"...now I'll scratch yours!"

Dirty deals or Deals for Dirt

There was an important story in the Brockport Post last week regarding the Vice-Chairman of the Hamlin Planning Board, Jim Breslawski. It seems that it is illegal for him to be onthe Planning Board since he does not live in Hamlin!

That Breslawski is illegal is without doubt. NYS Public Officers Law states: “No person shall be capable of holding a civil office who shall not, at the time he shall be chosen thereto, have attained the age of eighteen years... be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the state, and if it be a local office, a resident of the political subdivision or municipal corporation of the state for which he shall be chosen...”

As far back as May of 2000, Councilperson Shirley Hollink raised this issue with the Town Board, insisting that Breslawski be dismissed. Then Town-Attorney Sharon Kehoe also advised that he be dismissed. However, Jim is such a good friend and staunch supporter of Supervisor Warner that AW3 wasn’t going to let Jim loose his title.

Instead of acting in a legal and professional manner Warner doled out our tax dollars to the new Town Attorney, Ken Licht for an “opinion.” The reply was bogus. The letter offered a transparent and fallacious justification for retaining émigré Breslawski. Licht claimed Jim was lawful since he was registered to vote in Hamlin. This supposedly made him legit under town law. This “opinion” cagily ducks the State Law, which takes precedence.

Just as importantly, it ignores Election Law which also requires residency! The game Warner, Breslawski and Licht played hinged on the fact that voter registration is rarely scrutinized. Beslawski, while living in Clarkson, used his business address in Hamlin as his legal residence when he registered to vote!

Unless the registration is challenged, it remains on the books. So Hamlin, while the Vice Chair of the Planning Board lives in another town, he gets to vote here in ours! And, he gets to influence the future of the community as well!

Why would Jim and Austin go to such extremes to maintain the deceit? There are two reasons, one for each of them. Breslawski wants to stay on the Board because he owns lots of land in Hamlin. His business owns hundreds of acres, so it is to his personal and commercial advantage to be a controlling member of the Planning Board. For Warner, it is the time-honored political connection- Breslawski was the single largest contributor to Austin Warner’s re-election campaign this year!

See the connection? I give you money and you give me a position with authority that allows me a commercial advantage for my business. It is the Republican way! (See Halliburton.)

This is a very serious issue. It looks mightily corrupt. It suggests that legal counsel rendered advice to the town which is contrary to the law and legal precedent. It looks like influential positions on our town’s development and regulatory Boards are for sale. It looks like the Supervisor intentionally, over the objections of other Board members and the law, acted to protect an illegal situation. That’s a problem. Maybe it’s misfeasance.

Much more to come.

Bully with a tatooed belly.

Planning Board Bully

It has been reported that a member of Hamlin’s Planning Board accosted a leader of the opposition to the “Millstone Projects” outside the Town Hall after a recent Planning Board meeting. According to knowledgeable sources the Board member grabbed the citizen by the arms and shoulders and confronted him in an angry, aggressive manner. The actions were forceful enough for the citizen to consider filing assault charges.

In addition to the personal contact, the Board member also threatened to harm the citizens business and to urge others to do the same. The citizen, a leading opponent and organizer of the movement to block the construction of the proposed low-income housing project, was distressed that a person whom he had known for many years would resort to physical confrontation and abuse.

Any member of government who would lay hands on a citizen out of anger should be immediately dismissed from office. Public Officials are “held to a higher standard” under the law. Threatening and menacing a citizen for exercising their constitutional rights is a gross violation of this principle. It’s also a criminal offence.

Area woman celebrates swearing-in of Pasha Warner

Locals Show Support

A large crowd, estimated at over nine, gathered in front of the Hamlin Town Hall on Monday to celebrate the swearing-in of Town Officers. While the actual event was held days earlier, in a secret location off limits to the voting public, these wildly enthusiastic supporters braved the cold and wind to show their support.

The women, many wearing the traditional Hamlin babushka, chanted and held small pictures of the three term Supervisor, who they refer to as "Pasha." The swarthy men slapped their chests and danced in a small circle while looking and pointing skyward.

The officials, Warner and Councilmen George Todd and Dave Rose waved uncertainly at the crowd from behind a window in the Town Hall. The men, swept into office on the vote of hundreds of well-meaning but unthinking residents, seemed baffeled by the outpouring of support. As is always the case, none would comment to the press.

The celebration appeared spontaneous, though one participant grumbled, off the record, that Republican appartchik had ordered them to demonstrate under threat that they would lose their small farm and be forced to live in the proposed Millstone Village projects.
AP