By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 May 2019 at 7:35 am
ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board on Thursday voted in support of a ground-mounted solar array for Panek Farms on Eagle Harbor Road, north of Route 31.
The project includes 2,268 panels and will generate 748.44 kilowatts of power to be used by the farm. Panek is working with Solar Liberty Energy Systems on the project, with the electricity to be used by the Panek for drying corn and other farm needs. The solar power is expected to reduce the farm’s electricity bill by $75,000 annually.
Jim Panek, one of the farm owners, said the solar arrays will cover about 32 acres of non-productive farmland at an area that used to be a practice track for harness racing.
The farm has planted a row of trees as a visual buffer for the solar panels. The site is ideally located about a quarter-mile from an electricity substation. As part of the application, Panek is taking responsibility for removing and decommissioning the solar panels should the project become obsolete.
This is the third solar project backed recently by the County Planning Board. In December the board approved two projects in Ridgeway – 11,745 panels on Beals Road that would be for 4.3 megawatts and 18,295 panels on Allis Road that would be for 6.8 megawatts.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 May 2019 at 6:53 am
Provided photo
ALBION – Eighteen of the AP Biology students from Albion High School did the class’s annual planting of the downtown flowers this week. The bio students have been providing this community service for the past six years. It is a fitting end to the year-long class, said teacher Sandy Climenhaga.
Students study the importance of plants as well as structure and biological properties. The students will also continue to plant and care for the downtown flower bed by the canal. This is planted as pollinator friendly with plants known to attract the bees as well as butterflies, Climenhaga said.
Pictured include, front row, from left: Emma Mathes, Laiken Ricker, Emily Harling and Rylee Pearles.
Top row: Spencer Sietmann, Tyler Goslau, Kolin VanGorder, Jacob Thom and Addison Christ.
The Village of Albion, Town of Albion and area businesses all shared in buying the flowers. Lisa Stratton, president of the Merchants Association, coordinated the effort.
Press Release, U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., Western District of New York
Gregario Salinas-Guzman
BUFFALO – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Gregorio Salinas-Guzman, a native of Mexico living in Lyndonville, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. Salinas-Guzman was convicted of being alien in possession of a firearm.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth T. Molisani, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant is a native and citizen of Mexico with no lawful status in the United States. On March 15, 2018, the defendant was arrested following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on Alps Road in Lyndonville.
Inside the residence, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, assisted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, recovered two 20-gauge shotguns; a rifle; a .22 caliber revolver; 207 rounds of ammunition; shotgun slugs; and 15 rounds of shotgun shells. Investigators also recovered a counterfeit Social Security card and a fraudulent Permanent Resident Card in the defendant’s name.
The sentencing is the result of plea is the result of an investigation by the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 May 2019 at 5:40 pm
Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the County Legislature, reviews a resolution during Wednesday’s meeting.
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature is heading to “the hill.” The 7-member Legislature had its final meeting in the historic County Clerk’s Building on Wednesday.
The Legislature has been meeting there since 1982. Prior to that, the Legislature and the former Board of Supervisors, met in a first floor courtroom in the County Courthouse.
The Legislature is headed to the new addition on the County Administration Building. That $10 million project is nearly complete. A ribbon-cutting and open house is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on June 11.
The 23,000-square-foot addition will include a larger meeting room for the Legislature (an increase from 30 seats to 60). There will also be offices for the legislative staff, the Health Department, Board of Elections and information technology department.
The building is connected to the current County Administration Building with the addition on the south side. The current CAB includes the Department of Social Services, Job Development, Tourism, Planning and Development, Office for the Aging, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Personnel.
The building at 14016 Route 31 West is located on a hill behind the nursing home.
County Legislator Bill Eick noted on Wednesday the group was meeting for the final time in the Courthouse Square, which is named to the National Register of Historic Places.
“There’s a lot of history in these walls,” Eick said.
