Charlie's Back...

[WNYresident]

The seat can stay empty and for the most part most property owners won't even know the difference.

[gorja]

Here's a Westchester county Deputy Town highway Superintendent job description

DEPUTY TOWN SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES:
Assists the Town Superintendent of Highways in the maintenance, repair, and reconstruction of all town roads and highways; does related work as required.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
Under the general direction of the TownSuperintendent of Highways, this is an important administrative and supervisory positioninvolving responsibility for the maintenance, repair, re-surfacing and reconstruction of all townroads and highways and for the care and maintenance of all highway equipment. Supervision isexercised over all subordinate employees of the highway department.

EXAMPLES OF WORK: (Illustrative Only)

Assists the Town Superintendent of Highways in formulating policies and priorities for themaintenance and repair program;

Supervises the maintenance and repair of all town roads, bridges, drains and highways,including on-the-job inspection;

Supervises snow removal and sanding operations on State, County and Town roads;

Responsible for the care and maintenance of all highway equipment;

Supervises all persons in the highway maintenance and repair work;

May prepare payrolls and reports;

Attends to all complaints that involve the Town's road system;

Acts for and in behalf of the Town Superintendent of Highways during his/her absence.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND ATTRIBUTES: Thorough knowledge ofhighway engineering, both construction and repair; thorough knowledge of soils engineering asit applies to roadbeds, drains, etc.; good knowledge of administrative procedures andtechniques; ability to plan, lay out, and direct the work of others; ability to establish and maintaineffective working relationships with other officials and private citizens; initiative; tact; goodjudgement; physical condition commensurate with the duties of the position.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: Eithera) High school or tradeschool graduation or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and seven yearsexperience in road construction and/or maintenance, civil engineering or related field, includingor supplemented by two years in a supervisory or administrative capacity; or (b) completion of atwo-year engineering technology course and six years of experience as stated above, includingthe two years specialized experience; or (c) graduation from a recognized college or universitywith a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and three years of experience as stated above,including the two years of specialized experience; or (d) a satisfactory equivalent combination ofthe foregoing training and experience.

[cheektowaga]

She doesn't..it's vacant until election where someone will run for his seat till the end of his original term he was elected to last year.

[Dan Roman]

She doesn't..it's vacant until election where someone will run for his seat till the end of his original term he was elected to last year.

In 2013 when Pat J resigned, Diane was supposed to be appointed to the open seat. In town meeting minutes resolution 2013-129 Diane was on the agenda to be appointed to fill the open position. The resolution was withdrawn the night of the meeting due to ? They then decided it was too controversial and waited until the November election.

[cheektowaga]

Since you know all...enlighten us to what the Town Board of Ethics had found or convicted him of?

What’s even more disappointing is Kaminsky is still on the board after all this. Read the article to the end to see the NYS Comptrollers letter to him saying he was guilty of a misdemeanor, but yet only a slap on the wrist:

https://buffalochronicle.com/2015/05...minal-charges/

From New York State’s Comptroller’s Office:

As a municipal officer or employee, your job by its very nature places you in a position of public trust. You are responsible for ensuring that public resources are used in the best interests of the public. You also have a duty to use the limited public resources available to you as effectively and efficiently as possible. When serving in your public capacity, the interests of your municipality must come before your own. In fact and appearance, your actions and interests must be above reproach. This brochure is intended to help you better understand New York State law as it pertains to conflicts of interest, and your responsibilities when your public and private interests conflict.
If you are an officer or employee of a municipality, the law applies to you, whether you are paid or unpaid, or a member of a municipal board, commission or agency. The term municipality encompasses almost every type of local government entity, including counties, cities (other than New York City), towns, villages, school districts, BOCES, fire districts, public libraries, town and county improvement districts, urban renewal agencies and industrial development agencies.
A contract includes any claim, account, demand against or agreement with a municipality – verbal or written, express or implied. Almost any business dealing you have with your municipality will involve a contract. Examples of contracts include purchase or sale agreements, construction agreements and service contracts, as well as vouchers for payment submitted to a municipality. A contract also includes the naming of a depository of public funds or the naming of an official newspaper of a municipality.
If you willfully enter into a contract in which you have a prohibited interest, the contract is null, void and unenforceable. If you willfully and knowingly violate the law by entering into a contract in which you have a prohibited interest, or by failing, when required, to disclose an interest in a contract, you may be guilty of a misdemeanor.

[WNYresident]

You don't have to be "convicted" of anything to show poor judgement and not working in the best interest of us property owners.

