Dale Ricker of Fredonia has announced he is seeking a seat for trustee in the village. He issued this statement regarding the upcoming election:

“I am proud to announce that I am running for trustee for the village of Fredonia. I have been endorsed by the Independence Party, the Conservative Party and the Republican Party and I appreciate their support.

“I have been a village resident for more than 35 years and am retired from the Fredonia Police Department after more than 28 years of service. I currently work for Basil Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac in Fredonia and have worked there more than 12 years. As a police officer in the village of Fredonia, I earned several commendations, including one for entering a burning apartment to help residents out of the apartment, one for disarming an armed suspect after he had shot another subject, one for work improving our evidence control procedures and one for updating our warrant procedures. I was president of the Fredonia PBA for several terms as well as treasurer for two terms and secretary for two terms and was chairman of the Policemen’s Ball and the PBA summer picnic as well as the chairman of the yearbook committee for several years.

“Prior to my police career, I worked 11 years at Blackstone Corp. in Jamestown as a printer. I served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam from July 1969 until July 1971 active duty and two years active reserve and two years inactive reserve in the Army Reserve here in New York.

“I live in Fredonia with my wife Sonja, who I married in 1969 and we are parents of Kenneth Ricker of Jamestown and Vicki Ricker of Fredonia and grandparents of four grandchildren.

“I currently serve on the supervisory committee for the Greater Chautauqua Federal Credit Union.

“We choose to live here in Fredonia because of all the wonderful people here and because we love this village. I was proud to serve the residents in the past and would be proud to serve them again if elected. It is my desire to help bring harmony to the village board and to help keep this village on the track to a great relationship with our neighboring governments. If I am elected, I promise to work for the taxpayers and keep their best interests in mind. I will always be available to listen to residents’ concerns and I will always put the voters above the elected. I would like to help unite the village and work for all residents.

“My first order of business will be to help stop the fighting and bickering among government officials. My goal is to face the current concerns of the residents and work toward a more harmonious village. It is my intent to improve the village’s infrastructure including the village streets, because without good streets, clean water, a capable sewage treatment facility and a safe village, we cannot entice new businesses and residents. We need to get back to buying local and supporting our local business people whenever possible.

“We need to bring in new permanent businesses to serve our residents and we need to bring back pride in Fredonia and these are the things that I promise to strive toward with the help of the rest of the Board of Trustees if I am elected.”