Originally Posted by
GroundControl
The last post was a little reminder for the VOL voters of what Mr. Santoro is all about and this one is about his opponent.
[ "Bill Schroeder who is no stranger to local politics, having served in the past as a trustee for 12 years and the mayor for four years. He is a former mechanic and electrician who has worked for the village in the past and lives in Lancaster with his wife, Dawn. They own AdWorks on Central Avenue.
“I’d like to see what they [the board] have been doing over the last three years,” said Schroeder, quickly adding that he intends to run for mayor, regardless of the results for the partial term as trustee. “It’s really hard to have a clue what the village board is doing. They seem to go into a lot of executive sessions, and that doesn’t seem like transparent government to me. Sometimes, there’s reasons for it, but the rules are pretty strict when it comes to executive sessions. I do know when I was mayor, we kept them [executive sessions] to a minimum.”
Schroeder, continuing his critique, said that positions like the assistant superintendent at the department of public works and a code enforcement officer remain unfilled. He also said it’s hard to understand why, because regardless of the push online and at meetings by village residents, the village has yet to install livestreaming equipment. “I don’t know what the holdup is. Lancaster is kind of an aging community, and there’s a lot of people that would like to know what is going on, and that would be an ideal setup for them,” Schroeder said. “I would have thought this would have been done a long time ago.”
Schroeder also took aim at parking, stating that he is a fan of the work by Tom Sweeney’s company, Glassco Management, on the Lancaster Village Center Project at West Main Street, but worries about the lingering issue of low public parking as the village’s downtown continues to grow.
Building on his support for the Lancaster Village Center Project, Schroeder said he is excited to see phase 2 get done. He hopes the Lancaster Industrial Development Agency sticks with its plan, despite recent hiccups in the project’s timeline. “Tom has put up some good buildings. He seems to have them all rented,” he said. “They should adjust for conditions. He had some hardships.”
Schroeder showed support for the village’s recent green initiatives and Climate Smart achievements with the state. Referencing the village’s conversion to LED lighting, something initiated during his time on the board, Schroeder said, “I haven’t seen any numbers on it, but I’d have to think our utilities bills went way down.”
All together, Schroeder says climate smart initiatives should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and implemented when it makes sense for the taxpayer, stating, “Maybe some ideas will be great for the village; some may have no bearing on the village at all.”]
The special election for a one-year term to fill the vacant trustee position in the Village of Lancaster will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, at the Lancaster Municipal Building, 5423 Broadway.
Both candidates appear to give Mr. Tom Sweeney plenty of support and backing to continue collecting tax benefits to keep a frail company afloat. That makes sense since Mr. Schroeder helped grease the skids for favorite son Tom Sweeney and Mr Santoro is the hand picked clone of the Ruda team.
But, never the less, here are their own words for the voters Both of the last two posts by me were taken directly from the Feb 15th 2024 issue of the Lancaster Bee .