More tax dollars for Mr. Sweeney?

[GroundControl]

Lee, the citizens right to be able to easily and quickly attain factual information about the management of their tax dollars and the daily operation of their own local government IS the basic tool of self governance.

Hiding anything in anyway from the citizens concerning their right to choose is abhorrent and used constantly by some in power to keep their seats and local influence for their own.

The VOL is one of the best examples of this. Keeping the public at arms length and doing what in their pretentious minds is best for the ignorant and the uneducated public

That's the Dem way, that's the Sweeney way, that's the Ruda way.

Until live-streaming is up and running the Dem's and their local crew have NO retort

Kudos to the TOL for the live open forum you have provided to the citizens.

History shows through records the previous Supervisor fought hard and long to stop live-streaming and only after constant harassment at board meetings was it voted in. The outcome was immediate. The short comings in the Dems management of the town were glaring to those who could now see and they took that information to the voting booth.

The people KNOW what's good for them if they only have the facts.

[mark blazejewski]

... there lies where the real focus should be – another meritless / sour grapes Democratic Party report whose intent is to demean Supervisor Leary and to openly welcome / support their newly selected committeeman, Tom Sweeny...

Aligning with Mr. Sweeny the Democratic Party will be seen by many as having an albatross around their necks, causing problems they will not be able to escape.

Just My Opinion:

The Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee's Facebook comments, attached in post #5 herein, probably was intended to strike at Leary, but as critiqued in the Lancaster Conservative Party's response (post #5), their caustic words may have blown-up in their Facebook face.

By their invective, does the Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee realize that from this day forward, many, many residents of Lancaster will view it in large measure as the sales or propaganda arm of the developer?

To the probable regret of many hardworking Democrats, that Committee will be burdened by the developer's full baggage, and not by just a couple of taxpayer-subsidized achievements, eh?

They wrote it, they posted it, and now they own it, or so it seems.

[GroundControl]

Letter To The Village Of Lancaster Board
Started by mark blazejewski, November 14th, 2023 03:20 AM
1234
5 Attachment(s) You are subscribed to this thread
Replies: 45
Views: 12,538
mark blazejewski
March 2nd, 2024, 09:27 PM Go to last post

Mark, I would like to point out to you and other viewers the amount of notice your letter got around the local area.
I wonder if the Mayor and board members of the VOL have any awareness that the word is getting out about the shady dealings of that same group.

12,538 views can't all be the same few people can they?

As I look at the different subjects addressed on the Lancaster threads I see that the VOL Sweeney doings are drawing a lot of interest and so is the live-streaming issue.

Draw your own conclusions all

[mark blazejewski]

Letter To The Village Of Lancaster Board
Started by mark blazejewski, November 14th, 2023 03:20 AM...

Replies: 45
Views: 12,538
mark blazejewski
March 2nd, 2024, 09:27 PM...

Mark, I would like to point out to you and other viewers the amount of notice your letter got around the local area.
I wonder if the Mayor and board members of the VOL have any awareness that the word is getting out about the shady dealings of that same group.

12,538 views can't all be the same few people can they?...


Draw your own conclusions all

On November 28, 2024 I received this response from the VOL Clerk-Treasurer:

Mike Stegmeier
10:35 AM...

Dear Mr. Blazejewski –

I have forwarded your inquiry to the Village Board. I will let you know when I hear back regarding the timeline for a response to your questions.


Regards,

Michael E. Stegmeier, CMC
Clerk & Treasurer
Village of Lancaster
5423 Broadway
Lancaster, NY 14086

(716) 683-2105 ext. 203

(716) 684-4830 (fax)

Four months, one day and counting with no follow-up, GC.

What kind of response(s), and over what length of time, attends the suggested "timeline"?

Full response in five months, six months, a year, or perhaps much longer?

Dribs and drabs over months, years, or even decades?

Perhaps the response(s) and the suggested timeline will require so much time, that future historians will need to caption the process with its very own historic period?

You know, like the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Ages?

Very troubling. Very, very troubling.


Reference: https://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sh...ancaster-Board

[mark blazejewski]

Letter To The Village Of Lancaster Board
Started by mark blazejewski, November 14th, 2023 03:20 AM

Replies: 45
Views: 12,538
mark blazejewski


Mark, I would like to point out to you and other viewers the amount of notice your letter got around the local area.
I wonder if the Mayor and board members of the VOL have any awareness that the word is getting out about the shady dealings of that same group.

