batavia

Last night I e-mailed five questions to each of the nine members of the Batavia City Council related to the reported leak of information from a confidential personnel closed session. Five of the council members cooperated by answering the questions directly. Two others did respond, and three have yet to respond (in addition to the questions, I've telephoned each council member who has not answered three times and twice left messages).

Below are the questions and responses.

1. Did you call any member of the public, including but not limited to, the person who wrote the letter in question, after the closed session (or did this person call you and then you revealed the substance of the closed session to the caller)?

Charlie Mallow: "The only contact I have made was this weekend was to send an apology note that the information was leaked." 'No' answers from Frank Ferrando, Tim Buckley, Marianne Clattenburg and Kathy Briggs.

2. Did you call any member of the media following the meeting and discuss, either on the record or off, the content of the closed session?

'No' answers from Mallow, Ferrando, Buckley, Clattenburg, Briggs.

3. Did you provide Joanne Beck or any other member of the media, or any member of the public, a copy of the letter in question?

'No' answers from Mallow, Ferrando, Buckley, Clattenburg, Briggs.

4. In the spirit of Frank Ferrando's statement during tonight's meeting: Are you willing to release Joanne Beck and/or the editors of the Daily News from any promise of confidentiality and let her release your name if you are the council member who leaked the letter or otherwise discussed the matter off-the-record or on background or as an unnamed source?

'Yes' answers from Mallow, Ferrando, Buckley, Clattenburg, Briggs.

Ferrando also included: "I am willing to have Joanne release my name if indeed I am the person who leaked this information.  I release any possible promise."

5. Do you agree or disagree that the council should not meet in closed session again until this matter is resolved to each member's satisfaction?

Mallow, Buckley, Clattenburg and Briggs also said either "I agree" or "No further meetings."

Ferrando wrote:

I believe we should take the recommendation of our attorney George Van Ness and include in our Council rules the confidentiality of Executive Session. Until then, I am reluctant to meet  in an executive session where privacy, particularly involving individuals, is not respected.  In my estimation, someone on our Council was looking to assassinate the character of a person without allowing the individual the Constitutional rights everyone is guaranteed.

City governments are public entities and the rights of ALL of our citizens, under the constitution, must be clearly noted and protected. Whoever did this is, in my opinion, a coward for not stepping forward and owning up to his or her actions.  As  public officials we take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the U.S. and the Charter of the City.  If someone deviates from that sacred trust, they should have the courage to step forward and explain why it was so important to have done so and accept the consequence of such action if deemed by the public to be unacceptable. That's the way our democratic system works and why our system of governance is so special.  For a publicly elected representative to hide behind the confidentiality of a person in the media is also appalling because it casts suspicion on the innocent. That is why I am so intent. as are my colleagues, on finding out who this was because until then it casts doubt and suspicion on all members of Council. In any case Howard, you have my answers to the questions posed.

Councilman Bill Cox sent an written statement, which I posted previously. I sent another e-mail to Mr. Cox and asked if he would respond directly to the questions. He wrote back: "The city attorney advised us not to answer any questions about the executive session." By reply, I pointed out none of the quesitons dealt with what happened in closed session, but what happened after closed session. I have not received a response.

Councilman Sam Barone wrote: "Howard, I will not be responding to these questions.   Sam."

I have yet to hear at all from Council members Bob Bialkowski and Rose Mary Christian.

Last night I e-mailed a series of questions related to the apparent leak of personnel information from a Batavia City Council closed session to local media. I'll have a separate post on the responses shortly, but Councilman Bill Cox sent along the following statement, which we're posting in full:

"The purpose of the executive session in question was to discuss a personnel matter. The specific subject matter and person it involved should be and remain confidential until such time it is deemed advisable to release a statement. That discussion among council members is still ongoing and a second executive session has to be held to complete it. The employee in question has not even had an opportunity to speak to council. It is inappropriate to have any of this information disseminated when the facts have not been evaluated, discussed in total, or any findings made. It is also unfair to any employee to do so without both sides having a chance to discuss the matter. After that process has been completed then we need legal advice on what gets published.

To provide legal guidance to our council, city management, and the public, I e-mailed a letter to NYCOM, the organization all the cities, towns, and villages belong to for this kind of legal guidance to request what municipal and other NYS laws say about the sharing or disclosing the contents of discussions and documentation at executive sessions. I personally told this to Council President Mallow before the meeting Monday night in hopes of preventing the fiasco that occurred from happening. It obviously had no impact. 

