Hamburg First Democrats form

Frustrated with the direction of Town of Hamburg politics, a group consisting currently of 22 members have formed the Hamburg First Democrats with the hopes of creating positive change.

David Grasso, treasurer and spokesman for the group, said members of the newly formed party “have become concerned over the last few years” and formed to try and get good, qualified candidates to run in 2013.

“Our goal is to try and change things,” said Grasso.

Among the areas the party is concerned about is how the newly downsized board will impact the community.

On Jan. 1, the Hamburg Town Board reduced to a three-person board, which is currently governed by Town Supervisor Steven Walters and Councilmembers Amy Ziegler and Joseph Collins.

Walters and Ziegler are Republicans and Collins is a Democrat.

Grasso said a goal of the group is to try and increase the board back to a five-member board.

In 2009, voters in the Town of Hamburg passed a resolution to reduce the size of the board.

In 2010, Kevin Smardz was elected to the State Assembly, and in 2011, the board opted not to appoint anyone to fill his seat. Jon Gorman remained on the board in 2011 and several key issues deadlocked, 2-2.

Gorman’s seat expired at midnight on Dec. 31, 2011, leaving a community with nearly 57,000 people governed by Walters, Ziegler and Collins.

Grasso said in December, the organization decided to form as the Hamburg First Democrats.

The paperwork was filled out and sent to Albany in January and the group is now officially registered with the state.

Dennis Chapman is the chairman of the group.

He wanted to make a point that forming this group is not personal in nature.

“It’s all to do with the community,” he said.

The group is currently made up of people from all walks of life, including ex-auto workers, teachers and officers. He said their goal is to make Hamburg a better community.

He said with the downsizing, he could not understand during the town’s organizational meeting last month why they did not bid out services for a consultant/human resources position, which was given to Brian Doyle, who previously served as assistant town attorney. He will get paid $1,000 per week by the Town of Hamburg.

“Why wouldn’t you put out a competitive bid?” Grasso said the Hamburg First Democrats wondered.

Ultimately, he said first and foremost, the group believes it is vital to do what it takes to get the board back up to five people.

He said what concerns the group is the lack of representation throughout portions of the town, such as Blasdell.

They would like to see a system where candidates would come from the north, west, south and eastern portions of Hamburg to form a quadrant.

“People would be more interested in running for office if this happened,” said Grasso.

While the group’s main focus would be the Town of Hamburg, they would also be involved with the Village of Hamburg and the Village of Blasdell as well.

“People just got too complacent,” said Grasso, who added he hopes this new party will make the process more competitive.

The next round of town elections will be in 2013, when Walters, Ziegler’s and Collins’ seats will all be up.

“We hope to reinvigorate the town,” said Grasso.

In 2012, the group plans to hold a series of fundraisers, including coffee hours which will serve as a “come meet the pack night.”

They will also be searching for candidates interested in running in 2013. Anyone who is interested in becoming a member of the Hamburg First Democrats is asked to send an email to Davidj73@verizon.net or to Hamburgunite.sharepoint.com.