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Editorials

Restructuring Lancaster government (Abolishing the Villages of Lancaster & Depew)
By Lee Chowaniec
Dec 2, 2008, 10:39
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With the national and state financial crisis taking place, there is a public outcry against any type of tax increase and a call for reducing the size of government. Reducing the one leads to reducing the other. It is time for Lancaster to become one by abolishing the villages and restructuring its government.

We read media reports advocating reducing County Legislature members from 15 to 2.

Activist Kevin Gaughan has visited numerous municipalities advocating for board member reductions. He has commended the Villages of Lancaster and Depew for reducing their boards from 7 to 5 members.

Besides advocating for Amherst to reduce its board size from 7 to 5 members, Gaughan is advocating reducing the West Seneca Town Board form 5 members to 3. Personally, I am of the opinion three members are too few for a town the size of West Seneca for myriad other reasons.

Gaughan finds fault with the size of West Seneca’s Town Board. When examining West Seneca’s government size against the Town of Lancaster (including the Villages of Depew and Lancaster), the following was noted:

Lancaster Total Population – approximately 42,000
Town – 23,000
Village of Lancaster – 12,000
Village of Depew – 7,000

West Seneca – 46,000

Lancaster area - 38 square miles
West Seneca – 21.4 square miles

Lancaster Town and Village Board members – 15
West Seneca - 5

Planning Board members

Lancaster & Villages - 17
Town – 7
Village of Lancaster - 5
Village of Depew – 5

West Seneca – 7

Zoning Board members
Lancaster & Villages - 17
Town – 7
Village of Lancaster - 5
Village of Depew- 5

West Seneca – 5

Attorneys (Town and Prosecuting)
Lancaster & Villages - 6
Town - 2
Village of Lancaster - 2
Village of Depew – 2

West Seneca – 4

Justices
Lancaster & Villages - 7
Town - 2
Village of Lancaster -2
Village of Depew - 3

West Seneca - 2

Clerks
Lancaster & Villages - 3
Town -1
Village of Lancaster – Village Administrator
Village of Depew – Village Administrator

West Seneca – 1

Total Department Positions

Lancaster – 65 (59 are part time positions)
West Seneca – 24


Police
Town and Village of Lancaster - 50
Depew – 31
Total Lancaster Police - 81
West Seneca – 65 Sworn Officers

Besides the aforementioned, like comparisons in size disparity can be garnered from other municipal departments.

Councilman Ron Ruffino recently stated that in this time of crisis we have to lead by example and act in the best interest of the taxpayers by lowering costs.

As someone who lived in the Village of Depew for 30 years, 9 on the Cheektowaga side and 21 on the Lancaster side, it was my belief decades ago that the Villages had served their purpose. It is time for them to be abolished and their operations absorbed by the town.

Considering this board has openly stated on numerous occasions that the merging of the Lancaster Village and Town police forces was a success operationally and financially, I would like to ask town and village officials their thoughts on whether a cost analysis has recently been conducted to determine the feasibility of downsizing Lancaster government, by way of Village abolishment’s, to reduce operation costs and improve overall governance.

The public should expect the Town and Villages to give credible reasons as to why Lancaster’s present overblown government makeup in today’s world is in their best interests.

There was a time when village residents wanted to keep their own identity and had the funds to do so; paying several hundred dollars more in taxes. When living in the Village of Depew, I never felt I was part of the town or had any say in its development. I believe the old days are gone and that the best interests of the entire community would be better served if we became one.

A copy of this presentation will be submitted to the Villages of Lancaster and Depew as well.

Supervisor comments

Supervisor Robert Giza commented that the town can’t make the Village of Depew go on its way. There have been past discussions. Supervisor Giza pointed to several consolidations that have taken place: Lancaster Village and police, assessment, code enforcement and parks and recreation. “So, we’re making some headway, said Giza. “It probably won’t happen in my lifetime, but I do see down the line that the Village of Lancaster and the Town will probably be one.”

“We have offered the olive branch, if you want to call it that, to Depew about merging the police department. They choose at this time to have their own. I can’t force them into it. It’s a little more complicated with Depew because part of the Village is in Cheektowaga and part of it is in Lancaster.”

“It’s more complicated when you have three entities involved. To merge the police department, you go into six different settings to do this to work to the end. It isn’t an easy task to merge the police departments. But it can be done. But the Village has to come to us; we can’t force the Village to stop their service.”

Comment

I was not speaking of merging or consolidating town and village services, but where the villages abolish their services and jurisdiction and the towns provide services with new hires, as needed, and with new contracts.

Instead of three entities protecting their fiefdoms and sometimes self-serving interests, at taxpayer expense, it would be in the best interest of the community to at least have a feasibility study performed to determine whether said abolishments would benefit the community.

It would then be up to the residents to have their say; either by petition or vote.

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