Gerbec announces candidacy for Wheatfield Town Board

Councilman Arthur Gerbec has announced that he is a candidate for re-election to the Wheatfield Town Board.

A registered Republican, he has been endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties.

"We have accomplished a great deal in the past few years, but work remains to be done," said Gerbec. "Under the leadership of Supervisor Bob Cliffe, we have brought the town back from near financial collapse, and we have restored both financial and personal integrity to town government. The town went from a deficit of $663,000 in the former supervisor's final year in office to our current fund balance of $2.2 million."

Gerbec has been a member of the Town Board for the past five years. He serves as co-chair of the Comprehensive Master Plan Task Force, chairs the Veterans Memorial Focus Group, sits on the Fire Advisory Board and is liaison to the Drainage Committee as well as the Highway, Building, Water and Sewer departments.

As co-chair of the Master Plan Task Force, Gerbec helped update the town's Master Plan, accomplished through the hard work of volunteer committees, which saved the town more than $50,000 in fees for a professional planner and encouraged greater participation by residents.

Gerbec also has worked to obtain grant funding to reduce the burden on local taxpayers.

In 2012, the town received a $1,162,000 grant from the National Scenic By-Ways for work on the Greenway trail and River Road park. This grant was the third highest amount awarded in the entire country. The town also received funding from the state for establishing a Local Waterfront Plan to protect the town's waterfront areas and another grant to prepare an Agricultural Master Plan.

Gerbec served four terms as president and four terms as chief of Bergholz Volunteer Fire Company, in addition to being a past president of the Niagara County Volunteer Chief's Association and an EMT. The insight and experience gained from this service has made Gerbec a key member of the Fire Advisory Board, which meets monthly to review plans for projects before the Planning Board and which facilitates cooperation between the five Wheatfield fire companies.

Gerbec is vice president and a co-owner of Erie Metal Specialties Inc., a nationally recognized firm in the expansion joint industry. His 45 years of experience in business has served to help control town spending and to increase efficiency in town departments. Gerbec's experience in bridge and infrastructure construction has brought a special insight to overseeing town engineering and construction projects.

Gerbec is a graduate of Erie County Community College. He and his wife, Marilyn, have lived in Wheatfield for 35 years, raising two children. They now have two grandchildren who live in Wheatfield.