My Birthday Present to the Legislature - "Little Steps"

Addressed and emailed to All County Legislators on 7/21/09 ---

Good Day,

As Thursday's legislative session approaches there are two topics and three agenda items related to large projects in Cortland County. I wanted to provide comments for consideration by representatives on the Legislature.

First, let me share a common theme that I witnessed in my term on the Legislature - the "little step" approach. As you are all aware, large projects take years to develop, often covering several terms of the Legislature. With Legislator turnover inevitable at election time, many newer legislative members and those who are reassigned to different committees each re-elected term are not privy to the entire history of projects related to multi-million dollar projects including the airport, the River Trail, and the landfill to name a few. Information is not always at the ready and time is not an ally when Legislators research topics, so smaller resolutions with no perceived cost that are brought up for votes do not often appear to have a notable impact on a project. They get lip service by Department Heads and the Administration about their history and the process for accomplishing the task, and reolutions that are prepared for Committee and passed on to the floor have about two weeks for vetting and for follow up investigation. I feel that moving things along in this matter can have drastic long range implications, as decisions that are made at a monthly Legislature meeting can either lay groundwork for or keep momentum going on projects that otherwise would bear detailed scrutiny and often fail to get support and continue if they were presented as a single all encompassing project.

For example, Agenda Items 4 and 5 pertain to further expansion and development of the Cortland County Airport. As a participant on the Highway Committee for 18 months leading up to this vote, I often requested information on the history of the project to assist in the decision making process. This information included a decision making matrix and their associated costs for various options ranging from: continued ownership and development by the County; the sale of the airport to third party operators; and County abandonment and/or closure of the facility. Unfortunately I was never able to obtain those figures and backup. I was told what possible impact would be, but there was no written report or summary to review and discuss as a Committee or a Legislature. My understanding from various discussions at Highway meetings or forums is that sale or abandonment by the County could lead to cost repercussions in that the FAA funding for the last 20 years could or would require payback. This should be confirmed and provided in writing from the FAA by the Highway Department and filed. Unfortunately, it would seem that the current arrangement to operate the airport at a "profit" (using the term loosely as I do not believe the operating and maintenance costs are accurately portrayed) is the easiest one to choose by Legislators. However, one has to consider the long-range impact on the County: more and more County properties off the tax rolls, more indebtedness to the FAA to what appears to be $855,000 per the resolution, etc. Our continued rubber stamp of airport projects without examination of the County needs and costs in these economic conditions is poor governing. I do not think that the airport should be closed; I believe that a third party group (with no financial or political ties to the airport) should investigate options and provide recommendations to the County. There is no deadline for decision for this project that would incur cost or liability to the project at this time. I recommend to table the resolutions or vote them down and take a hard look before we take nearly a million more dollars of federal funds, obligating us to longer operation of the facility at taxpayer expense.

The next topic is in regards to agenda Item #16, which is a resolution authorizing an agreement between Cortland County and Air Energy TCI. This is a major decision that will impact our entire County, and another example of "little stepping". I do not believe that the Legislature as a whole has decided to pursue the project, however the process and resolutions that were passed were done so under the guise that the project can be stopped at any time... Previous resolutions were passed to allow this company to set up wind test towers at the landfill at no cost to the County; now we are using another "no cost" resolution to engage in professional services for the County to serve as SEQR Lead Agency for this project- paid for by the company who would like to locate 50+ windmills here? This certainly gives the impression that the majority of County Legislators are favor of windmills and the project. Is this the case? Would one assume that if the County were to stop the process later in the project that they would be liable for repayment of some of this money as the County might be perceived to be acting in bad faith? Get this in writing please.

I also do not recall receiving any (written) cost benefit summary to the County for PILOT or other reimbursement for this project. The wind power certainly is more expensive than purchasing National Grid utilities, and it simply feeds into the Northeast region electrical distribution system when the wind blows. I am aware that there are landowners who will be receiving monetary sums for the lease of their properties. Are you aware that large substations and transmission lines will need to be constructed to connect these windmills into the electric grid, impacting more than the several acres required per windmill? Access and maintenance roads will also need to be built, and our existing roads will be used to transport the large, heavy equipment to the site. All of these factors will have a signficant and adverse effect on our County. Who pays for all of this? And most importantly, who benefits? We cannot give away our land and spoil our resources for no cost.

In addition, there are publications on the noise, aesthetic and economic impacts (all negative) of windmills for review if you search for them. I have attached a few for your review, and a few links below.

http://windconcernsontario.wordpress.com/page/2/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26242604/
http://www.windaction.org/pictures/482

Please do not feel that these are light decisions to be made. They require proper planning and discussion. Without concerted effort and big picture discussion regarding the future of our County you are doing the taxpayers an injustice. Thank you for your service to Cortland County.

Chad Loomis

10/12/09 - It's just blowin in the Wind

But somehow the County keeps pushing along on the wind ordinance that would allow for wind farms that would be developed here.

I simply don't get it.

I believe in renewable energy and green power, but this is not the right time or place to install these mammoth machines that only benefit a select few - the developer and the landowner. And judging by the newspaper only the developer REALLY benefits.

Somehow the visit by the Wind Subcommittee found verification in the email I had previously sent to the County Legislature on 7/21/09.

