By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2017 at 12:54 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – David Kusmierczak of Medina stands with the color guard during the Veterans Day observance at the County Veterans Service Agency, 13996 Route 31 West. Veterans and community members stood in the freezing cold to remember and honor the sacrifices of veterans.
The program today included short speeches by veterans who have served in wars since World War II. This photo shows Vietnam War veteran Ray Smeal at the podium.
The 105 mm howitzer in front of the Veterans Service Agency office was used in the Korean War. That cannon was dedicated at the site on July 27, 2003, the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
Nancy Traxler of Waterport served 27 years in the Air Force, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan. She said she enjoyed working with other soldiers on missions. She works as a veterans service officer in Orleans County. Traxler said her current role keeps her active with veterans and connected to the “military family.”
Steve Goodrich, commander of the American Legion Post in Lyndonville, also served 10 years with the U.S. Navy as a corpsman. During Desert Storm he worked out of a Naval Hospital in South Carolina, and collected and sent 2,400 units of blood to the battlefield.
Joshua Fleck of Holley served 20 years in the military including a tour in Iraq. He said soldiers and veterans look out for each other.
“I miss it everyday,” he said about his time in the military.
Matt Passarell, right, and Mike Donahue were part of the Honor Guard at today’s ceremony in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 November 2017 at 7:31 pm
The winner of the 2017 Orleans County Tourism Photo Contest has been announced. Peggy Barringer of Albion took the winning photo this year – “When the Sun Goes Down…at the Point” – on Sept. 21 at Point Breeze, showing a fisherman and a sailboat in silhouette at sunrise.
Barringer also won the contest in 2016 with a photo of lilacs in bloom at Mount Albion Cemetery.
Dennis Button of Albion came in second with “Memorial Day Cemetery” at Mount Albion. Elizabeth Carpenter of Waterport was third with a photo from the top of the tower at Mount Albion, looking above the tree line towards the county courthouse in Albion. “
Judging was tough as there were 25 photographers who submitted 85 images that captured the essence of Orleans County – from rainbows & sunsets to waterways & wildlife, said Lynne Menz, the county’s tourism director.
A jury of 15 was asked to rank their top 10 picks with the following criteria to consider:
• Does the subject have a Tourism draw?Is this an interesting attraction worth travelling to? Is it current?
• Quality: Is the photographer skilled in using interesting design elements such as depth-of-field, perspective, texture, symmetry or contrast? Is this image “Magazine Cover Worthy”?
• “Only in the OC”: Is the image iconic to Orleans County or could this picture be taken anywhere? Does it represent Orleans County’s character?
• The WOW Factor: Does the image spark a positive emotion in you?
• The I-GOT-IT! Factor: Was the photographer in the right place at the right time?
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2017 at 9:42 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: Sarah Gatti, a planner in the Orleans County Department of Planning and Development, was named the county’s “Employee of the Year” today.
ALBION – The Orleans County “Employee of the Year” enjoys working with data and creating multi-layered maps to helps residents know the zoning and other characteristics of their property.
Sarah Gatti is a planner with the Orleans County Department of Planning and Department. She joined the county 2 ½ years ago and has worked on numerous projects, including the consolidation of the county’s agricultural districts into one county-wide district. That effort involved three mailers to property owners – 1,000 letters each time.
Gatti sent the letters and had categorize the results. The county-wide district has made the ag districts more efficient and much easier for farmers to manage, especially when the land in multiple districts, said Jim Bensley, director of the Planning and Development Department.
He also praised Gatti for creating “Map Orleans” – a free-, intuitive, on-line mapping tool on the county website. It allows the public to see aerial views of all parcels in the county, and see, in graphic form, information about legislative representatives, zoning districts, bus routes, garbage collection days, and lots of environmental data.
“It’s a wealth of knowledge for current and prospective residents and developers,” Bensley said in a letter, nominating Gatti for employee of the year.
She also generated a workbook for the County Emergency Management Office to help with documenting the flooding that occurred along the Lake Ontario shoreline this past spring on both private and public land.
The county’s Planning and Development Department is working on a comprehensive plan update in western Orleans County. The department has sent out surveys and is compiling that feedback. Gatti, again, has been instrumental in the effort, Bensley said.
Gatti, in her first year on the job, also created a map of local farm markets and produce stands.
Bensley praised Gatti for tackling many of the tasks “with remarkable speed and precision.”
Gatti was picked employee of the year by a committee in the Employee Assistance Program. The committee chose from employees of the month, including October 2016, Danielle Champeney (social services); November, John Rich (public health); December, Julie Papalia and Jennifer Hazel (social services).
January 2017, Connie Ferris (public health); February, Scott Dugan; March, Sarah Gatti (planning); April, IMA employees in social services, Mary Barnard, Marilea Greean, Julianne McGrath, Julie Papalia, Christine Pask, Angel Slick, Jennifer Szalay and Lisa Thrash; May, N/A; June, Amberlyn Robinson and Liz Milazzo (social services); July, Patricia Eick (emergency management); August, Elizabeth Liebert (mental health); and September, Rose Michaels.
Provided photo: Sarah Gatti, center, is congratulated on her award by, from left: County Legislator Ken DeRoller, Legislator Lynne Johnson, Personnel Director Jack Welch and Legislature Chairman John DeFilipps.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2017 at 2:56 pm
File photo by Tom Rivers: Joe Gehl, a Korean War veteran, is shown with the Honor Guard during the Albion Strawberry Festival parade in June 2015. Gehl will be one of the speakers during Saturday’s Veterans Day program.
ALBION – The Veterans Day program in Orleans County has usually included several speeches from local and state politicians.
The event on Saturday won’t include any remarks from political figures. This time the program exclusively features comments from veterans.
The service is at 11 a.m. outside the County Veterans Service Agency, 13996 Route 31 West.
