Page 1 of 9 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 121

Thread: The Ruffino Administration: "Had Enough Yet?"

  1. #1
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305

    The Ruffino Administration: "Had Enough Yet?"

    Here are the significant governing priorities, as written in seemingly order of priority, that candidate Ruffino articulated in 2019...



    Where is the the very first priority, the Budget Duties Stipend for the Supervisor, or for that matter, the priority of employee morale, mentioned anywhere in the above comments?...



    Did Mr. Ruffino take the "happiness" of Ms. Barbaro and Mr. Brown into consideration in preparing his "employee morale" program?

    Just askin'.

    The first priority was a stipend for the Supervisor, and the intention to give priority attention to the morale of our paid employees?

    What about public safety, infrastructure, concerns about over-development, taxes, and the new Dog facility?

    SMH!


    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 16th, 2020 at 03:24 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  2. #2
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Buffalo, New York, United States
    Posts
    64,947
    He put it out to bid and had 30 applicants.

    So who did the town get to chose from?

    Just curious and I'm not implying anything. Did the current supervisor know the person who was hired before he was supervisor? There is nothing wrong with that either. I'm just wondering.

    I'm surprised he didn't go to an actual executive hiring agency.

  3. #3
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    He put it out to bid and had 30 applicants.

    So who did the town get to chose from?

    Just curious and I'm not implying anything. Did the current supervisor know the person who was hired before he was supervisor? There is nothing wrong with that either. I'm just wondering.

    I'm surprised he didn't go to an actual executive hiring agency.
    If you are talking about Mr. Brown's replacement, I know that she held a similar position in Clarence Res, and that is really about it.

    I am rather perplexed about Ruffino's holding that, if I understand the article correctly, Brown and him were on "different wave lengths," with Ruffino suggesting that "you just can't reach into the taxpayers pockets for everything." Until now, I always understood Mr. Brown to have been cautiously conservative on fiscal matters in the world of budget preparation.

    If it was and remains true that Brown was and remains a "liberal" on fiscal matters, why did it take the 18-year incumbent dinosaur so long to speak out?

    ( Besides, I always thought that it was the elected Town Council that ultimately decides the budget and the tax increases?)

    In any event, in connection with the issue of "employee morale," I have concerns about the way in which Mr. Brown was allegedly treated.

    People whom I know, have complete trust in, and respect for, including Supervisor Coleman, spoke, and continue to speak, very highly of him, and that Mr. Brown deserved much, much better treatment; my inference of course.
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 16th, 2020 at 07:15 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  4. #4
    Member gorja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Lancaster, NY
    Posts
    13,150
    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    He put it out to bid and had 30 applicants.

    So who did the town get to chose from?

    Just curious and I'm not implying anything. Did the current supervisor know the person who was hired before he was supervisor? There is nothing wrong with that either. I'm just wondering.

    I'm surprised he didn't go to an actual executive hiring agency.
    No, he did not know the hiree

    He did hire someone with 17 years experience as Director of Finance in the Town of Clarence.
    I believe after the developer Casilio was elected supervisor in Clarence, he chose his own Director of Finance.

    Georgia L Schlager

  5. #5
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Buffalo, New York, United States
    Posts
    64,947
    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    If you are talking about Mr. Brown's replacement, I know that she held a similar position in Clarence Res, and that is really about it.
    Anyone know why they are not in the same position in Clarence any longer?

  6. #6
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Buffalo, New York, United States
    Posts
    64,947
    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    No, he did not know the hiree

    He did hire someone with 17 years experience as Director of Finance in the Town of Clarence.
    I believe after the developer Casilio was elected supervisor in Clarence, he chose his own Director of Finance.

    Don't you find that odd? If someone has 17 years of experience and is doing a good job why would the next supervisor pick someone else? ( I hear someone in the back yelling out.... "the new person is better!!!" or "it's the new supervisors decision!!!" ) That's possible but you wouldn't know the current person wasn't good if you didn't work with them for a short period of time.

    I have learned over the years the people who usually know what is going on are not the ones sometimes in charge. It's the secretary, the long time assistant and/or employees like that.

  7. #7
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Don't you find that odd? If someone has 17 years of experience and is doing a good job why would the next supervisor pick someone else?
    Perhaps it is because one needs to know how to make a town's bond payment in a timely and proper way?

    Under normal circumstances, a new Supervisor would need some time to acquire its governing legs, but I am inclined to be less patient in this case. Did not Mr. Ruffino serve on that exact same Town Council for eighteen years, and style himself as the "most qualified and experienced candidate for supervisor?"

