There are a couple of observations that can be made by one after reading the article in Monday's edition that noted "17 seats uncontested for fall elections."
One of those observations is the 17 uncontested are doing a good job. However, with tax rates on the rise, we know that is just not the case.
The other, and more obvious, is we just have too many seats - and people - involved in the running and representing of our region in government. For example, in Cassadaga alone, there are five Village Board members, five Town Board members and one county legislator. That means 11 people represent 650 residents - or one representative for every 59 residents. That seems overly abundant, even in the horse-and-buggy days.
But uncontested races are becoming the norm. It began in area villages with board seats - and has now moved to the town and county level.
Unfortunately, those uncontested seats only lead to more of the same results of the past decade: bigger government and more spending increases, both of which are the key ingredient to population declines of the last three decades.
