Daniel Thompson

Daniel Thompson is a candidate for the office of Portland Town Justice and has been endorsed by the Republican Party.

Dan Thompson is lifelong resident of the town of Portland. He has been married for 40 years to his wife Patricia and has two daughters and three grandchildren. He was a former employee of Miller’s Market in Portland, the AJ Wahl company of Brocton and Quality Markets Inc. He is a 35-year member of the Tri Church Parish in Brocton, having served numerous times as a trustee and as financial secretary.

His dedication to serve the town began as former active 24-year member of the Portland Volunteer Fire Company, serving as Secretary of the Department, as well as the department training officer. He was a 21-year certified emergency medical technician and served as captain of the rescue squad. He held the elected office of Commissioner of the Portland Fire District, and currently serves the District as the Secretary Treasurer. He is responsible for the accurate recording of the district’s business and the legal distribution and receipt of the monies of the District as outlined by the NYS Comptroller’s office. He was a former member of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the town, and now serves as the Vice Chairman of the Portland Planning Board. He also volunteers at the Town’s annual rabies vaccination clinic.

Thompson retired in 2015 after 30 years with the Chautauqua County Bureau of Weights and Measures; the last 16 years he served as Director. His duties included the inspection, testing and certification for accuracy of all commercial weighing and measuring devices in the county, the calibration of farm milk tanks, testing of packages for compliance with net weight and labeling requirements, and the corresponding enforcement of the Weights and Measures Law as prescribed by the NYS department of Agriculture and Markets. This included preparing letters of warning and/or infractions against those establishments found to be in violation, the leveling of fines against firms, corporations and establishments for violations found after investigation and testing, and issuing stop use removal orders for devices found to be out of specifications. He investigated complaints by consumers ranging from item pricing, short weight on packages, short volume at gas stations, as well as other miscellaneous complaints on method of sale of commodities.

As part of this Bureau he was associated with the NYS Weights and Measures Association, serving as President for two training schools, and five years as Chairman of the Association’s Executive Committee. In 2008 he received the Distinguished Service Award for the State for spearheading the consolidation of the State’s Annual Training School and the Association’s Annual Conference from a separate two-week occasion into a one-week school/conference, which included the integration of all associated classes and presentations offered before the merge.

Thompson stated, “This is not a position to be entered into lightly. I will put in the time, effort and dedication to this duty as I have in all my past endeavors. My background in Weights and Measures Laws and the interaction with both businesses and consumers followed the motto of “protecting the interests of business and consumers so that equity may prevail” in all transactions. This motto can also be applied to the duties of Town Justice, as it will require the equal treatment of all persons who appear before the courts, as well as an understanding of the facts in order to render a decision. I will bring to this position the same dedication, strong work ethic, and compassion learned from years of dealing with the public to see that justice is served in a fair, but equal manner.”