Lone candidate on ballot in Medina says village needs more from towns, county

Marciano also mounting write-in campaign for other trustee position

James “Scott” Bieliski

MEDINA – Despite the packed-out board meetings in recent months for the Medina Village Board, only one candidate will be on the ballot in Tuesday’s election.

Two trustee positions are up for election, but only James “Scott” Bieliski turned in petitions to be on the ballot. Candidates needed to turn in petitions signed by at least 100 registered voters in the village by Feb. 11

Bieliski will be the only name on the ballot in the election. He is running under the “For the People” party.

Voting is from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center, 615 West Ave.

Two of the incumbent trustees, Diana Baker and Jess Marciano, didn’t turn in petitions for re-election, but Marciano now is seeking election as a write-in candidate to help keep experience and continuity on the board. The trustee terms are for two years.

The two top vote-getters, whether through a mark on the ballot or write-in, will get two-year terms that start on April 1.

Bieliski, 56, has lived in the Medina community his entire life. He is co-owner and chief operating officer of Maza Communications, which provides communications services to hospitals and the healthcare system. The business takes him all over the state and region.

“My intention is to be solution-based,” he said. “For every problem we have to find a solution.”

Bieliski has considered running for the Village Board before, but believed he was too busy, until now. He is stepping back a little form his business and has the time to devote to the position, he said today.

He owns seven houses in the village, and he said the village taxes have been a big concern for many residents. They have shared those worries when he went door to door to get petitions signed.

Bieliski said he is proud of the village and Medina community, especially with a vibrant business district and professional village staff. But he said village taxpayers bear too much costs for those services.

He wants to see the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway contribute more to Medina’s services, and he said it is long overdue for the county to share more of the local sales tax with the village.

“I want to keep what we have, but we need help from towns,” he said. “Everybody benefits from the village of Medina but the village pays the entire bill.”

Marciano also has made a push for more sales tax sharing as a focus, saying the village needs to keep the pressure on the County Legislature to significantly increase how it shares the local sales tax. The county hasn’t increased the amount to the local towns and villages since 2001, despite the sales tax revenues more than doubling in that time.

The village will get $159,630 of the sales tax in 2025 out of a total expected to be around $23 million this year. That is less than 1 percent for Medina of the total local sales tax in the county.

Bieliski said Medina generates a big share of that sales tax.

“It’s peanuts what we get back,” he said. “We make the county beautiful. We are putting it on the map. We capture that dollar and the person coming in.”

More of that sales tax would bring down village taxes, and allow Medina to continue with full-time fire and police protection.

He said additional revenues from county and the towns is critical for the village. He also said he will take a detailed look at spending, and work with the village employees to identify what they need to do their jobs to serve the community.

“I don’t want them in subpar working conditions,” he said about firefighters, who expressed their concern about an out-of-date fire hall, aging fire trucks and equipment and the proposal for a one-bay addition for a new ladder truck. Firefighters said a two-bay addition and overhaul of the current fire station would best serve the community.

But the board balked at a $6 million price tag, and is now looking at $1.1 million for the one-bay addition.

Bieliski sees the addition as a “band aid” solution to a bigger problem. He thinks there could be other options for housing the ladder truck and doesn’t want to commit just yet.

“We can think our way through this,” he said.

Bieliski has confidence in a quality staff of village employees. He has worked with village DPW, water and sewer, code enforcement for work on his properties.

“I don’t want any of our employees to think they are not valued,” he said. “Ultimately it’s what’s fair for our employees and what’s fair for our tax dollars.”