Cortland County Legislature

If you have no ideas...

2006-01-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

shut out the people who do.

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/cartoons/01-26-2006.gif

Interesting chronology

2005-11-20T08:13:00.000-05:00

This lengthy time line presents events germane to the situation in Iraq, going back to the 1970's.

Some other useful links:
Glenn Reynolds
National Public Radio
President Clinton
Bill Tierney (former UN Weapons Inspector)

A little Italian humor

2005-11-14T20:38:00.000-05:00

For all the Italians out there, or those who are lucky enough to be married to an Italian!

An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite Italian anisette sprinkle cookies wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen.

Where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite anisette sprinkle cookies.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted Italian wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife ......

"Back off!" she said. "They're for the funeral."

Smear campaign

2005-11-12T19:05:00.000-05:00

This article was also in the Saturday (November 12, 2005) edition of The Cortland Standard; click on images for enlarged view:

Posted without further comment (at this time)

2005-11-12T13:49:00.000-05:00

This is an article that appears in the Saturday, November 12, 2005 edition of The Cortland Standard; click on images for larger view:

Be-FUD-dled

2005-11-08T06:25:00.000-05:00

The latest last-minute claim of the opponents of legislative success is that we have increased spending in the budget from $71 to $83 million. They claim that this means that we have increased spending by $12 million. In a word: No.

The Administrator, who, for a period of time, our opponents wanted to seize on as the sole reason for legislative success (before deciding that they should deny that there was success!), has done many good things. One of these is to make the county budget more transparent by moving things that had been kept off budget onto the budget, where anyone with an interest could scrutinize them. In the past, they were kept off budget, essentially invisible to the taxpayers who footed the bill. Either way, the spending was there. The Administrator's way, which I wholeheartedly endorse, is a more honest and open way of showing spending.

So what is the real record? Here it is:

YEAR..

.REVENUES.....EXPENSES.....SURPLUS/DEFICIT

2001..

64,761,181.. 68,536,165.. 3,774,984

2002..

59,226,967.. 59,249,580.. ...22,613

2003..

63,608,425.. 61,477,372.. 2,131,053

2004..

68,401,898.. 63,502,798.. 4,899,100

There are increases in this year's budget: for the increased cost of the CSEA contract, for the anticipated costs of the reclassifications that will be the result of implementation of the Management study, for retirement benefits, and for health insurance. (As an aside, the magnitude of the increase in health insurance costs is much less, thanks to Scott Steve's initiative in getting the county a new - and better - policy.) We are beginning year one of a long-term infrastructure project (check out the photos here and here if you want to see for yourself why). Some programs costs are more or less dictated to us (e.g., pre-school ed, Medicaid). The total increase in spending is about 1/6 of what our opponents claim. It is on the order of 2.5% of on-budget spending.

So we have made the budget more transparent by putting more expenditures on-budget. The downside is that it makes apples-to-apples comparisons more difficult. As the Administrator states in his budget: "Significant accounting changes were made in 2004, 2005, and 2006 capturing or excluding transactions previously reported off or on the general ledger". Our opponents have the same information, but instead of being honest about it, they are using it to sow discord - and to try to realize political gain.

It's just so much more FUD. Don't believe it.

All Looney Tunes and other commercial graphics are the sole property of their owners. This site is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Warner Brothers or any of its affiliates. Characters and all related slogans and indicia are trademarked. The materials provided herein are intended solely for the personal use and enjoyment of the general public. The use of such material falls under Fair Use Provisions act.

Black Monday

2005-11-07T06:33:00.000-05:00

There is no good reason why today should be a dark day, but given the way the opponents of the legislature's success have conducted their campaign, we suspect that they will try something underhanded. All through this campaign, they have offered rumor, innuendos, misleading statements, and personal attacks. We have offered a record of success and a plan for tomorrow.

They have a record of using the day before the campaign to sow Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).

In 2001 - on the Monday before the election - they distributed a flyer on blue paper, known as the "Chicken Little" flyer, misleading county voters about the impending mega tax increases. We ran predicting that they were coming - a look at the budget and a little analysis showed that a huge property tax increase was inevitable. Voters didn't get the truth until after the election, which is why getting the budget out before the election became one of our main goals - a goal that we have met.

In 2003, they laid low, as the "leadership" of the Democratic party was not the same as it had been in 2001. Also, voters' memories of 2001 - and their 30+% increased property tax bill - ensured that it would be hard to run a campaign against what we had predicted, and which had (unfortunately for all of us) come true.

Now the "leadership" of 2001 is back and they are running the way they know best: personal attacks. It is so bad that one of the office holders who narrated a false and misleading radio ad thought about what he had done, and called the radio station to ask that the spot be pulled from the air. Stop and think about that for a moment...

When you vote tomorrow, focus on the important things:

the record of the incumbent legislators
the plans that we have offered
the violence to public spirited-ness that rewarding personal attacks will do
the hurt that our families have suffered, hearing and reading hateful things about their friends, their spouses, their moms and dads
the fact that attacking someone else does nothing to advance what's good for the county

I have served on the St. Mary's School Board, the St. Mary's Parish Council, the CMH Board of Trustees, among others. I have served CMH as President of its Medical Staff for three years. I have been Chairman of the Medical Staff's Bylaws Committee for 4 years. I have represented Cortland County as its delegate to the State Medical Society for 6 years. I am an active participant in my community with something of value to offer.

I truly do not want to believe that my friends and neighbors will overlook my decade of contribution to this community because some who approach politics not as public service, but as blood sport, try some underhanded tactic at the last minute.

I have enjoyed being a part of this community for nearly ten years. I have contributed to it as best I can, giving of my time and talent. I have been successful as your representative in county government.

I ask you again for your support, and thank you for the opportunity you have given me - not just as a legislator, but to have a career, raise a family, and be a vital part of a great community.

PS: Here is today's Channel 2 schedule

11/7 @ 9:00 AM Cortlandville Legislative Forum
11/7 @ 5:30 PM Meet Candidate Paul DiGiovanni
11/7 @ 8:30 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)

UPDATE: Sein-FUD!

Well, as expected, the FUD arrived in the mailboxes of the voters today.

In my case, it takes the form of a postcard alleging bad behavior at a polling place - two months ago.

But I have this site to tell my story, so I will.

On the evening of the primary (Tuesday, September 13), I had been at the JM McDonald Center with my son at The Fitness Gap. After we finished and I brought him home, I went over to Parker School around 9 pm.

I stood outside the Madison Street entrance, with no plans to go inside, until I was invited in by an election official. She indicated that she and the other officials were having trouble turning the crank on the machine and would like some help. I took her up on her offer, and cranked the handle several dozen times, without delivery of any paper. They (and I) concluded that they had to try something else, so I backed away as they tried to unlock the machine.

At this point, Scott Steve asked me to go to the other end of the hallway and see if they had the results from the other district. I went down the hall and stood opposite the election workers' table, along with a couple of other people. One of these folks was Ken Tobin, with whom I later spoke. Behind the table was an election official whom I did not know by name, but recognized. She started asking me questions that had a certain "edge" to them. But I didn't rise to the bait, and waited along the wall for the results to be announced.

I simply observed as the officials struggled to open the machine (HAVA can't come quickly enough!). I didn't move toward the table until one of the officials, who was struggling to read the numbers on the page, made eye contact with me and asked me if I could read the numbers. I moved toward the table as she turned the pages so that the orientation would be appropriate for me (and Ken Tobin and the other person on the other side of the table), and told her that although I also was having a hard time reading the numbers, I thought the 3-digit number in question was "010".

At about this time, I noticed that a group of people had formed behind me. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic and tried to make my way out from the crush of people leaning in to see the results. I excused myself and moved away from the table. I heard Scott Steve suggest to the election official (the same one who had asked me to look at the sheet) that if she were to turn to a different sheet (there are multiple sheets), she would probably find another one with a much better imprint of the vote tally. She turned the page, and was satisfied that the number in question was in fact "010". At that point, the vote was known, and Scott and Ken Tobin started down the hall. I stayed behind for a moment, as Ken Tobin and I had a disagreement about whose numbers were whose. This disagreement wasn't spoken aloud; I just thought that Ken was inverting the columns of him and his opponent, and when the crowd thinned, I went in for a second look to see if it was Ken or I who had inverted the columns. (It was Ken.)

I caught up to Ken and Scott as they were walking toward the Madison Street entrance. Scott didn't realize that I had never formally met Ken, and introduced us. I distinctly remember Ken reaching the end of the hallway and greeting Shannon Terwilliger with "Congratulations. You win Round One", or something very similar. We then went outside and talked with Patrick Ruppe and Brian Liberatore, among others. These two reporters from the Cortland Standard witnessed everything that happened that I just described. Scott and I have asked them subsequently if anything untoward happened that night, and they both said "No".

This never would have been a ginned up issue but for an anonymous e-mail, delivered with the headers trimmed off a sheet of paper, alleging some sort of inappropriate behavior. One of the reporters, I am told, declined to write a story when given this e-mail, saying that he had observed the scene and that nothing had happened. However, the letter writing campaign was begun, and then this Seinfeld episode (a political attack about nothing: Sein-FUD!) took on a life of its own.

I didn't learn until later that the official who asked me to look at the tally sheet was a woman named Kay Smith. Scott Steve asked her, at the League of Women Voters forum on October 19, whether anything inappropriate had transpired that night. She said no.

But there are those who know they can't win without trying to destroy their opponent. And I apparently have reached the state of grace that makes me a marked man. Lying about something that never happened is the method du jour.

I would like readers to think about this: if anything truly happened that evening that merited anything even close to the hysteria that my opponents are trying to whip up, then where is the election official's formal complaint? Why did he not say anything to me when this happened, if what I allegedly did was so out of bounds? Why did the Cortland Standard not write an article about it, when they had two reporters there? Why did he wait two months to send out a postcard on election eve?

The answer is that no complaint was made and no article was written because nothing happened. It appears, though, that friendship with Scott Steve and proximity to him is apparently enough for opponents of progress to try to create a controversy.

Once again, the Election Eve FUD has been spread. Don't buy it.

All Looney Tunes and other commercial graphics are the sole property of their owners. This site is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Warner Brothers or any of its affiliates. Characters and all related slogans and indica are trademarked. The materials provided herein are intended solely for the personal use and enjoyment of the general public. The use of such material falls under Fair Use Provisions act.