12,538 views can't all be the same few people can they?

As I look at the different subjects addressed on the Lancaster threads I see that the VOL Sweeney doings are drawing a lot of interest and so is the live-streaming issue.

Draw your own conclusions all

Hey GC,

I guess you were right on target regarding the public's interest in my thread, Letter To The Village Board. In 48 just hours, the total views have climbed from 12, 538 to 12,886, over three hundred views, and on a holiday weekend to boot.

https://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sh...ancaster-Board

Can you imagine what the public interest would be if these questions were asked at a live streamed VOL Board meeting?

This live streaming consideration issue began some time ago, but it only received what appeared to be serious consideration at the November 27, 2023 meeting. Three days later, the Bee ran this editorial:

Livestreaming meetings: A critical component of modern transparency

Bee Editorial
November 30, 2023

What is the job of a municipal board? There’s plenty to list: They balance the budget; pay the bills; address questions for the public and press; hire public personnel; allocate funding to departments in need; approve varying project permits; and apply for grant funding that can positively impact their residents. In short, those are a few of the duties with which a local politician is tasked.

Quite arguably rising above each of these duties lies one function of local government vital to the preservation of trust and understanding among local residents. Of course, I’m talking about transparency. I’m talking about a local board’s ability to relay what is happening to the community at large quickly.

The modern world has afforded society many luxuries. Among them, the ability to easily transmit events and happenings in real time through livestreaming. In fact, at this point, it’s sort of old news. As the installation of fixed broadcasting equipment has become more affordable and less cumbersome, many municipal boards around the county have linked in online, livestreaming and cataloging public meetings for residents to review. In the Town of Lancaster and Village of Depew, COVID-19 grant funding acted as the catalyst for change, with both municipalities utilizing awards to install permanent systems. Taking a look at their meetings, found on YouTube, you’ll see sessions amassing double- to triple-digit numbers, often varying due to the topic(s) on the agenda. For perspective, if the Town of Lancaster’s Council Chambers holds around 45 people comfortably, it only takes 90 people watching to create what would be visually recognized as a heavily attended meeting, with people overflowing into the halls outside.

In the Village of Lancaster, livestreaming is reported to be right around the bend, according to Village of Lancaster Trustee Tammie Schaefer at Monday’s meeting of the Village Board. The goal is to have a system installed as early as January 2024. Talks of livestreaming had been a topic of the past at former village meetings, a task overseen by former Trustee Tyler Sojka. The process hit unresolved roadblocks at the time concerning how the setup would work and which company to use. Overall, the board is considering using Robert Mark Audio of Cheektowaga. The Town of Lancaster and Village of Depew employed the same company for their systems.

Let’s face it, livestreaming has been a game changer in all of the right ways for politically minded residents with tight schedules. For local journalists, it has become a force multiplier, helping to extend our reach into more meetings while avoiding conflicts in our schedule. No matter your beliefs, the access to more information, easily, right from the source, is always a good thing.

Reference: https://www.lancasterbee.com/article...-transparency/


In that same edition, a fine citizen also called for live streaming:

A call for livestreaming at village meetings

November 30, 2023

During the November 27, 2023 Village of Lancaster Board session, I understand that a member of the public requested the board to consider live streaming the twice-monthly meetings.

Bearing in mind that the village is home to many who face the challenges of aging and physical limitations, it is my opinion that a decision to move forward with livestreaming would surely serve to accommodate their desires to become more fully engaged in the workings of their government.

I truly believe that such a modification would tend to make Lancaster a more whole and inclusive community, and I enthusiastically support it .

Mark Blazejewski
Newell Avenue
Lancaster

Over Four months have passed since those editorials were written. Over four months have passed since my letter was sent to the Village Board, and over four months have passed since the village's responding promise of a forthcoming timeline.

Since that time, crickets on live streaming, and crickets on the promised responding timeline.

Given the extraordinary amount of elapsed time, I will believe a responding timeline when I actually receive and see it, and I will believe the live streaming when the promise of livestreaming is actually fulfilled; not further discussed, not given the impression that it is coming, not promised, not even actually voted on and passed, but actually fulfilled, with broadcasts, live and in living color, or as you previously described as "up and running."

In light of the history outlined above, until those broadcasts actually begin, it is my honest opinion that such possibilities are unfulfilled promises and talk, aka, self-serving, gratuitous, political bunkum.

So during this Lenten season, let us learn from the Apostle Thomas, seeing is believing, eh?