Budget - Nov 4 meeting

[gorja]

Ruffino will present $293,530 in Budget cuts

[Breezy]

Ruffino will present $293,530 in Budget cuts

Like I said many times, Lee and the other commenters who are constantly misleading readers about Ron's actual record of public service should let this thread sink in.

Will they? Heck, Lee even makes stuff up even after you show him a Buffalo News story that shows the exact opposite.

Go figure, readers, go figure!



I guess it's kind of hard for Dawn's people to complain when Ron promotes the hundreds of thousands saved in his proposal for the budget highlighted in the mailed posted here by gorja.

This is the kind of leadership that experience creates - knowing where to save all this taxpayer money!!!

Good job, Ron!!!

[gorja]

They made it sound like it was unprecedented when Ron Ruffino spoke to the board as a public citizen at the last
board meeting. When in fact, Ruffino had done it before in 2016.

October 17, 2016

[Lanc]

This is more of what we need.
Not the all talk and Spend Spend Spend Dawn.

[gorja]

This is more of what we need.
Not the all talk and Spend Spend Spend Dawn.

Yes, I'm anxious to hear the details of these cuts. Will the other board members
be open minded and give the cuts a serious look or will they do their political thing?

[gorja]

Originally posted by gorja:
Will the other board members be open minded and give the cuts a serious look or will they do their political thing?

The answer is - Political thing

They even had a show all choreographed. In fact, there was just Councilman Walter and myself in the board room when Dawn G and hubby the mayor (Oh crap! I forgot what Mark B use to call him) came in.
The mayor said he came for the show. Councilman Walter and Supervisor Coleman provided the entertainment as it was choreographed.

For the first time a Councilman candidate showed up for the meeting and work session. Mr Stutz. The board room was crowded. There may have been more candidates.



Everyone, enjoy your election day. Hope the candidates who'll work for the taxpayers will be the winners.

[MaddMatt]

The answer is - Political thing

They even had a show all choreographed. In fact, there was just Councilman Walter and myself in the board room when Dawn G and hubby the mayor (Oh crap! I forgot what Mark B use to call him) came in.
The mayor said he came for the show. Councilman Walter and Supervisor Coleman provided the entertainment as it was choreographed.

For the first time a Councilman candidate showed up for the meeting and work session. Mr Stutz. The board room was crowded. There may have been more candidates.



.

I wish it was choreographed... in fact I was told to be quiet on the matter and just let it pass. After months of campaigning at board meetings, I broke. I apologized last night to the other board members for losing my cool and I apologize to the public now.

I also wish that the detail you provided in that spreadsheet was what Ron gave us (15 minutes before the meeting). In fact, he only gave us the first 2 columns with no detail whatsoever. As it stood, with the time frame given, I couldn't even verify the numbers were correct and inconsistencies abound in his numbers and reasoning. As a side note, I find it interesting that you were given more detail than the town board but that's another matter entirely...

While I'm wishing, as I expressed to Ron before the meeting, if he was actually wanting to pass this resolution and not just play politics he would have reached out to us ahead of time to discuss it (as other council members did and Ron did in the past). I would have been happy to discuss this with Ron and fight for the changes that needed to be made (as I have in the past). Another council member did this for the 2020 budget and it resulted in the raises for elected officials going away... something missing from Ron's list and also something that wasn't blown up for political gain.

Lastly, I wish that town board meetings were used for town's business and the overt political campaign acts were left at the door. This has been a consistent action by Ron and it bothered me every time. If he can't make a call, drop an email or somehow reach out to the other council members, how is he going to run the entire board should he be elected? Putting forth resolutions without input from dept heads, legal counsel, or other board members with the sole purpose to get it shot down and gain political points is an abuse of the system.

I will agree with you Gorja, that I have been surprised that more candidates haven't been showing up to meetings. It's disappointing.

Matt

[shortstuff]

Sadly, as someone who has attended town board meetings for ten years and have had first hand knowledge in, I’ll just say Ron Ruffino as it directs to him, how Ruffino conducts business-Matt is incorrect. I have seen Ruffino plead with you and others to come to the table. I have seen first hand how you and the board has shut him down.

