Editor:

Some people go to college and conclude that a Bachelor of Science degree means they may know more than they actually do. The college experience convinces some that they are “very stable geniuses” who “know more than the generals”. Humility isn’t one of their strong suits.

The Village of Albion might benefit from leadership that respects all its residents, regardless of what they wear to work, the part of town they live in, whether their hair is grey, dark, or blonde, or what their “ride” looks like.

If Albion is to experience a revival, it cannot matter whether a resident’s parents were sharecroppers turned migrant farm workers, quarrymen, county legislators, or dentists.

The March 20th ballot includes listeners who respect the people they wish to serve. It might even include people who aren’t seeking positions to provide material for a longer obituary.

After it is over, hopefully winners and losers will pull together for the good of a community that has a lot going for it. Regardless, there is an imperative to respect everyone and recognize that contributions and good ideas can come from people of widely varying backgrounds.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

Although I am currently serving as a Trustee on the Village of Albion Board, I am also a taxpaying citizen of the Village. So I base this letter on the latter. There is currently a race for the Mayor and two Trustee positions on the Board. While all of the candidates seem to be vote-worthy, there are three that I offer my support to:

First, I support Eileen Banker for Mayor. Eileen has been on the Village Board for almost 8 years, serving four of those years as Deputy Mayor.  She is honest, hardworking, and very competent to help to move the village forward with all of the obstacles that are before us. She has a unique understanding of the many nuances of local, county, and state government. She has been a part of several cost-saving initiatives that are currently in process (solar power for the village buildings, looking into more shared services with other municipalities, investigating forming a fire district, etc.). I know how hard she will continue to work for us in Albion.

I support Stan Farone for one of the Trustee positions. Stan has brought a unique approach to village government, doing “town hall” meetings with taxpayers and involving himself in many village promotions through the Albion Betterment Committee. Stan understands the current situation in the village and is always willing to meet with citizens to come up with new ideas to help further the interests of the village.

I also support Gary Katsanis for the other Trustee position. I was able to serve with Gary during his two years on the board.  He is very intelligent and extremely meticulous; asking the right questions at the right times. I feel he is an asset to the village because of his tenacity and sense of commitment in getting to the bottom of every problem and situation he encounters.

Finally, I find it interesting that there are people outside the village chiming in with support for various candidates. It begs the question what their reasoning is for this support.Usually, when someone from the outside voices an opinion, it’s because of an agenda for themselves or someone else.

I know, without doubt, that Eileen Banker, Stan Farone, and Gary Katsanis have no agenda that is going to benefit anyone other than the taxpayers of the Village of Albion. I ask you for your support for them on March 20th.

Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Pete Sidari

Albion

Editor:

On Jan. 2, 2018, I faxed my letter of interest for the available Shelby Town Board position to the Shelby Town Hall. I have the electronic confirmation stamp of the date and time. I also gave copies of the same letter to each member of the board that night at the board meeting.

For over two months, I waited for a reply. At one point, I heard in the community that the Shelby Republican Committee would be interviewing Town Board candidates. I expected to hear from the Shelby Republican Committee about the timeline or an interview date.

I recently learned the Shelby Republican Committee endorsed someone else, without granting me and another person who applied an interview. If there was another step in the process that we needed to take, the town and committee never informed us. I also find it disturbing that my letter was never acknowledged by either the town or the committee. My brother had the same experience recently when he applied for the Town Planning Board.

My local farming operation owns 28 properties in Shelby and leases another 10. I pay taxes on my home and 16 other properties in town. It is unprofessional and blatantly discriminatory for the town and the Shelby Republican Committee to completely ignore any taxpaying citizen’s formal inquiry seeking an open seat on any board.

I strongly advise town government to create a formal policy with effective oversight on how candidates are interviewed and chosen for available board positions. Town, zoning, planning, assessment review and other boards should be comprised of a cross-section of able-bodied people with different skills, ideas and opinions. With multiple applicants, there should be no back-door dealings, no members crossing over to serve on multiple committees throughout the town and county with blatant conflicts of interest, making ethically questionable decisions and discriminating against the same taxpaying citizens who helped put them in office and whose tax dollars pay the bills.

Whether elected, appointed or employed in local government at any level — officials and employees are duty-bound to serve the many, not the few.

Jim Zelazny

Shelby

Editor:

I have lived in the Village of Albion my entire life of 57 years. I spent 20 years serving and protecting the Village of Albion community, the last 4-plus as number two in charge of the police department, as its lieutenant.