Earl Schmidt, the Vetetrans Service Agency director, will give the welcome and lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Brad Smith, an Iraq War veteran from Albion, will give the invocation.
There will then be short speeches from veterans who served in the current wars to a veteran who fought in World War II.
The lineup of featured veterans giving speeches includes Henry Wagner of Holley, World War II; Joe Gehl of Albion, Korean War; Ray Smeal of Medina, Vietnam War; Steve Goodrich of Lyndonville, Desert Storm; Joshua Fleck of Holley, Iraq War; Nancy Traxler of Waterport, Afghanistan War.
The Veterans Day observance will also include a rifle salute from Color Guard members of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War.
Refreshments will be provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2017 at 9:54 am
Outside-village residents would see about $2 increase in tax rate
Photos by Tom Rivers: Paul Bishop, associate principal with the Center for Governmental Research, goes over a list of options for law enforcement services in Orleans County during a meeting Wednesday at Hoag Library in Albion.
ALBION – A committee looking at law enforcement options in Orleans County said one way to increase efficiencies would be to dissolve the village police departments and have the Sheriff’s Office assume the service in the villages.
That would result in a significant tax reduction in the village, $6 to $8 per $1,000 of assessed property in Albion and Medina, while raising the county taxes about $2 per $1,000.
There were two public meetings on Wednesday about the study. A steering committee that includes local law enforcement leaders and elected officials has been working with CGR in Rochester to examine the costs of local law enforcement and see if there are ways to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
Orleans County municipalities spend about $6.5 million annually for law enforcement with road patrols and other services. About half of that is spent at the Sheriff’s Office. The Village of Albion spends $1.36 million, Medina pays $1.3 million, Holley spends about $300,000 and Lyndonville pays about $30,000 for a part-time officer.
There are 52 full-time officers or deputies in the county, 21 part-time. That doesn’t include State Police.
Paul Bishop, an associate principal with CGR, has been working on the study with a steering committee since August 2016. He presented five options for law enforcement in the county during the two public meetings on Wednesday.
About 60 people, including many law enforcement professionals and elected officials, attended the meeting in Albion. There was also a meeting later about the report in Holley.
Abolishing village police departments would require a referendum at each village. Bishop said the police unions will likely fight the changes and elected officials may not embrace them, either.
“It becomes a community issue to decide what you do moving forward,” he told about 60 people at a public meeting at the Hoag Library. After the 5:30 p.m. meeting in Albion, Bishop and the committee then had a 7:30 p.m. meeting in Holley to go over some of the options in the report. (There is a 5:30 p.m. meeting Nov. 15 at Medina High School Auditorium and a 7 p.m. meeting on Nov. 21 at Lyndonville High School Auditorium.)
Here are the five options presented by the committee:
• Status Quo – No changes with village police departments continuing to be the primary patrol in their villages. The costs will continue to rise, collectively increasing by about $1 million every 5 years, Bishop said.
“The burden on taxpayers, particularly in the villages, will increase,” Bishop said.
• Expanded Collaboration – The remaining departments remain intact but share resources for evidence storage, central booking and holding, and training and tools.
Pete Sidari, an Albion village trustee, raises his hand to ask a question. Sidari said some “hidden costs” may mean the projected savings won’t be as high.
• Villages Scale Back – Albion and Medina both have two officers on night shifts, and Holley has one officer committed overnights. However, there are few calls between 2 and 8 a.m. on weekdays. One option would be for Albion and Medina to have only one officer working during that low-call volume five days a week. Holley could not have an officer at those hours. There are existing resources to help the villages with the Sheriff’s Office and State Police during the overnight.
That would save Albion and Medina about $100,000 a year. The savings wouldn’t be very dramatic in Holley because that department covers many of its shifts with part-time officers.
Kevin Sheehan, a former Albion village trustee, said having only one officer on duty puts the officer at risk. He said he favors paying for two officers at all times, even during the overnight, to improve safety for the responding officers.
• Villages Contract with County – The villages could abolish their departments and contract with the Sheriff’s Office for dedicated patrols and service within the villages. Bishop said residents would notice little change, but would see about $250,000 in savings in the Village of Albion, for example, and about $200,000 in Medina.
The staffing levels could all remain the same. Because deputies at the Sheriff’s Office are paid less than the Albion and Medina police officers, that’s where the villages would see a financial savings, Bishop said.
With the contract option, some higher paid supervisors at the village departments could be reassigned as investigators or in other positions that pay less.
Holley and Lyndonville, because they use part-time staff, would actually have to spend more if they contracted with the Sheriff’s Office because deputies are full-time with benefits.
In the contract option, the villages would pay for patrol cars and capital costs. The villages would still bear much of the expense of the operation, but the law enforcement officers would be county employees managed by the sheriff or an official in the Sheriff’s Office.
“We’d be giving up our ownership and have very little say,” said Pete Sidari, a trustee on the Albion Village Board.
If Albion was able to see a $250,000 savings in the contract option, that would represent about a 10 percent tax cut.
Paul Bishop stands near a slide that shows a breakdown of each law enforcement entity in the county.
• Single Agency – If the Sheriff’s Office did all of the local law enforcement, the headquarters would be in Albion with zone offices in Medina and Holley. Medina and Holley could lease the space to the county or offer the substations for free as an incentive for a law enforcement presence, Bishop said.
Each zone would have a lieutenant, and the the number of law enforcement officers would remain the same as today. Bishop said residents would see little change in service. The current Albion, Medina and Holley police would have expanded patrols to just beyond the village lines where there is a lot of commercial activity. The patrols would ultimately be focused on demand for service, which would still likely be concentrated at the villages.
The steering committee expects there would be improved service and response times with no municipal boundary constraints. There could also be better training and specialization with the county-wide force as the single entity.
