Mayor Bialek takes the reigns

The new mayor of New York Mills presided over the first village board meeting of New York Mills. We are pleased to note that Bialek announced that he will be using his own cell phone instead of a village phone.  Although this may be seen as a symbolic cost cutting measure we applaud this move and hope this sets the tone for his tenure as mayor.

In other news ,the board agreed to agree to the request for the use of the village sidewalk plow  to keep the Village of  Whitesboro sidewalks near municipal buildings clear of snow.  It was brought to light that the Village of Whitesboro has assisted New York Mills in the past with things like tree stump removal.  Although these are mundane activities we hope this spirit of cooperation and the sharing of services continues between the villages.

MEETINGS week of Jan. 10

Monday January 10

Village of Whitesboro  Board meeting Village Office  Whitesboro     7:00 PM

Town of New Hartford Planning Board -New Hartford Public Library  5:30 PM

Village of New Hartford Board Meeting -Butler Hall 7:30 PM

Tuesday  January 11

Village of New York Mills Board of Trustees – Village of New York Mills 7:00 PM

Village of Whitesboro Planning Board – Village Office Whitesboro, NY 7:00 PM

Wednesday January 12

Village of New York Mills Workshop – Village of New York Mills 6:30 PM

Open meetings

It seems that the Trenton town board members who met last week to discuss an alleged copper theft at the town’s recycling center might have done so illegally because the meeting was not publicized.  Read the story in the utica OD.

Information on open government and freedom of information (FOIL) can be found here New York State Committee On Open Government (COOG) The Committee on Open Government is responsible for overseeing and advising with regard to the Freedom of Information, Open Meetings and Personal Privacy Protection Laws.  It’s a great site.  I hope that anyone involved in government on any level and concerned citizens will avail  themselves of this resource and refer to it often.

WKTV Back on Time Warner Cable

BREAKING NEWS: WKTV has reached a long-term retransmission consent agreement with Time Warner Cable. According to Smith Media management, local cable systems will restore WKTV’s signal shortly.

We hope that Vic Vetters and Smith Media took note of the lackluster support for WKTV during the Time Warner Cable blackout.   Comments posted online referenced the lack of both  professionalism and real journalism.  We deserve a news outlet that we can be proud of;  talented professional reporters and anchors who can gather and deliver a news package, not just “read the Observer Dispatch”.  We are also not interested in hearing your banal ad-libbing.  Those comments often make you seem arrogant.   So WKTV management, please file this under LESSONS LEARNED and become the news leader we need.

The new paradigm, 15 minutes of criminal behavior

Heading back to work this week, Americans were greeted not only by a new year but also by a whole slew of new laws — 31,000 of them at the state level — covering everything from guns to 100-watt light bulbs to, of course, “health care.” As usual, most of these laws tell us what we can’t do: texting while driving (duh), cyberbullying and smoking in bars.

In the near future, everyone will be a criminal for at least 15 minutes, whether they know it or not.

Read more: New York Post Opinion

New Congressman – New Utica Office Location

Congressman Hanna’s Utica office will not be in the Alexander Pirnie Federal Building as was the case for previous representatives Sherwood Boehlert and Michael Arcuri.

A spokesperson for the incoming congressman says he feels that being located in the 258 building in Downtown Utica will make his office more accessible to a greater number of constituents.

New York Mills, your new mayor is…

…. John Bialek. The decision came following a meeting of the village board of trustees  Monday night, the four-person board of trustees voted unanimously to make Trustee John Bialek the new Mayor of New York Mills, effective immediately. Bialek will remain in the position as a voted appointee to fill out the remainder of Maciol’s term, which is up at the end of 2012, when an election for Mayor will be held in the village.

No decision was made Monday night at the board meeting regarding the position of New York Mills Police Chief Robert Swenszkowski, who left the department to become Oneida County Undersheriff following Maciol’s win.

First Day In Office

On his first day  in office, Congressman Richard Hanna, (R) New York 24,  voted to reduce his, and other individual members office budgets by 5%, and cut the operating budgets of House committee leadership offices.  That means  35 million dollars in savings for taxpayers.

It may be a small part of the overall budget, but it’s a start and shows that congressman Hanna and the 112th Congress are listening to the message that was sent on November 2nd.

Read the story on WIBX online

Read the resolution – H. Res 22

We’re Number 1

NEW YORK MILLS —When this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association rankings were released Wednesday, the New York Mills Mauraders (9-0) had moved up one spot,  as the top-ranked Class D boys basketball team in the state.

Congratulations to the boys and to Coach Adey.

Read the story in the Utica OD

NYMillsNotes visits Washington DC

We have just returned from an exciting trip to our Nation’s Capitol to be there as our new congressman,  Richard Hanna, (R) of Barneveld, officially became part of  the 112th Congress.
On Wednesday afternoon, January 5th we joined Richards family, friends and supporters to watch a video feed at the Sonoma Restaurant as Richard Hanna was sworn in along with other  congressmen.  That was followed by a tour of Hanna’s office, where bottles of the locally made Saranac root beer, and ginger ale were passed out to visitors.  We met staffers and had more opportunity to speak with our new representative.  Remember, Congress is the “Peoples House” and so we should actively participate by contacting his office with our concerns and opinions on upcoming legislation.

Read the story in the Utica OD

Contact Congressman Richard Hanna

Washington, DC
319 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3665
Fax: (202)225-1891
Congressman Hanna’s  web page