Batavia Players premier A Cabaret Showcase: Opposites Attract at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Main St. 56 Theater in City Centre, Batavia.

The show is a smorgasbord of songs showcasing true opposites -- love and hate, dead and alive, in and out, big and small, and more.  All of the songs come from popular Broadway shows.

The show goes on again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. 

Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for seniors and students.

Photos by Howard Owens.

County legislators have so far given a thumbs up to Dr. James Sunser’s $37.3 million budget for Genesee Community College, a spending plan that includes a $100 per semester tuition increase and a request of $50,000 in additional funding from Genesee County to continue operations for 2023-24.

“I think it’s a very modest budget,” the college president said during Wednesday’s Ways and Means meeting. “As you can see, from the current approved budget, it's about $150,000 more than this year's approved budget. It looks to advance tuition by $100 a semester, for full-time students, and $10 a credit hour for part-time students.

“We worked hard with the state. We were hoping to be able to get a little more from the state, but we at least got flat funding for the current year, which is something that has been the norm for the last few years. We've asked the county to support us with the base prior year aid plus the $50,000 planned increase that we've talked about in prior years,” Sunser said. “And we feel strongly that we'll be able to operate within that budget, but it will be a challenge, just like it is for all of you as well.”

The proposed 2023-24 operating budget is $37,350,000, with a “sponsor share” of $ 2,786,374 to come from the county within a tax levy by that amount.

A public hearing will be necessary for this budget and related sponsor’s share, as the resolution to be voted on by the county Legislature states:

“That the Genesee County Legislature does hereby approve of the sponsor’s share of the operating budget of the Genesee Community College for the fiscal year September 1, 2023, through August 31, 2024, in the amount of $2,786,374 and cause the same to be included in the county tax levy for the year 2023.”

A vote is to go before the Legislature next week, and if approved, the budget, levy and public hearing will be set for 5:30 p.m. June 14 at the Old Courthouse, 7 Main St., Batavia.

During the conversation, Legislator John Deleo asked Sunser about the GCC radio station, a staple of this area for a decade that has become silent this past year. Sunser explained that maintaining a station — which was a club activity — for 24 hours a day was becoming “more and more difficult” to do, and the board made the decision to sell the license.

Two bids were received: one that offered “no dollars, they were just willing to take it,” Sunser said, and the second bidder that ended up purchasing the license through the FCC for $55,000. There is no radio, per se, as the station operates via online streaming, he said.

“So what we've done is we've moved away from the FCC as a licensed radio station, and we're on a streaming platform. So we're still providing the same opportunity to students to broadcast and have all that, but outside of the FCC regulations,” Sunser said.

Town, village and city municipalities will be a little fatter financially once again from county payouts of excess revenues.

With mortgage tax monies totaling $469,976.12, the Genesee County clerk and treasurer have reported to the Legislature that these funds may be distributed to everyone from Alabama to Stafford, and all entities in between, according to the provisions of Section 261 of the tax laws.

If this measure is approved by the Legislature, as expected after being approved by two sub-committees already, this will mean the following payments for each of the following in Genesee County:

• City of Batavia $ 110,175.18
• Town of Alabama $ 8,412.02
• Town of Alexander $ 27,606.46
• Town of Batavia $ 102,188.96
• Town of Bergen $ 12,215.15
• Town of Bethany $ 17,252.44
• Town of Byron $ 12,933.80
• Town of Darien $ 29,548.18
• Town of Elba $ 11,242.94
• Town of LeRoy $ 35,768.49
• Town of Oakfield $ 12,056.45
• Town of Pavilion $ 24,859.10
• Town of Pembroke $ 25,400.70
• Town of Stafford $ 20,007.16
• Village of Alexander $ 2,550.49
• Village of Attica $ 883.54
• Village of Bergen $ 1,655.00
• Village of Corfu $ 1,515.26
• Village of Elba $ 1,401.70
• Village of LeRoy $ 10,398.34
• Village of Oakfield $ 1,904.76

Per a resolution to come before the Legislature May 24, its approval would direct that the Genesee County Treasurer “hereby is authorized and directed to pay the Town Supervisors, Village Treasurers, and the Treasurer of the City of Batavia the amounts aforesaid from the Mortgage Tax refund.”

