Write-in candidate in Shelby questions nomination process by town GOP committee
Editor:
If you look on the Orleans Hub Letters to the Editor, you will see a letter written by Pat Eick. This is why we need change in the Town of Shelby. Her letter is highly inaccurate.
Not only was Ryan Wilkin’s application turned in past the deadline that it was due, but Pat Eick (Republican Committee Chairperson) was not even present at the time of the interviews. So my question is how can she talk as if she was there first hand and knows how the interviews went with each candidate?
From what I was told at the interview before I left from the committee “just so you know there is another interview from an application that was turned in tonight.” So was it that Mr. Wilkins interview went better than mine or was it the result of a friend doing a friend a favor without the community’s best interests in mind? It clearly has nothing to do with him being the stronger candidate.
If the Shelby Republican Committee would have done a little research, they would have found out that Ryan Wilkins has many views which are contrary to many members on the Town Board. He was a registered Democrat from 12/13/05-3/2020 and then changed to non-affiliated from 3/2020-6/30/20 when he changed to Republican effective 6/30/2020.
Not only that but there seems to be some confusion amongst the Shelby Republican Committee from the Letter to the Editor from Pat Eick. She claimed Mr. Wilkins was chosen to fill the vacancy due to Kenneth Schaal’s passing, but that wasn’t the case. The position that was open, was Jeff Smith (Councilman) being he moved to Town Supervisor after the Supervisor resigned
FYI, the Hub must have been notified because they edited the article rather than leave it and post a whole new article. Is this the direction you want to see our Town moving towards? People that hold elected office that are unsure of what’s going on?
Also I think it’s important that the Town of Shelby residents know where Mr. Wilkins stood on the following proposal from a few years back.
Mr. Wilkins was a big advocate of the dissolution of Medina (One Medina) which would’ve merged Ridgeway, Medina and Shelby, as can be seen in many of his posts on social media.
This would’ve had a huge impact on our community by raising property taxes for anyone outside the village (Shelby & Ridgeway), and could have resulting in lose our police department, losing our paid Village Fire Department and losing our ambulance service.
Those are just a few of the things we would be impacted by in our community and we can’t have someone sitting on the board that thinks let’s just throw the burden onto those people in the Towns neighboring the Village of Medina.
Instead of dissolving our Village I myself think we need to continue to find ways to share services and cut costs with the Village of Medina. I’ve been a registered Republican for the past 18 years or since I was able to register. I will always consider all views from everyone in the community when making a decision and will always try to make the best decisions for the Town of Shelby. We have to preserve the values, land and the community that makes us who we are as Town of Shelby residents!
Craig Stalker
Write-in candidate Shelby Town Councilperson
(Editor’s Note: Eick contacted the Orleans Hub soon after her letter was posted and apologized for making a mistake about the vacancy, which was then corrected to say the seat was open due to Jeff Smith being appointed town supervisor.)
