genesee county

Genesee County lost 291 residents according to 2010 Census data released in the past week, but the losses were not evenly distributed throughout the county.

Over the last decade, some areas gained residents, such as the Town of Batavia, most notably, and the Village of Le Roy.

The City of Batavia was the big loser, shedding 791 residents, with the southeast section of the city getting hammered with a 15.7-percent drop in population.

The Town of Batavia gained 894 residents, with 6,809 people in its jurisdiction, up from 5,915 in 2000.

The Village of Le Roy grew from 4,716 to 4,739 residents. The Town of Le Roy dropped 2.2 percent, to 5,361.

The Basom area, which includes the Tonawanda Indian Reservation now has 483 residents, a 9.9-percent drop from 2000.

Other counts: Alabama, 6,161 -- down 3.8 percent; Oakfield and Elba, 5,620 --  down .4 percent; Byron-Bergen, 5,489 -- down 3.3 percent; Pavilion and Bethany, 4,260 -- up .8 percent; Alexander and Darien, 5,692 -- up 3.2 percent.

The county's African-American population has increased from 1,284 in 2000 to 1,612, now comprising 2.7 percent of the county's population.

The Hispanic population here has increased from 904 in 2000 to 1,616. It's now 2.7 percent of the population.

The numbers of Asian-Americans grew from 292 to 355.

Total housing units have expanded over the past 10 years from 24,190 to 25,589. Occupied housing units stands at 23,728 compared to 22,770. There are a little more than 400 additional vacant housing units than 10 years ago.

It would be a good idea, according to County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens, to install cameras to monitor the gas pumps used to fill up county vehicles.

In some counties employees have been caught stealing gas. Hens didn't come right out and say any Genesee County personnel are stealing gas, but he would like to have a system that would much such theft easier to prove.

"The only way to catch somebody now is to compare like vehicle to like vehicle," Hens said. "If one pickup truck is getting 15 miles to the gallon and another is getting only nine, then I'm going to say 'something is not right here,' but you're still dealing with somebody with only circumstantial numbers."

A camera would allow supervisors to check tapes (digitally stored) and see if employees are bringing in personal vehicles at the same time they fuel county vehicles, or filling up gas cans.

Legislators Ray Cianfrini and Bob Baush balked at the $19,000 price tag for the video surveillance system during the Public Service meeting Monday. They wondered if fewer cameras could be used, or if surveillance was necessary at all.

"Is it worth paying $19,000 to save $40 in gas?" Cianfrini asked.

Besides monitoring the pumps, the proposed system can also monitor the parts garage and could eventually be expanded to monitor nearby DeWitt Park.

Hens said that as much as $2,000 annually from potentially pilfered gas could be saved and the camera system -- which needs to be infrared to read license plates at night -- has a 10-year life expectancy.

But it isn't all about how much might be stolen, which is a hard number to pin down with the current system, Hens said.

"On principle, I don’t know if you want an employee who is stealing $40 of gas," Hens said. "I think you would rather catch those people."

Currently, fueling county vehicles involves a two-card process -- one card for the employee and one card for the vehicle.

As the meeting progressed, Tim Yaeger, director of Emergency Services, walked in. He and Undersheriff Bill Sheron spoke briefly and then Yaeger piped up, saying there might be Homeland Security grants available for the camera system.

Since the fuel yard is essential to critical services in an emergency, it needs to be protected, Yaeger said.

The motion to buy the system was tabled until Yaeger could research the availability of grants.

For Batavia-area residents working in Monroe County, unless they specifically earmark their United Way donations for Genesee County, the money will remain in Rochester.

The formula for divvying up the funds has been changed, starting with the next pledge campaign. United Way's fiscal year runs from March 31 to April 1 of the following year.

More than a dozen local nonprofits rely on help from the United Way. Recipients include the Salvation Army and the Genesee/Orleans Regional Concern. Each year they receive a portion of funds based on the estimated percentage of people who commute to work in Rochester (since Genesee County falls under the umbrella of the Rochester-area United Way).

As expected, about $20,000 in so-called "commuter dollars" will be forthcoming this year.