It appears some members of council are overreacting and are on an emotional roller coaster. The tragic thing is they are deflecting (intentionally or unintentionally) the real issue and turned it into a second issue. Without a second executive session a determination cannot be accomplished, the employee cannot have an opportunity to reply, and the complainant cannot have his or her complaint heard by council and taken care of.

The real thing going on right now appears to be a witch hunt by some council members who want to require a litmus test of all council members, then a loyalty test, and finally a lynching. Those same council members are the ones who are not doing their job and they are not living up to their oath of office because they are preventing a city matter from being resolved by refusing to go into executive session. They have blown this situation all out of proportion; they have prevented a resolution to a problem; they are allowing a cloud over someone’s reputation to continue and have turned this into a circus.

I would hope this is not a ploy on some council member’s thoughts who are up for re-election to get their names in the paper in hope of getting votes this November. Our voters are smart people. I hope this fall they remember the antics going on at council by certain members, the unwillingness to act as a council on an important matter, and then vote accordingly. This entire fiasco can’t pass the “smell test”; it stinks of politics by those specific members who continue to stir things up.

If this were a business those council people would be told by senior management to get on with business or else. Council has accomplished some very good things in the past 12 months, we need to continue our work.

I take the council position I was elected to seriously will not participate in any of their childish games, litmus tests, or anything else they are trying to sell to the public. We have a lot of important objectives to work on; we have to start our budget process soon, deal with pending neighborhood proposals from NIC, and also get resolution to this problem so we can all concentrate on what we were elected to do which is better government at lower cost."

Bill Cox
Councilman – First Ward

Right now, the cost of garbage collection in City of Batavia is just part of each property owner's tax bill.

It doesn't matter if dwelling is four units with four families, or one unit, the fee you pay is based on assessed value. There's no direct correlation between the amount of refuse produced from your property.

Councilman Sam Barone said last night the current system is unfair.

“Presently, it's based on the value of your home, for example," Barone said, "and there are some agencies that don’t pay at all, non-profit organizations, for example do not pay for trash service.”

Barone brought forward a now familiar proposal -- one that hasn't gotten far before -- to break out the cost of garbage collection as a separate fee on tax bills, and modify the fee-based system so its charged on a per-unit basis, including non-profits.

Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian immediately objected to the idea, saying, "You’re going to see a lot of garbage all over the city."

Councilman Frank Ferrando then backed Barone's proposal.

“We should investigate this because this should really bring down costs to taxpayers,” Ferrando said. “What we're doing is we're looking at the cost, a fairer way of distributing the costs. We should look into it."

At which point, Christian said, “There’s no doubt we should look into it.  We discussed it at the last budget meeting and agreed that we should discuss it sometime this year because it would definitely bring down the cost to taxpayers, so somehow, some way if we can do it, yes.”

Council President Charlie Mallow said he didn't favor putting a fee on garbage collection for non-profits. "Non-profits do a lot of good for the city," Mallow said.

The decision: City staff will investigate what other municipalities in the state are doing and bring a report back to council.

A Sheriff's Deputy was forced to destroy an aggressive Rottweiler this afternoon after the dog bit him on the hand.

Deputy Cory Mower responded  to a report of an aggressive dog running at large in the area of 8300 block of Bank Street Road in the Town of Batavia.

When Mower located the dog and approached him, the dog attacked him, biting his left hand, according to Deputy Chief Gordon Dibble.

Mower was heard on the scanner during the incident telling dispatch, "I tried to make friends with him."

After animal control arrived on scene, Mower transported himself to UMMC, where he was treated and released.

The 1:30 p.m. call was the second complaint the Sheriff's Office received today of a Rottweiler running loose in that neighborhood. In the morning, a deputy searched the area but did not find the dog. (The deputy did locate the dog, but was not able to capture it and it ran away. See comments below.)

The Rottweiler reportedly had current rabies tags, but the owner has not yet been identified and the incident remains under investigation.

Interim Fire Chief Ralph Hyde has a simple request: Let him use the newest of the retired city ambulances as an additional emergency response vehicle.

It would carry specialized rescue equipment that doesn't currently fit on the fire trucks and provide an air-conditioned space for overheated firefighters to rest when on scene of fires.

Hyde said with all the equipment stored in one mobile vehicle, instead of lockers in the fire station, the equipment could be deployed to emergency scenes when needed much more rapidly.

