Charlie Bliss is running for Town Councilman. Some of us, who think he would do an excellent job, would like to tell you about some of his qualifications and accomplishments. Charlie was born and raised in Rushford. Other than the time that he spent attending Purdue University, where he earned a degree in engineering, he has lived in Rushford all his life.

He has been very active in and dedicated to the Rushford community. In the Spring of 1969, during his senior year at Rushford Central School, he was one of the founding members of the Rushford Rescue Squad. He was among a group of people who felt that Rushford needed an ambulance service. The newly formed Rescue Squad members took both basic and advanced first aid classes. Charlie and the rest of them traveled door-to-door collecting donations for an ambulance. By the end of the summer, enough money was collected to buy the Rescue Squad’s first ambulance and it was ready for the Labor Day celebration. The work on forming the Rescue Squad was also one of his Eagle Scout projects. That was forty years ago and Charlie is still on the active Rescue Squads’ roster as the longest tenured member. This fall, he is taking the EMT refresher class to continue his certification.

He has also been active in the fire department. He has held every office including, most recently, chief. During his years as chief, Charlie developed both safety and driver training programs for the members of the fire department. Being a fireman can be dangerous so safety training is very important. He also wrote a computer program to record all of the fire department’s training and activities to satisfy both state and federal requirements and, at the same time, saving the fire department the expense of a commercial program. Charlie has also taken an extensive amount of training in leadership and fire ground tactics. He also became certified as a level II national fire instructor to better enable him to teach fire safety.

Serving on the Assessment Board of Review for more than twenty-five years has given him a clear understanding regarding property tax assessments and equalization rates. His other activities include being a member of the Allegany County Auxiliary Police until it was disbanded. He has played in the Rushford Town Band for more than 40 years. He is also on the board of directors for the International Association of Electrical Inspectors - an organization that promotes electrical safety in our homes, schools, and businesses. He has been married for 32 years and has two grown children and one grandson.

In his professional life, after graduating from Purdue University, he passed the professional engineering exam and has been a professional engineer for almost thirty years. He currently works in the field of fire prevention. In his job, he regularly meets with town and village boards across the southern tier giving them guidance on fire prevention and building codes. This has given him a clear understanding of how local government works. His guidance and advice have allowed these towns to provide their residents with a higher degree of protection against the perils of fire.

Four years ago, Charlie ran for the county legislature. Two of his goals, at that time, were economic development and the use of the old Belmont School as office and court space for the county. Economic development is still very important. The Belmont school could have been a cheaper alternative to a new court house. Instead, the school was given away by the current legislature. Charlie is adamant about coming up with the most cost effective method of providing services to people. That is what engineers do. A good example is his current project to provide an inexpensive fire fighting water supply to the downtown Rushford area through the reuse of two used steel tanks. These tanks will provide 35,000 gallons of water at a reason price.

Charlie Bliss will make a good town councilman. He has the knowledge and experience to be an excellent custodian of your tax dollars. Please vote for him on November 3^rd.

FRIENDS OF CHARLIE BLISS COMMITTEE