The Town of Darien Planning Board this week approved a special use permit for a new indoor play center and café, which will cater to parents and their young children.

This new establishment, Nutty’s Playden, will likely open sometime between mid-August to early September of this year at 1415 Broadway Road in Darien, said Crystal Nutty.

Nutty applied for a special use permit as opposed to a basic commercial permit. The location has been home two a couple of different restaurants in recent years.

“There are children involved. We will have indoor play equipment inside of the building rather than normal restaurant equipment or business furniture. This is also because we are a café mixed with a play center,” Nutty said.

“We will be taking over the lease [to the building] in August. There are a few things that the owner must do to the building before we take over the lease — like cleaning it out and making sure the bathroom is up to code because right now it is not.”

She said Nutty’s Playpen will have the following: 

• A large play structure that offers obstacles for children “to walk through, climb through and weave around.”  
• Slides  
• Creative play stations where children can pretend they are veterinarians or grocery store clerks  
• A pretend food truck as part of an imagination station
• A separate area for children ages 0 to 2   
• Creative stations where children can draw, color, build blocks or do puzzles.  
• A ball pit and sensory pit for digging and exploring
• Regular classes and events
• A café with strictly pre-packaged items as well as fresh baked goods, coffee, soft-serve beverages and birthday parties.  

“We are waiting for the building to get cleared out and the work to get completed so we can start moving our stuff in so we can get it opened. We will have a website hopefully within the next month. We won’t be open for live booking until we get a little bit closer,” Nutty said.   

“We will be offering online booking as well as drop-ins so people can come in for open play at any time. We will have a maximum capacity. We have not figured out what that is with fire and safety because once we get everything in the building, then we will work out those numbers a little bit. That is what the next step is.”

Citing “an abundance of caution,” County Manager Matt Landers declared a local state of emergency for Genesee County earlier Wednesday in response to rippling speculations about potential busloads of undocumented immigrants being sent this way from New York City.

One of the last straws — in an untidy political mix of statements about where immigrants should and should not go — was Orleans County’s declaration issued prior to Genesee County on Wednesday, Landers said. That was apparently one of the reasons for an executive session called abruptly after the Ways and Means meeting at the Old County Courthouse.

The private, executive session was called for what Legislator Marianne Clattenburg termed “what happened this afternoon.”

So The Batavian asked, what happened this afternoon?

“Well, a lot of it was just meetings with various stakeholders, Orleans County issuing their state of emergency was probably a prompt. Because of that, we took notice of that, there was a lot of speculation that raised our concerns about how easily a group of asylum seekers could end up at our doorstep without us even knowing,” Landers said. “So I guess it was our vulnerability that came to light of how simple and how easy and how fast that could happen, that we wanted to have this in place, in case that were to happen.

“So that was probably some of the prompts that happened throughout the day that caused us to take this action,” he said.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney had previously issued a press release opposing a move to send immigrants to upstate SUNY campuses, though that doesn’t seem to be any official step being taken by the state government at this time. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been pushing to move immigrants north.

Landers said that, because Genesee Community College receives both county and state funding, that he isn’t certain whether he would include GCC at some point in the list of entities discouraged from taking in busloads of immigrants during the county’s state of emergency. But for now, he is instead emphasizing hotels and motels.

The Batavian asked if he was aware of two busloads of people dropped off at The Clarion on Wednesday, rumored to be immigrants and news that was shared with us by a Batavian reader. They were confirmed by Sheriff’s Office personnel to be National Guards here for training, Landers said.

“Because it's about doing a good job of being aware. You know, we have contacts throughout the county that are in positions to help give any kind of advanced notification if there was an issue that came to light,” he said. “So there is a heightened awareness for county operations right now.”

State Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a State of Emergency for New York State for similar reasons, and for what Landers believes is to probably try and capture federal government financial resources, “which is understandable,” he said.

“This is more to get a better handle on control in Genesee County, and have the situation to an abundance of caution to be able to respond to a situation where we're not aware of asylum seekers coming to our community, there’s channels out there, and I do have confidence in the governor's office, through their representative, that they would try to reach out to us if there was a group that was heading to Genesee County, but there's different avenues of which that they can come from and it's not all through the governor's office,” Landers said. “So I am in consultation with the governor's office and, and the representative has been very forthcoming and upfront with me, and I think we've got a great working relationship. But that's only one piece of the puzzle. So the state of emergency is kind of trying to cover multiple scenarios, you know … And, again, we'll evaluate the state of emergency in the next five days, and see if we've covered everything, and maybe we strengthen it, modify it, or let it expire.”

The county’s Local State of Emergency was declared for Genesee County, due to New York City's program to rapidly increase the number of migrants in this County to unsustainable levels.  

“Pursuant to NYS Executive Law § 24, when a State of Emergency is in effect, the County  Manager may promulgate local emergency orders to protect life and property or to bring the emergency situation under control.

By law, upon reconsideration of all the relevant facts and circumstances, such an order may be extended for additional periods not to exceed five days each during the pendency of the state of emergency.  

Press release:

Out of an abundance of caution, a local State of Emergency has been put into place by County Manager L. Matthew Landers as of May 17, 2023, in response to New York City’s program to bus migrants and asylum seekers to other counties in New York State. Genesee County is not equipped for a rapid increase of persons in need of services, and if the City of New York or other municipalities were to flood the County with migrants and asylum seekers, the situation would only worsen.

This Local Emergency Order will remain in effect for five days unless sooner modified, extended or revoked. It may be extended for additional periods not to exceed five days during the pendency of the local state of emergency. This order may be referred to as the “Genesee County Sustainable Migration Protocol."

Press Release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, C - Batavia) is disappointed that the Assembly Majority Conference blocked a referendum of his this week in the Local Government Committee without any debate or discussion. Numbered A.1978, the referendum would have simply put a question to voters on the next statewide election ballot: “Do you support the division of New York into two separate states?” The measure was shot down, and Hawley knows exactly why. 

“Our job as legislators should be to, first and foremost, ask our constituents questions about what they want to see us do. That is all this referendum would have done,” Hawley said. “I speculate the Majority prevented us from asking this question of all New Yorkers because they already know the answer: yes. The majority of New Yorkers are tired of the way things are, and any change, no matter how big, would be preferable to how things are right now.”

“Immigration crises, favoritism to downstate constituencies, the continued erosion of our farmlands and small businesses: these are the problems we face; infringements on 2nd Amendment rights, rampant pro-criminal policies and skyrocketing taxes and inflation. And these problems are consistently tied to the actions of a Majority spearheaded by a downstate coalition that has little regard for the rest of us. If they’re afraid of being told their actions are having a negative impact on some New Yorkers, they need a serious reality check,” Hawley concluded.

File photo by Howard Owens

In response to a possible plan by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to relocate undocumented migrants from New York City to Upstate New York, Genesee County has issued an emergency declaration banning the acceptance of immigrants from out of the county for at least five days.

The ban was effective at noon today, County Manager Matt Landers told The Batavian's Joanne Beck.

UPDATES coming.

UPDATE: State of Emergency to stop immigrants from landing on county's doorstep

The latest attempt by Scott F. Doll to get his 2010 conviction for murder overturned has failed to persuade another judge and his appeal based on what his attorney claimed was new evidence has been denied.

Attorney Michael S. Deal, from the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, filed a motion to overturn the conviction earlier this year. A hearing on his motion was heard by Judge Sanford A. Church on March 10.

Deal argued that he had uncovered new evidence related to the failure of the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office to collect fingernail scrapings from Doll's victim, Joseph Benaquist, and new DNA tests of people who might have had access to the murder scene should lead to Doll's conviction being overturned and a new trial granted.

