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Candidates vie for Town Council and Town Justice in Le Roy

By Maria Pericozzi

There are two town council seats and one town justice seat that Le Roy residents will vote for on Tuesday.

John Duyssen and Mike Welsh are running for town justice, and Ninja-Aileene Calhoun, James Farnholz, Dave Paddock and Rob Stiles are running for town council.

Duyssen is one of several generations that has lived in Le Roy, and does not plan on going anywhere. He has been an active member of law enforcement, working all crime levels from felonies to violations, successfully prosecuting many cases. He retired from the Sherriff’s Office two years ago and said the position seems like a good fit.

“I’m pretty well respected by all the law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and defense attorneys,” Duyssen said.

As a town justice, the best thing to do is interpret the law and be prepared, Duyssen said.

“We need an unbiased view, to interpret the law on a case by case basis, and be prepared for every case that enters the courtroom,” Duyssen said.

Duyssen said ethics and standards are important as a town justice.

“I have a very sincere interest in the protection of my community.”

Welsh has served as the incumbent judge in Le Roy for the past four years. He was also a member of the Genesee County Legislature for 21 years, the village attorney for 17 years, and a practicing attorney for 40 years.

“I like being the judge and I am trying to do a good and honorable job with it,” Welsh said.

If elected, Welsh would like to accomplish fairness and justice in Le Roy, making the community a safe and secure place.

“I think it’s a very good thing to do, to be the judge in the town,” Welsh said. “You can help the community, you can do justice by applying the law to the facts.”

It is important to Welsh, to not bring prejudice to the bench.

“I try to honor the Constitution of the U.S. and New York by applying the law,” Welsh said. “I want to be fair, not prejudice, and hear each case based on its merits, and I think I do that.”

Farnholz has lived in Le Roy for the last 30 years with his wife and two children. He taught Social Studies at Le Roy High School for 32 years and was the Le Roy teachers' associate president for many years, coaching football, wrestling and tennis.

“I always enjoyed Le Roy and love working for the community,” Farnholz said. “Le Roy is a great community.”

As the teachers' association president, Farnholz said he has experience negotiating contracts, working with budgeting, personnel and other issues, which will help him serve the community well.

“As with any community there are certainly things and issues that need to be addressed and I thought I could help to address those issues,” Farnholz said. “Our main focus is to be fiscally responsible.”

Although Stiles and his wife both work in Rochester daily, they live in Le Roy. Stiles has worked for an asphalt maintenance company and owns his own snow removal business.

“We always get questioned on why we did it, and we say, ‘We just love our town,’ ” Stiles said.

He was approached by the mayor to run after there was a last-minute vacancy on the ticket.

“[Greg Rodgers] needed someone to run, and though I would be interested and that I was qualified,” Stiles said.

With his business experience, Stiles said he would like people to understand that there are consequences to changes in a business.

Multiple attempts were made to reach candidates Ninja-Aileene Calhoun and David Paddock, and they did not make themselves available for an interview.

Jennifer Keys

I am flabbergasted that Ninja "Nikki" Calhoun was not included and that this states she did not make herself available for an interview when she has been the most active and most accessible candidate all along. Please feel free to check out her web page http://www.calhoun4leroy.com/, or even contact her directly
24 Platt Ave
Le Roy, New York 14482
(585) 519-3170 as her contact information is on her public face book page https://www.facebook.com/leroyninja/.

Nov 6, 2017, 5:18am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Maria says that the Town Clerk forwarded an email from her to each of the candidates.

She also called the phone number for Nikki and there was never an answer.

Nov 6, 2017, 8:39am Permalink
bud prevost

Make sure you vote tomorrow. Local elections can come down to a single vote. Fortunate to have such strong candidates for Town Justice.
BTW, I was amused by the ad in the Leroy Pennysaver that a candidate placed. It was at least a 1000 words, and not one identifying themselves. Way too much reading to not even know this candidates name.

Nov 6, 2017, 8:51am Permalink
Brian Graz

My guess is, that Nikki Calhoun (D, I, WF) realizes the pro-Republican bias the Batavia has, and therefore is one of the smart folks who wisely stayed away.
{Note: I am not endorsing Calhoun... just sayin'}

Nov 6, 2017, 9:44pm Permalink
John Roach

By now, she could have come on this page and told her side of the story about what happened. I'll go with Howard on this and accept that somebody just dropped the ball.

Nov 7, 2017, 7:00am Permalink

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