But thousands of dollars could be rerouted to Monroe County charities for the 2011-12 pledge drive and beyond unless people designate Genesee County as the intended recipient of United Way funds.

"The best we can do is word of mouth -- we don't have money to market and tell people that this is required or we don't (get to) keep the money here," said Jamie Beedham-Rada, regional director of the United Way.

The option for designating funds for a particular county was not included on pledge forms until now.

The code number 9022 must be noted on donor/pledge forms, including those filled out online.

"Their thinking is that big donors, like Xerox, etc., don't have as many workers, donations are down, and there are fewer dollars to go around," Beedham-Rada said. "So unless they use the 9022 code number, the money will stay in Rochester.

"That's our concern -- we could lose thousands and thousands of dollars, Beedham-Rada said. "The fix is easy, but if people don't know, the money won't come back. And without United Way funding, many local agencies would be in dire straits."

Should have had this up sooner -- several people have asked for the results of Saturday's county tax lien auction. Below is the list of properties we previously published with the sale price in bold at the end of each listing.

• 7016 Macumber Road, Alabama, mobile home, .46 acres; Assessed, $48,200; Taxes owed, $3,778.70. ($19,000)
• 10 Edgewood Drive, Batavia, single-family residence, .61 acres (and neighboring parcel); Assessed, $185,000; Taxes owed,$33,938.61. ($90,000)
• Pearl Street Road, Batavia, vacant lot, .28 acres; Assessed $1,300; Taxes owed $694.41. ($1,200)
• 7521 Mechanic St., Byron, single-family residence, .53 acres; Assessed $30,000; Taxes owed, $5,508.57. ($9,000)
• 11036 South St. Road, Pavilion, single-family residence and out buildings, .06 acres; Assessed $56,800; Taxes owed $1,150.60. ($11,000)
• 8562 Lake Road, Pembroke, residence with small improvements; Assessed $20,000; Taxes owed $2,019.39. ($7,000)
• Alleghany Road, corner of Cohocton, Pembroke, 10 acres, rural vacant lot; Assessed $6,300; Taxes owed $994.97. ($5,100)
• 6128 Sweetland Road, Stafford, 19.77 acres with buildings;  Assessed $37,300; Taxes owed $8,101.81. ($52,000)
• 103 Lake St., Le Roy, single-family residence, 2.3 acres; Assessed $72,400; Taxes owed $12,820.58. ($49,000)
• 21 Lake St., Le Roy, single-family residence, 5.6 acres; Assessed $88,900; Taxes owed $14,343.02. ($41,000)
• 5 Pleasant Ave., two-family residence, .12 acres; Assessed $31,000; Taxes owed $11,124.13. ($7,000)
• 34 N. Pearl St., Oakfield, single-family residence, .15 acres; Assessed $60,300; Taxes owed $8,358.20. ($21,000)

Total profits for the county aren't available yet, according to Treasurer Scott German. He said the interest on back taxes need to be calculated out of what was owed in order to arrive at the final profit number. Those calculations haven't been done yet.

Twelve foreclosed properties, assessed at more than $637,000 total, will be auctioned off Saturday as Genesee County attempts to recover unpaid taxes on them.

In all, the county would need to yield at least $102,830 from the auction to recover all of the unpaid taxes.

The properties include six single-family residences and range in lot size from .12  up to nearly 20 acres.

Here's a complete list of available properties:

