Thank you to everyone for your support in the recent Le Roy Village elections. I am very excited to work with the current Trustees, Greg Rogers and Dick O'Shea, the mayor, Ged Brady, the village clerk, Sharon Jearey, all of the Village employees, and the Village Community to help us move forward. I very much appreciate the support of my running mate, Jim DeLooze, who stepped up to the plate to help run an excellent campaign that focused on the issues. I am also grateful for the support I received for the local and county democrats. Without such excellent support the campaign would not have been as thorough and effective.

Congratulations to Robert Taylor on his win for the other trustee seat. I look forward to working with you as well.

I would also like to thank William Seeley and Sid Horgan for running, as well. This is an excellent example of democracy at its finest; five people with varied backgrounds and ideas running for two seats. It is not easy to put yourself out there during a campaign. Thank you all very much for being willing to do so.

My campaign e-mail is still up and running if you prefer to comment in private...

Keys4trustee@rochester.rr.com

Did you know that in fiscal year 2006-2007 the village board funded the sidewalk line for $15,000, but did not use any of it?

Did you know that for fiscal year 2007-2008 the village board funded the sidewalk line for $10,000 and used only $4,600 of it?

For fiscal year 2008-2009 the village board funded the sidewalk line for $38,708 and as of 1/31/09 had not used any of that money.

Did you know for the current fiscal year (2009-2010) the board funded the sidewalk line for $10,000 and we've been told at the village board meetings that they have not used any of it?

When I went to the Village Hall I was unsuccessful in getting an answer to why the money hasn't been used, but I did learn that they always fund it.

Why was there a sidewalk committee when the money was already budgeted? Why wasn't the money used? Why are the sidewalks still in disrepair?

I've been to the meetings. It appears that the elections, tomorrow, are coming at just the right time.

What are your thoughts on any of this?

I'll start...I'm disappointed because it seems like there's been a great deal of time wasted talking and theorizing, instead of action being taken when there was money there anyway.

                In 2001 the Village of LeRoy adopted a Comprehensive Plan, the culmination of a community planning effort that began in 1991. The time frame for the plan was 2001-2013 to coincide with the children entering kindergarten in 2001 to the time they graduated.

                The plan called for an increase in the number of activities outside of school hours for the community’s youth and improved recreational facilities. Under the current Republican administration the Village Board has closed the community pool.

                The plan also called for maintaining the integrity of the Oatka Creek shoreline and expanding recreational opportunities like hand-powered boat launches and picnic areas. It also called for the village to “apply for stream restoration funding to stabilize the shoreline of Oatka Creek.” Former mayor Jim DeLooze did just that and received a $350,000 grant, but two years later the Village Board, under new  leadership, gave it back saying they didn’t want it.

                It is time for the people who are interested in the future of this community to hold meetings to get your input to update the Comprehensive Plan. When elected we will make sure everyone has a chance to participate and we will be the conscience of the Board in following the plan.

                We appreciate your vote on Tuesday, March 16 at the Village Hall.

(A copy of the Comprehensive Plan is available in the Town Hall.)

  We don’t think that everyone in the village of LeRoy is being represented fairly and equally. 

We are running for office for Village Trustee positions, because we believe in fair and equal representation.

We are concerned about a local law proposing that sidewalks be paid for by the adjacent landowner.  That’s unfair because: 1) not all people in LeRoy have sidewalks yet they have equal access to the existing sidewalks; 2) people who live on corner lots will be responsible for twice as much sidewalk as the average homeowner; 3) the law is discriminatory because the Village can come to homeowners demanding replacement of sidewalks without a reason why. 

Sidewalks are a community asset and should be paid for equally by the community.  On February 23, Senator Orrin Hatch, long-time member of the Senate Judicial Committee, said that it was unconstitutional to force someone to buy anything they don’t want to buy.  Furthermore, he said that if they get away with it, your rights are gone, and they can force you to do just about anything they want.