Just reviewing those receipts of those liquor fueled "thank you" parties for people involved with town events speaks volumes. I was told many of these people carry petitions come election time for people in the Cheektowaga Democratic Party. Frankly I'm surprised at how many times Cheekman made comments are various people who work for us drink too much. Sounds like it's more than a beer at dinner type of drinking.

I would also say using other companies to get some of your companies products through purchasing is another item we could say is poor judgement. I'm pretty sure there are some rules about council people conducting business with the town while on the town board.

Oh I almost forgot about this:

(I really didn't )

He's part of the group that this was mailed from. Misleading our elderly and town folk about republicans.




Remember this one?



"Efficient Sanitation and Highway Services"

Compared to what? Certainly not by cost. Certainly not by hours worked versus hours paid. This isn't a shot at the employees. This is about how this service is supplied to the residents of Cheektowaga.

"Police and public safety given the highest priority"

Who are they kidding? Party politics and self interest are given the highest priority. That is not a shot any the police department. Seeing Charley ( I know he means well ) being hired by Mark takes the cake. Let Jim resign and we'll see him in his cousin's department. Right? Heard that from another town employee. Scratch that. That doesn't take the cake. Diane saying out of respect for Jim's family she won't comment on his RO violation. You comment on the issue out of respect of the property owners.

"24/7 Emergency Services, only storm-ready community in New York State."

Really. What does that actually mean? What does our town have ready that 100's of other towns in NYS don't have? Just asking.

"Enhancing neighborhood wellness, taking on distressed properties and vacant home demolitions"

We know this is a major issue in town. When you lose 1000's of residents over the years you end up with vacant buildings/homes. You read that statement and wonder what town are they referring to. Neighborhood wellness? Which neighborhood are they talking about? So out of the 100's of vacant homes in town how many have been demolished over the last 16 years? I'm assuming Jerry, Jim and crew have been on the board for a long time so I'm using a 16 year window.

Here is an idea I had. We use google maps. We setup a web page that people can enter addresses of homes they believe are vacant. Ask questions that will make it easier to figure out who owned the house. We can even make an app that will allow a photo to be uploaded. Once confirmed it is vacant we can have that address pop up on the map. For each proven vacant building the person who submitted the address receives $20 dollar gift card. That is basically nothing on our tax bill to have community minded town residents help to get a handle on this issue. This over head map could be used also by realtors to get the vacant homes to market. We can even color code the location markers based on what bank holds the paper on the home/building.

What I think it could be best used for is a political mailer come election time. "Look how many vacant homes the Cheektowaga Democratic Party created!" Then have an image of the map with what? 100's of those red location markers. No lies, no misleading and no bull crap, just facts. We don't need to stoop to the level the people did who created that "Help Stop Ted Morton and the Republicans - Cut Back of Senior Program" mailer.

"First class Senior Citizens & Youth programs, Recreation programs recognized for their excellence"

I can't comment on that. Don't know enough about the Senior Center or rec programs.

how is that for a start?

[cheektowaga]

My point was and still is that is why we have a ethics boards that goes after the people in the town for wrongdoings, so apparently nothing was done wrong! But as usual this thread got thrown off the main topic of CHARLIE being back on the payroll. I for one am going to the board meeting tomorrow and want to see if any of my questions will get answered? Im more curious as a taxpayer of how he got hired with no experience? Why not promote from within? What makes him qualified (from what I see nothing)? and on and on! So lets all go and ask some of these questions and see if you actually get a answer?

You don't have to be "convicted" of anything to show poor judgement and not working in the best interest of us property owners.

Just reviewing those receipts of those liquor fueled "thank you" parties for people involved with town events speaks volumes. I was told many of these people carry petitions come election time for people in the Cheektowaga Democratic Party. Frankly I'm surprised at how many times Cheekman made comments are various people who work for us drink too much. Sounds like it's more than a beer at dinner type of drinking.

I would also say using other companies to get some of your companies products through purchasing is another item we could say is poor judgement. I'm pretty sure there are some rules about council people conducting business with the town while on the town board.

Oh I almost forgot about this:

(I really didn't )

He's part of the group that this was mailed from. Misleading our elderly and town folk about republicans.




Remember this one?



"Efficient Sanitation and Highway Services"

Compared to what? Certainly not by cost. Certainly not by hours worked versus hours paid. This isn't a shot at the employees. This is about how this service is supplied to the residents of Cheektowaga.

