TOWN BOARD NOVICE READY FOR HIS DEBUT
By Deidre Williams
Published November 20, 2001
By his own admission, few people in Lancaster had even heard of Ronald D. Ruffino Sr. before the Nov. 6 election.
When the counting was done, though, enough people knew enough about the Democratic candidate to elect him to the Town Board, overthrowing a popular incumbent in the process.
"I'm as new as you could be," said Ruffino, an eight-year resident of Lancaster who will make his political debut when the new five-member Town Board convenes next month.
"In my campaign speeches, I would ask, 'Who is Ronald Ruffino?' Not too many people knew."
He speculated that anonymity may have worked in his favor while campaigning.
"Being new is good, because I have a lot of trust and belief in why I'm doing this," he said.
Ruffino, 40, received 4,512 votes to defeat Republican incumbent Georgette F. Pelletterie, who received the fewest votes: 3,910.
Her running mate, Douglas P. Szary, did slightly better, with 3,975. Democratic incumbent Mark A. Montour was the top vote-getter with 4,628.
"I was surprised with how well I won," Ruffino said. "Trying to remove an incumbent is a very difficult task."
Ruffino said he felt the race getting closer leading up to the election, but he didn't let that affect his judgment.
"I always treated it as if I was behind, right down until the time I found out I had won," he said.
Ruffino said he's looking forward to the next four years on the Town Board. High on his list of goals is controlling growth, which he says will benefit the community as a whole.
"There's room (for development) in the proper areas (in town)," he said.
Also on his list of priorities, he said, is to help restore professionalism to Town Board meetings and to put a positive spin on the negativism surrounding the community lately.
"We want to have other communities look to us for ideas, not as another negative story in the newspaper," he said.
"I want to give Lancaster the proper recognition it deserves for being a choice community to live in."
e-mail:
dswilliams@buffnews.com
Deidre WilliamsDeidre Williams– Deidre Williams has been covering Buffalo City Hall for The Buffalo News since 2016. Prior to that, she reported on public schools in the city and was a suburban beat reporter for The News. Williams joined the Buffalo News in 1999.
https://buffalonews.com/2001/11/20/t...for-his-debut/