Wednesday evening Tony Orsini held his bi-annual “Friends of Orsini” fundraiser at Ronanello’s on South Park Ave in Hamburg. Several of his opponents had pledged to picket the front of the building and I was told that they would have 30-50 people with signs and chanting the obvious slogans to stop people from attending. What really happened was far less dramatic.

Organized by Mary Rose Gaughan and Dennis Koziol only 4 -5 people stood outside the front doors of Romanello’s, pleading and begging the Orsini’s patrons to turn around and not go in. They were also asked to write any checks out to the Erie County Independence Party and not Orsini himself if they did attend. Standing outside were obviously Gaughan and Koziol but Sandy Guiess Rosenswie and Ricky Donovan were their as well. I stopped and had a lengthy conversation before I decided the best place for me to be was inside making friends, not outside making enemies.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, I was hoping for a full blown out confrontation between the two factions. Anthony Orsini has been calling me for my support the last few weeks and we will be sitting down to try and bury the hatchet. I’m not sure just how successful that will be, but I am always open to talk about peace and cooperation. Orsini has offered to immediately appoint me Chairman of the Hamburg Town IP Committee if we do bury that very sharp hatchet.

I’m not interested in anything other than good government and full participation by those elected to the County Committee. So if we do go forward it will only be with that condition attached. Even with Tony offering this olive branch, I had another offered by Gaughan and Koziol. Only theirs was ridiculous.

Mary Rose Gaughan and Dennis Koziol have been reaching out for several months in hopes of repairing our differences as well. The problem is they basically want me to lay down and let them manipulate the IP to their advantage. Our biggest disagreement is about Hamburg and what they want to happen here.

Mary and Dennis have made it very, very clear that they want the Democrats to regain power and they want me to step aside and allow that to happen. They offered me a seat on the County IP Executive Board and an Officers position on the Town IP Executive Board, if I turn on my friends Steven Walters, Tom Best and Kevin Smardz! LOL!! Like I would ever do that!

Lady’s and Gent’s, if I haven’t made myself clear in the past then let me make it clear now! I’m a loyal member of the Independence Party. I believe that it’s in the best interest of our party to find avenues to run our own candidates successfully and in the end have a FISCALLY CONSERATIVE agenda in the town and the county!

Their is no way the current Democratic party has any interest in Fiscal Conservatism. They have always been about bigger more expensive government. I believe government is way to big, way to expensive and way to inefficient! Until the Democratic party incorporates consolidation and lowering taxes, then I have nothing to discuss with them.

I do believe that Orsini has done some very awful things to this party. I also believe that I’m the only person who would actually run this party properly as County Chairman. That being said, this may come to a point that I have to pick between Orsini or the coalition of Gaughan and Koziol. If that happens then Hamburg is best served by Orsini. That’s unfortunate but true.

Mary Gaughan and Dennis Koziol are cut from the same cloth as Orsini and they want this party for themselves to rape and pillage. The difference is that Orsini will leave Hamburg to those of us who want the current trend of lowering taxes and consolidation of departments to continue. That means he will help us keep Steven Walters, Tom Best and Kevin Smardz in office while getting us cross endorsements for a seat on the Town Council for an IP member in next years Town Council race. Mary Gaughan scoffed at that idea when I asked for her support in obtaining the cross endorsements.  

I want everyone to know just who is who and what is what at this point. We all know who Orsini is and I have preached about what he has done to this party for 4 years now. But I don’t think that any of you know that Gaughan and Koziol are the true reason Orsini had been able to do what he did. Mary Gaughan and Dennis Koziol are just as guilty as Orsini.

They both have committed countless offenses against our party the least of which was the illegal claim that this party was constituted 2 years ago. They both sat on the fake County Executive Board allowing Orsini to pull his antics as long as he would sign endorsements to the Democrats they wanted. They both helped funnel thousands of dollars into Orsini’s pockets as our party continued to be front page poster images for corruption. Mary was also the person out collecting checks for those endorsements and Koziol was garnering jobs for his family members.

Meanwhile Dennis Koziol has run for office listing his girlfriend’s residence as his address 2 years ago to be elected to the IP State Committee for the 145th Assembly District. Now that he is fighting Orsini for the IP State Committee seat in the 146th Assemblt District, word is he is going to list his real address on the other side of Lackawanna do so. I tried to get the Erie County Board of Elections to investigate that corrupt practice of his 3 years ago, only to be stone walled and ignored by both BOE Commissioners.