    For all of his touted experience and insights, I am not impressed with his purported decision not to reach out to Mr. Brown to retain his services.

    Moreover, I still have concerns about this new "grant writer" and hope that his decision does not impact the construction of the much-needed new dog facility.

    I hope Mr. Ruffino gets his act together in anticipation of Union negotiations, lest the Town go to the metaphorical poor house.
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 19th, 2020 at 12:35 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  8. #8
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Buffalo, New York, United States
    Posts
    64,947
    Moreover, I still have concerns about this new "grant writer" and hope that his decision does not impact the construction of the much-needed new dog facility.
    Why is it needed? There are many volunteer groups who handle this type of stuff

  9. #9
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Why is it needed? There are many volunteer groups who handle this type of stuff
    Understood Res, but the volunteer group idea is an irrelevancy in connection with the Dog Facility grant, and future grant.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  10. #10
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    This is a Ruffino palm card from the 2019 campaign:



    This is a highlighted assertion from that exact same palm card:



    Seemingly, Mr. Ruffino did not consider Mr. Brown, years of exemplary service notwithstanding, such a professional, so he as per his prerogative, replaced him with...
    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post

    He did hire someone with 17 years experience as Director of Finance in the Town of Clarence.
    I believe after the developer Casilio was elected supervisor in Clarence, he chose his own Director of Finance.
    ...which leads some of us to ask...
    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    Perhaps it is because one needs to know how to make a town's bond payment in a timely and proper way?

    BTW,

    As I see it, candidates for office are not "professionals;" they are office seekers who are willing, available citizens. If Mr. Ruffino considers elected office holders to be "professionals," he is not a true conservative by any account; he is a big government politician, just my opinion of course.

    The professionals, IMHO, are those who attend to the needs of the town and its residents every day, such as the clerical workers, our police personnel, the Highway and Parks crews, and employed pros like former Budget Director Brown.

    Just sayin'.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  11. #11
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    On another thread, a member posted this newspaper article which in part read...

    The Desert Sun, January 8, 2020
    By Scott Jennings, CNN Contributor:

    I have spent the last 20 or so New Years’ Eves glued to the SyFy Channel’s “Twilight Zone” marathon. My wife and I love the writing, the plots and picking out famous actors in their one-off roles for the classic television series.

    Maybe I’ll write an episode of my own, complete with a Rod Serling-worthy opening monologue:

    “The year is 2017. Donald Trump is inaugurated as president of the United States, and mass amnesia has washed over America. Half the country can no longer remember anything that happened before Jan. 20. The former president, Barack Obama, is literally sitting right there. Yet, his own party cannot remember one thing about his eight years…”
    Ah, INSPIRATION!

    Perhaps some playwright will develop a work about a fictional town in antiquity, where a lazy, clueless, self-absorbed, rather stupid man, 60ish, going on 17, served on its Town Council for many years?

    I suggest that such a play could be written using "Orpheus In The Underworld" as a template.


    To wit, the fictional plot of Supervisor In Hades:



    The Councilman was the consummate party hack who did the bidding of the political boss-supervisor for many years.

    After the political-boss supervisor was defeated, the clueless councilman was pressured by his own sick ego, and his equally feckless wife, to reach beyond his capabilities and seek the Supervisor's office.

    It was essential that the inept Councilman rinse himself of the stain of his previous servitude and present himself as a man free of the control of political power holders. To do that he had to convince people by deception that he was truly a gifted public servant who spent tax dollars wisely and would exercise virtuous good governance in that office.


    The problem was, that Councilman was still a scoundrel, remaining entirely beholden to the existing power holders of the corrupt wing of his party.

    The couple privately discuss his evil deceitful political plans one peaceful day while slowly cruising the The Plenty Of FishStyx River when the boat overturns and both descend into the depths of the river and drown.

    Because of their deceitful ways, the couple, is now condemned for eternity to Hades, and can only realize their ambitious dreams in that nightmarish town, which is under the total control of the God Of Water.
    I do have some ideas for the names of main and supporting characters:

    Egotistio Buffoonarino- The Supervisor.

    Plumpa Buffoonarino-The Supervisor's wife.

    Somemoreo Nepotismo- The God of Water; Ruler of the world under the Plenty of FishStyx River, Emperor of Hades, and "The Big Political Boss."

    Totallyia Cluelessetta- The Goddess of Water and wife of Nepotismo.

