Monroerising.com recently heard from Brighton Supervisor Sandy Frankel, who took exception to a couple of posts we had last week — one on a dispute between Brighton and the state DOT regarding night contruction and the other on the lack of Democratic candidates running for the state senate.
Whether you agree with her or not, you have to give Supervisor Frankel credit for telling her side of the story. We encourage anyone interested in posting comments to join in the discussion. The responses are a little long but well worth the read.
Dear Mr. Peabody,
Unfortunately, you may not have had the full facts about the I-490 road improvement project that was the subject of a public hearing by the Brighton Town Board when you wrote your comments.
To clarify the issue, here’s the rest of the story:
1. The fact of the matter is that the NYSDOT already had the authority under state law to do contruction work at night on roads that they own, so they really didn’t need to ask the town for permission. In addition, at the meeting the NYSDOT representatives threatened the town and its citizens by saying that if the town didn’t approve night construction, then the NYSDOT would simply drop the Brighton section from the project. If the road was in need of repair via a mill and fill project, then it wasn’t responsible to threaten removal of that segment of road. We don’t take kindly to intimidation, especially since the NYSDOT could easily proceed with the work at night if that was their preference.
2. So why did the NYSDOT come to the town in the first place? Because our prior approvals, though not binding on the NYSDOT, included conditions that would reduce the likelihood of property damage to homes from intense vibratory equipment, and lessen jarring noise in the middle-of-the-night for nearby homes. The NYSDOT chose to use these conditions in their specifications when bidding out projects as added reinforcement in the monitoring of and adherence to the required noise abatement measures. NYSDOT guidelines call for noise abatement measures to the best extent that they can be achieved. This was essentially a belt and suspenders request.
In the past, the Brighton Town Board and I were pleased that the NYSDOT wanted to work with us and the neighbors to find reasonable noise abatement solutions and limitations on vibratory equipment that had caused serious damage to some homes. But this time the attitude of the NYSDOT at the public hearing essentially made a sham of their request.
3. During past NYSDOT projects on I-490, nearby residents have, indeed, suffered substantial consquential damage to their homes, have had to fight tooth and nail to get relief from the contractor’s insurance, and have had their lives disrupted for extended periods of time as a result of how the road work was conducted.
4. Now I certainly understand and agree with your concerns about the safety of construction workers on highway projects. Since we share that concern, I will point out that the NYSDOT has approved a variety of highway improvement projects here and throughout the state during daylight hours as well as at night, mindful that night work is prefereable. If the safety factor is so substantial, then the NYSDOT should ban day work and only conduct night work.
5. With the knowledge that the NYSDOT could work at night regardless of the town’s position, I asked the NYSDOT representatives at the meeting to review the concerns raised at the meeting and to talk with us about how the project might proceed before making a final decision. I suggested that we wait until the next board meeting to take action. That was the basis of Councilwoman Sheila Gaddis’ vote. While that was my desire as well, my vote to the contrary responded to the NYDSOT’s continuing attitude of threat and intimidation with regard to the progress of the project.
6. Despite this, I conducted mediation over the next few days and was able to reach a satisfactory resolution. The project will be done at night under conditions that all involved parties believe are appropriate and warranted.
7. How did this come about? During my discussion with the NYSDOT Regional Director who was not at the public hearing, I learned that the road improvement probably would provide some reduction in the ambient noise level of traffic for several years. That information was not presented to the public or town board during the public hearing. I thought that If the residents could manage to live with a few days of added noise and discomfort in exchange for several years of a slightly quieter road, then that might be a basis for compromise.
7. I then spoke with the neighborhoods’ representative who, in the interest of reaching an amiable resolution, agreed to night work if certain conditions were met: (a) no vibratory compaction or back up alarms along with other noise abatement measures, (b) survey of homes with photographs pre- and post-construction to make insurance recovery easier in the event of consquential property damage from the construction work, and (c) noise level testing pre- and post-construction to instruct future projects. The NYSDOT agreed to these conditions as did the residents.
So as you can see, I was able to reach a positive outcome. We will continue to represent the interests of the people we are elected to serve, to work cooperatively with the NYSDOT, and to stand against treats and intimidation.