Councilman Bill Cox questioned, however, the wisdom of not selling the most valuable of the old ambulances at a time when the city still has $1.3 million in debt.

His suggestion set off a discussion last night that revealed that four of the council members present favored letting Hyde repurpose the ambulance, and four favoring selling it.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski suggested that the city look at selling the ambulance -- which has 50,000 miles on it -- and using that money to buy a new, potentially more suitable, all-wheel-drive vehicle for the fire department.

All members agreed the city should at least explore that idea.

In the past year, the city has applied for five state and federal grants.

Three of the grants -- totaling nearly $2 million in funding -- have been awarded. The city invested a little more than $12,000 on the grant application process.

"That's quite a return on investment," City Manager Jason Molino told the City Council during Monday's conference meeting.

The city has been awarded $411,000 for the Bank Street Project, $1.5 million from RestoreNY for the Masse Gateway Project and $25,000 for records retention.

With two grant applications unresolved, the city is looking forward for more grant opportunities.

Brownfield Opportunity Area: This grant is designed to help governments focus on revitalization strategies, not actual rehabilitation, for under utilized and dormant sites. It's intended to help with development stages between planning and actual redevelopment, such as site assessments and environmental reviews. The program reimburses up to 90 percent of costs and is supposed to foster a private-public partnership in redevelopment. Property owner participation is required. Molino said the ideal area to target is what the city has identified as the Ellicott Microenterprise District as part of the Central Corridor Project. The district extends down Ellicott Street from Evans to Swan. "It takes several uses (commercial, retail, residential) and puts them together, which is what they're looking for," Molino said.

Small Cities Community Development Block Grant: There are two types of grants available in this program. One grant is available for a small city to replace outdated sewer and water systems in low- to moderate-income areas. The other allows for assistance to property owners of low- to moderate-income housing. Molino is suggesting that the city go after a housing rehab grant, but unlike the Jackson Street project of 10 years ago, where the grant program provided loans, the city will pursue a straight grant option. In whatever designated area selected (or citywide), homeowners of low- to moderate-incomes could get grants, or landlords who rent to low- or moderate-income tenants could receive a grant. Up to $400,000 is available for this program. Molino anticipates that individual grant awards to property owners would be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range each. The city could apply to the housing rehab program every year, Molino said. it is competitive though, with only one out of three grant applications accepted. 

Records Management Grant: This year, the city received $25,000 for new shelving and software to convert key data records and city council minutes to electronic storage. This year, Molino said the city should apply for a grant to upgrade water metering and billing systems.

Upstate Blueprint Fund: This is a new state program intended to help communities attract business, improve commerce and revitalize downtown business areas. The program can fund grants and loans for businesses and municipalities. The program funds only 20 percent of a project and would require private business investment.

Following an impassioned discussion about a confidential personnel document that was leaked to the local media, apparently by a fellow member of the Batavia City Council, Council President Charlie Mallow said whomever leaked the document violated the trust of citizens and fellow council members and should resign immediately.

There is no way, Mallow said, that the council members can hold another executive session with any degree of confidence that what is discussed in closed session will remain confidential.

Mallow doesn't plan to call any further closed sessions on any matter during the remainder of his term as council president, which is about two months.

"If you cannot protect one of your citizens, protect your staff and follow your word, you don’t belong here," Mallow said. "I would expect them to resign. Absolutely. I don’t know how the citizens of the city wouldn’t expect someone to resign. If you have no integrity and you are not out there to protect the interests of our citizens, what are you doing here? You don’t belong here."

He then added, "That’s how the majority of the council feels. This is a betrayal. It’s a dirty betrayal."

And on the specific issue, Mallow said, the council is now stymied on dealing with it because nobody wants to go into executive session and risk having their statements leaked to the media.

"If there’s potential for further litigation on that matter, I can’t discuss it," Mallow said, "and that's a shame, because it needs to be discussed. It’s important. There’s an important matter there that needs to be discussed."

Mallow said one of his great disappointments is that a citizen who brought forward a complaint to the city with the intention that it be kept confidential was betrayed.

"They wanted the problem solved, not to make a spectacle of things," Mallow said. "They wanted a problem solved and they went to their government to do that and we didn’t. We failed them."

It was Councilman Frank Ferrando who brought the issue of the leak up at the close of Monday night's conference meeting. Ferrando called the leak a betrayal.

"There’s no reason to go behind closed doors if in fact everything can be shared," Ferrando said. "Let’s do it here, because I don’t want someone else telling someone what I said. I’ll say it myself. ...