It is my understanding that there are two candidates running for mayor who wish to consider abolishing the police department. This would be detrimental to the safety of the residents of the Village of Albion.

There is one candidate for mayor and two trustees with experience and know that this would not be a good thing for our residents. For some apparent political reason, a retired legislator from another community, is attempting to influence the Village of Albion elections. Why!

There is only one way to vote Tuesday. Vote for your safety, and read between the lines. I’m voting Banker mayor, Farone and Katsanis trustees.

My family’s safety is very important to me. This is not political. It’s common sense!

Thomas K. O’Hearn

Albion

Retired lieutenant with Albion Police Department

Editor:

To the voters in the Village of Albion, I was your county legislator for 24 years and quickly learned the Village of Albion had issues that were driving away businesses and residents.

Taxes without an equal value of services made it difficult for property owners to maintain their homes as they once did. For the most part, your elected officials were good people but weren’t necessarily the right people to get the job done.

On Tuesday, March 20, you have a good person running for mayor who is also the right person for the job. Kevin Doherty is that person. As a county legislator, I had many occasions to work with Kevin, and found him to be an honest businessman, a team player and contractor who always gave full value to the county taxpayers.

He was and is very proud of his Albion community.

I encourage you to support Kevin Doherty with your vote. He is the right person for the job.

George Bower

Holley

Editor:

The Hub printed a letter the morning of  March 7 from Kim Kennedy of Medina, which was filled with slurs and extremely negative adjectives when referring to Apex and the pro-wind turbine forces.

It is an extremely offensive tirade filled with nothing but distortions and exaggerations. It should offend all reasonable people on both sides of the issue.

Dennis Seekins

Lyndonville

Editor:

It is of interest to me that Apex has sent a stipulation proposal for the Lighthouse wind farm. They have ignored that the general population that would be affected have rejected this project from the get go. There is not any area in the Town of Yates that would not be impacted.

There are many things to consider when evaluating this project, including the need. Just up the road is the Robert Moses power plant. It can produce 2,765 megawatts and is not being run at capacity. The power plant takes up only acres of space. That information by itself should stop this project.

Apex wants to develop 200 megawatts of power and requires 17 miles west to east to accomplish this project. Keep in mind that the town of Yates is only about 7 miles wide west to east and by 5 miles deep north to south. Acres to produce 2,765 megawatts compared to 17 miles to produce 200 megawatts. That info by itself should stop this project.

The State of New York constitution gives local governments the right to determine what happens in their jurisdiction and it is called Home Rule. Both the towns of Yates and Somerset have said no to this project. That should be enough to stop this project.

On Long Island a wind project being constructed has a required 30-mile setback. That distance was determined by the Governor. What will the setback be for Lighthouse Wind? We only have 5 miles to play with.  That information by itself should stop this project.

The life span of this project is only 30 years. I am pretty sure no one really knows how much property will be enslaved to the construction of this project. Eminent domain will be required to pass  through property not signed up for this project. There is no plan B concerning what happens after 30 years. Could new green technology be developed that replaces wind. What then?

What happens if turbines stop working in 15 years? Will Apex or new owners remove turbines when the life cycle is over at their expense? For this and many other questions concerning the construction and operation of this project should be enough to end this project.

All of the thoughts above should be enough to stop this project. There are other issues including health and the environment. I think I could also add neighbor against neighbor. Who wants any of those issues to affect them personally. Would Apex sign an agreement to stay with this project for the full life cycle? Going ahead with this project is like a poker hand, and you are drawing to an inside straight. The odds of succeeding are not very good.

Ray Watt

Yates

Editor:

It’s been reassuring, over the last several days, to see the progress being made by both the Lighthouse and the Heritage Wind projects. The steady, if sometimes halting march to sensible, sustainable energy is particularly gratifying to local observers who understand the importance of seeing these projects through the Article 10 process to completion.

Casting an eye to the Lighthouse project in particular, the flood of press releases from the town boards of Yates and Somerset, would lead you to falsely believe there is no local support for these projects. But incessant press releases are not the same as the truth, and in the anti-wind campaign, the full truth is seldom told: both of these projects are vastly beneficial for the environment, and for the economies of Niagara and Orleans counties.

The recent devastating news that the keystone operator in the Oakfield STAMP project had pulled the plug by backing out of its commitment to Genesee County, sent tremors throughout the region. Thankfully, the two wind projects are well down the road to approval and implementation, providing much-needed jobs and steady income to our depressed local economies.