A few closing thoughts on future directions

2005-11-07T06:22:00.000-05:00

Turning our plan into reality has proven successful the past two years.

Now let’s talk about some of our plans for a brighter tomorrow...

Our Goals

Create a county-wide flood mitigation plan

We have met with local, state, and federal officials to assist with a county-wide plan to manage our streams and floodways
FEMA grants for restoration of the banks of Otter Creek, Dry Creek, and Kennedy Parkway will be made available under our plan
We were there for you with dumpsters and work crews this past April. With our plan, we hope that flooding will not be an issue in the future.

Consolidation of city and county courts

Our plan to merge City Court into the County Courthouse will save taxpayers dollars by eliminating duplication of security, putting city officers back on the street
By streamlining staff and consolidating offices, there will be greater efficiency for judges, officers, attorneys, and other court staff
This frees up vitally needed space - the city would not need to build a new court for just their needs

Booking of prisoners for the city police force

After an arrest is made, processing and holding until a hearing will be done by jail staff, freeing up city police officers for other duties - a far better use of their time
Cells in the city police department will be freed up - creating more useful space in the already crowded City Hall

Public Health

Our plan is to build a new Health Center, funded by the tobacco settlement money, where agencies now in three buildings will merge - leading to greater efficiency for government and better service for you
Some of the savings will be used for tobacco education, and some for tax relief

Road improvement

We have begun implementation of a 20-year plan to address long-neglected and now crumbling infrastructure - bridges, culverts, and roads are now on schedule to be repaired or rebuilt
We will bond for long-term projects and fund routine maintenance in the annual budget

Are you better off today

2005-11-07T06:06:00.000-05:00

than you were two years ago?

Scott Steve's Message to Voters in the Second Ward

2005-11-07T05:20:00.000-05:00

Many people have said that I’m not a good politician. And you know, they're right.

I’m not a politician at all. I’m a husband and father, a neighbor, a friend, a taxpayer, a volunteer - and I’m a worker.

When I asked for your vote in 2001 and 2003, I promised to work for the good of the county. Not for a political party, not for special interests, not to gain popularity - but to work for you.

I promised that I would work with 18 other legislators to improve our situation and put an end to the huge tax increases. And that’s just what we did - as a team.

I know that change is never easy, but change is inevitable.

When the legislature's leadership changed two years ago, we were faced with a lot of problems. We had to make tough decisions.

We knew from the start that the decisions that simply had to be made were not going to be embraced by everybody. Some eggs have to be broken to make an omelet, after all.

Now some "bad eggs" want you to make a decision based not on what has been accomplished, nor on what is planned. They want you to share their anger and punish me for having made the tough decisions that have led to a brighter future - for all of us.

I am proud of what our team has accomplished. I am proud that we accomplished everything that I promised you that I would work for. I am proud that the achievements have been bipartisan.

Positive change takes hard work, it requires accountability, and it takes time. There will always be those who say it should have or could have been done differently. Maybe. But arguing over how it might have been done differently contains an admission on their part: that what we accomplished was worth it.

Ignore the insults and anger coming from my opponents for just a second. Have you heard even one idea regarding a plan for our county's future? Can you think of even one positive thing they have offered? Have they attended meetings and forums where they put forth these ideas so that you could compare them to mine? No - they offer only bitterness.

I am offering a 4-year record and a plan for not just the next two years, but for the county that our children will one day inherit.

When you vote on Tuesday, ask yourself whether Cortland County is a better place than it was two years ago. Ask yourself if your taxes are holding steady. Ask yourself if rewarding those who offer only slander and character assassination is in the best interest of you, your family, or your neighbors and friends.

I have made good on the promises that I made you. I hope you remember this when you vote on Tuesday. Vote to endorse the good things that have happened and the good things yet to come.

Vote Tallies

2005-11-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

With the aid of Bonnie Quackenbush, I have put together the vote tallies for 2004 and 2005 (through September; the minutes of the October session are not posted at the county web site, nor have they been e-mailed to legislators).

The links to the actual tallies are and will remain in the navigation bar to the right (see under "Legislative Votes"). To make finding things a little easier, here are the links:

January/February/March 2004
April/May/June 2004
July/August/September 2004
October/November/December 2004
January/February/March/April/May 2005
June/July/August/September 2005

The posts include links to the minutes of the meetings, so that you can easily read about items that passed despite a no vote having been cast by a member present.

For the record, we are not just speaking in clichés when we talk about the bipartisan effort that has led to our success: the record will show that of the 448 resolutions passed in 2004, 416 (92.9%) were passed without a no vote having been cast. So far in 2005, we are also running at a 92+% rate of passage without a nay vote being cast (274 of 297, or 92.3%).

I have often responded to people who ask whether I enjoy being a legislator by saying: "I enjoy the governance, but I hate the politics". The governance is what leads to 92% unanimous votes; the politics is what leads to "agita".

Of Shell Games and the Silly Season

2005-11-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

You may have heard the opponents of this legislature again on the radio, stating things which are directly contradicted by the record. This time, it's calling the economic success "a shell game".

This is particularly curious, given that the very question was put to Independent Auditor Rick McNeilly by Budget & Finance Chairman Kurt Behrenfeld: "Is this really a matter of true financial success or is this the result of pushing certain costs out into the future to make this year's budget look good. In other words, is this just a shell game?"

To which Mr. McNeilly responded: "This is no shell game".

Here's some background: Mr. McNeilly had grown frustrated with Cortland County's recent record of not giving him the needed financial data to begin his audit in his usual time frame. He would prefer to be able to begin his audit in mid-April to early May, but over the past several years, he hadn't been able to begin until the fall, because the Treasurer's Office was not giving him the information he needed. The very fact that he had concluded his audit in early September was evidence in its own right that "operations are much, much improved" (another quote from Mr. McNeilly, in regard to the performance of Cortland County government).

So, "much, much improved operations" allowed him to finish his audit at the same time of year as he had started his audits in recent years. He highlighted the fact that we had been given a budget of $71 million but had only spent $62.7 million, realizing a surplus of $4.8 million. When asked if this performance was genuine or the result of some fancy numerical sleight of hand, he answered forcefully "This is no shell game".

And once again, the opposition, who should be claiming their share of the credit for all of the good things that have happened, instead directly contradict the independent auditor's assessment of the financial situation and claim that this is merely a shell game.

I will go with the Independent Auditor - he's a financial professional, and he's not running for office, so he has no reason to mislead or spin. As for our opponents, here's their shell game.

Muka! Muka! Muka!

2005-11-04T18:49:00.000-05:00

Steve Muka is a loyal man - loyal to ideas, to causes, and to people who espouse those ideas and causes. He has worked tirelessly for candidates in whom he has trust, and he has suffered (along with a lot of us) the slings and arrows of the Good Ol' Boys of the GOP (aka the GOBGOPpers). Whether the candidate is a Republican (like us) or a Democrat (such as Ken Tobin), Steve will work - and work and work - for the benefit of those whom he supports.

Today, he paid out of his own pocket for a 2/3 page ad that ran opposite the editorial page. This work is a thing of beauty. When my wife, who tries to ignore politics for the sake of her (and our family's) sanity, read it, she would periodically say: "He nails it!" "He's right on the mark!" "It's about time something was said about that!"

Yes, Steve, ya done goood!

Now here it is as 3 JPEG files (click on images for enlarged view):

Some fiasco!

2005-11-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

Our opponents are having a hard time this campaign season:

Do they recognize all the good things that have happened and claim their share of the credit? Or do they knock the record of success and blame the Republicans?

When it comes to the Recycling Center, knocking it seems to be their preferred strategy. "A fiasco!" they cry. Well, let's take a look at the real story, shall we?

City & County Officials cut the ribbon at the new Recycling Center

The Recycling Center burned to the ground in 2002 when a stolen vehicle was left atop some flammable paper material. The heat from the vehicle ignited the paper, leading to a devastating fire. The site sat unreconstructed until building of a new Recycling Center began in the fall of 2004.

The Democratic-controlled legislature failed to act for over a year, jeopardizing access to insurance money. They never made a decision on locating, equipping, or building a replacement Recycling Center.

It fell to the legislature that took office in 2004 to tackle this issue. In May 2004, the following resolution was passed UNANIMOUSLY:

On motion of Dr. DiGiovanni, seconded by Mr. Willcox and adopted by a two-thirds roll call vote all members present voting aye, Agenda Item No. 8 became Resolution No. 148-04: A Resolution Authorizing the Construction of a Recycling Center and the Acquisition of Movable Equipment in and for the County of Cortland, New York, at a Maximum Estimated Cost of $2,985,000., and Authorizing the Issuance of $2,985,000. Bonds of Said County to Pay the Costs Thereof

All Democrats (and all Republicans) agreed: this was progress.

As this moved through the legislative process, County Attorney John Bardsley filed suit to preserve our access to insurance funds. Without his action, we would have lost not only our Recycling Center, but money that rightfully belonged to the taxpayers to rebuild. In the end, we received about $2 million in insurance settlement money. Of the remaining cost to build and equip the new Recycling Center, we anticipate receiving $900,000 from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, meaning that only a small fraction of the cost of the new center will be paid for with local dollars.

Through 2004, various obstacles were overcome: swapping property with the IDA/BDC to ensure access to and egress from the new Recycling Center; touring other facilities to learn about options; and passing various resolutions regarding design and construction of the new facility. The new facility opened for business in May 2005. It allowed the county to save a $12,000 per month fee we were incurring to transport our recyclables out of the county - a cost borne since the time of the fire - leading to immediate savings.

On the day it opened, the Recycling Center was operating at about 20% capacity, yet it was already saving county taxpayers about $50,000 per year over what the county had been doing. In the meantime, more capacity has been utilized, and we are projecting that in its own right, the Recycling Center will operate as a break-even financial proposition this year. That's right: on an annualized basis, this "fiasco" has saved the County about $150,000 in its first year!

As more revenue is realized, it will become a money maker year after year. We picked up business from Onondaga County (whose own center burned in a fire earlier this year). We have picked up more work from within the county. And we continue to work with the city and its hauler so that the city recyclables will be processed locally, adding more to the bottom line.

