Diverse media reports on Lancaster Supervisor race

[Lee Chowaniec]

Lancaster Bee - Ruffino beats Gaczewski in race for supervisor

Election results, nothing on the budget or anything of consequence.

Buffalo News – Supervisor race still too close to call

Ruffino, elected to the board in 2001, voted against two successive budgets in 2018 and 2019.

“Over the last two years I have felt that spending has been out of control,” said Ruffino. He noted that spending in the 2018 budget had increased 3.3% to $1.07 million and spending in the 2019 budget had increased 4.9% to $1.63 million.”

If elected Supervisor, Ruffino hopes to continue cost-cutting measures, revise the town’s waste removal contract and improve the morale of town employees.

Lancaster Sun - The votes are in, but the race is too close to call

Ruffino pledges:

Unify the board

Comprehensive study of the infrastructure done – drainage, roads, bridges and water

Enforcing responsible fiscal management – voted no on last two budgets

Promote transparency and good government

85% of our job is the town budget

Proposed $293,000 in budget cuts at the November 4th board meeting

Proposed budget cuts because there is an issue with New York State

According to Supervisor Johanna Cole there are no New York State issues but an attempt to detract when no answer is available.

Political theater – 5 weeks to get budget cut proposals in before the board or Department heads and no attempt on Ruffino’s part to do so.

Comment

I agree with Ruffino that spending in the past four budget years has increased significantly; as has employee hiring, debt and wages. Ruffino had an excellent opportunity to address spending measures but failed to follow protocol / due process and that adversely impacted taxpayers who were looking for some of Ruffino’s proposed cuts to be publicly addressed. His plea that his 11th hour proposals were not politically motivated falls on deaf ears. His right to claim ‘foul’ that his submittal was not considered is unfounded.

Mr. Ruffino is correct in saying spending must be cut / controlled, however, when he did vote ‘yes’ eight times in the Giza administration the average annual tax levy was $910,000. In the last four budgets, the annual average tax levy increased $735,000.

Mr. Ruffino seems confident of victory and is detailing his agenda / vision when he takes office. His agenda is suspect to those who have watched his voting record on past budgets, town development / growth, concern for the environment, traffic and traffic safety issues, etc.

And, what’s with this ‘revise the town’s waste removal contract and improve the morale of town employees’. Ruffino was not part of the waste contract negotiating team, offered no suggestions or comments during the process, and voted ‘yes’ along with all the other board members to the contract resolution.

Town morale is bad, Ron? Care to explain that. Administrative? Rank and file? Town Board?

Should Mr. Ruffino be declared the official winner, hopefully he understands he was voted into office without a mandate. That says much for a career politician that has been in office 18 years.

[gorja]

Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
Should Mr. Ruffino be declared the official winner.

He has not declared victory.

Gaczewski also detailed her agenda in that article. Is she also confident about victory?

Stay below the 2% tax cap
Seek more grants
Focus on infrastructure and greenspace
Work more closely with the villages and the comprehensive Master plan to enhance entrepreneurship
Inventory undeveloped space
Hold 4 public meetings per year

There was also a comment form the mayor not identified as her significant other.

My feelings are, I'm going to wait it out to see what the outcome is of the absentee count.
Gaczewski wants a recount according tot he article. Thought they used some kind of electronic chips nowadays.

[Breezy]

Oh, and since the election is over, maybe someone should tap Lee on the shoulder and tell him that he could stop beating up on the candidate at this point. Unless he's just venting since he was all in for Dawn G.

LOL

Town morale is bad, Ron? Care to explain that. Administrative? Rank and file? Town Board?

My hope is that you do not get an answer from Ron on this.

Why respond to you anyway?

Your attacks clearly were aimed at him throughout and it seems that now you are just very sore that he leads in the voting, pending the final count concerning absentee votes.

My advice would be to have your rants filed under "Upset Gadfly" who never supports Dems anyway!

