genesee county politics

An Open Letter to all Genesee County Residents:

Friends and Neighbors;

Every Genesee County Legislature seat is up for election this year, along with the ward seats in the City of Batavia and many town boards and supervisors. Do you feel your interests are being represented by your specific representatives either in your municipality or at the county level? If you think you or someone you know would do a better job, the Genesee County Libertarian Party would love to hear from you. We are a grassroots organization of friendly folks. There are very little politics involved in being endorsed by us. Our endorsement may not bring very much funding to a campaign, but we do bring enthusiasm and the commitment of our members to help collect petition signatures and campaign with you.

From The GCLP bylaws: “The GCLP holds that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, agree to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.” We ask only that any candidate seeking our endorsement agree with this statement and be committed to transparency, limiting government and fiscal responsibility.

If you agree and want to serve your community, please contact me at this private e-mail address used only by me for this purpose: GCLP2015Election@gmail.com. 

The GCLP will never just find folks to fill a ballot slot; we will only put our efforts into those candidates who are driven to make a difference.

Learn more by visiting our website  www.gclpny.org and our

Facebook page www.facebook.com/GCLP.NY

Our meetings are announced on the webpage and the Facebook page, all are welcome to our meetings.

We can make a difference, but good people need to step up.

Respectfully;

David A. Olsen, Chairperson

Over the past two years, I’ve been asked “What’s a Libertarian and why should I vote for one?” If you asked ten Libertarians, you will get different answers. Our core value is individualism - free thinking. We are guaranteed specific individual rights through the Constitution of the United States; Libertarians advocate the protection of all those rights.

I’m also asked what our position on different issues that come along is. To answer that question, first consider a few basic questions. Ask yourself how, in general, you view other people. Consider those people you encounter every day. Are they generally good, decent, honest folks, who would share what they have with someone in need and help another who was in danger?  Or, are they bad, scheming, selfish, and look the other way and not want to be involved in helping others in need? Next, ask yourself who should make decisions about people’s welfare? Are the people you know capable of making good decisions, or should they be prevented from doing so to protect themselves?

There are only 4 possible outcomes (Labels are as used today):

1). Folks are good and should be responsible for their own welfare. (Libertarian)  

2). Folks are good but society (government) should be responsible for their welfare. (Liberal)

3). Folks are bad and society (government) should safeguard from bad decisions they make, folks are however responsible for their welfare. (Conservative)

4). Folks are bad and society (government) needs to control them. (Authoritarian)

That’s it. Yes, it seems simplistic. There will always be grey areas. Free thinkers will disagree on finer points, naturally. However, the Libertarian’s position on any topic can typically be found by determining what solution would put the most faith in people and require the least government involvement.

With individual freedom, of course comes responsibility. Unfortunately, Americans have become dependent on the state. The expectation is that government will solve issues. It’s easy to understand why. Government takes a chunk of everyone’s earnings right off the top through income tax. Add property tax, sales tax, license fees, tolls, etc. and it averages out to almost 50% of everyone’s income. I use as a reference taxfoundation.org. You will work for over five months before your pay is yours. Why are people still hungry, homeless, uneducated, with inadequate health care? Is our system broken? Why is our country on the offensive around the world? Shouldn’t our defenses be better than anyone’s offense, especially considering what we pay for it?

The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. You can take that step by voting for Libertarians. Libertarians can’t just turn a switch and make it all better but Libertarians will shrink government whenever and wherever possible. We will enable the American spirit of independence, innovation and generosity, by getting government out of the way, respecting your right to make decisions for yourself, and stopping government from confiscating the fruits of your labor. It will take time, but if you find that you agree with the Libertarian philosophy, that people are generally good and should be making the decisions about their lives, then register as a Libertarian, take a stand with us and make a statement with your vote. You’ll never regret it. Principles are powerful things.

David Olsen

Chairman, Genesee County Libertarian Party.

Batavia, NY: On Monday October 7, 2013 Batavia City Council at large candidates Jim Rosenbeck and Lisa Whitehead along with Genesee County Legislature candidate Robert Brown were the guest bartenders at The Ten Cent Millionaire on Park Rd in Batavia. All tips were donated to the Salvation Army, a private charity. A big Thank You to Jerry Arena, owner of The Ten Cent Millionaire for offering us his establishment. Many thanks for the generous support from members of the Genesee County Libertarian Party and other patrons who attended the event and tipped for charity.

from left to right: Brown, Whitehead, Rosenbeck & Jerry Arena

Major Patricia Kurtz of the Batavia Salvation Army accepts the $200.00 donation  from Brown, Rosenbeck and Whitehead.

To learn more about Jim, Lisa or Bob go to

https://www.facebook.com/GCLP.NY
http://www.gclpny.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Whitehead4Batavia
https://www.facebook.com/Rosenbeck4Batavia
https://www.facebook.com/Brown4Genesee

What is your opinion about the potential sale of the Genesee County Nursing home? Keep in mind that this is all preliminary, but it certainly appears that the county has begun the process. Take a look at this article:

http://thedailynewsonline.com/articles/2010/01/02/news/6327308.txt

As always, thank you for your time and consideration. Please don't forget to take a look at my blog considering a Women's Caucus as well.

Last month (December…can you believe it’s January already?) a few of the female members of the Genesee County Democratic Committee discussed formation of a Women’s Caucus. We discussed fund raising, volunteerism, and expanding the group to the larger four county GLOW coalition (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming). One example of a fund raiser is to put on breakfasts or luncheons for female candidates or the wives of up ticket candidates (Schumer, Paterson, Cuomo, Gillibrand, …). We would also like to help form a Young Democrats Committee.

In a big election year, such as this one, we could share the work load and responsibilities for organizing and mobilizing for activities, such as the very successful event we had at Sweet Briar last summer.

We are looking to expand the group and hope that you will consider joining. We recognize that everyone is quite busy and believe that participation in the Women’s Caucus wouldn’t really require meetings as we can have discussions and make plans through e-mail, shared documents, or tools such as Face Book.

If you are interested please post a comment or send me an e-mail to jkeys2009@rochester.rr.com.

As always, thank you for your consideration.