Editor:

The Lake Ontario State Parkway is talked about a lot in Orleans County and its surrounding areas. It is talked about here (the Hub) in features and letters to the editor. It was recently featured in a segment by Rochester’s NBC affiliate. But more importantly it is talked about in person by those of us who use it. And we’re frustrated.

The overriding consensus: it is a great road and a great resource but it is in terrible, terrible disrepair. Assemblyman Hawley recently acknowledged this and went on to agree that we deserve better but no one, including him, has done anything to address what, if anything, is ACTUALLY being done or going to be done.

I personally bent two rims traveling on the Parkway this winter. I had to replace them both and put new tires on them as well. Anything larger than a car is thrown about so violently that it would be impossible for me to imagine towing down that road. I know people do it, I have seen them, but I can’t imagine that they do it more than once. Of course our county and community is suffering when this is the image that we present of ourselves.

I had to laugh at Mr. Lauricella’s recent comments about the road resembling a scene out of an apocalyptic show. If they are not going to fix it, why don’t we try to lure The Walking Dead into filming here? That could be Orleans County’s new tourism push: come see what the apocalypse will look like.

I’d like answers but considering this is essentially the same letter I wrote years ago I am guessing we will continue to go without them.

Robert Shaw
Lyndonville

Editor:

On Sept. 15, Albion’s Holy Family Parish will host a “Sustainability Fair” beginning at 5:30 p.m. in its Lyceum.

Sustainability is a term that is used quite a bit though understandings of its meaning are often left to context or imagination.

Is water use in America sustainable? Are the methods by which we heat and cool our homes sustainable? Is our food production system sustainable? Are our transportation systems sustainable? What would it take to make them more sustainable?

To me, these are “sustainable” if we can continue to approach them the same way, long term, without unacceptable, adverse consequences.

Did land use patterns on the Great Plains prove unsustainable because they contributed to the “Dust Bowl” in the 1930s?

If the way we approach our lives generally contributes to significant climate change are the approaches we are using to satisfy our needs something that we can continue indefinitely?

Methods of food production are critical to our existence. How might one improve the sustainability of agriculture? Crop rotation that promotes soil enrichment comes to mind.

Different crops tax soil in different ways. In the 19th century, repeated planting of one crop in Ireland helped produce the “potato famine.” Cabbage used to require ground that that hadn’t seen cabbage in, as I recall, seven years. Scientific research has resulted in greater sustainability, but the verdict still isn’t in on whether such gains may last without adverse consequences.

On Allen’s Bridge Road, both north and south of the railroad tracks, green beans reappeared this summer after a three-year absence. In the interim, high corn prices and ease of cultivation favored corn. Soybeans were the leguminous alternative.

Agricultural science and mechanization make large scale green bean cultivation vastly different from the 2-3 40′ rows of wax beans and green beans in our vegetable garden. Whereas we pick beans repeatedly (ten times or more) over 3 weeks, a field crop is harvested once with machines resembling grain combines.

We roll the dice with regard to fungus, for example, attempting to limit it by picking only when the plants are dry. When hundreds of acres are involved, fungicide use, well in advance of harvest (and regulations govern such use), is relatively non-controversial.

Unlike the fields north of the railroad, the farmer growing a hundred acres of beans south of the railroad rents, rather than owns, the land. Fields north of the railroad, unlike those to the south, were tiled this year.

The fields north and south were prepared for planting to an extent unheard of in corn cultivation – at considerable expense. Exhaustive efforts were made to remove stones and level the ground prior to planting. Failure to remove stones might very well have resulted in equipment damage that would be unsustainable. After planting, the newly seeded fields north of the tracks were rolled.

Based on what was left in the fields following harvest, the differences in yield, south versus north, appear to have been striking. Where the fields were tiled and rolled, the amount of beans left behind following harvest was negligible. In fields that were not tiled and rolled after planting, the amount left behind was extraordinary.

This appears to have been, in part, attributable to the inability of the wet ground to support heavy harvesters evenly. In some instances, sections of entire rows were missed. In others, the off-kilter picker skimmed the top of hundreds of feet of row.