We agree with current Democratic Trustee Greg Rogers that we shouldn’t change the law and that we should fund the line item in the budget each year to repair and maintain the sidewalk system.

This is just one of our concerns about our community.  Please save these three dates:

·        Tuesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greens of LeRoy, 1 West Ave., for the Meet the Candidates Night, where you will be able to ask the

candidates questions;

·        Wednesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Village Hall to voice your opinion in the Public Hearing regarding the proposed sidewalk law;

·        Saturday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Java’s on Main St. to meet us, your Democratic candidates.  Join us for coffee and cookies, and bring us your concerns about the Village of LeRoy, regardless of your party affiliation.

Jennifer Keys

Jim DeLooze

Thank you, Howard, for hosting our blog and for your patience and guidance in getting it posted properly.

We don’t think that everyone in the village of LeRoy is being represented fairly and equally. 

We are running for office for Village Trustee positions, because we believe in fair and equal representation.

We are concerned about a local law proposing that sidewalks be paid for by the adjacent landowner.  That’s unfair because: 1) not all people in LeRoy have sidewalks yet they have equal access to the existing sidewalks; 2) people who live on corner lots will be responsible for twice as much sidewalk as the average homeowner; 3) the law is discriminatory because the Village can come to homeowners demanding replacement of sidewalks without a reason why. 

We don’t think that everyone in the village of LeRoy is being represented fairly and equally. 

We are running for office for Village Trustee positions, because we believe in fair and equal representation.

We are concerned about a local law proposing that sidewalks be paid for by the adjacent landowner.  That’s unfair because: 1) not all people in LeRoy have sidewalks yet they have equal access to the existing sidewalks; 2) people who live on corner lots will be responsible for twice as much sidewalk as the average homeowner; 3) the law is discriminatory because the Village can come to homeowners demanding replacement of sidewalks without a reason why. 

Sidewalks are a community asset and should be paid for equally by the community.  On February 23, Senator Orrin Hatch, long-time member of the Senate Judicial Committee, said that it was unconstitutional to force someone to buy anything they don’t want to buy.  Furthermore, he said that if they get away with it, your rights are gone, and they can force you to do just about anything they want.

We agree with current Democratic Trustee Greg Rogers that we shouldn’t change the law and that we should fund the line item in the budget each year to repair and maintain the sidewalk system.

This is just one of our concerns about our community.  Please save these three dates:

·        Tuesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greens of LeRoy, 1 West Ave., for the Meet the Candidates Night, where you will be able to ask the

candidates questions;

·        Wednesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Village Hall to voice your opinion in the Public Hearing regarding the proposed sidewalk law;

·        Saturday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Java’s on Main St. to meet us, your Democratic candidates.  Join us for coffee and cookies, and bring us your concerns about the Village of LeRoy, regardless of your party affiliation.

Jennifer Keys

Jim DeLooze

After spending a couple of hours in the lovely, wet snow today delivering campaign literature I have a renewed respect for Postal Carriers. It's a seriously tough job slogging through the snow and up and down steps to deliver. I hope that you will take the time to read the campaign literature that is delivered to you and make an informed decision when you enter the polls on March 16 for the Village Trustee elections. The literature was hand delivered by someone going through the snow of their own accord without pay to get the information to you.

Wow, winter really does wreak havoc on political signs, doesn't it? I am glad I was able to be green and Reuse signs from the recent fall campaign. Needless to say, though, the recent spate of snow has slowed down the posting of signs so you will find that there are not as many this time around as there were in October/November.

As always please feel free to post you comments, questions, concerns, or contact me at keys4trustee@rochester.rr.com.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Do you attend any government meetings, such as Village Board, Town Council or County? Why or Why not?

I have not posted a blog entry in a while and was feeling it was long overdue. As most of you know I began blogging on The Batavian when I was running for LeRoy Town Council last fall. I continued blogging on The Batavian because it is an excellent forum for which to discuss what is going on in our world.

