COUNTYWIDE : Schaefer Says Trip Cost Her, Aided County

Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer’s gave her fellow board members a pointed reminder that her recent trip to New York to save the county money had a personal cost.

“Both major bond rating services gave our county their top rating,” Schaefer told her colleagues at Tuesday’s board meeting.

The preferable bond ratings will save the county money in interest payments.

“So in some ways, it was a very productive trip.

“In other ways, it was a very expensive trip,” she said, referring to her election defeat at the hands of political newcomer Maria VanderKolk.

Schaefer has blamed part of her election loss on the fact that she was out of town on county business during the closing days of the race and thus unable to campaign.

Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrative officer and another member of the team that negotiated the ratings, said the county’s $60 million in short-term bonds were rated at the highest level by Standard & Poor’s Corp. and Moody’s Investors Service.

The ratings, he said, will lower the interest the county must pay to finance its day-to-day operations during the coming fiscal year.

None of the supervisors referred to Schaefer’s defeat directly, but one board member, Maggie H. Erickson, praised Schaefer and Supervisor James R. Dougherty for their efforts in obtaining the favorable ratings.

“We owe you both a debt of gratitude,” Erickson said.