Editor:

I would like to respond to a letter submitted on September 15th, 2020. First I would like to say; YES I went to college and received an undergraduate degree, YES I am currently in a MBA program, NO I have not undergone “progressive indoctrination” and NO I do not have a “fawning love for government,” as the writer claims.

I will not resort to defamation, personal attacks, and baseless claims in response. The writer and I agree on many political issues, this happens to be one we do not agree on.

I am fully aware of what the $0.01 increase in sales tax would amount to on larger purchases. I do not like it. I do not want to pay it. However, it is necessary given the current economic circumstances.

This increase will significantly reduce a county budget deficit. Additionally, revenue generated from this increase will not be “footed” by only Orleans County residents and taxpayers. People travel from out of the county to make purchases within the county, including large purchases, such as vehicles. This would reduce the fiscal impact county property owners could see because of a larger increase in property taxes. I am not arguing this is the perfect solution. There is no perfect solution. Instead, I am arguing this is the most practical and reasonable solution.

In an earlier letter I submitted, I acknowledged some employment cuts are inevitable and necessary.

Some county employees are already seeking employment in other industries and the private sector to avoid potential job loss. The principal argument of broad cuts to county government sounds good in terms of cutting government spending. However, it is impractical and inefficient.

The overwhelming majority of county positions are related to state mandated programs and public safety. Additionally, broad cuts to county government would be detrimental to the local economy during an already fragile economy.

The economy functions on supply and demand. Cutting hundreds of county jobs and transitioning to a part-time labor force would significantly affect the demand side of the economy. People would be out of work and unable to spend at the levels they typically do, causing a decrease in demand.

This impact would then result in negative implications for businesses within the county that rely on consumer spending to stay afloat. A reduction in consumer spending would result in reductions in revenue for local businesses, worsening the economic conditions and putting more jobs and businesses at risk.

Unfortunately, when the state requires programs, the county must provide them, whether the county wants to or not. The alternative is to tie hundreds of thousands of dollars up in litigation that could continue for many years, costing county taxpayers more money. The continuous fiscal failures are at the state level, under the failed leadership of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. New York State continues to mandate programs, cut funding to counties, and spend more at the state level. Unfortunately, the county is burdened with the added costs.

I do believe county leadership has handled this unprecedented time in a professional and effective manner. From my perspective, CAO Welch and other county leaders have been transparent with county employees and the public about the economic circumstances and potential solutions to the problems posed.

Covid has been a true test of leadership, and county leaders have stepped up, from the CAO to the legislature, Sheriff, department heads and other elected officials. This will be my last letter about this topic. I do not believe I am all-knowing. I simply wanted to provide my opinion. I hope we can all come together for the greater good of our community.

Respectfully,

James C. White

Village of Medina

Editor:

As a concerned alumnus, I have been diligently watching all of the Albion Central School District’s Board of Education (BoE) meetings in their entireties since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And, I am disheartened to write that from my experience the Albion BoE is entirely dysfunctional. BoE members routinely talk over one another and over presenters, snide comments are made, and members are verbally “bullied” by other members. Don’t believe me? Just watch the tape for yourselves – ACSD YouTube Link.

Additionally, the BoE had a highly contentious relationship with former Superintendent Michael Bonnewell, which resulted in his early removal and the appointment of an interim replacement. Think about the costs associated with this – Mr. Bonnewell is still on the payroll.

Did you know that the District had $2.2 million of unused technology grant money that had been just sitting there until August 29, 2020? The Hub wrote an article about this in September 2019. Where were the Chromebooks last Spring when Medina and Lyndonville made them available to every student in grades 7-12? The pandemic requires our school leaders to act quickly in the best interest of the children they serve.

So, it has come as no surprise that on August 22, 2020, a now-unnamed BoE member called 911 to report three boys of color sitting on the entry wall to Hazard Parkway in the Village Albion. The Albion Police responded without incident, but these three young boys were undoubtedly racially profiled. To make matters worse, it has been alleged that the Board member referred to the three boys as “little punks” in their 911 call.

Let me be clear, the BoE member who profiled the three boys and who made the 911 call should resign from the BoE effective immediately. In our America, there should be no seat on the School Board for this member.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrew “Drew” Remley

Oakland, CA, formerly of Albion, NY

Editor:

Chris Jacobs held a press conference on Monday 9/14/20 to announce his plan to eliminate the Scaffold Law on federally funded projects, H.R. 8222 (Orleans Hub 9/15/20).