The space on the top floor of the Clerk’s Building will likely be used by the Public Defender’s Office, which is getting an infusion of money from the state more than $1 million annually. The Public Defender will likely be adding staff.
The meeting room could also be used for arraignments or pre-trial services.
Press Release, U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., Western District of New York
ROCHESTER – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Christopher Rivers, 22, formerly Albion pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie Kocher, who is handling the case, stated that during the early morning hours of January 25, 2019, the defendant fired a shotgun multiple times outside an apartment window at 1221 Affinity Lane in Greece, NY.
Rivers, a Greece resident, was previously convicted of Criminal Possession of a Firearm in Orleans County Court, and is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as part of its Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Patrick D. Phelan, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 30 at 10 a.m. before Judge Larimer.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia A. James today applauded a decision by the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department in the case of Crispin Hernandez v. the State of New York and the New York Farm Bureau, declaring that farmworkers across the state have the right to organize and bargain collectively.
The courts ruled the exclusion of farmworkers from the State Employment Relations Act to be unconstitutional.
“This is a victory for some of the most vulnerable members of New York’s workforce,” Cuomo said. “From the beginning, we chose not to defend against this lawsuit because farmworkers never should have been denied the same basic rights as other workers and we believed this to not only be morally wrong, but also unconstitutional. My administration has proudly fought for working men and women across the board, from raising the minimum wage to strengthening worker protections in nail salons and the home health care industry – and we will never tolerate the abuse or exploitation of workers anywhere, period. I commend the court’s decision to correct this undeniable injustice and reaffirm New York’s principles of fairness and equality for all.”
Article 1, Section 17 of the New York Constitution guarantees to all “employees” in the State the fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. The State Employment Relations Act (SERA) establishes a comprehensive administrative framework to protect employees in their efforts to organize, regulate the collective bargaining process and provide a forum in which employees and employers can amicably and promptly resolve labor disputes. However, the SERA specifically excludes farmworkers from its coverage, leaving them with no viable means to vindicate their constitutional right.
“I applaud the court’s decision to affirm the right for farmworkers to organize in the state of New York,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “This ruling asserts that farmworkers are no longer considered second-class workers in the eyes of the law. My office will always fight for the hardworking people in this state, and their fundamental rights to organize, access workplace protections, and get paid fair pay for a fair day’s work.”
Represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), plaintiffs—a farmworker named Crispin Hernandez and two organizations devoted to protecting farmworkers’ rights, Workers’ Center of Central New York (WCCNY) and Worker Justice Center of New York (WJCNY)—brought this lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court in May 2016, challenging the constitutionality of the SERA’s exclusion of farmworkers. The complaint alleged that Mr. Hernandez’s employer, Marks Farm LLC, terminated his employment in retaliation for exercising his constitutional right to organize by meeting with coworkers and advocates from WCCNY and WJCNY to discuss dangerous working conditions on the farm. But because the SERA excludes farmworkers, Mr. Hernandez was left with no protection under the law.
Although the State and the Governor were the named defendants in the action, they announced their intention to argue that the SERA’s exclusion of farmworkers violated farmworkers’ right to equal protection under the New York Constitution. An advocacy group representing agricultural employers, the Farm Bureau, then intervened to defend the constitutionality of the statute. The Farm Bureau filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, and Supreme Court Justice Richard J. McNally, Jr., granted the motion, rejecting plaintiffs’ constitutional claims. Plaintiffs and the State defendants then appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department, and filed separate appeals briefs arguing that the SERA’s exclusion of farmworkers violated the New York Constitution.
In an opinion drafted by Justice Christine M. Clerk, the Third Department, by a 4 to 1 majority, reversed Supreme Court’s decision and held that the exclusion of farmworkers from the SERA was unconstitutional. The Court reasoned that farmworkers are “employees” within the plain meaning of the term and that nothing in the constitutional provision’s language or history suggests an intent to give that term a narrower meaning.