Mary’s Husband was also the Hamburg Republican Party Town Chairman at one point and he abandoned that party when he was given the Assistant Town Prosecutors job by Sorrentino, the Democratic Town Chairman. Mary then tried to take over the Hamburg Conservative Party Town Chairmanship and when that failed she changed over to the IP and is now trying her coup-de-grass here.

It seems that I am the only person who has been true to his word and has stood by the same principles I claim year in and year out. Even prominent Democrats I know have told me privately that they feel helpless with the current IP leadership and have expressed their wishes for me to step forward because I can be trusted. 

Well we will see what happens with Orsini this week and maybe the Hamburg IP will get some relief sooner than later. Regardless, prepare for a political war in the local Independence Party!

Supervisor Steven Walters held his annual “Friends of Steven Walters” fundraiser Thursday night at Romanello’s in Hamburg. This event was especially sweet for the Supervisor since he has been the true leader of the town after the stunning victory this last fall. The supervisor had well over a hundred RSVP’s and I’m sure a few hundred filtered in and out of the place during the evening. The placed was mobbed for most of the evening and every table was full and people were standing  all around as he gave his speech.

This was by far the best outcome of one of his fundraisers and the money he took in will be well spent in a vigorous campaign for next years Supervisors race. No-one expects the Democrats to lay down and die. Lots of notables were there and I had a great time talking to a lot of different people. All wishing me well with the IP this year and offering their help if needed.

Great Job Steve! 

I have heard a lot about Bob Reynolds and how he has been financed from money that can only be considered dirty. I’ve had phone calls, a letter or two, and even had a couple people stop me when I’m out and about. All want to know if I heard about Reynolds taking money from Operating Engineers Local 17?

I really didn’t look into it and I wasn’t going to make it big news, but this issue just isn’t going away. I thought for sure Reynolds would give the money back, but he hasn’t. So I started thinking that Reynolds is probably just the tip of the ice berg. What else is sitting below the water line that we can’t see just yet?

Appearing in this weeks Hamburg Sun is an article by Hamburg Republican Chairman Mark Cuda that explains the situation perfectly. Bob Reynolds isn’t trying to back from the issue he is actually acting proud of how he got the money and he even told TV2 so much. Now he can be proud of the fact that people consider his name in conjunction with the corruption from his main financiers. Anyway here is the article.

 Reynolds Should return ’Dirty political Money’

The United States Attorney’s Office recently announced that a Federal grand Jury has issued an eight count indictment in a case involving a local union. The indictment implicated 12 members of the International Union of Operating engineers Local No. 17, one of western New York’s most active construction unions headquartered in Lakeview.

Indictments against the union leaders came came after the completion of a five year investigation that focused on many of the member’s attempts to sway the outcomes of proposed planned construction projects. The investigation ultimately alleged that members of Operating Engineers Local 17 used unlawful tactics to commit actions of bodily harm, destroy private property, and sabotaged equipment owned and operated by non-union work forces.

These acts were committed in an attempt to “encourage” non-union contractors and construction project design makers to complete their projects with the unionized workers. After this story broke in the news, Erie County Legislator Bob Reynolds went on record with WGRZ-TV Channel 2 News regarding his relationship with Local No. 17, saying “they are a source of our fundraising that we go out and try to get fundraising from from because that is our base.”

Reynolds comments are in fact true and he has been the beneficiary of Local 17’s political generosity. Operating Engineers Local No. 17 donated over $1,500 to Reynolds re-election efforts. It is important that these donations were made while the FBI, the Office of Inspector General and the New York State Police were conducting massive investigations into Local No. 17 administrative antics.

To me it is abhorrent to think that the corrupt organizations like Local No. 17 are the financial arm of the Democratic lawmakers in Erie County, such as Reynolds. now I believe it is incumbent upon Reynolds to restore whatever credibility he has left and return the money as soon as possible.

Mark Cuda,

Chairman,

Town of Hamburg Republican Committee

The verdict is in, at least for the time being. During Monday nights Town Council work session the Council voted yes to pursue the next step in building a new Ice Arena. As reported earlier, the Town Council needs a Home Rule Exemption in order to take the necessary steps to put this issue to a resolution and then to a bid to build a new Ice Arena.

In order for this to take place the council will need a local state representative to present to the State Assembly and State Senate the proposal for this Home Rule Exemption. If this happens this year, we could see construction start by mid summer. The general political perception is this will sit in Albany until next year due to the late request of this issue. It is possible that Albany acts on this quickly but I would be surprised if they do.

