The House of Representatives is established in the United States Constitution as part of the governing apparatus of this country. It is expected to pass laws and approve budgets. The structure of government created by the Constitution was produced by compromise among the founding fathers. It has more or less functioned with compromise for most of the country’s 235 years.
You may have noticed the antics of such politicians as Margorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz and others. They have starred in the Republican chaos that has engulfed the House for the past 16 months.
Such chaos is pretty much not seen on the local level. As an old saying goes, “there is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets.” Most governments on the local and county level follow that dictum and just get the job done, often working some good bi-partisan compromises into the mix.
There are, however, a couple of local exceptions to that way of operating in the towns of Cheektowaga and Hamburg.
Cheektowaga last November elected Councilmember Brian Nowak as Supervisor. He defeated his fellow Councilmember Michael Jasinski by 53 votes. Nowak’s move to the Supervisor’s office left a vacancy on the Council and left the body divided with three Democrats and three Republicans.
Jasinski did not take his defeat well. He complained, in a Facebook quote included in a Buffalo News story that “Brian Nowak has cheated.” He furnished no evidence but nonetheless accused Nowak of breaking “several election laws.” He has carried his disagreements into 2024, where together with his two fellow Republican Councilmembers he has worked to gum up the operations of town government.
While Jasinski has tied up a variety of town issues the one that is most significant for town residents at the moment is the issuance of $11 million in bonds for work including:
- $5.5 million for replacement of a deteriorated corrugated metal storm system installed in 1957
- A full-depth reconstruction of two town-owned streets
- $3.95 million for sanitary sewer repairs and rehabilitation at the Genesee Street pump station
- $2.25 million for road repairs
Jasinski recently told the Buffalo News “[t]he issue I have with bonding is that it basically equates into raising taxes.” He would support just the sewer work because the roads “really aren’t that bad.”
Jasinski and the other Town Board Republicans have repeatedly voted against the $11 million bond plan and say they will come up with their own plans for infrastructure improvements. They claim that the town should decide on a smaller project list which they would pay for with town reserves. But then, as Geoff Kelly for Investigative Post reports, Jasinski actually voted against his own resolution “which would have directed the town’s highway department to use $500,000 in reserve funds to pay for road repairs.”
Supervisor Nowak informs me that “the highway fund has unrestricted fund balance of approximately $6 million as of the beginning of March 2024. The Sanitary Drainage fund has roughly $4.2 million in sanitary sewer reserves as of the beginning of March 2024… Towns and municipalities have used ARP [federal] funds to cover recurring budget expenses. Expenses grew as tax levies did not. Now we see villages, towns, and cities having to address the end of ARP funds as their expenses grew and tax levies did not. Because of this, the Town of Cheektowaga has to be very careful in regard to its cash flow and cash reserves. Our expenses grew faster than our tax levies, especially in the 2023 and 2024 budgets prepared by the previous Cheektowaga Supervisor. I have an obligation to maintain a reasonable amount of savings as part of multi-year budget planning. We need to be prepared for emergencies and unexpected cost increases.”
Meanwhile in Hamburg the recent flip of Town Board control to Republican/Conservative members has the new majority challenging the infrastructure plans of Democratic Supervisor Randall Hoak which were supported by the previously Democratic-controlled Council. Newly elected Councilmember Frank Bogulski has been opposing a $9 million bond issue that would fund renovations of the town’s ice rink and community center. Instead Bogulski proposes a brand-new combined ice rink and community center financed not by town bonds but by some sort of unidentified public-private arrangement.
Justin Sondel in recent Hamburg Sun editions reported on the issue. He notes that the type of plan that Bogulski is suggesting has been reviewed previously on more than one occasion. Sondel points out that similar developments in other towns and on Seneca Nation property have cost more than double what the proposed renovations and updates to existing facilities in Hamburg would cost. Bogulski has not identified potential private partners who could help fund his suggestion. He is looking for a plan that basically will cost the taxpayers nothing. Sondel quotes Bogulski’s comments at a town Board meeting: “We don’t have to raise taxes. We can generate other sources of revenue.”
In the meantime, while the Hamburg Board await the alternative, the opportunity to proceed in an expeditious manner is slipping away. Without needed renovations the ice rink could become non-functional if mechanical breakdowns occur. Pre-scheduled events at the facility could be left holding the bag.
Perhaps when all is said and done the two sides in the two towns will come together with compromises that will move things along. Or not.
The fiction about some magical funding arrangements that do not raise taxes but instead drain reserves and look for elusive “other sources of funds” may leave the roads and sewers in Cheektowaga and the ice rink and community center in Hamburg undone for 2024 with larger costs for the work hanging out into the future.
Playing to the crowd may seem like the way to go for some politicians. It does not, however, serve local residents when critical public works are on the table. Playing games with needed projects reminds me of an old car repair commercial: “the choice is yours; you can pay me now or you can pay me later.”
Political performance art on the local level does not get the extensive media coverage that the national characters get for such antics. The end results, however, are the same: the public interest is not served.
In memoriam
Tom Gleed, who worked in Democratic politics for many years as a member of Mayor Tony Masiello’s staff and then at the Board of Elections, passed away last week. Tom worked with many public organizations in Western New York and was an LGBTQ+ activist. He was a well-liked and respected member of the community. Rest in peace, Tom.
X/Twitter @kenkruly
Threads kenkruly