[Breezy]

My feelings are, I'm going to wait it out to see what the outcome is of the absentee count.

By the look of the election results it seems to me that Ron did pretty good, in the face of an energized GOP in the county executive race.

Good thing Ron focused big time on the Conservative Party write-in this past June 25th.

Either way, Congratulations to all the candidates - - - those who prevailed and those that fought hard and did not make it this time! It must take a lot out of someone's life in this day and age standing before voters and going through hell seeking a position such as these.

[Lanc]

Absentee ballots are not as large as in the past with the early voting.
Remember Dawn has the Village Mayor on her side...
It was a tough election and the people have spoke as to who they want.

[Lee Chowaniec]

[QUOTE=Breezy;1900371]

Oh, and since the election is over, maybe someone should tap Lee on the shoulder and tell him that he could stop beating up on the candidate at this point. Unless he's just venting since he was all in for Dawn G.

Actually, my support for Gaczewski resulted as a counter to the way the Democratic Party, you in particular, and your squad vilified her. St. Mark, Ruffino is not!

Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec
Town morale is bad, Ron? Care to explain that. Administrative? Rank and file? Town Board?
My hope is that you do not get an answer from Ron on this.

Ron won’t most likely because he is likely the cause for the ‘supposed’ morale issue he speaks of..

Why respond to you anyway?

Indeed, nor do I expect a response.

Your attacks clearly were aimed at him throughout and it seems that now you are just very sore that he leads in the voting, pending the final count concerning absentee votes.

Attacks, or comments based on facts? His voting record speaks for itself.

Pending? 300 absentee ballots. Ruffino leading by 123. Gaczewski needs 212 of the 300 ballots. Possible, but most likely not probable; especially with Zellner and Mohr overseeing the process. It was difficult for Gaczewski considering she was fighting two adversaries.

My advice would be to have your rants filed under "Upset Gadfly" who never supports Dems anyway!

Never, eh? Another Breezy absurd, unfounded, scurrilous allegation. I supported and voted for Dianne Terranova, the Democratic Party endorsed candidate for Town Clerk. Did you, Breezy? You never answered my numerous past queries on whether you supported the Democratic endorsed candidate? Like others, did to conspire to throw Terranova under the bus? Did you vote for Desiderio?

Outside of Terranova, the most qualified individual for office, Kristen McCracken lost – handily. Why, Breezy? Guilt by association? You’re the expert on such machinations!

Just holding Mr. Ruffino accountable for the outrageous claims he made on his palm card and campaign literature, an outrageous 11th hour mailer claiming he was going to cut $293,000 from the budget that was just more political theater, and a promise to address the ‘dumb growth’ principles he helped nurture in his 18 years in office and have led to the issues that now plague the town. And never once in all that time was he involved in any activity that resulted in the waste of the taxpayers’ money (LOL).

[gorja]

Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
Pending? 300 absentee ballots. Ruffino leading by 123. Gaczewski needs 212 of the 300 ballots. Possible, but most likely not probable; especially with Zellner and Mohr overseeing the process. It was difficult for Gaczewski considering she was fighting two adversaries.

Lee, I thought the candidates or a representative could be present when they view the absentee ballots.

[gorja]

Originally posted by Breezy:
Either way, Congratulations to all the candidates - - - those who prevailed and those that fought hard and did not make it this time! It must take a lot out of someone's life in this day and age standing before voters and going through hell seeking a position such as these.

I agree

[Lee Chowaniec]

Lee, I thought the candidates or a representative could be present when they view the absentee ballots.

One can only hope. This is politics, not a Chinese auction. You seen how the primary went.

[Breezy]

Outside of Terranova,

Oh yeah, that race was a real barn burner!

[Lee Chowaniec]

Oh yeah, that race was a real barn burner!

Not of feigned lack of interest or excitement on your part because you didn’t support your own endorsed candidate and her opponent lost.

