Guess who has been in power forever in both Lackawanna and Cheektowaga. You guessed it.....
first of all, i am not in any kind of loop. I dont work for the city, i just live here. All i asked if why you make empty accusations at people. I dont think anyone has to give proof to discredit you....you do a good job by yourself. So attack dogs....heel.Originally Posted by mnb811
Yeah right sure......
I Still Think Lackawanna Takes The Cake Because We Have "The Extended Family Plan"!
Needed: Nepotism rule
Cheektowaga must confront its long-standing problem
By News Editorial Board
Published:April 8, 2011, 8:12 AM
Nepotism threatens the smooth functions of an organization by gumming up the wheels for internal improvement. Will a mid-level or lower-level employee point out problems in a unit run by a stubborn uncle? Will other employees feel as valued as the boss' son-in-law? What if the well-connected laborer cannot do the job? Will the lesser connected pick up the slack?
Many of the problems associated with nepotism can be addressed with a sensible governing policy for supervisors, but that won't come to pass if the people in charge of the organization keep their heads in the sand, as Cheektowaga Supervisor Mary Holtz has done with some consistency.
For more than a generation, the town's bureaucracy has welcomed friends, family and party functionaries into fine government jobs. Holtz herself was first hired into the Town Hall by her father when he was town clerk some 40 years ago.
Small wonder then that Holtz found the nepotism subject so touchy when a Buffalo News reporter raised it with her recently. "I'm not interested in putting up on a website how everybody is related ... I'm running a town," she said in response to a suggestion, hatched in Republican circles, before hanging up. Some other town officials are similarly unimpressed with a policy to address nepotism in the ranks. The town attorney, Kevin G. Schenk, said they "are not in a position to restrict the hiring or supervision of relatives."
Really? Holtz and the Town Board cannot adopt a policy that takes supervisors out of hiring and pay decisions that involve their kin? They cannot, despite canards about restrictive labor contracts, bar supervisors from directing the work of close relatives? The town's ethics panel says it has agitated for years for a clear policy on nepotism and the harder-to-police hiring of political party bosses into supervisory jobs, the chief example being town Democratic Chairman Frank Max's running of the Sanitation Department. The Ethics Board is right to take on the issue, and we are less than impressed with Holtz's later statement that the Town Board was now "reviewing" the matter after a Buffalo News article on the subject. That word leaves too much room for procrastination.
While the town's Ethics Board is right to take on the matter, its members, too, could have acted more purposefully by now. Rather than await a green light from the elected officials, why can't the Ethics Board draft a policy? The excuse that its members lack legal advice holds little water when considering they've been banging this drum for years. Further, they need not reinvent the wheel. They can seek out what other organizations have implemented and go from there. The state Comptroller's Office has suggested simple language for municipalities that Cheektowaga can pursue.
It should not be difficult to draw up some clear, sensible rules to steel the town bureaucracy from the harmful byproducts of nepotism. First, the Town Board should return the ethics panel to its full strength of five members and stop treating it like an annoyance. Then the town board can select a couple of its members to work with the ethics advisers to draw up a policy, now that the issue seems to have caught the supervisor's attention.
If the town's leaders continue to dither, the Ethics Board should go it alone and place its proposal before the elected leaders. The ethics panel will then have that much more weight behind claims that the Town Board has swept nepotism under the rug for too long.
Holtz says she has a town to run. Addressing nepotism in an ethics policy is just one of those things supervisors should do when running a town.
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From Men of Agape:
""In our world where ethics, morality, and even common decency are on a rapid decline the greatest challenge may well be the one facing us MEN, Will we DARE to stand in every circumstance of our life for that which is good vs. bad; righteous vs. evil?""
It has been said, "If you don't stand for something,
you will fall for anything."
ARE YOU STANDING ... OR FALLING?
Problem is just like in the Nazi regime, they were fed propaganda/brain-washed into believing they were doing their horrific crimes/tortures of mankind for their right reasons. Remember I told you all before that the Communist and Socialist Parties were alive and well in Lackawanna in the 1930's? We have people still living here whose parents were card-carrying members whose mantra is/was: "git yours". The greed and selfish traits are generational.