Exploding another myth

Highway Committee Chairman Paul Allen and Mayor Tom Gallagher
chat at the ribbon cutting for the new Recycling Center

The myth that we haven't worked with the city and the hauler is simply untrue, as a check of the public record will make clear. The County Administrator, the Chairman of the Legislature, the Highway Supervisor, and members of the Highway Committee have all spent considerable time meeting with the city hauler and various city officials. While we haven't reached resolution on how to collect the city's recyclables, we know that this will happen. Yet even without the city on board, we are breaking even in 2005.

The outlook for 2006

Between the Landfill and the Recycling Center, the Administrator expects the county to net more than $158,000!

So, to recap:

The Democratic Legislature in 2002 and 2003 made no progress in rebuilding the Recycling Center.

The lack of progress threatened our access to insurance funds.

The Republican Legislature:

took the necessary steps to collect insurance money
acquired grant funding
did all the legwork needed to rebuild and equip a new Recycling Center
reduced the local share of the cost to near zero

The rebuilt Recycling Center

operates at break-even today, saving the county about $150,000 a year
has made as much in 7 months as the prior center made in its last year of operation
has unused capacity which, when utilized, will improve the bottom line

We call that progress. Our opponents call it a fiasco.

What would you call it?

Silly Season: Late Hit Division

2005-11-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

We knew it was coming: the late hits, the personal attacks, the unfair characterizations.

The latest is the claim that I - a physician, a member of the Board of Health, and a trustee of Cortland Memorial Hospital - want to eliminate the Health Department. This is an utter falsehood, which began as a misreporting of someone else's comments at the May 2005 Budget & Finance Committee meeting. Read over Item 10, and ask yourself how this resulted in the reporter writing that I wanted to eliminate the Health Department.

The truth is, the reporter himself, Brian Liberatore, issued a correction to the item on Monday, May 16, 2005. He goofed, as we all do, and to his credit, he owned up to his error and printed a retraction.

For the record, when I became aware of the error, which ran in the Saturday edition (5/14/05), I immediately let the Public Health Director and others in the Health Department know that this was an error, and that a retraction would be published.

Audrey Lewis, head of the Environmental Health division, provides these details in an e-mail to me today:

The discussion occurred at a Budget and Finance committee meeting approximate date of May 12th. The article was in the paper on May 14th in the County Roundup column... "Health Department may be dissolved". A retraction was printed on May 16th in the paper's "Making it Right" section.

Here is an e-mail from the Public Health Director to Audrey Lewis, sent on the day the retraction appeared (edited only for style, not content):

-----Original Message-----
From: Jackie Gailor [mailto:jgailor@cortland-co.org]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 3:54 PM
To: Audrey Lewis
Subject: [hlthall] Article in Cortland Standard regarding Health Department

I want to share with you part of an e-mail I received from Dr. DiGiovanni this afternoon.

Jackie:

There was a very misleading short article in the Saturday paper about which I was unaware until this morning. Mike Wells at the paper promises a correction/clarification in tonight's paper. I am very sorry if there are members of the Health Department who may be rattled by this. It is completely inaccurate, and even if they had gotten closer to correct by specifying that the discussion in question centered on Environmental Health, even that wouldn't get them off the hook.

In addition to this, Dr. DiGiovanni sent a copy of the draft minutes of the Budget and Finance Committee Meeting held last Thursday. If you want to see them, they are available on the Cortland County website.

I appreciated his concern about this article and hope that it helps anyone who has a concern about the article.

Jackie

Jacquelyn H. Gailor
Cortland County Public Health Director
607-753-5135

Just to be clear: this began as an error by the newspaper reporter, and the reliance on that error by the letter writer propagates a false accusation.

I think that someone who steps onto the public stage, whether as a letter writer to the paper or a public official, owes it to the cause of honest public discourse to be forthright. That is why I ask, over and over, for people to share their concerns and questions. I will always answer as honestly as I can, and if I don't know the answer, I will try to find it out. I would never take half the story and spin it into a fable, whether for political gain or otherwise.

My response to the letter that appeared in yesterday's paper will appear in today's paper, and I will post it here later.

UPDATE:

Skip Chapman was kind enough to offer me 250 words to respond, and I did (I hope he didn't count too closely - it's more like 265):

To the Editor:

In a letter to the editor published yesterday, the claim was made falsely that I have called for abolition of the Health Department. I called the letter writer to ask for her source, and she cited this newspaper.

After discussion with Public Health Director Jackie Gailor, we are confident that the citation is to a blatantly erroneous item that led to a correction being published on Monday, May 16, 2005. I have never supported nor ever suggested elimination of the Health Department.

I am a physician who has been in this community for nearly ten years, President of the CMH medical staff for 3 years, a CMH Trustee for 5 years, and on the Board of Health for 2 years. I know health care issues, and I fully support the mission of the County Health Department.

As a legislator, I have exercised oversight while possessing intimate knowledge of Health Department issues. I am proud that close legislative scrutiny has helped to improve both clinical and financial performance.

That some mischaracterize such scrutiny as opposition to the mission - and even the continued existence - of the Health Department is bizarre. I am quite proud of the record I have established as a legislator, particularly as Chairman of the Health Committee. I urge voters to ignore “late hits” (I suspect more are coming), to review my two-year legislative record (http://www.cortland-co.org/Legislature/index.html and http://cortland-co.blogspot.com are recommended), and to call me directly with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Paul DiGiovanni
First Ward Legislator
5 Ridgeview Avenue
756-6313

Paul DiGiovanni - Mailer

2005-11-04T01:52:00.000-05:00

This is a piece sent to First Ward voters Thursday and Friday. Click on images for larger views:

TV Schedule

2005-11-02T19:36:00.000-05:00

Here is the upcoming CACTV schedule in order:

11/2 @ 6:00 PM Paul Allen: What is Up with Cortland County Infrastructure?

11/3 @ 9:00 AM Meet Candidate Scott Steve
11/3 @ 11:30 AM Cortlandville Legislative Forum
11/3 @ 12:30 PM Meet Candidate Paul DiGiovanni
11/3 @ 6:00 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)

11/4 @ 12:00 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)
11/4 @ 1:00 PM Paul Allen: What is Up with Cortland County Infrastructure?

11/7 @ 9:00 AM Cortlandville Legislative Forum
11/7 @ 5:30 PM Meet Candidate Paul DiGiovanni
11/7 @ 8:30 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)

11/8 VOTE FOR REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS AND ALDERMEN!

11/9 @ 6:00 PM What is Up with Cortland County Infrastructure?

11/11 @ 6:00 PM What is Up with Cortland County Infrastructure?

Upcoming TV Schedule - UPDATE!

2005-11-02T17:41:00.000-05:00

What is up with Cortland County Infrastructure?

Hosted by Legislator Paul Allen

On CACTV- Channel 2

Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:00 PM

Friday, November 4th at 1:00 PM

Because the issues discussed are too important not to be discussed just because the election will have come and gone, this program will be also be shown at these times:

Wednesday, November 9th at 6:00 PM

Friday, November 11th at 6:00 PM.

Also watch the Cortlandville Legislative Forum (hosted by the League of Women Voters)

featuring Candidates from Districts 13 & 14

Thursday, November 3rd at 11:30 AM

Monday, November 7th at 9:00 AM

Why I vote the way I do (Part 2)

2005-11-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

In the last post, I explained my vote on the Long-Term Care Insurance Education and Information Outreach Program. In this post, I will explain my vote on the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the New York State Office for the Aging has allocated additional funds in the amount of $7,037.00 for the Senior Nutrition Assistance Program for the period April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the 2005 County Budget be and hereby is amended as follows:

Increase:

Expenses:
A6772 67745-54300 4341 Vehicle Expense/Repairs $7,037.00

Revenues:
A6772 6774 4 3772 4341 State Aid – Nutrition – SNAP $7,037.00

This resolution has to do with how we pay for car repairs - it has nothing directly to do with the Senior Nutrition Program, except that some of the repair costs apply to vehicles used in the Area Office for the Aging, and this cost will show up in that office's budget. Newell Willcox, proprietor of Willcox Tire and a man who knows a thing or two about car repair, had presented valid (in my opinion) objections to paying as much as we were paying for repairs after having done some investigation.

Newell asked in committee (both Human Services and Budget & Finance, to my recollection) for an analysis of how the cost to the county would differ were we to allow private shops to bid on performing repairs, as opposed to using repairmen employed in the county's Highway Department. We were told that this analysis would be done and presented to us before we were asked to vote on this matter at the legislative session. Along with the honorable Steve Dafoe and Newell Willcox, I voted no - because we were not given the analysis as promised.

For more background, here's an example of what concerned Newell: he reviewed an invoice which to his recollection was in the amount of $75 - for replacing a license plate! That piqued his interest (he runs an auto shop after all), and the more he looked, the more concerned he became. The invoices were well above what would be reasonable in the open market. The Administrator's justification was that more than just the listed repairs occur; for example, cars get inspected, even when only minor repairs are made. So we insisted that the invoices be accurate as to what was actually done - if the car was inspected, list that as a labor line item along with the time spent on the task.

The Administrator gave us some compelling reasons as to why the system operates the way that it does, taking into account reimbursement streams available through Social Services and the need to maximize utilization of our employees' time. But we still wanted to see the entire process reviewed. Why pay large amounts of money on repairs for near end-of-life vehicles? How do we determine when it is more worthwhile to repair rather than replace a high mileage vehicle? Would the overall cost be lower if we subcontracted certain kinds of repairs to private shops? Could the time of the Highway Department mechanics be better utilized doing tasks other than car repair?

Sometimes, the only way to get answers to these questions is to vote against business as usual, and demand accountability. And when we didn't get an analysis that would allow us to make a rational decision on whether the current practice was in fact the best practice, we voted no.

I hope that this post and the previous post have helped you to better understand the thought process behind my votes on these specific items, and perhaps my general approach to analyzing resolutions.

If you think that I should have made a different decision, or if you want to tell me "atta boy!", I would welcome your feedback either way. Please call (756-6313) or e-mail me.

How do I reach a decision on how to vote?

2005-11-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

Dick Menapace, a constituent and friend, sent me an e-mail, asking me to explain my votes on two issues: The Long-Term Care Education Information & Outreach Program and a resolution related to car repairs.

After having answered Mr. Menapace directly, the thought occurred to me that explaining my votes on these matters on this web site might give readers some insight into how I evaluate resolutions, and should help voters better understand my approach to spending tax dollars.

In this post, I will address the "Long Term Care Education and Outreach Program" resolution, which reads:

WHEREAS, the New York State Office for the Aging has allocated additional funds in the amount of $22,718.00 for the Long Term Care Education Information and Outreach Program (LTCEIOP) for the period April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the 2005 County Budget be and hereby is amended as follows:

Increase:

Expenses:

A6772 67725-52005 4330 Office Furniture 1,485.00

A6772 67725-52015 4330 Technical Equipment 1,818.00

A6772 67725-52060 4330 Computer Equipment 4,978.00

A6772 67725-54000 4330 Telephone 190.00

A6772 67725-54001 4330 Printing/Copying 200.00

A6772 67725-54003 4330 Office Furniture 1,465.00

A6772 67725-54004 4330 Computer Software 855.00

A6772 67725-54005 4330 Office Supplies 8,388.00

A6772 67725-54035 4330 Training/Education 75.00

A6772 67725-54047 4330 Mileage Reimbursement 100.00

A6772 67725-54060 4330 Legal/Advertising 1,438.00

A6772 67725-54075 4330 Office Equipment 1,621.00

A6772 67725-54400 4330 Food 105.00

Revenues:
A6772 6772 4 3772 4330 State Aid-Aging-Title IIIB $22,718.00

As you can see from the above, this resolution pays for office furniture, technical equipment, computer equipment, office supplies, etc. But how much of this money actually goes to educating seniors? My objection is NOT to the idea of educating seniors about Long Term Care Insurance; in fact, I suggested that we work with our coordinators - whom we as a county pay - at the various Senior Centers we operate around the county to use them as conduits to disseminate information about this program. Ask them to contact insurance industry representatives to make presentations at meals or social gatherings - that wouldn't cost taxpayers an additional dime.

What this resolution seems to me to do is to underwrite the cost of advertising an insurance industry product. That is what some people - myself included - would call "Corporate Welfare". I can think of better uses for state tax dollars than to help push a product of private industry, not because the product is not of value to some, but because it is not the proper role of government, in my opinion. I voted against this to protest wasteful spending, not the merits of the underlying program.

I will address the second resolution that Mr. Menapace asked about in a subsequent post.

Sean Clark's Vision as Legislator

2005-11-01T22:22:00.000-05:00

Late Hit Portion of the Silly Season

2005-11-01T07:26:00.000-05:00

The Silly Season in 2001 was characterized by us running on the coming tax increase.

And our opponents' response?

They called us Chicken Little...

...on a flyer delivered the day before the election.

...at the conclusion of a campaign season during which my opponent did not show up for any forums, and did not respond to a challenge to debate the issues publicly.

Do you remember the "Chicken Little" flyer? To refresh your memory (click on image for enlarged view):

Cold reality intruded shortly after the election:

The Treasurer (whose office the Democrats unanimously voted to make an appointed one, a change they are now claiming not to have supported) asked for $3 million in Bond Anticipation Notes a couple of days after the 2001 election to cover costs over the remainder of 2001 (funny how that knowledge wasn't public before the election).

That legislature, which wouldn't unveil the budget before the election, then gave us a 20.1% increase in the tax levy - Chicken Little was right!

In 2003, the voters knew that we had been right in our analysis, and rewarded us with the chance to clean up the mess. We have, and we have campaigned this year on our record of achievement.

But now in 2005, the desperate opposition, not satisfied with hypocritical radio spots, are now trying to sow FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). This is all they offer since they cannot offer anything positive*. We will be happy to respond to the FUD in due course (I have heard that a mailing to the First Ward distorts the rationale for two recent votes - I will be responding in due course).

But we hope the voters will remember the lesson of 2001: Don't let Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - spread like manure at the 11th hour - distract you from the real issues of the election. We will continue to run on our record and our goals.

And apparently our opponents, in a perversion of FDR's famous words, will offer you nothing more than "fear itself".

* They actually could embrace the success, which has been bipartisan, with more than 92% of resolutions in 2005 having been passed without a no vote having been cast. And I am happy to say that they have been an important part of the success. But this being the Silly Season, they would rather defeat those of us who have contributed to the success so that they can return to power. Lord Acton had a saying about the effects of power.

Support from former Treasurer Carl Edlund

2005-11-01T03:02:00.000-05:00

Dear Editor,

I am pleased to write this letter for you to share with your readers; it is a letter in support of Cortlandville Legislator, Paul Allen. Paul has worked hard the past four years for the people of our district (LD. 14) and for all the residents of Cortland County. He has always worked towards achieving the positive changes that he felt would best serve the county and his constituents.

Paul has worked as part of a team that has been fiscally responsible. That team has been successful; they are making positive changes in the way our county government is run. Paul has made some tough decisions, and he has stuck by them. We all know that change is not always easy.

Paul is a gentleman in every sense of the word. His political style has been one of respect -- respect for his constituents, county employees and other legislators, regardless of party affiliation. Paul takes his job as a Legislator seriously and will continue to serve residents of District 14 well.

I will be proud to vote for Paul Allen on November 8, and I hope that you
will do the same.

Carl Edlund

Neglected infrastructure - Part 2

2005-11-01T02:47:00.000-05:00

More photos - remember, good fiscal management allows good government to flourish. We can only address these long-neglected needs because we have gotten the financial house in order. Again, these are high resolution images - click on them for a sharper view.

Cheningo Solon Pond

Divers Crossing

Bloody Pond

Neglected infrastructure - Part 1

2005-11-01T02:31:00.000-05:00

We have made a point of addressing what we have variously referred to as our crumbling, neglected, and faltering infrastructure. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll stop typing and allow these images to do the talking (these are high resolution images - click on them for a sharper view):

East River Road

Jennings Creek

Merrill Creek

Scott Steve's Personal Page

2005-11-01T01:41:00.000-05:00

Here are some links that Second Ward voters may use to focus on Scott's record of success.

Constituent Information

Palm Card
Scott's Message to the 2nd Ward
CSEA Endorsement

Economic Success

County Economic Overview

Cortland Standard answers: Paul Allen

2005-11-01T00:52:00.000-05:00

Personal info

Name: Paul W. Allen
Party Endorsements: Republican, Conservative
Office: Cortland County Legislator
Cortlandville - 14th District
Address: 3999 Crestwood Court, PO Box 323, Cortland, NY 13045
Day Time Phone: 607-543-0336
Occupation: Account Executive / Businessman
Age: 34 years old
Married to Betsy (38)
Children: Abby (13) and Blake (7)

What is your main motivation for running?

My main motivation for running is to improve the quality of life in Cortland County. I believe that this is accomplished through a low cost of living and good employment opportunities, coupled with a long term commitment for investment in the future of our community.

My wife Betsy and I both had grandparents who made their homes in Cortland County. Both of our families have stayed here for the most part ever since. I want to continue to work to make Cortland a place that our children can one day choose to raise their families.

Having the right team is critical to attaining long term goals. We have a great team working together in the legislature. I have found that being a part of that team, which is effective, and is accomplishing what we said that we would, is very exciting. I want to continue what we have started.

In your opinion, what is the function of local government? Describe your political philosophy.

The function of local government is to ensure our limited resources are efficiently and effectively utilized. As legislators, we listen to our neighbors and hear first hand about their concerns; it is honest Grass Roots politics, in that we see tax payers ever day on the street or in the stores. This closeness promotes checks and balances; it allows local people to have a greater level of control.

I consider myself a conservative. It is my conservative nature that I rely upon when deliberating on how best to use the limited resources to meet the specific needs of Cortland County.

As Chairman of the Governance Evaluation Committee, you helped create Proposition 1 which gave voters a choice of replacing the elected treasurer with an appointed comptroller. If you could go back, what would you have done differently, and why?

I was pleased to be asked to chair the Governance Evaluation Committee. I have a strong interest in government and really welcomed the challenge to evaluate Cortland County’s structure. The GEC is a committee made up of interested county residents. It is not a committee made up of just legislators. We have a very diverse group of folks from all walks of life.

When we ran in 2003, it was on a platform of open and honest government which operated with greater public accountability. We asked people for their vote, and in exchange we promised to make fundamental changes that were badly needed. We told voters that if we were given a chance to lead that we would instill greater accountability and address areas of deficiency. As we took office in 2003 with a new majority the NY State office of Comptroller issued a negative audit which sited three areas of inadequate oversight on behalf of the previous legislature and three areas of deficiency in the Treasure’s office. We committed to fix the problem. We felt that it was prudent to first ask voters how far to go. Should we fix the problems and leave the office as it is, or adopt a different structure that has been used in other counties.

The referendum certainly has changed the dynamics of politics in Cortland County. I believe that Proposition 1 gave county residents a real voice in government! Members of the GEC went to the City Council and every Town and Village Board that would allow public discussion on the referendum. Even though it was negatively publicized at times, we put the question before the people, and we listened to what they said.

The tax rate jumped 9.5 percent in 2003 and 2.9 percent in 2004. While taxpayers welcome smaller, or non-existent, tax increases, there is the fear that the rate will go up again. Has the Legislature made permanent changes to the government that will keep the tax rate from jumping in the future? What were those changes?

In 2003, voters sent a clear message to elected officials, either reign in massive tax increases, or over burdened taxpayers would vote them out. In 2003 the legislature passed a 9.5% tax increase. This brought the cumulative tax increase dangerously close to our constitutional tax limit. This legislature made considerable cost cutting measures a top priority and passed a 2.9% tax increase last year.

From 2000 - 2002, under the previous leadership, the legislature spent up 74% of the County’s available cash reserve. In just two short years they spent $3.12 million from unreserved fund balances which brought the total down to less than 2% of the annual budget. Consequently, the County had been forced into a position where we had to borrow money in order to pay routine operating expenses.

Two years ago Cortland County residents made a decision to change the leadership of their county government. The new Republican leadership in the legislature passed a law that the County must maintain a 10% cash reserve. By the end of 2005 Cortland County Legislature will have put well over $8 million into reserve.

Voters told us that they wanted responsibly administrated social service programs, where people in need could find help. We should be helping those who are able, with the transition towards self sufficiency. We won an award from New York State for helping people who get off welfare to successfully stay off welfare. We increased our efforts in welfare fraud investigation and subsequently increased arrests for welfare fraud from 1 in 2002 to 15 in 2005.

We believe that voters should have the right to know what the tax rate will be for the following year before voters are asked to decide who to vote for. In 2001, some candidates were called “Chicken Little” because we told voters that the budget would come out after Election Day and it would include a huge tax increase. This year, for the first time in history, the legislature will have a budget on the table before the election. We are, in part, able to do this because we took the results of the NYS Comptrollers audit very seriously. If reelected, we will move to make this change a permanent requirement of legislators.