"Police and public safety given the highest priority"

Who are they kidding? Party politics and self interest are given the highest priority. That is not a shot any the police department. Seeing Charley ( I know he means well ) being hired by Mark takes the cake. Let Jim resign and we'll see him in his cousin's department. Right? Heard that from another town employee. Scratch that. That doesn't take the cake. Diane saying out of respect for Jim's family she won't comment on his RO violation. You comment on the issue out of respect of the property owners.

"24/7 Emergency Services, only storm-ready community in New York State."

Really. What does that actually mean? What does our town have ready that 100's of other towns in NYS don't have? Just asking.

"Enhancing neighborhood wellness, taking on distressed properties and vacant home demolitions"

We know this is a major issue in town. When you loose 1000's of residents over the years you end up with vacant buildings/homes. You read that statement and wonder what town are they referring to. Neighborhood wellness? Which neighborhood are they talking about? So out of the 100's of vacant homes in town how many have been demolished over the last 16 years? I'm assuming Jerry, Jim and crew have been on the board for a long time so I'm using a 16 year window.

Here is an idea I had. We use google maps. We setup a web page that people can enter addresses of homes they believe are vacant. Ask questions that will make it easier to figure out who owned the house. We can even make an app that will allow a photo to be uploaded. Once confirmed it is vacant we can have that address pop up on the map. For each proven vacant building the person who submitted the address receives $20 dollar gift card. That is basically nothing on our tax bill to have community minded town residents help to get a handle on this issue. This over head map could be used also by realtors to get the vacant homes to market. We can even color code the location markers based on what bank holds the paper on the home/building.

What I think it could be best used for is a political mailer come election time. "Look how many vacant homes the Cheektowaga Democratic Party created!" Then have an image of the map with what? 100's of those red location markers. No lies, no misleading and no bull crap, just facts. We don't need to stoop to the level the people did who created that "Help Stop Ted Morton and the Republicans - Cut Back of Senior Program" mailer.

"First class Senior Citizens & Youth programs, Recreation programs recognized for their excellence"

I can't comment on that. Don't know enough about the Senior Center or rec programs.

how is that for a start?

[WNYresident]

My point was and still is that is why we have a ethics boards that goes after the people in the town for wrongdoings, so apparently nothing was done wrong! But as usual this thread got thrown off the main topic of CHARLIE being back on the payroll. I for one am going to the board meeting tomorrow and want to see if any of my questions will get answered? Im more curious as a taxpayer of how he got hired with no experience? Why not promote from within? What makes him qualified (from what I see nothing)? and on and on! So lets all go and ask some of these questions and see if you actually get a answer?

Come on, you know better than that. There is absolutely no teeth on the ethics board. None. They can point something out but there are no repercussions.

You need next to no experience for many of the appointed positions. You bring that topic up for him he can easily point to other town appointments in the same boat as he is/was in.

As experience goes I believe he put some time in working for he Erie County Water authority or something like that. He can say that is his "experience"

If I was Supervisor I would have had a talk with Mark. I would voice my concerns about who he would appoint for the position. I would also tell Mark what I thought was in the best interest of the property owners. He Could still make any choice he would like. I would have used a HR recruiting company for a list of very qualified applicants and start from there. My last concern would be which political party the person belongs to, how many raffle tickets they could sell or if they like to carry petitions.

Seriously I like Charley. I know he means well but in the end he had to resign from the town board. Gone. There are 30,000 other people in the town that could fill that position. Most likely more qualified.

[Pitbull]

Oh wait - There's more:

Per Ken Kruly:

"Max is apparently also a major benefactor of another shadowy political organization, the Right Democratic Team. The committee was formed to support three specific candidates in the September 10th Democratic primary (Magierski, Adamczyk, Kaminski). The Right Democratic Team exists on paper with the state BOE and filed one disclosure statement reporting revenues of $125 from unspecified sources.

Except that other financial reports indicate the following receipts:

$1,000 from the Progressive Democrats
$500 for Cheektowaga supervisor candidate Alice Magierski
$1,000 from Cheektowaga council candidate Steven Specyal
$500 from Cheektowaga council candidate Jerry Kaminski
$240 from Cheektowaga council candidate Christine Adamczyk
$35 from Family Court candidate Brenda Freedman, which Freedman’s committee reports was later returned

So receipts for the Right Democratic Team were $3,285 plus the reported $125. Who knows whether those are the total receipts and where that money went. It is not a monumental amount if that is all there is, but we do not know that, and the law has not been followed."

https://politicsandstuff.com/2015/09...n-cheektowaga/

You don't have to be "convicted" of anything to show poor judgement and not working in the best interest of us property owners.

