The Amherstimes.com has been published for six years as a website. That is a great deal longer than many other blogs on the net. The reason for our longevity is that we do our homework and research stories before we publish
My name has been suggested as a possible replacement for Debbie Bucki on our town board when she assumes her new Town Clerk position on January 1st. This is an honor which I gave serious consideration. I believe I could add the punch the TB needs to help the residents and businesses of Amherst as we head down the road toward financially difficult days ahead.
I have been fighting the poorly run; corrupt government of Amherst for the last 20 years. Back in 1989 when I first began attending Town Board meetings on a regular basis I dug up information about several important issues including payoffs in the Engineering Department. There were also payoffs from vendors who gave individuals in the Engineering Department $500 each plus a trip to Florida, all expenses paid. This stopped after I exposed it to the light.
A major scandal in the Highway Department concerned a management employee who ripped off thousands of dollars by using false invoices. He was caught and fired. Later he was a witness for the Police Department concerning another area of crime. There was equipment stolen from the Highway Department being sold at different front shops.
The worst rip-off was a basketball league run after school. The pay-off for the 5 men who ran it was over $100,000 apiece. I was very pleased to see that shut down. These men are basically “out of the game” today.
The list of Amherst government crimes, which I worked on and continue to work on, involves people who believe they won’t/can’t get caught because Amherst has a history of being easy to steal from.
Many good people who live and work in Amherst have helped me out so much with my investigations. Without them I wouldn’t have gotten to first base in weeding out many of the losers.
You can tell a good deal about a person by his enemies. I have my share of them but I have far more helpful, supportive friends. They have encouraged me to step up to this challenge. I appreciate their encouragement but have decided to continue my work for the town in the format I found to be most productive. I’ll continue do devote my energy to the town from this website.