There would be a tax shift with this option, with the villages seeing about $3 million in costs moved to the county. That would have a dramatic impact on the Albion tax rate, dropping it from near $18 to about $10. In medina, it would fall from near $18 to about $11, and Holley’s would fall from about $16 to $11. Lyndonville wouldn’t see much change in its rate, which is about $14.
The county tax rate would increase about $2. So the village savings should factor in their high county taxes. In Albion, where the tax rate would drop about $8, the total impact would be about a $6 decrease in the tax rate because of the higher county taxes. For a homeowner with an $80,000 house, that would represent $480 in tax savings.
Bishop said the county might want to ease so of that tax shift so it doesn’t hit the outside-village residents so hard. The county could stop sharing sales tax with the villages or reduce it.
The four villages collectively receive $379,265 in sales tax out of about $16 million in the county.
Any changes that result in abolishing a village police department will be subject to a public referendum, and many more public meetings, Bishop said.
CGR did a survey of the attendees at the meeting to see how many would be interested in a single law enforcement entity for the county. There were 60 people in attendance, and many were elected officials or law enforcement officers. About 60 percent said they were interested in the single entity.
“This is just the start of the conversation,” Bishop said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 November 2017 at 7:48 pm
BARRE – The Town of Barre, which had the only three-person race for town supervisor in Orleans County, led the 10 towns for voter turnout during Tuesday’s election.
In Barre, 48.4 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Sean Pogue, Robin Nacca and Cyndi Van Lieshout all were on the ballot to be town supervisor. Pogue won and will succeed Mark Chamberlain, who is retiring from the post.
Carlton had the second highest turnout at 47.0 percent. The highway superintendent race was the most hotly contested in Carlton with highway employee Kurt VanWyke defeating his boss, David Krull, for the top job.
Kendall, which had a hard-fought race for town clerk with Amy Richardson winning re-election, had the third highest turnout at 44.8 percent, above Murray and Gaines which had fierce battles for town supervisor.
There were five towns that topped a turnout of 40 percent. The county rate was 38.2 percent on Tuesday (8,693 voters out of 22,739 registered).
The last local election was two years ago and the turnout then was also 38.2 percent. The race for sheriff highlighted that election. Two years ago Yates topped the towns in turnout at 50.2 percent. That was the election when Jim Simon won town supervisor in a write-in campaign, defeating the incumbent. Simon was unopposed on Tuesday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 November 2017 at 11:27 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers: Sandy Church, center, is pictured with his wife Diane Church and Charlie Nesbitt, the former state assemblyman, during a celebration at the Black North Inn.
Orleans County voters picked Sanford Church, an Albion attorney and the county’s current public defender, to be the next county judge.
Church received 57 percent of the vote against Tonia Ettinger, an Orleans County native who currently works an attorney for the Legal Aid Society in Rochester.
Church received 4,564 votes to 3,419 for Ettinger. Church had the Republican line and Ettinger ran with the Democratic and Conservative lines.
Church follows James Punch, who retired after nearly 27 years as the county judge. Church, during a victory celebration at the Black North Inn, said the court has been running well and doesn’t need any major changes.
“The court system isn’t broken,” he said. “I’m confident I can keep it going.”
Church was backed by the Orleans County Bar Association and numerous attorneys who live and work in the county.
“He certainly had the backing of the legal community and that tells you something about what the people who have to practice in front of him think about him,” said Charlie Nesbitt, the former state assemblyman who helped Church with the campaign.
Nesbitt has known Church for many years and said the newly elected judge has the perfect temperament for a judge. Church is low-key and weighs the facts, Nesbitt said.
“He is almost perfectly qualified to be the judge,” Nesbitt said. “He has experience in all of the courts and he has a judicial temperament.”
Ettinger was grateful for the chance run in the election and give county residents a choice for the 10-year position.
“Thank you – two small words that hardly seem sufficient,” she said in a statement. “Thank you to Allen Lofthouse (Conservative Party Chair) and Jeanne Crane (Democratic Party Chair) and all the members of both committees for believing in me from the start. Thank you to the two parties for coming together in pursuit of a common goal.
“Too often in elections there is no choice. I am proud, honored and grateful to have been the one to offer the voters a choice. Thank you to my fiancé Paul, my son Blake and the rest of my family, especially my mother for always inspiring me to stand up for what I believe in even in the path of adversity.
“Thank you to my friends, both old and new, for encouraging and supporting me along the way. Thank you to the people who have fought and continue to fight protecting our right to vote. Finally and most importantly thank you to the voters of Orleans County. I could not have made it through this journey without your support. I am incredibly inspired by the complete strangers who offered their support and those that registered to vote for the first time to vote for me. Thank you.”
ALBION – This past Saturday the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office once again participated in the National Prescription Take-Back Event that was sponsored by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
The collection event yielded over 773 pounds of unused medication and sharps. All of the collected medications were transported by the Sheriff’s Office to a designated incineration facility for destruction.
The prescription take-back event has been very successful in Orleans County and to date the Sheriff’s Office has collected over 5,600 pounds of unused medications and sharps. The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office will continue to support future collection events with the purpose of safely disposing unused medications and to reduce the potential for criminal diversion.
In addition, The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Medina and Holley Fire Departments for supporting this initiative by allowing the sheriff’s office to use their facilities as collection locations. We would further like to thank the Drug Free Communities Coalition for providing volunteers at each collection site and the Orleans County Public Health Department for assisting with advertising the event.
Provided photos: Tonia Ettinger, center, is pictured with some of her supporters at a recent event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 November 2017 at 10:47 am
ALBION – Tonia Ettinger is running for Orleans County judge against Sanford Church. The election is Nov. 7. Ettinger has the endorsement of the Conservative and Democratic parties, and Church has the backing of the Republican Party.