Just reviewing those receipts of those liquor fueled "thank you" parties for people involved with town events speaks volumes. I was told many of these people carry petitions come election time for people in the Cheektowaga Democratic Party. Frankly I'm surprised at how many times Cheekman made comments are various people who work for us drink too much. Sounds like it's more than a beer at dinner type of drinking.

I would also say using other companies to get some of your companies products through purchasing is another item we could say is poor judgement. I'm pretty sure there are some rules about council people conducting business with the town while on the town board.

Oh I almost forgot about this:

(I really didn't )

He's part of the group that this was mailed from. Misleading our elderly and town folk about republicans.




Remember this one?



"Efficient Sanitation and Highway Services"

Compared to what? Certainly not by cost. Certainly not by hours worked versus hours paid. This isn't a shot at the employees. This is about how this service is supplied to the residents of Cheektowaga.

"Police and public safety given the highest priority"

Who are they kidding? Party politics and self interest are given the highest priority. That is not a shot any the police department. Seeing Charley ( I know he means well ) being hired by Mark takes the cake. Let Jim resign and we'll see him in his cousin's department. Right? Heard that from another town employee. Scratch that. That doesn't take the cake. Diane saying out of respect for Jim's family she won't comment on his RO violation. You comment on the issue out of respect of the property owners.

"24/7 Emergency Services, only storm-ready community in New York State."

Really. What does that actually mean? What does our town have ready that 100's of other towns in NYS don't have? Just asking.

"Enhancing neighborhood wellness, taking on distressed properties and vacant home demolitions"

We know this is a major issue in town. When you lose 1000's of residents over the years you end up with vacant buildings/homes. You read that statement and wonder what town are they referring to. Neighborhood wellness? Which neighborhood are they talking about? So out of the 100's of vacant homes in town how many have been demolished over the last 16 years? I'm assuming Jerry, Jim and crew have been on the board for a long time so I'm using a 16 year window.

Here is an idea I had. We use google maps. We setup a web page that people can enter addresses of homes they believe are vacant. Ask questions that will make it easier to figure out who owned the house. We can even make an app that will allow a photo to be uploaded. Once confirmed it is vacant we can have that address pop up on the map. For each proven vacant building the person who submitted the address receives $20 dollar gift card. That is basically nothing on our tax bill to have community minded town residents help to get a handle on this issue. This over head map could be used also by realtors to get the vacant homes to market. We can even color code the location markers based on what bank holds the paper on the home/building.

What I think it could be best used for is a political mailer come election time. "Look how many vacant homes the Cheektowaga Democratic Party created!" Then have an image of the map with what? 100's of those red location markers. No lies, no misleading and no bull crap, just facts. We don't need to stoop to the level the people did who created that "Help Stop Ted Morton and the Republicans - Cut Back of Senior Program" mailer.

"First class Senior Citizens & Youth programs, Recreation programs recognized for their excellence"

I can't comment on that. Don't know enough about the Senior Center or rec programs.

how is that for a start?

[WNYresident]

Oh wait - There's more:

Per Ken Kruly:

"Max is apparently also a major benefactor of another shadowy political organization, the Right Democratic Team. The committee was formed to support three specific candidates in the September 10th Democratic primary (Magierski, Adamczyk, Kaminski). The Right Democratic Team exists on paper with the state BOE and filed one disclosure statement reporting revenues of $125 from unspecified sources.

Except that other financial reports indicate the following receipts:

$1,000 from the Progressive Democrats
$500 for Cheektowaga supervisor candidate Alice Magierski
$1,000 from Cheektowaga council candidate Steven Specyal
$500 from Cheektowaga council candidate Jerry Kaminski
$240 from Cheektowaga council candidate Christine Adamczyk
$35 from Family Court candidate Brenda Freedman, which Freedman’s committee reports was later returned

So receipts for the Right Democratic Team were $3,285 plus the reported $125. Who knows whether those are the total receipts and where that money went. It is not a monumental amount if that is all there is, but we do not know that, and the law has not been followed."

https://politicsandstuff.com/2015/09...n-cheektowaga/

Keep this all in prospective. Best interest of the property owners.