• 7016 Macumber Road, Alabama, mobile home, .46 acres; Assessed, $48,200; Taxes owed, $3,778.70.
• 10 Edgewood Drive, Batavia, single-family residence, .61 acres (and neighboring parcel); Assessed, $185,000; Taxes owed,$33,938.61.
• Pearl Street Road, Batavia, vacant lot, .28 acres; Assessed $1,300; Taxes owed $694.41.
• 7521 Mechanic St., Byron, single-family residence, .53 acres; Assessed $30,000; Taxes owed, $5,508.57.
• 11036 South St. Road, Pavilion, single-family residence and out buildings, .06 acres; Assessed $56,800; Taxes owed $1,150.60.
• 8562 Lake Road, Pembroke, residence with small improvements; Assessed $20,000; Taxes owed $2,019.39.
• Alleghany Road, corner of Cohocton, Pembroke, 10 acres, rural vacant lot; Assessed $6,300; Taxes owed $994.97.
• 6128 Sweetland Road, Stafford, 19.77 acres with buildings;  Assessed $37,300; Taxes owed $8,101.81.
• 103 Lake St., Le Roy, single-family residence, 2.3 acres; Assessed $72,400; Taxes owed $12,820.58.
• 21 Lake St., Le Roy, single-family residence, 5.6 acres; Assessed $88,900; Taxes owed $14,343.02.
• 5 Pleasant Ave., two-family residence, .12 acres; Assessed $31,000; Taxes owed $11,124.13.
• 34 N. Pearl St., Oakfield, single-family residence, .15 acres; Assessed $60,300; Taxes owed $8,358.20.

The auction begins at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 5, at Bontrager's Auction Center, 8975 Wortendyke Road in the Town of Batavia.

In a 40-minute long State of the County address, Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock made sure she had something good to say about every department in county government, but saved the true crux of the problems facing local government until the end of her speech.

In a nutshell, the county is being crushed by mandates.

"It is a fact that these nine state mandates consume 90 percent of the statewide county property tax levy," Handock said. "No amount of public outcry can impact a local budget that is already 'spent by Albany.' Action and change must come before they spend all of your money."

Medicaid, Hancock noted, costs counties across the state only $115 million in 1966. Now, the local share is $7 billion and the total NYS bill is $53 billion.

"That's more than $1 billion a week and it is certainly a good part of the reason the state's budget is broken," Hancock said.

Other state mandates mentioned by Hancock: public assistance/safety net program; child welfare protection/prevention; special education pre-K; indigent defense; probation; early intervention; youth detention; and the pension system.

"Each of these basically good programs could be improved and become more efficient and cost effective by making some obvious changes," Hancock said. "Refocusing upon the initial intent of the program, redesigning the delivery of services, following the recommendations of statewide task forces who have studied the concerns, and eliminating the trend to simply pass on excessive costs of state programs to the counties instead of reforming those programs."

Hancock said that calls to cap property taxes don't go far enough.

"Slowing and capping the growth of property taxes only insures that New York State retains its position as the state with the highest property taxes in the country," Hancock said.

For the complete text of Hancock's State of the County speech, click here.

This information comes from a news release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley's office:

On Dec. 23, a hearing -- without an opportunity for public input -- was held on outdoor wood boilers by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It decided to go full-steam to outlaw existing units and require stringent, and costly, regulations for newly built ones.

Wood-burning boilers are commonly used on farms and multi-acre properties to convert accessible natural resources into energy for heating homes and businesses.

“Time and time again, we see that a lack of transparency in government breeds regressive, anti-business policies,” said Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

Previously, the DEC agreed to phase out their use, instead of banning them, after heated protests at public hearings, including at least one in Genesee County, and heavy scutiny from members of the Assembly Minority Conference.

Hawley characterized Thursday's hearing and the DEC's reversal as "an example of irresponsible bureaucracy at its worst. The DEC rammed through new regulations that will drive the cost...upwards of $10,000."

He says the decision ignores the impact on people in rural areas like Western New York and serves as yet another example of what happens when the power is taken from the public and given to bureaucracies.

"Once again, state officials have ignored the will of rural New Yorkers and ushered through their own misguided agenda, with no consideration of the expense to the taxpayer.

“In light of the recent controversy surrounding the DEC, I find it appalling that they would continue to repeat the mistakes of old, rather than turn over a new leaf."

Legislator Bob Bausch was a brave soul this evening during the county's budget discussion.

Perhaps, he ventured, the legislature should consider raising taxes.

His reason: This may be the last chance.

Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has said he wants to cap property tax increases at 2 percent. That may apply to the total levy (in Genesee County, that's about $24 million), and it may just apply to school districts.

Or it may not.