This sounds just like John Faso’s proposal on 9/21/17 H.R. 3808 to eliminate the Scaffold Law on federal projects. With Republican control of the House, the bill was defeated; Republicans would not support the legislation.

Let’s be clear this was a photo-op to make it look like Mr. Jacobs is doing something for infrastructure while knowing it will go nowhere. This is not a serious proposal. Meanwhile, unemployment in GLOW region is climbing (Orleans Hub 8/27/20) and there are long lines at food banks (Orleans Hub 9/11/20).

While the misery index climbs, Republicans refuse to act on massive unemployment and food insecurity. We need a leader in Washington not a subordinate sloganeer showboat.

Nate McMurray is the leader we need.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

We would like to thank all those who came out to support us in the Village of Medina election.

As you can see, Medina has grown over the past several years. We have seen growth in commerce, industry, and housing. Not one person did this, not one Board, and not one group. It was accomplished  by everyone working together as one.

As your Mayor and Board of Trustees we will continue to work hard for the betterment of our Village and continue to bring a quality of life to Medina that we all can be proud of.

We encourage everyone to participate in your government. Come see what is happening at a Village, Planning or Zoning Board Meeting. E-mail us your concerns and comments. We cannot solve problems that we do not know about.

Thank you again,

Mike Sidari, Mayor

Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott, Trustees

Medina

Editor:

Charles Hartway and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful residents in the Village of Medina who turned out to vote in Tuesday’s election.

We would especially like to thank those who supported us in our bids for Mayor and Trustee. Due to Covid-19 safety restrictions, we were not able to effectively campaign as we had hoped. In view of this, and the fact that we were write-in candidates running against three incumbents, we are extremely pleased with the outcome. This proves that, in spite of many obstacles, voters are eager to participate in the election process. Medina is a great place to live!

Thank you all very much,

Mary Hare

Medina

Editor:

In a recent letter about the proposal from the NYS Association of Counties for extra penny in the sales tax, the young man’s progressive indoctrination he got in college clearly shows in his fawning love for government.

So you’re saying that government should never have to change its spending practices while the citizens it fleeces have to tighten their belts and be forced to pay that extra penny? It’s not just one penny.

When you buy something for $100, it’s an extra 100 pennies. You buy a new car or truck for say $40,000 instead of $3,200 in tax you would be paying $3,600 in tax.

They can rob us by force and we are supposed to adjust our living standards so they can run their governments at full gold card status? I am well aware of the 50-50 split on the sales tax and the unfunded mandates. If the spineless bureaucrats at the Association of Counties and county leaders would all pan together and refuse to send Cuomo any money, they might be able to get a better deal on those unfunded mandates. Isn’t that what an association is supposed to be there for? If not, why belong to it?

That won’t happen because then they afraid the flow of money for projects and grants might not keep coming in. It would disrupt the status quo and the easy thing to do is steal a penny or threaten to raise taxes. So what is new there?

Our County Legislature raises taxes every year. Every year. When the people are struggling to live and put away money for taxes one has to always anticipate that the taxes will be more because the taxing entities never let you down when you get the tax bill. If they get that penny you realize it will never go away till they come for the next one. They are using the Democrat play book of never let a good crisis go to waste. This is the perfect time to do the money grab. Don’t think that they haven’t been thinking about this for years.

You would be surprised at how much government you would not even miss if it was gone. You really think this legislature has done a good job during this pandemic? Tell that to the businesses they allowed their health department to harass and eat out their substance. Complaints or not. It’s not knee jerk when someone is stealing from you to call it out. Taxation is theft. They work for us. They forget that and ignore it. They have to constantly be reminded. It’s bad enough we work 5 months out of the year to pay government to be incompetent. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing or should I say Democrats in Republican clothing. So I have to disagree.

Working for the government is no guarantee of a lifelong job. When the private sector has to make cuts to keep going the government should as well. The taxpayers should not be responsible for the ever growing governmental complex that this Legislature created over the  years.

I say you never let this door to be opened. Ordinary citizens will pay more at the grocery store, the department store, at the car dealer, everywhere you spend. You JQ citizen will have less of your hard-earned dollars. I say no penny. We can’t afford it. You at the government, you do with less. People are leaving the state because of high taxes and regulations and the geniuses come up with stealing and raising taxing as the solution. What’s insane is there are actually people who think it is a good idea. The whole world is upside down.

