Opinion

Recently, I attended my first town hall meeting, where I heard Dana Balter speak about her election campaign to represent the 24th Congressional District, which covers four counties: Cayuga, Wayne, Onondaga, and parts of my county, Oswego. Attending the meeting was a big step for me, but I’m glad I went.

Castiglia noted: “A recent inquiry into petitions tuned in for a place on the ballot of a [Granby] town board seat. The inquiry revealed the fact that one of the candidates had turned in petitions with a plethora of illegal signatures. For those that are unaware of the signatures on a petition, the only legal signatures are those that are from residents of the area (town, city, district or county) that is going to be represented.”

Thank you from the family and friends of Colleen LeClair Nickolas. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Friends of Fulton Parks (Kelly Weaver) and the city of Fulton Parks Department (Mike Davies) for their work in helping us select the bench and placing our memorial bench. Many people sent donations …thank you.

The recent chicken BBQ to benefit Catholic Charities of Oswego County was a resounding success! Thanks to the support of so many, we were able to raise more than $3,700 to help us help people in Oswego County through the many programs we offer.

Political corruption takes on many forms. Everyone cries about it at the state and federal level, but it is right here in Oswego County at a much lower level. It is at the town, city and county level. Fraud is fraud no matter how you look at it.

Through proceeds of an attendee 50/50 raffle and the efforts of the Oswego County Deputies who volunteered their time for the Dunk-a-Deputy booth, the event raised $429 with $214.50 being donated to the Stuff-a-Bus campaign sponsored through the United Way of Greater Oswego County. 

At the August 9 Legislative meeting in Pulaski, after voting no on several resolutions that were either mandated by the courts or other contractual reasons, I was asked if I understood that these were issues that required a yes vote. I then said, “I can vote no on anything.” It is my feeling that just because the state or courts mandate the spending, if I don’t agree with it, I should and do vote no.

Money Pit: An ongoing drain on financial resources (tax dollars), such as a house (or a county Department) in frequent need of costly repairs or improvements. This money pit started in January of 2015 with the hiring of a replacement Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at $82,000 plus benefits (higher pay than a 20-year employee being replaced).

Only in Oswego County will you see a department hire a person (director of Fleet Management) to replace someone (Highway Supervisor) four months before that person retires and then when that person isn’t going to retire still plan on hiring the other person.