I am blogging today to announce (in case you haven't heard) that I am running for Trustee in the Village of LeRoy in the local March elections. Many of the issues that I ran on for Town Council are cross over issues that remain valid and important to the Village of LeRoy as well. I have blogged here in the past on most of the campaign issues. Most of you have also already read about my credentials in a past blog. I don't want to waste your valuable time by repeating myself.

The bottom line is that I believe in the Village of LeRoy and its future. I continue to want to be a part of the solutions and not a part of the problems. It is my goal to be YOUR voice on the Village Board! Everyone deserves to be heard and deserves equal representation regardless of any demographic factors. Please feel free to post comments, questions, and concerns here. If you do not feel comfortable with this open forum then feel free to contact me at my new/private campaign e-mail:

Keys4Trustee@rochester.rr.com.

I have begun knocking on your doors in this lovely Western New York in February weather and look forward to knocking on more.

As always, thank you for your time and consideration!

What is your opinion about the potential sale of the Genesee County Nursing home? Keep in mind that this is all preliminary, but it certainly appears that the county has begun the process. Take a look at this article:

http://thedailynewsonline.com/articles/2010/01/02/news/6327308.txt

As always, thank you for your time and consideration. Please don't forget to take a look at my blog considering a Women's Caucus as well.

Last month (December…can you believe it’s January already?) a few of the female members of the Genesee County Democratic Committee discussed formation of a Women’s Caucus. We discussed fund raising, volunteerism, and expanding the group to the larger four county GLOW coalition (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming). One example of a fund raiser is to put on breakfasts or luncheons for female candidates or the wives of up ticket candidates (Schumer, Paterson, Cuomo, Gillibrand, …). We would also like to help form a Young Democrats Committee.

In a big election year, such as this one, we could share the work load and responsibilities for organizing and mobilizing for activities, such as the very successful event we had at Sweet Briar last summer.

We are looking to expand the group and hope that you will consider joining. We recognize that everyone is quite busy and believe that participation in the Women’s Caucus wouldn’t really require meetings as we can have discussions and make plans through e-mail, shared documents, or tools such as Face Book.

If you are interested please post a comment or send me an e-mail to jkeys2009@rochester.rr.com.

As always, thank you for your consideration.

What do you see for the future of the Village of LeRoy? ...the Town of LeRoy?

The results of the Pool Poll conducted by the LeRoy Village Board were shared this evening at the Village Board meeting. There were 124 polls turned in of which 92.7% (115) were homeowners; 8.9% (or 11 polls) were in the 21-40 age range, 43.5% (54) were in the 41-60 age range, and 47.6% (59) were 61 or older; 24.2% (30) had children, while 75.8% (94) did not; 58.9% (73) answered yes they want a poll, with the remaining 41.1% (51) saying no. Of those who responded that they want a pool the majority, 50.7% (37) stated they want a year round facility (option D involving a joint municipality venture with the village, town, and school district), 20.5% (15) chose option B (Spend $140,000 next year with more repairs to be done in following years...), 15.1% (11) chose option A (build a spray park), and 13.7% (10) chose option C (spend $395,000 to completely renovate the pool....). If you want to know more information about the break down let me know.

It's troubling, though, that only 124 polls were turned in out of approximately 1900 households in the village and even more in the Town. I knocked on more than 124 doors campaigning this fall and almost everyone had an opinion about the pool.

I have 3 questions for everyone, especially those living here in LeRoy:

1.)Why was there such a low turn out?

2.)What could be done to improve turn out?

3.)What kind of a message do you think this low turn out sends to the board?

As always, thank you for your time and your thoughtfullness.

I hope that everyone will continue the discussion on the LeRoy pool. It has been very informative and exciting. During the pool discussion the infrastructure in LeRoy was brought up. 

