7/19/07 - IT'S OFFICIAL! I am Running for Legislature!

Brown will not seek Nov. re-election

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

After 10 years on the Cortland County Legislature, Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward) said Wednesday that she will not be seeking re-election in November.

“It’s been 10 interesting years, but I think it’s time for someone else from my district to come forth,” Brown said of her decision, noting she looked forward to devoting more time to her personal life.

Brown said that her 10 years in the Legislature, including the past two as chairman, have been educational, with both accomplishments and disappointments.

“I would have liked to have been able to do more to reduce taxes for the taxpayers,” she said. “But I am proud that we hired a county administrator, and since then the county’s overall financial condition has improved greatly.”

Brown touted Democrat Chad Loomis, a resident of 73 Church St., as a worthy successor to her seat. “I feel that Chad Loomis is a very bright young man who would bring a lot of good ideas and expertise to the Legislature if he should be elected,” she said.

Loomis, who is a professional engineer at Cornell University and a member of the county Planning Board, said Wednesday he has been circulating petitions to run for the 8th Ward seat, and he planned to file the petitions by today’s 5 p.m. deadline.

“I’m taking the plunge,” Loomis, who in 2005 ran unsuccessfully for alderman in the 8th Ward, said jokingly. “I really enjoyed running two years ago, I learned a lot from talking to people in the neighborhood, and I think there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done.”

During the 2005 campaign — he was defeated by Alderman Tom Michales (R-8th Ward)— Loomis said the two issues he heard the most about from constituents were taxes and the lack of business growth and job opportunities in the county.

So here we are - I have decided to run for County Legislature!

I am continuing to note the County issues and follow the Legislature in their actions and decisions as November (and beyond) approaches.

Please continue to visit my blog, I am going to maintain this site throughout the Election season as a way to communicate to LD-8 and the County.

I encourage you to sign my guestbook, comment on the posts, and leave messages on issues and ideas.

THANKS!

I'll get us $$$ for the County Master Plan

There's money out there folks to pay for the master plan...

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/qcp/QCgrantawards06-7.htm


I'll bet Cortland can land some grant money to study our overall needs, recommend priorities, costs and schedule.

Inmate Housing Costs - Office of State Comptroller

I found this great link to a report from Alan Hevesi's office (NY OSC) on the Cortland County Jail. This report, from 2004, studies the period from 1/1/2002 through 8/7/2003.

Happy reading!

http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/2004/counties/cortlandinm.pdf

Bottom line - how does this fit into the County's MASTER PLAN?

Is the DMV more important? Is the Health Facility more important? Has anyone in the County looked at this report?

7/7/07 - County sales tax revenue off by about $200,000 through midyear

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

Midway through 2007, sales tax revenues in Cortland County are lagging about $200,000 behind where they were at this point last year, prompting concern from county officials over a shortfall in revenues by year’s end.

Through July 2, the gross sales tax revenues Cortland County had brought in totaled about 46 percent of the budgeted $23.1 million for all of 2007, according to County Treasurer Don Ferris.
Through the same date last year, total revenues were $219,000 higher than this year, Ferris said, and those revenues at the time added up to about 48 percent of the budgeted $22.7 million for 2006.

“You can never tell for sure how it’s going to play out, but if we continue on that trend, 2 percent behind, we would come up short,” Ferris said, noting that, if current trending continues, the overall revenues would come in $462,000 beneath the projected $22.7 million.

Due to a new distribution formula negotiated last year, 55 percent of that $22.7 million, or $12.7 million, would go to the county government, with 17.75 percent going to the city of Cortland and the remaining 27.25 percent being divided among the county’s towns and villages.

“I guess I’m more concerned with some of the towns that rely on our projected figures to budget, because they may come up a little short,” Ferris said. “There are a few towns (Solon and Lapeer) that leave all of their sales tax with the county to reduce their tax levy and they could conceivably end up owing the county money, although it wouldn’t be a very large sum.”

County Administrator Scott Schrader said he was hopeful the revenues would pick up at the end of the year, but if not, the county could see a roughly $200,000 shortfall from its budgeted share.

