To the Editor:

At a recent practice where my son plays Guilderland Pop Warner Football, I overheard two other parents discussing potential business ideas in the town of Knox and the difficulty of getting one started there.  It turns out one of those parents was Vasilios Lefkaditis who’s a candidate for Knox town supervisor and whose son also plays for Guilderland Pop Warner on my son's team. 

I jumped into the conversation and told my story about how Knox "welcomes" businesses.  

Over 17 years ago, my mother ran a well-known restaurant by the name of Deb's Home Away from Home in the Big M truck stop in Selkirk.  She did very well there.

Unfortunately, the Big M chain of truck stops went into receivership and she was forced to close.  She then purchase the Foxenkill restaurant in Knox on Route 443.  She proceeded to spend nearly her entire life's savings renovating the restaurant and the house next door. 

Unfortunately, when she approached the town for permission to run the Foxenkill, she was denied.  She ended up selling the restaurant at a big loss, costing her virtually all of her savings and ultimately moved to Florida before returning to upstate New York (not to Knox!).

I find it amazing that the same people in office then are in office now and their attitude towards growth and small businesses hasn't changed one bit.  I don't live in Knox and don't know much about their politics but one thing is for sure: If the desire of the townspeople is to grow and foster business growth, then you can start by voting those in office out.

T.J. Vadney

Guilderland