Additional Comments:

I firmly believe everyone involved in the county knows we are serious people with a serious mission of improving our situation. We have strived to increase accountability and better balance it with responsibility and authority. Although there is still a long way to go I think it is clear to anyone watching the situation that a great deal of progress has been made.

Chamber Questionnaire: Paul Allen

2005-11-01T00:31:00.000-05:00

Personal info

Name: Paul W. Allen
Address: 3999 Crestwood Court, PO Box 323, Cortland, NY 13045
Day Time Phone: 607-543-0336

Office Held: Cortland County Legislator, Cortlandville - 14th District

Biographical Data: I am 34 years old, married to Betsy with two children Abby (13) and Blake (7).

Occupation and personal information including civic involvement:

I work as an Account Executive for Eastern Copy Products. For the last 13 years I have been working with businessmen and women in the Cortland / Ithaca area as a sales consultant, helping to fill the needs of businesses for office equipment. I am also a businessman. My wife Betsy and I own and operate Carbon Copies and Cortland Press, located on Main Street in Cortland. We do commercial printing, full service copying and packaging and shipping.

I attended college at TC3 where I studied Business Administration.

I serve on the CAPCO and Salvation Army Board of Directors, and I have done so since taking office over three years ago.

I have served on the Tioughnioga River Trail Commission for four years.

I am Cortland County’s representative on the New York State Region 7 Open Spaces Commission. This commission works with NYS Parks and Recreation and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to preserve natural resources and promote access to natural wonders.

I’m a former member of the YMCA Board of Directors.

What is your primary motivation for seeking public office?

My main motivation for running is to improve the quality of life in Cortland County. I believe that this is accomplished through a low cost of living and good employment opportunities, coupled with a long term commitment for investment in the future of our community.

My wife Betsy and I have a huge stake in the future of Cortland County. We both had grandparents who made their homes in Cortland County, and both of our families have stayed here for the most part ever since. I want to continue to work as part of a TEAM in the legislature to make Cortland a place where our children can one day choose to raise their families.

What experiences and perspectives do you bring to the legislative body?

I believe that the function of local government is to ensure our limited resources are efficiently and effectively utilized. I consider myself a fiscal conservative, and it is my conservative nature that I believe is beneficial to the “group discussion” when we are deliberating on how best to use the limited resources to meet the specific needs of Cortland County.

Having the right team is critical to attaining long term goals. We have a great team working together in the legislature which is effective, and we are accomplishing what we said we would. Being a part of that team is very exciting and it is important to me to continue what we have started.

We told voters that if we were given a chance to lead that we would instill greater accountability and address areas of deficiency. We have done exactly what we said we would do. I believe that the toughest part was introducing change. People are usually reluctant to change; even if the change will make things better. Whether it is business or government, people do not want to leave their “comfort zone”.

I ran in 2003 on a platform of open and honest government which operated with greater public accountability. I promised to work to help make fundamental changes that were greatly needed. We have strived to increase accountability and better balance it with responsibility and authority.

Although there is still a long way to go I think it is clear to anyone watching the situation that a great deal of progress has been made. We are serious people with a serious mission of improving the County’s situation.

What is your Assessment of the county’s economic health? In what areas are we doing well and in what areas must we improve if the community is to move forward positively?

In 2003 the legislature passed a 9.5% tax increase. This brought the cumulative tax increase dangerously close to our constitutional tax limit. Voters sent a clear message to elected officials, either reign in massive tax increases, or over-burdened taxpayers would vote them out. Voters said that they wanted leadership that would put an end to fiscally irresponsible decision making and we listened. This legislature made considerable cost cutting measures a top priority and passed a 2.9% tax increase last year.

This year, for the first time in history, the legislature will have a budget on the table before the election. I believe that voters should have the right to know the tax rate for the following year before they are asked to decide who to vote for. If re-elected, I will advocate that we make this change a permanent requirement of legislators.

The previous legislature spent down the available cash reserve from over 4 million dollars down to about zero. Consequently, the county had to borrow to pay its operating expenses. This legislature passed a law that the county must maintain a 10% cash reserve. Two years ago Cortland County residents made a decision to change the leadership of their county government, since then, we have put over $8 million into reserve.

We promised responsibly administrated social service programs, where people in need could find help, and people who are able, are helped with the transition towards self sufficiency. We won an award from New York State for helping people who get off welfare to successfully stay off welfare. We increased our efforts in welfare fraud investigation and subsequently increased arrests for welfare fraud from 1 in 2002 to 15 in 2005.

We took the results of the NYS Comptroller's audit very seriously. We have satisfied all but one of the six areas of deficiency.

Are there current initiatives with which you are involved, and are there any new ones you might bring to the table?

As Chairman of the Highway Committee there are a number of initiatives that our committee is working on, since January of 2004 we have made considerable progress and given two more years we will complete the work that we have started.

Cortland County Highway Department Administration

We hired from within the Cortland County Highway Department to fill the position of Highway Superintendent; elevating Don Chambers to this very important position.
We promoted from within to fill the newly created position of Deputy Highway Superintendent; Bob Buerkle is number two and acting Superintendent in Don’s absence.
We eliminated the Supervisor of Solid Waste position. In doing so, we were able to create a cost savings overall for the department.
We improved scheduling of our employees and improved coverage on nights and weekends for snow plow routes in Cortland County. We worked with the Union and came up with better scheduling, and we have achieved this while reducing overtime expense.

Legislative Goals and Priorities

Continue to pursue Highway Department efficiencies by further reducing duplication of services between County Departments and continuing to pursue shared services and inter-municipal cooperation
Address staffing levels to meet the workload demands of the life cycle capital replacement program
Cortland County Infrastructure

Cortland County has 1400 culverts, 248 miles of roads, 60 bridges and 1 dam. Our county has gone without sufficient funding for maintenance or replacement since 1962. Most of Cortland County’s box culvert structures were built in the 1930’s. We have developed a life cycle replacement plan to address the needs of the county’s ageing infrastructure. Our plan will fix culverts, and bridges, as well as replace and maintain county roads to ensure that our vital infrastructure is protected.
Develop and approve a lifecycle replacement plan for county bridges, highways and culverts
Develop and approve a long-term funding commitment for lifecycle replacement

4. Continue to pursue State and Federal Aid for highway projects

Needed increases in CHIPs money as well as Marchiselli funding for improvements to local highways and bridges.
Lobbied successfully to increase CHIP funding for highway improvements. Cortland County has been active pursuing highway funding from New York State. We have worked with organizations like NYSAC and NYSHSA to lobby for funding as well as by making regular office visits to our elected leaders in Albany.

Federal Funding

Lobbied federal representatives successfully to increase the size of the Federal transportation bill known as TEA21.
Increased federally aided project requests
Cortland County has worked with NACo to lobby for increased funding as well as by making annual office visits to our elected leaders in Washington DC. One visit with Congressman Boehlert, resulted in a request for help with the completion of Page Green (Phase III) being funded directly in the reauthorization of TEA21.

More initiatives and goals

Complete 2005 proposed capital projects

South Main Street/Page Green project

This project had been plagued with politics and delayed to the point where not only did the previous legislature jeopardize loosing our Federal funding on this project, but we were in jeopardy of not getting future Federal Aid projects as well if we could not get it done.
We made getting this project on the ground as soon as possible a top priority. We worked with the new county attorney who obtained the necessary easements and executed the needed legal documents to allow the project to go forward.
We preserved access to state and federal funds, which was threatened due to the inactivity on this project by the previous legislature; and we have worked to create relationships at the state and local level to increase our share of federal aid projects.

McGraw-Marathon Bridge

Project to rebuild the bridge has been completed, and the bridge was re-opened to traffic on September 2, 2005.

Authorize Engineering study to determine the best course of action on Little York Dam and interface with Engineer on potential funding sources.

Authorize design and development of pre-cast structures in-house so that we can begin replacement of the deteriorating concrete culverts cost effectively

Develop a long-range equipment replacement schedule in order to replace aging equipment in a well planned manner.

Cortland County Recycling Center

In May 2004, the county legislature authorized the expenditure of up to $2.985 million toward construction and equipping of a new recycling center, to replace the one that had been lost to a fire in 2002.
In November 2004, the legislature approved the design for a new Cortland County Recycling Center and construction was completed on the new Recycling Center by May 2005, a 7 month period.
During the design phase of our new center, we applied to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a grant in the amount of $900,000 to help reduce local taxpayer’s cost of constructing the new facility.
Through diligence, our County Attorney John Bardsley was able to negotiate a larger than anticipated insurance recovery from the 2002 fire, about $2 million dollars.
We initially anticipated that local tax dollars to pay for this project would be about $800,000. Ultimately we hope that very little local taxpayer money (~$60,000) will be spent to finance this project when the NYSDEC grant is received.
We contracted with a third party commodity broker to maximize the return on our recyclables in the marketplace while saving money over the previous method.
Operating our own Recycling Center has saved Cortland County Taxpayers $50,000 to date over what the county had been spending prior to opening the new Center. As more business is generated, more dollars are added to revenue, saving taxpayers even more money.
Complete the center under budget and open on time with trained personnel
Create a successful recycling operation and work to increase volume and revenue over time
Develop and execute an educational campaign designed to promote recycling
Work to establish municipal agreements for recycling
Investigate feasibility of recycling electronic appliances and/or household hazardous waste

Cortland County Landfill

Remarkably, the Cortland County's landfill permit had lapsed more than 10 years ago. We made this deficiency a priority. We took the necessary action to renew the permit, shielding us from noncompliance penalties and potential liability costs.
Cortland County spends an inordinate amount of money to haul leachate (the rain water that filters through the landfill) to the City of Cortland’s Waste Water Treatment Plant. We have hired an engineering firm to design an on-site leachate treatment system or a leachate pipeline in conjunction with a needed capping project of cell 1A of the West Side Extension Landfill. In combining these two projects together, we can get money from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to help fund a more economical approach to the disposal of leachate.