Additionally, the Court held that the right to organize and collectively bargain “is enshrined in the New York Bill of Rights” and has “fundamental status” under New York’s “longstanding tradition of protecting the rights of workers.” Based on this fundamental status, the Court held that “any statute impairing this right must withstand strict scrutiny,” meaning that it must be narrowly tailored to meet a compelling government interest. The Court then concluded that “the farm laborer exclusion cannot conceivably withstand strict scrutiny” and thus “violates the NY Constitution.” Accordingly, the Court declared that the SERA’s exclusion of farmworkers “is unconstitutional as a matter of law.”
Judge Clark’s opinion was joined by Presiding Justice Elizabeth A. Garry, as well as Justices Michael C. Lynch and Eugene P. Devine. Justice Stan L. Pritzker filed a dissent.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 May 2019 at 3:17 pm
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The royalty has been picked for the 33rd annual Strawberry Festival, which will be June 7-8 in Albion.
Pictured from left include Hunter Zambito, prince; Ryan Krenning, king; Melissa Barnosky, queen; and Monica Thomas, princess.
They all submitted either an essay or artwork about the festival theme, “Albion’s lift bridges celebrating 100 years and still lifting.” Albion has two lift bridges and Orleans County has seven of the 16 on the Erie Canal.
In her essay, Barnosky praised the lift bridges for their century of service carrying many tons of traffic, while making way, when needed, for boaters.
“They are more incredible than most people in the community realize,” Barnosky said about the lift bridges.
The royalty will be in a carriage in the parade at 10 a.m. on June 8. They will also help drop the plastic turtles into the canal during the Turtle Race at 2 p.m. on June 8.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 May 2019 at 11:47 am
ALBION – A Rochester man who used to live in Medina was arraigned in Orleans County Court today for first-degree robbery and grand larceny in the fourth degree, which are felonies.
Jason Wills, 33, also faces misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and menacing in the second degree.
He was picked up on a warrant on May 1 in Albion by local law enforcement. Wills had been wanted since failing to show up at a court appearance on Nov. 20, 2017, when he was indicted for robbery in the first degree.
Wills was arrested by the Medina Police Department on June 4, 2017 for an alleged knifepoint robbery where cash was stolen.
District Attorney Joe Cardone requested bail of at least $100,000 after Wills failed to appear in November 2017. Judge Charles Zambito agreed and set bail at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond.
Cardone also offered a plea deal for Wills where he would plead guilty to attempted robbery in the first degree and face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Wills can consider that offer in the next month before he appears in County Court again for a conference with his attorney, Public Defender Joanne Best.
In other cases in County Court today:
• A former inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility was sentenced to 1 ½ to 3 years in state prison for assaulting a corrections officer in 2017.
Raheem Sumler pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted assault.
• An Albion woman was sentenced to six months in the county jail and five years of probation for a felony drug charge.
Virginia Rivera, 38, had nearly completed a judicial diversion program until a recent drug relapse. If she had been successful, she would have instead been sentenced to a misdemeanor and avoided jail.
“I just want to apologize,” she told the judge. “I made a huge mistake. I really regret it.”
Judge Zambito declined to send Rivera to state prison. He wanted the local supervision through probation.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 May 2019 at 11:01 am
BARRE – Motorists should expect some delays on Route 98 in Barre through next week while a section of the state road, from Route 31A to Puzzey Road, is repaved.
The $980,000 project is being funded through the PAVE NY Initiative, which includes $128 million in repaving of state roads, including about 1,000 lane miles with at least one project in every county.
The repaving started on Tuesday in Barre and is expected to be complete later next week, with a break for the construction crew during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Photo by Tom Rivers: The cherry blossoms near the entrance of Mount Albion Cemetery are shown on Tuesday evening at the historic cemetery on Route 31 in Albion.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a special weather statement, warning that severe thunderstorms are possible late this morning through early this afternoon.
A line of strong to severe thunderstorms over southern Ontario, Lake Erie, and northeast Ohio will move into Western New York late this morning, then move east to the Genesee Valley by midday or early afternoon.
If this line of storms maintains intensity, it may produce strong winds and some wind damage as it moves across the area. Be prepared to seek shelter if thunderstorms approach, the Weather Service said.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 23 May 2019 at 8:22 am
The first stop on the Cobblestone Museum’s cobblestone bus tour was the Webster Baptist Church, whose historian boasts it is the largest cobblestone building in the United States which has continually been used for its original purpose.
Those who took the Cobblestone Society Museum’s Cobblestone Bus Tour on Saturday enjoyed a day of sunshine, camaraderie and history of some very unusual attractions in the Monroe, Ontario and Wayne counties – most of them in cobblestone buildings.
There are 900 cobblestone buildings in New York state – the most of any state – and 700 of them are in the Rochester area, including many in Orleans County.
The tour passengers gathered at the Cobblestone Museum Saturday morning for juice and banana bread, which Sue Bonafini had brought from Grinds Café in Brockport.
Bonafini, who is assistant director for the Cobblestone Museum, also organized the day-long trip with museum director Doug Farley.
As the bus drove along Ridge Road, Bonafini pointed out historic cobblestone and other structures along the way, such as the spot where in 1810 DeWitt Clinton spent the night in a log cabin during his horseback trip across New York.
First stop on the trip was the Webster Baptist Church, where historian and board member Peter Elder proudly showed off the beautifully preserved building. The church boasts it is the largest cobblestone building in the United States which has continually been used for its original purpose.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the church was built in the Civil War era and dedicated in 1857. Stones to build the church were collected, mostly by women, from the shores of Lake Ontario, from Seabreeze to Lakeside in Ontario County, and put in baskets to be loaded on barges. Elder said often they had to wait for storms to throw more stones up on the beach. It cost $150 to have the stones brought from Nine Mile Point to Webster. They were drawn by horse and wagon from the barges to Webster.
Peter Elder, historian and board member of the Webster Baptist Church, tells the church history to those on the Cobblestone bus tour Saturday. The chandeliers were installed during a 1904 renovation.
The congregation of the Webster Baptist Church numbers between 80 to 85, Elder said. The bell tower was once the talk of the town, being the first bell in Webster, he said.
The church also boasts one of only two Chapin organs in existence in the entire world. The organ was donated in 1938 by the family of William Wisner Chapin, a businessman for more than 40 years with the Monroe County Savings Bank. It is an Aeolian pipe organ, and its pipes wrap around the sanctuary, Elder said.
On Oct. 6, the church will be part of the Sacred Sites Tour, making it the oldest structure on the tour.
The Cobblestone bus tour group posed in front of the Martin Harris cobblestone home near Palmyra. The prophet Joseph Smith and his father once worked on the farm for Harris for 50 cents a day.
The Martin Harris home near Palmyra boasts this unique cobblestone chimney. The home is a New York state historic site.
Next stop on the tour was the Martin Harris Farm near Palmyra. The original home was a white frame house, which Harris occupied until 1831. The cobblestone structure was built by a mason and commissioned by William Chapman after the frame house burned down. The home, however, still bears the name of the original 1820’s landowner.
Harris bought the land for 50 cents an acre. He was a supporter of prophet Joseph Smith, who worked on the farm with his father for 50 cents a day. In 1829, Harris mortgaged 240 acres of his land for $3,000 to pay for printing of 5,000 copies of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. As a result, his wife left him.
Known as the Lake-Stone House, it is part of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.
In Palmyra, the group was greeted by docent Bonnie Hays at the Alling Coverlet Museum. It is named for Mrs. Merle Alling, a Rochester resident and coverlet collector. Staffed solely by volunteers, the museum opened in 1976 and is the only one in the country devoted to coverlets. About 60 coverlets are displayed every year, and it would take seven years to show the entire collection of more than 500.
Palmyra was once home to two noted weavers, James VanNess and Ira Hadsell. Hays explained Hadsell was a farmer, but could weave a coverlet in a day. He charged $2.50. In 1850, he weaved 221 coverlets, but by 1875 interest had declined and fewer than 25 were made.
