The Topic is “Local” or “Home” Rule as
a Route to Greater Western New York Independence.
The Meeting Will Feature Three Local Officials
Who Spearheaded Successful Home Rule Resolution Efforts
Greater Western New York— February 25, 2022 — Chris Carosa, publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, has announced that his paper will host a Greater Western New York (Virtual) town hall meeting on March 9th beginning at 7:30 PM to discuss the topic of how “local” or “home” rule resolutions might offer a guide towards Greater Western New York independence.
Nearly a dozen members of the Western New York District of the New York Press Association are co-sponsoring this third in a series of virtual meetings, including the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-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).
The event is free and open to all residents of the Greater Western New York Region. Like previous Greater Western New York Town Hall Meetings, it will feature three 30-minute segments: Keynotes, a Panel Discussion, and an open forum. Nearly two hundred people signed up in advance to attend last year’s meeting. Those interested can sign up by going to https://greaterwesternnewyork.org/ to register or click the form below.
Scheduled to present keynotes and appear on the panel are Earl “Skip” Gingerich, Supervisor of the Town of Marilla in Erie County, John Riggi, who serves on the Board of the Town of Yates in Orleans County, and Matt Cole, Superintendent of the Livonia Central School District in Livingston County.
Skip Gingerich led a drive on the part of several towns in Erie County to pass home rule resolutions challenging the County Executive’s November 2021 decision to mandate masks. (N.B.: This predated the Governor’s decision by about a month.) He has since transformed that highly publicized effort into a new initiative: a study to consider having some of those secede from Erie County and join neighboring counties.
About 5 years ago, John Riggi joined the Yates Town Board as one of a small group of people who successfully fought New York State’s renewable energy eminent domain declaration. Yates was one of about a half-dozen towns and two counties that passed home rule resolutions to take on Albany – and won!
Matt Cole took the lead in drafting a January 2022 letter signed by all Livingston County School Superintendents requesting the County Board of Supervisors pass a resolution asking Albany to allow each individual school district to make its own decisions regarding health policies.
This is not a debate, but a town hall meeting, which means the audience will be able to participate. While produced in a virtual studio, the event will be broadcast on the Zoom platform so it will be easy for interested people to join in. After listening to the three keynotes, attendees will have 30 minutes to ask the speakers to clarify and amplify their statements. After that, the attendees will break out into separate rooms based on their county of residence, further discuss ideas on what they can do right now, before coming back to the main meeting and voting for their preferred choice.
For more information, contact Chris Carosa at (585) 733-4553 or by email at ChrisCarosa@MHFLSentinel.com.
To participate in the event, go to https://greaterwesternnewyork.org/ to register or click the form below. The event is free and open to all residents of the Greater Western New York Region.
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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.
 Town Hall Meeting On Wednesday, March 9th at 7:30 PM){kind=link}