10/21/09 - Willcox ROCKS!!!

I support Newell Willcox in his bid for re-election. In my opinion he got a raw deal from his party in the primary.

Newell is a straight shooter, an honest man and a good friend. He does not play politics and always puts the good of the County ahead of himself.

I wish Newell the best in his bid for LD9, and although I do not know his opponent, would sometime like to speak with Mr. Currie about his ideas. He has some good platform material, but I have been there and done what he is promising.

10/20/09 - Lawsuits Part Deux

10/08/09 - Not Again!!

Rrrrrrrrr. Another lawsuit.

When will it end?? Why can't things be discussed in Executive Session and thoroughly investigate things before they are leaked to the press?

I doubt the pattern can be broken.

10/27/09 - My response to the Cortland Standard - Letter to the Editor

I wrote and sent this Letter to the Editor of the Cortland Standard in response to the Article written on 10/26/09.

To the Editor:

Enough is enough. I read the article in Monday’s Cortland Standard and simply cannot let Mr. Daniels’ published comments continue to degrade the leadership and the performance of elected officials and professionals on the Cortland County Legislature.

Mr. Daniels indicated that “he believes in guiding people toward a desired goal and replacing them if they get off course and refuse to be corrected”. He then indicated that he ousted Carol Tytler, Tom Williams and myself “because they were overstepping their boundaries and unwilling to work with him, in some cases costing the county money”. There are 19 members of the Legislature elected by the people working toward providing the best services at the lowest cost, not 18 rubber stamps following the wishes of one person. The County is not intended to be run as Mr. Daniels’ past employer Hevi-Duty Electric, nor as Chrysler Corporation of whom Mr. Daniels has fondly quoted Lee Iacocca in “lead, follow or get out of the way”. Well, we can see how those two companies have fared in history based on that philosophy.

Mr. Daniels’ actions over the past year are in my opinion neither communicative nor collaborative with the Legislature and the public, and the Chair has practiced nothing short of what I would consider typical bullying behavior. Mr. Daniels appears to have used his power as Chair to promote his agenda and discount and discredit those who do not share his ideas and follow his lead. His unprecedented realignment of Legislators and Committees would appear to have been done such that Mr. Daniels can control the Committee Chairs and the County business without resistance. He even unleashed a tirade on an innocent taxpayer at a recent candidate forum, speculating on a reason a homeowner would not buckle to a County demand for their longtime family property as if it were fact. What a shame!

Ms. Tytler, Mr. Williams and I were not given any advance notice from Mr. Daniels before we were publicly chastised and removed from our Chair positions. We were neither given an opportunity to discuss the issues nor refute the claims of Mr. Daniels. We were told “end of discussion”. When a member of the Legislature made a motion to request that Mr. Daniels’ own highly touted Board of Ethics investigate Mr. Daniels’ claims against those who had been reassigned, Mr. Daniels himself voted against the matter. Why is that?

I believe that Ms. Tytler and Mr. Williams are two of the most thorough, thoughtful and well spoken people on the Legislature. They ask difficult questions in order to get information and to weigh their decisions. They do their homework and aren’t afraid to vote against a resolution that they feel is not in the best interest of the people they represent. In my opinion, they were simply doing their due diligence as elected officials and Chairs of their respective committees.

Mr. Daniels specifically claimed that I interjected myself into the DMV project, causing unnecessary delays and costing the county money. This is categorically false. It should be noted that early in the project the B&G Committee established a project timeline, which was formally distributed to members of the County Legislature. The schedule was adhered to, including a public hearing meeting scheduled at my request and several presentations by the consultant during Committee meetings. The building was developed between the consultant and the Department Heads with direct oversight by the County Administrator and minimal input by the Committee, and when the project came in higher than expected the B&G Committee responded proactively to de-scope the project and prepare it for immediate redesign and rebid the following month. Our efforts resulted in the revised project saving close to $400,000 over the original cost. Our Committee kept the project on task despite Mr. Daniels’ assertion, and I provided a timeline for this project as well as the South Main Street site for Mr. Daniels to review after my reassignment - as he only attended a fraction of the B&G Committee meetings in 2008. My interjection into the project was to correspond with the consultant when County personnel were not responding to their requests for information… in an effort to keep the project moving and coordinated.

I have moved out of the 8^th District, which required me to resign from the Legislature earlier this year. I stand by the decisions that I made and I feel that I did my best to consider and preserve the long term future of the County, with the exception being my nomination of Mr. Daniels as Chairman of the Legislature. I now live happily in the 14th District – and John Daniels is my representative. I have not yet seen Mr. Daniels in my neighborhood campaigning, but based on my experience, if he stops by I will tell him that I will not be voting for him on November 3. I have spoken several times with his opponent and I will be voting for Susan Briggs. I believe in her ability to communicate both civilly and succinctly with the people and with other Legislators. She has a firm handle on the issues facing the County and is well prepared to make tough decisions.

Chad Loomis, Homer, NY – Former LD#8 County Legislator

10/26/09 Collateral Damage - Cortland Standard LD14

What did John say? You have GOT to be kidding me.

The man is just plain stubborn in my estimation. I left the Legislature without raising a ruckus.

Well, I guess that is over.