Both town boards involved in the Lighthouse project have slipped from passionate demurring to obstructive obsession. Their collective poor judgment continues to exhibit hostility to agricultural interests, and drives a wedge in the community that even time will have difficulty healing.

Again, on behalf of the quiet, thinking majority, it’s good to see progress.

Ralph E. Smith

Lyndonville

Editor:

It’s not what gets done, it’s how it gets done that’s sometimes the problem. And we’ve got a problem in Shelby.

Throughout my life, I have been taught there is a process and protocol for things. In everyday life there’s a protocol for interacting with people: in family,  in business, and in government – each have their own process and protocol.

Then there’s perception. How we believe things should be. And let’s not forget due process.

The Fourteenth Amendment protects citizens from arbitrary actions and provides they cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process and proceedings that are fair. The people must be given notice and an opportunity to be heard.

In January, I submitted my name and a letter to be considered for an open position on the Shelby Town Council. I followed the protocol as instructed. I submitted a letter to each councilman. Over the course of two months, I heard from various members of the board that interviews would take place and the Shelby Republican Committee would be conducting the interviews. I am a member of the Shelby Republican Committee.

I received an email on February 12th that on February 24th, that an Orleans County Republican Committee meeting was being held. I called the Shelby Republican town chairman to ask about the agenda. I did have a work commitment on February 24th.

The Shelby Republican chairman told me the meeting was “just a procedural vote to support Chris Collins” and my presence was not imperative. He then asked for my proxy vote, which I gave. At that meeting, the Shelby Republican Committee convened and endorsed another candidate for the Shelby Town Board.

As a member of the Shelby Republican Committee, it was my expectation that certain formal, ethical protocol and procedures would be followed. As a committee member, I had absolutely no knowledge or input at all.  As a candidate for the town board, my application was disregarded with no explanation and I was deprived of my right to be informed and participate.  It is my understanding another taxpaying citizen also applied for the position and was never even acknowledged.

And I learned about this after-the-fact by word of mouth around town. When I called the Shelby Republican chairman, I was told they did not perceive me as a viable candidate because my daughter is married to a relative of the Zelazny family.

Abuse of power seems to be a prevailing theme in Shelby.  Is there so much bias in the water here that officials can discriminate and deprive citizens of transparency and due process with impunity?

Dale S. Root

Shelby

Editor:

I recently read a news story entitled, “Comptroller critical of Carlton for managing town finances” and was dismayed and angry as another state audit reveals a problem with yet another town in our county.

As I read that Carlton received an award of $25,000 from the World Fishing Network, which was deposited in “its own account” and that there were 34 disbursements totaling $19,619, which was not reported to the town board I (being a suspicious person) wondered why would anyone do this? I then read the town was “engaging professional services” and also “has engaged a CPA firm to audit the town books.”

My question is: are these firms free or are they costing the taxpayers of Carlton extra tax dollars simply because someone at the town hall was not doing their job?

Recently there were several letters to the editor that asked residents to get involved with the political committees (the Republican and Conservative party committees reorganize this year).

Another letter stated it is time to “shake things up” and a third stated that shaking things up simply to make changes would be a mistake.

I would argue that this latest, and it is just the latest, troubling state audit is the very reason we do need to shake things up and the way to do that is to get involved in the various political committee(s).

If you don’t care how your money is being spent, simply do nothing for, as they say, if we keep doing what we’ve always done we will keep getting what we’ve always got, which in this case is another town failing its residents.

Ken Longer

Kendall

Editor:

Sorry, Kim Kennedy, climate change is not a “hoax”. The data is in, and it doesn’t look encouraging for our progeny. “Wind” is only a “farce” when improperly sited in an area (specifically, Lakeside Park) Nature Conservancy researchers described a few years ago as “dripping with warblers”. The significance of that observation may only be apparent to a few outside the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

On an abandoned oil field “moonscape” in Texas, a wind “farm” may be a perfect fit.

It is difficult, at least for me, to conceive of a scenario where “solar” isn’t a plus for planet earth and all of its living things.

You may be right on target with some of your observations, but please get over the idea that wind farms can be reduced to some liberal/conservative dichotomy. Is an appreciation for wildlife part of a liberal/conservative divide? Am I a conservative because I support D.U. and The National Wild Turkey Federation?

