Organisciak says he would ‘lead by example’ in Sheriff’s Department

Photos by Tom Rivers – Don Organisciak is pictured with friends and family during a spaghetti fund-raiser Oct.3 at the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company. Some of the group includes his son Jimmy, right; Don’s wife Jacky (left); and Jeanne Crane, Democratic Party chairwoman, second from left in front.

MEDINA – Don Organisciak has seen the letters to the editor and a public displays from supporters for both Randy Bower and Tom Drennan, candidates to be the next Orleans County sheriff.

Organisciak winced at many of the letters to the editor during last month’s Republican primary. Some letter writers questioned Drennan’s judgment and other writers doubted if Bower has the qualifications to lead the Sheriff’s Department.

“As a leader you have to stay out of that,” Organisciak said about the letters and also many social media posts. “It degrades the Sheriff’s Department and the men.”

Organisciak is the Democrat candidate for sheriff. Bower won the Republican primary by 21 votes and also will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as a Conservative. Drennan also has two lines for Nov. 3 – the Independence Party and Reform Party line.

Organisciak, a retired Medina police officer and investigator, said the sheriff’s race shouldn’t be a popularity contest. He urges voters to look at the experience and qualifications of all three. He has a 30-year career in law enforcement, capped by two years as the school resource officer in Lyndonville.

“Don is a good candidate with a lot of good experience,” said Jeanne Crane, the Democratic Party chairwoman. “Looking at their experience, Don has done some things the others haven’t.”

He sees a divided Sheriff’s Department, and says he can be a unifying leader for the department.

“They need someone they can look up to, who’s been there, done that,” Organisciak said. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we need to bring professionalism and loyalty back.”

Don Organisciak walks in the parade in Lyndonville during the Fourth of July.

It would normally be a tall order for a Democrat to win in a county-wide election. Former sheriff David Green was a Democrat who won several elections before retiring about 20 years ago. Currently, all county-wide elected positions are filled by Republicans.

Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1 in Orleans County. The current enrollment numbers include 5,261 Democrats and 10,099 Republicans.

There are also 1,055 registered members of the Independence Party, 529 Conservative Party members and 147 members of the Working Families Party.
A big wild card is the 4,754 “blanks” or voters who aren’t registered with a political party.

Organisciak and Crane think Republicans will split the vote for Drennan and Bower, with some Republicans also siding with Organisciak.

Organisciak is currently a part-time school bus driver for Medina. He said he has enjoyed the recent months of his campaign, attending community festivals and events, and meeting many residents throughout the county.

“It has been fun,” he said. “The people finally have a choice. It’s better than a two-horse race. It’s now a three-horse race.”

The three candidates will be featured during a forum on Oct. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Albion Elks Lodge, 428 West State St.

New York Revolution and the Orleans County SCOPE are coordinating the forum. Steven Aldstadt, president of SCOPE in New York, will be the moderator of the forum.

EDA says residents don’t need to wait for Pride Pak, STAMP to find local jobs

ALBION – There are about 200 jobs available in Orleans County, ranging from sales reps, food service worker, software engineer, and many others, including Holley police chief.

“There is the full gamut of skills,” Jim Whipple, executive director for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, told the board of directors last Friday. “There is entry level right up to engineers.”

Many of the jobs are listed through the Job Development Agency in Orleans County. (labor.ny.gov). Many jobs are also listed on the Orleans Hub – Click here.

Some of the jobs are seasonal farm work. However, companies such as CRFS in Albion, Baxter Healthcare in Medina, the Arc of Orleans County, Saint-Gobain ADFORS in Albion, Takeform Architectural Graphics in Medina and Velocitii in Medina are trying to fill full-time permanent positions.

“These are very tangible jobs that are available,” Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the EDA, told the board of directors.

Orleans County’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in August, higher than the state rate of 5.2 percent, which is the lowest in NY since May 2008.

There will be more job opportunities next year when Pride Pak is expected to hire 85 to 100 people for a new vegetable processing and packaging site in Medina.

Last week, 1366 Technologies also announced it will build a new high-tech manufacturing plant in the Town of Alabama, employing 600 people in phase one of what could be a $700 million build-out.

EDA leaders said the two projects will provide many job opportunities for Orleans County residents. However, residents need not wait on those projects because there are opportunities available right now.

Provided photo

ALBION – Rick Heise of Albion, center, won a Buffalo Bills package through the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern. Heise is pictured with Laverne Bates, GOMOC executive director, and Mary Grace Demarse, treasurer for the agency.

