7/26/2005

Driving Perrysburg Crazy...
If you ever see a brand new silver-grey Ford Thunderbird in Perrysburg, NY...find a spot, sit back and laugh. Last Friday morning two of the city's best and brightest attorneys (think slick and slicker...) drove to Perrysburg, NY for the first time ever. Top down thru the country. I think it's probably the last, too.
2005_ford_thunderbird_lg_6
Let's call them "Tim and Pete." They were sent to investigate and gather potential witness information for a law suit that Tom Trathen, Trathen Land Company, LLC is bringing against the City of Buffalo. Frequent readers of this blog fully understand the lunacy behind this lawsuit. I've been writing about "the deal" for the past seven months and you can get up speed with all sorts of background information.

The lawsuit comes about as a result of our elected and annointed officials not minding priorities and attempting to save a few trees down in Perrysburg as the forest here in Buffalo (Broadway Fillmore District) is engulfed in a raging fire storm.

I heard thru the very reliable "grape-vine" that "Tim and Pete" experienced the sort of culture shock that turned John Boorman's Deliverance into a cultural icon. Word is they turned pale despite the heat as a local guy they were interviewing offered his pool so they could cool off. "You can just borrow those bathing suits over there on the shelf." Turns out the pool water next to the trailer wasn't cool, I guess.. All this happened mind you while the guy they thought they were going to depose just really wanted to make a beer run back to town.

Safe and back in the T-Bird...they sped back to Buffalo to catch the first round at happy-hour on Chippewa. Another source, hearing their happy-hour field report, told me that they quietly hope the city is going to lose the case. This according to the cocktail waitress friend of mine who told me all about their lack of respect for people who live 40 miles away. She knew about the case and has taken an interest in it as her mom used to work at JN Adam Developmental Hospital and still lives in Gowanda.

But wait...you gotta see this...


I first got a glimpse of it last week. Two signatures on the petition. The next court date is August 18, 2005 down in Little Valley. Cattaragus County Supreme Court Judge Larry Himelein will hear Scott Cannon, attorney for Tom Trathen ask the court for judicial relief against "us" and the "city slickers." Once the case is wrapped up, Tom get's clear title to the property and he'll start paying property taxes to the Town of Perrysburg and assist them in getting their new water district up and running. Tom Trathen is the good guy in this drama. Four people in Common Council President David Franzcyk's office...self proclaimed "citizens of the world"...think otherwise. They've told me.

This is what we know of Judge Himelein. Courtesy of Linda D. via SpeakupWNY.
Finally, I have to laugh that this case is being heard by Larry Himelein. I went to school with him at Gowanda Central back in the 1960s (he's older!). Larry's family has been in Gowanda for several generations and his parents (maybe even his grandparents) owned Himelein's Department Store which was a fixture in downtown Gowanda. Since Gowanda is the biggest village in the area and includes parts of the towns of Collins (Erie County), Perrysburg, and Persia (Catt County), Larry knows knows very well what JN Adam meant to the communities in northern Cattaraugus County. He also knows that the "Perrysburg Forest" is just a figment of a handful of city slickers' vivid (and ignorant) imaginations. It will be interesting to see how the City's lawyers make their case for "saving historical JN Adam" to somebody who knows far more about it than they do. In fact, I might take the day off from work and check it out, especially if it's during fair week.
So, stay here. Bookmark the archive city hall denizens...this is going to a wild ride. Oh, by the way who is paying the legal fees? And so it goes...
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Tim and Pete" are hotties!!! And I love that hot car!!!!