Many people have me pegged as a liberal whack job (although I am, among other things, fiscally conservative and see our current economic policy as all about short-term gain and . . . ), and I have unequivocally stated on numerous occasions that wind turbines do not belong in Orleans County, period. Few people pay attention, but what else is new?

You may have a few things goofed up in my opinion, but you are still on the right side of this issue.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

I would like to share information on two commonly-misunderstood terms often used in local government: shared services and consolidation.

Shared services occur when municipalities agree to work together on tasks to benefit both at a lower cost. An example might be if one municipality owns a lift truck, which can be used to trim trees. In a city like Rochester, the truck might be in use all the time every day. In a small town or village, the truck is likely to be idle some of the time.  Both municipalities might use the truck for tree trimming in both communities. Road crews from both municipalities might work together to use the truck for large jobs in either location. The result saves both communities money and provides better services to all involved.

Consolidation is both simpler and more complex. In consolidation, tasks or missions that are the same in both communities are combined: location, staffing, equipment and immediate management all occur in one organization. This can only happen when both communities have the same need, both communities can work together, both communities support the work, and both communities are close together.

An example might be salt storage for treating roads in winter.  Specifically, both the Town of Albion and the Village of Albion use salt extensively. Both maintain salt sheds within a mile of one another, and both have front end loaders to load the salt.  If they combined salt storage, they would need to maintain one shed and one loader.

It seems simple, but it is not. Neither existing shed is large enough for salt storage without paying for more salt in mid-winter when prices are high, or even worse running out when we need it most. Where do they put a new salt shed? Who operates the loader? Village and Town roads are different: if one road crew uses salt more intensively than the other, how do they make sure that cost for salt falls on taxpayers fairly? How do they deal with increased truck traffic in one location, especially if it is near a school? How do they make sure trucks are filled efficiently, without lining up and having to wait? The hardest question of all is how do we pay for the new shed and loader, and who owns it afterwards?

Consolidation always costs money up front. Good, well-chosen consolidation efforts will save money in time. Consolidation merely for consolidation will cost us money up front and will provide us with worse and more expensive service over time. Consolidation is a truly difficult task and requires effort from our best and brightest, but if it’s done right we all benefit. Shared services are easily arranged, can be easily modified, and usually provide savings from the day they’re implemented.

Our local leaders should pursue both shared services and consolidation to get the best use out of every single dollar of our local taxes.

Thank you,

Gary Katsanis

Albion

(Mr. Katsanis is a candidate for the Albion Village Board)

Editor:

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Lake Country Media/Orleans Hub for organizing and presenting the Village of Albion Candidate Forum this past Thursday.

Thank you to the Albion Central School District for the use of the Elementary school cafeteria and also to the people who helped make the Forum a success by serving as Moderator, Question Scanners and Timekeeper. This was a great way for village residents to meet the candidates and hear their views and we hope these forums will once again become a part of our village election process.

The forum was video recorded and can be viewed on YouTube (click here). If you were unable to attend please take the opportunity to view it in its entirety prior to the election on March 20th.

For those of you who did not get a chance to speak to us or ask your questions please consider attending our Meet & Greet on March 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Hoag Library where we will be happy to address all your concerns.

Joyce Riley

Jason Dragon

Sandra Walter

Editor:

With the upcoming Village of Albion election on the horizon I thought it would be an appropriate time to look back at the tenure of outgoing Mayor Dean London. After years as police chief, Dean decided to serve the community as mayor, and entered his term unopposed and endorsed by both political parties.

We were fortunate enough to have Mayor London at the helm when we decided to organize the Metro 10 race in the Village of Albion. He has always been incredibly supportive of all of our efforts and has also supported other events and initiatives that have resulted in him leaving Albion a better place as he leaves office.

I attribute Mayor London’s success to the simple fact that he is a good person, always approachable, willing to listen and has never been the type of leader that will ever stand in the way of progress. Our village has had its share of challenges, and will continue to have them, but Mayor London has sent us on a good trajectory.

In closing I would like to say that on behalf of the Metro 10 race committee, I would like to thank Mayor London for all his support, and for his dedicated service to the Village of Albion. We also wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

Best,

Thom Jennings

On Behalf of The 2018 Metro 10 Race Committee

Editor:

I am interested in having a dog park here in the Medina area. We now travel to Bark Park on Tonawanda Island – Ellicott Creek Park on a regular basis. A long way to travel for our dog to socialize but it is invaluable and would be a community asset.

Perhaps our newly hired director of tourism could help us out with this idea as well. Many folks travel with their pets.

Pat Parucki

Medina