Yates town supervisor motivated by doing right for community

Posted 2 February 2016 at 12:00 am

Editor:

I am writing to defend the character of Jim Simon, who was unfairly maligned by Susan Campbell in her letter posted on Feb. 1. She clearly doesn’t know the man.

Here you have a person who, for the public good (more funding available for the town of Yates for other needed things), decided not to draw a salary. Instead of asking him personally about it, she turns something good into something suspect. She says, “What if he is being paid by someone else and his main objective is to oppose the Lighthouse Wind Farm?”

Really?

I know Mr. Simon. Since he is the Dean of our two local community college campuses, Mr. Simon has been my employer for the last 10 years at Genesee Community College. As such, I feel I can speak pretty confidently as to the person he is, and I can tell you two things that he puts before everything else: God, and family.

If Ms. Campbell had even a 20-minute conversation with him, she would see his quiet character shining through immediately. Frankly, I suspect his moral fiber is the number one reason he was elected as a write-in candidate: because the people that met him recognized goodness when they saw it. And, they trusted that he would act in their collective best interest in his capacity as a town leader.

Incidentally, if Ms. Campbell were truly interested in knowing Mr. Simon’s rationale for opposing the wind farm, perhaps she should go back and review the very thorough article on the Orleans Hub on Jan. 14. Click here to see “Yates Town Board officially opposes ‘Lighthouse Wind’.”

Lastly, I find it ironic that Ms. Campbell dismisses Mr. Riggi and Mr. Simon and says that neither are motivated by some “saintly” duty. Well, let’s see: they’re both brave enough to take on the established order; they both play David to Apex’s Goliath; they both act for the greater good from modest means, and neither expects a financial reward (but for the reward of God’s green earth and open sky, unbroken by naught but the flight and gyre of birds)

I don’t know! I think many of us’ll have to disagree, Ms. Campbell! They both sound kinda saintly to me!

Respectfully,

Karen Jones
Medina