Endorsements per the Lancaster Bee

[gorja]

Lancaster candidates receive endorsements


Four candidates running in this year’s Town Board race were recently endorsed by the Erie County Conservative Party and Lancaster Republican Committee.
The committees have endorsed Council Member Dawn Gaczewski for supervisor, incumbent Diane Terranova for town clerk, and Robert Leary and Bruce Stutz for Town Board. Each of the seats carries a four-year term.

“Our whole philosophy is that we’re going to be inclusive, not exclusive, regardless of what your [political party] committee is. If you are the best candidate for Lancaster, we’re going to endorse you, and that’s what we did,” said LRC Chairman Greg Sojka.

Gaczewski, who will be running on the Conservative line, was elected to the Town Board in 2015. As a council member, she has worked on budgets, began an interview process for hiring the best candidates and created a five-year step process for new, white collar laborer hires to save money.

This year, she is fine-tuning the town’s recreation programs through public meetings, cost analysis and meeting with sports groups to provide the most cost-efficient services.

Grabbing the supervisor’s seat could be a small feat for Gaczewski, since Supervisor Johanna Coleman will not run for re-election. Coleman’s term expires this year.

“I made a promise to my family in 2015 that I would serve only one term. I’m looking forward to retirement and being able to spend time with my daughters, who both live out of state,” said Coleman.

Leary and Stutz will both be running on the Republican line for two open Town Board seats. Incumbent Matt Walter, whose term expires this year, will not challenge Leary and Stutz for a seat, having decided not to run for re-election.

Leary is a former federal law enforcement officer and assistant vice president in the Enhanced Due Diligence Group at M&T Bank. He has more than 26 years of federal law enforcement experience, having dealt with complex criminal investigations including the international trafficking of drugs, firearms, contraband cigarettes and alcohol.

He also has more than eight years of experience investigating financial crimes under the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering statutes, which are used to identify individuals and groups attempting to use banks for laundering illegal proceeds.

Leary has vied for a spot on the Town Board before in 2013 and 2017. In both races, he was ousted by incumbents, losing by only 19 votes to Council Member Ronald Ruffino in 2017.
Stutz has worked for two Fortune 500 companies and has more than 30 years of experience in the private and public sectors. At the Sherwin Williams Company, he is a protective coatings sales representative and a level three National Association of Corrosion Engineers-certified inspector.

Stutz is also a volunteer, serving as director of the Town of Lancaster Indoor Training Facility for the past four years after six years as vice president of the Lancaster/Depew Baseball League. He is also chairman of the Lancaster Baseball Booster Club. In addition, he serves as general manager for the Lancaster American Legion Baseball Team, which is sponsored by Lt. Col. Matt Urban VFW Post 7275.

As a council member, Stutz would “advocate for improved fields and facilities for our youth sports programs; improve the conditions and safety of our roads, bridges, and infrastructure; be an advocate for bipartisanship to get improved results in a timely manner; improve and share resources between the town and Lancaster Central School District; and work with local nonprofit organizations to address and combat various social issues,” according to a letter Stutz sent to the Lancaster Republican Committee.

Terranova, who will be running on the Democratic line, has worked for the Town Clerk’s Office since 2005. She is responsible for town records and the collection of town, county and school taxes. In 2018, the Clerk’s Office collected more than $90 million and balanced to the penny, according to Terranova.

Outside the office, she is a member of the Lancaster/Depew Rotary Club and Niagara Frontier Reading Radio Service, which records audio of magazine articles, books and newspapers for the visually impaired.

https://www.lancasterbee.com/article...-endorsements/

[gorja]

Does the Bee reporter realize that there is another party with endorsements?

She has the community question of the week, Do you support the recently endorsed candidates for this year’s town election?
but only has reported on the Republican and Conservative endorsed candidates.

[gorja]

I think this election is going to be a walk in the park for Terranova as she will win the Democratic primary hands down and be on the Republican and Conservative lines as well
Good for her.

[mark blazejewski]

Does the Bee reporter realize that there is another party with endorsements?

She has the community question of the week, Do you support the recently endorsed candidates for this year’s town election?
but only has reported on the Republican and Conservative endorsed candidates.

Just a speculation Gorja.

Perhaps the Democrat leadership is avoiding interviews and announcements at this time, so that it can cook-up a campaign theme, which would credibly justify and explain the metaphorical shooting of most of its first-string bench?

I guess "Crickets" may be preferable to "Humina, Humina, Humina."

ralph norton.jpg

[Lee Chowaniec]

Does the Bee reporter realize that there is another party with endorsements?

She has the community question of the week, Do you support the recently endorsed candidates for this year’s town election?
but only has reported on the Republican and Conservative endorsed candidates.