I hope that this is helpful to you, Mr. Peabody, and to other readers.
Sincerely,
Sandra L. Frankel
Supervisor
Town of Brighton
Dear Prudence Izguhde,
I’d like to set the record straight with regard to my campaign and election record.
I have run for four offices: BOCES #1 Monroe Board of Education, Brighton School Board, Brighton Town Supervisor, and Lt. Governor of New York State. In all, I have come before the voters 15 times, and have won all but 3 elections.
I ran for the Brighton School Board in 1977 after having lived in town for nearly one year, and did well but didn’t win. I continued to work at raising our three young children with my husband (we have now been married for 43 years), as a Speech Language Pathologist with the Hearing and Speech Center of Rochester at the Anthony Jordan Health Center and several city day care centers, and as a volunteer in the community.
In 1982, I was elected to the BOCES #1 Monroe Board of Education and re-elected in 1987. I served the interests of children with handicapping conditions, vocational education, and shared educational services for 10 years, including service as Vice President.
I was elected to the Brighton Board of Education in 1985, and was re-elected in 1988 and 1991. My 6 year service on the Brighton School Board included time as Vice President, as well as service as President of the Monroe County School Boards Association. I was proud to be part of our community’s continuing commitment to quality education and to achieving national recognition as one of the finest school districts in the country.
In 1989 I ran as a Democrat for Brighton Town Supervisor and lost by a very small margin. I thought that if the incumbent administration addressed the concerns that we as a slate had raised, then I would be happy to continue my life as it was. Unfortunately, inadequate progress on issues of community concern, e.g. the lack of public parks, financial management, and delayed but needed infrastructure improvement, motivated me to run again two years later.
In 1991 I ran and won election as the first woman and first Democrat to hold the position of Brighton Town Supervisor in modern history, despite more registered Republicans than Democrats at that time.
I ran for re-election eight more times and won each election, the most recent in 2007 with 75 percent of the vote. The voters spoke clearly about their ongoing satisfaction with the performance of my adminstration.
In 1998, I was honored to be asked to run for Lt. Governor of New York State. The poliltical wisdom of the day said that Democrats from upstate need not apply, since the preponderance of registered Democrats was in the downstate and New York City area. Nevertheless, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to put important issues on the table, to get to know our state better, and to work for the interests of upstate, which had lagged behind the economic boom enjoyed by downstate and the rest of the nation at that time.
To the surprise of many, I won a three-way Primary Election to become the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor, and I won 82 percent of the Democratic votes in Monroe County in that primary. Although Lt. Govenor and guberatorial candidates run separately in our primaries, the winners become a single ticket and that is the basis on which voters vote in the General Election. Our ticket did not win, but I opened the door for Democrats from upstate to participate in a meaningful way in statewide elections, and for candidates from downstate to take needs, concerns, and interests of upstate more seriously. I was pleased that the campaigns and subsequent elections of U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton and Governor Eliot Spitzer included a sincere focus on upstate and western New York.
Interestingly, in 1998, voter registration in the Town of Brighton shifted from more Republicans to more Democrats.
Those are the facts about the campaigns I have run, won, and lost.
It is certainly more satisfying to run and win, than to run and lose. Winning allows you to work directly on positive policy changes, to improve the delivery of government services and programs, and to make capital improvements that will benefit the community for years to come, like the creation of a town-wide park system, an expanded library, stronger police and other public safety services, safer sidewalks and roads, and improved sewer and drainage systems.
But even if one doesn’t win an election, it is still a worthwhile endeavor. Giving the voters a choice in competitive elections is important to our system of democracy. Putting issues important to the community on the table for public consideration and discussion helps to move policy and programs forward. Perhaps best of all is the opportunity and privilege of meeting and getting to know so many great people in our wonderful community.
So, the next time you think about people on either side fo the aisle who are willing to put themselves out there in a public election, please consider that public service is, indeed, an intrinsically gratifying type of work, win or lose. My hope is that more people will decide to throw their hat in the ring and give it a try. In fact, we could use more women elected officials as well. How about you, Prudence?
Sincerely,
Sandra L. Frankel
Supervisor
Town of Brighton
