2008 Year in Review: West Seneca

If there is one thing I have heard more than Christmas Carols since Halloween it has been America’s newest mindless cliché that “it’s a brand new day in our country,” referring to the election of Obama.

Looking at the political and social climate in our own backyard during this past year, I am curious how different things are going to be here in West Seneca. A year ago at this time, we were saying good bye to the Paul Clark administration and looking to Wallace Piotrowoski, who himself promised West Seneca change. Yet over the last twelve months it doesn’t seem like much change has occurred at all, at least for the better.

We began the year, with what I believe are the now infamous departmental reviews which effectively shut down Town Government for months. Since then, Town Board Meetings have been described as a “Three Ring Circus” as the Council fights more than conducts business.

The Burchfield Nature and Art Center was one of the early victims having its staff and budget cut this past Spring. I personally haven’t seen or heard much from the organization since.

The West Seneca Hockey Rink, to the best of my knowledge is still closed and collecting mold.

Kevin Gaughan’s summer was, for the most part, wasted as members of the Town Council used a loop pole to, in my opinion, effectively cancel out the will of the people, or at least 4,000 of them, in denying us the right to vote on downsizing the Town Board.

I see in a new thread on here where we want to get rid of the Canisius Athletic Field on Clinton Street, I guess because preventing a multi-million dollar public sports complex from being built wasn’t enough.

We still have the unending saga of our favorite public figure who stills owes the tax payers $3 million, yet no one seems to be bothered by that. Nor are people bothered by the Town improperly transferring the properties on School Street to him, who in turn improperly accepted the gifts of public funds.

And the list goes on and on… indefinitely tabling Town employee resignations, ignoring and downplaying law suits against the town, getting rid of the DMV, wasting time fighting over recreation staffing at the parks, failing to merge the recreation department with the youth bureau and so on and so on…..

The common thread I see in all of these issues is a lack of dialogue. It seems everyone is divided and takes one side or the other and stands their ground. No negotiations, no discussions, just picking the side that serves their interests the most and blindly and stubbornly sticking to it. Call me an idealist and even naïve, but if we truly are in for a “new day” might we all have a hand in it by learning from the mistakes of this year and truly work together to get things done in our town in 2009.

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We still have the unending saga of our favorite public figure who stills owes the tax payers $3 million, yet no one seems to be bothered by that. Nor are people bothered by the Town improperly transferring the properties on School Street to him, who in turn improperly accepted the gifts of public funds.

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How much is that per household when they finally get the refund back?

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Originally Posted by WNYresident

How much is that per household when they finally get the refund back?

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Well, if you figure roughly 18,500 households in West Seneca, you are talking about $150/160.00 per. But don't worry, that will be canceled out by the property tax increase, tuition increase for any household containing a SUNY student, anyone who has a cell phone, cable or satellite television and the newest measure could see a new tax on alcohol similar the cigarette tax from over the summer. And that is assuming we ever see the $3 million again.

Why do we still live here?

Charles,

Wouldn't be be great if 2009 brought about many changes for WS? How would you like to see:
1. The Burchfield Center having art classes for kids and being a "go to place" again. A place where the residents could come and see art shows and enjoy a beautiful park to walk in and enjoy nature without overgrown paths and debris over taking the grounds;
2. The ice rink where famlies could enjoy skating together without worrying about unhealthy mold growing in the bulding;
3. The Town Board taking responsibility for their department heads and caring more about their employees than protecting certain staff who are costing the Town money to satisfy all these lawsuits.
4. A Town Board who can work together and create a Town for us to be proud of instead of feeling embarrassed because of their actions toward each other. If they could only act like adults and treat each other with respect and dignity. Wouldn't that be great!
5. It would feel so good to be able to stand up and defend the place where we live and to be able to say that we live in WS and are proud of it.
But instead we hang out heads and pretend that we live some where else and hope that people believe us.
But maybe miracles do come true and 2009 will be a much better year!

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Originally Posted by snowwhite

Charles,
It would feel so good to be able to stand up and defend the place where we live and to be able to say that we live in WS and are proud of it.
But instead we hang out heads and pretend that we live some where else and hope that people believe us.

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Yes Charles,
It is so hard living in this rat hole. I have no pride. How did you find it within you to paint those pretty pictures? This place is so depressing.
Love,
Snow White
http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/ima...ine=1211033824

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Originally Posted by Manuel

Yes Charles,
It is so hard living in this rat hole. I have no pride. How did you find it within you to paint those pretty pictures? This place is so depressing.
Love,
Snow White
http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/ima...ine=1211033824

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Manuel,
Don't put words in my mouth. I am perfectly capable of thinking and writing for myself. If I recall, you were belly aching about a re-zoning close to your house not too long ago. I guess when you have something that is to your dislike, then its different from someone who finds fault with the way the govt. is run in our town. You're not happy unless you can make fun of someone else.