Heise won two tickets to last Sunday’s Bills game versus the New York Giants. The seats were 12 rows up at the center line of Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Ministry of Concern raised $2,000 through the raffle that included the two seats at the 50-yard-line, plus a Bills jacket, hat, shirt, golf balls, signed pictures and a year’s subscription to Sports Illustrated.

“Thanks to all who throughout the summer bought chances to win the Bills Basket in support of the Ministry of Concern program that provides emergency services to assist families living in poverty, used furniture as needed and a creative children’s E3Team program, that provides events focused on Energy, Encouragement and Empowerment and the positive influence of a great team of coaches,” Bates said.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Randy Bower, a candidate for Orleans County sheriff, is pictured at a Sept. 11 memorial service in Albion. Bower forced a Primary and won the Republican line for sheriff. The race has been a hard-fought battle and also has generated lots of traffic on Orleans Hub.

September was a record-breaker for traffic on the Orleans Hub. We obliterated records for unique visitors and page views, and also set a new record for most traffic for sports in a month.

We had 765,677 page views in 30 days last month, a daily average of 25,523. We averaged 7,671 unique visitors each day of the month. This is the first time we’ve been over a 7,000 daily average in a month.

The race to be the next Orleans County sheriff generating a lot of interest to the site, especially in the letters to the editor, which included letters from the two Republican candidates, Tom Drennan and Randy Bower, and many of their supporters.

Two of the letters about the sheriff’s race were in the top 5 for most clicked on stories for September. Bower won the Republican line with a narrow victory in the Primary over Drennan, 1,671 votes to 1,650. (The two are both on the ballot for Nov. 3, which will also include Don Organisciak, the Democratic Party candidate and retired Medina police investigator.)

The death of Deputy Erin Fuller, by a self-inflicted gun shot, also reverberated in the community. His funeral was attended by hundreds of people, including many police officers in Orleans County and Western New York.

Law enforcement officers included a black band over their badges in honor of Fuller. This photo shows the badge worn by Deputy Josh Narburgh at Fuller’s funeral on Sept. 19.

Here are the top five stories in September (the ones with the most clicks).

1. Sheriff’s Office mourning loss of Deputy Erin Fuller

2. Deputy wounded in shootout says upper management has shown ‘blatant disregard’ for his well-being

3. ‘He was incredibly special. He was absolutely a hero.’

4. Drennan responds to allegations of micromanaging and ambulance interference

5. Crucifix burned into front lawn at Waterport mosque

Fall sports season has been in full swing and Mike Wertman has been providing a daily report on the games. His wife Cheryl also takes many photos showing action and drama from the games.

Sports had 38,107 pageviews last month or a 1,270 daily average, which is our highest ever. That just counts the people who click on the “Local Sports” tab. We also get a lot of sports traffic through Facebook and Twitter.

The most viewed sports story for the month was the season-opening victory for the Medina/Lyndonville football team, a 46-41 win over Lew-Port at Vets Park on Sept. 4.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Jake Cotter runs in for a two-point conversion for the Mustangs as Nick Christman tries for the tackle for the Lancers during the 46-41 season-opening win for Medina/Lyndonville.

‘It’s a great organization with great people doing great things for our community.’ – Grace Denniston, chairwoman of Community Action board

Photos by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Ed Fancher, executive director for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee,welcomes about 100 people during a celebration of the agency’s 50th anniversary on Thursday at Hickory Ridge Country Club.

Fancher noted the agency has grown to several sites in the two counties, and continues to grow and expand services for the community.

He started with Community Action in 1987 as the fiscal director. He was 22 at the time. Community Action had a $750,000 annual budget in 1987.

Now it has a budget of $5.5 million and 130 employees, who provide emergency services, a food pantry, Head Start early childhood education, weatherization, transportation, child care resource and referral, Alternative Choices for Teens (to promote positive choices and less risky behavior), disability program navigation, and a community center that serves lunches in Holley.

Community Action also runs the Main Street Store in Albion, providing job readiness skills. That store moved into the former American Legion Post in Albion last year, after renovating the site.

Grace Denniston, the retired Office for the Aging director in Orleans County, is now the Community Action board of directors chairwoman. She joins Fancher at the podium.

She had the Community Action employees stand and be recognized. They work on the “front lines” in providing important services to needy families in the community, Denniston said.

She also said Community Action works closely with many other agencies to provide services in the two counties.

“It’s a great organization with great people doing great things for our community,” Denniston said.

Community Action organizations were started with the “War on Poverty” initiative by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The former Orleans County Board of Supervisors did a needs assessment of the county in June 1965 to see if a Community Action would be helpful.