Church ruled that the defendant did not present a factual assertion that the two pieces of "newly discovered evidence" could not have been available for the 2010 trial. 

"As discussed below, a sound defense trial strategy could have been to avoid further scientific testing and emphasizing the prosecution's failure to test some evidence," Church wrote. "The defense was aware, for example, of the drops of blood on the victim's boot before trial and that it had not be subjected to DNA profiling. All they had to do was ask that it be tested."

The defense could have also asked that fingernail scrapings be tested.  If the defense had made the request, the attorneys would have learned that clippings and scrapings had not been collected.

As for a bit of third-party DNA found on the victim's boot, that evidence could have been available at trial, Sanford said. There were photographs available to the defense that showed a possible bloodstain on the victim's boot.  The defense, he said, could have insisted that the bloodstain be tested.

Prior court rulings have found that for evidence to be considered "new" in an appeal, it must be evidence that could not have been discovered by the defense through diligence. 

It's also not readily apparent that the DNA comparisons would change the outcome of the trial, Sanford ruled.

For these reasons, Doll has failed to prove that his "new evidence" could not have been discovered before trial.

Church, an Orleans County judge, heard the appeal because Genesee County Court Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini formerly worked for the Genesee County District Attorney's Office and had been involved in prior appeals, so she had a conflict of interest.

Doll was sentenced to 15 years to life for the 2009 murder of Benaquist. He has consistently maintained his innocence since his arrest.

On the night of Feb. 16, 2009, Doll was found walking in Pembroke in blood-soaked clothing by a deputy and questioned.  Due to the suspicious nature of his appearance and a van he identified himself as operating earlier in the evening, he was questioned by investigators who feared there was a seriously hurt or dead person in the area.  Those emergency circumstances allowed investigators wide leeway in questioning Doll and searching for a possible victim. Several hours later, Benaquist's badly beaten body was found in the driveway of his home in Pembroke.

Benaquist and Doll, a prison guard, had been partners in a used car business.

For all of The Batavian's prior coverage of Scott Doll, click here.

Press release:

Yesterday at the Genesee County Office For The Aging, “Quilts of Valor” were presented to three local Veterans. A Quilt of Valor is a quality, handmade quilt awarded to a Service Member or Veteran who has been touched by war. AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Volunteers in the OFA Quilt Group made and presented the Quilts to Robert Swanson, David Dumuhosky, and Wilbur Easton.

Submitted photos.

Early Access Pass is your ticket to staying on top of all of the latest local news!

Reader Jeremy McClellan spotted the Goodyear Blimp flying over the Genesee County Park on Wednesday afternoon.  It is apparently in the Rochester area for the PGA tournament.

A controlled burn at 7833 Walker Road, Pavilion, is now reportedly out of control and spreading toward a barn.

The fire is about 20 feet from the structure.

Pavilion Fire dispatched.

The spring burn ban has been lifted, but the National Weather Service has an advisory for dry and windy conditions in place warning of elevated fire danger.

UPDATE 4:22 p.m.: Le Roy Fire asked to standby in the Le Roy hall.

The Alexander Girls Softball team capped a winning season on Tuesday, beating rivals Attica in Attica. 

Alexander was down 5-0 until an eight-run fourth gave them the lead 8-5.  

Attica tied the game in the fifth at eight.  Both teams added a run in the sixth to tie it again at nine.  With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Madison Boyce delivered the knockout blow for Alexander when she tripled to right field and later scored the go-ahead and winning run.  

Emily Pietrzykowski nailed the win by retiring the side in order in the eighth to notch her sixth win of the season. She allowed eight hits, three earned runs, delivered four walks and whiffed seven Attica hitters. 

Alexander finished the regular season with a 12-6 record and potentially locking up the fifth seed for sectionals just behind potential fourth seed Oakfield in Class C1.

