Skaneateles Press, October 19, 2005

DEAR PRESS,

The Gasoline Alley column by Pete Pirnie was a great anti-village article.

Attacking the DOHDEC in the 1852 case, and then associating the possible

demolition of the Kissane structure with concealing pollution “irregularities” is,

in my opinion, fantastic.  The re-testing issue started with questionable

accusations directed at 1852. When this didn’t prove polluted, just messy, I believe

damage-control and personal anger was carefully, in my opinion, redirected

in the Gasoline Alley column towards the Kissane issue. If it is okay to criticize the

Supervisor, then it should be okay to criticize a group’s leadership for painting

everything negative and leaving out the whole story.

Classic middle class behavior.  Like Supervisor Ireland, Pete Pirnie could

be a better community leader.

Is Spafford’s Supervisor concealing pollution irregularities at the Kissane

property just a few hundred feet from my beautiful home?  Because

that’s not the Supervisor  I come to know and trust from attending the Town

Board meetings for the last four years.  So let me investigate the article in

the Skaneateles Press, and like Dean Rubin, Professor of  Journalism at SU,  

find the basic facts.  I called Supervisor Gordon Ireland about Pete’s

accusations. He returned my call. We talked.  I then contacted the author of

Gasoline Alley, Pete Pirnie, to ask a few relevant questions about my

neighborhood’s “Gasoline Alley”. He would not allow me to find the answers.

He called the cops and told me not to contact him again.  Gordon did not call

the cops. He cares about basic human civil rights, health and safety and the

first amendment.  

Over the last 5 years, Mr. Pirnie has dropped off more than 20 letters and documents for

the Bullett, a  respected free, community web-newsletter, to print for the benefit of 

all local groups to read and edify themselves.

For example:  the Historical Society, Borodino and Spafford Fire Departments,

Food Pantry, Spafford Town government and other good groups all have

their own pages, and can explain policy or ideas freely.   We printed

Pete’s material out of respect and fairness.  But his newest article threw up

the big red flag for me and my neighbors.   Since many of his letters to me

have proven to be inaccurate and untrue, and since his sociopathic

hatred of my neighbor and the Supervisor  is well documented,

investigating his claims is a must for the safety of my  readers and neighborhood.

One question to Pete was:  Who thought of the title “GASOLINE ALLEY”? 

Because from the technical papers I read, and from the professional people

I contacted, the column should have read:

DOHDEC SEES IMPROVEMENTS IN  BORODINO

Another question was: water well down hill twenty feet from the “contaminated”

Kissane property was healthy. Why didn’t you mention this? Yes, there is a

superficial plume of old decomposing mideast gas remaining from the old

Mom and Pop store. The site was cleaned. But small, weak parts under

Rt. 41, Rose Hill and the Historical Grange remain. I’m a Sierra Club member ,

and know when fair is fair. Berating the DOH, DEC and Supervisor Ireland

is fantastically intellectual. Will the new Spafford supervisor test the Kissane well ,

and if it is lightly contaminated, will he or she TRY to dig down one hundred feet

under the state road and historical buildings?  That’s leadership? 

Do something positive. You and your friends should invest in your

community and buy the Harris Hall Property.     

We need more guidelines for free speech to protect free speech.

The Sky is not falling in Spafford.

Joe Vecchio

Founder of the community newsletter, Borodinobullett.com

Joe looks for truth and fairness in Spafford for free.