So what are your thoughts on the infrastructure? Roads, water, sewer, trees, sidewalks, curbs, ... . Last year there was serious issue with the sewers on Munson Street where houses in the middle of the street had the sewers backed up into them...Where does that specific issue stand today? What has been done to address it? Has there been an accurate assessment of what and why it happened? 

Please feel free to mention anything that has to do with infrastructure please. I know that there has been some controversy concerning sidewalks on Munson Street and in other areas. What are your thoughts on what needs to be addressed and what it says about our community?

Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.  

I hope you have taken a look at the LeRoy Pool Poll from Sunday's LeRoy Penny Saver, and maybe even filled it out.

I'm curious to know what everyone's thoughts are on the poll?

I've heard some interesting feedback already, such as why do we have to fill out our names and addresses, asking if you are a homeowner or if you rent could make people feel that their opinion may be weighted or even discounted based on the answer, what about those who may be don't own or rent but who are old enough to have an opinion and to contribute to the economy, it sounds negative and doesn't focus on the earning potential...

What are your thoughts? Do you think it hits the topics? Do you think it accomplishes the purpose? Do you have any thoughts about specific questions? Is it thorough enough? Is it confusing?....

As always, I look forward to the enlightening conversation and thank you in advance for your participation.

The LeRoy Pool Poll is in Sunday, November 22, 2009's LeRoy Penny Saver. Our Village Board listened to the voices of a few concerned citizens about the possibility of closing the pool permanently and created a poll to solicit the opinions of all residents before making a final decision. PLEASE take a few minutes to read the first page, an explanation of the choices and their impact on you, and then honestly answer the questions on the second page.

In order for YOUR OPINION to COUNT you MUST return it to the Village by 12/3/09---that is the Thursday after Thanksgiving (so less than 2 weeks).

PLEASE fill it out and send it back.

Thank you.

Why do you think we have so many abandonned houses in LeRoy?

What do you think should be done with the houses?

I'm very curious to know your thoughts on sidewalks.

What do you think about sidewalks? What do sidewalks say about a community? Are some sidewalks more important than others? What is your favorite kind of a sidewalk (slate, brick, cement, dirt path...)?

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my opponent for Le Roy Town Council, 2-year term, Kelly Lathan, on her win this evening. I will be calling you tomorrow (thought it kind of rude to call this late as your daughter might be sleeping).

Thank you so much to every one who helped and supported me with my campaign. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet so many new people and hear their concerns. This has been a wonderful experience and I look forward to many more.

My name is Jennifer Keys and I am a candidate for Town Council in Le Roy. I am running for office because I strongly believe that community involvement and public service are intrinsic responsibilities of citizens.  My husband and I chose Le Roy to raise our family for it’s unique qualities -- strong school district, beautiful picturesque village and rural values. We plan on making this community our home for many, many years to come.

I hold a Master’s degree in World History and undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Political Science.   I left my full time job as a Care Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Villa to raise my family.  I also worked at Berkshire Farms as a respite care provider and as an adjunct instructor at Monroe Community College.

My community service experience includes my membership on the Le Roy PTSO, YWCA mentor program, former PAC-TAC (Police and Citizens Against Crime) volunteer scheduler,  former Rape Crisis Counselor and a Faith Haven “Friend” to teenage and young adult women in crisis pregnancies.  I also founded a neighborhood watch organization in the Swillburg neighborhood in Rochester, where we lived for 12 years.

While communities across NY have had unique challenges because of the recession, I also see opportunities for Le Roy and Western NY.  My issues include: economic development, where I see the empty storefronts and hope that we can attract locally owned businesses, “Green” energy integration, recreation (and particularly mitigating the Le Roy municipal pool to a conclusion that satisfies the community’s needs), and of course most of all, listening to the concerns of Le Roy citizens.  I feel that I can also bring budget and fiscal sound policies to the table.

The key to good government is an open dialog with the citizens.  If elected, I will make that a priority.