Without a system for recovering the beans missed in mechanical harvesting, cultivating green beans on untiled ground, under wet conditions, appears less sustainable. For one thing, yield might be compromised so much that a farmer would not get enough return on a big investment.

With no provision for recovering beans missed by mechanical harvesters, the resulting waste would seem unsustainable for both farmers and potential consumers. A recovery system would have important public relations value that might provide the farmer with some benefit to compensate for poor yield.

To some degree, sustainability is a function of how much you get out for what you put in. The more you get, the more economically sustainable your efforts would be. Agriculture is a business that has proven time and again to be unsustainable as a means of making a living without a reward that makes the investment needed to bring in a crop pay off.

Regardless of how unsustainable our current land, water, and energy uses may be, we often prefer not to think of them in terms of how sustainable they are.

Sincerely yours,

Gary F. Kent
Albion

Editor:

When I entered the campaign for Sheriff I had no intentions of responding to political rhetoric or getting into debates with anyone. My goal from the outset was to take the “high road” and run a campaign based solely on my qualifications. I work with facts not rumors, gossip, assumptions or speculations. Now I feel the need to respond to a personal attack on my character.

I have been using the slogan “EXPERIENCE MATTERS” from the beginning. The experience I refer to is NOT a number. I choose to get involved in cases and training. That is not micromanagement. That is called caring, passion and compassion for all the people of the community I have chosen to serve and protect. That is where my experience has come from.

Experience as defined by Merriam-Webster: practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity.

During my career at the department, particularly in my role for years as an investigator and now years as the chief deputy, I have observed and participated in some of the most horrific, gruesome and despicable cases imaginable. I have used my training, self-critique or input from others to improve in my profession on a daily basis. There is nobody at the Sheriff’s Office that has the wide range of experience that I have.

I regularly use this experience and training in the day-to-day operation of the Sheriff’s Office. I have drawn from my experience during major incidents. During one particular incident a deputy was hurt and was loaded into an ambulance where they were preparing to transport him to a hospital.

I arrived on scene and was briefed by law enforcement and medical personnel as we walked towards the ambulance. I had asked a deputy to retrieve the injured deputy’s vest from his patrol vehicle as we were walking. Only a few feet away, I was about to enter the ambulance when it pulled away from the scene.

The ambulance was ultimately notified via fire radio that I wanted to see the deputy and stopped less than two tenths of a mile away. Before I could get down the street to the ambulance it turned around and came back to me.

I entered the ambulance with the deputy’s vest in hand to take a photograph of the vest and the point of impact to send with the deputy so medical personnel at the hospital could see the ballistic style of vest and location of impact on the vest.

I then assured the deputy that a coworker would be following him to the hospital and “we” as a department and the brotherhood of first responders on scene would be there for him throughout this tragic incident.

I then assured him that a member of the Sheriff’s Office would be notifying his family and making sure that they were safely with him ASAP. I gave him a hug, told him not to worry about anything other than getting better and exited the ambulance so they could continue their transport to the hospital. At no time did I stand in the way of any medical personnel from doing their job.

I had the injured deputy’s physical and mental wellbeing at the forefront of my mind as well as all other personnel that were involved in the incident. I had hundreds if not thousands of things going through my head during that incident. I had to direct personnel into numerous different directions to cover a variety of different tasks to make sure that no stone was left unturned.

That investigation involved several agencies, multiple search warrants and numerous pieces of evidence, hundreds of photographs. Various personnel traveled to several counties and worked hundreds of man hours over several weeks.

I secured a team of highly trained peers from the New York State Police to come to our department and hold a stress debriefing for all those involved. I wanted to make sure we as an administration did everything we could for all parties involved.

For that deputy and all those involved “we” needed to make sure that a complete and thorough investigation was conducted. Rest assured that was a solid investigation conducted by numerous law enforcement agencies and first responders.