Pietrzykowski lead Alexander's batting, going 4-5 with two triples, two RBIs, two stolen bases and one run scored.  Melissa Sawyer was 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored.  Maddison Boyce was 2-5 with a triple and two runs scored.

“We started out this game flat and made three errors that lead to three runs for them right away," said Coach John Goodenbury. "They tacked on two runs with Robinsons' long ball, and we found ourselves in a 5-0 hole going into the fourth.  I told the girls they could make a choice right then, in the moments before we went up to hit.  They could choose to just lay down and lose or get in the box and fight like heck for it.  What I told them landed, and they made their choice to fight for it as they exploded for eight runs.  It was a loud and intense finish, at the end of the game, every girl in our starting lineup came away with at least one hit, proving that we can overcome adversity if we have faith, dig deep and play for each other.  I’ve said it before, we have a young team with talent and heart, and when it mattered most, they chose to fight and showed again what the future for Alexander softball holds."

Photos by Cathy Sawyer.

Two weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced significant changes to the structure of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors and to the way voting is conducted by the board, The Batavian sat down with Henry Wojtaszek, WROTB president and chief executive officer, on Tuesday afternoon at his office at Batavia Downs Gaming.

On the evening of May 2, as part of the state budget negotiations, Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced approval of a bill calling for the immediate dismantling of the current WROTB board and a move to weighted voting based on population.

It was no longer business as usual for the public benefit corporation as the previous system of one vote for one municipality was struck down. Control of the board now has shifted to the Democrat Party-heavy population centers – Erie and Monroe counties and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester.

WROTB distributes a portion of earnings and surcharges to its 17 member municipalities – 15 counties, including Genesee, and the two major cities. Most of the rural counties lean Republican.

Following is the interview with Wojtaszek, who has been with the corporation for 13 years, the last six as the president/CEO:

Q. With all of the recent changes coming from Albany, what do you see going forward?
A. I would hope that as we see the board members being appointed from the various municipalities that we continue to receive very good board members … and that I would hope that common sense would prevail. The results here have been fantastic – and that’s what ultimately matters relative to a company.

We have excellent workers here who perform at an extremely high level, the guests consistently rate their experience here as excellent; they really enjoy coming here, and they enjoy the experience that they have here. I would hope that the people who have worked here over the last many, many years – those who make up a great team – are allowed to continue to do their jobs and provide that kind of customer service.

I feel pretty confident and everyone's ability here. I have not seen any drop-off in terms of attendance … in the last couple of weeks or months. In fact, it’s only gotten busier. We’re definitely at a higher pace, and we’re going to beat last year’s record pace. It’s going to be $83 million this year (in net win). That’s money that’s split between the local municipalities and the state. We have 370 people with good jobs here, and we return a huge amount of money back to the municipalities.

Q. Do you think the jobs of rank-and-file employees will be affected? Will it come down to that?
A. There’s a union here that provides a measure of protection for a lot of the workers that work here. Again, I think that performance really should matter a lot. And whatever direction this company goes, they're going to reward those people who have performed at a high level here. So, I’m optimistic that we're going to be able to continue to provide that great service and great, great entertainment value with most of the personnel still on site here.

Q. Have you had any contact from Buffalo Senator Tim Kennedy (who sponsored the bill to restructure the board) or his office, from anybody in Erie or Monroe County, Buffalo, or from Albany regarding what the future may hold?
A. Nothing.

Q. So, you have no idea right now who will be coming in as directors? (Note: Longtime Genesee County director Richard Siebert resigned his position upon hearing of these changes, and the local Republican Party is in the process of appointing a replacement).
A. That’s correct.

Q. Do you think that the management team will continue?
A. We’ll know when the board takes their seats, which I expect will happen in June. I think it’d be difficult to have a meeting in May (the board was scheduled to meet on May 24-25), knowing that they have to be appointed and some people have to be licensed.