Obtain sources of alternative daily cover i.e. processed C&D

Authorize study for Leachate treatment and/or disposal cost savings

Educate legislature and general public on the need for a capping project to possibly include funding for a pipe line or on-site leachate treatment

Cortland County Airport

The current airport master plan was created in 1970’s and was in need of an update.
A revised master plan is currently in development and will be completed by December, 2005.
We conducted a Bid advertisement for lease of Main Hanger #1 resulting in an additional Fixed Base Operator who is running both a flight school and a repair operation at Cortland County Airport. This activity results in increased fuel sales and revenues at the airport.
We replaced the asphalt apron around the hangers and made other needed improvements to the hangers.
We are receiving higher lease payments from the T-hangers and the Main Hanger #1.
Through lobbying efforts, we received $419,400 in federal funds and $23,300 in state funds for the update to the master plan and the T-hangar renovations.
Through lobbying efforts, we received another $201,400 in federal funds and $5,300 in state funds for the replacement of the automated weather observation system (AWOS) and upgrade of fuel sales metering and accounting computer system.
Develop airport master plan and airport business plan
Develop long-range space utilization plan and bid long term contracts on hangers
Assess level of need and ROI for MH-1 repairs
Authorize Fuel System grant application and implement replacement
Implement airport master plan projects
Oversee installation of AWAS III

Cortland County Parks

We added an elevator to Little York Pavilion in order to make the second floor handicapped-accessible and a new sprinkler system for greater safety.
We renovated the restrooms and added a handicap-accessible bathroom.
We gave Cortland Repratory Theatre a long term lease so that they could plan for the future and invest in improvements and upgrades.
Attract NYS Dept. of Parks and Rec. to locate a NYS park in Cortland
Work cooperatively with the Tioughnioga River Trail Commission to construct Phase I of the trail from Yamen to Derkey Parks
RFP food and beverage vendors and explore external structure for cooking

As an elected representative, what will you do to promote commerce growth in Cortland County?

As a business owner in Cortland County, I am well aware of the challenges faced daily by those in the business world. I know first-hand that high utility costs and high state and federal taxes take their toll. I will continue to work towards initiatives that help all businesses, big and small, in Cortland County.

I am a strong supporter of the IDA/BDC and the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce. I believe that the county funding expended on by these agencies is essential to the long-term growth and health of the local economy.

I believe that there are three very important prerequisites of good, strong, successful business development. First, we must keep property tax increases to a bare minimum. By keeping taxes down, we are not only helping homeowners, but business owners, and landlords, including commercial property owners as well. I believe that business growth happens in part as a result of profitable businesses. If the county tax bill is less, that leaves more money for things like: increased capital investment, adding new employees, employing new technologies, additional training; more operating capital allows businesses to take advantage of greater buying power, expand marketing efforts, and ultimately increases the needs for other service providers. Lower taxes equate to business growth and a higher profit margin for business owners.

Second, we must offer a quality of life that will make our county an attractive place where entrepreneurs will want to live and raise their families while they build their businesses. If re-elected, I will continue my efforts to get a NYS Park located in Cortland County and help complete the first leg of the Tioughnioga River Trail. Cortland County was recently recognized as one of the “Best Small Towns in America”; we need to get the word out and continue to make improvements in the quality of life in order to attract future employers.

Third, we must have a healthy transportation network for movement of goods and employees. Currently, we are in the process of working on a twenty-year plan to improve and maintain county infrastructure. Our infrastructure is essential to both attracting new businesses to our area and attracting existing businesses to stay and grow. If re-elected, I will continue to work diligently to find the funding to address the transportation needs in Cortland County. I am in frequent in contact with our local representatives in Albany and Washington, DC, lobbying for funding.

Kurt Behrenfeld's Page

2005-11-01T00:07:00.000-05:00

Here are some links that Sixth Ward voters may use to focus on Kurt Behrenfeld's information more closely.

Constituent Information

Palm Card
Kurt's Message to the 6th Ward

Committee Success Stories

Budget & Finance

Economic Success

County Economic Overview

Paul Allen's Page

2005-11-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

This page has links that should allow Ward 14 voters to learn more about me.

As always, I encourage voters to talk to me. Call me at 543-0336 or e-mail me.

Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to this page after following a link.

I look forward to your support on Tuesday!

Constituent Information

Mailer & Palm Card
Letter of Endorsement

Committees

Highway Committee

Infrastructure (this you gotta see!)

Part 1
Part 2

Recycling Center

Success

More Issues

Don't let "FUD" distract you
Future Directions - what you will be voting on
Economic Report Card
Budget Released Before the Election

Answers to Questionnaires

Chamber of Commerce candidate questionnaire
Cortland Standard candidate questionnaire

Paul DiGiovanni's Page

2005-11-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

This page has links to allow First Ward voters to learn more about me.

The DiGiovanni Family, Fall 2002
Mentor, Ohio

As always, I encourage voters to talk to me; I find that I can clarify almost anything that voters have on their minds in regard to what is happening at the legislature, given the chance to speak directly to them. Call me at 756-6313 or e-mail me. If that hyperlink to my e-mail address doesn't work for you for some reason, use this address: electdoc@twcny.rr.com.

Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to this page after following a link.

I look forward to your support on Tuesday!

Constituent Information

Palm Card
Re-elect Doc
CSEA Endorsement

Speeches & Letters

Letter to the First Ward
CCPR Forum Speech
LOWV Forum Speech

Committees

Budget & Finance Committee
Health Committee
Social Services & Health Cooperation

Anatomy of a vote (or, Why My Votes Actually Protect Seniors)

County Car Repair
Corporate Welfare

Dissecting the Silliness of the Silly Season

Late Hits - Volume One
Late Hits - Volume Two
Broadcast Silliness
Shell Game Silliness

More Issues

Don't let "FUD" distract you
Future Directions - what you will be voting on
Economic Report Card
Budget Released Before the Election

External Links

Chamber of Commerce candidate questionnaire

Interview with John Rodat

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Personal

Happy Anniversary

They were for Proposition One before they were against it

2005-10-31T23:48:00.000-05:00

Shortly after the start of the year, when some minor bit of legislative nonsense (about which I no longer remember any specifics) became the focal point of some squabbling, the honorable Dan Tagliente (D) remarked that "the silly season was upon us". I hadn't heard the term "silly season" before, so I asked him to explain. He indicated that the term is used to refer to political campaign season, and even though the election was many months away at the time he said it, he was right: the silly season had begun.

So just how silly does it get? Here is a transcript from a radio ad now airing locally:

Tom Hartnett (D) - "... remember how they ("they" refers to "some of those Republican county legislators") tried to take away our right to vote for Treasurer.. it's like they think their way is the only way and they don't care about what we think or how they treat people."

Carol Tytler (D) - "I see your point"

OK, there certainly was disagreement about Proposition One, the name of the proposal that appeared on the ballot in November 2004 offering a referendum on whether to continue to elect a treasurer (who, by law, cannot be made to hold any qualifications for the post, other than being at least 18 years old and living in the county) or to appoint one based on qualifications. But let's check the record, shall we?

On motion of Mr. Steve (R), seconded by Mrs. Brown (D) and adopted by a two-thirds roll call vote with Mr. Allen (R) (2789); Mrs. Breed (R) (2816); Mrs. Brown (D) (2320), Mr. Dafoe (D) (2,042) , Dr. DiGiovanni (R) (2362), Mr. Elston (R) (3,207), Mr. Hartnett (D) (2,334) , Mr. McKee (R) (3,351), Mr. Steger (R) (2,775), Mr. Tagliente (D) (2,357), Mrs. Tytler (D) (2,317), Mr. Willcox (R) (2,348), Ms. Wyant (R) (2,362) and Mr. Steve (R) (2,324) voting aye ;

Mr. Armstrong (R) (3,369), Mr. Cornell (R) (2,875), Mr. Ross (R) (2,314) and Mr. Wern (R) (1,973) voting nay; and Mr. Behrenfeld (R) (2,364) recorded as absent,

Agenda Item No. 1 became: Local Law # 1 for the year 2004, A Local Law Abolishing the Office of County Treasurer and Creating an Appointive Office of County Comptroller for the County of Cortland and Causing a Proposition to be Submitted to the Electorate at the Next General Election.

So, let's see, that would be the entire Democratic caucus (including Mr. Hartnett and Mrs. Tytler) in favor, and four Republican legislators voting against. But only "some of those Republican legislators... tried to take away our right to vote"? Curious.

Let's check discussion of the motion:

Mrs. Brown stated there were over thirty people who came to speak for or against this and she would be voting in favor of Local Law # 1 for the Year 2004 to allow all the people of the County the opportunity to speak by casting their vote in November.

So... we weren't trying "to take away" the people's "right to vote"?

Mrs. Tytler stated she would be supporting Local Law # 1 for the Year 2004 and commented that this issue should make the voters of Cortland County aware of the job they have at election time of looking more closely at the qualifications of the candidates that are seeking to be elected for positions to serve the public.

Hey, good idea. Like maybe they should look with great care at people who vote one way, then try to score political points by castigating people of the other party who voted the exact same way for identical reasons?

The Silly Season ends in a week, and not a moment too soon!

PS: Here is an open invitation to any member of the Democratic caucus: you have all the space you need on this blog to explain to the voters how this isn't hypocritical on your part. We await your response.

Radio Spot #3

2005-10-31T23:12:00.000-05:00

Radio ad on WXHC 10/27/05 and 10/28/05

Red = Bonnie Quackenbush
Black = Paul Allen
Blue = Kurt Behrenfeld

Promises Made...
Restructure county government.
Promises Kept...
We have better defined the Administrator’s directive and completed the management study which realigned job descriptions county-wide.

Promises Made...
Get projects done.
Promises Kept...
We built a new recycling center.

Promises Made...
Fiscal responsibility.
Promises Kept...
We have streamlined delivery of services through consolidation.

Not just financial successes, but successful government.

Promises Made...
To make government more efficient and effective.
Promises Kept...
Reduce tax increases by over 75% while improving services and more than doubling fund balances.

Promises Made...
Make government more accountable.
Promises Kept...
Establish audit committee for the first time.

Promises Made...
Use talents to improve government.
Promises Kept...
Create a forecasting model for the county to improve our ability to make consistently better decisions.

Your Republican legislature... Promises made, promises kept.

Not just financial success, successful government.

Radio Spot #2

2005-10-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

Radio ad on WXHC 10/25/05 and 10/26/05

Red = Bonnie Quackenbush
Black = Kay Breed
Blue = Paul DiGiovanni

Promises Made...
More accessible county government.