An individual can do many things for any particular reason but they need not question my intentions when it comes to the physical or mental welfare of any employee at the sheriff’s office. No one needs to speculate or assume what was going through my head during that incident. Ask me and I will tell you what I can in accordance with the law and departmental policies.

I will tell you why I did what I did based on my training and past experience. Those are the facts from someone that was there from the early stages of that incident to the end. I put my heart, soul and even a few tears into that investigation as I have done for many investigations throughout my career. Don’t take my word for it. Ask someone else that was there. Someone that knows the facts.

Tom Drennan
Chief Deputy of Orleans County Sheriff’s Office

Editor:

This is my third letter of which I believe is a very critical and important issue for this county: our roads and bridges.

More important than Rural broadband, more important than many projects that the county is doing, is our road and bridge infrastructure.

You can’t transport goods and services or get big heavy farm equipment through an Internet cable. You can’t move heavy trucks, farm equipment and your family on crumbling substandard roads.

While I give the county credit for the bridge repairs and replacements it has done and what it will be doing to keep some of the bridges from getting red flagged over the next three years, there are still bridges that have been closed for decades.

If I am elected I will use the money I am paid to make trips to Albany to try get these lift bridges repaired and these closed bridges replaced. Albany steals our tax dollars. I will go and try to steal some of it back – for us and our county. I will try and cut some sort of deal to get the Parkway fixed.

The county is pouring your tax dollars into the Marine Park. The gate way to that park is the Lake Ontario Parkway. That parkway looks and rides like the series “Life after People.” It’s a disgrace.

No one from out of town using that to come here will ever want to come back, especially if they are towing a boat or trailer. Those of us that live here that use it deserve better. I said we deserve better for our tax dollars. I will work with the Legislature and they will want to work with me to try get this done. Our farmers, our businesses, our families and our visitors all depend on this.

In November I hope those of you in Yates, Ridgeway and part of Shelby will consider me when you go to the polls to cast your vote. I will serve my district but work for the betterment of all of Orleans County.

Paul Lauricella Jr.
Lyndonville

Editor:

Neighbors can be a blessing or a curse. Neighbor-relationships have provided rich fodder for TV comedy from Gladys Kravitz on “Bewitched” to Wilson Wilson Jr. on “Home Improvement.” I know a guy who got stuck with a nosy neighbor next-door: me!

For 13 years, I have observed when he goes to work, when he comes home, what he does on his days off, who comes over to his house, and so on. This has afforded me an unprecedented opportunity to draw certain conclusions about this person. It just so happens that this neighbor has decided to run for Albion highway superintendent, which now has turned this neighbor into someone whom I, as a tax-payer, will essentially be hiring to work for me.

While I think he’s a very nice guy and I would consider him and his family more than just our neighbors, it does not always follow that I would be willing to pay certain friends (or even family members) to work for me. I work hard to earn the money I make, and I pay a great deal in taxes with the understanding that the people who have been elected into office will provide as honest a return for my money as my employer demands of me.

I am subject to semi-annual job evaluations and as an employee, I must adhere to the rules and standards which have been set forth by the company, including showing up to work on time, staying for the duration and being productive during that time.

I work in a professional environment where there are strict rules about appropriate employee conduct, including demeanor, dress, and language; a place where my personal opinions about our customers, my colleagues and superiors have no place. I have been hired to serve the interests of the company and in return I am compensated accordingly.

Our elected officials and public servants are no different. They have been hired by the tax-payers to serve the interests of the public. Elections are the only opportunity we have to conduct our own job evaluation of the incumbents and candidates.

Voting is the equivalent of choosing whose pockets are most deserving of our mandated tax dollars. I have friends who are great fun to socialize with but whom I would never consider hiring to manage my financial affairs or provide childcare. And no matter how much I may like them as a person or how desperately they may plead their case for needing to be hired because they need the money, it would be tantamount to idiocy to entrust them with such a responsibility on such irrelevant grounds. They (and I) would be better served were I to help them find a job for which they were better suited.