Paul Lauricella

Yates

Editor:

I would like to respond to the letter written by Ann McElwee who is in support of write-in candidates for Village of Medina Mayor and Trustee.

The partial list of goals are very similar as mine:

• Fiscal responsibility – I have worked very hard with the Board to keep taxes to a minimum. One was to purchase quality used vehicles for department heads. This saved tens of thousands of dollars.
• Participation in village government – I encourage anyone to seek a position on the Village Board and to come to any and all village meetings. To my knowledge neither one of the candidates have been at many meeting or served on any committees, if at all.
• Assist village residents – It is my goal to contact any village resident within 48 hours with any concerns they have. I will then address that concern with the proper Department Head to see if the concern can be rectified. I will then attempt to follow up with the resident.
• Support all departments – I meet several times a week with Department Heads to see if there is anything myself and the Board can help them with the performance of their duties.
• Leaf and brush pick-up – As of right now any resident who has brush to be picked up can call the Village Office and leave their address. Usually if there are no major problems in the Village, one or two trucks go around and pick up the brush. As far as the leaves, that is mostly up to Mother Nature. It’s kind of hard to pick up leaves when it snows.
• Support local merchants – The Village Board has toured the business district and spoken to every business owner that was in their store to see what their needs were. Due to COVID we were not able to do that this year. Many store owners have heard me say, “They are our local heroes, they put their blood, sweat and tears into their business to make downtown Medina what it is today.”
• Support Medina Memorial Hospital – Board members and I have had several meetings a year with the CEO of Orleans Community Health (Medina Hospital). In order for our Village to grow we must have a reliable health care system.
• WI-Fi connection – There are several areas in the Village where free WI-Fi is available, including the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, and on the grounds of the Medina School District for students.

There are several ways of communication to the Village Board with or without COVID-19 health restrictions. A voice mail can be left at the Village office, Email at mayor@villagemedina.org or any one of the individual members emails that are on the village website. I can also be contacted on Facebook at the “Medina, This Village Matters” page.

We are all part of Medina, the board works together as one for a great quality of life for all of our residents and visitors.

Please vote for Mike Sidari – Mayor, Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott – Trustee.

Thank you,

Mike Sidari

Mayor

Editor:

To be transparent, I am a trustee and deputy mayor in the Village of Medina. I have served with Mayor Sidari, Trustee Sherman and Trustee Elliott for many, many years. My opinion, witnessing their work and dedication to the village, they are excellent public servants.

All three are up for re-election on Tuesday, September 15. They have a list of accomplishments for each year they have been in office. Those accomplishments have improved the quality of life for our residents.

In a letter posted on Orleans Hub it was announced that there are write-in candidates for the position of mayor and trustee.  Along with the announcement, which strangely comes from a neighbor of a candidate and not from a candidate, comes a set of goals. I think there needs to be some clarification regarding those goals.

Initially these write-in candidates want fiscal responsibility. Rather nebulous but I can assure you that the village is audited every year and I have never seen nor heard of an issue regarding responsibility. Frankly I do not know what they mean by that.

The list of goals next goes on encouraging residents to participate in village government knowing that their input will be valued and assessed. What I find rather bizarre with this goal is that, while encouraging others to participate, neither one of them ever attends board meetings. Frankly I would not recognize one of the write-in candidates as I do not believe I have ever seen them in or around town. How can you encourage others to participate when you yourself do not do it?

The goals go on saying that they will lend support to all departments, local merchants and the Medina Memorial Hospital. Had either one of these write-in candidates taken the time to attend even one board meeting over the past few years they would recognize that support of each department and to locals is discussed and given where appropriate.

Look at some of what has been accomplished by citizens of Medina over the past few years.  There is a dog park, a splash park and playground, soon to be a new skateboard park and more initiatives taken by private citizens that have had the full support, advice and encouragement of the mayor and trustees. All of the people involved in these endeavors have also met with the mayor and have appeared before the full board to get advice and approval. Write-in candidates who never attend board meetings do not know this.

I have nothing against write-in candidates, I have been one myself. What I take issue with are people that do not do their homework when deciding to run for office. This isn’t a game. This is the management of a village for 6,000 people with a budget of almost 6 million dollars. You better know what you are doing when you take office.

