This Upcoming Election Could Be A Disaster For the Bike Path Effort.

In the next few days you will be receiving your ballot to vote for three board seats. There are five candidates running. Two of them could spell disaster for the bike path.

The problem candidates are Ed Drozen and Deby Fox-Hahn. Both of them are against doing anything to retain our access to the bike path. I have spoken with Drozen and he was very explicit. He did not value the bike path and he is against spending any funds to support it. If you have the December newsletter you can review his write-up. He does not even mention the bike path; the most important issue to ever impact the Ransom Oaks lifestyle.

The same is true for Fox-Hahn. She was the secretary last year before I won in the election. At every meeting, when I tried to get board support for the bike path, she challenged me asserting it was not something the ROCC should be doing.

If either or both of these candidates should win in the election we could "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory". We are so close, so very close. We can't let this happen.

What can you do?

(1) VOTE FOR THE THREE INCUMBENTS.

Gene Zambarda has been on the board for about a year. He has done an outstanding job. He is on the Bike Path Committee, he restarted the Audit Committee and he is chairman of the committee that is updating the By-laws and Covenants and Restrictions.

Dennis Thompson, with your help, was appointed to the board during this last year. He also is on the Bike Path Committee and the By-laws and Covenants and Restrictions Committee. In addition he took over the Facilities position from Fox-Hahn and created the online version of the calendar for scheduling use of the facilities. Dennis also found a very economical security system to prevent the kind of vandalism we experienced this last year. He is a truly valuable asset to Ransom Oaks.


Mark Walsh is the current president of the board. We have formed a good working relationship. Mark wants to ensure that we have full access to the bike path.


(2) Get the word out to every resident.
Tell them, VOTE FOR THE INCUMBENTS!! AND DON'T FORGET TO SEND IN THE BALLOT!!!

(3) Try to collect ballots.
Be careful to read the rules about ballots and proxies. This ballot/proxy collection activity is one where Drozen and Fox-Hahn have a great advantage. They live in Charlesgate Village. A very small compact area with a high density of residents. They can collect ballots and proxies very efficiently. Those of you in Charlesgate, Woodgate Village and Forrest Edge have the same advantage, please utilize it.

The rest of us that are in the "family homes" are at a disadvantage. We have to make up for it by spreading out and covering a larger area.

This email is getting a bit long. Maybe I'll wait for some questions from you guys before I pass on more information.

Thanks

Pete

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Thanks to all of you that showed up and spoke at the meeting. For those that were not there, IT WORKED! The board passed the "Save the Bike Path Resolution" 7 to 1. We now have a committee with five or six members and a budget.

As for the gory details, 24 residents showed up to speak for the bike path. All spoke out and most said that they would stay for the full meeting to see which board members support the bike path. All of them actually stayed. In addition,

Jane Weston spoke for the owners of the bike path and basically laid it on the line, they have the power and they want the ROCC to carry the ball.

Dave Specker spoke for the residents in general and covered about 14 points ranging from, "the board must vote the residents wishes not their own interests" to "why are they ignoring the owners, the petition, the residents in general" to "why hasn't the vacant board position been filled by the candidate with the most votes".

Tom Bubar reiterated how he has been attending meetings for 18 months, he has spoken to the Amherst police and is fed up with lack of action by the board. It is incomprehensible to him why we are still being harassed by golf course personnel given 4000 ft of the bike path does not belong to the golf course. Why hasn't the ROCC acted and why is the board position still vacant.

The Woodgate board, part of Ransom Oaks, is unanimous in its support for solving this bike path problem.

Others described being hassled by the golf course AND a golfer.

Again the question came up about the ROCC covering liability for the golf course. Again we were told that the golf course has rejected that. They just want us off. It is a business decision, they say we hurt their business. (Can we hurt it more by being denied the use?....We may have to prove that.)

AND THEN, Pat Hanny spoke and at least twice during her talk, the rest of the residents broke out in applause. It was truly compelling. She covered everything with additional emphasis. Including, we need an attorney for an another opinion, just like if you were told you have a terminal disease, you don't lie down and die, you get an another opinion. She has hours and hours of surveillance video of the golf course and we can use it to document problems.