Especially after the Bike Path proposal, that was the darling of the Town Democrats, was shot down by the same conservative board members asking for this Home Rule Exemption. I perceive the politics of the area to intervene and the predominant Democrats to either shoot this down quickly or sit on it until after next years Town Supervisor election. I could be wrong but politics almost always trumps expediency.

The vote was simple. Walters, Quatroche and Smardz voted yes to go ahead. Best is out of town and was obviously absent. Joan Kesner abstained from the vote. I haven’t heard the official reason she claimed for her abstention but the rumor, I’m told, is she claimed her association working for State Senator Stachowski required her to abstain. Once again, that was only a second hand rumor. 

Those of you opposed to this plan were obviously left out of the loop by this vote in a work session. I  agree that this should have been a public vote at a regular Town Council meeting but the reality is that work sessions are open to the public. I’m happy that this is moving forward, that in no way means that I’m on-board with a final designation to Walker and Andrachuk. I do think that sitting on this doesn’t help anyone in the town and if we are granted a Home Rule Exemption this year, I would expect the Town Council to hold closed bids and let the winner proceed. Walker isn’t getting an easy walk on this if I have anything to do with it. He will have to follow the rules and win the bid like anyone else. 

If you haven’t heard yet the big political news is about the Erie County Independence Party and the fight that’s about to begin. This could become one of the epic political battles of this decade and you will have a front row seat. For those of you who haven’t been looking at Illuzer’s or Gramigna’s site the IP situation is heating up to a full boil.

The battle is between Tony Orsini and every other IP player in the area. Even his formerly loyal Executive Board is gunning for his Chairmanship. Orsini knows the cards have turned against him and he is scrambling for anyone to help him, he is even up to his old tricks threatening this years state candidates and their possible endorsements. What happened is pretty simple to understand, Tony took all the fundraising money for himself and left his closest supporters out. Then he turned against them again and supported Paul Clark for County Executive forcing his former supporters to go after his chairmanship.

Make no mistake about this, it’s still a play by the Democrats in control of the county to remove a minor party chairman that they can no longer control. That’s the bottom line! Orsini in turn has run home to the Republican Party asking for their help and they are playing, at least temporarily, for now. Orsini needs a lot of help though. He does have a significant number of family members registered in the IP that he can run for committee members but he doesn’t have a single IP member willing to work the petitions for these people.

So Tony is telling the RP that if they help him, then they are back in his good graces and they will get any and all endorsements this year. The RP wants that help since they are on the verge of losing the State Senate and WNY could be the place the dominoes fall towards the Democrats in the State Senate. Orsini is testing the waters right now by holding a “Friends of Orsini” fundraiser on April 30th at Romenello’s South in Hamburg. He is basically telling all the RP candidates to show up or lose their IP endorsements this year.

In response the remaining IP Captains are forming a picket line outside Romenello’s to force the candidates to turn away. The word is that anyone who attends this fundraiser will kill their parties chances at local endorsements next year after Orsini is defeated and gone. This will also be a big test for the Democrats because if they cross the picket line then how do they tell their union supporters they are with them when they walk out the door?

Let it be known right now that Orsini is standing completely alone in the IP. He has absolutely no support outside of his family. Ever other faction has joined forces to remove him. Deals are being made every day and Orsini’s only hope is that the RP garners enough IP committee members and then have then support Orsini in the end.

I say turn about is fair play and I expect the RP to get committee members on the ballot in the IP, but send those to someone else in the end solidifying their place in the new IP leadership. After all Orsini did stab the RP in the back six years ago and it’s time that he gets it back. If anyone is wondering, I’m all for removing Orsini. I just don’t want to sell off one tyrant for another. More to come.

Thirteen years ago, I left the USN with an Honorable Discharge after serving 10 years and participating in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After I was out I wasn’t so sure what to do with myself but it wasn’t long before I found myself attending  the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Police Academy five hours a night, six nights a week for 10 months. That’s right folks, 10 long months. After graduation those of us who finished were the first group to ever be required to pass a State Certification Exam. I had no trouble passing the first time out with a 93%.

Although I graduated from the Academy, I ended up moving to New York before I started a job as a Police Officer. That in it self is a long story but the short of it was, I got divorced and had two kids to raise so back home to Hamburg we came. I immediately looked for a police job here but to my misfortune the Civil Service exam for the Sheriff’s Department and every local police department had just recently been taken. So I had no choice but to wait for the next test. Unfortunately, I pretty much forgot about the test for the next 12 years.

