Editor:

If you weren’t there at the Hoag Library in Albion last Thursday, June 17, for this opportunity to be at not just one but two meetings to help build racial relations in your community, you still have ample chances in your lifetime!

At both of these book review sessions, the book, “White Fragility” by author Robin DiAngelo, was discussed. The literary work points out the opportunities that white people in our society can realize they have to help minimize racial divide after self examination of racist tendencies that we may not be aware of.

There were modest groups of people at both, a mix of race. The discussion was fairly open. It seemed to be a worthy follow up event to the committee established to discuss race and local police forces by Sheriff Chris Bourke and County Legislature Chairman, Lynne Johnson.

By the way, as an invested Orleans County resident and county worker for over 50 years, I am impressed by those appointed to that committee representing different factions of my home county.

Whether or not people had an opinion on the book and whether or not those overall opinions were positive or negative, was not the point. The point is that this type of discussion is actually taking place, and the existence of this book has brought this about. That is the important fact.

The last five years in this country has really brought to light that we have a lot of work to do to bring more cohesion to our nation as it pertains to race relations. In my mind, “fear” in our hearts is the overriding factor in allowing race to be a divider in our country and in our world.

If we could only just overcome our “fear” to really get to know each other, willing to meet and socialize with others of different races, I believe we can go more in the right direction of this dilemma.

Ignoring that a problem exists can only hurt, not help. I am begging people of my race, of the white persuasion, to do what you can to try to help our country be more cohesive.

I’ll end this with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The time is always right to do what is right….”

Gerry Golden

Rochester

Editor:

We write this in objection to the Supervisor’s letter. This election is not about individual attacks. It comes down to whether we want change or carry on with the status quo?

Knowledge is power and boy did we learn some interesting things from a FOIL request. Here are the facts. You don’t have to take our word for it. These numbers exist in the budget that every person has a right to see. These facts help tell a story of what is happening in the Town of Shelby that politicians don’t want us to uncover.

In 2017 the Town spent $53,904 on attorney fees, an increase of over two times from the previous year. In 2018, the Town budgeted $80,000 and spent $122,152.11, this is the year of the land owners’ fight. In 2019, the Town spent $73,931.16, which cannot be wholly attributed to land owners. In 2020, the Town spent $105,057, certainly not wholly attributed to land owners. In 2021, they budgeted $127,500 and we’re curious as to what they will spend on that.

See there’s no reason to believe that spending will go down based on the trends. Since 2017, the Town has seen an increase of nearly 60% for budgeted attorney fees. That is the definition of out of control. Many of us own our business. Since when do we rollover unused money in a budget line while increasing the costs of goods and services? That’s not how budgets work and frankly, it’s just a spin to distract from the real issues.

Real issues such as tax hikes and town wide reassessment. Our taxes have gone up every single year since 2016. Additionally, our taxes have jumped nearly 10% since 2016! Again these are facts and public knowledge. These budgets are the same ones that Seitz and Bacon approve in unison every year. When you add up the spending, the attorney fees, the increase tax rates, and the town wide reassessment, we come to only one conclusion – failure.

If Seitz and Bacon are trying to tell citizens that we shouldn’t fight for our rights then this is more reason we need change! If they would conduct business in the open and stop targeting our own citizens, we wouldn’t need to have these high priced attorneys.

The land owners’ lawsuit vs. the Town was an attempt to protect our personal property. Right or wrong, we as citizens have that right to do so. It wasn’t frivolous, it was important. That lawsuit comprised of more than 20 people, not just one person.

Don’t let the political spin distort the facts. Town of Shelby residents deserve representation that fights for them not against them.

Susan M Slingerland

Brian Murray, Sr.

Eddie Zelazny

Kenneth Oliver

Jeffrey Stockwell

Paul Luthart

Donald Garrett, Sr.

Bob Kwandrans

Jim Zelazny

Steve Miller

Lee Hellert

Editor:

This year the Town of Gaines residents are tasked to elect a Town Justice into office. Two candidates are running for one position.

My views are very traditional. I am a firm believer in everyone’s Constitutional rights. I also believe that everyone is accountable for their actions. Each case that comes before the Justice is unique. A case should be decided on its own merits and be judged fairly and without prejudice.

Every citizen that appears before the court is entitled to be treated fairly and the court has the responsibility to ensure their rights are not violated. Although the Town Justice is elected by the people, it should not be a political position whatsoever. A Justice cannot be influenced by any particular political party.

I believe my service to our country in the US Army, our state as a NYS Correction Officer, and our community as a Paramedic for nearly 40 years combined prove my commitment to you. On Tuesday I ask for your vote to continue my service as your Town Justice.

