Where am I? Hamlin, New York.

Get Your Money and Bolt

Be prepared. The following story may be indigestible. It may make some readers gassy. A certain pun is about to be slaughtered.

Shredded. Chopped to pieces.
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Hamlin is the Cabbage Capitol of the World. There is no doubt about it. Soon there will be a new way for local residents to get their personal cabbage.

Top’s Friendly Markets are about to do what the local government has failed at for years. Hamlin is getting a bank. A branch of Charter One will soon be blossoming inside the Lake Road store. It’s probably won’t be a branch, but a stem perhaps. Obviously, it’s won’t be a head office.

This was a business decision by mutual agreement between the bank and supermarket, just like the one between Tops and Blockbuster Video. Watch out now. Reality is about to hit the salad spinner. No doubt the Supervisor will shred the truth and boil up some story that makes the bank look like his accomplishment. Just in time for the appetizer- the Republican Primary. The truth will be wrapped up like an smelly egg roll and served to the public.

Leave it alone, don’t bite. Demographics cultivated the decision, profit is the crop. Steam from the rumor pot says that the first time the Supervisor heard about the bank was when Charter One applied for a sign permit! Any attempt to harvest the glory is so much corned beef!
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I apologize.

Why can't we all just get along?


Dissent and Debate

The article in the D&C yesterday about the New Hamlin Democratic Committee came with a surprising dose of intrigue. Of course, dissension is a hallmark of every Democratic organization. How could it be otherwise if a group embraces diverse opinions, unlike the mute lockstep of the average Republican organization- including the Hamlin Republicans.
For some reason Steve Klafehn, the Town Leader, of the Dem Committee distanced himself from the written invitation sent out about the meeting tomorrow night at the Town Hall. Apparently, he did not agree with some of the statements in the letter. According to the D&C, it said, “Republicans have failed Hamlin.” It’s pretty hard to argue with that. Hamlin has suffered decades of inept, visionless Town Boards which manage, year after year, to do practically nothing. The Republicans don’t have a clue about suburbanization issues and their candidates are drawn from a town committee which loathes debate. The HRC is mired in petty intrigues, members gossiping behind one another’s backs while being devoid of candor and vision. Saying they have “failed” is simply a statement of fact.

Well, dissension and debate are good things in a political organization. Frank debate about points of view are what produce effective decisions. That Klafehn will publicly disagree with others in the committee is probably a good sign for Hamlin. Hopefully the Democrats will produce PUBLIC debate on a wide range of community issues- that alone is a huge advancement for our Town!

Please sign my petition.

Good Rumor

The story going around is that some people are refusing to sign the Republican nominating ballot because Austin Warner's name is on it! A nominating ballot is required to qualify each candidate as an official Republican in the election. This ballot must be trooped around town for the required number of signatures from registered Republicans. The most efficient method is to make a ballot with the names of all the sanctioned candidates on it, that is the "official" manner. In Hamlin the nominations are Warner for Supervisor, Rath and Todd for Town Board. Their names are all on the same document. It appears that Ed Evans has some friends out there. His supporters are refusing to sign the ballots if Warner's name is included. They are making the Town Board candidates produce a ballot sans Warner! Mmmm. that's tasty!

"It ain't no ferry, but the tourist'll probly like it." Developer, Dutch Wagner

Town Board Votes To Build Trolley

In a stunning development the Hamlin Town Board voted yesterday to build a "trolley" system along Lake Road. Further shocking the community, the funding will come out of the Hamlin Library budget. "We think 'this is the ticket,' if you will," said Shirley Hollink the project's sponsor. "Nobody else has a trolley and we are the home of Wheelfest you know."

"This should bring in a lot of tourist money," added George Todd who first introduced Dutch Wagner, the developer, to Hollink. Wagner, a part time welder, woodworker and maintenence man concieved of the idea one night at the Village Inn, a local "watering hole." "That SOB bartender took ma keys and I was wonderin' how ta git home," explained the dwarfish "imagineer." "I ain't callin no cab, so's I think, Dang, we need a trolley. Next day, I bang this out," he added with pride.

Others are not so positive. "It's insane," said local personalty Jim Martin when asked about the project. "Take money away from the library, which the whole town uses, so some slugabed doesn't have to stumble home? It's insane."

"I'm just concerned about cost," droned Councilman Paul Rath who voted for the project. "I'm just concerned about cost," he said agin stiffly. And again.

Councilman Ed Evan's who fought the plan vigorously, lashed out at his fellows, "They're just doing this because they felt stupid in the meeting to fund the library expansion. They didn't think it through then, and now they've lost their minds."

Supervisor Warner, who also opposed the plan, was unavailable for comment. His spokesman said he was counting lawnsigns.

Step on it Jethro! We ain't stayin' in no town with one a them fancy "libaries!"

