on the betterment of the town. He added he expects McMahon to remain involved in one way or another despite his retirement.
"He's very devoted," Greco said. "It's a huge loss for the county and for Canajoharie."
McMahon said he has no plans to leave the area and plans to remain involved in his community. He praised Canajoharie and said his extended family has come to live in the area because of what it has to offer.
"No matter how much people complain, when they've lived in Dallas or Los Angeles for a while, you see there are a lot of advantages to living in a small community," he said. "There's no traffic, no crime. It's just a nice place to live."
Montgomery County reporter Amanda Whistle contributed to this article.