"I will not go into executive session unless it’s stated clearly in council rules that what happens in executive session stays in executive session."

At one point, Ferrando turned to Daily News reporter Joanne Beck and said, “I want to say to Joanne Beck right now, if I’m the person who disclosed that letter, put it in the paper, I want people to know, because I know it wasn’t me."

Councilwoman Kathy Briggs also released Beck from any confidentiality agreement saying, "I know it wasn't me."

Beck reported the leak, and Mallow's criticism of it, Sept. 25. She disclosed that the Daily News received a copy of a letter accusing City Manager Jason Molino of "unprofessional and unethical behavior." The newspaper did not reveal the name of the letter's author, which Mallow praised as an example of good ethics. Beck did not disclose any other details of the letter or what prompted the complaint. Mallow characterized the accusations leak as a "witch hunt" but would not comment further at that time (regarding correction in this graph, see Charlie's comment below).

Mallow's commentary: Piecing things together, it appears that a member of the City Council called the author of the letter following the closed session and disclosed in some detail what was discussed in the session. That letter writer then contacted at least four council members and discussed the substance of what that person was told. It does not appear that Council member disclosed to Beck any of the closed session conversation. The Council member who called the letter writer may or may not be the same Council member who leaked the letter to the Daily News. I think they are two different people. At least, that's my best speculation as to the sequence of events based on available information.

Audio:

• Frank Ferrando
• Charlie Mallow 1
• Charlie Mallow 2
• City Attorney George Van Nest

NOTE: The two files above were recorded with my computer. The sound quality is just good enough so you can hear what Frank, and George are saying. Charlie was recorded with my iPhone and there is a bit of background noise on the first clip, though Charlie is quite audible. I include Van Nest even though I don't quote him above because his comments are interesting, especially since he notes that council has, as I've said before, discretion on whether to enter executive session on many topics. The council is rarely required by law to go into closed session. It's merely an option.

Town of Batavia FD is on scene at College Village building G (Spruce Hall) for a fire alarm. Response appears to be Rescue, Heavy Rescue, and at least one Chief. The cause of the alarm is not known to me at this time. More info when available.

Update (9:50 PM): This may end up being a non-story as they've already left. Response was Rescue 20, Rescue 24 and appeared to also include two chiefs. The dual-Rescue response has been fairly unusual in the past and that combined with everything arriving in a group led me to believe there might be something confirmed active, but appears to have simply been for the lighting abilities of those rigs. I don't have access to a scanner, so until I hear details from someone all I know is that the FD has been called.

Home Owners of the Year, Bradley & Kelly Trzecieski with Councilwoman Kathy Briggs.

Download: Statement by Briggs (PDF)

Business of the Year: Parise's Auto & Towing.  Accepting the award from Councilman Tim Buckley is owner Mark Dickinson.

Download: Statement by Buckley (PDF)

Don Carroll receives Volunteer of the Year award from Councilman Sam Barone.

Download: Statement by Barone (PDF)

If you’ve ever driven down Center Street, I’m sure you’ve noticed the garage next to the Smoke House painted as a “Fire Headquarters.” This garage has just recently become the newest spot for local bands to perform.

Hosted by Glass Roots next door to it, the venue's third show took place Friday night. It's open to artists of all types and Friday’s show featured three very different genres of music. 

First to perform was Greengage, a local jam band with a reggae influence. Then, the duo known as Davey O. played a set of acoustic folk rock. Lastly, Steve Ditzel, a Batavia resident, took the stage with his turntables and got the crowd moving to his electronic beats. 

The show started around 7:30, drawing a large crowd of highly diverse people and ran up until last call for drinks. There was a 50/50 raffle, too. While there's no firm schedule for future events, Glass Roots shop owner Jeremy Almeter says that there will be more shows and to stop by for more details.

Joseph Kyle Loveland, 26, of 665 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst, is charged with harassment. Loveland allegedly punched another person in the face while at Chestnut Ridge Country Club in Darien at about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. The victim was reportedly treated at the scene and declined transportation to a hospital. Loveland was issued an appearance ticket. The incident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker.

Pamela A. Loughridge, 41, of 5630 Buffalo Road, Apt. 5, Churchville, is charged with DWI, aggravated DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and moving from the lane unsafely. Loughridge was stopped at 6:04 p.m. yesterday by Deputy Chad Minuto on Route 237 in Byron.