I found the community question to be innocuous and of no consequence at this stage of the game.

I would have to question whether the Bee contacted the Democratic Party Chair and requested its candidate bios? If so, I would question why such bios were not submitted by the Chair when petition gathering time is at hand.

Should residents requested for their petition signatures not have some knowledge of the candidates prior to the knock at the door and the spiel of some party committee minion – or are Dems confident they can get enough straight-line party supporters who need not bother themselves to know anything about candidate personal history / qualifications?

Relax, enjoy the quiet. It’s early, the juicy **** will come later!

[gorja]

Help me out here. As I'm not any party player, I'm clueless about the signature gathering.
Can Terranova a Democrat collect signatures for endorsed Republicans or does she have to be a party member to be a witness on the petition form?

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in enlightening me

[gorja]

Good advice

[shortstuff]

Help me out here. As I'm not any party player, I'm clueless about the signature gathering.
Can Terranova a Democrat collect signatures for endorsed Republicans or does she have to be a party member to be a witness on the petition form?

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in enlightening me

1. petitions will show all candidates endorsed
2. the R & C committee members take the petition(s) and go door to door to get a % of signatures, this qualifies them to be put on the ballot
3. the Chairs scrub the petitions or in laymen terms, makes sure the signatures are clean
4. the board of elections then gives the petitions another look

Terranova can only get Democrat signatures if she wins the primary, but she can have a R & C committee member go with her or a Notary to get signatures. I may have left something out but this is what I remember.

[gorja]

1. petitions will show all candidates endorsed
2. the R & C committee members take the petition(s) and go door to door to get a % of signatures, this qualifies them to be put on the ballot
3. the Chairs scrub the petitions or in laymen terms, makes sure the signatures are clean
4. the board of elections then gives the petitions another look

Terranova can only get Democrat signatures if she wins the primary, but she can have a R & C committee member go with her or a Notary to get signatures. I may have left something out but this is what I remember.

Thank you

[shortstuff]

Thank you

Terranova is a Notary, so she can do all lines.

[gorja]

Terranova is a Notary, so she can do all lines.

Yes, I heard that this morning.

[mark blazejewski]

Terranova can only get Democrat signatures if she wins the primary,

Shortstuff, Ms. Terranova is a Democrat. IMHO, she has every right and authority to collect signatures for petitions in her own Democrat Party primary.

Straighten me out if I'm wrong.

[Lee Chowaniec]

As a ‘blank’ (unaffiliated registered voter for decades) I have never had the opportunity to sign a petition or vote in a primary. I also seek clarification. What I do understand is the following:

As a Notary, Terranova can collect petition signatures from any party.

As I understand it, petitions garnered are to get endorsed candidates the required percentage of registered party voters to validate getting their names placed on a primary ballot. The same holds true for any individual not endorsed but wishing to challenge the party endorsed candidate in the primary.

Where it gets confusing for me is when candidates who want to get petitions to be eligible to primary a candidate endorsed on another political party line, but cannot do so themselves because they are not a Notary or registered in that party, but do get the required number of petitions from supporting registered voters of that line, whether they get their name on the ballot or are only eligible for write-in votes is still not clear to me. I believe it is latter. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

‘Stealing’ votes and or lines from Party endorsed candidates has become a common practice for both major parties in Lancaster. It is a process filled with machinations and does not bode well for either party in my mind. Every party has endorsed a candidate based on their ideology and agenda. They should live or die by that standard.

[Breezi]

Here we go again with the carnival barker SHORTSTUFF. An expert on election law and the petition process! SHORTSTUFF you need to get your facts straight or shut your mouth! You are totally insignificant and passing on false information in an attempt to convince people of your fake political intelligence. You SHORTSTUFF pretend to be a genius in politics and don't have a clue what your talking about. You attempt to deceive people into thinking you are a Michael Deaver and Lee Atwater of politics when in fact you are a Frado of politics. People please be aware of the incompetence of SHORTSTUFF and do not listen to her incompetent diatribe. As I have been saying right along you SHORTSTUFF are nothing more than a carnival barker and a legend in your own mind.

[gorja]

Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
Where it gets confusing for me is when candidates who want to get petitions to be eligible to primary a candidate endorsed on another political party line, but cannot do so themselves because they are not a Notary or registered in that party, but do get the required number of petitions from supporting registered voters of that line, whether they get their name on the ballot or are only eligible for write-in votes is still not clear to me. I believe it is latter. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I like the question if I understand it correctly and would like to know the answer myself.

To clarify as an example, would you mean someone like Ruffino or McCracken getting signatures for the Conservative line?