    Ronaldo Tubalardo- Nepotismo's Court Chamberlain and unhinged disgusting Court Jester.

    Alba Bebacka- Buffoonerino's defeated opponent.

    Sheezgottia Bydeeballzio- The Virtuous Town Clerk.

    Empress Sheza Metzetta- The Goddess of Clean, Chlorinated Water and The Retiring Supervisor.

    Uoweme Bigtimeio- The Highway Superintendent.

    Icyeer Bullcrapio- The Reform Councilman.

    Whatza Bonda- The New Budget Director.

    Thatza Dapriceini- The Buffoonerino's Secretary.

    Ia Loosameheada- Buffoonerino Sycophant #1.

    Igota Lattalovia- Buffoonerino Sycophant #2,
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 20th, 2020 at 05:34 AM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  12. #12
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    No reviews yet?

    Oh, perhaps my bad. I see that they are busy promoting the new fictional BS play, the hoped-for hit of 2020: The Strange Case of Dr. Bob and Mr. Dino.
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; January 20th, 2020 at 06:44 AM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  13. #13
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    Attached Images Attached Images
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  14. #14
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    JUST MY OPINION:

    Kudos to Jennifer Tulumello!

    Is Supervisor Ruffino still learning about this issue and will he eventually get "it right?"

    Criminees, in 2001 Ruffino said that he wanted to focus on the issues arising from growth.

    Now, after 18 years of rubber stamping rezones and development, one should think that Supervisor Ruffino would have prioritized, by public comment and advocacy, this issue, rather than pleading for his personal stipend, stubbornly defending his premature application of authority in LIDA issues, and articulating a commitment to prioritize the "morale" of compensated employees.

    Readers, as Supervisor, Mr. Ruffino has the ultimate bully pulpit to advocate for remediation to this ongoing PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE...

    Water pressure woes linger in Lancaster neighborhood

    By Jane Kwiatkowski
    NEWS STAFF REPORTER

    The long-awaited replacement of waterlines – some dating back to 1929 – did nothing to alleviate the low water pressure experienced by residents in a Lancaster neighborhood, or the nagging concern over safety and quality-of-life issues.

    “Lancaster wants to continue moving up and up, to be a place in Erie County where people want to put down roots, but we don’t have adequate services for our own residents,” said Jennifer Tulumello, 48, who lives in Bowmansville with her husband and three children.

    Town growth has come with problems other communities experience when services are not adequate to serve neighborhoods in which the number of homes has increased many times over. It leads to traffic volume, unexpected flooding, noise and, in Lancaster’s case, negligible water pressure.

    Tulumello, like other residents, believed the water pressure would be relieved after the town replaced old waterlines. They are now being told the replacement completed last summer was never intended to alleviate pressure problems.

    “Waterlines have nothing to do with the pressure,” Town Engineer Edward Schiller said. “Sometimes people don’t get that. The lines that were in there were old, they were 6-inch lines, and they were replaced with 8-inch lines.

    “The new lines will deliver more volume, but one does not equate to the other, so the pressure will not change,” Schiller said. “We were clear on that from day one, that we were addressing an issue of volume.”Tulumello attends meetings of the Lancaster Town Board, where residents have complained about the inadequate water pressure since a house fire in 2018 on Pleasant View Drive. Fire hydrants failed to deliver enough water at a residence that was declared a total loss.

    Service lines, the lines that carry water to individual homes, could be part of the problem, the town engineer initially said.

    “Once it leaves the curb and goes into the house, the homeowner has their own service line,” Schiller said. “There are a lot of issues affecting water besides its delivery to the curb.”

    Water pressure is regulated by the Erie County Water Authority through more than 50 pressure zones located within the county, said Leonard Kowalski, executive engineer for the water agency.

    Water pressure, according to online sources, is the amount of force from the water main into homes. It is measured in pounds per square inch. Normal water pressure is typically between 30 and 80 PSI.

    “Pressure is typically around the low 40s, a level that people may not be happy with,” Kowalski said. “Just south of Pleasant View, there’s a different zone, where they are around 48. Typically, people would be looking for 60 range. The next step would be to create a model internally to see if we can move some valves around and change pressure zones.

    Right now, we are looking to move some of the distribution mains into a different pressure zone to increase flow and pressure.”

    A meeting between Schiller and Kowalski is scheduled for early this week at the Water Authority Service Center in Cheektowaga.

    Residents, meanwhile, fear that another fire could occur before the water pressure problem is rectified.