Still, he said the county would likely be able to weather such a shortfall.

“It’s always best if we meet the budgetary forecast, and this is definitely something to pay attention to, but when you look at it over a more than $100 million budget, there are ways to mitigate that lack of revenue,” Schrader said, noting that decreased spending in some areas or interest earnings from the county’s fund balance could potentially help cover the shortfall.

“We’re not going to know for sure until the end of the year.”

Both Ferris and Schrader said there’s been little growth locally in sales tax revenue for a number of years.

Ferris noted that the county met its projected revenue in 2006, but that the numbers likely received an early bump of approximately $300,000 because some revenues were held over from 2005 to 2006 due to a transit strike in New York City in December 2005.

“To assume increased sales tax on gasoline sales is somehow a bonus I think is a mistake, because there’s only a finite amount of discretionary money to spend,” Ferris said. “Basically if you’re spending more money on taxable gasoline sales, you’re not going to be spending it on taxable clothing sales.”

Schrader agreed.

“Right now we have a stagnant retail and commercial economy because there’s a lack of new commercial and retail businesses,” Schrader said. “If we had, for instance, a Home Depot here, and we were capturing dollars people were spending on home improvement in Ithaca or Onondaga County, that would make a difference, but we don’t have the new Target, the new Home Depot, we don’t have the new tourist attraction that Hope Lake has the potential to be.”
Schrader said he was concerned that a lack of development in recent years will hurt the county in the long run.

“I think the resistance to development hurts the economy of this county because it doesn’t allow for the generation of income from sales tax,” he said. “The only way to ease the tax burden is through development, and we haven’t seen that here, and eventually it’s going to come back and bite us in the form of higher taxes.”

ANYONE ELSE SMELL HIGHER TAXES COMING?????

7/5/07 - GOP caucus backs keeping Howe as election official

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

CORTLAND — After his appointment failed to pass the full Legislature last week, Republican Election Commissioner Bob Howe was reappointed to the position Monday by the Legislature’s Republican caucus.

With members of the County Republican Committee on hand pushing for the reappointment, the Republican members of the Legislature voted 5-3 in favor of reappointing Howe.

According to state Board of Elections spokesman Lee Daglian, Election Law states that if the county Legislature does not appoint the commissioner recommended by the party committee, the right to appoint then falls to the respective party caucus.

Had the Republican caucus not voted to appoint Monday, the Republican Committee would have had to recommend another candidate, Daglian said.

The deciding vote at the caucus came from Legislator Merwin Armstrong (R-Cuyler, Solon and Truxton), who had voted against the reappointment during last week’s Legislature session, citing a concern with the fact that Howe, and his Democratic counterpart Bill Wood, hold both the position of election commissioner and chairman of their respective party committees.

“I changed my vote because I wanted to keep party unity, and I think Bob Howe is a good election commissioner,” Armstrong said. “My objection is that I don’t think the election commissioner should also be the party chairman, and I think I made that point last week, but I also think its time to move on.”

Armstrong was joined by Legislators Tom Williams (R-Homer), John Steger (R-Preble and Scott), Mike McKee (R-Cincinnatus, Freetown, Taylor and Willet) and Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer), in voting to reappoint Howe, according to Minority Chairman Danny Ross (R-Cortlandville).

Ross, Kay Breed (R-Cortlandville) and Newell Willcox (R-Homer) voted ‘no.’

Both Ross and Breed said approximately 10 members of the Republican Committee lobbied strongly for Howe’s reappointment at the caucus meeting.

“They all tried to tell us why we shouldn’t do this to poor Bob, that at election time it wouldn’t look good for party and on and on and on,” Breed said. “I’m sorry but as far as I’m concerned it’s still wrong and I’m going to stand up and say that.”

Breed, during the Legislature meeting, listed three reasons for not supporting Howe’s reappointment, the first being that, as party chairmen, both Wood and Howe control campaign funding for legislators who are being asked to vote for them to become election commissioners, creating a conflict of interest.