Good Citizens/Employees please take a stand against further corruption of OUR City of Lackawanna. Family and Friends members, I am sure many of you have paid your dues long ago. Let's all try to work together to build us back up for the sake of OUR children!
It's time to Fumigate Lackawanna from the .......... epidemic-don't you think?!
Point is.........
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2 years and 2 1/2 months of " DILLYDALLY" to be exact!
Not to toot my horn, BUT WE First Warders pushed and pushed and pushed early 2009 to get them to PAY CASH to pave Ridge Road out of OUR over-stuffed "Fund Balance" slush fund! I called Albany and who confirmed my findings to my peers on the Council and the City Comptroller----- that we had too large of a Fund Balance! I/WE then lobby-ed this cost-effective point in order to save "floating a bond" that would create more debt load onto the backs of our Citizens!
2011 Bond costs with their trip to New York City, etc. should really be audited, along with the entire Fund Balance expenditures over the past 2 years!
As you can see from the above Council Archive Minutes, that they finally agreed with me/us on the critical paving job money in early 2009 when the work should have been completed along with the opening of the new bridge!
They never acted on the Council's line item creation in 2009 and now they want to float a $5,100,000 Bond to do the same work!
WHY? It is now May 2011.
WHERE DID THE MONEY GO THAT WAS "APPROPRIATED" CASH TO PAVE RIDGE ROAD OVER TWO YEARS AGO?!? AND WHO SPENT THE PEOPLE'S MONEY WITHOUT THEIR AUTHORIZATION?
P.S.
Now THAT is what I call "dillydally"---plus what does the one in charge care, he lives in Hamburg and said right out it is "less work for him" at the last Council meeting! And the other one is a lame duck! Quack Quack! But the sad truth is because they privately chose to play their poli-trick election year game on the voters of Lackawanna in order to puff their chests out when they "talk their talk" this year-----We have to suffer and ride over pot-hole filled city streets. How lame and down right criminal to play off the backs of the hard-working innocent people who trust their judgement!
West Seneca looking into ....On TV News June 1, 2011
Lackawanna City Council Meeting
Monday August 10, 2009:
Tracking systems on city cars
To: City Council
I request your support to direct the purchasing director to bid out and installed on all city take home vehicles a GPS tracking system. With gas so high, they are essential.
ANDREA HAXTON, COUNCIL MEMBER
Moved by Haxton, no second on the motion, motion failed.
Not Everyone Will Understand........
English Standard Version
The Bible,
19 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire without knowledge is not good,
and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
3 When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin,
his heart enrages against the Lord.
4 Wealth brings many new friends,
but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many seek the favor of a generous man,
and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
7 All a poor man’s brothers hate him;
how much more do his friends go far from him!
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This election year is going to be something else to put it mildly! The ducks are lining up and the soldiers are marching toward their finish line.
Some are playing Pac-Man while the others Seek-and-Destroy, "To the Victor Go the Spoils!".
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
spoils system
"In U.S. politics, the practice by political parties of rewarding partisans and workers after winning an election. Proponents claim it helps maintain an active party organization by offering supporters jobs and contracts. Critics charge that it awards appointments to the unqualified and is inefficient because even jobs unrelated to public policy change hands after an election. In the U.S., the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) was the first step in introducing the merit system in the hiring of government workers. The merit system has almost completely replaced the spoils system. See also civil service."
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Need I say more.....I have such a heavy heart for the innocent Citizens, "why keep planting corn when corn is all you'll get?"
Questions....
Do you think EVERYONE who is doing work on their building in Lackawanna has a proper Building Permit issued for the work being completed?
Are there Lackawanna "Licensed Electricians/Plumbers" doing the work or are they just working off the front of one in name only, like a prominent remodel job did about 3 years ago?
Was/Is a "Certificate of Occupancy" issued when the work is still under construction? How could there be all sorts of people in and out of the building for weeks now? A fellow trying to bring back a historical (one of a handful) landmark buildings was denied his "CO" the other night---why can some and others can't in Sunny LA?
ie. A building in 09' got a building permit the day we complained even though they were working in there for 3 months prior. Also they said work estimated to be completed appr. $250,000 so the permit issued cost appr. $1600. A City Hall Official admitted publicly that the work completed amounted to $1,500,000! The public shafted/scammed out of their fair share of revenue monies again!