Sadly, such rationale seems to be in short supply when it comes to political elections. For some, it’s a popularity contest, for others it’s an opportunity to perpetuate cronyism and repay dubious favors. But hope always springs eternal that there are enough astute and reasonable voters who recognize that the elected candidate will not only be benefitting the voter personally but will have the interests and demands of the entire community at heart.

Thus, we return to my neighbor. I have to decide whether he has exhibited the qualities of a person who will be diligent, honest, ethical, hard-working, impartial, sober, professional, and qualified to assume the role of Highway Superintendent.

Can I trust him to put in a full 40-hour week of work (and more when necessary)? Will he endeavor to create a positive and productive work environment through leading by example? Will he conduct himself professionally and privately in a manner that will honor the office to which he has been elected? Will he treat (and serve!) everyone with respect and impartiality, refusing to allow his personal opinions and feelings to determine his conduct.

Bottom line: Will I be getting my money’s worth from this neighbor? After 13 years of nosiness, I can say with all confidence, “Yes, Mike Neidert will deliver all of that and then some!”

On Sept. 10, please join me in putting our hard-earned dollars to best use by choosing Mike Neidert for Highway Superintendent.

Maarit Vaga
“Nosy Neighbor”
Albion

Editor:

I was just reading a letter to the editor from Orleans County Corrections Officer Caufield and was I wondering if people should now vote for Undersheriff rather than Sheriff.

Chris Bourke is a dedicated, well-seasoned veteran of law enforcement and well qualified to run for Sheriff. But he is not running for Sheriff. He is on the ticket with Randy Bower, who has no law enforcement experience of any kind.

I know Tom Drennan has many qualified prospects for Undersheriff and whomever he or she is will be a like-thinking individual who will advise wisely and not have to tell him what to do or how to do it.

Only two names on the ballot for the Sept. 10 Republican Primary: Randy Bower and Chief Deputy Tom Drennan.

I choose to support and urge others to vote for the experienced and the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate: Tom Drennan.

Ray Emerson
Retired chief deputy for Orleans County Sheriff’s Department

Editor:

We, the voters, have a rare opportunity to choose our next sheriff and not just settle for whoever “the party” tells us is their guy.

Our county has an approximately 2:1 Republican over Democrat voter registration rate. That being the case, pretty much whichever candidate the Republican Party endorses will go on to take that office with many unopposed.

We have very little say in this process. This, along with all of the rules and regulations involved with the board of elections, make it nearly impossible for the average person to compete with “the system.”

Sometimes the party overlooks the better candidate. This necessitates a Primary Election.

I retired from the Sheriff’s Department after working there just over 20 years. I have worked with both candidates: Bower and Drennan.

The Republican Party has endorsed Drennan as their candidate. I feel they have made a grave mistake.

Drennan’s buy line is “experience matters,” implying he is more qualified than Bower. While it is true he has more police experience working the road than Bower, Bower (as a dispatcher) has more experience directing calls to the people who need to handle them.

The Sheriff position is an administrative job. During my career at the Sheriff’s Department, I worked for four sheriffs and six undersheriffs. None of them regularly worked a road shift, taking calls or making arrests while I was there. That is just not what they do.

The sheriff needs to coordinate and lead his men and women to get the job done. Managerial and people skills are needed far more than road experience. These are the areas in which Bower excels. Bower deals with people (some in distress) all day long as a dispatcher.

He also owns and manages his own printing business. He has the tools and ability to get the job done. He also has the confidence and respect of the employees at the department.

It has always been the policy of the two Sheriff’s Department unions to stay out of political elections as the employees still have to work with whoever wins. In an unprecedented move both the union that represents the criminal division and the union that represents the correctional division have endorsed Bower.

All of these people know and work with both candidates. I have to ask myself why would all those men and women risk retaliation from Drennan if he wins? From my experience , the only answer I can come up with is, he is so bad to work for now, it could not get any worse.

It has been my experience (while I worked there) that he has no compassion for his subordinates, and unnecessarily micromanages them. It seems this trend has continued on today. An example of this was recently brought to my attention. It involves the shooting of Deputy DeFilipps on the night of March 21, 2015 – a reality that every deputy faces each time they put their uniform on and hit the streets.