This past October I was surfing the employment web pages looking for a job that would accomodate my back disability when I came across, what else, the Sheriff’s Exam! Well their was no way I could ever get hired into that position after having such a major back surgery but I figured “what the hell, why not take the exam anyway”, just to see how I do.  So I submitted my application and Certifications and was accepted into the exam.

For the last 5 months or so, a few hundred Western New Yorkers have been holding their breath and waiting to see where they placed for the exam. I too was waiting, but more so for pride than hope for a job. Well, last week I received a notice in the mail saying that I was ineligible to be placed on the exam result list because I was supposedly 8 months to old! That’s right folks, I can’t become a Police Officer because I’m 42 years old!

I couldn’t believe this so I went downtown to check it out. I had to find out what in the world they were taking about, I mean, this couldn’t be true. After all Florida and many of the other States don’t have any age restrictions to be a Police Officer. As long as you can pass the physical requirements and Academy then why shouldn’t you be allowed to work in that field? Isn’t this called age discrimination? Don’t we have laws protecting against this?

Well I’m not really disappointed about not making the list, after all their is absolutely no way that I could ever get hired right? But I figured I should follow through with this investigation, it would at the very least provide an entertaining story. So on to the phone I went, calling the ACLU, Office of Human rights, and my local State representatives. Each got back to me as the day progressed and each had their own take on the issue.

The ACLU told me that they fought this issue twice in court as far as they could take it, but in the end they lost both times. I was informed that the ACLU considers this NYS Law that discriminates hiring based on age as the most egregious affront to the Constitution that they have fought, but in the end they lost and have to live with it.

The NYS Office of Human Rights simply said that this issue was negotiated and they were happy with the out come. They had very little interest in looking into the discrimination aspect of this issue. All my conversation with them did is lead me to believe this is a Patronage job and the people their are dumber than the laws we have in New York!

Finally I spoke to one of our state Legislators in Albany. I was told that this issue has been a hot bed of discussion over the years but the Democrats will not concede any concessions on it. This representative told me that even if they can’t remove the age limit for the hiring, the most outrageous part is that the police aren’t held to the same standard once they get in the department. He agreed that it makes no sense that a person can’t get hired if they are older than 41 years( with at least 6 years military) but we have fat lazy 60 year olds clogging the arteries of the force everywhere. this representative told me that their has been a push for a 55 year old age limit but it gets killed by the Dems who are beholden to the PBA every time out of the box.

So the bottom line is that if you are mature enough and qualified to be an effective Police Officer but are 42 or older you need to leave NY to pursue that line of work. Never mind the fact that the same police forces are filled with the big fat lazy cops that couldn’t pass an academy obstacle course to save their own lives. As I said, it’s the NYS Double standard. OH YEA, I forgot to tell you! if I had made the list I would have scored a 95% before using the 5% points for military Veteran status and would have been placed #1 on Hamburg’s Police eligible List! Who would have thought! LOL!!! 

Over the last week or so I have gotten a few e-mails from some people letting me know that the Big tree Volunteer Fire Hall is hard at work clearing the trees and brush from their new property on the corner of Big Tree Rd. and Bristol St. in Hamburg. These people are mad for several reasons and the least of which was more green space being torn down. I believe most people in this fire district are dismayed at how a Fire Hall can simply raise your taxes 9.2%, pay three hundred thousand dollars + for new property and plan to build a four million dollar fire hall without involving the public in any way. 

Did someone forget these fire districts are not for profit organizations and require town oversight? Apparently the new Fire chief at BTVFD and their new President just don’t give a shit because Hamburg First verified today that the BTVFD has not received the necessary permits to begin clearing the property and certainly didn’t get anyone’s permission to start burning the brush from their efforts. That’s right folks, BTVFD has snubbed their noses at the appropriate town ordinances requiring them to get permits.

I went over to the sight of this burning and asked the Fire Chief if he had indeed had those permits and he told me he didn’t need any. Do you believe that? So my next call was to Supervisor Walters who didn’t even know they were starting this project. It’s my understanding he was also under the impression that the BTVFD would be consulting the town board before any action like this were to ever take place.

I then called police dispatch to find out if they were aware of this brush burning? I was told the Town Building Inspector gave the fire hall permission to go ahead without the proper permits. Who the hell does this guy think he is? There are town ordinances in place for this kind of stuff for a reason and just because he may be the Building Inspector doesn’t give him the authority to decide what law he will follow and what one he won’t.