And Bausch wondered aloud if maybe the county should raise the property tax rate by as much as $1 to establish a higher levy and avoid having its hands tied for the 2012 budget.

The suggestion hit the floor like an anvil.

No other legislator was willing to pick up the idea, though County Manager Jay Gsell did note briefly that Cuomo's proposal just seems like an attempt by Albany to further restrict what little control local governments have over local budgets.

Next year, Gsell said, the county may have to grapple with a $9 million deficit.

During the Genesee Justice discussion, Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock said, "We must shrink the size of government because we're a burden to our constituents. We can't go back on that now."

But is there really a hue and cry from Genesee County residents of "don't raise our taxes no matter what the consequences"?

Isn't the government that's a real burden on taxpayers sitting in Albany or Washington, not 15 Main St., Batavia?

As we were leaving tonight, I mentioned to Legislator Ray Cianfrini that this is the most fascinating budget process I've covered in my journalism career. He said wryly, "wait until next year."

Here's a very interesting article about the property tax cap from LoHud.com. Well researched and well worth reading.

The Genesee County Legislature will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the 2011 budget for the final time, with decisions before them that will have consequences for the local economy and civic environment for years to come.

Top on the agenda is what becomes of Genesee Justice.

County Manager Jay Gsell's preliminary budget called for eliminating seven Genesee Justice jobs and creating three new staff positions in the Probation Department, with probation taking over most of the pioneering restorative justice program's functions.

All of the county's top justice system experts -- including District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, Sheriff Gary Maha and Public Defender Gary Horton (inset picture) -- have lobbied to save Genesee Justice.

The experts say Genesee Justice has saved the county millions of dollars because many people who might otherwise be incarcerated are carefully supervised by Genesee Justice. The loss of Genesee Justice could mean that in a few years Genesee County will need to build a new jail at a cost of up to $30 million.

County officials, however, say these are dire economic times and costs need to be cut and taxes can't be raised. The county needs to trim about $7.5 million from its initial spending plan for 2011.

For years, Genesee Justice was funded entirely by grants, but over the years some those grants have dried up and local taxpayers must pick up about $237,000 of the operational costs of Genesee Justice.

Gsell plans to save that money, figuring that probation can assume the key functions of Genesee Justice.

"We know what services Genesee Justice delivers and we know how it is delivered," Gsell said for a previous story. "What we're looking at is how can we deliver that same level of service to the community through the Probation Department."

Julie Smith, probation director, said her department can assume the services and still help keep down the population level of the jail.

For example, Smith said, probation handled the release-under-supervision program for 26 years before handing it off to Genesee Justice in 2006.

Maha warned, however, that in neighboring counties, where there are no programs like Genesee Justice, the counties struggle with their jail populations.

"If the jail population increases, the State Commission of Correction will come down and tell us to do something about our increased population -- like build a new jail or put on an addition," Maha said. "We'll be like our neighbors to our south who had to build a jail addition to address their jail population."

Besides Genesee Justice, the legislature needs to decide what to do with the Soil and Water Conservation District, which is facing a 15-percent expense cut.

The cut, local farm leaders say, could end many vital services Soil and Water provides to farmers, helping keep them in business in a tough economic and regulatory environment.

"(The cut) would be a real detriment to the agriculture industry in Genesee County," said Brad Rodgers, chairman of the Soil and Water board of directors. "Even level funding would hurt us."

Scott Page, president of the Genesee County Farm Bureau, believes keeping Soil and Water is critical to protecting Genesee County's economic base.

"If we hurt ag, we miss an opportunity to move forward," said Page. "The more we build off our agricultural base, the better the local economy will do."

The conference meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday will not include a public comment period, but the session at the Old Courthouse is open to the public.

Following the conference meeting, the Ways and Means Committee will convene. Final budget amendments will be voted at that time, which are recommendations for the full legislature to consider. The full legislature will vote on the final 2011 county budget Dec. 8.

The future of Genesee Justice wasn't the only matter discussed at the county budget hearing a week ago. County Manager Jay Gsell made a presentation about the county's entire budget picture.