Mayor Sidari, Trustee Sherman and Trustee Elliott have proven, many times over, that they have the ability to manage this village. They have earned and deserve your vote.

Please vote on Tuesday, September 15, and please vote for Sidari, Sherman and Elliott for knowledgeable and responsible government for Medina

Owen Toale

Trustee

Village of Medina

Editor:

The Village of Medina elections will be held on Tuesday at the Senior Citizens Center on West Avenue from noon until 9 p.m. As your current Mayor and Trustees, we would appreciate your vote so we can continue with our vision for the Village of Medina – Mike Sidari for Mayor, and Marguerite Sherman and Tim Elliott for Trustees.

Over the past six years, some of our accomplishments include the following:

• Toured local businesses and industries to better understand the needs of the owners.
• Purchased and installed new playground equipment at Butts Park.
• Paved over 15 miles of the Village’s 24 miles of streets, with the help of the Towns and County through shared services.
• Renegotiated ambulance contracts with the Towns of Shelby, Ridgeway, and Yates to assist in the cost of new ambulances.
• Initiated several energy saving projects within the Village, saving the taxpayers thousands of dollars.
• Repaired and upgraded the water tower and the wastewater treatment facility, in order to continue services to our residents, while attracting new businesses to the area.
• Sponsored job fairs for local businesses.
• Updated the Village website for better communications with residents.
• Maintained Facebook page “Medina, This Village Matters” for open communication with the Mayor.
• Sent several surplus items to auction bringing several thousands of dollars into the Village.
• Supported and advised local residents as they took initiatives to improve the quality of life in Medina.
• Splash pad and new playground equipment at Pine Street Park completed in 2020.
• Dog park on North Gravel Road scheduled to be completed in 2020.
• New and improved skate park at Butts Park scheduled to be completed in 2021.
• Upgrades to State Street Park.

Our future plans include, but are not limited to:

• Continue with road and sidewalk improvements.
• Continue to improve signage throughout the Village.
• Continue moving forward with the Downtown Revitalization Initiatives to solidify State funds, as we continue to improve our historic business district.
• Continue to move forward with the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan, in order to improve our waterfront community.
• Continue with the Maple Ridge Road Corridor Study, which will improve the safety of pedestrians and motorists.
• Continue to work the Towns of Shelby, Ridgeway, and Yates along with the County to improve shared services that will benefit the whole area.
• Continue to work with Orleans County EDA/IDA to attract new industrial business into the Greater Medina area.

Our dedication to the community allows us to make informed, conscientious decisions in the best interest of the Village of Medina. We would greatly appreciate your support on Election Day on September 15th.

Sincerely,

Mike Sidari – Mayor

Marguerite Sherman – Trustee

Tim Elliott – Trustee

Provided photos: A group from the Punishers Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club gave Michael Pozzanghera of Hamlin a chance to experience a motorcycle up close and personal on Saturday.

Editor:

Michael Pozzanghera is an 80-year-old gentleman from Hamlin. Mike grew up riding motorcycles and has loved them ever since.

On June 3, 1957, Mike was 17 and getting ready to join the Navy. While he was riding down Kings Highway in the Town of Irondequoit, he lost control of his bike. Mike suffered a fractured skull, and the accident severed his optical nerve leaving him blind for the rest of his life. Mike is also wheelchair bound.

Recently Mike and his wife Barbara were leaving a restaurant in the Town of Greece, when Mike heard someone on a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot. Mike’s wife Barbara wheeled him over to the motorcycle. He told the biker about his love for motorcycles, and was wondering if he could touch his bike.

Unfortunately, the biker was less than cordial, and told Mike to get away from his bike, and leave. It should be noted that this biker was not a member or affiliated with the Punishers LEMC.

However, when the Punishers Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club heard about this, the club was shocked at the rude and callous attitude a biker would display to someone. Our International President John Boyan reached out to Mike’s family to express sadness of such treatment.

​On September 12, a group of Punishers rode out to Hamlin Beach State Park to meet Mike and his family. This visit was arranged within 24 hours of hearing about the way Mike was treated.

Punishers from Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester and parts in between rode to meet Mike, his wife, and extended family.

Many of the Chapters represented and gave Mike mementos from the club (challenge coins, key chains, T-shirts). The members of the Punishers LEMC lifted Mike onto the back of a motorcycle so he could take a little ride.

