I am thankful for all who supported me

To the Editor:
I would like to give thanks to all the residents in the town of Westerlo for their votes and support over the last four years. In that I am turning 75, I want to travel before I forget how to get home, so I decided not to run again! I will continue to support the current board members as well as the newly elected board members.

I am thankful for all who supported me in getting my six resolutions that I proposed the first year I served, which were all brought to the forefront and eventually implemented.

A special thanks to Dianne Sefcik and Anita Marrone (God rest her soul) for moral support and supporting my ideas and resolutions when I started out. Behind the scenes, they helped me write and  present my ideas to the board.

Dianne initially backed me and even told me I was just what she was wishing for for many years. I feel bad she didn’t agree with everything I did but she gave me hope and encouragement in the beginning to fight for what I felt was right. [Former supervisor] Bill [Bichteman] even had commented, “I don’t want to hear you say anything, Rich” when he would present my ideas to be put in place!

I want to thank Amie Burnside for all the days and nights we worked together “off the grid” to support the town and especially during the pandemic to find funds to move within the budget to prevent town employees from being laid off and I still feel strongly that layoffs were not needed and our other town workers suffered from the shortage but I am pleased we are back to sufficient staff in the town offices and highway under the direction of our new Supervisor, Matt Kryzak.

I am sure you, Matt,  will do a fantastic job and I “almost” felt bad about leaving once you were put in charge!

I also want to thank Joe Boone for all his outstanding opinions and helping us think things out and for all the hours we spent with Jody Ostrander to get the transfer station “under control,” which has saved the town a lot of money. A special thank-you to Jody for all his help as a great resource to the town and for using his outstanding staff to save the town thousands of dollars, rather than contract out.

Most of all, I want to thank my wife, Betty, for supporting me with my ideas and all the research she did on my behalf.  She was my “personal secretary” who did a lot of typing and re-typing as I am not a “computer guy” and she “almost” never complained nor thankfully demanded a raise as my town salary did not permit it.

I will continue to attend meetings, when I am at home, and to support the entire board going forward and not “disappear in the woodwork” like most. I would like to encourage all residents to come to town meetings and still would like to see a nice message board within the town to announce upcoming meetings, proposals, and laws.                                                                                                   

Richard Filkins

Westerlo

More Letters to the Editor

The Altamont Enterprise is focused on hyper-local, high-quality journalism. We produce free election guides, curate readers' opinion pieces, and engage with important local issues. Subscriptions open full access to our work and make it possible.