Ettinger, 39, works as an attorney in Rochester for the Legal Aid Society. She is an Orleans County native who currently lives in Farmington, Ontario County, with her fiancé Paul Fuller and their 7-year-old son, Blake. (Fuller ran for county judge against James Punch in 2010. Punch was re-elected to a 10-year term, but retired on July 29, creating the vacancy that will be filled with the Nov. 7 election.)
Ettinger was born at the former Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital in Albion. She lived in Holley before moving to Medina, where she graduated. She earned a law degree at the University at Buffalo School of Law.
For the past eight years she has worked at the Legal Aid Society in Rochester in the Juvenile Justice Division. In her job with Legal Aid, Ettinger works with low-income clients from birth to age 21.
Ettinger was interviewed by Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers on Sunday at Tim Hortons in Albion.
Question: You’ve talked about growing up in poverty. How did that effect your decision to want to be an attorney?
Tonia Ettinger is pictured on Saturday at an Orleans County Democratic Party dinner and rally with State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Answer: With my upbringing, I struggled a lot with poverty. I’m one of four children. My mom and stepfather divorced when I was very young. It took a toll on me. I cared for my younger siblings while my mother went out and worked.
My mother is a wonderful woman and is the person who really created me. Those lessons I think have really helped me, not only in my professional career but in my personal life, to have value for the things that I earn. I had to fight for everything in my professional life. This is just another fight along the way.
I had to fight to get through school. I put myself through college. I worked at McDonalds in Medina when I was in high school. Later I worked at Movie World. That’s no longer in existence in Medina. I had a job at Tops simultaneously with one of those other jobs. So I worked throughout school, throughout college, throughout law school because I wasn’t going to have those resources any other way. My mom certainly would have given me the money if she had it. And so I had to fight.
Some things that maybe other people take for granted, just filling out FAFSA forms and student loan applications, those are the things I had to struggle with. There was nobody there to help me with those things. Nobody in my family had gone to college before, let alone graduate school. So I knew from going through all that as a child that I wanted to make a better life for myself, and I wanted to help other people make a better life for themselves, to know that even if you come from humble beginnings, you can do good things in your life.
Question: How do you think your background would affect you in the role as judge?
Answer: Your background certainly has an effect on your person, but when someone sits on the bench it’s very important for that person to be fair and impartial and not pass judgement on the person who appears before them based on where they come from or how much money they have, or their race and gender. I think that’s really key.
Question: How long have you been an attorney?
Answer: I have been admitted to practice law for almost 14 years. I was admitted in February 2004.
Question: When you started your career in Orleans County as attorney, what kind of work or cases were you doing?
Answer: I did some real estate, some minor criminal cases, I did probate, drafted some wills and drafted some separation agreements. It was a little bit of everything when I was in private practice. It was a small firm and I did a lot of their general litigation items. (Ettinger started with Robert Slocum, who has a law office in Brockport). I was primarily in Orleans but I did do some work in Monroe as well, and other outlying counties. Then in 2009 I moved on to the Legal Aid Society.
Question: Why did you come back to work in Orleans after getting your law degree?
Answer: This is what I knew. This is what I was familiar with. This is my home.
It’s a smaller county. There are attorneys who guided me and helped me along the way, which I’m very grateful for. But it’s certainly a much different feel than the court in Monroe County.
Question: I thought it was interesting that you were president of the Orleans County Bar Association as a young attorney.
Answer: I was the vice president from 2005 until 2008. And then from 2008 until 2010, I was the president of the Bar Association. I was the president of the Bar Association even after I stopped being in private practice and went to the Legal Aid Society.
Tonia Ettinger, second from left, attended a Ride 4 Life event last month that included motorcycle riders sharing a message about overcoming addictions and despair.
Question: How did it happen that you were president of the Bar Association?
Answer: It was a position that was voted on, and I wanted to be involved so I put myself forward.
Question: I remember going to mock trial events. You were involved in that?
Answer: I coordinated it for a number of years.
Question: At the Legal Aid Society and working in the bigger courts, has that broadened your horizons?
Answer: I’ve been able to get exposures to a lot more judges a lot more attorneys. It’s helpful to see how different judges rule on different issues and it is helpful to see how other attorneys practice because each attorney is unique. It vastly improved my trial experience because my caseload is pretty high and I’m constantly in court, I’m constantly litigating. So I think that it’s made me a better lawyer.
Question: Why pursue the county judge position?
Answer: I’ve been at the Legal Aid Society for almost nine years now. I represent children there. I’m able to help them in so many facets of their life. I’d like to think that I help them. I represent kids who have been abused and neglected, paternity cases, custody visitation, juvenile delinquencies, so pretty much everything.
I see in some cases the impact I’m having on the lives of these children, and I just want to take that to the next step. That’s why I am seeking this.
Question: Has it been fun on the campaign these past six weeks or so, reconnecting with people?
Answer: It’s not a really a matter of reconnecting because my family is here, my mom is one of 12 siblings. Many of my aunts and uncles live here. I am here often. I lived here more than half of my life.
Question: Anything else you want to say?
Answer: This has been an extremely humbling experience. I am extremely grateful for the amount of support I have received from my friends, my family, and also from complete strangers. It means a lot to me that the Conservative Party and the Democratic Party where able to come together and support me. Those are not two parties that often match.
Most of all I am thankful that the voters of my home county will have a choice this election season. I think that is so important in any race. This year it’s especially meaningful because it’s been 100 years since women had the right to vote in New York State.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Brian Marsceill, a deputy with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, helps direct traffic during Beggar’s Night in Medina on Friday. Deputies and Medina police officers worked together to direct traffic and with crowd control during the event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2017 at 11:41 am
There will be four public meetings this month for community members to learn more about options for future law enforcement services that have been developed through the Law Enforcement Shared Services Study Project in Orleans County.
Consultants will share information on the existing law enforcement services in the county and several potential options for future service including potential service and fiscal impacts.
