Town Hall Meeting 9/18/2018
September 18th, 2018
HORNELL, NY – Over 75 people turned out for a Town Hall meeting Tuesday evening to discuss everything from Marijuana to zombie properties with first term mayor John Buckley and Senator Tom O’Mara.
Although Buckley has held many Town Hall meetings in the past, this was his first as mayor of the city. The group in attendance was diverse, with other mayors, school superintendents, common council members, police and fire department heads, and code enforcement officials all in attendance.
The first major issue brought up was the possible legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Both Buckley and O’Mara were for medical marijuana use, and the harvesting of the hemp plant for industrial purposes, but both were against legalizing it for recreational purposes.
Another person in attendance questioned why the new hospital currently under construction could not restore some of the lost services that St James has dropped over the years. Both Buckley and O’Mara assured all in attendance that they are still working diligently to add lost services and will continue to do so in the future.
Also zombie properties were discussed and the panel was questioned whether more could be done to avoid the accumulation of vacant/abandoned housing in the city. O’Mara responded that zombie properties are not only a problem in Hornell, but all major cities in western NY. Buckley chimed in that Hornell has had a drastic turnaround in the amount of vacant housing in the city, going from a high of 42 at one point all the way down to its current level of 8.
There were other questions fielded by the pair in the roughly 2 hour session, all receiving an ample response.