A barn burner for many who watched the machinations taking place during the primary, as the endorsed Democratic Party candidate for Town Clerk getting no support from her party, and the machinations coming from the vindictive / rogue Republican BOE Commissioner and his partisan cronies.

I love the derivation of the word barn burner - The name was in allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats in his barn by burning down his rat infested barn. Apropos, eh?

[Lee Chowaniec]

The following Buffalo News report should be of interest to Lancaster voters:

https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/09/p...-blue-suburbs/

Gregory A. Sojka, Lancaster Republican chairman, noted Dixon’s 4,512 to 3,466 win in the town despite its Democratic registration edge. Lancaster’s rapid development in recent years, he explained, has changed its politics – formerly rooted in blue-collar Democrats.

“Lynne did well among the blue dog Democrats who wonder whatever happened to the Democratic Party of their moms and dads,” he said. “They say this left-leaning party is not what they are all about.”

More conservative voters have evolved from the town’s demographic changes, he added. “If you’re either a Democrat or a Republican and you have the Conservative Party, you have a 90% chance of winning,” Sojka said. “People are upset about patronage and overtaxing, and the cost to live in Lancaster keeps going up and up.”
Sojka credited the ascension of former Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy to the state GOP helm for the new attention paid to local matters – more than by former state GOP chairman Edward F. Cox.

“Nick Langworthy put out a lot of mailers asking Republicans to come out and vote,” he said of the state party effort. “Mr. Cox never did that.”

Comment

More conservative and independent registered voters moving into Lancaster have had a significant impact in altering the political culture in Lancaster. Where at one time the registered town Democrats outnumbered the Republicans by a ratio of 2-1, the number of registered Dems is now 11,693 and Republicans 9,393.

The number of registered Conservatives has grown to slightly over 1,000 and the number of Independence Party registered voters to over 1,800. It is the ‘blank’ vote that has now become most sought because they number near 7,000.

It was interesting to look at the voting analytics and try to make sense of the numbers when in some cases more individuals voted on the Conservative line for a candidate than there are registered conservatives. Only 425 registered Independence Party votes were cast – most likely because the endorsed candidates did not wind up on the ballot (Terranova & Leary, elected candidates).

One thing is certain, fusion voting is alive and well in Lancaster. Minor parties do play a big part. Stealing lines has become the norm.

[WNYresident]

Do they track people who move town to town?

Cheektowaga has been losing population for years. I'm wondering how many moved to other local areas versus moved out of state.

[gorja]

Lee, please don't get mad at me for asking.

The **** Mohr pulled in the primary was wrong.

The logic that I don't understand is if someone receives more votes than the other candidates in the primary,
why is it called stealing? Is the logic that only Republicans can win a Conservative primary?
Why I come to that conclusion is when Fudoli won the Conservative primary using the write-in campaign,
he was also not the endorsed Conservative at the time. No one referred to it as stealing. It was just the people's choice.
At least, that's the way my mind works. Maybe, I'm a just a little quirky.

[Breezy]

Not of feigned lack of interest or excitement on your part because you didn’t support your own endorsed candidate and her opponent lost.

A barn burner for many who watched the machinations taking place during the primary, as the endorsed Democratic Party candidate for Town Clerk getting no support from her party, and the machinations coming from the vindictive / rogue Republican BOE Commissioner and his partisan cronies.

I love the derivation of the word barn burner - The name was in allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats in his barn by burning down his rat infested barn. Apropos, eh?

At least your comment's ending was funny!

LOL

Not of feigned lack of interest or excitement on your part

Actually, I thought she was a shoe-in all along.

The only reason I stayed out of it was that it was driving you and your 'spot on' buddy wild every time it came up and I remained silent. LOL, just taking a play out of your pal Trump's playbook - distraction!



Seemed to highlight the near absurdity of a lot of their posts last few months, readers. Some of that insanity couldn't have helped their GOP supervisor candidate.

While you bring up rats, Lee, it would be interesting to know who Sojka voted for on Election Day! Didn't he rat out the GOP with this race from the beginning?