Letter to Kevin Gaughan

Does anyone have regionalism advocate Kevin Gaughan's email address? I'm trying to email him this letter regarding the special election for the Erie County Legislator seat vacated by the always fresh Tim "Horton's" Kennedy:

Mr. Gaughan,

I appreciate all of your efforts to downsize Western New York and free us from unnecessary and expensive layers of government. I am writing to you about the Erie County Legislature. We currently pay the part time lawmakers $43,000/yr. We also pay the salaries of their full time staff members as well as the cost of maintaining their satellite offices in the district.

For years, the County was governed by an all volunteer Board of Managers, consisting of the leaders of various towns and villages in Erie County. Their only role was to approve and make amendments to the County Executive's fiscal budget. Coincidentally, this is the same thing we now pay our current members and their staff to do. The only people who benefit from the current group of legislators are their close friends and family. They are a burden on the hardworking taxpayers.

I am looking for information and support on specifically how much money we pay each year (in salaries, pension costs, office rentals,etc.) for this completely unnecessary layer of government. I'm exploring a possible protest candidacy calling attention to this issue and for the future elimination of the entire Legislature. I live in the 2nd Legislative District currently "represented" by Timothy Whalen. A special election for this seat will be held this Fall. In my opinion, if the people knew how unnecessary these seats were, they would support a future referendum calling for the elimination of them. In an age where we're calling for cutbacks to police officers, firefighters, and teachers, we need to start cutting first with politicians.

I've been a coach and youth sports organizer in South Buffalo for 20 years. In this role, I've come to know thousands of hardworking families. 1,500 people a week read this blog. I have a Bachelors degree in Psychology from UB and a Masters degree in Physical Education from Canisius College. (Unfortunately, not being related to the Keanes, Brian Higgins, or any of the other South Buffalo political families has made finding a decent job in this economically depressed area a little tough.) However, I have no problem competing against them, since I know the residents of the 2nd District would be behind this issue. Thank you very much for your time. I am definitely interested in promoting your call for leaner government in Western New York. My email address is Blake14220@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Mike Blake
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