Justin J. Jaszko, 30, of 8087 Kelsey Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass. Jaszko allegedly entered the residence of his child's mother in Oakfield and refused to leave. The alleged incident occurred Friday morning at 8:45. Deputy Christopher Parker handled the call.

Ann M. Burgler, 49, of 6592 Royal Parkway, Lockport, is charged with DWI, DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to keep right. Burgler was stopped by Deputy Kevin McCarthy on Route 5 in Pembroke at 2:54 p.m. on Saturday.

Adam M. Gaylord, 29, of Byron, is charged with DWI, operating a vehicle with a BAC of .08 or greater and criminal possession of a weapon. Gaylord was stopped by State Police on Chapel Road in Elba at 10:50 p.m. on Friday.

Stephen L. Nichols, 33, of New York City, is charged with DWI and DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater. Nichols was stopped by State Police in Pavilion at Route 63 and Route 20 at 2:50 a.m. on Saturday.

On Friday night, the Assembly of God church in Batavia hosted a back-to-school rally for local youth.

This was a community-outreach event intended "to start a fire in the hearts of the youth," said Pastor Lou Krutz.

It started with a demo by the Solid Rock Skate Team out of Rochester. After that, kids were given the option to play dodgeball or hang out in the building and play games. Then there was a concert by the local band Elmwood Drive.

A message was also given by Pastor Krutz entitled "Are you a chicken or a pig?". It compared what a chicken sacrifices and what a pig sacrifices and how it relates to a commitment to God. The night ended with a game of intense dodgeball.

I thought the event was an overall success.

Below is a quick video of the event.

Meet Cuddles. Cuddles was out in the midsts of the hub of activity this past Saturday morning for Care-A-Van grocery distribution.

We heard of many dog gone it moments- dog gone it I lost my job, dog gone it I was beaten by my husband, dog gone I need to find an affordable apartment for my family, dog gone it I lost my home to a fire a few months back and the dog gone moments kept rolling for the 2 hours Care-A-Van Ministries was on State street for grocery distribution.

It was a very  busy morning as there were 51 families with 148 family members that arrived for groceries, clothing and prayer.

There were many new families that arrived for help. The stories of the events that are happening in their lives makes one heart ache.

There are moments when out in the midst of it all, and the line keeps growing and the needs are shared, one's spirit can get weak. However,  there is hope and there is peace. The peace and hope comes from knowing that the Lord will continue to provide.

A special thanks to all of you for your encouragement, your support and for your willingness to go forth and make a difference in those "dog gone" moments for those living right here in Batavia.

I would like to respond to the story “Mallow criticizes leak of info from executive session” in the September 25^th addition of the Daily News.

I am embarrassed and ashamed that a Council person would use a confidential letter sent by a city resident in an improper way. Our citizens should feel confident that problems they have with city staff will be handled in a professional manner and not for political purposes. The city takes all accusations seriously and attempts to work through these problems in a confidential way. We must be respectful and discreet to those who file a complaint, as well as the person it was filed against. Releasing personnel information and matters related to potential litigation that have been discussed in an executive session is an unethical abuse of power. Our city residents are financially liable for any indiscretion of this type.

I know for certain that this citizen assumed that the letter would be held in strict confidence and would like to thank the Daily News for not releasing the name of the complainant. It is also clear that a member of Council abused their elected position and divulged privileged information on two separate occasions in the last month. I want you to know that we will do everything in our power to determine who abused their position.

Notre Dame moved to 4-0 tonight, but anybody who came into the Friday night showdown with Oakfield-Alabama thinking the Hornets (who entered the game with a disappointing 1-2 record) would be pushovers, they learned something about how a proud football program can rise to the challenge of a tough opponent.

The Hornets never trailed in the game until the end, with ND only pulling even twice, once at 7-7 midway through the second quarter and then at 17-17 in the final seconds of regulation time on a Matt Thompson field goal.

After getting the ball first in overtime, but failing to convert the opportunity into a score, OA saw the Fighting Irish preserve its undefeated season on a six-yard TD rush by Beau Ritcher.

The Hornets had every opportunity to even its record, but OA's defense was eventually worn down by a relentless Notre Dame running attack.

The Hornets scored first on a first-quarter drive keyed by a Jason Stanley 60-yard run, but ND pulled even midway through the second quarter when Mike Pratt capped a grinding Notre Dame drive with a three-yard TD rush.