He was yelling woohoo as he rode off. Despite a horrendous encounter with a motorcyclist, the Punishers LEMC members were able to turn Mike’s experience around.

Mike’s desire to touch, feel, and ride a motorcycle came true with the caring hearts of men who have devoted their lives to protecting others. These men made Mike’s wish come true.

Tom DiFante

Clarendon

Editor:

The Medina village election is Tuesday with voting from noon until 9 p.m. at the Medina Senior Citizen Center, 615 West Avenue.

This year Medina has an opportunity to make a choice. Mary Hare is seeking the office of Mayor as a write-in candidate. Charles Hartway is seeking the office of Trustee as a write-in candidate.  These candidates share deep roots in our community.

Below is a partial list of goals:

• Fiscal responsibility is the #1 concern.
• To encourage residents to participate in village government, knowing that their input will be valued and assessed.
• To assist village residents whenever possible.
• To lend support to all departments, managing their needs along with the needs of the public in a consolidated effort to see the village through these especially difficult times.
• To fulfill the village residents’ requests for leaves and brush pickups.
• To support local merchants.
• To support the Medina Memorial Hospital.
• To explore the possibility of extending free Wi-Fi within the village.

This method of communication is a way to share their ideas due to the Covid-19 health restrictions.

“We are Medina, let’s work together as one for a better future.”

Please share and thank you for voting.

Ann McElwee

Medina

Editor:

Thanks to Covid-19, people are being forced to look at the benefits and drawbacks of the public school systems and compare them to the relative safety of the home school options.

The school systems waffled over their ability to provide a safe environment. My fear is that parents in New York State will, sooner or later, begin to experience increased limitations on their ability to make educational decisions and soon will be limited to just making choices.

Our governments have created a massive, expensive and ineffective educational system. Not only are students not receiving the education needed for today’s technological society, many are not even receiving the basic education needed to be functional in normal business.

If the educational system pursued a business-quality standard for education, and achieved the business standard of Six Sigma, they would have just 1 person out of the last 100,000 students to pass through the school system not graduate with a functional high school education. We are not coming anywhere close to that standard.

The school systems, and our government, need to proactively promote efficiencies in education. They should be working to aggressively use and adopt the educational technologies and opportunities that private enterprise has developed and now offer.

They need to figure out how to stop consuming resources on old practices that have proven to be ineffective at producing a Six Sigma quality educational product. Because of the effectiveness and efficiencies involved, home schooling will be commonplace in the future, much more so than it has been even in the recent past.

When elected to office, I will work to remove the barriers to home schooling, to eliminate funding inequalities between home-school and public-school, to create a functional educational environment that addresses our technological needs, to support efficiencies in education, and ensure that taxes collected for education are used wisely.

My ultimate objective is to eliminate the real estate-based school tax.

Mark Glogowski, Ph.D.

Hamlin

Libertarian candidate for NYS Assembly, 139th District

Editor:

Typically I do not respond to previous letters to the editor or engage in public debate utilizing this section of The Hub. However, I find it necessary to address a recent letter in which the author took issue with the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) urging the state to raise sales tax one cent and to legalize recreational marijuana.

The author also made some suggestions regarding county employment levels and services that I will address in this letter.

It is reasonable to presume no consumer wants to pay more at the register for goods or services. However the county is in an unprecedented time, facing the most precarious budget situation in many years, and some would argue, ever.

As a result, county leadership is doing its best to manage this situation with limited resources and very little answers from the state. Orleans County has lost a tremendous amount of revenue from a decrease in sales tax revenue (its second largest revenue source) over the past several months.

This loss has to be accounted for some how to balance the budget. Of the eight cents per dollar of sales tax, Orleans County receives four cents. Each penny results in approximately $4.25 million annually. This means if the state increased the sales tax by one penny and the county received 100 percent of that increase, it would result in an additional $4.25 million. Even if the state split it 50/50, that would be approximately $2.13 million sent to the county. This would be a significant amount to offset the losses already incurred.

The author suggested eliminating “non-mandated” programs. The issue is, the largest burdens for the county have been and continue to be New York State mandates that the state refuses to fund. In other words, the state requires these programs but does not pay for them.

Nine state mandated programs account for nearly 90 percent of county taxes across the state. In 2019, the Orleans County budget included approximately $16,284,996 to cover those nine programs. This figure accounted for approximately 93% of Orleans County property taxes. This point is to illustrate the issue is not “non-mandated” programs within the county.