Among the most interesting slides were those dealing with Medicaid. As the pie chart above shows, Medicaid accounts for 41 percent of the county's property tax levy, even though only 10 percent of the county's residents are eligible for benefits.

Federally mandated medicaid services:

• Inpatient Hospital Services
• Outpatient Hospital Services
• Physician Services
• Medical and Surgical Dental Services
• Nursing facility services for individuals aged 21 or older
• Home Health Care (Nursing, Home Health Aide, Medical Supplies and Equipment)
• Family Planning Services and Supplies
• Rural Health Clinic Services
• Laboratory and X-Ray Services
• Nurse Practitioner Services
• Federally Qualified Health Center Services
• Midwife Services
• Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Services for individuals under 21 (Child/Teen Health Plan in NYS)
• Medicare Coinsurance and Deductibles for qualified Medicare beneficiaries for Chiropractors, Podiatrists, Portable X-Ray and Clinical Social Work Services

Additional mandated services covered by NYS Medicaid:

• Free-standing Clinic Services
• Nursing Facility Services for under age 21
• Intermediate Care Facility Services for the Developmentally Disabled 
• Optometrist Services and Eyeglasses
• Physical, Speech and Occupational Therapy
• Prosthetic Devices and Orthotic Appliances
• Dental Services, Audiology and Hearing Aids
• Clinical Psychologist Services
• Private Duty Nursing
• Diagnosis, Screening, Preventive and Rehabilitative Services
• Personal Care Services
• Transportation to Covered Services
• Hospice
• Case Management
• Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Services for Individuals under age 21 and over 65

With some beautiful weather, I was able to get out of the city for a bit today and take some photos. Here are three of the pictures.

Above, a Ford pickup behind Bruce Scofield's place (Scofield Roll Off Service) on Route 5 in Stafford.

An old windmill on Gully Road, Le Roy.

Silos on Pagen Farms, Gully Road, Le Roy.

In a long conversation today about the need for the Soil and Water Conservation District in Genesee County, Le Roy dairy farmer Dale Stein didn't once complain about an increasingly demanding Environmental Protection Agency.

He just said "Farmers need help."

That help has come for years from the Soil and Water District. Staff members have the expertise to help farmers comply with regulations that protect the land, air and water.

"All of us want to live in a good environment," Stein said. "But we can't do it on our own."

After our talk, Stein walked me across the street, through the mud and over a plank bridge that spans a cement trough, a little creek if you will, of liquid manure.

The manure is fed into a new $170,000 machine that pulls out the solids, drys it, mashes it up and sends it out a conveyor belt into a big pile in a new storage building.

Sawdust, which has served as bedding for cows for decades or longer, is getting expensive, Stein said. Increasingly, it's used in recycled products, which drives the cost up for farmers.

Now, Stein's cows sleep on their own processed manure.

"The cows love it," Stein said. "It's soft and fluffy."

Surprisingly, it has no discernible odor.

The environmentally friendly process was driven as much by federal guidelines to reduce his manure waste as it was by economics.

After a 30-percent federal grant to help pay for the project, Stein said the savings on sawdust purchasing will pay for the operation inside of two years.

Without the help of Soil and Water technicians, Stein said, the project would been a lot harder to pull off. They help identify issues on his farm that might run afoul of regulations, find the right solutions, help secure grants to pay for the projects and then ensure the project is completed within federal or state guidelines.

No farmer, Stein said, has that kind of expertise.

These are tough times, though, and the Genesee County Legislature wants to balance the county's $140.5 million budget without raising property taxes. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the county's revenue is tied up in covering the expense of unfunded mandates.

So, where the county can cut, officials are looking at deep cuts.

For the Soil and Water District, that means a 15-percent reduction -- $26,000 -- in the county's $170,000 allocation.

With the budget cut, there will be at least one less staff member in the district, according to Brad Rodgers, chairman of the Soil and Water board of directors.

"(The cut) would be a real detriment to the agriculture industry in Genesee County," said Rogers. "Even level funding would hurt us."

Scott Page, president of the Genesee County Farm Bureau, believes keeping Soil and Water is critical to protecting Genesee County's economic base.