Promises Kept...
Early morning committee meetings and evening legislative sessions so that working people can participate.

Promises Made...
Better approaches to public safety.

Promises Kept...
Enhanced 911 and improved dispatch software.

Promises Made...
Better managerial oversight.

Promises Kept...
Training and governmental accounting and computer classes for county employees.

Not just financial successes, but successful government.

Promises Made...
Better managerial oversight.

Promises Kept...
The home health agency has improved its performance on State surveys and its bottom line.

Promises Made...
Rewarding good performance.

Promises Kept...
We approved increased staffing for our model Hospice program.

Promises Made...
Better coordination of service delivery.

Promises Kept...
Social Services and the Health Department have worked together to improve quality of services.

Your Republican legislature... Promises made, promises kept.

Not just financial success, successful government.

Upcoming TV Schedule (Channel 2)

2005-10-31T22:49:00.000-05:00

"Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld):

11/1 at 8:00PM
11/3 at 6:00PM
11/4 at 12:00PM
11/7 at 8:30PM

Scott Steve:
11/3 at 9:00AM

Paul Allen:
11/2 at 6:00 PM
11/4 at 1:00 PM

Paul DiGiovanni:
11/3 at 12:30 PM
11/7 at 5:30 PM

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2005-10-27T09:42:00.000-04:00

Boy, did I get lucky! Today I celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary with Angela. This is our crystal (or watch) anniversary, so I am heading downtown to get one or both (she never reads this site, so it's not as if I am spoiling a surprise).

I hope this serves as a reminder to all of us that even in the midst of a campaign, there are many more important things in our lives.

(But of course I will be out campaigning today - why do you ask?)

UPDATE: Angela got me "Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3". They say the 15th anniversary is the "crystal anniversary" (yes, I had to look that up), but I much prefer this particular "golden" gift! Many thanks to Joe and Cindy Delaney of Trends for having helped me select a crystal gift for Angela - she loved it!

Economic Report Card

2005-10-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Cortland beat state and national unemployment rates

As of this fall 2005, Cortland’s year-to-year employment growth outpaced the state and most other regions in the State, with Cortland growing by 3.5%, compared to New York State’s rate of 1.2% and national rate of 1.9%. In fact, Cortland County’s rate of employment gain has consistently outpaced New York State’s since 2000. Cortland added 500 jobs this year alone.

Most recent DOL statistics:

National unemployment rate – 5.1%
New York State unemployment rate – 5.2%
Cortland unemployment rate – 4.4%

Cortland has gained 500 jobs since the same time last year
Financial sectors gained 100 jobs since the same time last year
Professional and business services gained 100 jobs since the same time last year
Information sectors gained 100 jobs since the same time last year
Leisure and hospitality gained 200 jobs since the same time last year

Recent highlights include:

Barden Homes, the Northeast’s leader in pre-engineered homes, recently completed a $6.5 million 100,000 sq. ft. expansion and is now the anchor for a new Upstate homebuilding business park that is attracting customers and contractors from Canada and across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Essex Steel, New York State’s only manufacturer of steel buildings, recently completed a $2 million project to locate its new 30,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters in the Finger Lakes East Business Park
BorgWarner Morse TEC has invested $30 million to open a powder metal production facility that created nearly 250 new high-paying manufacturing jobs.
The 433,000 sq. ft. former Smith Corona manufacturing plant -- renamed IndacomPlace -- is now completely full with more than 20 companies occupying industrial and warehousing space, including a number of small manufacturers who relocated from out of state.
The Marietta Corporation, the world leader in the hospitality amenities industry, purchased the 440,000 sq. ft. former Rubbermaid facility and made a $25 million investment to locate high speed bottling lines there for the retail market. The company has added nearly 150 manufacturing jobs in the past year at the new site, and has exceeded employment commitments to Empire State Development.
Pall Trinity Micro has continued to grow, recently making a 75,000 sq. ft. expansion into new offices at Indacom Place. PTM recently won a prestigious award from the NYS DEC for environmental achievements.
The 144,000 sq. ft. former ASSA International building was redeveloped as the Cortland Commerce Center. Anchor tenants included Intertek Testing Services, which made the site its North American operations headquarters and WebClothes, which opened its global E-commerce distribution operation there.
Buckbee Mears transacted the sale of the 367,000 square foot facility to International Electron Devices, based in New Delhi, India. The $15 million deal closed in October 2004.
Precision E-Forming was created and financed as a management buy-out of a division of Buckbee Mears’ electroforming division, which was relocated here from St. Paul, Minnesota. The new company is enjoying great success and growing rapidly.
The 75,000 sq. ft. former E-One facility was purchased by Bestway for a new $3.5 million manufacturing operation that will create composite materials for the homebuilding industry. Bestway also recently completed a $1.7 million business expansion for its wholesale lumber operation, which processes wood products and distributes them to 350 retail operations through the northeast. The company also relocated its Carolina-based woodworking operation to Cortland, creating 90 new jobs. Bestway is completing work on a new $1 million intermodal rail center at its Luker Road operation to accommodate another new project, a $2 million new investment to manufacture modular homes, which is expected to create another 75 new jobs
The Cortland Companies and Cortland Cable, which specialize in the manufacture and custom engineering of cables and ropes for the marine and aerospace industries, continued to expand with the acquisition of Puget Sound Rope, based just north of Seattle, and the acquisition of Cortland Fibron, BX, based in London, England.
Albany International continued to make significant investments in its world-class R&D Center and expanded production facilities at its Cortland facility.
Cooper Hand Tools completed a multi-million capital improvement project that completely realigned its manufacturing floor, improving safety, quality and efficiency.
WetStone Technologies, a cutting edge computer forensics company, made a $3.5 million investment in a new corporate headquarters in the heart of downtown Cortland.
New Monarch Machine Tool secured a $2.7 million CAPCO investment by Advantage Capital, as well as an additional $500,000 investment by RAND.
Square Deal Machining made a major expansion, moving a significant operation to Marathon in Cortland County from Pennsylvania.
Ames Linen Service purchased the former 70,000 sq. ft. Tuscarora building in the City of Cortland for an expansion project.
Cortland Memorial Hospital completed an $11 million expansion, renovating its emergency services, laboratories and radiology/diagnostics services departments, successfully completing a $3.5 million capital campaign facilitated by the allocation of $750,000 in Empire Zone community development project credits.
The BDC worked with USDA/Rural Development to help secure a loan guarantee to leverage private sector financing and public funding to open a new $3.5 million new Cortland Sports Complex. Fundraising for the project was facilitated by the allocation of $500,000 in Empire Zone community development project credits
The BDC worked with USDA/Rural Development to help secure a loan guarantee to open a new Center for the Arts in Homer (www.center4art.org)
The Cortland County Zone Advisory Board approved a total of $400,000 in direct equity tax credits to Hope Lake Investors for qualified equity investments in a major development project being proposed there.
The Cortland County Empire Zone created 355 net new jobs in the past year

2006 Budget out before election

2005-10-24T08:28:00.000-04:00

One of the cornerstones of our platform in 2003 was that we would have the budget out for your review before the election. The Administrator's budget was released on October 20, 2005 - the earliest in memory, perhaps ever.

Let me explain the process from here:

Mr. Schrader's budget is the default budget. Among the highlights are a reduction in the tax rate by about 2.9% and the introduction of capital project budgeting. Should the legislature fail to agree to modifications to his proposal, it will become the official 2006 budget. The legislature will soon begin "Annual Session", which is a series of meetings to address the budget and propose changes. We will analyze the proposed budget line by line, question Mr. Schrader on nearly all of it, and discuss with departments and agencies whether the budget meets their needs. As we go along, amendments to the budget will almost certainly be made, until we reach a final proposed amended budget.

A public hearing will be held, so that you can offer your feedback; this is tentatively scheduled for mid-November. At some point after the public hearing, a vote of the full legislature will be held.

So, while we don't have a final budget just yet, we have improved processes sufficiently that the Administrator's budget is ready for public scrutiny. This began with the Treasurer's Office getting its Annual Financial Update Document (known as the "AUD") completed in March. This allowed the independent outside auditor to begin his audit much earlier than he had in prior years; he completed his audit report in August and discussed his findings with the legislature in September. These were the two key pieces that allowed the Administrator to put together a budget based on sound, audited financial information, not mere guesses.

And that is how we got to where we are now. We look forward to your feedback.

Personnel Committee Accomplishments: UPDATED

2005-10-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

Please note that the CSEA contract and the MSD study have been approved by all parties, a major achievement by the County Administrator, the Personnel Department, and the legislature.

MSD (Municipal Service Division) study
- Will set pay levels for county employees in line with the market
- The process was started in 2001 with a promised date of completion of 2003 by the prior Democratic-controlled legislature; it will be completed by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2005
- UPDATE: The MSD study was completed and approved on October 20, 2005, and works hand-in-hand with the new CSEA contract to ensure that our county workers will be paid a competitive wage, limiting, we expect, the exodus of workers that we train in Cortland to neighboring counties

CSEA contract and management compensation
- UPDATE: The union voted in favor of the new 5-year contract, and the legislature unanimously approved it on October 20

Revised the rules of legislature:
- Changed meeting times for committees to early morning so that legislators can attend meetings and still get to their jobs
- Each committee meets once a month instead of two
- There is one legislative session per month instead of two
- The time of the legislative session is Thursday at 6 pm, allowing people with jobs to work and still be legislators, and allowing citizens to attend
- Absence equals a "no" vote (it used to be counted as a "yes")

Rewrote the county e-mail policy
- to prevent abuse and wasted time at work

Budgeted for capital expenses in Data Processing
- Bonding for items such as computers and printers in the past was often done; many times, the life of the bond exceeded the useful life of the equipment, so we were still paying for things we could no longer use

Health Insurance Policy
- We changed carriers from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to RMSCO, saving over $1 million in premiums alone in the first year.
- County employees received a 10% reduction in health insurance premium.
- A stop loss provision was added; the absence of such a stop-loss cost the county $900,000 on a single claim a couple of years ago.
- We no longer have to float a "security bond" for health insurance (this was a $1.5 million bond with an associated annual cost of about $30,000)
- We retrieved $1.3 million from BC/BS in security holdings with more money still to be returned

Media & public relations
- Agendas are put out in a timely matter for the benefit of the media, the legislators, and the public
- Draft copies of meeting minutes are sent out via e-mail, usually the same day as the meeting, and posted timely to the county web site (http://www.cortland-co.org)