Who is playing politics here....

[Breezy]

Sadly, as someone who has attended town board meetings for ten years and have had first hand knowledge in, I’ll just say Ron Ruffino as it directs to him, how Ruffino conducts business-Matt is incorrect. I have seen Ruffino plead with you and others to come to the table. I have seen first hand how you and the board has shut him down.

Who is playing politics here....

Again, another politician who grumbles that he cannot control Ron Ruffino.

Just like the other politicians who complained when Ron saved taxpayers tens of thousands by eliminating expensive health care benefits - even other politicians in other towns.

Just another reason to vote for Ron because he clearly is independent.

Sad that Matt would take this cheap shot on Election Day!

[WNYresident]

Breezy
Just like the other politicians who complained when Ron saved taxpayers tens of thousands by eliminating expensive health care benefits - even other politicians in other towns.

Little miss leading.

The rising cost of health care benefits for council people is a drop in the bucket compared to the rising health care benefits for employees across Erie County. Correct?

[Breezy]

Little miss leading.

The rising cost of health care benefits for council people is a drop in the bucket compared to the rising health care benefits for employees across Erie County. Correct?

Come on now!

Ya gotta start somewhere, do you not?

It all adds up, and of course I feel "across Erie County" government employees should pitch in and contribute toward the cost.

It stuns me that some on here just do not give Ron any credit for this, when the savings add up pretty quickly.

Hey, WNYresident: Don't drops in a bucket add up?????

[Breezy]

The rising cost of health care benefits for council people is a drop in the bucket ...

If I had a dollar for every time you wrote that town boards add cost, "just a little increase here, a bit there," so to speak, I'm be a millionaire!

Are you sure you meant what you posted?

[Neubs24]

Sadly, as someone who has attended town board meetings for ten years and have had first hand knowledge in, I’ll just say Ron Ruffino as it directs to him, how Ruffino conducts business-Matt is incorrect. I have seen Ruffino plead with you and others to come to the table. I have seen first hand how you and the board has shut him down.

Who is playing politics here....

Matt deals with him directly and is not running for re-election. I trust his version of events more, and it fits with the totality of the circumstances.

[Breezy]

Matt deals with him directly and is not running for re-election. I trust his version of events more, and it fits with the totality of the circumstances.

Sounds more like someone realizing on Election Day that he is out of office in a short period of time, and wants to take a shot at a colleague poised to take the lead of the town. Or is it that Ron couldn't trust these other politicians in advancing his own reforms and held his powder until the official meetings began?

Either way, I trust gorja and shortstuff more than someone losing power in a few months.

What do gorja and shortstuff have to gain here in their posts?

[MaddMatt]

"Sadly, as someone who has attended town board meetings for ten years and have had first hand knowledge in, I’ll just say Ron Ruffino as it directs to him, how Ruffino conducts business-Matt is incorrect. I have seen Ruffino plead with you and others to come to the table. I have seen first hand how you and the board has shut him down."

"Again, another politician who grumbles that he cannot control Ron Ruffino."

I would love to hear the town board meeting recordings in the last few years where Ron has said that he reached out to other council members and had no response. In fact, he is on record saying that he "didn't bother" reaching out. I worked with Ron in my first two years, helping him pass a number of resolutions. When he needed my support, as with any council member, I would listen and debate with him on the issues before making up my mind on which way to go. I have no idea why that communication ended other than to use his time on the board to make political statements rather than real progress.

Control? This is laughable since he is literally on his phone getting text messages and emails telling him what to say throughout meetings.

Those who support Ron might be able to answer this better.... How does he put out a campaign flyer touting his $300k in savings last week but then said at the meeting last night that he didn't have the numbers until the last minute. They weren't included in the resolution that was submitted the week before and the basic numbers were only provided to the board minutes before the meeting? Oh and the full context of the numbers with explanation given to his supporters? On top of that, he had his facts wrong and at least of his "cuts' would actually cost the town more!

Matt

I also find it interesting that he proposed cuts to literally every department except for the one he oversees, the highway department! This being the same dept that came out in support of his campaign and produced a video to that effect. Amazing!