Yates incumbent board members cite accomplishments for town

Editor:

As the Republican-endorsed incumbents of the Yates Town Board, we’d like to thank Yates voters for their support these past few years and ask for your vote this election.

We support economic development while remaining prudent stewards of the taxpayers’ money. We remediated a negative general fund balance while simultaneously maintaining necessary fiscal support to all municipal departments. Our combined town & county tax rates for 2023 are the 3rd lowest of 10 towns (outside) and the lowest of 6 towns (inside).

We pride ourselves in preserving the rural farming nature of our community as well as our beautiful Lake Ontario waterfront. With the Town of Somerset, we began exploring the feasibility of a biodigester for dairy farmers. We facilitated the beautiful $2.5 million, state-funded upgrade to our Town Park – the best little town park on the Great Lakes!

We will always protect our constitutional right to home rule by fighting against state or federal overreach. We successfully defeated Lighthouse Wind, and we continue to fight against the NYS Office of Renewable Energy alongside other towns and organizations in a lawsuit against draconian regulations. We will not allow big government to tread on us.

We try to enact local laws that uphold the values and character of our community. We led multi-year efforts to completely revise the Western Orleans Comprehensive Plan and the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. We held a very well-attended town hall meeting to better understand how best to update our short-term rental law while balancing individual property rights with being good neighbors in a civil society.

We orchestrated the Town of Yates 200th anniversary celebration last year. We successfully held multiple events including a “Family Fair,” and a “Street Dance” in the village, as well as an official capstone ceremony and a fun birthday party at the newly transformed Yates Town Park.

Working with the Village of Lyndonville and the Lyndonville School District, we are expanding our Summer Youth Program for over 100 kids to include swimming and enhanced support to developmentally challenged youth in need of unique services and personal aides.

We believe an essential goal of local government is to ensure emergency services for residents. We negotiated the ambulance contract with the Medina Fire Department, and we supported the establishment of the Lyndonville Joint Fire District.

With our professional backgrounds in medical device/pharma quality assurance and regulatory affairs as well as social work and law enforcement, we strive to serve all Yates citizens: Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, new residents and 5th generation families.

Here’s the bottom line: we work for you, the people. For us, “taxpayers first” is not just a slogan or a way to have two lines on the election ballot – it is our operating principle for every fiscal decision we make.

Finally, we have discovered that the Conservative candidates for Yates Town Board have published, in the Hub, an editorial that proclaims them as Republican candidates for Yates Town Board. This is not truthful.

In an effort to be transparent, Jim Simon, Susan Hrovat and John Riggi are the only endorsed Republican candidates for Yates Town Board. Integrity and transparency are critical to successful local government and we strive to do our jobs as such. We are grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve you, and we hope to continue to do so.

Councilman John Riggi and Councilwoman Susan Hrovat

Town of Yates