Photo: Male cardinal defending nest
Photo by Jason Smith.
batavia news
Photo by Jason Smith.
Retired Medical staff
I am a retired RN. I retired in april after working at a NH in LeRoy. I went through (as with the rest of the staff) the tragety of how Covid hit. Loosing about 40 residents and 3/4 of the staff also getting Covid, including myself. This year I was called back to work as we now have such a staffing shortage everywhere. After the NH advertised for help all summer/ fall long, even with a retention bonus, they only recieved a handful of applications. So I stayed working. Now, I find that I have succeeded my retirement working limit of $18,900. I knew about the penelty, but did not know of the extent of it. Well, the penelty is to pay $1 for every $2 over your amount back to the government. WOW, what a slap in the face. When I called the SS department, they were nice, but basically said, oh well, that's our policy. Thank God for the administrator at LVG, who wrote a letter to the state legislator who in turn sent it to Washington. I have not heard the end of this yet, Maybe there is a ray of light at the end for all that were pulled out of retirement for the good of people. The only way to improve Human Kind is by Human Kind. Jan Macdonald RN
Council approves additional compensation for interim city manager
On a vote of 7-2, the Batavia City Council approved an additional $1,000 a month stipend for interim City Manager Rachael Tabelski, who has been filling the role since June after the resignation of Martin Moore.
Council members Bob Bialkowski and Rose Mary Christian voted against the stipend.
Christian said she opposed the same stipend for Matt Worth when he was interim city manager after Jason Molino left, and to be consistent, she needed to oppose it for Tabelski.
"I'm concerned about a lot of people," Christian said. "We have long lines at food banks; people can't pay their rent or mortgage."
Bialkowski said he was applying the standard of the private sector, that when you're on salary you do the work assigned even if you fill in for a vacant slot at the same salary you were getting.
Council President Eugene Jankowski spoke in favor of the stipend. The assistant acts as a department head for administrative staff as well as other administrative duties and while department heads have helped pick up some duties the workload for Tabelski has increased substantially.
He also noted the City Charter requires the city to have a city manager and assistant manager.
"If you're doing both jobs, it's a burden," Jankowski said.
Tabelski's base salary is $52,339.
Moore's salary was $110,838.
Jankowski noted that the stipend is not a cost that will put the city in a hole because they're currently saving money operating without a city manager.
The Council is in the process of identifying candidates, which may include Tabelski, to become the city's next city manager.
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Down wires spark grass fire at business on East Main Street, Batavia
Wires down sparked a grass fire at Sikes Enterprises at 668 E. Main St., Batavia. City fire is responding. The location is an auto repair and service business.
Small black and white pooch found on Jackson Street
This little black and white cutie was found wandering on Jackson Street in the city this afternoon and is now en route to the county animal shelter.
He doesn't have tags. We don't know if he's a French bulldog or a pug.
