Shameful Jan 3, 2023, Lancaster Town Board Meeting (2)

[Lee Chowaniec]

Organizational Meeting

Nine Organizational resolutions setting policies on town operations regarding rules and guidelines on procurements, procedures, town appointments, salaries, etc. were on the agenda and up for vote.

Often stating publicly that he doesn’t play politics, Supervisor Ruffino took every opportunity to do just that, unjustly and with malice alleging Councilman Leary harassed his department to the point of their leaving, and his accepting no culpability for their resignations. Where all town board members voted ‘yes’ on the nine proposed Organizational resolutions, Ruffino commented on the three Leary sponsored resolutions and voted ‘no.’

Resolution #3 sponsored by Council Member Leary to Appoint Town Officials to Various Positions, Boards and Commissions was commented on by Supervisor Ruffino and voted ‘no’ on. Supervisor Ruffino claimed he had never been consulted on any of the appointments. “As Supervisor I have reached out to every board member for consul and input. Obviously, I don’t have the board majority and have no voice.”
(Comment – yet Leary had declared being blindsided by the firms proposing to handle the Supervisor’s finance and payroll operation at the work session.)

Ruffino then added that he wanted to comment on the IDA (LIDA – Lancaster Industrial Development Agency), which he said he proudly Chaired for two years. He claimed that when he took over there was $1 million in the LIDA account and that the account grew to $1.6 million under his tutelage, due mainly to projects he went out and represented the town personally on. He then mentioned several projects he helped bring to the town.

Ruffino: “I watch today’s meetings and it is an embarrassment to see what’s happened.to that board. When I took over I analyzed all the jobs, found out people were getting paid for things they were not doing and reduced the pay from what they were getting. We were spending $15,000 for the employees. This board jumped it up to $21,000; plus they hire an additional final consultant at $250 per hr. There is no work to be done in the last year from what I can see, over the past year.

The IDA is so important to the town. It brings in businesses which brings tax dollars into the town. I see nothing happening this year, in fact, some of the projects I started last year walked away. Even the person named Chairman last year walked away. I had a conversation with him, and he was very disappointed at what happened. He actually told me that the agency should now be called the LAIDA, the Lancaster Anti Industrial Agency. That’s a shame because the people that are losing are the residents.”

Councilman Leary responded that you (Ruffino) were appointed to the LIDA last year and ‘you quit.’ “You took away with you the Director of Finance as well, leaving the LIDA in a very bad position. The LIDA adjusted properly on making up on the paperwork and other things that were done inappropriately during your term, and we are still dealing with that. We would have appointed you again, but you quit. So, do you want to be on the LIDA Board?”

Ruffino: responded that the correct term is resigned, not quit and that he did so upset that he was not elected by the LIDA board to be Chair, which had been the custom for years. “I was not going to do all the work and have someone else take the credit,” said Ruffino. “The Supervisor has always been the face of Lancaster, the Chairman of the IDA. They changed the rule.”
(Comment – there never was a rule in place that the Supervisor of the Town becomes Chair. The appointed LIDA members elect the Chair. Ruffino received no seconding to his nomination, threw a hissy-fit and resigned on the spot.)

Leary again asked if Ruffino wanted to be on the IDA and Ruffino relied “only as Chair.” Supervisor Ruffino’s refusing to be an IDA member unless he is made Chair is self-serving and not in the best interest of the community. His resignation and later LIDA Chair Fudoli’s, both claiming as cause Councilman Leary’s harassment is disingenuous and misinformation.

In a February 12, 2020, Lancaster Bee edition the following was reported:

Leary also questioned in the letter was whether there was anything in the LIDA by-laws, or any stated or unstated contract that LIDA has to elect the Lancaster Town Supervisor as the chairman of LIDA, and also hire his staff as employees of LIDA. Ruffino stated at the work session that numerous supervisors have always been appointed chairman of LIDA.

Ruffino stated at the work session that LIDA is a completely separate government agency. “First of all, LIDA has nothing to do with the town board, except appointing people,” Ruffino said.

Leary said the appointment of LIDA board members dictates what happens on the LIDA board. “Part of it you’ll hear, is all we do is appoint the members, “Leary said. “That’s not quite true because they pay our town employees for their assistance.”
Leary also said there are 71 properties listed online that receive tax breaks from LIDA, which impacts the Town of Lancaster.

“We have interests in all those different things going on,” Leary said. “It’s not just you appoint the people and we’re done; we still have interests because we have funds coming in. We have to know where they go and if [the funds are] properly spent and also what’s going on with all the properties.”

Ruffino was the lone ‘no’ resolution vote.


Resolution #8 sponsored by Council Member Leary to Authorize Attendance of Various Town Officials 2023 New York State Association of Towns Training School & Annual Meeting to Be Held In New York City.

Ruffino again commenting and solo ‘no’ vote declaring last year was the first time Lancaster did not have a voting representative on the NYS Association of Towns that are making important statements for our state, and we have no representation. He will be locked out of the meeting because his name does not appear as a delegate.

Ruffino: “The respect I get from the Erie County Association of Governments,,, I will be elected and sworn in as their president on January 28. Unfortunately, I don’t get any respect out of this board, but I get it out of the Association!”


Resolution #9 sponsored by Councilman Leary to Adopt Schedule of Salaries for Non-Bargaining For 2023.

Supervisor Ruffino lone ‘no’ vote without comment.

Comment

Nine Organizational resolutions were on the agenda. All nine resolutions received ‘yes’ votes from all board members.

