To the Editor:

At the Meet The Candidates meeting on Monday, Oct.19, a group of concerned citizens came to meet Amie Burnside, Kevin Flensted, and me, the new candidates for the town of Westerlo. There was much open and friendly discussion on issues of concern:

— 1. Fracking:  It was agreed by these concerned citizens and myself that fracking is not in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of our community;

— 2. Town boards should be made up of balanced party lines with new and fresh ideas, all working together for the benefit of everyone in the town;

— 3. There are persons residing in our town who have expertise in many areas and would be willing to volunteer their experiences.  Let's use them in order to have more people involved  with things like special-interest sessions;

— 4. All meetings should be transparent.  If not, it causes suspicion.  Ideas and suggestions should be welcomed and considered.  No one should feel intimidated.  Also meetings should be made more public with newsletters, Internet, etc.;

— 5. The town is not in a good place financially and this should be fixed.  Stop spending money on nothing;

— 6. Westerlo is a family, friendly community with a beautiful park, which is not being utilized to its fullest;

— 7. Businesses should be limited to state routes in order to properly place zoning and yet not affect the taxpayers;

— 8. The elderly have no assisted-living quarters whereby they could feel free to sell their present home and still stay in the town they love.  Also, there are no meals-on-wheels programs for shut-ins like other towns have.

— 9. Internet access is very needed today, especially for school children who are required to use this service for homework;

— 10. Westerlo always has been a rural town and most agree they want to keep it this way.  However, we need to be able to move forward, balance the budget, repair our existing buildings, and keep our residences safe;

— 11. All agreed it would be very helpful to hold another one of these informative meetings to hear more from the residents of Westerlo.  One will be scheduled very soon.  Look for the notice and please take time to attend!  We want to hear your concerns and ideas.

Thank you for your interest and concern in regard to our town of Westerlo.

George Langdon, candidate

for town supervisor

 Westerlo