Brockport native Lyle Stirk is running for Brockport Mayor on the Brockport United line. He says over the past two years, many residents in the village have told him they feel they have no voice on the present village board.
“With all these conversations, I have had three things become apparent to me,” he says. “Families feel left out; taxes continue to increase; and there is no sense of commUNITY with neighboring towns. We need families to be involved with our village government. We need to listen to what everyone has to say, not just specific interest groups. If we can build up our community and help families with their tax burden, everyone will win and Brockport will thrive again.”
Stirk says he served in the U.S. Army in West Germany and currently works for the Manning Squires Hennig construction company in Batavia as a field office manager. He and his wife have five children – two are students in the Brockport Central School District and three are raising their own families.
Brockport is a great place to live, Stirk says, with one of the best parts of village life being able to walk downtown and enjoy local businesses.
“My family loves to walk down to Jimmy Z’s, Kitchen Express, or Fazool’s for dinner. We like to take our younger children and grandkids to Corbett Park and the playground on Utica Street,” he says. “The ability to walk to all of these locations and the “small town” atmosphere – while getting to know the people and families that make up the Village of Brockport is by far the best part of living here.”
The arts are important, Stirk says, and have a place in every community, but he does not think tax payer dollars should be spent on such items when resources are needed to fix roads and sidewalks.
“For me the answer is simple,” he says. “I will always support the needs of our families over special interests. We have neighborhoods in the village that have no sidewalks; we have roads that need attention. We need to let our DPW focus on the infrastructure of the village before it deteriorates any more. I would manage the village budget like I manage my own. I don’t pay for my recreational activities when my house needs repairs. I think our board needs to have the same attitude.”
He observes that the community has a talent base in its own backyard with students at Brockport CSD and the College at Brockport. “Why spend taxpayer dollars when we can simply give opportunities to our talented young people to create these murals under the supervision of instructors?” Stirk asks. “Why not allow them to feel like they are a solid part of our community? After all, they are the future of this community.”
Stirk says he will bring a working man’s sensibility to the board. He says that as someone who works full-time and is raising a family, he understands the hardships of paying high village taxes.
“I also understand the inner workings of our village government as a member of the village Planning Board. I want to focus on lowering our taxes to help the families of Brockport, and we can do this if we stop the bickering between the village and the town and sit down to discuss shared service agreements that benefit us all. I think our residents are sick and tired of the political back and forth and just wish that government worked for the people the way it was designed to do,” Stirk says.
He would like to offer community office hours as mayor so residents can meet directly with him to discuss concerns.
Stirk says the Brockport Police Department and DPW workers do a great job. “I have had the opportunity to participate in a ride-along with Officer Sime and witnessed his caring and professionalism. Our DPW workers are hands-down the best around.”
Union workers should be given the opportunity to do their jobs efficiently, Stirk says. He says he would conduct a comprehensive review of each department to ensure all is operating efficiently and effectively. “We need to have fiscal responsibility,” he says, “every purchase we make as a village should be evaluated that way.”
Stirk says there are three bridges in the village, and it’s time to work on bridging the differences which have been a source of anger and division in the past.
“I think it is time we focused on families both young and old in Brockport,” he says, “I think it’s time to put the feuds of the past between the village and landlords behind us and move forward as a unified community.”