 107-11. Permit required; 

A.

None of the following activities shall be commenced until a permit has been issued under the provisions of this article: (1) Site preparation in the subdivision of land into two or more parcels. (2) Site preparation of nonresidential land for new construction and improvements of any commercial, industrial or other nonresidential lands or structures. (3) Site preparation within wetlands. (4) Site preparation within the one-hundred-year floodplain of any watercourse. (5) The removal or destruction of vegetation or trees which disturbs more than 20,000 square feet of ground surface within any parcel or any contiguous area. (6) Stripping which disturbs more than 20,000 square feet of ground surface within any parcel or any contiguous area. (7) Grading which disturbs more than 20,000 square feet of ground surface within any parcel or any contiguous area. ( Filling which exceeds a total of 200 cubic yards of material within any parcel or any contiguous area.

As you can clearly see Section 107-11 #2 and #5  clearly state that a permit is needed for the BTVFD to proceed in clearing the property of trees and brush. Will the Town Council continue to allow the BTVFD to ignore the very laws that we have to obey every day? We will see tomorrow when I try and get some answers from the Town Hall. This Building Inspector should receive disciplinary action for ignoring the very codes he is sworn to uphold. Perhaps termination would be in order. I also have unconfirmed reports that Hamburg Town Highway Department equipment was used to clear this property. If true, that is a clear violation of state law and someone should go to jail. As you probably know, several Highway Superintendents have recently been prosecuted by the Feds for doing that kind of crap. I’ll be looking into that fact this week as well. As always, I’ll keep you informed.

Last night I was thinking on how I could write a story about the continuing saga on the Walker/Andreychuk proposal without getting into the Recreation Advisory Board meeting this last Thursday. I am absolutely barred from discussing what happened in that meeting, by law, because the Supervisor called it as an Executive Session. Actually, I’m not sure that he can call it as an Executive Session but I’m really not in the mood to quibble about it.

So the only way to write this story is by talking around the RAB meeting. So, here goes a shot at it. Regardless of what happened in the RAB meeting the Town Council is not bound to follow any decision of the RAB. The RAB is an advisory board only. With that said it’s my feeling that Supervisor Walters will be pushing the Walker proposal forward. In order for the town to move forward, regardless of the approval or disapproval of the RAB, the town must garner support from the NYS Legislature to get a Home Rule Exemption to lease manage the facility.

That was reported in one of my last two articles about this proposal. So how does that happen? Well, Steve Walters must first get approval of the majority of the Town Council to go forth to Albany. I believe that is a lock at this point. Next he will have to get a State Assemblyman or State Senator to put their name on the request for a Home Rule Exemption. Most likely is Senator Volker or Assemblyman Quinn. Their isn’t a Democrat out there who will touch this issue right now. I’ll explain that comment in a moment.

If and when the request is brought up to the Senate or Assembly floor then a majority vote will be needed to allow this to go forward. Until all that happens this project goes no-where. Now here is the part that I think is very interesting. I believe town politics will kill this project altogether until Steven Walters gets himself re-elected and here is why.

Can anyone say BIKE PATH? When Steve Walters and the Conservative members of the town board killed the bike path they killed Walkers proposal. Here are the politics as I see it.

Joan Kesner is probably the most influential member in state affairs that our Town Council has. She has been Chief of Staff for State Senator Stachowski for something like 20+ years and she knows Albany inside-out. If she’s not the most influential then it would Kathy Hochul, who just happens to be Joan Kesner’s best friend. So either way Steve Walters is screwed.

When Steve Walters nixed the Bike Path he alienated Kesner and Hochul. They will not help him get a Home Rule Exemption pushed through the Assembly until after he gets re-elected. I just don’t see it happening. Both Kesner and Hochul would be needed in this endeavor because the Democrats control the State Assembly. In order for the majority to give Walters the OK in the Assembly it would mean some local Democrats crossing the isle and giving the OK, that will not happen now that Joan’s five year Bike Path project is gone. Sorry hockey parents, you will have wait two more years for this project to get done and then hope their is still interest from Walker and his financial team.

Never-the-less, I expect Steven Walters, Tom Best and Kevin Smardz to push this forward and try to make an issue of this. If they do it right they could turn it around on the Democrats as an election issue next year. 

Spring is upon us and sure enough kids will emerge from homes with excitement and energy. They have been cooped up for months just waiting for the weather to change. Oh sure they were out in the snow and cold, whacking around hockey balls and building snow forts for snow ball fights, but they all look forward to the little league baseball, football and lacrosse seasons that are about to begin. I’m sure that Carnegie Scranton, Lake Shore and Hamburg Little leagues have already distributed their fliers in the schools and had sign up at the mall. That usually happens in February.

