The Charles Burchfield Nature & Art Center has been under fire for quite some time now. Like so many other great cultural ideas, it seems the Burchfield is quickly becoming yet another victim to the politics and bureaucracy that has consumed so many in the region for so long.

First of all, Manuel is right on the money when talking about these “firings.” How is it that someone can state publicly for the record that any decision affecting a privately run organization was made without its Board’s knowledge? And whether the Town funds these positions or not, to decide not only on cutting two positions, but deciding specifically which employee they were going to keep without the Burchfield Board’s knowledge was ridiculous. If they need two cut to positions to alleviate the burden to the taxpayers, that’s fine. But when deciding this, my feeling is the Burchfield Board should have been notified and brought in from that point on to decide which employee to keep. And where is the Burchfield Board in all of this? Why is the Town even funding positions for a private non for profit organization with tax payer money to begin with? The whole thing seems rotten.

Secondly, I noticed in the Buffalo News the quote from Councilwoman Bove, “There should be an open work session on Americorps and Youth Bureau so residents can here what is going on,” “No decisions should be made behind closed door. Nothing should be a surprise.” Nothing against Americorps or the Youth Bureau and all the work and service they provide our community, but why is this policy only in place for them? The exact opposite was done to Burchfield as admitted to in the West Seneca Bee. And again, why are we only hearing from the Town? Why is the Burchfield Board not enraged by this and speaking out about it? Perhaps the original idea for the organization is something not meant for West Seneca after all as no one is willing to fight for it.

Finally, in response to 4UWS’s quote in reference to the $100,000 that is being saved: the salaries for the two employees that were cut were worth more than $8.00/hour. And these salaries do not include the $56,000 expense account under the Burchfield name which apparently current and former employees and a majority of Board Members were unaware even existed. Where did all that money go? And why is the Burchfield being held accountable for money they apparently didn’t even spend? Lots of questions, but I digress.