Supervisor Warner, in costume for Wheelfest '04.

Bedrock Baloney

As usual, Supervisor Warner misses the point. His letter in the 5/16 Herald (written by Pat McIntosh, I’m sure!) actually brags about the secret meetings and dealings the town has had with the DiMarco developers. Doesn’t he understand anything?

Hamlin taxpayers don’t want the DiMarco project AT ALL! Not one piece!

And, we want to know all of the news, in detail. We want to know what DiMarco is up to, and how Hamlin is dealing with it. The public has demanded constant updating on the “Millstone” low-income housing plan. Nearly a thousand taxpayers signed a letter specifically demanding that. What was Warner’s response? “My office...will always be open.” He has transformed his duty and promise to communicate with the public into the breathtakingly arrogant, “Make an appointment.”
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> Is Warner so out of touch with the average citizen? Does he think the typical Hamlin property owner has the time to meet with him? Our Supervisor only works part time hours, the same ones as everyone else. Since 87% of Hamlin’s workforce commutes, when exactly should they get together with him? Saturday morning? Right. “You thousand residents! Get in line. The
Supervisor will meet you shortly!”
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> This is just another tired old politicians trick. Caught in a lie-of-commitment, he has tried to deflect the truth of the facts. He suggests that an ”open office” is equal to town-wide communication in our local newspaper. His flimsy, defensive letter is no substitute for sitting down with a reporter and explaining the DiMarco developments in detail- for all of us.
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> The little bit he did reveal about “Millstone” should make every homeowner nervous. In the March Planning Board meeting, Chris Schlieter demanded that DiMarco present all three Phases of the development. He told the developer, point blank, that if all the details of all stages were not presented, there would be no action. What was the result? DiMarco, meeting privately with town, informed them that they would, “include a cluster plan of larger lots for sale.”
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> The developer doesn’t have a very high regard for the intelligence of Hamlin’s Planning Board apparently. DiMarco knows how the process works. They offer a pacifying plan today, and take it off the table tomorrow. There is no law which prohibits a developer from changing his mind! Once the developer has established a relative value for his property through an initial Phase, then the town cannot stop them from developing the rest of the property to that same value! Even if there had been a previous agreement, the town cannot block full exploitation of a property.
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> The only power the Planning Board has to block this project is through the sophisticated use of the NYS Environmental SEQR laws. Our representatives are not up to the task. DiMarco puts up high-priced lawyers, engineers and environmental specialists. What do we have? Jim Breslawski?! Then, there is Hamlin’s SEQR officer, Mr. Charles Hungerford, a private Warner appointment. Hungerford is a part time lawn-mower for the town and a retired Building Inspector. He used to be the SEQR officer and was terrible at it. He lacks legal training and sophistication. He is hardly a match for the professionals from DiMarco. Instead of hiring an expert to put the town on an equal footing, Hamlin has an unskilled, untrained SEQR officer who lost terribly the last time his work was challenged in court.
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> Finally, the Stupirvisor’s claim that the conference with DiMarco was open to the public is a classic, “Lie of Ommission.” He knows that the public was given no notice of the meeting- not in the Herald; not in the Zoning Board, Planning Board, or Town Board meetings; not in the town hall, or on radio or TV. If no notice is given, and no one knows about a meeting, it can hardly be “open.” It’s fun to hear a local politician try to BS an entire community!
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> Warner always called himself a “communicator.” If breaking promises, failing to speak to the press and lying qualifies as communication, then he’s doing a rock solid job. WIllmmaaa!

Little Billy Hamlin Gets Several Doses of Vile Tasting Government

At the May 3rd Planning Board meeting not one word was uttered about the DiMarco “Millstone” project. Earlier in the week, the Hamlin Clarkson Herald carried a story in which Supervisor Warner declared that the project had been withdrawn! Warner made this monumental announcement and the Planning Board had not one word to share about it with the public! Hundreds and hundreds of residents came out to two public hearings and more than 900 citizens signed a petition demanding to be kept informed and what is the result? SILENCE! Slurp, gulp. The PB assured the public, over and over, that we would all be apprised, kept up to date, blah, blah blah. They are either liars or just plain don’t care.

Slurp.

Worse yet, in a little bitty announcement at the bottom of the PB minutes (posted on the web), we learn that the Vice-Chairman has been meeting privately with agents from DiMarco! Privately!! Privately?? What business does he have doing ANYTHING about this project in private? Another way to describe “private” is secret. When government officials meet “privately” you’d better believe the reason IS to be secret!

What did they discuss? What decisions were made? Why were they made? (The Blog will file a Freedom of Information request for any documents.)

They public knows virtually nothing about these meetings, and the PB is happy to leave it that way. Silence. Secrecy. Slurp.

Why was the Vice-Chairman designated to hold these meetings? Most citizens now know that the VC is Jim Breslawski, who is not even a resident of the town. Yes he owns land in Hamlin, just like that corporate entity which owns Tops, but the law states that PB members must be residents. Compounding the issue is the fact that “Jim Cheney” (as he is sometimes referred to in the town hall) is one of Hamlin’s largest landowners. Hmmmm. Could there be any personal advantage to Breslawski in meeting privately with the DiMarco folks? Hmmmm. Let’s see, large landowner meets secretly with the largest developer of high density housing in the county...

Not Jim! Lord knows, he doesn’t keep any secrets!

Slurp, gulp.

The Herald story also quotes Warner as saying that the proposal has been withdrawn. What does that mean? Is a new one coming, maybe on somebody else’s land? Why was it withdrawn? A better offer? Is there a plan to relocate the development, maybe in some more “rural” location where the objections won’t be so great? Maybe the Vice Chair has the inside track. Maybe Jim Cheney has suggested that a different location might make its way through the PB a little easier and faster... Who knows?

Slurp, gulp, hack.

It doesn’t matter much to Breslawski anyway. He doesn’t live in Hamlin. It was reported he once said about the DiMarco project, “Can’t see it from my house.”

You can almost hear Warner right now, “Oh no! Not Jim! He’s loyal to Hamlin.”

Yeah, sure. That’s why HE LIVES IN CLARKSON!

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Two other quick notes that will be expanded on soon: Much of the public is aware that former Building Inspector Larry Gursslin has sued the Town for the manner in which he was terminated. Supervisor Warner, in his typical “Bull in the China Shop” personnel-management style, fired Gursslin, without cause, two months before Gursslin’s contract expired! By not giving a reason, Warner damaged Gursslin’s reputation and his ability to find new employment. The suit is for improper dismissal.

Slurp.

Now, the Zoning Board of Appeals has been sued! Yes, the ZBA in an act of simple cowardice and unimaginable illogic, passed a resolution declaring that the two-story residence on Wautoma Beach Road is actually a garage! If one can see, one knows it is a house. The applicant himself stated several times, on public record, that the structure was a house (he even said he had buyers lined up for it!), nonetheless the Hamlin ZBA saw the structure as a garage. To make matters worse, the house is being used a commercial storage facility for the applicants “remodeling” businesses. Naturally, a commercial use in a Shoreline-Residential zoning district is a violation of local law, but as usual, the violation is not being enforced. More on this later!

Gulp, hack, choke.

“Mmmmm. That’s a good little boy Billy. Doesn’t that slick government-issue fish oil taste good?