"If we hurt ag, we miss an opportunity to move forward," said Page. "The more we build off our agricultural base, the better the local economy will do."

Page said his family has been dairy farmers in Le Roy for 50 years, and he's seen the regulations get tighter and more technical. While he doesn't think they are entirely necessary ("What farmer doesn't want to care for his animals?" he says), there is just no way the typical Genesee County farmer can keep abreast of all the regulations without experts to lead the way, he said.

Although Stein's manure recycling project has a direct economic benefit to his business, complying with many of the state and federal regulations adds nothing to the bottom line.

"It's tough for a farmer to lay aside that kind of money for something that is not going to generate profit," Page said.

Banks don't want to loan farmers money to undertake projects that often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Banks are only willing to help, Stein said, because there are federal grants available to pay from 30 to 70 percent of a project's cost.

And it takes Soil and Water experts to help a farmer through the application process.

"We have a good Soil and Water program," Stein said. "But we will start losing farms in this county pretty quickly due to these regulations without help."

Photos: Top, Dale Stein in front of a pile of manure dust; inset, Stein holding a handful of processed manure; bottom inset, Scott Page.

It was a historic moment, Public Defender Gary Horton said.

"This may be the first time you have Judge (Robert) Noonan, (District Attorney Lawrence) Friedman and I all agree on something."

There was nothing but agreement from the two dozen or so speakers who took up the cause of Genesee Justice at the County Legislature's budget hearing Wednesday evening.

The budget proposal calls for the elimination of Genesee Justice as a department and moving most of its current functions into the probation department.

The change could save the county $237,000, but several speakers said that Genesee Justice saves the county maybe as much as $1 million a year by helping to keep people out of jail.

Nothing against the Probation Department, many speakers said, but probation officers won't take the same approach in dealing with offenders and victims which Genesee Justice has done successfully for 30 years.

Speakers praised Genesee Justice as a pioneering "restorative justice" program. They characterized probation as a law enforcement agency -- one that takes more of a punitive approach in dealing with offenders.

"Probation officers carry weapons, they make arrests," said Oakfield Justice Thomas Graham. "Genesee Justice is more of a social agency, they handle casework, and they work very hard to help people make it through without sending them back to jail."

After the meeting, Julie Smith, director of probation, said she disagrees with that characterization of her department.

"Probation is (also) an alternative to incarceration," Smith said. "There are about 700 offenders on our case load and if it wasn’t for us, they would be in jail.

"We are following offenders," Smith added. "We are checking up on them. We are in their lives."

According to County Manager Jay Gsell, the county budget picture is so dire -- more than 80 percent of the budget is state-mandated expenses -- that drastic measures are needed. The budget contains little that is discretionary and the direction of the legislature was to balance the budget without increasing the tax levy.

"If we were masters of our own fate, that would be a lot easier to do, but we’re not," Gsell said. "We are creatures of state government."

Genesee Justice is a pioneering agency in what is known as "restorative justice." It focuses on the needs of victims and offenders to help bring about some level of reconciliation, and to help offenders re-enter society as productive citizens rather treat offenders in a traditional law-and-order manner.

The local program was started with grants 30 years ago at a time when the concepts of restorative justice were rarely considered by judges or prosecutors. 

As one speaker noted, Genesee Justice has been cited in scholarly articles on restorative justice from around the world.

Among the functions handled by Genesee Justice are: supervising first-time DWI offenders who have been granted a conditional discharge; overseeing work-release programs and community service; helping victims of crime with getting through the judicial process; and receiving restitution payments and completing paperwork, as well as managing the "release-under-supervision" (RUS) program.

Genesee Justice took over RUS from probation 2002. RUS allows courts to release alleged offenders prior to trial who don't qualify for release under their own recognizance but do not necessarily need to be held on bail.

Judges Robert Noonan, Robert Balbick, Thomas Graham, Michael Delplato, as well as Sheriff Gary Maha and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman all expressed concern that switching RUS back to probation would mean fewer alleged offenders would receive RUS status.