That money you mentioned doesn't cost us property owners anything. Correct? But the COUNTLESS dollars the Cheektowaga Democratic Party has cost us property owners shows up on our tax bill. Correct? Anywhere from grants given for events that include liquor fueled thank you parties and costly labor contracts that includes many friends and family. Start bringing up what is really causing our property taxes to be the highest in the nation. It's not that we are paying too much for paper and office supplies.

Which clique are you in?

[WNYresident]

Ex Councilman named Asst. Highway Super

"My son works at the fish department at Wegmans. Maybe that qualifies him to operate one of those crab boats," mused one disgruntled town resident.

http://www.wgrz.com/article/syndicat...uper/527941635

During that call, however, he told us he was impressed with Markel's work as a councilman to combat zombie homes.

When we asked what - if anything - that had to do with being the Deputy Highway Superintendent, Wegner told us that Markel also gained valuable experience from the job he landed after being booted from the town board, as a utility worker for the Erie County Water Authority, where Markel worked for two years.

“This guy worked in the ditches, and gained a great knowledge about infrastructure working for the Water Authority," said Wegner, who also suggested any objection to the hiring of Markel was largely being ginned up by political opponents.

"You know, my son works at Wegmans and he works in the fish department...maybe that qualifies him to operate one of those crab boats,” mused Uzar.

Good one Mr. Uzar.

“This guy worked in the ditches, and gained a great knowledge about infrastructure working for the Water Authority," said Wegner, who also suggested any objection to the hiring of Markel was largely being ginned up by political opponents.

No Mark. The objection isn't "ginned up" by political opponents. It's brought because in this case it's not in the best interest of us property owners. Working in a ditch for two years doesn't qualify anyone for at least what I consider a Highway supervisor.

At Cheektowaga Town Hall, we were told by and assistant to Supervisor Diane Benczkowski that she was too busy to speak with us on Monday.

So what was going on Monday that Diane was too busy to address this?

“Experience as a manager of a local food market?” Uzar asked incredulously. “Stocking shelves and slicing baloney?" added Lorek.

Isn't that being a little unfair? I thought he owned the business?

[gorja]

Originally posted by WNYresident:
“This guy worked in the ditches, and gained a great knowledge about infrastructure working for the Water Authority," said Wegner, who also suggested any objection to the hiring of Markel was largely being ginned up by political opponents.

I use a toilet. That does not make me an expert of the sewer authority.

[WNYresident]

I use a toilet. That does not make me an expert of the sewer authority.

All fun aside. I'm pretty sure there was someone at the water authority or some construction company that would have been far more qualified as a hire.

[cheektowaga]

I agree 100%! If I was a town employee in highway id be shaking my head...Why not hire and/or promote from within? What motivates employees to do better and grow when they know their boss is just going to hook up their friends instead of promoting from within? But ive also talked to highway employees stating they wouldnt want the job. Their reasoning was they can pillage the town with overtime to make more money in the end, hence Mike Lemidue moving to a Foreman's job! One of the more appalling statements ive read is our supervisor stating Charlie is more than qualified since he ran a local sandwich shop..Diane's comments are truly a insult to all of our intelligence!

[WNYresident]

I agree 100%! If I was a town employee in highway id be shaking my head...Why not hire and/or promote from within? What motivates employees to do better and grow when they know their boss is just going to hook up their friends instead of promoting from within? But ive also talked to highway employees stating they wouldnt want the job. Their reasoning was they can pillage the town with overtime to make more money in the end, hence Mike Lemidue moving to a Foreman's job! One of the more appalling statements ive read is our supervisor stating Charlie is more than qualified since he ran a local sandwich shop..Diane's comments are truly a insult to all of our intelligence!

Well because we might not have someone qualified for the position in house. You look at all possible options. That is what you do if you are looking out for the best interest of the town/property owners.

What motivates employees? A paycheck.

You are throwing me softballs.

"hook up their friends?" That is what is going on now. If it was one of your "friends" group you wouldn't say a peep. Take that grin off your face. You know I'm right.

Diane's comments are truly a insult to all of our intelligence!

Let us keep this in perspective.

The Cheektowaga Democratic Party's running of our town is a truly a insult to all the property owners.

Diane is just being human. Far as I know she may have said "Mark are you nuts? You can't hire Charley". Mark thinks about it for a few and hires him anyways. Now Diane has to try to justify what happened so the "party" doesn't look bad.

Think of the position Diane is in with Jim. Vice Chair of the Erie County Democratic Party who endorsed the guy. Both are highly social in the Cheektowaga Democratic Party. Jim does have a strong family/cousin presence in town. That adds up to votes. Elections are on the way in 2019.