WNY Community Papers Virtual Meeting Will Explore Upstate Independence
Chris Carosa, publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls- Lima Sentinel, has announced that his paper will host a Greater Western New York (Virtual) town hall meeting on July 15, 2021 beginning at 7:30 PM to discuss the topic of Greater Western New York independence.
New York State Senator George Borrello who represents several counties along the Southern Tier portion of the Greater Western New York Region says, “The New York City-centric state government policies of high taxes along with oppressive and unnecessary regulations have disproportionately damaged Greater Western NY. It is the primary driver of our loss of population and rising poverty. One-size-fits-all state government has made us uncompetitive and kept our local economy in a perpetual state of recession.”
Senator Borrello is one of three keynote speakers who will kick off the event. Each will champion a different solution. Assemblyman Stephen Hawley of Batavia will promote the idea of becoming an independent state; Senator Borrello will tout the merits of becoming an independent autonomous zone; and Buffalo author and attorney James Ostrowski, a nationally recognized speaker who’s arguing the open-carry case against New York State that’s being considered by the US Supreme Court, will explain how counties have already declared independence by ignoring certain laws.
This is not a debate, but a town hall meeting, which means the audience will be able to participate. While produced in a virtual studio, the event will be broadcast on the Zoom platform so it will be easy for interested people to join in. After listening to the three pitches, attendees will have 30 minutes to ask the speakers to clarify and amplify their statements. After that, the attendees will break out into separate rooms based on their county of residence, further discuss the issue, before coming back to the main meeting and voting for their preferred choice.
The event is co-sponsored by several newspapers in the Western New York District of the New York Press Association, including the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Sentinel, the Alfred Sun, Neighbor-to-Neighbor newspapers, and The Batavian.
To participate in the event, go to GreaterWesternNewYork.org to register. The event is free and open to all residents of the Greater Western New York Region. After registering online, registrants must confirm their registration via an email sent from the organizers. (Please check junk or spam folders if you do not see a confirmation email with the log-in information.)
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The Greater Western New York Region comprises the 17 westernmost counties of New York State and was formally defined by the Treaty of Hartford on December 16, 1786 with the creation of Preemption Line. These counties include: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates.