Shelby council member says new leadership, culture change needed on board

Editor:

Dear Shelby residents, your voice is important, especially for this primary. It needs to be heard loud and clear so our Town can succeed.

As a council member for just over a year, I unfortunately cannot endorse the current course of action that we are taking, a tax-and-spend approach. When I decided to run for office it was with the intent to help my fellow neighbors, be sure Shelby’s best interests were being represented, and frankly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t voice my concerns.

Too many meetings have come and gone where critical information has been missing, my questions go unanswered, 42 years of experience in finance is dismissed, and all our research is disregarded by the current majority. This is unacceptable going forward.

The lack of transparency throughout the Town Board majority is appalling. It’s frowned upon to inquire about the simplest tasks, let alone major projects like changing our water supplier!

The majority, led by the Supervisor, fails to promote collaboration and shuts down any discussion from board members like myself and Mr. Zelazny. I like to think that we all decided to run for office to better our town, so our actions should speak louder than our campaign promises.

It’s unacceptable when the current majority purchases water at a cheaper rate and six months later, still has no plan to pass the savings onto residents! That’s poor leadership and it happens every day which hurts our families. Our Town deserves better.

New leadership is desperately needed. We need representatives like those who have shown up to Town meetings for years, and stayed up to date with issues, not ones who just take marching orders at a meeting.

Council members are not supposed to be “yes” people. A culture change is needed, a new majority without ties to the status-quo should be our path. Town government should work by being professional, inclusive, and fostering discussions which lead to solutions – values our current town supervisor does not promote.

Shelby needs us to raise the bar for Town Government. We need more people like myself and Mr. Zelazny to take a deeper look into the financials and make sure they get sorted out. We don’t have a revenue problem in our Town; we have a spending problem. Every budget this Supervisor has done has been riddled with financial mismanagement that sets Shelby deeper into chaos.

Residents of Shelby, please read these words and help change our town for the better. It takes a new majority and new leadership, not an endorsed status quo.

Councilman Zelazny and I need help to fight against this mismanagement. Return him to office with other new faces who have come to Town meetings for years, offer a fresh perspective on Town issues, and did this before some committee handpicked them to run for office. We need a better plan than the current tax and spend.

You have a chance in the upcoming June 24th primary to make a choice for change. Respectfully,

Linda Limina

Shelby