Editor:

It has been brought to my attention that Joe Sidonio, candidate for Murray Town Supervisor, has developed a hobby of taking pictures of my property and posting it on his Facebook page. After his recent posting of my address, my car has been broken into and beer bottles have been thrown at my front door and on my property. With the primary election quickly approaching, I feel the need to not only defend my family and myself, but to inform residents of the kind of psycho he truly is.

First of all, to Mr. Sidonio: do not bring my wife into your campaign for public office. Do not hold my wife responsible for my actions, just as I do not hold your wife responsible for your actions, now or in the past. I have a lot of respect for your wife and mother-in-law and the hard work they alone have put into a successful business.

In response to the pictures that show cars parked along the roadside in front of my home: that photo was taken three years ago when Holley high school students and their parents were taking photos on prom day. For the past seven years, my wife and I have generously opened our home for senior pictures and prom pictures, and all he does is open his mouth.

Per the code, parking is allowed at any residence, not just ours. It allows for parking along the road for example, if you have a yard sale or graduation party. This is different than a business that has regular traffic in and out all day, everyday. His obsession of taking photos of my property makes me wonder what other photos he has accumulated. I have seen him standing on the roof of his truck lurking with binoculars in the back of my property.

As for the photo of my posted property sign (my property borders his), you should know that the public persona he uses while out campaigning is all fake. He knows exactly why I signed my sign the way I did. I try my best to keep my property maintained and up to code and I hope I have not offended anyone. I suffered 20 years of harassment by him. He has handed out hunting maps for his nuisance permit to out-of-town hunters, with my property on it knowing it is posted.

He has tried to flood me out clearing wetlands and pushing trees and debris into Sandy Creek resulting in increased flooding on my property. When the County and Town authorized help clearing the creek, he refused to allow them an easement onto Hurd property to do this. He is constantly shooting into my property so my family and friends don’t feel safe walking on the property, and the Boy Scout Troops stopped camping on my property because of the shooting.

A DEC officer was on my property and witnessed the haphazard shooting for herself. When she went to speak to him she came back in tears and had to call her superior officer. At that time, he put restrictions on the nuisance permit. He has falsely accused me of stealing more than once and he has infringed upon my right to have peaceful quiet enjoyment of my property time and time again. He has tried to force me out but I am still here unlike many of my previous neighbors.

Unfortunately, these examples do not even scratch the surface of the harassment my family has endured throughout the years. He is sneaky and dishonest and has the nerve to call others unethical and immature. This man wants to be supervisor of our Town?

My feelings are the same feelings he generates from anyone who may have a different opinion than him or who doesn’t agree with him. I have many good reasons to vote against him and I hope after reading this you will see that this is not a person that should be our Town Supervisor. Without a doubt, he will put his usual ‘spin’ on my words, but I welcome anyone to come, sit on my porch and we can discuss this in more detail.

Gerold Mauro

Murray

Editor:

I am writing this letter to tell you why I am supporting our Gaines Supervisor, Carol Culhane, for re-election.

As a property owner and senior citizen in the Town of Gaines, I have been pleased to see her and the Gaines town board work hard to reduce our property taxes four years in a row.

Carol Culhane came to the supervisor position with a bookkeeping background.  She worked with the town board initiating annual independent audits from 2012 forward, gleaning information which led the town to implement new policies and procedures, untangling inconsistencies from the past.

In addition, Carol’s tenacity and determination contributed to solving the water loss and billing discrepancies, which has resulted in the water department actually generating revenue.

Why should we change our leadership when we are benefiting from an efficient town government with the second lowest tax rate in the county?

Christine Sartwell

Gaines

Editor:

This is just a quick note to my fellow Town of Carlton Republican voters as a reminder that this Tuesday will be the Republican primary.

Dave Krull will be on the ballot. He is running for another term as our town highway superintendent, and I for one support him enthusiastically.

I have known Dave for many years, since he was a superintendent for Keeler Construction and then subsequent contractors such as Crane Hogan. Dave worked on several of my heavy highway construction projects. I always found him to be a hard working, thoughtful and innovative man who could accomplish difficult tasks given the sometimes limited resources available – a can-do style I attribute to farmer’s ingenuity.

I have been a resident of the Town of Carlton for 31 years. I supported Dave’s first run for highway superintendent, and have been happy with that decision. Since Dave took the reins of the Carlton DPW, I have seen more work, and better quality work, being accomplished than in any of the previous years. In the event that problems have arisen, Dave has been only a phone call or a text message away, and has attended to situations expeditiously, and with good cheer.