Secondly, she said at the time, the two commissioners recently sued the county over differences in their salaries, and thirdly, there is an unavoidable “fundamental perception” in the community that holding both positions could cause a conflict of interest.

“I think Bob’s done a great job, don’t get me wrong,” Ross said. “But the problem is that even the possibility that something could happen, when you’re talking about the election commissioners, you just can’t have that, so I just don’t think it’s right to hold both those positions.”

7/3/07 - County prepares to buy site for parking

The Cortland County Legislature could finalize, as early as the end of this month, the acquisition by eminent domain of property along Elm Street needed to alleviate crowding at the County Office Building parking lot.

According to County Attorney Ric Van Donsel, the General Services Committee on July 10 will consider a number of “findings and determinations,” including any written public comment on the project, any potential environmental impacts, and a county-solicited appraisal, which should indicate the potential cost of acquiring the property.

If the committee decides to move forward with the eminent domain process, and the Legislature does the same at its July 27 meeting, the county could be given title to the property at 13-15 Elm St. soon after, Van Donsel said, as soon as he files acquisition maps and appraisals with the court.

Van Donsel could not say how much the property — which comprises two apartment houses and a garage on an 80-by-156-foot piece of land owned by Pierre Beaudry — would cost the county, but suggested the price tag could be less than the assessed value of $187,500, because the property has been condemned.

Van Donsel said he would be contacting an appraiser prior to the General Services meeting to get an up-to-date appraisal of the property.

The county would need to negotiate the difference between that appraisal and any appraisal offered by Beaudry to reach a final price, and if no agreement can be reached, a judge would settle the issue, Van Donsel said.

County Administrator Scott Schrader said he did not expect an appraisal to be ready in time for next week’s meeting, however he said he was hopeful Van Donsel would have one available in time for the July 27 session, to allow legislators to gauge how much the project would cost.
The county has proposed using the property for roughly 25 to 30 additional parking spaces in the County Office Building parking lot.

Schrader was not sure how many spaces are in the lot, but he said parking has long been an issue, particularly on high-volume days at the Office Building, such as when jury selection is being done or when there are senior citizen events, and in the winter, when snow removal can eliminate available spots.

“We’ve had a parking crunch here for years,” he said.

Schrader said that, should the committee, and then the full Legislature, vote to move forward with the eminent domain process this month, that would serve as final approval for the acquisition.

Once that approval is given, the county could move forward on soliciting engineering designs for the parking expansion, he said.

Whether work could begin this year would be dependent on the weather, he said.

No comments were offered Thursday during a public hearing on the project during the monthly Legislature meeting on the plan to take the property by eminent domain, and no legislator expressed concerns with potential environmental impacts of the project.

However, any written concerns received prior to the July 10 committee meeting will be considered by the committee and then the full Legislature, Van Donsel said.

5/24/07 - My email to County Legislators on Emergency Generator and Eminent Domain

Please read this email I wrote to the County Legislators on 5/24/07.

To Cortland County Legislators,

I am writing in anticipation of Agenda item #9 of the May 24, 2007 Legislative meeting.

Please refer to Legislative minutes of July 11, 2006 - http://www.cortland-co.org/Legislature/minutes/2006Comm/jul11-06B&G.html

A portion of the minutes related to the generator are below:

DISCUSSION/PRESENTATIONS:

Emergency Preparedness/Dispatch & Emergency Operation Center Relocation – Scott Schrader provided the Buildings & Grounds Committee and the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee with a written detailed proposal (available for review from the Administrative Office) regarding the relocation of Emergency Operations and Dispatch Emergency Generator Upgrade for the County Office Building.