As the first half drew to a close, there was a real sense that Notre Dame could lose the game. At a time when the Fighting Irish should have controlled the ball, at least well enough to preserve a tie going into half-time, ND went three-and-out with enough time on the clock for OA to push the ball into the red zone. With seconds left in the half, Jon Fisher put three points on the board allowing the Hornets to head into the locker room with a 10-7 lead.

In the third quarter, it really seemed as if OA was in charge of the game, taking the ball down on a scoring drive that was capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Tyler Tamblin to Brent Crawford.

In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame's ground game began to take a toll on OA's defense. Pratt and Ricther eat up a lot of yards, and eventually Pratt plows into the end zone on a 10-yard run to put the score at 17-14.

After an exchange of downs in the fourth quarter, ND again moves the ball into striking range, and this time Thompson puts through his field goal to tie the game at 17-17.

OA got the ball first in OT, but only managed a first down before coming up short. The OA defense fought hard, putting ND in a third-and-long situation before Pratt bulled his way to a third down. With the ball inside the 10, Notre Dame fought for yardage and managed to get the ball to the one-yard line before a penalty forced the offense back five yards. On the next play, however, Ritcher burst through the line of scrimmage and into the end zone to keep the Irish undefeated.

There are more pictures after the jump below.

The City of Batavia is out of the red on its operational ledger.

For fiscal year 2009, Batavia has a fund balance of $32,950, City Manager Jason Molino told reporters today. 

Even though the city has been spending less than it takes in starting in 2007, this marks the first time in years that the city is not carrying a deficit on its balance sheet.

"We're not borrowing to pay for operations," Molino said. "We don't have cash flow problems."

In 2006, the deficit on the fund balance was a deep dark red -- $2.2 million.

"Most municipalities in this situation have gone to the state legislature to bond out their debt and that's a lengthy process," Molino said. "What you had happen here is you had a council committed to trying to right the ship and make the right decisions."

Among the right decisions, Molino said, was committing to conservative revenue budgets. The city has ensured expected revenue aligns realistically to numbers based on historical trends.

"The problem in prior years, and I'm talking three years back, was aggressive revenue budgeting," said Molino. "As a result, actual revenues did not meet budgeted revenues. As you can see from '05 and '06, your actual revenue was below your budgeted revenue."

The fund balance is for operational expenses and excluding debt for buildings and similar expenses.

For 2009, city revenue was $14.7 million and expenditures were $13 million. That $1.7 million swing helped the city generate a fund balance (meaning money in the bank rather than paying debt on operational expenses) for the first time since at least 2005.

On the expense side, Molino said the city has been able to hold the line on spending because department heads have done better at cutting things such as utility costs. At the wastewater treatment plant, for example, electricity usage has gone down by several hundred-thousand dollars. He also mentioned consolidated dispatch as a cost savings.

"It's identifying issues where expenses can be cut and that's really been a focus of the change in operations," Molino said.

The city isn't completely free of financial worries. It has not yet built up sufficient reserves to deal with unexpected expenses or any dip in revenue.

"To be financially healthy, you want your undesignated fund balance to be about 10 percent of your operations budget," Molino said.

He said the city's fund balance should be $1.3 million to $1.4 million, which is a pretty big number compared to the $32,000 the city just achieved.

Even so, Molino acknowledges that getting city finances to this point, is a satisfying accomplishment, but he credits both the Batavia City Council and city staff:

"It's interesting because when we dealt with it three years ago, it's one of those things that's out a ways and it takes time to get there and to look at the progress from year one to year two to year three. It's kind of interesting to know that when the council...adopted the idea that we don't want to go to the state to bond out our debt, we want to make the right changes that maintain levels of services, (we had to figure out) 'how do we get there?' We set that plan out. It's really a tribute the council making the difficult decisions at the time and a tribute to the staff that they made the tough changes."

The next hard task is mapping out the future.

"The damage control part of it is over now and now it's the planning part," Molino said. "Planning today for tomorrow is really the city's top priority."

Looking ahead, he said the city will need to focus on economic development, future union negotiations, upcoming retirement costs, reserve funding and post-employment health care costs for retirees (which could top $9 million).

Jason Molino discusses city finances with press:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6

City of Batavia Management Report, March 31, 2009 (PDF)

There is a non-injury accident on State Street near Batavia High School.

A reader reports that traffic is backing up on State Street.

UPDATE 2:53 p.m.: This is now reported as a three-vehicle accident.

Meanwhile there is an injury accident in Oakfield in front of the Yellow Goose store.  No further information available right now.