All in all, a great success. But it would not have happened if all of you did not show up and pressure the board. I hope I never have to ask you to do that again. The board should be able to remember what the residents want and not backpedal.

Thanks again,

Pete

Its Time to Solve This Bike Path Problem on June 14 or Drop It.

I'm getting to the end of my rope on this bike path issue. I have spent thelast 18 months banging my head against this wall. There will never be a better time to act and solve this problem!

(1) A vast majority of the residents want to use the bike path without any hassle from the golf course.

(2) The residents that own parts of the bike path have authorized the ROCC to use their ownership to our advantage.

I intend to introduce a resolution to the board at the June 14th meeting (7:00 PM Greenwoods). It will charter a committee of myself and one or two others and a budget of a few thousand dollars. We will create a plan to protect the owners of the bike path and secure access for all residents of Ransom Oaks.

The PROBLEM IS we don't have enough board members on our side to pass the resolution.

The only way to get the board to approve this resolution is for the residents to pressure the board members at the meeting to vote our way.

To do that, we need a large number of residents to show up, and NOT leave when the "resident's portion" of the meeting is over. They all need to stay and witness which board members are for the bike path and which are not.

In addition, to be most effective, during the resident's portion of the meeting, as each resident is asked to talk, they should each say:

"I am here because I want this board to secure our rights to use the bike path AND I AM GOING TO STAY FOR THE WHOLE MEETING TO SEE WHICH BOARD MEMBERS VOTE THE WAY I WANT".

How many of you can get to the meeting? Can you get friends and neighbors to attend also?

If we can't get this resolution passed, I don't know what else to do. The time is now!

Thanks

Pete

My Submission to the ROCC Newsletter

Letter to the Editor

In our continuing effort to demonstrate to the Glen Oaks Golf Course that they need to be good neighbors and share the bike path with us, we need to inform companies that sponsor golf outings at Glen Oaks of our situation. Last year, the following four companies sponsored such outings.

Human Resources Partners
Post Office Box 215
Bowmansville, New York 14026
716-532-8800


M.D. Carpet Upholstery Cleaning
33 Parkside Cir.
Buffalo, NY 14227-2360
(716) 668-4216


R.B.U'ren Equipment Inc
1120 Connecting Rd
Niagara Falls, NY 14304
(716) 283-4466


UniFirst Corporation
3999 Jeffrey Blvd
Buffalo, NY 14219-2334
(716) 825-4252


The situation is:
• We have shared the bike path with the golf course for over 35 years.
• Now the Glen Oaks golf course seeks to prohibit us from using the bike path.
• Oddly, the golf course does not even own the entire bike path
• Over 4000 feet of the bike path lies on resident’s property yet the golf course believes they can refuse us access to it.

There are 1100 families in Ransom Oaks that are affected by the actions of the golf course. Any residents that are associated with any of these firms should inform them of our situation. Any that are customers should also inform them.

In addition, why don’t we all write letters to these companies and describe the situation? Or, just make copies of this page, pen a short note on the copy and send it to these companies.

We can have this bike path issue resolved by the 4th of July if enough pressure can be applied to the Glen Oaks Gold Course.

This Letter to the Editor is from me personally, not as an ROCC board member.

Thank you,
Pete Calinski

Election Results... 67% Solution

Well two out of three. Forrest and I were elected last night. Dennis
didn't get enough votes. The other candidate that won was Jim Golding.

I would like to give you the vote breakdown for each candidate but the
president of the board said that information should not be released. I
don't agree with that policy but being "the new guy on the block" I will be
a team player.

In general I disagree with the veil of secrecy that surrounds the board
actions. We are supposed to be doing the resident's bidding and the
residents should know everything we do. I will try to move the board to the
point of full transparency in the future but right now I have more important
issues.

Since we didn't achieve a majority on the board we will have a harder time
winning this battle. I may have to call on you folks to take some action(s)
in the future. I will not ask unless it is of strategic or tactical
importance. I know everyone has a busy schedule and can't keep responding to
this bike path problem.

On another note, I understand that many of the residents that own parts of
the bike path are getting together. They may offer the board the right to
exploit their ownership for the benefit of all of Ransom Oaks. I sure hope
we can get the board to take advantage of this resource.

I'll send more information about last night's meeting in the near future.