Q. Many Republican politicians have come out and called the move to change the voting method a “power grab.” Would you agree to their assessment?
A. I do. I think for political purposes, I would term it as a political power grab. I can certainly say that it isn’t due to the performance of the corporation or the corporation performing up to par because it continues to break records in terms of the revenue it’s generating and the amount of distribution monies that it's generating to return to the communities. That's what we are charged to do -- prevent illegal bookmaking, create jobs and to return resources back to the member municipalities, and we've done all three of them at a very high level.

Q. Do you think that the things the New York State Comptroller’s Office brought up – mishandling of sporting event tickets, health insurance for board members, legal issues, etc. – prompted people to believe that more should have been distributed to municipalities?
A. We addressed them four years ago. These issues came up four years ago, and we've obviously put in place better safeguards to make sure that we perform at a high level here. We asked for the help from the Comptroller; we asked for his advice. He gave us advice; we took his advice. It was over four years ago.

We continue to be the most regulated industry in New York State, besides maybe the nuclear energy industry. And that's okay. We’re good with that. We have to apply to the (NYS) Gaming Commission for most of the programs that we run here, including the ticket program. Every year, we get renewed by them. We have a very good relationship with the Gaming Commission. We abide by their rules, and we follow their recommendations. And we will continue to do that.

We just had an audit done by our outside auditing firm, The Bonadio Group. Everything came back completely in order; there are no irregularities. We feel very good about that. The board has always felt very good about that. We know that there are no issues within the corporation. And we feel very confident that a new board coming on is going to find the same thing. We hope that they take the time to look at what's going on here and not take some of the reports that are out there in the media as gospel, and they take the time to review what's actually going on here before they make any decisions.

Q. What do you think of WNY politicians questioning the cost of WROTB’s purchase of The Hotel at Batavia Downs.
A. Actually, the hotel has been an excellent purchase for us. It’s really worked out well. It has allowed us to become a destination -- to provide a complete experience for people who want to come here and enjoy the gaming floor, enjoy the horse racing, enjoy the concerts, have a great meal, and stay on site. We think we got it for a reasonable price. We think we'll be able to utilize it now as a marketing tool to bring people here.

Q. The board has been considering adding more rooms to the hotel. With these recent changes, is any talk of expansion now on hold?
A. What we’ve done was take a look at expansion to see whether or not it was something that was worthwhile. We never made a decision to expend any money. We were just looking at it to try to get some preliminary numbers.

Q. Didn’t the board vote to fund a feasibility study?
A. The request was (to spend) between $50,000 and $100,000 to do a market study and do a feasibility study, but it wasn’t authorized. I guess the next board would take a look at it.

Q. In light of what has happened and some of these issues, do you have any regrets?
A. I have a lot of fond memories here. We have some great workers here. I love interacting with the public that comes here, and I like to see that they enjoy themselves. Do I wish we would have handled things a little differently? There are a couple of things I wish we'd handled differently. I wish we would have been a little more open as to who utilized the tickets. I think at one point, we refused to turn that over for FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests. And I know, looking back, we should have done that a little early. We probably should have revamped our ticket policies a little bit earlier. Again, all those things were done over four years ago.

Q. Have some of your guests approached you and commented to you about the recent developments?
Well, we have a lot of people that are very supportive of us here. A lot of our, our patrons, our guests that come here, are very supportive of our team that we've put together here. So yeah, I've heard a lot of support. We have had letters and a lot of comments and support in the last couple of weeks.

Q. Genesee County now will get two out of a total of 100 votes under the weighted system, while Erie and Monroe counties, Buffalo and Rochester will combine for 62 votes. And they’re predominately Democrat. Your thoughts?
A. I think things will be different. But again, I hope that common sense and good business sense prevail. And they allow the people here to do their jobs and to continue to do them.

Q. Do you think this was done to get you out? Do you feel that you’re in limbo at this point?
A. Like I said, no one has talked to me. We just do our job every day. We continue to increase the revenue here. We continue to provide a great product for those people who are coming here and try to have a great experience and, and then the end of the day, we'll return the monies back to the municipalities like we're tasked with.