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Originally Posted by GhostofCharles

If there is one thing I have heard more than Christmas Carols since Halloween it has been America’s newest mindless cliché that “it’s a brand new day in our country,” referring to the election of Obama.

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It appears you are factually inaccurate in some of your complaints.

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Looking at the political and social climate in our own backyard during this past year, I am curious how different things are going to be here in West Seneca. A year ago at this time, we were saying good bye to the Paul Clark administration and looking to Wallace Piotrowoski, who himself promised West Seneca change. Yet over the last twelve months it doesn’t seem like much change has occurred at all, at least for the better.

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There has been change, in fact you see the board members actually debating issues and items that come before them rather than acting in lock step like under the prior administration.

The Town Board is taking its role in the site plan review process that was enacted just before the close of the Clark administration seriously as they have denied requests that do not fit in the comprehensive plan.

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We began the year, with what I believe are the now infamous departmental reviews which effectively shut down Town Government for months. Since then, Town Board Meetings have been described as a “Three Ring Circus” as the Council fights more than conducts business.

The Burchfield Nature and Art Center was one of the early victims having its staff and budget cut this past Spring. I personally haven’t seen or heard much from the organization since.

The West Seneca Hockey Rink, to the best of my knowledge is still closed and collecting mold.

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Although the BNAC has had its challenges it is operational, perhaps not to the level some would like.

The hockey rink was opened after mold abatement was done and before the hockey season.

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Kevin Gaughan’s summer was, for the most part, wasted as members of the Town Council used a loop pole to, in my opinion, effectively cancel out the will of the people, or at least 4,000 of them, in denying us the right to vote on downsizing the Town Board.

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First of all it was I that objected to the form and content of the petition Mr. Gaughan and his supporters circulated.

Secondly, no one was denied the right to vote nor was anyone was denied the right to petition. Your right to vote on that question and the signors right to have the question put to the voters requires a valid petition. Since the petition was invalid neither right was triggered. However, based on the number of signors that signed the petition the Town Board has resolved to conduct a referendum on a proper question relative to downsizing in the spring.

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I see in a new thread on here where we want to get rid of the Canisius Athletic Field on Clinton Street, I guess because preventing a multi-million dollar public sports complex from being built wasn’t enough.

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First the thread you refer to is not new, you may have just noticed it but that makes it new only to you.

I was not involved in the prior fight against a privately owned sports complex from being built.

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We still have the unending saga of our favorite public figure who stills owes the tax payers $3 million, yet no one seems to be bothered by that. Nor are people bothered by the Town improperly transferring the properties on School Street to him, who in turn improperly accepted the gifts of public funds.

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First it is an entity that allegedly owes the Town $3 million, not any one person individually. Second the properties on school street were transferred to that same entity.

As to the alleged debt since the supervisor did not provide for it in his tentative budget for 2009, if any such debt is due it must be presumed that it would be paid by the close of 2008.

I did not see anything improper about the property transfer, what do you believe was improper about it?

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And the list goes on and on… indefinitely tabling Town employee resignations, ignoring and downplaying law suits against the town, getting rid of the DMV, wasting time fighting over recreation staffing at the parks, failing to merge the recreation department with the youth bureau and so on and so on…..

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There was one resignation that was tabled for a considerable amount of time but was eventually addressed so that one could not be deemed indefinite. What resignation are pending indefinitely?

As to lawsuits I search for pending lawsuits against the town regularly, what lawsuit(s) are you referring to?

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The common thread I see in all of these issues is a lack of dialogue. It seems everyone is divided and takes one side or the other and stands their ground. No negotiations, no discussions, just picking the side that serves their interests the most and blindly and stubbornly sticking to it. Call me an idealist and even naïve, but if we truly are in for a “new day” might we all have a hand in it by learning from the mistakes of this year and truly work together to get things done in our town in 2009.

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You are entitled to your opinion, but I do not agree with it.

There has been dialogue, for example the compromise reached on Americorps and the Town ceasing its relationship with that entity by the close of 2010. There was compromise on the mold remediation at the ice rink and that saved the town money.

There has also been change, the supervisor's tentative budget was more detailed than those of the prior supervisor who was a CPA. Although it is far from ideal he did incorporate what was asked for, at least by me I do not know what others asked for. This year's reorg meeting will be held in the evening rather than during the work-day. We are having two TB meetings per month which give us more access to our town leaders.

Certainly, there could have been more change and dialogue, but what we have seen in the past year was an improvement.

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getting rid of the DMV

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The DMV was a great service. Who's idea was it to get it out of the town?

BF

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Originally Posted by buffalofamily

The DMV was a great service. Who's idea was it to get it out of the town?

BF

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this is the statement i received today:

"They were thrown out unilaterally by Piotrowski. Their removal was never approved by the Town Board. Check the town board minutes and you will not find any vote. This was a totally illegal action. Under the duties of supervisor in town law the Supervisor can negotiate leases but must get town board approval on any of his actions."