During the last 2 flood events, it has been determined that the 3^rd floor of the Public Safety Building is not adequate enough for emergencies. It is proposed that the 911 Dispatch Center be moved to the 3^rd floor of the Public Safety Building; that the current 911 Dispatch Center location become the Sheriff’s Record Division for easier access to the public. The Emergency Operation Control Center would move to the County Office Building. All County Departments would be working during emergencies. With the Emergency Control Center moving to the County Office Building, a larger generator will be needed. The generator now servicing the County Office Building will service the Courthouse. The majority of funding of the new consoles for the 911 Dispatch Center is through a grant. The total cost for the consoles is $300,000. The grant is in the amount of $250,000. The estimated totals for the whole project is:

Renovation of 3^rd Floor for the Public Safety Building Dispatch - $ 20,000

New Consoles and Furniture for Dispatch- $ 75,000

New 900 kW generator for County Office Building- $180,000

The funds needed for this project would come from the County’s fund balance. It would not be cost effective to Bond for this project.

It is anticipated that this project will be completed by the end of the year. The majority of the work will be performed by in-house employees.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50a.m.

Minutes prepared by Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader

---

The project cost for the 900kW generator is stated as $180,000. I informed some of the legislators of my concerns over the costs, as I believe they are incorrect. I did not hear what the bids came back for the generator, but from my experience the cost of the generator will be near the $180,000. Where are the installation costs identified? You can refer to my email from 12/30/06 that I have sent to you all on this matter, as well as concerns over the Combined Mental and Public Health facility. I at that time asked those same questions... and have never received a response.

I will continue to ask the same questions - are there any costs for the project? Was a plan for this work in place before the generator was purchased? Is the generator near the building electrical service? Where was the generator planned to go before it was actually purchased?


The County is setting an unwanted precedent by attempting to acquire property by eminent domain - and the end result will be a 20 space parking lot? If it costs $200,000 to buy, and $50,000 to demo and pave for parking, I would like to see those spots charged out at $12,500 each! In addition to the County's costs, you will permanently take property tax revenue dollars away, further burdening the taxpayers.

This is being poorly planned, poorly executed. There is no fiscal responsibility being exercised and true costs of the project are not being identified. Please ask questions at tonight's meeting. This is ridiculous.

Chad Loomis

6/29/-07 - Legislators oppose Howe’s reappointment

(As Published by the Cortland Standard, Corey Preston Reporting)

CORTLAND — The Cortland County Legislature Thursday night voted against reappointing Republican Election Commissioner Bob Howe.

Those opposed to the appointment voiced concerns over the fact that each party’s election commissioner is also chairman of his respective party’s political committee.

Howe still could be appointed by the Legislature’s Republican caucus, county officials said after the meeting. However, three of the seven Republicans on hand voted against the reappointment Thursday.

Newell Willcox (R-Homer), who was absent due to illness, potentially could split the vote 4-4.
Should the caucus vote not to reappoint, the Republican Committee would be asked for another recommendation, Minority Leader Danny Ross (R-Cortlandville) said after the meeting.

Howe declined when asked to comment after the meeting.

A motion to reappoint was not on the regular legislative agenda Thursday, but Ross asked for and received a two-thirds vote to suspend the rules to allow for a vote.

“I wanted the full Legislature to vote on this,” he said afterward.

However, legislators from both parties, Ross included, immediately made it clear that they were concerned with reappointing Howe both because of a perceived conflict of interest with his position as Republican Committee chair and because of a pending lawsuit that Howe and his Democratic counterpart, Bill Wood, recently brought against the county.

Wood also serves as both the Democratic election commissioner and the Democratic Committee chair, and was appointed to a two-year term as commissioner in January 2006.

“I firmly believe that the chair of the political party should not also be the commissioner of elections,” said Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward).

Legislator Kay Breed (R-Cortlandville) agreed, saying she had heard concerns from constituents and that there is a “fundamental perception” that the positions present a conflict of interest for one another.

Breed also noted that party chairmen ultimately control the flow of funding to various candidates, and that her voting the chairman of her party into another position would in itself represent a conflict of interest.

“And they’ve already cost us money through the lawsuit, which just left me with a basic distaste because I think that’s an issue that could have been settled through personnel,” she said. Breed was referring to the lawsuit Howe and Wood brought against the county regarding their salaries as commissioners.

The suit was argued in court March 16 and is awaiting a decision from state Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd.