Respectfully,

Charles Prentice Jr.

Editor:

Joe Sidonio is absolutely exceptional.  This community does not know how lucky we are to have Joe looking out for our interests. He is honest, trained and experienced. He is not self interested. He is giving and caring. Luckily, somehow, he is driven to want to improve our living situations here in Murray.

What one does not see on the surface is the depth of Joe’s commitment. He began being interested in helping Murray years ago. He started by attending town meetings and listening. He then volunteered to serve and was asked by Town Supervisor Hank Lehning to represent Murray on the Orleans County Planning Board and subsequently to serve on the Town of Murray Planning Board. On each board he served for years. He studied these roles, attended trainings and talked in depth to officials across the state of New York about the positions in order to educate himself fully about his responsibilities. Incredible.

These years of service spurred Joe to run for public office so that he could further his contribution. In each chapter of his service Joe has applied the same principles: working for the town endless unseen hours, researching each topic to seek the facts and the proper procedure, recruiting new people to participate in our town, and being straightforward and unequivocally honest. The truth is that Joe has given years of his life to this community.

For Joe doing the best job equals doing things correctly. This means that the principles of procedure are very important to him. Applying rules consistently to everyone, having policies in place to guide the actions of government and then adhering to them, making sure that the accounting of the town is correct and clear, and ensuring that the mandate to spend the taxpayer’s dollars wisely and conservatively is followed, are some of the guiding principles that he follows unwaveringly.

Joe makes friends wherever he goes. He befriends people of every walk of life, every age group and every world view. It is remarkable. His innate interest in his fellow citizens is radiant and permeates his smile, his humor and his outlook. He is always learning and learns from everyone he meets. He then puts his learning and friendships to good use to make the world a better place.

The saddest thing is that Joe has been rebuffed and attacked by some community members from Murray from the day he began to volunteer simply because he has wanted to do things right. We have watched in agony as individuals have gone out of their way to present roadblocks and problems and even to create accusations. If Joe were not as gracious a person he would have long ago filed harassment complaints.

Joe has inspired us as residents to believe in Murray again. People now attend town meetings and are not afraid to voice their new ideas, opinions and concerns. We have more elections, and more people involved than any other community in Orleans County.

Prior to Joe getting involved in government Murray had not had a contested election in nearly 30 years. In the last months residents have brought forward at work meetings ideas and issues about day care, memorial restoration, dangerous speeding on roads, consistent application of the law, town spending, and proposals to divide New York State into regions – just to outline a few topics. This is democracy at work!

What you will elect in electing Joe Sidonio is someone who restores our faith in intelligent, clear, honest, hard-working government for the citizens.

Amy Susan Machamer (Joe Sidonio’s wife)

Susan Hurd Machamer (Joe Sidonio’s mother-in-law)

Amelia Sidonio (Joe Sidonio’s daughter)

Murray

Editor:

This past Saturday, June 19^th, in the mail were found two postcards, which pertained to this Tuesday’s Republican primary for councilmen in the Town of Shelby.

The first was a typical post card introducing the candidate and his views, some promises if elected, some pictures. Totally usual campaign information, and something one would expect during a cleanly run primary race.

The second was a big-city type slick attack ad. The timing of the mailing was perfect, it came out just a few days before the Tuesday primary, and grouped two of our hard-working Town of Shelby councilmen with city slick lawyers. The timing makes it hard to mount a defense against unmerited claims, accusations and distortions of the facts.

Whoever produced and approved this ad must have been ashamed of their work because after making fun of councilmen William Bacon and Stephen Seitz, and condemning the entire board, the producers forgot to tell us who they were. So, the anonymous ad producer included some partially correct information but were not brave enough to take credit for their slick mailing.

The reverse of the mailing had a chart comparing the budgeted amounts for legal expenses in the Town of Shelby compared to costs from other nearby towns. The information regarding the Town of Shelby was FOILED (sought via Freedom of Information Act) by Ed Zelazny, one of the primary candidates, a month or so ago. So, while there is no proof who did this mailing the information must have come from Mr. Zelazny because we did not have other FOILs for this information.

The mailing basically said the Town of Shelby board, including Councilmen Seitz and Bacon are spending too much on legal fees, and that we spend more on lawyers than road repair.

In 2020 our actual legal expenses were about $73,000. We spent about $154,000 of town funds on road repair. In 2021 we have budgeted $160,000 for road repairs and expect to spend the entire amount. The legal budget line is $127,500, but we hope the actual spending will be less than for 2020. Unused amounts from any line item get rolled into the next years’ budget and keep tax increases down.

Back to the attack mailing. It is quite a stunning accusation that the board is overspending on legal fees when a substantial amount of the legal fees can be attributed to defending the Town of Shelby against repeated lawsuits brought by Mr. Zelazny and his family.

