To The Editor:
“I saved the taxpayer”…. “I work for you”…. “I voted no on non value spending.”…. “It’s not my money.”
Really? The current (25th District) legislator voted for a sidewalk to nowhere which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. (His own party voted against it).
Really? He votes against every grant (Your tax dollars already sent to the State and Federal governments) sent back to help defray the mandated programs. Can you imagine how much more you’d pay if we didn’t accept these dollars? (Again, his own party voted to accept this money. He stood alone).
Really? He wanted the sales tax agreement opened up between the city of Fulton and the county. He started this whole uproar. Then couldn’t understand why one legislator highlighted the amount of money Fulton gets through sales taxes compared to the rest of the county.
Really? Actually called you stupid. Says “it’s a virus’ because … you actually went to the polls and voted the legislators in that you want to be there.
Huh? You are not stupid if you want county roads plowed, a court system, a sheriff’s department to protect you, a DMV office, DSS to care for the poor and elderly, a 911 center (Frank Castiglia voted against training – life and death training), a county tourism department, planning for potential jobs.
These are all departments in every county of the state. Many are mandated. Some make money, others cost money. Do you want to go without them?
Really? Capital items are funded every year in the budget to cover costs for needed equipment. Surprise, equipment, cars and technology wear out and the budget process plans ahead for these things. Mr. Castiglia doesn’t understand how a budget works and has problems reading it.
Really? Frank Castiglia went to the Fulton City Council meeting and spoke against Aldi’s coming to Fulton. Are you kidding me? We need growth, expansion and jobs.
Really? A resolution was put before the legislature to charge rental fees for equipment borrowed from the county. Mr. Castiglia voted for it. When he realized he didn’t understand, again, what he voted for, he continued to try to have it brought back to the floor. As a legislator you have to understand what you are voting for.
Really? Mr. Castiglia will talk about how he is the savior, he is the only one who understands. Ladies and gentlemen, he doesn’t understand. The many items he sites as wasteful are not. They are needed to make our county government work for you. The legislators in the majority party pay taxes too. They don’t want to pay more either.
Department heads pay taxes, they cut every year. They try to do more with less, always looking for ways to consolidate.
Fulton and Oswego County can not afford to have 2 more years of Frank Castiglia.
If he got his way, your taxes would have doubled.
During my tenure, as your legislator, your tax rate went down, they are now higher.
Writing letters to the editor criticizing everyone from legislators, department heads, and the people, may seem like a great thing to do, but if all the facts are untrue and his understanding of committee meetings and votes are so unclear you get a very misleading impression!
I do understand county government. I will, and have worked for you. I will work with the city of Fulton to promote jobs and growth.
I won’t have to publicly apologize for issues I didn’t understand.
Louella LeClair
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I attended the meeting where Frank Castiglia spoke about Aldi’s coming to Fulton. He didn’t speak against Aldi’s, he spoke that he wanted the City Council to also consider the effect on current locally owned grocery stores before making any final approvals on Aldi’s. He asked Council to not rush in to a decision. He asked that this just be done right for all members of our community.
And snow plow rental fees were slipped in to a massive, complex bill. As soon as he and other Legislators discovered what the actual implications and intent of this “fine print” was they for for us to have this “fine print” removed. But they were fought tooth and nail so that their argument “the taxpayers paid for that equipment, it is appalling that that they have to pay rental fees for equipment they paid for in the first place”.
Personally, I want someone in the Legislature FIGHTING for me, FIGHTING for all of my neighbors, and FIGHTING to keep my taxes down.
I heard Louella Leclair never made waves. I heard she always just voted her party line. I heard she never questioned anyone or anything.
Well I want someone in my Legislature who QUESTIONS EVERTHING! I want someone who will FIGHT FOR ME!
“In his words” Sounds like a Politician(Leclair) is trying to distract the voters. Next thing she will be asking to see Legislator Castiglia’s e-mail…or blaming him for Fitzpatrick nuke plant for thinking about leaving….Oh and lets not forget the blizzard of ’66 that was his fault also….
At least he speaks his OWN words.He is not a puppet.
In response to my friend Dennis Merlino’s comments, I too was at the council meeting when Frank said “if my wife was here tonight she’d be up here yelling at me because she, ya know, is 100% for a store coming in down there, an Aldis coming in down there”. With his own words he implying he’s not in favor of it. He also went on to say how Fay St. is like a race track but “my only concern is that you don’t have sidewalks on both of those streets, I don’t care to have sidewalks”. These are his quotes directly from the transcripts of that meeting.
As for Louella LeClair voting with the rest of her party, maybe they all did their homework and are voting for what’s good for the county. I never heard of her voting for something without reading the whole thing like Frank did with the fees to use county equipment. Oh, by the way, taxes went down every year when she was in there, can Frank say that?
I’ll preface my comments by saying I’m a Republican Committee member and am supporting Louella LeClair. To me this election comes down to style. Louella is a team player and tries to get things accomplished by working cooperatively with fellow legislators. She was there for her constituents when they needed her. During her 6 years as legislator she didn’t get in the paper a lot by voting no. She didn’t write a lot of letters to the editor. I believe she worked behind the scenes to get things done. Government works like that a lot, it doesn’t mean that someone is not doing their job when they don’t get in the paper. Frank’s style is to speak out publicly and write a lot of letters to the editor. Sometimes these letters make a good point, a lot of the time they seem over the top in the rhetoric used. I don’t think this accomplishes a lot. I like Frank and know he cares, so does Louella. Again it comes down to style and I guess everyone has to decide what style they prefer. I prefer Louella’s.
Thank you
Really
Check your facts boys….taxes did go up under Leclair…budget went up by $15,000,000..General fund went down by $20,000,000….she voted herself a 3% raise…she voted to keep her $1,000 debit card…she turned in millage reimbursement of $2,100…She voted YES on every budget…Frank didn’t …check facts boys..they don’t mislead…
Really!!!