Call 853-8400........It's OUR Money--and WE WANT IT NOW!
Capital Connection » Albany
Schneiderman names McMorrow to hear corruption concerns
By Gene Warner
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Published:June 28, 2011, 11:59 AM
3 Comments
As he toured New York State last year while running for attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman spoke with thousands of state residents, who kept hammering home the same point to him.
"The level of trust in government is really at an all-time low," the attorney general said. "To put it bluntly, the trust bank is empty."
To help fill that bank's coffers, Schneiderman came to Buffalo on Tuesday to announce that he's appointing a public integrity officer to serve in his regional office here, along with one in each of his 12 other regional offices across the state.
The idea is to provide taxpayers a local person to contact in order to report complaints of government corruption without fear of local politics influencing any investigation.
Schneiderman appointed Rose McMorrow, a four-year veteran of the Attorney General's Office here, to become the local point person for the new initiative. Since October 2007, she has handled cases in the office's Sex Offender Management Bureau.
Before joining the Attorney General's Office, McMorrow spent five years as an Erie County assistant district attorney prosecuting public corruption and white-collar criminal cases.
The attorney general outlined the types of cases that McMorrow could tackle: abuses of public funds by public officials, whether they're elected or appointed; pay-to-play schemes; abuses in dealings with non-profit agencies; and awarding of contracts to other than the most appropriate bidder.
"It's the basic stuff of public corruption," Schneiderman said. "This is just a matter of a more aggressive approach."
During Tuesday's news conference in his regional office in the Main Place Tower, Schneiderman was asked whether his new Public Integrity Bureau could investigate alleged Election Law violations that local prosecutors here have declined to investigate.
His office, he replied, doesn't have jurisdiction over Election Law violations.
Staffers later explained that the Attorney General's Office has limited jurisdiction to open up corruption cases. However, even if it can't initiate an investigation, it does have collaborative agreements with other agencies and can refer such cases to someone who can investigate them.
The attorney general also was asked whether he would be willing to go after any former Democratic colleagues from his days in the State Senate.
He noted that he headed a committee whose recommendation led to the ouster of former Sen. Hiram Monserrate.
"I have no reluctance to go after people in either party," he said.
Schneiderman has been making his way across the state to herald the new public integrity officers, and he believes the message is getting through to the public.
Anyone who wants to report such cases may call McMorrow at the regional office, 853-8400.
gwarner@buffnews.com
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I wonder how:
** Low Lackawanna City and School taxes for all homes and business would really be if we didn't have ....
** Our City-Scape would look if money went into landscaping etc. instead of
some-one's.........
** A Sports Complex like we were supposed to get in the 70's be like to put Lackawanna on the map for our athletes instead of our crookedness
** Abbott Road Plaza would look if someone had a vision like they did at Southgate.....
** If the City did not have selective enforcement of the rules.....
**How Lackawanna would be if we all pulled together for the betterment of the City like they do, say in East Aurora, instead of for the family and friends club members.....
** Our School District ranked in the top 10 instead of the bottom two!......
** If politicians kept their word......
** Etc., Etc., Etc.,............You know the rest of the story
How Could Anyone Let the Cycle of Decay Continue?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Minute with Bill Federer
July 2
One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of
President James Garfield, who, on JULY 2, 1881, was shot as he waited
in a Washington, D.C., train station by Charles Guiteau, a member of a
polygamist-type communist cult.
Garfield had only been in office four months.
Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices caused him
to die two months later.
A distinguished Civil War major general, James Garfield had been a
college president and a preacher for the Disciples of Christ.
In his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1881, President James Garfield
stated:
"Let our people find a new meaning in the divine oracle which
declares that 'a little child shall lead them,' for our own little
children will soon control the destinies of the Republic."
President Garfield continued:
"Our children will not be divided...concerning our controversies.
They will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the
Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races
were made equal before the law."
