BREAKING: Allegany County legislators appear to be coming in the back door on a proposed personal wage increase next year of $3,500 each, or more than 40 percent. In a little-known action, which appears to have been shrouded originally in secrecy, county lawmakers, by a split vote, have included the salary increase, to $12,000 annually, … Read more
Mostly sunny skies are expected to greet thousands of visitors today as more than a dozen Christian organizations participate in a Families Pavilion as part of the annual Main Street Festival in Wellsville, an adjunct to the Great Wellsville Balloon Rally weekend. Houghton University and Allegany Hope will be among organizations highlighting the activity, organized … Read more
Two Allegany County online information providers were recognized tonight by a statewide open government coalition for efforts in shedding light on closed door meetings of the county Board of Legislators. Allegany Hope Community News and Resources Editor Casey Jones was commended by the New York Coalition for Open Government during its online annual meeting for … Read more
The Allegany County Board of Legislators abruptly closed its doors to the public today to discuss an unknown scope of county finances which appeared to range from millions of dollars to the entire county budget. Allegany Hope Community News Editor Casey Jones challenged the action as being unlawful as the disjointed proceedings jumped from an … Read more
The Allegany County Board of Legislators is dramatically more secretive in holding political caucuses, apparently to discuss county business, than that disclosed by three out of four adjoining New York counties. The determination comes in an Allegany Hope Community News followup to a report issued today by the New York Coalition for Open Government in … Read more
The Allegany County Board of Legislators today continued ongoing practices associated with several types of dubious secret sessions by again closing its doors to the public, apparently for the purpose of being told how to conduct its meetings. County Board Chairman W. Brooke Harris of Alfred entertained a motion at the start of a Committee … Read more
A state open government advocacy group is scheduled to issue a report and make recommendations tomorrow about political causes held by local government legislators, such as those held regularly in Allegany County, which, it claims, “make the public meeting a sham as the real discussion has already occurred in private.” The New York Coalition for … Read more
BREAKING: Allegany County, NY, lawmakers, by an unusually high split vote, have approved new salaries for department heads and non-union personnel which appeared to run as much as $25,000 more and over 25 percent higher for next year. The votes came late this afternoon at a special meeting of the county Board of Legislators, following … Read more
BREAKING: The saga of existing and future Allegany County, NY, emergency medical services (EMS) is continuing tomorrow, with County Administrator Carissa Knapp requesting the Board of Legislators Public Safety Committee to give permission to receive proposals for a study to determine future county involvement. The action comes after the legislature’s Public Safety and Ways and … Read more
The Allegany County, NY, Board of Legislators will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal to increase the salaries of 20 county officials by an average 13.82 percent next year, with a $26,167 hike for the county administrator and a 26.46 percent increase for the personnel officer. If the local law is approved by … Read more
The state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and how it can be used in research will be the subject of a noontime lecture tomorrow, Thursday, October 20, at Alfred University. Ted Forsythe, a university alumnus and an adjunct professor of criminal studies, will discuss The Power of FOIL: Using NYS’s Freedom of Information Law as … Read more
Allegany Hope‘s focus on Building Healthy Communities Through Healthy FamiliesTM has been highlighted by the Family Life Network (FLN) of radio stations across Central and Western New York and Pennsylvania. A news interview of Allegany Hope Executive Director and Community News Editor Casey Jones highlights how our emphasis on local government transparency is essential for … Read more
The vice-chair of the Allegany County Board of Legislators has pushed back sharply against allegations that county lawmakers have been operating illegally when they go behind closed doors to discuss county business, saying he will ask members of the public who raise objections to such actions to leave a meeting. The vociferous response came yesterday … Read more
Allegany County, NY, legislators’ penchant, or habitual liking, for conducting county business behind closed doors, out of view of the general public, has drawn additional scrutiny. The online Wellsville Sun, in reporting on the Wednesday meeting of the Board of Legislators Planning and Economic Development Committee, at which a $55,000 contract with Alfred State College … Read more
Allegany County, NY, legislators, after a challenge by Allegany Hope Community News, appear to have swapped one unlawful practice for hiding county business from county residents to another. Members of the Board’s Planning and Economic Development Committee yesterday, during a meeting attended by several other members of the board, attempted to go into executive session, … Read more