"The Genesee Justice program as it has developed is amazing in terms of keeping the jail population down," said Noonan. "I know probation says they can do it and I know they honestly believe they can do it.

"But I believe what you are going to see is a spike in the population at the jail and you are going to wind up paying dollars at the far end after eliminating a very, very important program."

Balbick said he just doesn't know what will happen if RUS is moved back to probation, and that worries him.

"The RUS program runs well because we have a department that runs it well," Balbick said. "I don’t know what it will be if probation runs it. Maybe they will run it well, but I don’t know. I do know that Genesee Justice runs it well."

One speaker suggested it would take $30 million to build a new jail, if needed. Sheriff Maha noted that the current jail was constructed at its present capacity because there was a Genesee Justice program to help keep offenders out of jail.

"If the jail population increases, the State Commission of Correction will come down and tell us to do something about our increased population -- like build a new jail or put on an addition," Maha said. "We'll be like our neighbors to our south who had to build a jail addition to address their jail population."

Smith said that probation handled RUS for 26 years and they can easily take over the program again.

Several speakers said they believe the elimination of Genesee Justice is "a done deal," and that the local justice system community was not consulted first.

The repeated complaint was that only two people -- Gsell and Smith -- supported the plan and were pushing it through without a lot of outside input.

"It appears to me that the only people who are speaking out in favor of this proposal are the ones making the proposal," Friedman said. "They’re the only ones who appear to believe that it’s a good idea. Otherwise, from what I’m hearing, everyone involved in the criminal justice systems, thinks this is a bad idea."

Smith was quick to point out after the meeting that she's not the one who made the proposal.

“This is at the direction of the legislature," Smith said. "The legislature asked me to look at. It’s nothing that I sought out. There’s a lot of misinformation out there (saying) that I sought to do this, but the legislature asked us to do this and we’ll do our best to step up to the plate."

Gsell said it certainly isn't a done deal.

"How can it be? The legislature hasn’t even voted," Gsell said. "This is what we go through every year when we make proposals on the budget. I make a proposal and that becomes what the legislators deal with. That’s where we’re at right now."

The legislators we spoke with after the meeting said they certainly haven't made up their minds and they want to discuss it further with other members of the legislature before making a decision.

Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the legislature, said "we're hearing the concerns and considerations of the people, and we're certainly listening."

"We will consider it carefully," Hancock said. "This is presented as a tentative budget and we don’t pass a budget for another three weeks."

Legislator Jay Grasso noted that he took copious notes during the meeting and he looks forward to sitting down with his fellow legislators to hear what they think.

Most of all, he said, it was a big change from previous public hearings where few people show up and even fewer have anything to say.

"It’s democracy in action," Grasso said. "You should have people here. You should have people questioning what we do. You should have people saying, ‘well, why are you doing this?’ I found it unique and refreshing."

Photos: Top, Gary Horton holding up a button in support of Genesee Justice; County Judge Robert Noonan; Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock; City Court Judge Robert Balbick; County Manager Jay Gsell; Sheriff Gary Maha.

We don't usually think of bed-sheet-robed and pointy-hatted white men burning crosses as a New York kind of thing.

That only happened in the deep, racist South, right?

Several years ago a client delivered a set of pictures to Oakfield attorney Ray Cianfrini that were clearly shot decades before in his hometown, showing men dressed exactly like Ku Klux Klan members.

While Cianfrini knew his parents had faced prejudice because of their Italian heritage -- his mother was denied a job in an insurance agency and his father was barred from the volunteer fire department -- nobody had ever told him that the Klan was once quite popular in Genesee County.

"I was shocked," Cianfrini said. "I had never seen that depicted in a picture before. I never knew that the Klan was here."

The set of pictures -- which were taken to document the funeral of a top Klan official in Oakfield in 1922, including a cross burning -- started Cianfrini on a effort to completely research the history of the Klan locally.

But not because he wanted to show anybody up, embarrass the families of former Klan members, revenge the prejudice shown against his parents or otherwise seek some sort of retribution.

He just thought it was an interesting bit of Genesee County history that should be preserved.