Ross said his “no” vote was not prompted by the lawsuit but solely by the potential conflict of interest. “It may be legal, but I still think holding both has got to be a conflict,” he said.

Ross and Breed were joined by fellow Republican Merwin Armstrong (Cuyler, Solon and Truxton) in voting ‘no’.

Legislators Brown, John Troy (D-1st Ward), Sean Clark (D-2nd Ward), Tom Hartnett (D-4th Ward), Don Spaulding (D-6th Ward) and Dan Tagliente (D-7th Ward) also voted against the appointment, resulting in a 9-8 vote, with Willcox and Steve Dafoe (D-Homer) absent.

Legislator Ron Van Dee (D-5th Ward), who voted in favor of the appointment, noted that numerous other counties have election commissioners serving both roles.

The state Board of Elections has said in the past that there are no restrictions on election commissioners also acting as party chairs.

Howe has served as election commissioner for 10 years, however, he was only appointed Republican Committee chairman last summer; this is the first time his reappointment has come up when he’s held both positions.

Van Dee also said the Legislature should confirm the Republican Committee’s recommendation for Republican election commissioner, a position that handful of Democrats who voted for the reappointment agreed with.

“The committee appoints who they want and I just don’t see where we have the power to say otherwise,” Van Dee said. Van Dee said that Wood’s appointment in January 2006 was the first time in recent memory that the Legislature had openly questioned either party committee’s recommendation.

It was also the first time the Legislature was faced with appointing someone who would be holding both positions.

Wood was appointed by a 15-3 vote, with Breed, Willcox and Tom Williams (R-Homer) voting against the appointment and the rest of the current Legislature voting for it.

However a handful of legislators, most vocally Breed, questioned his past practices during campaigns as Democratic Committee chairman.

Williams brought up the issue of Wood wearing “two hats,” according to minutes of the Jan. 19, 2006, meeting, but Brown at the time said she did not feel the question was appropriate.

Since then, Brown said, her opinion has changed, partially due to the lawsuit brought by the two commissioners. “One major factor is obviously the lawsuit — we certainly didn’t anticipate that when Mr. Wood became election commissioner,” Brown said. “Really though, that was the first time we’d seen that, with a chairman of the party as commissioner, and I don’t like how it’s progressed — I don’t think that’s the way it should be.”

6/28/07 - CITY NEWS - South End housing project trumpeted

Mayor calls $8.2M in low-income housing boost to community morale

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

A groundbreaking on the city’s south side this morning signaled the official start of the $8.2 million Cortland Crown Homes low-income housing rehabilitation project.

City and county officials, representatives of project developer Syracuse-based Housing Visions, and project financiers used golden shovels to fling ceremonial dirt off a small pile deposited in front of 164 south Main St. for the occasion.

Mayor Tom Gallagher described the project as a “much needed boost to the community’s morale,” and said that he hoped it would spur more investment in the neighborhood by residents and businesses.

“This program is critical to the city’s need to create affordable, quality housing,” Gallagher told the crowd of about 30 that had gathered in the muggy overcast outdoors.

As a result of the lead-based paint and asbestos mitigation that has been conducted on three buildings since the early spring, senior development manager Ben Lockwood said on Wednesday that an additional building is going to be torn down and rebuilt.

Now, five buildings are being demolished and three are being rebuilt, while another five are being rehabilitated, resulting in about 30 units that would be available to low-income tenants who fall below 60 percent of the state’s median income level.

In light of problems discovered during the asbestos and lead abatement, Lockwood said the apartment building at 1 Frederick Ave. is going to be demolished and rebuilt, and not simply rehabilitated.

“We had some environmental issues with it, and to fix the environmental issues, the cost to fix it versus building a new one was about even,” Lockwood said Wednesday, adding that lead and asbestos abatement has only begun at 162 and 164 Main St. and 1 Frederick Ave.

“The building will be better constructed. It’s not something we intended, but it is something that has to happen.”

Hey County officials - let the City handle South Main Street, and if you consider anything in the area, let the City officials know early, OK?