Deputy DeFilipps was shot center mass by a suspect while responding to a call for help. Luckily, he was wearing his ballistic vest. It saved his life that night. After he was loaded aboard the ambulance, he was well en route to the hospital, and without regard for DeFilipps wellbeing, Drennan ordered the ambulance to turn around, and return to the scene in Clarendon.

Reportedly, Drennan did this so he could “take pictures” of the ballistic vest DeFilipps had been wearing and who knows what else. Investigators usually take evidence pictures.

Why was DeFilipps not accompanied in the ambulance by an investigator or even another deputy? And what could possibly be so exigent that it could not wait until after DeFilipps was transported to the hospital to receive the medical care he so badly needed? This mentality, of disregard for the employee, and then not trusting his investigators to properly do their job, is a perfect example why both of the unions have endorsed Bower.

Bower’s choice for undersheriff is Lt. Christopher Bourke, (whom I also worked with for 20 years). The undersheriff runs more of the day-to-day police operations of the department, and fills in for the sheriff in his absence.

Lt. Bourke has worked there longer than Drennan, has more experience, and has earned the respect of his fellow employees. Together, they make a team that will take the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department in the right direction.

I urge everyone to come out and Vote for Randy on both Sept. 10 and Nov. 3.

James W. Halstead
Retired Deputy Sheriff

Editor:

As we rapidly approach the Republican primary for the next Sheriff of Orleans County, we all have seen the many signs for Tom Drennan and Randy Bower. The signs are nice, I suppose, but this election is about more than signs.

I agree with Drennan’s slogan, “Experience Matters.” I prefer a sheriff who knows what the job is and Drennan has, in many aspects, already “done it.”

I worked at the Sheriff’s Office for almost 28 years and was there when Randy (Bower), Tom (Drennan) and Chris (Bourke) started their careers. All three of them are my friends, and I hope all three remain so, after this election is over.

Randy is a great dispatcher and, should I ever need to call “911” in an emergency, I would hope he is the one that answers my call. Likewise, Chris has had a great career as a Road Patrol deputy and supervisor. He, too, is good at what he does. I do not mean to minimize their respective accomplishments.

I have, however, witnessed much more with Tom Drennan and what he has accomplished in his career. Tom’s commitment, over the years, to expand his law enforcement expertise is impressive, as reflected in his resume.

Tom was assigned to Road Patrol, promoted to lieutenant, promoted to investigator and eight years ago, promoted to chief deputy. Tom was not given those promotions, he earned them.

As chief deputy, Tom is the Department’s 3rd in command. In the absence of the sheriff and undersheriff, the chief deputy is responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff’s Office. That includes Road Patrol, Corrections, Investigators, Civil, Dispatch and overall budgetary oversight. Tom has not only performed these functions, but he has performed these functions very well.

With reference to the suggestion that Drennan is not naming his undersheriff, is some sort of a political ploy, a lack of decision-making skills, or that his undersheriff may not be as qualified, is absurd.

Drennan has made a career of making good decisions. I have no doubt his undersheriff will be more than qualified.

I know who I would like to see as my next sheriff. That man is Tom Drennan.

Richard Smith
Retired Orleans County undersheriff

Editor:

Greetings. My name is Frank Lauta and I am a candidate for Carlton Town Board on the Republican ticket for the upcoming Sept. 10, 2015 primary.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a convention candidate. And neither is my approach to campaigning.

First and foremost, I am a businessman and I plan to bring a business-like approach laser focus on efficiency and transparency to the operations of the Town Board.

Don’t go searching your neighborhood looking for yard signs emblazoned with my name. Yard signs are so 1990. Instead pull out your smartphone and visit my website http://www.franklauta.com. You will find my bio and my aims.

Email me at lautalistens2015@gmail.com and tell me what is on your mind.

If elected, I pledge to:

1. Maintain the website so that I can communicate with my constituents.

2. Maintain the email address so that I can receive and respond to comments and concerns from the community.

3. Advocate for an official Carlton news website to allow for open communication between Carlton residents and the Town Board.

