We've asked each of the candidates in the city council and county legislature races to answer a couple of questions regarding why they're running and what they hope to accomplish if elected. Election Day is Tuesday.
Here is the response from Bob Bialkowski, candidate for city council, 4th Ward.
The primary reason why I should receive your vote is:
I have worked very hard during my first term on city council to represent the citizens of the 4th Ward. My track record is a 100-percent attendance rate at council meetings. I have demonstrated how I respond to all my constituent concerns and have made myself totally available to all the residents of the ward.
My voting record is very conservative with taxpayer’s interest always in mind.
In response to your request of what key issue would be priority and how it would “be tackled."
This is a bit more difficult as city council has numerous priority-one issues to deal with.
The key major issues that are of concern to me are:
• Economic and business development and retention to include employment
• Downtown improvement
• Infrastructure
• Neighborhood improvement
• Crime prevention
We on city council have addressed these issues by:
• Hiring an economic development director
• Forming a strategic plan for the city
• Initiating an infrastructure plan
• Expanding and staffing our code department
I intend to follow these plans closely and ensure that we adhere to our goals.
With the present economy, we are tasked with some great economic challenges in the near future.
I am strongly against the typical government attitude of trying to fix problems by throwing the taxpayers' hard earned money at them.
Most importantly, I strongly oppose tax increases that are unjustified.
In conclusion, I am a strong advocate for my constituents and for the citizens of the City of Batavia. I am honored to serve this wonderful city and look forward to Batavia’s best days to come.
Please vote for me on Election Day so that I may continue to represent you for the next four years.
Thank you for allowing me to comment on this forum.
When you think of a name on
When you think of a name on City Council that consistently sticks up for taxpayers, does the right thing, and stays above the political BS, it's BOB BIALKOWSKI. Bob is someone we know, trust, and can count on to do the right thing for the 4th Ward and Batavia. For a Better Batavia Re-elect BOB BIALKOWSKI. :)
I remember him wanting to
I remember him wanting to have taxpayers pay to clean bird crap off the roof of private businesses at the Mall. Or calling a City worker off his job, without the knowledge of the mans supervisors, and refusing to repay the city for the mans time.
Bob you are not a
Bob you are not a Conservative.......My voting record is very conservative with taxpayer’s interest always in mind....I am strongly against the typical government attitude of trying to fix problems by throwing the taxpayers' hard earned money at them. ..Bob you voted to raise taxes on every budget...Taxes have gone up 30% since you have been on city council......I call that throwing taxpayer money at a problem..The 55,000 study city council spent our tax dollars on said we need to address the Mall ..That was the key to Main Street..What are you going to do about that.......... You said Hiring an economic development director,Expanding and staffing our code department...That to me seems like you are for growing city government not downsizing....Not to Conservative to me..........As John stated on the bird crap issue.That wasn't Conservative to me....
Mark makes some good points,
Mark makes some good points, however I do want to play devil's advocate and point out as we have in other political discussions on here that 1 member of city council does not control the vote. We as citizens will have to do our homework to distinguish the people earnestly working to save money and budgets vs those who dont. As well as those who go along to get along. We are now in the time we ahve to do due diligence and not take things at face value anymore.
Like I said folks, BOB is
Like I said folks, BOB is above the usual political BS. Those above and those they have supported are clearly not.
In an attempt to find why
In an attempt to find why someone is trying to draw an old story back up from the dead, I did searches on The Batavian and Daily News Online.
The only string I could find in regards to The Mall and City Council came from this: http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/todays-poll-do-you-think-owne…
This in which Mark Potwora observed "...Charlie....Wasn't their and issue with these same birds on the Mall...I remember Bill Cox envolved with getting the health dept to look into to it...Why not contact the health dept again... "
Mr. Roach, with all due respect. Show me your research.
Mr. Couchman, you are
Mr. Couchman, you are correct.
It is all about due diliegence.
I will be the sole determiner of who I vote for...
Great call!
Mr. Guiste, The link you have
Mr. Guiste,
The link you have is for the Latina store, which was a year later.
My comment was related to his idea the City pay to have the roof cleaned up of bird crap on the City Hall/Mall. The city did clean up its own part, but Bob want us to pay for the whole mall. I did not think that was a good use of tax money.
I went before City Council and asked him to pay back the City for calling the worker off his job without authorization, but Bob declined.
Bob did vote to hire a new employee and will not say what is the criteria to know if the job should be kept after the 2 year trail period. I don't think you hire somebody and say the job will be reviewed in 2 years to see if it was successful, and not be able to say what success is.
If Bob feels his voting
If Bob feels his voting record is on the Conservative side....Then i guess all on Council are Conservative because they all vote the same.. ...............They all voted for the same budgets that raised all our taxes with no end in sight..They even had the City Manager school them on how to get around the 2% tax cap..That not very conservative.......
I love these people that call
I love these people that call themselves Conservative and then support candidates that have Obama and Hillary signs in their yards and support other left wing candidates. BOB BIALKOWSKI is clearly conservative and anyone that pays any attention to City Council meetings knows he is one of the few that debate all wasteful costs.
In looking up a response for
In looking up a response for a thread, l discovered a platform from the opposition stating support for City Council to work with BOE on financial issues. What?! Would the Democrats say that it is now City Council's job to fund the Board of Education now?
I sincerely hope I misread this. I thought BOE was a seperate entity and Council did not vote on school related issues...
this, I would need some education on-or is the opposition party just "putting it out there"...
Mr. Guiste, It is not the
Mr. Guiste,
It is not the Batavia City Council. That issue is about the Village and Town of LeRoy race for the County Legislature.
So I have included link to
So I have included link to what I have found: http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_ca177cac-06a7-11e1-8d84-001c…
In particular: "...I also believe we have an excellent neighborhood school system with public and private options and would like to work with the current school board to find the needed funding to keep the system in place.”
While I concur that we do have an excellent school system, City Council has no business in BOE issues.
As per Mr. Roach, it sounds like perhaps the Democratic side would like to tap into City (or at least Le Roy) resources to assure BOE budgets.
This is a huge RED FLAG for me. The BOE is a whole other issue and is not a matter of this campaign.
Or so I thought.
Mr. Guiste, No Democrat or
Mr. Guiste,
No Democrat or Republican ever suggested tapping into any City budget for the the BOE. It is just not true. Where did you get that? The one Democrat said we have a fine school system in Batavia, with private school options. Suggesting he would like to help find ways for the BOE to find money is a long way from saying the City should give it to them.
And it is not true in Leroy either. A Republican said she did not think the Democrat candidate should be on two elected boards (BOE and County legislature) at the same time. At no time did anyone suggest merging the two budgets. Again, where did you get that?
Mr. Guiste, Now I understand.
Mr. Guiste,
Now I understand. I just read your blog entry from June 1st, this year, where you said your goal was to be a Republican Committee member.
By the way, nice blog, very well done.