I think Dave Krull deserves another term as our highway superintendent. Please consider supporting him on primary day.

Regards,

Scott Sullivan

Resident Engineer

Editor:

It’s Primary season and signs are everywhere. Signs work great at getting the candidates’ names out in the public but do very little to actually tell us much about these candidates’ characters.

Ed Houseknecht is running for Shelby Town Supervisor. You will see his signs out in the community but this is what the signs won’t tell you.

I have known Ed both personally and professionally for over thirty years. I first met him when he was the Superintendent of Public Works for the Village of Medina. It was in October of 1989 following the horrific storm that came through the Village. Power lines were down on the ground, trees went through roofs, branches and limbs were everywhere, and roads were impassable.  Anyone who was a resident at the time will remember this very well.

Mayor Marcia Tuohey decided early in the aftermath of the storm that all aspects of the cleanup project were to go through Ed. He was constantly present on the job, just about 24/7. Ed was always working with his crews and was able to make outstanding decisions in the middle of the chaos. When anyone in the community offered to help, all Ed asked for was food and coffee for his crews.  Ed managed to accomplish all of this and stay within the Department of Public Works’ budget.

It seemed to me that he had accomplished just about the impossible, and that was my first impression of Ed Houseknecht. I could easily describe numerous other examples, but suffice it to say that my positive impression has only strengthened over the years – cool under pressure, effective, and a natural leader.

You can read all of the signs and all of the ads in the newspapers, but this is what they don’t tell you.

Thank you all so much for your time.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Eileen Hare

Ridgeway

Editor:

Might there be trouble in Orleans County’s G.O.P. paradise? What could he be referring to, you might ask.  After all, way more than 90% of countywide offices have been held by the folks with pachyderms beside their names for the past thirty years!

Nonetheless, fault lines have emerged within G.O.P. ranks. The mere idea that the Grand Old Party’s choices for town supervisor will be determined by September 12th primary elections in at least four Orleans towns is shaking parts of the G.O.P. establishment. The nerve of some people! Normally, when the choice is between an occasional “jackass” and someone designated by an elephant, it is an easy call for many supporters of the G.O.P.

It seems that no matter how many Orleans County assets they gave away, or put at greater risk, stalwart G.O.P. legislators—especially Callard, Johnson, and Eick—were shielded by the pachyderm and re-elected. Of course, the former Chairman is no longer there, having resigned under “mysterious” circumstances.

When a person with an office attempts to behave responsibly in Orleans, he, or she, risks being shown the door by the G.O.P establishment. The former G.O.P Elections Commissioner can no doubt attest to that. Hopefully, she will satisfy the establishment’s lust for payback for awhile.

Then there is that impossible to control Sheriff. The G.O.P. establishment had to swallow hard on that one. Though he is willing to work with anyone whose intentions are positive, what good is a Sheriff to the establishment if he won’t play ball with the Party hierarchy?

On top of everything else, there is the fact that the G.O.P. faithful are in the unenviable position of having to explain the actions of a President with precious little understanding of his office and even less comprehension of the United States Constitution.

There does, indeed, appear to be trouble in paradise.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

The table below shows the results of an analysis of public comments made to the DPS website in relation to the Lighthouse Wind Project as proposed for the Towns of Yates and Somerset by APEX Clean Energy.  A total of 980 comments submitted were assessed, tabulated and organized by support (in-favor) and opposition (opposed) to the project.

All comments made to the DPS site regarding the Lighthouse Wind Project were included in the assessment and cover the time period from Q1-2015 through July 27, 2017.  All comments were read fully in order to ascertain position regarding the wind project. The positions were tabulated as “in favor” or “opposed” to the project.

The results are as follows:

The overall results for the time period January 2015 to July 27, 2017 are as follows:

Comments In-Favor of Lighthouse Wind Project = 157

Comments Opposed to Lighthouse Wind Project = 823

% of Comments In-Favor of Lighthouse Wind Project = 16%

% of Comments Opposed to Lighthouse Wind Project = 84%

The results of the DPS comment analysis continue to show a clear, significant and ongoing opposition to the Lighthouse Wind Project.  The will of the people is clear.  This project must not move forward.  Article 10 must not be allowed to suppress Home-Rule and the will of the people.

Governor Cuomo, are you listening?

Thank You.