Earlier, as U.S. Congressman chairing the Committee on
Appropriations, James Garfield stated July 4, 1876:
"If the next century does not find us a great nation...it will be
because those who represent the...morality of the nation do not aid in
controlling the political forces."
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This year we have a chance to make history, so do not be afraid to, " SPEAK-UP ""Lack""awanna " against the controlling "family and friends club" unfairness/crooked deals and corruption in our troubled City!
I Wonder Who Will Be Awarded The Lastest .....bids!
Civil Service Commission
Upcoming Civil Service tests and the maintaining of personnel files.
ACTING SECRETARY
FRANK NIGRO
Telephone: 716.827.6467
Email: civilservice@ci.lackawanna.ny.us
CHAIRPERSON: SHARON BERES
COMMISSIONERS:
MARK MORETTI & THERESE M. POLANSKI
LINK TO : UPCOMING CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS
LINK TO : CIVIL SERVICE MEETING MINUTES
Ecclesiastes 1:9
New International Version (NIV)
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
" The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men. "
Plato, (428-347 BC )
Ecclesiastes 1:9----NOT LEV. So Sorry.
Last edited by andreahaxton; August 3rd, 2011 at 02:41 PM.
I forgot to add........
If the shoe fits----please, take it off!
It cracks me up that the Lackawanna City Council has "summer hrs/meetings" as if.....
Cont. City business stops in July and August! There should be two meetings/month year round regardless. Then they have to call for special meetings and as a rule keep them under the rador.
AGENDA
COUNCIL MEETING
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011
www.ci.lackawanna.ny.us
Meeting called to order/Pledge of Allegiance
NB: Meeting being recorded.
Roll Call: Noman, Szymanski, Kulczyk, Schiavi, Jaworski
Dept.Heads: Law, Public Works, Public Safety, Recreation, Development
Hearings from Citizens:
Approval of Minutes: of regular meeting of July 11, 2011.
Departmental Reports:
1.City Compt. – Statement of Cond. Of Approp. as of June 30, 2011.
2.City Compt. – AP Check Listing #49, July 8, 2011.
3.City Compt. – AP Check Listing #50, July 14, 2011.
4.City Treas. – Receipts deposited into General Fund, July 2011.
5.City Clerk – Monthly report for July, 2011.
Communications from the Mayor:
Mayor Polanski – seeks Council approval to approach the DEC for options of thinning out the deer population due to number of complaints from citizens.
Mayor Polanski – requests approval of resolution for the Galanti Park Improvement Project.
Communications from the Council :
Council President Jaworski - requests support in adopting resolution opposing the closing of the Lackawanna Post Office.
City Clerk – requests Council receive and file tabled items over 90 days as deemed by City Council directive of May, 1991.
City Assessor – advises Council of offer from Christopher Welsh to purchase property at 98 School Street for $300 plus survey costs, Assessor recommends sale.
City Assessor - advises Council of offer from Thomas Carcione to purchase property at 2 Willow for $100 plus survey costs, Assessor recommends sale.
City Assessor – advises Council of offer from Frank P. Lelito to purchase property at 31 North Street , Assessor recommends sale for $1 plus closing cost, 10' X 129' size lot located between 27 and 37 North Drive .
Resolutions:
A resolution authorizing the mayor to file an application for funds from the NYS Office of Parks and Recreation for grant amount not to exceed $400,000, for improvements to Galanti Memorial Park
A resolution opposing the closing of the Lackawanna Post Office.
Ordinances:
Sale of 98 School Street to Christopher Welsh for $300, plus survey costs.
Sale of 2 Willow Street to Thomas Carcione for $100 plus survey costs.
Sale of 31 North Drive to Frank P. Lelito for $100 plus survey costs.
Great quote in today's Buffalo News:
"For us it was [spend] more time on service and electing Democrats, less time on spin and patronage. If the emphasis is strictly on patronage and control, that's not the culture that's going to survive in this day and age." (Leonard R. Lenihan, Erie County Democratic Chairman, quoted during his last days in office).
Patronage and control...isn't that Andrea Haxton and many others have been saying all along?
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