There is one other lawsuit against the town costing money, and we are also getting legal counsel regarding the solar, wind and STAMP projects which affect Shelby’s legal costs. If all these uncommon items were taken out, our legal fees would be similar or less than Ridgeway’s.

We have a new highway superintendent, Dale Root, and myself as new town supervisor. With both having one year of experience we are working with the board to formulate a five-year plan for road repairs. Councilmen Bacon and Seitz are on the roads committee, and with Dale laid out plans in March for road repairs. This included repairs to Martin and Fletcher Chapel Roads.  Damage to Bigford and Sour Springs Roads made it necessary to revise the plans.

Please feel free to contact me or any other board member to get the real facts about these situations. The entire board is working hard to do the best it can for the residents of Shelby. We all live, work, and pay taxes here, too. The board is trying to run a more efficient town. Our budget workshops are open to all.

Please get out and vote this Tuesday. Find out the facts and don’t be deceived by a slick attack ad produced by someone unwilling to sign their work.

Jeff Smith

Shelby Town Supervisor

Editor:

This is not a letter I wanted to write, but I feel like I have to set the record straight. It is no secret that the Murray Town Board and their entrenched politicians have had it out for Joe Sidonio even before he was elected Supervisor. They don’t like the fact that someone is coming in and shaking things up.

Louise Passarell, who is the cousin of Randy Bower, sounds like Nancy Pelosi trying to take credit for Donald Trump’s accomplishments. They called Joe when he was running for office a liar and berated him for saying there was a loss of money and a disconnect in the water department, and now that he came in and the loss has been greatly reduced, they want credit. That’s comical to me.

Bower says he will get Murray working together. Bower has been on the town board for a year now, and has shown no sign of trying to bring the town hall together. He has two cousins working in the town hall. How can Bower be unbiased and make the right decisions for us, the tax payers, while working with family at the town hall?

I have not heard one thing that Randy Bower will do for this town. His campaign is reminding me of Joe Biden’s: sit in the basement, don’t say a word and let the career politicians shovel as much dirt out as they can to try to get you to turn against our leader. Why change coaches now when we have a winner already?

Joe Sidonio has been fighting for this town for years to make it a better place for all our families. His focus and dedication to this town speaks volumes to his character. The accomplishments by him and his administration in just one year alone is outstanding and he deserves to be re-elected to keep fighting for us all.

Vote for Joe Sidonio and let’s keep Murray winning.

Adam Moore

Murray

Editor:

There’s no reason to get in this back and forth, to the point where the local Republican Party is trying to send a corrected press release with slightly less falsehoods throughout it.

No one throughout this campaign has condemned the Republican Party for their endorsements prior to my decision to run for Councilman. In fact, I’m sure they had conversations on issuing a supporting press release for incumbents back in late January. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this. The issues begin afterword.

Shortly thereafter, I spoke with the Republican Committee Secretary to inquire about running for office. I was told specifically it was too late to get on the ballot. After kicking myself for having to first check with family, I decided to do a little research. I found out that I COULD be on the ballot. I then went out and got the necessary signatures to be a viable candidate on the Republican line this June 22nd. My name will be on the ballot right next to the two incumbents. So why try and keep me off?

The local Republican committee knew I could still pass petitions and yet I was purposely misled. The local Republican Party knew once petitions were filed that there was a Republican primary. They knew that their conversation in late January is no longer relevant. They knew their press release signifying unity was done solely to confuse voters. At no point did the committee reconvene to discuss the support for the incumbents or myself.

Enough with the deceit. The issues lie in the fact that we lack transparency in local government. Budgets are broken, our taxes go up, and the only solution offered is to keep assessing our property.

Let this sink in, the Town of Shelby will spend more on Buffalo attorneys than road repairs! We pay over five times more for these attorneys than the Town of Ridgeway! Attorney fees have grown nearly forty percent (40%) since 2018! Lastly, they proposed another town-wide assessment to offset their recklessness. The only solution proposed by the two incumbents is to raise taxes. How about cut back on unnecessary spending!? The reason our taxes escalate year after year is due to this lack of transparency.

The problem doesn’t lie in the timeline Chairwomen Eick, it’s that our local government has ignored the voice of the people. I am Eddie Zelazny, a husband, father to three, and lifelong Republican. I will stand up for what is right and champion the voice of our community. Please consider supporting me on June 22nd.

God Bless,

Eddie Zelazny

Shelby

Candidate for Town of Shelby Council

Editor:

The New York Bar Association has brought talent from every level together to look at police reform. I write to throw out some of its ideas, almost verbatim, for public debate here.

