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Editorial
Downsizing a board? Make it happen!
Depew Mayor Joseph McIntosh raised a few eyebrows last week when he announced that he was considering a voter referendum next year to eliminate two seats on the village board. Not only would we like to see this referendum presented to voters, we want to see it pass in a major landslide.
Kevin Gaughan, a champion for the idea of regionalism in Western New York, recently hosted a conference during which he outlined how much governmental agencies cost taxpayers. Erie County is loaded with them. Cities, towns, villages, school districts and fire districts all take money out of our wallets, and that doesn't even include sewer and water districts. He is correct that there is too much government.
Some question the need for villages, noting that they served a purpose 100 years ago when they were the center of commerce for a spread-out town. Advances in technology, particularly in transportation, have rendered many village services today unnecessary because they are provided by towns.
Unfortunately, many village residents prefer having their own police and highway departments because they believe that their departments respond more quickly and better. John Faso, last month's unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate, observed as much during an October debate in Depew. Using his hometown as an example, Faso said that when the town supervisor proposed that three local highway departments merge, "it was like the Hatfields and McCoys," sarcastically adding that plow drivers from the villages wouldn't know how to plow town roads.
At this point it may be too much for village residents to surrender their "hometown" services. However, reducing the number of trustees from six to four would be a good start. The village has roughly 17,000 residents. With six trustees, there is one trustee for every 2,833 residents. Dropping four trustees would hike the ratio to one trustee per 4,250 residents. The 1,417-resident difference is a manageable number.
Reducing the number of trustees will have a negligible impact on the residents of Depew, and it would save its taxpayers $15,228 in salaries. That's almost one dollar per resident. In a region where people shun change, this would be a good babystep. Perhaps if it is taken, residents will yearn for longer strides.
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