As it stands right now, the county is set to see at least a 20 percent reduction in the few state reimbursements they do receive. To make up that difference, plus the decrease in sales tax revenue over the past several months, the county would have to raise property taxes approximately 13 percent to maintain the level of services provided. That increase in property taxes would have a far more detrimental impact on taxpayers in the county than the proposed sales tax increase would.

It is simple to suggest cutting positions and transitioning to a part time county labor force, but the reality is the economic implications would be far greater. The economy functions on consumers willing and able to buy goods and services. Some cuts in county employment might be inevitable, but broad cuts would result in a large number of people out of work, unable to contribute to the economy, no matter how much they might want to. At a time when the economy is so fragile, it cannot afford more people in a vulnerable economic position. This is basic economics.

I won’t argue the social or moral implications of the legalization of marijuana, because I understand and agree with these arguments and potential ramifications. What I will say is many states have seen a positive economic boost from choosing to legalize it. Again, during this fragile economy, the economic impact is what leaders need to look at and take into consideration.

It is understandable for people to disagree and take issue with the two suggestions made by NYSAC and county leaders without looking at the numbers and fully diving into the economic implications. It is undeniable that the state has been fiscally mismanaged for years. However, the bottom line is these two proposals could very seriously mitigate the economic and budgetary implications of Covid. In my opinion, local leaders have done a great job managing this unprecedented time. Both fiscally and socially.

I urge residents to avoid a knee-jerk reaction to a one cent increase in sales tax per dollar spent and instead understand the alternative options to address the revenue shortfall and the far worse economic implications of them.

Respectfully,

James C. White

Village of Medina

Editor:

The NYS Association of Counties is nothing more than a bunch of left wing progressives. I say no. No! to increasing the sales tax another penny.

Like the last penny increase the vultures that claim to be Republican that run our county government never let go of it when it was “only supposed to be for three years.” It keeps getting renewed and renewed. Well over a decade or more now.

There will never be a sunset if you allow government the go ahead and steal that penny from you. They are proven liars. Only 3 years they say. Are we that stupid?

The federal government should not be bailing out states like NY that have been run incompetently at all levels. I hope there are no bailouts. No rewards for incompetence.

Now is the perfect time to cut department budgets and get rid of non-mandated services as people are used to less services due to Cuomo’s shutdown of everything. Hire part time. Cut stipends and get really tough on negotiations with the labor unions.

Where does it say that government must always maintain ever expanding services forever? The party is over, make the cuts. The taxpayers cannot afford it anymore. How desperate are you all?

Legalize weed so we can have more stupid and compliant stoned drug addicts. It could also could lead to the harder drugs and more burden on the taxpayers. I could go for decriminalizing it without the government involved but if the state and local governments are going to become the Pusher or the Cartel for profit to balance their out-of-control spending, forget about it.

Taxpayers and businesses are hurting and all you bureaucrats can think about is how much more meat you can pick off the bare bleached bones of the carcass. I could say for shame but I know you lost that right after you took your oath of office in your first term. Term limits please.

Paul Lauricella

Yates

Editor:

President Trump’s contempt for the U.S. military and the men and women who serve is on display once again. An article in The Atlantic this month, (which has been confirmed by Washington Post, NYT and several other news outlets including Fox News), reports that Mr. Trump calls people who defend this nation as “losers and suckers.”

While this is not new, it spotlights how unfit Mr. Trump is to be Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Trump displayed this contempt in January of 2016 when he held a fundraiser for veterans but then used the money for his campaign and a court had to fine Mr. Trump $2 million in restitution.

When Mr. Trump ordered a raid in Yemen early in his administration that resulted in the death of an American, Mr. Trump blamed “his generals” even though it was done on his orders. When Russia put a bounty on U.S. forces Mr. Trump doesn’t even mention this in phone calls with Mr. Putin let alone take any actions to protect Americans that he has ordered in harm’s way.

Recently, in eastern part of Syria a Russian convoy collided with U.S. troops injuring several but again, nothing from this President. This is after Mr. Trump withdrew troops from Syria and abandoned our allies, the Kurds, to appease the Russians.

As a combat Vietnam veteran I am appalled at Mr. Trump’s disrespect for the military and the men and women who serve and defend this nation. I am also appalled at people like Congressman Chris Jacobs who defend this contempt and will not defend the men and women they put in harm’s way.

William Fine

Brockport