West Seneca downsizing heads to the courts

   Nothing comes easy here.

   After the Erie County Board of Elections invalidated petitions aimed at reducing the size of the West Seneca Town Board, the man who headed the petition drive saw it as politics as usual.

   "I think politicians' desperation is starting to show here," says Kevin Gaughan, who had hoped that West Seneca would become the poster child for reduced government.

   But Democratic Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward says because the petitions deal with such an unusual part of the law, there must be a strict interpretation of the statute. The petitions did not follow the law, and the measure cannot be put before voters this November, he said.

   There are two options available to petition supporters, according to Ward: challenge the issue in court, or solicit signatures on a new petition.

   Gaughan says he's not going to circulate new petitions. So that leaves Western New Yorkers to follow another court challenge.

  -- Barbara O'Brien

Comments

[laurafromwestseneca]

Those of us who carrried Kevin Gaughan's petitions in West Seneca, and the thousands of residents who signed them, are appalled at the arrogance of any public official who would deny us the right to decide if we want to decrease local government.

Are these people aware of our dying economy, how hard it is to save money with huge local property laxes, and how sick we are of watching 439 politicians, as Kevin's study showed, fight and bicker while Western New York figuratively burns?

Kevin is a visionary. His view of our future is one where local government is returned to a size that functions to help its constitutents, not saddle them with unnecessary weight. It's difficult enough for Western New York to be a successful community in the face of an increasingly failing national economy. If and when Kevin succeeds in bringing his petition movement to every local town and village, we'll at least have a chance to change course.

[lanres]

Democratic Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward is doing his job - he is protecting the system that feeds him.

[Get Real]

1. Reducing a legislative body to three members is going too far. Five is fine.

2. Instead of reducing to three, what could be done to save money is just cut their salary and staffs.

3. If Gaughan is so much smarter than most people, why didn't he just write the wording on the petition properly? He's a lawyer, right?

[Chancellor Carlyle Roberts, II]

"But Democratic Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward says because the petitions deal with such an unusual part of the law, there must be a strict interpretation of the statute. The petitions did not follow the law, and the measure cannot be put before voters this November."

Translation: when it benefits the Democrats and Republicans, a loose interpretation of the law is allowed but when it actually benefits the people then a strict interpretation of the law is necessary.

[Dennis]

I bet Kevin Gaughan wishes he hadn't chased Gallisano away... He could have used his money to hire good lawyers.

[come on]

This is a crock! The political landscape was threatened and they continue to press the will of the people. At least let it go to a vote. Why not try to see if it is working and get it on the ballot to increase it if it is not working well.

Does Kevin want those gold medals back?

[BobbyCat]

Kevin Gaughan and his citizen's petitions are a threat to the entire calcified and bloated power structures that have kept this region frozen in the past.

First the myriad of ancient villages, then trim the appendages of the towns, and then the mother lode - those bottomless pits that we pour money into - those gazillion school districts.

The Board of Elections, like a trained dog, is sticking its crooked finger in the dam, but sooner or later it will burst and we will cut the size of government.

[Dick Strongbridge]

Do people really think putting power in the hands of fewer people is a good idea?