4. Push hard for prompt publication of Town Board meeting minutes.

But I can only do it with your help. Your vote will make a difference.

Exercise your civic duty and vote in the primary on Sept. 10th.

Frank Lauta
Carlton

Editor:

As we creep closer to both the Republican primary and the general election for Orleans County Sheriff, voters should be determining in their minds who is the best candidate to be the next Sheriff.

As they contemplate this thought, voters can gain valuable insight into a candidate’s decision-making ability early on in the election process Or at least they should be able to.

Aside from deciding to run for Sheriff, a candidate’s first major decision is who to select as Undersheriff. Only one candidate, Randy Bower, has named who will serve as his Undersheriff. Not only did Bower have the courage to make such an important decision early on in the process, he knocked it out of the park with his selection of Lieutenant Christopher Bourke to be his right-hand man.

Bower could not have made a better choice; Lt. Bourke has over 31 years of outstanding service as a deputy sheriff with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department. During his distinguished career, Lt. Bourke has functioned in a variety of roles that include working as a correctional officer in the jail, serving as K-9 handler, and leading personnel as a road patrol Lieutenant for the last 18 years.

Lt. Bourke has seen duty on all shifts and has been involved with everything from active shooter situations to performing demonstrations in Orleans County’s five school districts. In the simplest of terms he has seen it all, done it all, and is respected by everyone inside and outside the law enforcement community.

Why would a candidate not want to name an Undersheriff? Perhaps it is because they are hard-pressed to find an individual who could rival Lt. Bourke’s impeccable resume, experience, and leadership ability.

Voters should want to know who a candidate’s Undersheriff is going to be. As a voter, I want to know what the whole package is when I fill in the bubbles at my polling place. The Undersheriff not only plays a vital role in the administration of the Sheriff’s Department, but God forbid if something unforeseen happens to the Sheriff, I want to know who is going to take the reins and lead the department, and I don’t think that is too much to ask for.

It is not common practice to leave voters in the dark when it comes to naming a running mate. In state gubernatorial elections the public is made aware of who will serve as Lieutenant Governor, and in presidential elections the public is aware of who will serve as Vice President, and the election for Sheriff is no different.

One candidate, Tom Drennan, made his intentions to run for sheriff public via Facebook on New Year’s Day and has had about 8 months since to figure out who his Undersheriff will be, but has chosen to punt when given the opportunity to name an individual.

He has gone on record that he wants to wait until after the election to name his Undersheriff, which to educated voters like myself, is a either a convenient “cop” out or a politically-motivated maneuver to avoid naming an individual who pales in comparison to Bower’s selection of Lt. Bourke.

Whatever his reasoning may be, it is unfair to leave the voting public in the dark, and it certainly does not foster a good relationship with the community. While Drennan proclaims “experience matters,” so too does transparency; and no candidate offers more experience and transparency than does the team Randy Bower has put together.

The combination of Bower and Bourke bring over 60 years of expansive law enforcement experience, and Bower has not left voters in the dark when it comes to his intentions and important decisions such as selecting an Undersheriff. His initiatives and agenda have appeared on the Orleans Hub, are published weekly in the Lake Country Pennysaver, and on his Facebook page “Randy Bower for Sheriff.”

Call me crazy, but in the end I want to know what our community is getting when I make my decision on our next Sheriff. The “we’ll figure it out when we get there” attitude is not acceptable, as it is imperative that the public knows what a candidate’s plan is.

Slogans are nifty, but if you do not offer a plan that includes an undersheriff, no amount of experience matters. The tandem of Bower and Bourke brings an unparalleled amount of experience and knowledge, with a plan laid out for the future of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, and they are not afraid to share it with the public.

So when you cast your vote for our next Sheriff in the Republican Primary on Sept. 10 and/or in the General Election on Nov. 3, consider choosing Randy Bower the candidate who has a comprehensive plan, an Undersheriff, and the foresight to share his vision with you.

Chris Caufield
Holley