Community members are invited to any of the following four meetings. All four meetings will include the same information and format. Meeting participants are encouraged to bring a cell phone to participate in audience response during the meetings. All meetings will be video recorded and can be accessed from the project website after the event.
• Wednesday, November 8, 5:30 p.m.
Hoag Library Curtis Community Room
134 S Main St, Albion, NY 14411
• Wednesday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.
Holley High School Auditorium
16848 Lynch Rd, Holley, NY 14470
• Wednesday, November 15, 5:30 p.m.
Medina High School Auditorium
2 Mustang Dr, Medina, NY 14103
• Tuesday, November 21, 7 p.m.
Lyndonville High School Auditorium
25 Housel Ave, Lyndonville, NY 14098
The County of Orleans and Villages of Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina are undertaking a thorough evaluation to determine the best option for providing the highest levels of policing service to our community.
They are working with consultants from the Center for Governmental Research. While law enforcement is an essential government service that touches the lives of every resident and visitor in Orleans County, the increased costs associated with these services and the demands for greater operating efficiencies are forcing a closer look at how service is provided.
CGR and its partner Highland Planning, LLC were given the objective to provide a restructured model resulting in cost‐effective consolidated police services across Orleans County including the jurisdictions of all four village stakeholders.
The following is taken directly from the report.
Department Profiles
There are six police departments that operate in Orleans County. In addition, the Orleans County District Attorney’s Office operates a Major Felony Crimes Task Force. The following profiles provide an overview of the characteristics of each of the agencies. The agencies each reflect the community they serve and their current operations, as they have developed over time.
Albion Police
The Albion Police Department patrols the Village of Albion with 12 full time officers, including a chief, a lieutenant and three sergeants. APD operates with a two person minimum staffing that is guaranteed as part of their union contract. In 2016-17, the total cost of the department to operate is about $1.4 million.
Holley Police
The Holley Police Department patrols the Village of Holley with 2 full time and 9 part time officers. Since October 2015, the HPD has been led by the Albion Police Chief under an inter-municipal agreement. HPD generally has a single officer on duty. Its employees are not represented by a union. In 2016-17, the full estimated cost to operate the department is about $362,000.
Lyndonville Police
The Lyndonville Police Department is a part time force that relies on a single officer who works about 20 hours per week, mostly in the afternoon and early evening. The current model has been in place for about the last 5 years. The total cost of the department the total cost of the department is about $27,000 per year
Medina Police
The Medina Police Department patrols the Village of Medina with 11 full time officers including a chief, a lieutenant, a sergeant and 8 patrolmen. There is also a part time officer and a full time police clerk. MPD operates with a two person minimum staffing that is guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement between the Village and the police union. For 2016-17, the total estimated cost of operating the department is $1.33 million.
Orleans County Sheriff’s Office
The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is headed by an elected sheriff. The responsibilities of the office include law enforcement (road patrol), emergency communications, security for the county court, animal control, civil bureau and operating a jail. The road patrol division has 24 sworn deputies assigned to patrol, investigations and the court house. The total expense for the department is about $3.5 million although there is offsetting revenue of about $550,000.
Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force
The Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force is an independent department under the supervision of the Orleans County District Attorney. The MFCTF staff is full time and is comprised of a Supervising Investigator who oversees two (2) additional Investigators. The expense for the department is about $301,000 per year, although the task force often receives funds from forfeitures.
New York State Police
The New York State Police operates out of a barracks in Albion to serve Orleans County. The contingent assigned to the county is part of Troop A that covers eight counties in western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming). A cadre of 10 troopers and a supervising sergeant is assigned specifically to Orleans County. There are also two NYSP investigators from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations that work out of the barracks. The goal for the NYSP in Orleans County is to have one trooper on duty between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and two troopers from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. There is no specific local cost for the NYSP services.
Key Findings
• The police agencies in Orleans County already cooperate on several key issues including using the closest car for serious events, a cooperative SWAT team, some shared training initiatives, and most visibly, a central dispatch center with common record keeping.
• The crime rate is low compared to similar-sized counties in New York and neighboring counties.
• The village police agencies provide a very quick response to calls (under 5 minutes 90 percent of the time) while agencies serving the broader geography in the county have a slower response time.
• There are relatively few calls for service for all agencies between midnight and 8 a.m. Peak call volume occurs between 4 p.m. and midnight depending on the community. Saturdays are the busiest day of the week for requests for service.
• The law enforcement workforce is relatively new to their positions with about half the officers being hired since 2012 and two of the agency leaders starting in 2016.
• Anecdotally, a significant portion of the turnover in village agencies is officers leaving for better paying positions in law enforcement. Very few deputies leave the OCSO for another law enforcement agency.
• The pay scale for law enforcement in the county is lower than for nearby counties with a greater demand for police services such as Erie and Monroe.
• There are substantial differences between the contracts of the three departments with collective bargaining units, especially in rates of pay and hours of work.
• There is strong community support for the local village police departments, even with the relatively high cost compared to areas outside the villages.
• Police protection is expensive, partly because it is needed at all hours, everyday of the week. The total cost in the county is about $6.8 million. However, police departments in peaceful places like Orleans County have few active calls for service in early morning hours. Further cooperation across the county can reduce total staffing, both at the officer and the command levels. The minimum staffing requirements and command needs require taxpayers to spend more than is necessary.
• There is an open mind among elected officials for the possibility for changes in the police service, although there is requirement that the level of service remain similar to what it is today.
• As currently operated, The Major Felony Crimes Task Force is able to provide an experienced investigative resource to the community at a relatively lower cost than using sworn officers operating inside another agency.
• The current political environment in the county contributes to mistrust between organizations and individuals. This may inhibit successful change to law enforcement operations.