"I don't hold any grudges," said Cianfrini, a former mayor of the Village of Oakfield and currently a county legislator.

From about the turn of the century until the Great Depression, large portions of the American population were gripped by anti-immigrant prejudice (see The Gangs of New York).

In the 1920s, the Klan -- originally founded in 1865 -- was resurgent and recruiting millions of members in all parts of the nation. Genesee County was no exception.

At its height of popularity, there were an estimated 3,500 to 4,500 Klan members in Batavia, Oakfield, Pembroke, Bergen, Byron, Le Roy and Alabama.

Cianfrini said the members were community leaders -- the bankers, shop owners, politicians and farmers. So long as you were native born, descended from Northern European stock and Protestant, you could join the Klan.

The primary thrust of the Northern Klan's hatred was not African-Americans, although its members certainly did hate them. It was the most recent immigrants -- primarily Italians, Poles and Jews -- who concerned them the most.

Cianfrini charted how Genesee County's populations changed in the early part of the 20th Century, when the percentage of foreign-born residents went from primarily Irish, English and German to the Irish and Polish.

The change in population corresponds to the rise of the Klan.

By 1915, for example, 55 percent of all foreign-born residents were Italian.

They were drawn here by factory work, and even though they had been farmers in their native countries, agriculture opportunities were closed to them here, so they took unskilled labor jobs.

Two events helped both kill the Klan locally and allow Italians and Poles to join the mainstream of the community, Cianfrini said.

The first occurred in 1924. 

The Klan announced a march down Main Street in Batavia, and a judge issued an order against the march. A regional daily newspaper had obtained a list of all of the Klan members in Western New York and threatened to publish the list if the march took place.

More than 20,000 Klansman showed up in Batavia on Labor Day, 1924.

The newspaper published the list.

"It drove the Klan underground," Cianfrini said.

Nobody wanted to be associated publicly with the Klan.

The second significant event was World War II.

"They always say there are not atheists in foxholes," Cianfrini said. "I say, there is no prejudice in foxholes."

When veterans returned from the war, they were much more willing to accept each other as neighbors. It wasn't long after the war that Oakfield had its first Italian board member and its first Italian firefighter.

"We can talk about how prevalent it was, but I'm impressed by how in this era, we've gone from a time when a father was subject to prejudice, (to when) his son became mayor of the village where he couldn't become a firefighter."

In an effort to close a significant budget gap, the Genesee County Legislature will be asked to look at eliminating Genesee Justice and moving its services to the County Probation Department.

Genesee Justice provides a variety of services, including supervising accused criminals released from jail, as well as some convicted drunken drivers, and assisting victims of crime.

County Manager Jay Gsell said in the 17 years he's been with the county, Genesee Justice has gone from a program funded entirely by state grants to one that now has $237,000 in unfunded expenses.

The county is a looking for a way to cut that expense in an effort to trim $7.5 million from the proposed 2011 budget.

"We know what services Genesee Justice delivers and we know how it is delivered," Gsell said. "What we're looking at is how can we deliver that same level of service to the community through the probation department."

Ed Minardo, director of Genesee Justice has some concerns about whether the same level of services can be maintained.

He said he's working on an information campaign to help decision-makers understand all that Genesee Justice does and exactly what's involved in delivering the current level of services.

"I'm concerned," Minardo said. "We've been here 30 years. I want to ensure that this is a carefully deliberated decision."

Under the proposal -- which Gsell says is very preliminary -- about seven-and-half positions in Genesee Justice would be eliminated and three positions created in probation.

The Children's Advocacy Center, which employs two people, would remain under the supervision of the Sheriff's Office, which currently oversees Genesee Justice.

Gsell said the change could eliminate administration and overhead costs, but it still needs further study.

Minardo said that in 2009, Genesee Justice supervised 419 people assigned to community service; and 518 people in Genesee Jail were screened for possible release under supervision; and 245 accused criminals were released and supervised by Genesee Justice. 

The number of victims helped by Genesee Justice is not immediately available.

The county budget hearing is at 6 p.m., Nov. 17 in the county courts facility.