“A key component of modernizing law enforcement … is rethinking the type of person who should be a police officer and how that officer’s career is managed from being a rookie to a senior leader in the department.”

The report identified five key stages of policing that need enhancement – hiring, training, activities while “on the beat,” monitoring, and disciplining.”

1) All police officers to have college degrees, a professional license and liability insurance;

2) Reform of the curriculum and approaches taught at police academy training and requirements of continued training; aligning (including) police professionals with other professions in terms of education, licensing, and continuous substantive legal training;

3) Reform of hiring practices; that includes diversity and diversity training including district attorneys, public defenders and courts;

4) Change state laws to give communities a way to have some say in alleged police misconduct and discipline while also a) minimizing the influence of police unions on disciplinary actions and b) reforming qualified immunity laws to allow a civil remedy in order to sue over violations of an individual’s rights;

5) Leverage technology to obtain data which will improve monitoring and oversight and strengthen accountability.

Food for thought.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

As a member of the Republican District Committee of the Town of Murray, I would like to express my wholehearted support for the re-election of  Joe Sidonio as our town supervisor. Like Joe, I too am an outsider who moved to this area because I believed it had certain advantages. Lower taxes, less regulations than Monroe County and a rural environment were the attractions that led me here. I’m one of those people who came to attend SUNY College at Brockport and decided to stick around after graduation. After graduation I opened a successful business in Brockport that sustained me for over 20 years.

Perhaps this is why I support Joe, and why I supported Donald Trump. I like to see businessmen in government. That is what I believe it takes to hold a public office such as a town supervisor, a successful background in the administration of a business. Because essentially what a supervisor does is administer a business or a town.

In the time he has been in office, he has reduced our tax rate, reduced water department debt and reduced highway department spending. Exactly the things he said he’d do. Unlike most politicians, he has actually kept his campaign promises!

I want to add that I have nothing against the other candidate in this primary, Randy Bower. He was an excellent county sheriff, but I’m not sure that his background prepares him for the position of town supervisor.

By the way, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for our law enforcement people. My dad was a Seneca County deputy sheriff when I was growing up. This job takes a businessman and I will be casting my ballot for Joe on primary day.

Anthony J. Peone

Holley

Editor:

Our family immigrated to America in the late 1800’s and settled in Fancher. They worked in the quarries and eventually purchased a farm on the corner of Fancher and Telegraph Roads. This was the house that we grew up in. It was a time in America that World War II was about to become a reality.

I remember picking milk weed pods for the War effort, troop trains stopping in Fancher for water for the steam engine train and the troops throwing oranges to us. Train after train as they passed the troops would wave and we waved back. Little did we know how many would never return.

On August 14, 1949 I experienced something that has remained with me for 72 years. On that day some 2,000 people assembled in Fancher for the dedication of the war memorial. I had never seen anything like it and I had a front row seat standing on the corner of Fancher and Telegraph Roads. There were dignitaries, families, marching bands and the whole bit.

I will never forget one thing, though, the face of a mother in the back seat of the black sedan with a gold star on the door. I saw her face. Our eyes met. I could feel her heart beat. I knew then who she was and why she was there riding in that car with a gold star. I have been forever haunted by that experience.

I am so pleased that the monument is being restored. It is remarkable that a community came together with a purpose to build something for the 10 local boys lost in that horrible war. They built it as a testament to the ultimate sacrifice the boys made. They built it for the gold star mothers to honor their loss. They built it to last.

It has lasted 72 years now and will remain for future generations thanks to the hard work of Danny Mawn, President of Holley Murray Historical Society, and Marsha DiFilipps, Holley Murray Historian, who have researched the history of the monument and the importance it holds for the community. Thank you to Tom Rivers, Editor, for spreading the word for the rededication via the Orleans Hub.

Most of all thank you to Town of Murray Supervisor, Joseph Sidonio, without whom the restoration and rededication would never have happened. Joe, thank you for the one hundred phone calls, countless hours of work, pictures and emails sent and friendship I will cherish.

I (Fred Fiorito) really never expected the response to a voicemail that I left one day in late May 2020. A call that evening left me a stranger from a town just outside of New York City who left Fancher 61 years ago and only returned a couple of times a year to visit his parents and brother, Ted Fiorito, Jr., the last of the Fioritos. He left his mark of military service and fire service in FHM Fire Department for 61 years.

I was asked if I would like the monument moved to a quiet spot, maybe in Brockville or Hulberton. My answer was and is NO. The community chose to build it in the center of Fancher so we would not ever forget them.

Remember those great kids who sacrificed everything and their tomorrows so that we might enjoy our todays.

Fred and Ted Fiorito

Murray