John B. Riggi

Councilman, Town of Yates

Editor:

In response to Mr. Chamberlain, Town of Barre Supervisor’s 7-12-2017 posting.

I fully understood that the CHIP money has to be spent on Highways.

The point is that the town officials appropriated money last year for the roads in the Town of Barre’s budget. Withdraw $64,450 of this money you appropriated, replace it with the CHIP money. The amount of work your Highway Department was going to perform would still have been accomplished. The more money government gets, the more incumbents spend on every level of government!

Why can’t Barre start setting an example for the rest of government and give back to its taxpayers?

Remember that grant money is taxpayer money.

Robin Nacca

Barre

Editor:

My name is Ed Houseknecht and I am the Republican candidate running for Shelby Town Supervisor, endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party lines.

I am a lifelong resident of the community and currently reside on Salt Works Road in Shelby with my wife Vicky. My two adult children, Peter and Katie, are both employed in public service. Our family shares a commitment to serving the community in which we live.

My experience in Orleans County spans 40 years. I consider myself a problem-solver who likes to make things happen. For 30 years, I was employed by the Village of Medina. As the Superintendent of Public Works, I was involved in 36 capital projects over 26 years to improve the business climate and quality of life for residents. The development of the Medina Business Park was one of those projects.

As Town Supervisor, I will continue to make infrastructure expansion in the business park a priority so that it remains a regional asset to attract more businesses that will generate tax revenue and jobs.

During that time, we also made significant improvements to the canal, bridges, storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems, reconstructed many of Medina’s streets, initiated sidewalk programs throughout the village and added the tennis courts to Butts Memorial Park.

From 2001 – 2004, I was employed by Sergi Construction. I was later appointed Orleans County Highway Superintendent where I was involved in numerous bridge, infrastructure and public improvement projects through 2010 including but not limited to the Villages of Orleans.

Through my own company, Ed Houseknecht LLC., I have worked on Habitat for Humanity projects in both Albion and Medina. I was an active member of the Decorate Medina Committee responsible for Medina’s downtown Christmas decorations, which have become a highlight of our annual holiday season.

I have served on the Shelby Town Board in the past and have also been involved with the installation of new water districts in the town. The neighborhood near the refuge, where the quarry is proposed, is one of several neighborhoods in Shelby. I am committed to tackling this issue as well as all the issues in every neighborhood in town.

As your Supervisor, I will be your representative. I will be accessible to Shelby residents, committed to understanding your concerns, answering your questions and keeping you informed.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Ed Houseknecht,

Candidate for Shelby Town Supervisor

Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary Foundation

National Association of County Engineers

Orleans County Employee of the Year

NYS Assembly Recognition

Orleans County Cooperative Extension Certificate of Appreciation

Editor:

Joe Sidonio, my husband, has a wonderful vision for a healthy community that works together – residents, governance and public servants. He hopes to make this vision a reality in our very own Town of Murray.

His ideal is one that we all should reach for – a community where each citizen belongs, where each citizen is valued, and each is served by both the elected officials and the rules designed by and for those citizens.

His vision is for a community that is beautiful, a community where the conservation of resources – streams and woodland, open fertile farmland and ancient trees, as well as the stately homes and barns of our history – are loved and preserved.

The community of his vision is one where businesses are allowed to flourish and jobs are created, and in addition a community where creative expression and the arts are supported fully. This innovative community is managed as efficiently as possible with fiscal prudence and conservatism, and with clarity, inclusiveness and openness.

These are Joe’s hopes. These are the reasons that he runs for the position of Supervisor of the Town of Murray.

Joe’s financial background, including his accounting degree, serve him well and would serve our town well, too. His solid understanding of finance and his probing and insightful grasp of both the detail and the big picture of financial management are necessary and sharp. His scrupulous honesty is more than admirable. Together these assets mean that he is fit and trustworthy for governance.

Joe Sidonio is a remarkable and wonderful person.  His willingness to give and his caring are routinely expressed in significant and sensitive ways. He notices when there is a need – and is there to help fill it – perhaps a donation needed for a specific special cause, perhaps an inspirational program to be created and put in place,  perhaps an older citizen needing special attention or a boost or a smile or a friend while in a nursing home, perhaps a helping hand extended to a neighbor, perhaps bringing people together who have common purpose and interests. There are dozens of examples of each of these special qualities throughout his life and all around us within our town.

