“I’m proud of the things I’ve been able to accomplish so far, and I owe so much of that to the incredible workers who I am lucky enough to have beside me.”
My Promise
In 2019, I ran a campaign vowing to control spending while improving services and community relations. Utilizing my strong business background and implementing innovative techniques to boost productivity, I have accomplished my previous campaign goals and now set my sights even higher.
If reelected, I will strive to continue improving quality of life for the residents of West Seneca in all areas in which my department serves.
My future goals are organized into four parts as follows: Proven Leadership, Continued Responsible Spending, Improved Services and Self-Sufficiency, and Resident Satisfaction.
Please read more about these goals on the website, and as always thank you for your support. It is my honor to serve you and this community.
Sincerely,
Brian J Adams
I didn’t have the easiest start to my current role. Shortly after I was elected, COVID-19 struck. I am proud of the fact that I was able to successfully lead operations through an unprecedented global pandemic.
When state mandates only allowed a fraction of my workforce to operate, I got creative and designed labor rotations that would sustain critical services while remaining compliant with New York State Department of Health guidelines.
As the pandemic settled, I was unfortunately forced to navigate another unprecedented event – the Christmas Day fire which destroyed a large portion of our building and many pieces of vital equipment. Work had to continue and so it was a scramble to piece things together to keep the departments operational while continuing to meet the needs of residents. Everyone’s day-to-day work was significantly disrupted and the challenges we all faced were overwhelming.
Now, looking back over a year out I’m proud of how far restorations have come. The Highway rebuild will commence soon and it would be my honor to lead that project. I have also successfully managed multiple major weather events during my time as Highway Superintendent, including debilitating snow storms, wind storms, and flooding. I have been present and actively working during these events.
By harnessing the talent of my employees and keeping my departments as self-sufficient as possible, we have been able to remain operational during these weather events, or recover very quickly, when many others could not.
Throughout my tenure as Highway Superintendent, I have been able to control costs and build the Highway reserve fund while simultaneously improving services.
I’ve used many techniques to accomplish this, including reviewing and renegotiating countless contracts that we have with outside vendors. I also immediately performed a thorough inventory of all equipment and have hosted multiple equipment auctions, generating revenue from otherwise unusable equipment.
I have worked closely with many local government representatives and applied for several grants and funding programs to purchase equipment and improve roads, bridges, sewers, and other infrastructure.
In addition to these external revenue sources, I have carefully utilized my employees’ labor and talent, allowing me to pave more streets than in previous years and improve park maintenance across town.
Finally, my familiarity with the labor contract coupled with my strong leadership has resulted in zero labor grievances against me, which has saved taxpayers money. If reelected, I will continue to use all of these techniques to promote responsible spending within my departments. I’ve also learned that increasing our self-sufficiency has the potential to save money. Thus, I have detailed plans to improve self-sufficiency and increase efficiency while producing more savings.
Promoting self-sufficiency within the recycling program is at the top of my concerns. I listen to residents’ frustrations with the way recycling is currently outsourced and run. I can bring this service in-house and considerably improve it. After all, we have the best sanitation department in Western New York to model this work after!
Recycling operates similar to garbage collection. I am very familiar with the industry and the levels of staffing, schedule, equipment, and external contracts that would be needed to sustain this program in-house. I have already begun conversations with the Town Board about what is required to give West Seneca a more self-sufficient recycling program that will save money while improving the quality of this service for residents.
I also have plans to work with the Town Board, Police Chief, and our Director of Senior Services to make the Senior Center an emergency shelter in the event of severe weather. Having our own emergency shelter in town makes us less dependent on access to other towns, which oftentimes becomes impossible during snow storms, and protects the health and safety of our residents.
Things I have already done to increase services is help negotiate the “4-day summer work week” into the new CSEA labor contract. Having my employees working 10-hour days during the summer means that there is less daily starting and stopping on large, critical road projects. Less interrupted work results in increased efficiency. The 10-hour days will let us utilize extended daylight and good weather so that we can maximize the amount of work we complete in a given day. This is a strategic shift that does not result in any additional tax burden, but allows me to complete more projects during the season.
I’m also proud to announce that I successfully brought New York State Department of Transportation training in-house by getting West Seneca approved as a training location. That means that we can now train our own employees so that they can fulfill the requirements to receive a CDL license. Obtaining a CDL license is timely and expensive for employees but critical to the work we do. Cost is a barrier for many. Being able to provide this benefit helps us recruit and retain top talent. The more CDL-licensed employees we have, the better work we can do.
Finally, self-sufficiency is how we were able to manage major snow events. We have slowly collected more pieces of equipment that enable us to better manage catastrophic conditions. I have plans to continue to build our reserve of specialized equipment with pieces that will aid us in maximizing resident safety in the future.
I’ve made it a priority to really elevate the level of customer service associated with the Highway Department. I do this by being visible and engaged with residents, personally responding to them whenever possible. I’m reachable by phone, email, my Facebook page, and regularly host people in my office.
I’m also proud of my ability to work with all stakeholders. If a relationship will benefit the town, I’m going to work my hardest to build it. I am responsive to residents’ concerns and requests. On a weekly basis I am contacted by residents regarding specific problems they are experiencing.
Feedback I regularly receive from residents reveals that I have a very good track record for coming up with a remedy or agreeable compromise to help solve issues. I work my hardest to use the resources we have available to us to help residents.
I am present at nearly every Town Board meeting, regularly attend other community organization meetings, and volunteer at numerous community-based events year-round. I have created a positive working relationship with the Town Board and as a result we have been able to accomplish some great things such as renovating and restoring the Burchfield, installing a new splash pad, upgrading essential equipment, and improving our parks and playgrounds.