Next Steps
As part of the project, CGR’s team will develop a series of potential options for law enforcement services for Orleans County. These options will be presented to the steering committee in a draft form and then refined based on input from the committee. The options, once vetted by the committee, will be presented to community at several different meetings to ascertain their opinions. A final report will be prepared for the steering committee that includes options for redesign of law enforcement in the county.
For more information including the Baseline Report, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2017 at 11:07 am
County expects additional increase with new hotel in Medina
Courtesy of Cobblestone Suites: The proposed 58-room hotel in Medina will look similar to this Cobblestone Suites hotel in Pennsylvania.
ALBION – Revenue in the motel tax at Orleans County has been growing in recent years, and the county expects more growth with a new hotel coming to Medina.
The county’s budgeted amount for the motel tax has grown from $27,500 in 2015, $33,000 in 2016, $39,000 in 2017 to $42,000 tentatively budgeted for 2018.
The county started a 4 percent tax on lodging in 2004. The revenue is used to support the tourism department. Those dollars are matched by the state in the I Love NY program.
Susan Heard, the county treasurer, said more businesses have started in the county that offer lodging. They might be guest houses or cottages.
The county has stepped up its efforts to make sure people making money with lodging are collecting and paying the tax.
The county held a public hearing on the motel tax on Oct. 25. No one spoke at the hearing. The Legislature is expected to approve continuing the mortgage tax another two years at its Nov. 29 meeting at 4:30 p.m.
The county has about 25 lodging providers, which include motels, bed and breakfasts, lodges and vacation rentals.
BriMark Builders has proposed a new 58-room hotel, Cobblestone Inn and Suites, on Maple Ridge Road, next to Pride Pak and almost across the street from Genesee Community College. BriMark is based in Neenah, Wisc.
County officials expect the hotel to open late in 2018.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2017 at 8:28 am
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature passed a formal resolution on Wednesday opposing a Republican tax proposal to eliminate tax deductions for state and local taxes.
In a state with high property taxes, the deductions can reduce the federal tax owed for property owners.
County Legislator Lynne Johnson, R-Lyndonville, said eliminating the deduction would be a form of double taxing property owners, making them pay their property taxes and then counting those taxes paid as part of a person’s income.
“It’s a double negative,” she said. “This is something we are fighting tooth and nail.”
The County Legislature forwarded copies of the resolution to Congressman Chris Collins, R-Clarence, who is one of President Trump’s close allies in Congress.
“Eliminating the federal deductibility of state and local taxes will imperil the delivery of public services in New York, many of which are mandated by the federal government, and may increase the effective federal income tax rate for many New Yorkers,” according to the county resolution.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer have been railing against the Trump tax plan and the elimination of SALT (state and local taxes) as a deduction.
Cuomo and Schumer on Monday launched a statewide push across congressional districts to urge New York’s delegation “to stand up for this state’s middle class and oppose the repeal or reduction of state and local tax deductions.”
“While Washington is considering a ‘tax cut’ plan, what it really amounts to is a ‘tax increase’ plan for New York,” Governor Cuomo said at an event in front of a home in Albany. “The elimination of State and Local Tax deductibility is a death blow to New Yorkers and our economy. The current plan only makes it possible to cut taxes for other states by using New York and California as the piggybank. Every member of our Congressional delegation must do everything they can to stop this devastating proposal.”
The SALT elimination would raise the average tax bill by $423 for property owners in the state with a household income of $50,000 or less. For household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000, the average tax increase would be $1,299, according to statistics from the governor’s office.
“Whether the savings from these deductions becomes money for home repairs, groceries, school supplies or even the yearly vacation, it belongs in the pockets of New Yorkers, period,” Schumer said. “These deductions should not be eliminated so people making millions of dollars a year can catch a tax break of their own. It simply makes no sense for Congress to eliminate the SALT deduction.”
New York is the highest donor state in the country, sending $48 billion more in tax dollars to the federal government than it receives back in federal spending. Under the Trump and Republican tax plan, the federal government would take even more revenue from the number one giving state, subsidizing every other state in the nation as a result, Cuomo said.
County legislators, in their resolution, said NY congressional representatives should work to prevent the state’s “donor” status from becoming even worse.
Photos by Tom Rivers: Sanford A. Church is running for Orleans County Judge. He is pictured last week at his law office on East Bank Street in downtown Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2017 at 1:55 pm
‘I’ve learned to keep an open mind, listen to everything, and then figure it out and figure out what the just response is.’
ALBION – Sanford A. Church, 59, is the Republican candidate in the Nov. 7 election for Orleans County judge.
Church grew up in Albion and played on the Albion football and basketball teams, and was one of the top tennis players on Albion’s undefeated tennis teams. He earned a law degree at Duke University, where he met his wife, Diane, who is also an attorney.
They have two grown children. Ben, 26, is a graduate of the Northwestern Medical School in internal medicine, and is doing his residency in California. Molly, 24, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and is studying to be a mental health counselor in Boston at Tufts University.
Church returned to Albion after getting a law degree, and worked with his late father, Ted Church, at an office on East Bank Street.
This picture of Sanford E. Church hangs in the law offices of Church and Church in Albion.
The Church family goes back generations in Albion, including Sanford E. Church, the first lawyer in the family who was an elected district attorney and went on to serve as lieutenant governor, state comptroller, and the chief judge of the NYS Court of Appeals. A historical marker stands by his former home on Ingersoll Street, which is now the Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home.
Sanford A. Church seeks to succeed the retiring James Punch as county judge. Church has the backing of Punch and most of the attorneys in the county for the elected position. Church faces Tonia Ettinger on Nov. 7.
Church has been a long-time Little League coach for the Rotary-Lions team, and has been involved with the Rotary and Lions clubs, as well as serving on the Albion Board of Education.
He has been the public defender for about 20 years, representing low-income people facing felony charges. Church, a former member of the Albion Board of Education, has practiced law in all of the courts a county judge will preside.
Church was interviewed at his Albion office last week by Tom Rivers, the Orleans Hub editor.
Question: After graduating from Duke, why did you come back to Albion?
Answer: When were at Duke we were around a lot of lawyers who wanted to be at big firms. I watched it and didn’t want to do that, and decided to come back to my family practice where we’ve been lawyers forever.
Question: You were mid-20s then?
Answer: It would have been ’84, so roughly 26.
Question: How did you get involved as an assistant DA?
Answer: The way it worked first is I came back and started practicing with my dad. Curtis Lyman was the DA at the time. He asked if I would be one of his assistant district attorneys. I did that in ’85 for just a few months because then – this is a long story – there are attorneys who work for judges and the one who was working for (former) Judge Miles got a job as a support judge. So then Judge Miles, who had seen me do things in court, asked me to be his law clerk, which is the lawyer that works for the judge and does research, and writes decisions. I did that until ’89 and then I worked part-time in the same type of job for the Family Court judge in Batavia, and kept the practice here. And then I did assistant DA and assistant public defender, depending on what was going on and who wanted me to do what. Then I moved to public defender.
Question: I think you’ve been the public defender for as long as I’ve been here. (Tom Rivers started working as a reporter in Orleans County in July 1996.)
Answer: It’s got to be over 20 years.
Question: Why have you stayed in that job so long? What do you like about it?
Answer: The public defender’s job is part time. It allows me to do other things and still be a lawyer. I like coaching, too. It enables me to do all the different types of courts that I do. It is helping to represent people.
Sanford Church speaks during last Thursday’s Orleans County Republican Rally.
Question: What do you do as public defender? Aren’t you the administrator of the office as well as an attorney handling cases?
Answer: The way it is set up there is the public defender’s office and I am the boss so to speak of the public’s defender’s office. There are three assistant public defender attorneys who work under me or for me, however you want to say it. And so then with the criminal cases if we have a conflict of interest with the case we have to get an attorney who is not affiliated with the public defender’s office, in other words, not me or the three other attorneys. Right now the system is set up so Jeff Martin (an attorney in Holley) assigns the assigned counsel, who are private practitioners who take cases.
Question: Who are the three assistants?
Answer: Nathan Pace, Dominic Saraceno and Patricia Pope. She doesn’t do county court. She does the other courts.
The only courts the public defender’s office does in Orleans County is criminal. But I do Family Court, Surrogate’s and others as well.
Question: What is the Surrogate’s Court?
Answer: It takes care of peoples’ estates who have passed.
Question: What would the judge do?
Answer: In the beginning, it can be if a will is valid. Someone in the family may think there was undue influence on somebody signing the will, something like that. There are legal formalities that have to be filed and a surrogate can end up ruling whether the will is to be accepted or not. Sometimes it’s a battle. After it is accepted the executor has to then collect everything and dole it out so it is consistent with the will. If there is a disagreement within the family or whoever about how that should be done, then the judge has to figure that out, too.
Question: It seems there is a persona for a judge, in terms of having control of the court room. That doesn’t show up in credentials or the resume.
Answer: I can just say it’s not a plug-in position. I’ve been around law and lawyers all my life. It’s not a plug-in, anybody-can-do-it correctly for the community position. It takes the experience, knowledge and respect to do what needs to be done. You can’t just step in there and know criminal law, for example.
Question: Isn’t the judge also an administrator of the court?
Answer: Yes, with an amount of staff. I administer the PD’s office and I have some staff, too.
Question: And you have to keep the cases moving. Aren’t there time frames for the judge to keep cases moving?
Answer: For everything but Supreme Court there are what they call “standards and goals” for the courts. At least in Family and Criminal Court they try to have the cases done in six months. Now with jury trials in the criminal cases that can be hard to do, but that is what they strive to do.
Question: The public defender is a different path to getting to judge. It seems like in the smaller counties it is often the district attorney who makes the leap to judge. You have a little bit of a different resume than Judge Punch, who was DA before being judge.
Answer: I agree that it is different. The Family Court work, as an attorney for a child, I do all of that, too.
Criminal law is a lot of what is done in Orleans County, whether you are the public defender or the DA you get immersed in particular cases. The challenge is, and I’ve felt I have the ability to do it pretty well, is you figure out what the issues are in the cases, then you research it and figure out how to apply it to the case. Whether it’s the DA’s side or the public defender’s side or the defense side, it really helps to develop the knowledge base, so when you’re the judge you don’t have to start from scratch with making different decisions.
Question: Whether you’re the DA or public defender you’re playing by the same rules?
Answer: It’s the same body of law. I’m appointed, and the DA is elected. In general I’ve never run for one of these offices before. The DAs have and the public is a little more aware of them than a public defender or defense attorney.
Question: How long is the appointment for public defender?
Answer: It’s for two years. We go with the Legislature. They will meet in January and organize for two years.
I think I work well with the Legislature. I’ve been appointed a bunch of times. I work on the budget and keep that in line.
Question: People probably want to know why you want to run for judge?
Answer: I’ve been around it a long time and the judge matters. It’s an important spot. The local attorneys certainly support me. They respect me and know I can do it. I’m willing to do it and do what the county deserves. I’m used to the county and the law.
Sandy Church warms up a pitcher for the Rotary-Lions team during a game in July versus Carlton. Church has been a Little League coach for about 15 years.
Question: Why have you continued in the Albion Little League, long after your son aged out?
Answer: Number one, baseball was the thing when I was growing up. I like baseball. When I was a kid I had all of the baseball cards. I like working with the kids and getting to know some of them. Even when I was a basketball coach, you want to help the kids.
I’ve been able to back off as the head coach in Little League, but I still like working with the kids.
Question: Why have you and Diane stayed here in Albion?
Answer: I prefer the rural community. I don’t know everybody, but I know lots of people. I just like it better than the cities.