One volunteer made a coverlet for the White House during the Carter years. Another who made coverlets was Sarah Hall Bonesteel, whose home was the cobblestone building in Newark, which is now a Starbucks and was the last stop on the tour. Bonesteel was the first woman to graduate from MIT and once tutored Helen Keller.
Hays stressed that one doesn’t wash a coverlet or use chemicals on them. Those on display are 120 to 150 years old, she said. She described weaving as a unique art form.
The museum also showcases antique looms, a third floor for quilts and a gift shop.
Mary Zangerle of Medina enjoyed looking at the quilts.
“I dabble in quilting, and I’m inspired by these,” she said.
Bonnie Hays, a docent with the Alling Coverlet Museum in Palmyra, tells the museum’s history to the Cobblestone bus tour. It is the only museum in the country devoted to coverlets. Hays is standing in front of an 1809 barn loom.
Nearby was the Muddy Waters Café on the bank of the Erie Canal, our stop for lunch.
Then it was on to Newark and a stop at the Newark Historical Society and the Hoffman Clock Museum, located in the Newark Library across the street.
Among other displays relevant to Newark in the Historical Society, there is a room devoted to Sarah Coventry jewelry, which had its origin in Newark. From 1948 to 1984, Sarah Coventry was the largest direct selling jewelry company in the world. Visitors will learn that Newark was started in 1919 as a result of the canal. A lot of their displays center on the agriculture around Newark, a volunteer said. The June exhibit, now being constructed, will focus on farming and agriculture and Newark’s 200th anniversary.
The group on the Cobblestone bus tour look at some of the clocks on display in the Hoffman Clock Museum in Newark. The museum has more than 400 clocks and watches. Checking out the display is Allan Kropf and Sandy Thaine of Medina and Jim Bonafini of Kendall.
At the Hoffman Clock Museum, curator Eric Hooker proudly described the clocks displayed. The museum represents a collection of 100 clocks owned by Augustus Hoffman, a jeweler in Lyons and Newark. He left an endowment to support the museum, which now boasts more than 400 clocks and watches. One prized clock in the collection is a Jenkins Brothers Clock, made in London and imported by Tiffany. Hooker said one of these clocks sold at auction for $15,000.
After “unwinding at the clock museum,” the tour headed for Starbucks in Victor to “get wound up.”
Starbucks purchased the historic cobblestone structure, built in the 1800s by Philip Bonesteel, to keep it from being destroyed. Bonesteel’s farm is now the Eastview Mall.
Heading back to Childs, Ann Raskopf of Olcott said she had recently joined the Cobblestone Society, and was now hooked on their events.
“I’m so excited about everything they have to offer,” Raskopf said. “This was a wonderful trip.”
MEDINA – The Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering program at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center received a $10,000 donation from the Gene Haas Foundation.
Haas is the owner of Haas Automation, Inc., America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. Over the next decade, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, and the skills gap is expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled. Haas gives out several scholarships a year that can be utilized for tuition, books, NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) Accredited Program dues and small personal tools for students.
Jeff Brauer, an engineer at NYMAT Machine Tool Corporation in Fairport, delivered the check to the class. NYMAT is a distributor of Haas equipment
“I am so grateful for this donation,” said Bill Rakonczay, the class’s teacher. “It will help my students as they move forward with their careers by providing them with additional resources.”
BUFFALO – A group of 31 veterans and their family members toured the Buffalo and Erie County Military & Naval Park on Armed Forces Day on May 18. They visited the site as part of the Orleans County Joseph P. Dwyer Peer to Peer Program.
The group from Orleans County toured two ships and a submarine. They ate their lunch while on board the ship and then went to the Sea Bees Memorial in North Tonawanda. They finished the trip with volunteer Program Coordinator Catherine Schmidt treating the group to ice cream at Hoover’s Dairy in Sanborn.
