Murray GOP Committee candidate states his reasons for running in primary

Editor:

Greetings to my neighbors in the Town of Murray and Village of Holley. My name is Anthony J. Peone. Some of you may remember me from when I knocked on your door in June as I gathered signatures on a petition to be placed on the September 13th ballot for the Republican Committee election.

I have lived with my wife Arlene for the last 8 years on Bennetts Corners Road, just outside the Village. I am a native of Seneca Falls who came to the Rochester area when Kodak hired me in 1975. We settled here from the Village of Brockport to live in a more rural area. I volunteered in the Village of Brockport as a member of the code revisions and downtown renovation committees. I am a semi-retired computer consultant who successfully ran my own business, Brockport Computer, for over 20 years. I graduated from the Computer Science Department at SUNY Brockport.

I will be standing for election as one of the Republican District Committee members for District 2 in the Village of Holley. I believe it is time for “outsiders” such as myself to get more involved in local politics. I use the term outsider because only one other person was actually elected to the Republican committee, Joe Sidonio. All of the other members were appointed to their positions.

Since that election 2 years ago, Joe has helped educate interested citizens in the process of election. New Republicans with no financial interests at the Town Hall are challenging the elitist power structure in our town to bring more transparency and citizen input to our governance. There are nine “New Republicans” running against the appointed members of the committee. The committee chooses who runs for local elected offices, recommends people for appointed positions and provides funding for Republican candidates. What a great way to ensure that our Town Board members act in the interests of all the citizens of our town! By taking away power from this elitist appointed group you can help make this a reality.

You may be wondering what is motivating me to get involved at this level of our political system. Well I’ll tell you. I have been to many Town Board meetings where the members ignore anyone who challenges what they think is best for our town. Last fall there were some very well attended and contentious meetings about changing our property maintenance codes. Along with many of my fellow citizens, I spoke out against these changes but they were passed unanimously despite overwhelming public outrage at not one but two public hearings. We now have property maintenance codes that were modeled after those of the Town of Greece. Wouldn’t you think that there should be a difference between regulations of a large suburban town like Greece and a rural, agricultural town like Murray?

I hope you noticed that I did not bad mouth our local code enforcement officer. He has often been criticized for this new law and for being overzealous in enforcing the codes but I will not do so. Instead, let’s put the blame where it belongs, on our elected officials who enact these policies and fail to properly manage their employees. That is where the problem lies, in elected officials who ignore the wishes of the people they are supposed to represent, and also with the people appointed to the committee that selects them to run for office.  Since the voters have no say in candidates, elected officials have perpetuated a self-serving government.

If elected I will serve as a representative of the people in my district. I serve your interests and no one else’s. Along with the other members of the “New Republicans,” we will work towards this end. We will serve the people who put their trust in us. We will choose candidates for office that adhere to the traditional core values of the Republican Party.  And wouldn’t a little more democracy be a good thing by providing more choices for the people of Murray?

Please vote on September 13th.

Anthony J. Peone

Holley