I am very proud of Joe to have had the courage, the energy and the commitment to run for this office.  In discussions that we have had over many, many years we have often said that the one way to shape a positive future is to be actively involved in the shaping process. The one way to solve problems is to step up to the job, volunteer, be responsible and care enough to put the time into the solution. Joe has done all of this.

Joe has put hours of work into this community – far beyond the hours and resources spent on this campaign. For years Joe has taken the time to become educated about rural governance. He has read, asked, attended, researched, questioned, reflected, written, and worked hard to be involved, and to search for answers from local to state to national authorities to the difficult questions facing our community – and all rural communities.  It is quite amazing that he has done this work for us all.

His displayed leadership has now inspired citizens to follow in his footsteps and be more aware of the world around them, to be interested in the future of their community, to believe in the positive and in possibility, and to care! What a gift Joe has given us all.

Thank you, Joe Sidonio.

Amy Machamer, his spouse

Murray

Editor:

To the Gaines voters, do you really want a change?

I have known Carol Culhane, the Town Supervisor, for over 10 years and it did not take long to realize there is nothing selfish about her. From all the time, she gives to the Veterans and servicemen and women, her friends and family and especially our town.  She is honest, dedicated, has integrity serving our community.

Carol is responsible for finding the 60 million gallons of water loss that cost us, the tax payers, $170,000. The discovery of the over-levy had a huge impact on the cost of the water districts again to us taxpayers.

As the person responsible for the finances and the budget, she keeps taxes in check while keeping the high standard of services we expect. Carol has assisted and written grants for the town hall upgrades and working tirelessly to get the most advantages for our town.

Do you really want a change?

Sue Smith has been a board member for 8 years working for the greater good. She is always participating and eager to address the concerns of the town. She does research to make sure she continuously makes an informed decision.  She is at all times prepared and constantly looking out for the constituents.

Do you really want a change?

If Joe Grube, Carol’s opponent, was ever should be elected Supervisor, would he be for the Town and the taxpayers or for the fire department, like he was at the last negotiation? He has not involved himself in the town government by attending meetings or learning about our town and its constituents.

Do you really want a change?

Susan Heard, the soon-to-be-retired county treasurer, believes in double dipping, which is legal but not approved by most voters/taxpayers.

A letter in this forum dated 12 September 2016, Ms. Heard stated the Supervisor was trying to pick cronies for committee members.  It looks to me that a lot of the cronies are on the Republican Committee presently endorsing themselves for candidates vs. looking among our community for applicants. It appears they got elected to endorse themselves.

Do you really want a change?

Respectfully,

Ray Burke

Gaines Planning/Zoning member for 20 years

Editor:

I would like to correct some misinformation in a letter written by Gaines Republican Committee member Lorienda J. Smith supporting Gaines Republican Committee Chair Joe Grube for Supervisor.

1. I HAVE answered questions at Town Board meetings. The Town Attorney answers contracts, litigation and other legal questions; you can find that information on line in our minutes.
2. “Executive Sessions” discussions are protected by law and are not open for public. S 3-16 Executive Sessions page 40. Town Law Manual. Please consult to confirm. It is used by past & present Supervisors/Boards. Our Attorney is the go to person for any legal questions. No action can be taken in Executive Session please refer to board minutes.”
3. “The Committee on Open Government has opined that the town board may designate any resident other than a member of the town board to take minutes in the absence of the town clerk and the deputy town clerk. (O.4728). The Comptroller’s Office has opined that where the village clerk is unable to attend a board meeting the village board of trustees may assign someone to take the minutes, including a member of the board (O.79-166); similar reasoning could be applied to the town board.” – Association of Towns Attorney Clarification.
4. The security windows in both the Town Clerk and Justice Clerk’s Offices were dictated by the Department of Labor for employee safety.
5. Confidential personnel issues are discussed in Executive Session protected by law. Personnel issues are personal depending on the employee. All personnel changes have benefited the taxpayers in the Town of Gaines.
6. No outside political group should have influence on our Town Board except the people it represents. That is why I decided to go in the direction of seeking the people’s endorsement rather than approaching those who have endorsed themselves.

Carol Culhane

Town of Gaines Supervisor

Editor:

I have been attending the Gaines Town Board meetings under Supervisors Radzinski, Vagg, Harding, Lattin, and DeCarlo. I always had questions answered, and did not have to FOIL and then pay for those answers. I wasn’t referred to the Town Attorney who seldom knew the answer, or answered with legalese. I was never invited to come in for “a one on one” question and answer session by those supervisors because they answered me directly at the meeting, in public.