    “First and foremost, it is a safety issue,” Tulumello said. “If another fire breaks out in the neighborhood, will firefighters have an adequate supply of water, and will there be enough pressure?”

    Jennifer Tulumello, with her three sons at their home on Stutzman Road in Lancaster in 2018, says of the town’s water pressure situation, “First and foremost, it is a safety issue.”
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; February 10th, 2020 at 01:04 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  15. #15
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,305
    Lancaster Town Board Meeting of February 10, 2020.

    Mr. Rinow, a Lancaster resident queries an uncomfortable and in my opinion, hostile Supervisor Ruffino on the issues of stipends and the public safety issue of water pressure on Pleasant View and Stutzman Road.

    My Opinions, Understandings, and Observations:

    Lancaster resident David Rinow queried Supervisor Ruffino this evening on the issues of stipends to elected officials, and the public safety concern of low water pressure in Bowmansville.

    The reader may recall that a home on Pleasant View Drive was destroyed by fire in 2018, and low water pressure was reportedly a significant factor in controlling the fire.

    Since then, a bond was floated and work was completed to replace antiquated water lines on Pleasant View Drive. Regrettably, the low water pressure problem still exists. This problem clearly is one of public safety and sanitation.

    Mr. Rinow a Vietnam War veteran and Lancaster native, asked Town Engineer Town Engineer Edward Schiller to confirm his (Schiller's) prior knowledge that the upgrade of the water pipes would be of little remedial consequence to the issue of water pressure.

    Mr. Schiller seemingly confirmed his prior knowledge, which was evident in his comments made to the Buffalo News:

    https://buffalonews.com/2020/02/09/w...-neighborhood/

    After Mr. Schiller's apparent acknowledgement, Mr. Rhino then asked Supervisor Ruffino if he was prepared to take the next step and contact Erie County, presumably the Erie County Water Authority, to seek remedy to the low water pressure/public safety issue.

    Mr. Ruffino's response: "I will check with my engineer."

    When Mr. Rinow reminded the Supervisor Town Engineer Schiller was present in the room, and had just spoken to the issue, Mr. Ruffino replied with a rather bizarre response which simply did not answer Mr. Rinow's question: "I trust my engineer."

    Then, Mr. Rinow, with a prosecutor's principled precision, focused queries strictly on Mr Ruffino's alleged prior knowledge (his vote for the bond and his words during the 2019 campaign notwithstanding), that the water pipe upgrade would not entirely remedy the low water pressure problem.

    Mr. Ruffino replied with a seemingly scripted "I trust my engineer" response pattern to Mr. Rinow's singular question:

    "Did you know that the problem was not going to be solved; you were a councilman at the time; you voted for it; did you know that? Did you know that? Did you know that?"

    The robotic "I trust my engineer" was so repetitive and disturbing, it was suggestive of a child-like echolalia.

    Supervisor Ruffino was a Town Councilman when he voted in favor of the bond, and he was a candidate for Supervisor in 2019 while the water pipe upgrade was underway.

    During his 2019 campaign for Supervisor, while Ruffino had boasted that public safety was one reason why Lancaster was "a great place to live," he did not to the best of my knowledge, acknowledge that the water pipe upgrade would not be a full remedy to the low water pressure/public safety issue.

    In his focus on Mr Ruffino's alleged prior knowledge that the upgrade would not completely remedy the problem described above, Mr. Rinow, with a prosecutor's confidence and skill, may have revealed Mr. Ruffino's 2019 campaign promises to be nothing more than worthless words of campaign rhetoric.

    Just my opinion, but Mr, Ruffino's response(s) constituted a disgraceful display of arrogant avoidance.

    Collectively, the Supervisor's answers appeared to reflect a pathetically stubborn deflection of valid questions, asked in the interests of public safety, and seemingly answered with indifference to same citizens to whom he once represented himself as a man "for the people."

    Please view this...

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...00000473135939
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; February 10th, 2020 at 11:55 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

Page 1 of 9 123 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Ron Ruffino "From Day One"
    By mark blazejewski in forum Village of Lancaster and Town of Lancaster Politics
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: October 14th, 2019, 09:19 AM
  2. ABC: Obama administration announces plan to ban "Assault weapons"
    By MoreOfTheSame in forum USA Politics and Our Economy - President Joe Biden
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: February 27th, 2009, 08:35 AM
  3. Mr. "Servant of the People", start "showing me" you work for "US"
    By avet in forum Albany NY State budget Capital and Governor Kathy Hochul
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: March 28th, 2005, 01:03 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •