There's a David-versus-Goliath battle brewing in the sleepy hollow of Somerset on the eastern end of Niagara County. Richard Meyers is playing the part of David in his bid for the town supervisor's post, as he is slated to challenge current supervisor John Sweeney on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines of the Sept. 12 primary. Meyers says that Goliath, in the form of the town council and Somerset Town Attorney Edwin J. Shoemaker, is using dirty pool to pull the wool over the eyes of town residents.
"It's not an election against John Sweeney. I'm really running against the town board. I'm only facing John because he won't do anything about it," Meyers told the Reporter.
The "it" Meyers refers to is what he sees as Shoemaker and the board's fascination with running interference with the plans of the town's top employer and taxpayer -- the AES Somerset power plant.
This past winter, AES announced it was looking at windmills as a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to generate power than the coal-fired method currently used at the plant. Meyers signed on to the concept immediately and was stunned when the town initially reacted by attempting to ban all windmills, both commercial and private.
"I'd been attending a lot of board meetings and I questioned one individual about the opposition (to AES's windmill plan). This member stood one foot from my face and said, 'Whatever AES is for, we're against,'" Meyers recalled.
That's when the ex-Marine and father of six boys knew that he had to throw his hat into the political ring.
"The wind issue got me involved because I've always had an interest in the subject. The more that I saw the way the town board operated, the more that I knew that someone had to shine a spotlight on what was happening," he said.
Meyers claimed what he saw at council meetings led him to believe the board was being manipulated and controlled by Shoemaker.
"Sweeney and the rest of the board are just puppets on a string," he stated. "There's never been an abstention or a nay vote on any issue at all of the meetings I've been to. How is that possible? Unless they're all just playing follow the leader." Meyers said the official reaction to his candidacy made him realize Shoemaker had a proprietary interest in who sits in the town supervisor's seat. Just 24 hours after Meyers filed petitions containing 77 names supporting his candidacy, Shoemaker filed preliminary objections to the signatures. This allowed the Sweeney camp to do two things. One, they could argue that some of the signatures might not be valid. Two, they could determine if any of the voters signed Sweeney's petitions first -- he had 263 signers -- and demand that those petitions be thrown out.
Meyers said just one person should contest signatures on a petition -- his opponent.
"Not only did (Shoemaker) help him get his signatures, but then he turns around and files objections to mine. He's the town attorney; shouldn't he remain impartial to the candidates for an office that he serves?" he said.
Meyers suggested to the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal that Shoemaker is playing favorites, although Sweeney claimed to have no preknowledge of the petition challenge.
"Ed is a friend of mine and a friend of the family's for quite a number of years," Sweeney confessed.
Meyers thinks that the people of the town need to know just how lucrative that friendship is to Shoemaker's bank account.
"I've filed a Freedom of Information request with the town to find out just how much he's billing us. (Town Clerk) Rebecca Connolly stated that it will take some time to get the records, 'to the extent to which they exist.' It sounds to me like there's some sort of a coverup going on," said Meyers.
Meyers said he believes Shoemaker received $400,000 for just one lawsuit filed against AES and that the attorney's yearly take might be north of the seven-figure mark.
"If it is that high, it's significant. The population of Somerset is only around 2,800 people. That works out to $357 for every man, woman and child. Folks here work too hard to have to turn over that kind of money. They might argue that AES pays 85 percent of it because that's how much of the tax base they cover. It all washes out the same, because if AES's money is going to the town attorney, it is money that is not being spent on the town and the people."
Meyers pointed out that a much larger town -- Porter -- pays about one-tenth of that million-dollar figure to its attorney yearly. Porter also has an industrial giant within its borders -- Chemical Waste Management.
"We could hire a full-time attorney for far less than what (Shoemaker) is getting for part-time representation. If Porter can do it for less, why can't we?"
Meyers said that the wind issue is a perfect illustration of how out of touch Sweeney and the town board are with the desires of the populace of Somerset.
"They were just going to try and ban them (windmills) and that would be that. Then I took a handbill from door to door letting people know about the public forum that was scheduled to hear arguments from the public. The people spoke and said that they were for green solutions to our energy needs. I invited the entire board up to the Fenner Wind Farm outside of Syracuse for an upclose look at exactly the type of windmills we're talking about. Fenner is the second largest wind farm in the state and they welcomed us with open arms. It was a free trip, and not one member took me up on it."
Meyers said he may not have reached the ears of the town board, but he has touched the hearts and minds of a far more important group -- the people of Somerset.
"The board is a tight-closed circle of people. They're distrustful of outsiders and they just want to keep things the way they've been for so long. Change is coming, and it's the people of the town that are going to bring it. The people in power want control of that board. Someone needs to get into office and let the people know what they are. I'm that someone," he said.
In the Bible, David felled Goliath with a slingshot and a rock. Come Sept. 12, Somerset's David will attempt to slay his Goliath with a more modern weapon -- a windmill. And when the great giant falls, Richard Meyers hopes that the winds of change will blow through the town hall of Somerset.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | August 15 2006 |