Editorial: Elect Nicholas Piatek Village Trustee

I once had a Village politician tell me: “sorry, government can only do so much” – sorry, but so much more can be done!

My name is Nicholas Piatek and the Liberty Independent is a project I started over a year ago as a blog/outlet for community news and opinions from Village and Town residents. I’ve been involved with community projects in Liberty for years, but over the past 14 months the Liberty Independent project has really opened my eyes to what is going on or not going on with the Village of Liberty.

Because of the outcry I hear and see everyday, I decided to run for Village of Liberty Trustee. The Village needs open minded people who are not out there for their name to be in lights or to broker back-room deals. Village residents deserve to be represented fairly.

There is a lot that needs to be done. The costs of operating the Village are rocketing and the last thing us residents want to hear is that we need a Tax increase. The bottom line is our village has to become more efficient or it’s going to fail. Most of the Village still isn’t electronic – they are stuck in the stone age. I want to bring Liberty residents and businesses together so we can work on a shared vision of our community. Everyone who pays taxes here should be fully engaged in every part of our community. Nobody should be surprised when something very important comes to light – such as the possible dissolution of our municipal court system. This is the only way our government, our village is going survive even the next few years.

I’ve lived in Liberty for most of my Life – I grew up here, then moved back with a family of my own after almost 10 years of living in Orange County because I LOVE LIBERTY. I want the best for my four kids, which means they should grow up in a community that’s stable and has potential. Regardless of what others say – Liberty could be the community so many of us badly want it to be.

I believe I am more than qualified for the position of Liberty Village Trustee.

Currently I am the Vice President of the Liberty Community Development Corporation board. The CDC serves as the central vehicle for Housing, Youth and Economic Development efforts in Liberty. The vision is to create a vibrant, diverse community with a prosperous local economy, where people from all backgrounds feel welcome and are involved in community activities.

I founded LibertyBikeTrail.org, a community and bicycling advocacy group. LibertyBikeTrail.org has accomplished many things including: revitalizing and opening The Liberty Rail Trail, working with Sullivan Renaissance on several projects (Cat A & B), developing programs for Liberty youth, holding events to attract visitors to our community, fielding a MTN bike team that has championed Liberty across the northeast, and much more. Today the group has over 300 supporters nationwide.

I am also the Sr Software Developer & Project Lead for LS Advertising Co Inc, a marketing, advertising, and direct mail firm. I have nearly 15 years of experience in web, IT, and project management. I’ll use these skills to modernize our government and offer problem solving skills.

We need jobs, we need attractive neighborhoods. I’ll work with groups like the CDC to bring business here. Our housing stock is falling apart, we need to make our village (not just main street) attractive again. I’ll go beyond just being a Trustee! I am a community activist – and I’ll never stop – I LOVE LIBERTY!

Follow me – Nick Piatek on my facebook page: Elect Nick Piatek – for Village of Liberty Trustee for updates on the campaign and Liberty.

http://www.facebook.com/ElectNick

The Village of Liberty elections will be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, and polls will be open from 12 pm until 9 pm.

Opinion: Sullivan County Officials – Stop Betting on Indian Casinos!

You’ve heard all of the commercials on the local radio from county tourism agencies and chamber of commerce’s. They’re running a campaign to lead us to believe bringing a casino to Sullivan County would provide thousands of jobs and boost our economy. Well – according to the Times Herald Record, an internal memo from a lawyer representing the Stockbridge-Munsee band of Mohicans states that the Interior and Justice Department officials say “that such a settlement is not viable”. What does that mean? Simply – another Casino deal dead.

Maybe it’s time we stop looking to feed off the gambling miss-fortunes of others and look at other alternatives. We need Industry up here. You would think with the success of the Kohls distribution center in Wurtsboro, county officials would pound the streets looking for more companies that would want to take advantage of our location. Really – take a second and read a map. Yeah there’s one central highway going though the center of our county but look how we’re nestled in-between cities like Albany, New York, Scranton, Binghamton, Syracuse, and our relatively close distance to arteries like I-84, I-81, I-88, or State Routes like 52,55,209, etc…

Look at AMD in Malta, NY. AMD is spending $4.6 BILLION dollars to build an advance plant up there. The plant is expected to bring over 1400 permanent jobs, 4300 construction jobs and thousands of spin-off jobs. The impact of AMD is expected to transform the community of Malta as well the entire upstate economy. What if we took the time pursuing dead end Casino deals and instead invested it in bringing a company like AMD to our area. We have plenty of land to spare.

Our communities are suffering because people can’t find jobs so they can’t spend money in our downtown businesses. No matter how much people talk about bringing more shopping to the area – we simply cannot support it because we don’t have the jobs. Having a casino like the one planned for Bridgeville is not going to solve this. The casino would have it’s own shops, restaurants, and services. The jobs except for a few would still be low paying service jobs. People visiting the casino are not going to venture into our downtown’s and spend money.

Please county officials if you are listening – stop baiting us with these deals that are never going to happen. Give us some real hope, give us jobs that will build our community. There are people here willing to get dirty and work. Let’s give them some real hope not the constant on again – off again casino deals.

Do you think Casino’s are the answer to our economy in Sullivan County?

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