Editor, OBSERVER:

This letter is in response to an article and photo that was published in the OBSERVER (March 22) showing a pile of brush in front of my residence. Let me begin by stating that I emphatically had nothing to do with this being printed in the newspaper, and I resent any implication otherwise.

This winter has been a difficult one for everyone here in Western New York — especially in the city of Dunkirk. Our Public Works employees have been on the job almost 24 hours a day trying to keep up with the snow removal, and now the fallen limbs and brush as a result of the snowfall on March 2. I commend these men who have battled the elements and dealt with many unfair complaints. Many of these workers have worked 12-plus hour shifts.

As a county legislator representing the citizens of Dunkirk what I believe to be newsworthy of my activities should at least include:

¯ My March 7 volunteering for Meals on Wheels.

¯ On Wednesday, March 21, I volunteered to read to second-graders at School 4 for agriculture week and the students had a ball with the reading, cheese sticks and learning about “Field to the Table.”

¯ I also volunteered and refereed the “Exceptional Senior All-Star Basketball Game.”

These are things that I believe to be newsworthy, not the photo of a pile of brush — otherwise known as irrelevant or as President Trump might call “fake news.”

Again, I commend the hard-working city of Dunkirk Public Works employees. They are doing one heck of a job and I appreciate all that they do for every resident in this city. Lastly, I want to send a big thank you to the concerned citizen who submitted the photo. The city crew was at my house by 9 cleaning up the brush.

ROBERT BANKOSKI,

Dunkirk