THANK YOU!

Despite all the obstructions thrown in her path Donna Felker was certainly very successful in her attempt to become a Voice for the Ilion Taxpayers. Lets list those obstacles.

• No initial legal notice of Election ( about 40 days late)
• No final legal notice listing candidates, polling places, times of election, etc.
• Machine at the Municipal Building late in opening causing people who were on their lunch hour being denied the right to vote
• Miscounting absentee ballots.
• Failure to be sworn in at the traditional time, immediately after election.
• Misinformed about the time of the meeting Wednesday, June 20, 2007.

So much for the Mayor's policy of Open Government!

Just in case you didn't know, Bob Applegate has been replaced as Village Attorney. Bob's salary was $25,000 plus benefits. His replacement will will make $6,000 a month or $72,000 a year. At the same meeting , The Evening Telegram, which has been the official Village paper for as long as anyone can remember, has been replaced by the Utica Obsever-Dispatch. That means that all legal notices will now appear in the O-D costing the Village probably about double. One wonders if all these things are in the budget. Perhaps it's time for one of the Mayor's audits? He can surely find one that will provide the results he needs.

After all is said and done, this sign says it all!

DONNA FELKER WINS BY MORE THAN 100 VOTES

Congratulations to Donna Felker on her decisive victory on Tuesday! Out of less than 700 votes cast, Mrs. Felker won by about 125 votes. Certainly, a clear indication that the Ilion voters are not that thrilled with the current administration.

Latest news out of the Municipal Building is that the Village Attorney, Robert Applegate has resigned and been replaced by an out-of-town attorney at about triple the salary. Mr. Applegate salary was $25,000 a year plus benefits. The new attorney will make $6,000 per month or $72,000 a year. Add that to the new Clerk's salary and you come up with $79,000. Wonder where that's going to come from! Hope Ilion Taxpayer is reading this.

Plus that, tonights Evening Telegram runs an add that the local Video Store is closing and moving all their business to Herkimer.

ILION TAXPAYER?

Dont' you wonder who "Ilion Taxpayer" might be? Sounds an awful lot like the Mayor. The same Mayor who has failed to follow thru on anything in almost a year.

First time in memory that you have to get an appointment to see the Village Clerk. Municipal Building not secure enough to collect taxes even though the Police Department is within earshot!
Lots of talk about consolidation but no action!

Don't you wonder which member of the Village Board will be the next Village Engineer or Village Adminstrator? Smart money bets on the Mayor!

FINALLY MADE THE PAPERS!

We finally made the papers! John Gilmartin's letter has been in both the Evening Telegram and the Observer-Dispatch. In this morning's Sunday edition of the O-D there was also a small notice giving some election information.

This, in no way fulfills the Village Clerk's obligation to publish a legal notice in the Village official newspaper, The Evening Telegram. This is the second time New York State Election Law has be violated by the administration.

NO NEWSPAPER COVERAGE

Both local newspapers, The Evening Telegram and the Utica Observer-Dispatch have both chosen to completely ignore the June 19, 2007 Village of Ilion election. The committee helping to elect Donna Felker has decided that the only way to get her message out to the people of the Village is through a blog

We will attempt to have new information on this site daily and would ask that you pass the blog address on to all your friends and neighbors!

DONNA FELKER'S RESUME

Donna Felker worked for over twenty years for US Airways both At the Oneida County Airport and the Albany International Airport.

Her first job with the airline was a Training Instructor where she researched, prepared and instructed in the Reservation Training Programs. From there she became the Reservations Sales Supervisor where she assisted with the hiring process, organizing and conducting interviews and information sessions. After transfer to the Albany Airport, she became the Customer Service Supervisor and charged with training, supervising and directing personnel to insure superior customer service.

Mrs. Felker served on the Village of Ilion Municipal Utilities Board where she and other members attempted to consolidate services and job positions for better fiscal management within the Village until it was very apparent that the present administration led by Mayor Cushman and supported by the Village Board was not interested in any advice or suggestions from the Board. At this point, most of them resigned!

It certainly is apparent that Donna's work experience and participation in the community makes her the best candidate to fill the vacancy created a year ago when Doug Richard resigned.

BIRTHDAY PARTY AND RALLY

Come on down to the Ilion Marina on Flag Day, June 14, 2007 and help Donna Felker, candidate for Trustee in the Village of Ilion, celebrate her birthday and Flag Day. The party begins at 5:30PM and goes to who knows when!