Veterans also received a newly designed baseball cap by Catherine Schmidt that symbolizes Orleans County Dwyer program.
The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated on May 20, 1950. The theme for that day was “Teamed for Defense”, which expressed the unification of all military forces under one government department. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the day was designed to expand public understanding of what type of job was performed and the role of the military in civilian life.
Armed Forces Day was a day for the military to show “state-of-the-art” equipment to Americans. It was also a day to honor and acknowledge Americans in the armed forces. Parades, open houses, receptions and air shows were held at the inaugural Armed Forces Day. Armed Forces Day is still celebrated nationwide today and is part of Armed Forces Week.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 May 2019 at 10:19 pm
ALBION – The dome on the Orleans County Courthouse will soon be repainted and coated with a rubberized material to prevent leaks in one of the county’s most iconic structures.
The County Legislature today approved a bid for $108,916 from a Cleveland company for the job. Garland/DBS Inc. will be the contractor.
County officials set aside $140,000 in the 2019 budget for the project.
The dome has several leaks. Inside the dome are about a dozen buckets to collect the dripping water after it rains.
The courthouse, which was built in 1858, is the focal point of the Courthouse Square, a district on the National Register of Historic Places.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 May 2019 at 8:18 pm
File photo by Tom Rivers: Ron Vendetti, center, speaks during a meeting in April 2018 with other local municipal officials, including County Legislator Ken DeRoller, right. Vendetti advocated for local municipalities to have standardized forms, setbacks and many regulations. He has worked as the code officer in Albion, Holley and Murray.
ALBION – The Albion Village Board this evening accepted the retirement notice from Ron Vendetti. His last day as code enforcement officer will be Thursday.
That will end a career spanning nearly 20 years with Albion. Many residents have complained he was often rude and abrasive, or too nit-picky when he would cite them for code violations.
Vendetti did have fans, especially with several corporations which invested in new buildings or major renovations in the village.
Many significant projects happened in his tenure, especially on Route 31 and South Main Street with new stores or major renovations by Tops, Dollar General, Monro Muffler, McDonald’s, Eckerd (now Rite Aid), Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts, Kentucky Fried Chicken and several others.
“We appreciate everything he did with the grants and the developments,” said Mayor Eileen Banker.
She said the village will advertise the position. Some of the workload in the meantime will be picked up by Tracy Van Skiver and Scott Bradshaw, current village employees who work part-time in code enforcement.
Vendetti was fired by the village as codes officer on Feb. 27, 2008, where he was accused of a pattern of rudeness with residents and incompetence on the job when he missed a court date to defend a ticket.
Vendetti sued and got his job back as well as back pay.
He was hired in 2002, when Ed Salvatore was mayor. Vendetti went about “cleaning up the village,” ridding Albion of many unlicensed vehicles and cracking down on unkempt homes and properties.
He acknowledges it can be a difficult job, with many people not happy to hear from him.
He wrote a letter to the editor of the Orleans Hub that was posted on June 27, 2018, after a Murray resident complained about his work as well as his role with the local Republican Party.
“No there is no politics in code enforcement, every violation has a picture,” Vendetti wrote. “The code enforcement position is a Civil Service job, it has nothing to do with politics. I was number 1 on the list when I was hired. There is a lot more to code enforcement than property maintenance. My job is to protect the people in the Town. When there is a fire, a faulty appliance producing carbon monoxide, a car crashing into a house, I go out whatever time of night. When a contractor does faulty work I inspect and have it corrected.”
Vendetti continues to work as codes officer in Holley. He wasn’t reappointed as Murray code enforcement officer this year, although the town approved a “confidential separation agreement” with him for an undisclosed sum.
Vendetti and the Town of Murray last month were both sued by Anthony Manno, owner of A & M Automotive and Transmissions in Fancher. He was in the parking lot at the Fancher Post Office on Route 31 on Feb. 23, 2018, when Vendetti drove over Manno’s right foot.
