I left that conversation thinking he was nuts, however serious he was. Yesterday I was in a conversation with someone else and told then about the previous conversation. They then said, “There you go… action instead of reaction”. My response was, “But I am not a Wellsville good old boy, and historically (not always) that is how the political system moves around here”. He said, “The good old boy system is on its last legs.”
You know what? They are right! If I can bellow my voice from the top of the mountain to complain… it is just noise if I am not willing to step up and actively improve the system.
So, it’s official, I am starting a campaign to be the mayor of Wellsville. If I lose, then at least I will keep any opponents on their toes and require them to address real and challenging questions about existing issues… Or maybe I win, in that case I will take on the challenge to improve our community and ensure accountability.
My platform would be as follows:
Reverse the existing board’s decision to limit speech at public meetings.
Every member of the public will always have an opportunity to address the Village Board at a public meeting regardless of who you are or the content of your message.
We would encourage (not require) non-urgent complaints to be first presented to a board member to see if the issue can be resolved. If not, then the board would welcome that issue to be brought onto the record at any meeting.
All public board meetings would be live streamed / posted on the village website so that there is an accessible viewing archive of the meetings, from this point forward for everyone.
Reverse the existing board’s decision to pursue eminent domain of the public parking lot. Instead, I would do the following…
Invite Mr. Otero to meet with the village board to consider alternative resolutions to remove the existing sheds and resume public parking on the lot (contrary to some opinions, I am not in favor of the sheds, I am just more not in favor of the village taking property just because they want it).
This could be by means of a settlement agreement for the village to purchase the lot at a fair and reasonable price.
This could be by developing a rental agreement so that the village can rent the lot as previously agreed.
This could be a combination of the above with the village renting the lot with an option to purchase in the future at a set price.
At the end of the day, the village will not, under my leadership, force any resident who is maintaining their property and paying their taxes to ever sell. .
Actively pursuing infrastructure that will better engage our youth and create a more youth-oriented community to entice and welcome future families and generations.
Develop a citizen complaint review board.
This will consist of residents who will be tasked with reviewing all unresolved complaints against any village employee.
If the review board disagrees with an existing outcome, they will report directly to the village board with alternative recommendations.
In the case of potential criminal issues, the review board can recommend an investigation from an outside agency if it feels the issue warrants such a need.
Under my leadership, we will continually work to improve transparency, accountability and communication between the village and its residents. We will issue annual State of the Village statements in which we as a community will celebrate our successes, acknowledge opportunities for improvement, and hold ourselves accountable for mistakes and strive to be better.
There are obviously many more facets of running a village such as public works, law enforcement, economic growth and development, marketing, etc.. We have an incredible downtown district, library, park, and many other treasures to celebrate. My goal would be to capitalize on the already amazing things we have in place... not to change those systems/assets but rather improve them for our future generations.
That’s what I got folks!