Former supervisors did not regularly go into executive session, leaving the residents sitting there, wondering what was going on. They didn’t vote without a clerk being present. The supervisors did not write up and sign the minutes. A member of the Town Board cannot take minutes. This has been done nine times since 2012, and is in direct violation of section 30((10)(b) of the Town Law of NYS.

The Supervisors never had a security guard, nor felt the need for the installation of a security window because of “being afraid of the Town residents.” We knew where our dollars were spent. The staff were treated with dignity and respect, and there was not an overturn in staff like we see now.

We had a recent primary against the Gaines Committee. It cost thousands of dollars to the Gaines taxpayers. In the past, candidates came before the Gaines Committee for endorsement and did not set up their own party line. Now we are having another primary against the “Endorsed” Republican Candidates, costing thousands more dollars.

Over the past few years, I have had the chance to get to know Joe Grube, who is running for Supervisor in the Town of Gaines.

I have found him to be intelligent, well spoken, and extremely focused. He listens intently and takes the time to thoughtfully reflect on what he hears before speaking or giving an opinion.

His professional experience and education are a real benefit to his candidacy. It isn’t often that someone who has so much knowledge in both the private and public sector offers to devote their time, energy, and expertise to our community by running for public office.

We’ve talked about his vision for Town Government; Being open and transparent. Embracing input from residents. Being respectful of opinions. Adhering to proper practices. Being fiscally prudent. I agree with his assessment on all fronts. I’ve come to conclude that it certainly is time for a change in the Town of Gaines.

That is why I fully support, and recommend you support Joe Grube for Supervisor in Gaines. His depth of experience and fresh ideas will be benefit to us all!

Lorienda J. Smith

Gaines

Editor:

With the utmost respect for Jim Punch who has served our county well for almost 3 decades, I must say I am very impressed with Sara Sheldon. She seems to be fair, firm, and very importantly not a big fan of plea bargains, preferring to have cases tried before a jury.

This was our founders’ intent.

I understand the backlog of cases and limited resources in our judicial system, but what can be more important than protecting the suspect’s rights to a fair and speedy trial AND protecting society from violent criminals that tend to re-offend when released early because of a “deal”. Not to say they won’t re-offend, no matter the length of their sentence, but society will be safer longer.

Thank you.

Bob Harker

Clarendon

Editor:

It appears that some clarification is necessary in the race for Kendall Town Clerk.

Amy Richardson is NOT the endorsed Republican Candidate for Kendall Town Clerk. She did not approach the Republican Committee for their endorsement or support. The first indication that she would seek re-election was when the Orleans Hub announced her endorsement by the Conservative Party. She gathered signatures to force a Primary after she was informed that she was not the endorsed Republican candidate.

Except for a technical glitch at the Board of Elections, there would have been a Primary in Kendall. This glitch gave Amy the Republican line on the ballot without her having earned it or having any Republican support.

Where unfounded rumors about health and moving come from, I have no idea and deplore them. Her attendance is one of many issues, but not because of her health.

Janet Bolton is the candidate endorsed and supported by the Town of Kendall and Orleans County Republican Committee. Repeating that not only is Janet Bolton supported by the Republican Committee, she is also strongly supported by the Town Supervisor, the Town Board, Highway Superintendent and other Town of Kendall officials and employees.

This alone should show the need for a change in the Clerk’s office, but the Independence Party and the Kendall Democratic Party also endorse Janet Bolton and her name will appear on those lines on the ballot in November.

Sincerely,

John M. Becker

Chairman,

Kendall Republican Committee

Editor:

As the Town Clerk for Tupper Lake, my Deputy Clerk and I have attended the NYS Town Clerks Association conferences and were fortunate to meet Karen Kaiser, who we can say is a friend and we look forward to seeing her at these conferences.

What we noticed about Karen Kaiser is that she is very dedicated to her job as the Deputy Town Clerk for Ridgeway, as well as the people of Ridgeway. Her motivation to learn and better herself for her town is admirable. She makes every effort to attend the classes that will benefit her town and is always making sure she is on top of all the laws and requirements.

We totally support Karen Kaiser because she is very dedicated to her town and her heart is to serve her community the best way she can.

Laurie J Fuller, Town Clerk, Town of Tupper Lake

Donna Maliszewski, Deputy Town Clerk, Town of Tupper Lake