I want to say thanks to all of you that voted for our candidates. It really
means a lot to know we have so many supporters. For the last few weeks I
have been walking the neighborhood asking for votes. So many people I had
never met said they already voted for us and thanked me for all my efforts.
All that support proves to me that my time and effort are worth while.

Thanks Again,

Pete

Get a Proxy Here

If you need a proxy you can download it from here and print it.
click here

We need it for the April 12th meeting. To ensure it gets there:
(1) Bring it to the meeting at Greenwoods Rec. Center that night at 7:00 or,
(2) Give it to someone that is going to the meeting or,
(3) Call me and I'll come by and pick it up. 688-1871

Thanks
Pete

I don't understand

The current board agrees that the golf club is correct in its interpretation of the original covenant. Do you and your running mates agree with this? If so what is the plan to get the golf course patch access back, is it to find private property owners that actually own part of the path and then use them to threaten the golf course into cutting a deal? Have you actually identified a single property owner who claims to own part of the path and who is willing to participate in this plan?

Time to Alert Everyone That You Know----Proxies Are Coming Soon

Hi everyone,

According to the March Newsletter the proxies will be mailed the second week of March.

Please tell every resident you know:

#1 DON'T THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...Better let them know in advance

#2 Vote for the following three candidates:
Forrest Benson,
Dennis Thompson,
Pete Calinski

#3 Fill it out completely

#4 Either: Seal it in an envelope and return it by April 12 or
Give it to someone that is going to the April 12th meeting or
Bring it to the meeting and be there for the big counting.

Thanks,

Pete

My Concerns about the Charlesgate Board President.

I'm getting more concerned about the actions of the Charlesgate board president. Last spring he told me flat out that he wouldn't spend a penny to save the bike path.
I have also heard that he has taken actions or made statements like:
(1) Requested the "disbursement journal" (what ever that is).
(2) Wanted a copy of the offering plan and covenants.
(3) "No body wants the bike path".
(4) Questioned how the Charlesgate portion of the assessment is determined.
(5) Complaints about proxy method. (We all do but maybe he is on the otherside, wanting more control for the board).
(6) That money spent on the lawyer was wasted.

I don't know the extent to which statements 1>6 are not true and I will correct them if so informed. My concern is he could make it difficult for the ROCC board to take the actions necessary to protect our rights to the bike path. He could even make it difficult for the pro-bike path candidates to win in the ROCC board election if he has a lot of control over what happens in Charlesgate.

(1) Does anybody know if the bike path was discussed at the Charlesgate board meeting January 13?
(2) Does anybody have a list of the Charlesgate board of directors and where they stand on the issue? Ideally the Charlesgate residents should speak up and get the Charlesgate board and its president to see things the right way. If I had a phone list for the Charlesgate board I would ask all the Charlesgate residents I know to call their board and get them moving in the right direction. I would appreciate any help on these actions.

Thanks
Pete

January Newsletter with Election News and Our Lawyer's Letter

The January newsletter is out. As I hinted, the election has been canceled,
primarily because it the way it was structured, a fair vote could not
happen.

I am sure the letter I sent to each board member and the board's lawyer
prompted this.

As a result, according to the bylaws, a committee made up of one board
member and two residents (that are not running) will be formed to select the
slate of candidates. I don't know if the one board member on the committee
can also be a candidate in the election.

I hope some of you can attend the January 11 meeting to get on this
committee and ensure I will be one of the candidates. If not I'll have to
mount a write-in campaign (which is allowed under the bylaws).

According to the newsletter the committee will then select the candidates
and a new proxy will be created at the February meeting.

Also, the letter from our lawyer to the Glen Oaks Golf Course lawyer is
printed on the inside of the back cover of the newsletter. There is no
explanation about it. It is the result of the November 16th meeting between
the board's lawyer, Ron Shubert, board members Tom Meldrum and Gene
Zambarda, and yours truly. I have not heard of any response from the golf
course.

Thanks,

Pete

ROCC Board Elections

There will be news coming out about the ROCC election.

I believe I know some of the details but I have been asked to not reveal the
information.

To demonstrate that I can be a "team player", all I will say is, those of
you that are calling residents regarding voting for me, you should no longer
make any calls.

Happy New Year.

Thanks,

Pete