My two kids did fine coming from here. You can get involved in a whole bunch of extracurricular activities and you get the schooling. You can get there from here if a kid wants to do that.
Question: What else do you want to say?
Answer: One of the things that makes me qualified as anybody – if not more qualified than anybody around here – is that I learned how to suspend judgement after working for all of the judges over the years. I’ve learned to keep an open mind, listen to everything, and then figure it out and figure out what the just response is. I think I’ve been able to do that. The people that know the area and know me, who aren’t making snap judgements on me from one experience, they respect my ability to do that.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 October 2017 at 11:07 am
Retired judge urges community to back Sanford Church as county judge
Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – The Orleans County Republican Party held its annual fall rally on Thursday and presented gifts and gratitude to Susan Heard and James Punch for their long tenures in public office. Heard is retiring after 24 years as county treasurer, and Punch retired July 29 after nearly 27 years as county judge.
Jim Punch is shown addressing more than 200 people at the fall rally at the White Birch Golf Course. Punch said the Republican leaders took a chance on him in 1985 when he was 29 and running for district attorney. That was the biggest endorsement of his career, and began a 32-year journey of public service in his home county.
Punch served as DA for 5 five years before being elected judge. He retired before his term ended. He felt comfortable knowing Sanford Church, the county’s public defender, was willing to serve as judge. The judge referred to some recent letters to the editor on the Orleans Hub, criticizing him for retiring before the term was up when he knew Church was willing to run for the position.
Punch urged the Republicans to push to get Church elected.
“Before I retired I did want some assurance the office would be respected by someone we trust,” Punch said at the rally.
Sandy Church thanked Republicans for their support in his campaign for county judge.
The retired judge said Church has the experience, integrity, decency and kindness to serve as an effective judge for the community.
“Sandy is my friend and if you worked with Sandy for 30 years he’d be your friend, too,” Punch said.
In their many interactions in the courtroom over three decades, Punch said Church never asked for special treatment, an indication of his high morality and respect for the judge’s position.
The retired judge noted that Church has strong support from the attorneys in the county who have all seen him in action in the courtroom.
Church has worked the past 20 years as public defender, representing indigent defendants in felony prosecutions, as well as overseeing the public defender’s office. Church has worked as an attorney for 32 years, including as an assistant district attorney for Punch and Joe Cardone, as well as two other DAs.
Church, a former member of the Albion Board of Education, has practiced law in all of the courts a county judge will preside.
Church admitted he is a low-key person who is making his first run for a countywide elected office.
“Thank you for your faith in me,” he said at the GOP rally. “I will try to live up to it.”
Susan Heard speaks at the fall rally at the White Birch Golf Course. Ed Morgan, left, is the County GOP chairman. Jim Punch is at right.
Heard started in the treasurer’s office 40 years ago when she was 18 on a summer work program. Back then she was planning on a career as a dental assistant.
But Heard liked the job at the Treasurer’s Office. She worked her way up in the Treasurer’s Office under then Treasurer Mary Basinait. Heard thanked the Republican leaders in the county for their support over the years. She also commended the employees in the Treasurer’s Office, the attorneys, town clerks, county department heads, chief administrative officers and residents who she all worked with.
Marcia Tuohey, the late chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, was Heard’s favorite county leader. “The lady in the hat, she was a woman in charge,” Heard said.
Kim DeFrank of Murray, Heard’s deputy treasurer, is unopposed in running to succeed Heard as county treasurer.
Heard doesn’t want to fully retire. She is running for the Gaines town clerk on Nov. 7.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2017 at 4:40 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers: State Sen. Robert Ortt joined local fire officials and county legislators in cutting a ribbon of cautionary tape used at emergency scenes.
The following are pictured, from left: Jeremy Graham of the Albion Fire Department, a member of the committee that researched the trailer; Jerry Bentley of the Barre Volunteer Fire Company, who also was on the committee; County Legislator Bill Eick; Ortt; County Legislature Chairman John DeFilipps; Dale Banker, county emergency management coordinator; Pat Eick, secretary for the Emergency Management Office who has processed much of the paperwork for the grant; and Fran Gaylord of the Holley Fire Department and a member of the committee. (David Hydock, Pete Sidari and Mike Young were also on the committee.)
Ortt was able to secure $75,000 in state funds through the State and Municipal Facilities Capital Funding Program or SAM.
The trailer is being used in educating the community on proper fire safety. Local firefighters have already taken it to the five school districts in Orleans County for students to practice exiting through a window in case of a fire, and to learn about smoke in a building (the trailer has a fog machine) and also to not open a hot door (the trailer can heat up doors).
Albion firefighter Jeremy Graham gives Rob Ortt a tour of the trailer, which has a simulated kitchen, hallways and a bedroom.
“This trailer will be a great tool for Orleans Emergency Management and the fire departments of Orleans County,” Ortt said. “By learning from the visual and interactive approach that these trailers provide, children and families in our community will be more equipped and knowledgeable should an emergency arise.”
Orleans County Emergency Management will use the Fire Safety Trailer in conjunction with 12 fire departments in the county to educate children and families.
“The Orleans County Fire Safety Trailer will be used to teach individuals the fundamentals of fire safety in a hands-on way,” said Dale Banker, the director of Orleans County Office of Emergency Management. “The grant from Senator Ortt will enable us to visit Elementary Schools – teaching our children the safe way to escape a burning building, meet up with family members outside, and call 911 for help.”
Fire departments in the county have previously needed to have fire trailers brought in from outside the county to help teach fire prevention, or they typically went without a “fire house.”
“We are thankful to Senator Ortt for helping to provide high-quality fire safety education to kids across Orleans County,” DeFilipps said. “This piece of equipment has the potential to save lives by teaching valuable lesson. If this safety trailer helps even one child, it will surpass our expectations.”
