Incumbent Assemblymember One of Five New York State Assembly & Senate Candidates Endorsed at the Greater Western New York Virtual Town Hall Meeting
The year-long effort led to an “Endorsement” meeting citing candidates that are most likely to stay true to the message of the underserved population of the 17 County Greater Western New York Region
Three of the five endorsed candidates appeared in the forum following the endorsement meeting. Pictured from left to right on the top row is Marcus C. Williams (137th Assembly District), George Borrello (57th Senate District), and Marjorie Byrnes (133rd Assembly District). In the bottom row is Sentinel Publisher Christopher Carosa who moderated the meeting. Photo from Sentinel Broadcast.
Greater Western New York— October 12, 2022 — The fifth regional Greater Western New York Town Hall meeting represented the culmination of all previous events. All candidates running in contested New York State Assembly and Senate districts in the 17-county region were invited to present their answers to five questions. These questions represent the most pressing issues specific to the Greater Western New York Region as determined by the event planning committee and vetted through the more than 200 people who have participated in the virtual Town Hall Meetings over the past 15 months.
Participating candidates included: George Borrello (57th Senate District); Marjorie Byrnes (133rd Assembly District); Stephen Hawley (139th Assembly District); Andrew Goodell and Sandra Lewis (150th Assembly District); and Marcus C. Williams (137th Assembly District).
The candidates answered questions representing issues that were discussed in previous Greater Western New York Town Hall meetings including: Passing a resolution acknowledging the birth of the Greater Western New York Region as December 16, 1786 (the date New York State and Massachusetts signed The Treaty of Hartford resolving their disputed claims over the territory); protecting students and teachers by retaining local school control over health issues; giving local municipalities more control in exempting themselves from Climate Act legislation; maintaining the constitutional separation of powers and retroactively restoring home rule; and identifying which alternatives best support the independence of the Greater Western New York Region.
Each candidate was given five minutes to answer the questions. Following that, the attendees voted to endorse one candidate from each district (they were also given the choice of not endorsing any candidate). These are the candidates endorsed by the attendees:
George Borrello (57th Senate District);
Marjorie Byrnes (133rd Assembly District);
Stephen Hawley (139th Assembly District);
Andrew Goodell (150th Assembly District);
and Marcus C. Williams (137th Assembly District).
The Greater Western New York (Virtual) Town Hall Meeting was held on Wednesday, October 12th from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Chris Carosa, the publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, hosted the meeting that was co-sponsored by nearly a dozen members of the Western New York District of the New York Press Association, including the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, the Akron Bugle, the Alfred Sun, The Batavian, Neighbor-to-Neighbor newspapers (including the Arcade Herald, the East Aurora Advertiser, the Springville Journal, Warsaw’s Country Courier, and the Franklinville Mercury-Gazette), and the Johnson Newspaper Corp’s western New York papers (The Daily News and the Livingston County News) and Niagara Frontier Publications (Island Dispatch, Niagara County Tribune Sentinel).
The event was free and open to all residents of the Greater Western New York Region. You can watch the entire event at https://stateof.greaterwesternnewyork.com/2022/10/candidate-endorsement/.
The next Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for January. Those interested can sign up by going to https://greaterwesternnewyork.org/ to register.
For more information, contact Chris Carosa at (585) 733-4553 or at ChrisCarosa@MHFLSentinel.com.
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The Greater Western New York Region comprises the 17 westernmost counties of New York State and was formally defined by the Treaty of Hartford on December 16, 1786 with the creation of Preemption Line. These counties include: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates.