Three months later the organization was incorporated. Fancher marvels at how quickly the county leaders moved to establish Community Action 50 years ago.

This photo shows the former Guido’s Super Market on East State Street in Albion, which has been home to Community Action for many years. The photo was part of a historical display during Thursday’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson reads a proclamation from the County Legislature in honor of Community Action’s 50 years.

The Legislature praised the agency for a half century of service and “acknowledges their many achievements by providing priceless resources to our Orleans County community.”

Eileen Kirkpatrick, DSS commissioner in Genesee County, reads a proclamation from Genesee County in honor of Community Action.

Like Lynne Johnson, Kirkpatrick has also served on the Community Action board of directors.

The agency collaborates with Department of Social Services in both counties, the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, Red Cross and other agencies.

A group of about 100 people attended the celebration at Hickory Ridge. They are listening to a proclamation from the State Legislature for Community Action. Eileen Banker, representing State Assemblyman Steve Hawley and State Sen. Robert Ortt, and Jay Grasso, representing State Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, present the proclamation to Ed Fancher.

The Batavia Swing Band entertained after the official speeches and dinner. Dan Gross plays the drums for the group.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The owners of the Orchard Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Bates Road in Medina are contesting the assessment for the property, claiming it should be assessed at $410,000 and not $4.1 million.

Orleans County legislators agreed to contribute county dollars to fight tax assessment challenges where many thousands of dollars of tax revenue are at stake for municipalities.

The county will only get involved with properties assessed at $3 million or more, and if the owners are seeking at least a 10 percent reduction or more than $300,000 off the assessed value.

Towns handle assessing properties in Orleans County, and those values determine the taxes on the properties for villages, towns, county and schools. However, the towns have the smallest of the tax rates of the local municipalities. The towns also have the smallest budgets for defending an assessment challenge against more well-financed corporations.

The County Legislature voted to help with the tax challenges on Monday. The county is getting involved after two nursing home owners filed legal action to drastically reduce their assessments – and local property tax bills.

The owners of Orchard Manor in Medina are seeking the biggest reduction as a percentage. The 160-bed facility is assessed at $4.1 million – the sale price from 2012. The owners, Global Health Care, say the assessment should be $410,000.

Global Health pays about $225,500 in property taxes with a combined tax rate of about $55 per $1,000 of assessed property. Shelby has less than a tenth of the combined tax rates. The town rate is $3.48, with the county rate at $9.89, the village at $17.13 and the school district at $23.01. (There is also a library tax rate of $1.37.)

The county currently takes in $40,549 in taxes from Orchard Manor at the $4.1 million assessment. If Global Health is successful in reducing the assessment to $410,000, it would pay a tenth in taxes what it does now or $4,055 to the county.

The County Legislature made a stipulation that it would only participate in the tax challenges if the other municipalities also shared in the fight, with the amount to be spent to be based on the percentage of the municipalities’ tax rates. That would shift most of the financial burden for defending the assessment to the village and school district, which have the higher tax rates.

Shelby town officials have asked the village to join in the fight. The formula voted on by the county would make Shelby pay the least in defending the assessment.

The Village Board has discussed the issue behind closed doors because it is a legal issue. At least one board member questions if the village should join the tax fight because village residents already pay in their town taxes for assessing.

The village receives $70,233 in taxes from Orchard Manor, which pays a $17.13 tax rate per $1,000 of assessed property. If Orchard Manor’s assessment falls to $410,000, it would pay $7,023 in taxes, or more than $63,000 less to the village.

The former county-owned nursing home is now privately owned by Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC. The company paid $7.8 million on for the 120-bed Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center on Route 31 in Albion.

The property went on the tax rolls for the first time this year with a $6,618,900 assessment. Comprehensive is challenging that assessment, filing legal papers saying it should be valued at $2.5 million.

Albion Town Supervisor Matt Passarell said he and James Bell, the town attorney, have discussed the issue and will bring it to the full Town Board soon.

Jail Superintendent Scott Wilson, left, and Sheriff’s Deputy Marty Stirk prepare to transport collected items for destruction.

Press Release, Sheriff Scott Hess
ALBION – The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce that another successful Household Pharmaceuticals Collection Event was held this past weekend.

During the four-hour detail, which was held at three locations within the county, unwanted and/or expired medications and drug paraphernalia in excess of 630 pounds were surrendered for destruction. This was the most successful collection event, to date.

As in years past, it is anticipated that another collection event will be held in the spring of 2016.

Some of the items are boxed and ready to taken to be destroyed. Residents dropped off pharmaceuticals at the Holley Fire Department, Orleans County Public Safety Building in Albion, and Medina Fire Department.