Q. Have you thought about what you would do if the new board decided to replace you? I know you’re an attorney. Has the thought about practicing law gone through your mind?
A. We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. I love this job. I enjoy the people that I work with to a great extent, and I'm very proud of what they've done -- what we've all done here at Batavia Downs to build such a great business.

Q. One last thing. They’ve used the word corruption to describe the actions of the board and management relating to the issues that we’ve talked about. (“This is a big victory for the people of Western New York. We are rooting out corruption, and we are removing a board that demonstrated a blatant disregard for the public good,” Kennedy said.) That’s a very strong word that speaks about people’s character and reputation. How do you react to that?
A. We know that anybody who's been here asking questions or asking for documents, we've provided complete transparency relative to what goes on here, and we will continue to do that. We’re a public benefit corporation. We understand that we do have to provide that kind of information when people are looking for it, and we'll do it. And we will continue to provide an inside look at what goes on here.”

Previously: State budget provision drastically changes structure, voting format of WROTB board of directors

Previously: County legislature chair on WROTB changes: 'Completely unfair, totally unnecessary'

Open House this Saturday 1-3pm. Welcome to this clean and pristine three-bedroom ranch in the charming Town of Batavia! With two baths and a good-sized kitchen featuring a breakfast bar, this home offers convenience and comfort. The large, bright living room is adorned with newer vinyl windows, filling the space with natural light. First-floor laundry adds convenience, while the heated three-season sunroom allows you to enjoy the outdoors throughout the year. The immaculate basement is ready for your personal touch and features a walk-out. With a two-car garage and situated in a cul-de-sac, parking and privacy are ensured. The generous .5 acre lot provides ample space for outdoor activities, allowing you to bask in the warm weather in your spacious backyard. Offers due Tuesday 5/23 at 1PM.

The Genesee County Republican Committee on Thursday night is scheduled to interview two candidates interested in filling the vacancy on the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors.

Committee Chair Richard Siebert, who stepped down from the WROTB director position after learning of significant structural and voting changes to the board, said he and the seven other committee members have set up a meeting for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Old County Courthouse.

“There are two people that reached out to me that are interested in being the next OTB director,” Siebert said this morning. “The process will be that the Republican Committee will meet tomorrow night and interview the two people who asked for our endorsement.”

Siebert said the candidates are former County Judge Charles Zambito of Elba and Batavian Fred Gundell, who serves as a county election inspector.

“Our purpose is to interview them and then, hopefully, pass a recommendation to our county legislature, which would then also interview them and do the appointment. It should take place very soon,” Siebert added.

See also: WROTB President seeks to put issues in rearview mirror, praises employees for achieving record revenues  

Siebert served as Genesee County’s representative on the WROTB for 29 years. In a May 3 story on The Batavian, Siebert blasted the action by New York State leaders, calling the move, “a blatant effort to take over the jobs that we have at Batavia Downs that are appointed by their merit and not by political affiliation.”

Speaking today, he said that he heard that three other directors also resigned – Paul Lattimore Jr. (Cayuga County), Thomas Wamp (Livingston County) and Richard Ricci (Seneca County) – but speculated that others would be reappointed by their legislatures.

The Batavian confirmed that Susan May has been reappointed by the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors and that Edward Morgan is expected to be reappointed next Tuesday by the Orleans County Board of Supervisors.

Genesee County Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein said that the local governing body is anticipating the Republican Party Committee’s recommendation.

“This is a time when all the counties are all getting reorganized,” she said. “Some have already placed the person back on the board of directors, and others have yet to do it.”

Asked if there has been any talk of a legal challenge to the changes, Stein said, “Not yet.”

“Here’s the problem at this point. There has been no harm caused to the county because nothing has really changed yet. So, until there's been a change that harms us, we are unsure that we have any standing.”

The previous framework of the board was set up by a “Home Rule” law about 50 years ago – giving each municipality that benefits from WROTB one vote.