I have always wondered where all the money goes that these leagues get. Now I’m in a position to start asking questions and get serious answers from town officials who have been historically tight lipped about this stuff. I’ve already had some brief conversations with Supervisor Walters and I’m planning a sit down with the rest of the Town Council members as soon as possible.

What I’m interested in knowing is what these clubs do with all the money they take in? Think about this for a moment. A typical little league charges about $75/per kid to play baseball. What do the leagues spend the money on? Well they spend about $15/per kid for a team t-shirt and ball cap. They splurge for about 10 baseballs per team and they buy a few new baseball batting helmets each year. However, my experience coaching in these little leagues has shown me they spend very little on anything else.

What you say? Well don’t they have to pay for time on the ball diamonds? Actually, no they don’t! The Town of Hamburg has historically leased all the towns ball diamonds out to the clubs for a single dollar a season. that’s right folks, one dollar! Well that wouldn’t be so bad but the rest of the town gets screwed because of it. Let me explain.

Say you have a kid who likes to play ball but he doesn’t play on a team for whatever reason. Your kid gets all the neighborhood kids together to go have a game down at the local ball diamond after school and dinner. it’s about 6pm and they just get started when a CSRA or HLL coach shows up with equipment for his team. He is always there first if he is a good coach but he sees that a bunch of kids are on the diamond he needs for practice or a game. What does he do?

Well of course he tells the kids to leave and most of the time they do. Hell, no kid really wants to get in trouble over a ball game right? This time, however, the house next to the diamond has the ol’ man sitting outside in a lawn chair enjoying watching his kid and his friends have fun. So when the coach tells the kids to leave, the neighborhood dad comes over and tells the coach to leave. This gets the coach pretty mad and neither one are going to give in.

Now folks, I’ve actually watched this happen. The coach then calls the league manager and ultimately the Town Police are called. When the cops show up, the coach gets the ball diamond and the kids and the neighborhood dad get kicked off the very ball field they have payed taxes on for years. Why did that happen? Because past Town Council members (DEMOCRATS) always catered to little leagues and their families over residents who pay for the Ball parks in their own neighborhood.

Yes, their are a lot of kids from the town who play in these leagues but there are lot who don’t. As a matter of fact, up to 50% of the kids enrolled in leagues from Hamburg aren’t even from Hamburg. How do I know? Well I coached for a couple years when my kids were younger and enjoyed the sport. I also know just how little money the leagues spend on the kids so where all that money went had always bothered me.

So if any of the loyal readers can explain to us what happens to the thousands of dollars that get taken in every year by these little leagues I’m sure we would all be very interested. I know I watched Joan Kesner stand up on the podium at CSRA, for several years in a row, to kick off the season and I know a lot of these league officials have donated a lot of cash to the Democratic campaigns each year. So I wonder if these campaign donations were a sort of payoff to keep the towns noses out of little league finances?

lets think about how much money we’re talking about. During the last year that I participated in coaching with CSRA, they had just about 780 kids registered to play baseball and softball. They charged about $75  a kid but they did allow the kids to sell candy in advance to pay up to half the registration fee’s. So let’s round down to 750 kids and figure out how much money that is. OK, the total comes to $56, 250.  WOW!  Now what do they spend money on? Well as I said, $15 per kid for a shirt and cap, that’s  $11,250. Oh yea lets not forget the single buck they give the town and I’m told they actually pay for fuel and some other small items at the CSRA main field off College Dr. So let’s say $3,000 more and I think that’s being generous.

What about insurance? CSRA doesn’t allow any kid to participate unless his parents have insurance for them. So they don’t carry insurance as far as I know but we can say $2,000 a season just in case they have to carry some liability insurance. So the best I can figure right now is they take in $56,250 in registration fee’s and send out $16,251 for a net profit of $39,999!

Where does all the rest of that money go? Well we can be even more generous and say they spend $5,000 a year for new equipment but they certainly make at least that kind of money up at the snack shack on the main ball field. So that’s a wash.  Where does all the rest of the money go to that allows these people to throw town residents off the very ball diamonds they pay for? I don’t know just yet but I’m pushing for an audit of every little league account. For those of you who don’t know, the town can audit any little league account if they have reason to believe something fishy is happening. I think it’s time to take a look, don’t you?