The five sponsored by Supervisor Ruffino were unanimously approved by the board without comment. The three sponsored by Council Member Leary were personally commented on by Supervisor Ruffino, where Leary was disparaged, and his resolutions received ‘no’ votes. But Leary is the one being charged as harassing individuals, an obstructionist, and a ‘bully.’ Seriously? I call that being a representative of the voters who put him in office.

Supervisor Ruffino declares he doesn’t play politics. That doesn’t come across here. There is no ‘I’ in team, but there is in Ruffino. He boasts on how fiscally responsible he is and how much he has done for the town, while claiming to get no respect from the board.

Ruffino seems to have amnesia when he sat on a board with a lone Republican Supervisor (Fudoli) who was told by the controlling Democrats in no uncertain terms: “We have the votes, and you will lead as we see fit.”

What goes around comes around, especially in politics! Stop whining, Supervisor Ruffino.

Next: Shameful Jan 3, 2023, Lancaster Town Board Meeting (3)
Regular Town Board Meeting

[gorja]

It's Leary that is playing politics. LIDA chair Fudoli stated that during his term as supervisor as well as LIDA chair, he did not receive one phone call from any of the 4 democratic councilman about business the LIDA board was doing. Yet, he has received a dozen in this year alone.
Since IDA's are separate entities, why is Leary butting in? Now, he made himself a member of that board.

There was a beautiful point at that meeting when Councilman Burkhard voted 'no' to Leary's resolution to appoint Ciccarelli to parks' crew chief.
I wonder what a tongue lashing that poor guy got after voting against Leary.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Hey Gorja:

While I respect your right to opine, I am having difficulty understanding your disdain and animus for Council Member Leary. And, I am having a difficult time understanding your logic. Educate me.

You write:

It's Leary that is playing politics. LIDA chair Fudoli stated that during his term as supervisor as well as LIDA chair, he did not receive one phone call from any of the 4 democratic councilmen about business the LIDA board was doing. Yet, he has received a dozen in this year alone. Since IDA's are separate entities, why is Leary butting in? Now, he made himself a member of that board.

Have you suddenly had an epiphany that LIDA Chair Fudoli, the same individual who was Supervisor and running for re-election in 2016, the person you publicly charged then with being a tax cheat, a liar, and a thug should now be believed, because he has ‘no’ agenda? No intent when speaking out to disparage a LIDA board he chaired for 12 months, who made publicly known that previous boards were deficient and delinquent in running operations, and in violation of state standards. For him to explicitly state that his board became an anti-development board is a slap in the face to his fellow LIDA members.

Fudoli did say he received numerous outside phone calls unlike when he was Supervisor and Chair of the LIDA. Hello, he was town Supervisor and running the LIDA operations from there.

Are you claiming all calls to Chair Fudoli came from Leary? And if they did, are you saying they were ‘butting I and harassing’ because no town board member should have any say how our tax money is spent? LIDA serves at the will of the Town Board. There should be cooperation between LIDA and the town for the best interests of the community Supervisor Ruffino divested himself of that oversight. Leary is not butting in. He is doing his job!

Lastly, you claim Leary is a bully, a harassing menace who should consider resigning. You are basing that information from a disgruntled Supervisor and a recently disgruntled LIDA Chair. Have you heard that from anyone else? I haven’t nor had the Town Clerk. I did hear from many that Supervisor Ruffino’s department was toxic – whatever that means. Never heard it was because of Council member Leary. And it was Ruffino playing politics whose resolutions comments started this ****storm, not Leary!

Guess we’re hearing different things. Ah, but that’s politics. Much ado about nothing!

[gorja]

Lee, I guess you're right. We are hearing different things and some things, we just interpret differently.
I certainly had no admiration for Fudoli at the end of his term but honestly, I can see no reason for him to falsify Leary's butting in.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Lee, I guess you're right. We are hearing different things and some things, we just interpret differently.
I certainly had no admiration for Fudoli at the end of his term but honestly, I can see no reason for him to falsify Leary's butting in.

There you go again with the ‘butting in’. Leary was voted into office by the voters to represent their voice. As a councilman it is his job to get involved in every aspect of town government. The LIDA may be autonomous / independent in its decision making but it is not above denying public input. Government of the people and by the people.

This is only the second Town of Lancaster Republican controlled town board in the past 70 years. The people voted for change. In all the years Supervisor Ruffino served in office, 18 as councilmember and 3 as Supervisor, he has served with a Democrat controlled board, this being the exception. And he doesn’t like it and takes every opportunity to blame his board members for his shortcomings.

Ruffino publicly accusing Leary of harassing his department employees and causing them to resign? Seriously? Fudoli whining of people interfering in the operations of an autonomous / independent body. Seriously? Weak leadership on the part of both leaving positions because they couldn't control the operation to their liking.

The recent board meeting was shameful. It wasn’t Leary who initiated the commenting that made it so. Who was the real bully?

Today’s political world: We don’t like what our political opponent is doing so we will ‘cancel’ him using any method to ensure his chances of success should he choose to run for office in the future are diminished. The voters are beginning to see through this deception – well, not all of them!

Election time is at hand. Get ready for another ****storm!

[gorja]

I agree to disagree with you Lee.
I do wish you and your wife a Happy and Healthy New Year!

[Lee Chowaniec]

gorja

I agree to disagree with you Lee.

Likewise. We are both entitled to share opinions. I know you well enough and respect you to jeopardize our relationship over politics.

I do wish you and your wife a Happy and Healthy New Year

Thank you! I wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year. Lord knows we need one!

[gorja]

Likewise. We are both entitled to share opinions. I know you well enough and respect you to jeopardize our relationship over politics.




Thank you! I wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year. Lord knows we need one!

Thank you Lee. That means alot coming from you.