Pride and Prejudice

If there is a single characterization of Hamlin that needs to be extinguished it’s that ours is a hick-town. Hayseed, rube, hillbilly, backwater, whatever. Hamlin’s perception in the county is not of a very high caliber. Not many people want to move to the backwater, and that affects our property values. Certain things work to defeat those labels. One of the most important is our library. As noted elsewhere (Detailed in, “What A Success,” 4/18/03) the Hamlin library has been an incredible success. A town which can boast that more than 50% of its residents hold library cards should be able to deflect the hick label.

Not so fast.

At last night’s Town Board meeting the community confronted the kind of anti-intellectualism and anti-cultural attitude that does so much harm to our reputation. The board struggled with a special request from the library for funding to expand.(Click archives, 4/18/03) It needs to expand in response to its success, and to better serve the demands of the users- the Hamlin taxpayers.

Supervisor Warner and Councilman Ed Evans, supporting Nancy Martin from the library Board of Trustees, fought a prolonged battle with the other council persons to approve the special funding. The principle opponent was Shirley Hollink who contrived to imply that the library had leadership, planning and personnel problems.

Hollink stated that the library had moved four times in four years. She presented some weird revisionist history to press her claims. She suggested that the original collection of donated books, which was temporarily stored in the Board Room of the Town Hall, was the first library location. What??? Then when this collection was moved to the old recreation building, our new town court building, this was its second move. Huh???

I hate to introduce reality here, but the fact is, there was no Hamlin Library until it received it’s New York State Charter in 2000. Whatever existed before that was not a library.

Hollink also implied that there were management problems because there had been turnover with the trustees. Ms. Martin pointed out that one had died, another had left for reasons of health and the third had quit in “a fit of pique.” To which Hollink blinked and asked, “What does that mean?” I’m pretty sure Martin considered suggesting that Hollink visit the library and look it up, but she has too much grace for that. (The turnover in other organizations is much higher. For example, the Hamlin Republican Committee has had about 10 Chairman in the last five years!)

The battle waged for what seemed like hours. The details are too many, and too agonizing, to list here. There was an unmistakable attitude on the part of councilpersons Hollink, Rath and Todd that the library was somehow bad or irresponsible for needing more money. They seemed unable to comprehend that the money was necessary to expand and expansion was required because of demand. Demand from the huge portion of the resident/taxpayer population which uses and supports the library on a regular basis. In the end, Warner and Evans carried the day (with limitations) only Hollink refused the funding. I have no idea what constituency she believes she is representing in this way

Instead of applauding and enthusiastically supporting the success of our library, three of our Town Board attacked, reproached and tortured its request. When Hamlinites look to deflect the “hick” label, we can point with pride to the growth and use of our library. But don’t let anyone see the little clique of Town Board members lounging around in their overalls “havin’ a chaw.”

Good work Mr. Warner and Mr. Evans! The Hamlin library is a great point of pride and achievement in a town starving for it. Thank you for fighting to better the community.

Welcome New Readers!

Welcome the many new visitors to this site! The purpose of it is to try to keep the residents of Hamlin informed about the activities of our local government. Town government is, in many ways, much more important in our daily lives than Federal or State rule. This is where we LIVE. Local government decides what kinds of structures can be built and where, whether businesses can be located in your neighborhood, or how close to your property a neighbor can build his house or deck or addition. The Town decides what permits you need if you want to improve your property and how much those fees will be. Local government indirectly controls the library and recreation in Hamlin.

The most important thing local government affects are your property values. If a commercial activity opens next door to you what happens to the value of your land? If the density is changed in your neighborhood, how will your parcel be affected? These are significant issues, important to every property owner in the community.

Equally important are the decisions local government makes about OUR FUTURE. Changes to the Town's Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Codes and Local Laws all have a profound, immediate effect on you, your family and your quality of life in the community while you live here. I believe that most citizens would be diligent about the decisions of local government, if only they had a means of monitoring it.

This is that way.

We strive to bring information about the activities and decisions of the Town Board as well as the Planning and Zoning Boards. We keep you up to date with the intricacies of local politics in the hope that an informed population will make informed decisions when they have the opportunity to choose.

Local government doesn't even try to communicate. For example, the current newsletter is the first one in 18 months and most insiders recognize it as the Town Supervisor's attempt to promote himself in the upcoming primary run off. Where else will you get that kind of news?

Please bookmark this page and return once or twice a week. Please don't hesitate to write to us either. We personally respond to every letter and your confidentiality is always protected.

If you would like to read our Archives click on a date in the list on the left side of the page or click on any day in the calendar on the right to see news from that day (Note we do not post news every day, but almost!)

Share this website with your neighbors, discuss the issues and, I hope, have a laugh once in a while!

Thanks,
Peter Tonery
Editor

Ms. B. we spoke after the Planning Board. I can't find you're e-mail address. Would you write again. Thanks for going to the meeting. I'd like to get the full story. I aplogize for rushing, but I was trying to catch some of the Board members before they left.
PT
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Not too sharp!


Such A Deal!

If I were Supervisor Warner I wouldn't brag too much about the Town's ATM, as he did in the Town newsletter. As noted below, he didn't even recognize it as a revenue source until Jim Martin cowed him into contacting ESL. Then, he didn't negociate for past revenues, using the lame excuse that, "we are the only Town in the County to have an ATM," (sic) meaning, I guess, that the model for revenue sharing used by businesses with ATM's wasn't applicable to Hamlin.

But the real dull witted part of the deal is that Hamlin's revenues are tied to the Consumer Price Index! What does the CPI have to do with anything in this matter? The banks don't charge users a variable rate for using an ATM, it's always fixed. Why should Hamlin's sponsorship fee be based upon anything but usage? Why should Hamlin's fees be any different from those collected by Tops or Bob's or any other outlet?

The answer is stupid suppositions and poor negotiating. When Warner was making this deal he supposed that providing an ATM was an act of generosity on the part of the Town and ESL. He imagined that he was "providing a service" to the residents and that it was an inconvenience to a bank to install an ATM. It was the Santa Syndrome raging out of control.

ATM's are huge profit centers for both banks and the property owners. If Warner had been sharp enough to do a little homework in advance he could have made a much better deal for the residents. It is a measure of how profitable these machines are, that they have cropped up everywhere, in every podunk mom and pop store to giant retailers, everybody is making money on them. And, they're all making more than Hamlin.

The bottom line is: We need to watch out when the Supervisor tries to cut a deal.

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For a complete explanation of the CPI go to: www.bls.gov/cpi/cpi1998g.pdf

Let's give it a shake!

The Birdcage

Years ago I heard a great analogy for how Kodak did it's management restructuring. It was described as "Shaking the Cage." It held that all the company ever did was pick up the cage holding all the top executives, give it a good shake and wherever the "birds" landed became the new pecking order. Same old birds, just new perches.

Hamlin politics seems a lot like that. Warner, Rose, Evans and let's not forget Rath (There's been a Rath in local government continuously for probably 50 years!). All the local Republican Party seems able to do is shake the cage, and we get the same old birds.

The world around us is changing fast, isn't it nice to know some things stay the same.

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Praise goes to Mark Reeves, Craig Goodrich and others who recently advocated for holding "Open Forum" meetings for the Comprehensive Plan/Zoning Code Committee meetings. They recognize that there is nothing to fear from creating public policy in front of the public. Unfortunately for Hamlin, their proposal was voted down. The actual vote, and the names of the people who voted against open meetings, did not make it to the bland and perfunctory minutes which are "published" on the Hamlin website (hamlinny.org.) I still ask: What about the Majority of residents who don't use the Internet? How do they have access to this information?

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Praise too to Shirley Hollink for reprising the Hamlin newsletter. It's a start. Reading it, one can see the Supervisor had a heavy hand in the content. There are accolades for old news ( the Court Building) and another whitewash of the ATM and it's revenues. (No resident should ever forget that it was on the urging of one citizen, Jim Martin, that made these revenues possible. He, and he alone, reproached and prodded the Supervisor into asking for some of the profits from the bank. For the prior years it had cost the taxpayers money! Unfortunately, Martin couldn't bully the Supervisor into making ESL come up with some revenues for the past.)

Despite these, the newsletter looks nice, much more modern than the childish "Hamlin Post," and thank goodness, those stupid informational "tidbits" have been dropped. We could all use a little more content. The town shouldn't be afraid to repeat the truth. Tell us about the lawsuits, the problems in the Planning and Zoning Boards, even a little political gossip would be good.

Wait a minute- that what we do here!

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Isn't it interesting that the newsletter makes its appearance just before the primary election that Ed Evans is forcing with Supervisor Warner? The newsletter is clearly Warner's fluffy little propaganda piece. He was initially elected with a promise to "communicate with the public." He never did. He has increasingly hidden from public scrutiny. His meager accomplishments are largely do to the efforts of others, and he has taken credit for things he didn't do or was actually opposed to.

Didn't the county Republicans get in trouble for using tax dollars to promote their candidates? Warner must have seen an opportunity.

Ed's Dream


Good News, Bad News

Today is the day Ed Evans begins his challenge to Austin Warner. Evans has begun soliciting signatures from local Republicans to force a primary for the Supervisor's seat. There is little doubt that he'll get the necessary 250 signatures.

It should be interesting to see how things shake out. At last the whole communitiy will be able to see who supports who. In the little world of Hamlin politics, there is much intrigue. Many individuals on the Republican Committee will not acknowledge who or what they support. Then, if you manage to drag it out of them, the commitment is half hearted and vague- all the easier to backtrack on later.

Keep reading. We'll do our best to keep you informed. Knowing Hamlin's cultural distaste for discussion, confrontation and openess it can sometimes be hard to get details. Don't expect any debates, or letters to the Editor, or speeches, or public campaigning. This is all done quietly, behind closed doors.

The good news is the bad news: the same old sliver of Hamlin's population will enjoy political choice, while the majority, the 53 per cent of registered voters, will not.