Town of Marilla Supervisor Earl “Skip” Gingerich and Grand Island Town Councilman Mike Madigan reveal the details on the Sentinel’s weekly show The State of Greater Western New York Report last Thursday.
Screenshot of broadcast
Last Thursday, Sentinel Publisher Chris Carosa interviewed Earl “Skip” Gingerich, Supervisor of the Town of Marilla, and Mike Madigan, Grand Island Town Councilman, on The State of Greater Western New York Report, the weekly show hosted by this newspaper. The main topic of the discussion dealt with how the two towns passed resolutions attempting to nullify Erie County’s mask mandate. Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz announced this mandate a month before New York State Governor Kathy Hochul issued a similar order.
The two elected officials made the case that these “one-size-fits-all” rules hurt the smaller, mostly rural and semi-rural communities they represent. Gingerich relayed the sequence of events beginning before Thanksgiving. With Marilla leading, other towns, including Grand Island, followed. Each asked the County not to enforce the mandates in their towns. Erie County has abided by this request, with the sole exception of the Village of Williamsville, which agreed to pay (by a close 3-2 vote) the $300 fine rather than argue its case in court.
Towards the end of the show, Gingerich and Madigan revealed “breaking news” concerning a movement by several Erie County towns to conduct an exploratory study to determine the viability of seceding from Erie County and merging into adjoining counties. Changing county boundaries is not unusual, but it is rare. For example, in 1825, four years after they were created, Livingston County lost territory to Monroe County. As recently as 1922, Livingston County gained area from Ontario County. The more recent county boundary change occurred in 1964 (between Bronx and Queens).
Gingerich told The Sentinel, “There are four towns exploring the possibility of leaving Erie County: Marilla, Grand Island, Holland, and Wales. Others may follow.”
According to Gingerich, the towns had a meeting scheduled with Attorney Todd Aldinger on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 6:30 pm at the Marilla Town Hall. Among the reasons the Towns are exploring the idea/possibility of leaving Erie County, Gingerich cites: “Poor maintenance of County Roads; Rules, Regulations, and Mandates with a one-size-fits-all attitude; Unequal representation in county government (urban, suburban, and rural); Abuse of funds by County Government, such as overtime pay for Health Commissioner; and, Abuse of the State of Emergency powers. Meant to be used in the short term to respond quickly to protect life and property, until such time as you can engage the legislative body to deal with the situation and to return to expectable operations of Government.”
It is this lack of equity among communities, generally rural in character, with smaller populations that prompted The Sentinel to obtain a grant to hire freelancers to help with reporting on issues important to these communities. The Sentinel will be working with other independent community newspapers to spread this word.
Already, this paper has been contacted by other elected officials from other towns and counties across the Greater Western New York region. According to Town of Yates (in Orleans County) Councilman John Riggi, this includes rural communities who have taken actions in protest of New York State’s decision to unilaterally remove local choice when it comes to renewable energy options. Riggi says this includes
While many of these actions come from Albany, some feel more populous counties strong-arm their smaller towns in the same way. “Erie County has lost the ‘We the people’ representation system of a democratic government and has allowed unelected and Executive branch officials to dictate at will,” says Gingerich. “We are seeking an alternative to their heavy-handed tactics in implementation of mandates and fines without legislative authority.”
More as this story, and other stories like it, develop across the Greater Western New York Region.