City, Towns, Villages, and Schools
- All taxing entities meet monthly to improve cooperation

MUNIS (County's Municipal Software system)
- Completed accounting training for at least 45 employees
- Instituted procedures to ensure training of all employees (new hires and current workers)

Consolidation of purchasing
- For example, we instituted a blanket copier maintenance agreement and purchased all new copiers, while saving more than $24,000 per year

HAVA (Help America Vote Act)
- We are working with the Board of Elections to select new voting machines and ensure that the public will be included in the evaluation process

County contracts
- Standardized contract forms and instituted a review process for all county contracts

Department of Motor Vehicles
- Relocation is planned to make it easier on consumers to use local DMV. If we increase use of the local DMV office, we will capture a greater local share
- Drop boxes for DMV registration have been and will be added

Compensation
- Established a standard work day for elected and appointed officials
- Increased the time of service needed to achieve retirement benefits

Passed 4 Local Laws to Expand the Pool of Potential Workers
Local Law No. 1 of the Year 2005: A Local Law Creating an Exception to the Residency Requirement for Deputy Sheriff Titles for Cortland County
Local Law No. 2 of the Year 2005: A Local Law Creating an Exception to the Residency Requirement for Correction Officer Titles for Cortland County
Local Law No 3 of the Year 2005: A Local Law Creating an Exception to the Residency Requirement for Assistant District Attorneys for Cortland County
Local Law No. 4 of the Year 2005: A Local Law Creating an Exception to the Residency Requirement for Assistant Public Defender for Cortland County

Radio Spot #1

2005-10-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

Here is the copy of the first radio spot which aired on Friday, October 21, and Monday, October 24.

Bonnie Quackenbush
Paul DiGiovanni

Promises Made...

Accountability in the Treasurer's Office

Promises Kept...

The Annual Financial Update Document was completed in the Spring

Promises Made...

Better legislative oversight of the audit process

Promises Kept...

The annual audit was completed in early September

Promises Made...

No more hiding of the following year's budget until after the election

Promises Kept...

The 2006 Administrator's budget was released on October 20, nearly three weeks before the election.

The Republican candidates for county legislature promised in 2003 to bring a new level of fiscal responsibility to county government.

One of the cornerstones of our platform was that we would tell you, as voters and taxpayers, what the budget would look like before we asked you to give us your vote again.

Getting a budget out before the election wasn't an idle promise, and it only happened because of the hard work of the legislature, county administration, and the dedicated workers in county government.

Together, we have transformed the outlook for Cortland County from bleak, to bright.

Your Republican legislature...

Promises made, promises kept.

Paul Allen - Mailer & Palm Card

2005-10-17T23:56:00.000-04:00

Click on images for enlarged view:

Mailer

Palm Card

Palm Card: Kay Breed

2005-10-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

Click on upper or lower image for enlarged view

Palm Card: Kurt Behrenfeld

2005-10-16T21:28:00.000-04:00

Click on upper or lower image for enlarged view

Palm Card: Scott Steve

2005-10-16T20:55:00.000-04:00

Click on image for enlarged view

Palm Card: Paul DiGiovanni

2005-10-16T20:19:00.000-04:00

Click on upper or lower image for enlarged view

Palm Card: Bonnie Quackenbush

2005-10-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

Vote for

Q

Bonnie Quackenbush
Cortland County Legislature
5th Ward
for
Quality
Quick Response
and
EQuity of Government

November 8, 2005

{BACK}

Vote for

Bonnie Quackenbush

and you vote for years of
caring and coordinating:
the skills needed to
represent you and your concerns.

• 38 years - Cortland County resident
• 20 years - Parent of three beautiful boys: Bob, Ed and Dan
• 10 years - Science Teacher, certified in 7-12 Earth Science, Biology, English
• 8 years - Den Leader, Pack Master at Barry
• 3 years - producer of STORYTIME, Mon-Thurs 7 p.m. on CH 2
• many years- Events Coordinator:

Music On The Mountain for The American Cancer Society, 1988
NYS Siting Commission Hearing (liaison), 1989
Ithaca Festival, 1990
Chautauqua in Homer, 2003

Q-GOALS

Keep Cortland Quaint

And increase Business Quantitatively

While improving Quality of Life

Questions and Queries:

Q4U@usa.net or 756-8334

DiGiovanni Speech at CCPR Forum

2005-10-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

Good evening. I am Paul DiGiovanni, a physician and County Legislator from the City's First Ward, and the Majority Leader. I am married to Angela, a pediatrician, and we live with our four kids at 5 Ridgeview Avenue. Next week, on Thursday, the 27th, we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. So, First Ward voters, as you see me out on the trail next week, please remind me that my anniversary is on Thursday - don't let me forget!

Thanks to the Cortland Citizens for Progressive Reform for hosting this forum. This is the democratic process in action, and I hope that it will serve to educate and inform voters. I am confident that if my record, and the record of this legislature, is the basis on which citizens cast their votes, that I will be representing the First Ward again for the next two years.

"Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan". It seems that the challenge this campaign season is not to run away from a record of failure. On the contrary, the competition this year seems to be to determine who deserves the credit. And that's because there is so much credit to go around. When you consider the sad state of the county in the fall of 2003, when our local paper characterized our future as "bleak", I think it is hard to overstate the success of the past term.

I part company with those who believe the Administrator deserves all the credit. Yes, the Administrator deserves considerable credit, but so do we. And to clarify, by "we" I mean the current legislators - on both sides of the aisle. We are a collection of varied talents who have complemented one another quite well. I will be happy personally, and for the people of the County, to welcome back such superb legislators as Carol Tytler and Dan Tagliente. Carol herself spoke of the bipartisan approach that has led to many, many infrastructure improvements and how the legislature has worked with department heads and others to accomplish many good things.

But this is a campaign, and deserving legislators who have earned reelection but who are faced with contested races in November - myself included - owe it to the voters to clarify the role we have played in the success. This I shall try to do.

The proper role of the Administrator is to put policies into operation. The proper role of the legislature is to set those policies. There are policies that we individually and as a group have introduced, independent of the Administrator, that have contributed to this successful term. I have helped to achieve positive reform in several areas. As Chairman of the Health Committee, I have helped to clarifiy the proper role of the Board of Health and improved its working relationship with the Health Committee. I have pushed for and helped to facilitate the introduction of a new provider of pre-school services; this provider is on track to open in January. I am happy to report that the Home Health Care agency has not only addressed all deficiencies, several of which had been repeat findings on state surveys, but has gone from costing taxpayers over $200,000 a year to likely turning a small profit. I was the Chairman of the committee that investigated the Treasurer's Office and the prior legislature's failure of oversight. The independent auditor noted that operations were "much, much improved". Oversight of departments by the legislature across the board has been strengthened. I have pushed for interdepartmental cooperation, and I am pleased by the model developed by Health and Human Services.

I am an active legislator with a restless mind, always seeking a better way. There are many things I see that still need to be done, and that I will work hard to get done, given the chance. Thank you.

Candidates Forum Speech - Paul DiGiovanni

2005-10-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

I want to thank the League of Women Voters for sponsoring this forum and the Area Agency on the Aging for hosting it. I also want to express my regrets that my baseball buddy - and opponent in my legislative race - John Troy cannot be here tonight, as he is at work, teaching. John is a good man, and the citizens of the First Ward have two good candidates vying to represent them. I have corresponded with him, and he has agreed to us having a forum for First Ward voters. Details will be forthcoming as the arrangements are worked out.

I hope that when the voters, in the quiet of the voting booth, make their choice, that they will reflect on the record of achievement of this legislature. Two short years ago, as I was running for the office that I now hold, the local paper carried a headline that read "Cortland County Future Looks Bleak". The sub-head stated "Budget requests will put county over its tax limit; service and job cuts loom on horizon". The article noted that Moody's had just downgraded our bond rating and that a double-digit tax increase was likely. An entire division of the Health Department - Environmental Health - was considered a likely candidate to be cut to make ends meet. There was open discussion of raising the constitutional tax limit. I had to wonder why I wanted this job after reading that article, which read like an obituary.

Well...

What a difference two years has made!

The structural problems of unfunded mandates and ever-rising Medicaid costs still exist. Yet a new legislature took over and look where we are today! In 2004, we spent about 12% less than the prior legislature's budget allowed us to. We ran a surplus of $4.8 million. We bolstered reserves to nearly $9 million. And our first budget, in 2005, raised taxes only 2.9%, 2% of which covered the Medicaid increase alone. We have successfully lobbied to cap the growth in the local share of Medicaid - not a final solution, but a good first step.

We haven't cut services. On the contrary, we are funding things such as county road construction that we hadn't funded in the budget in years. We are working on a 20-year plan to address infrastructure so that long-neglected bridges, culverts, and highways will be maintained and replaced. We look forward to going back to Moody's when it is time to do so and saying: "Here's our financial status. We have more than 10% of annual operating expenses in reserve. We think you'll agree that you should raise our bond rating". And returning to that article, the prior Chairman of Budget & Finance, Mr. Van Dee, stated his hope that the budget would be out before the election. It wasn't. The administrator's 2006 budget will be out on October 20. We keep our promises.

Our success has been the result of hard work. Not wishful thinking, not a hope and a prayer, not dumb luck - but hard work. I have poured over documents, spreadsheets, web sites, and pamphlets. I have taken trips where my wife would drive and I would sit in the passenger seat so that I could read up on something of importance to the county. I have spent hours with the Administrator, the Auditor, the Clerk of the Legislature, and fellow legislators. Perhaps the most useful time is time spent with the department and division heads, who at first were quite frankly wary of us new guys, fearful, I think, that our approach to the fiscal crisis would be to slash and burn. It took some time to develop the trust that we now have, but I am confident that the strong bottom line is not a thin veneer hiding problems that are as bad as ever, but that our improved fiscal situation is, as our outside auditor put it, the results of operations being "much, much improved". Our department and division heads deserve their share of the kudos for improving operations.

I want the citizens of this county to reflect on the progress we have made and the team that has made it possible. It has taken dedicated leadership, diverse talents, and driven people who want what is best for the county. Changing horses in mid-stream when the path we have steered has led us out of the bleak future feared in 2003 to the bright future we now foresee is not something that I hope voters will want to do. I thank the First Ward for having given me the chance to work for them, and I hope that they will give me two more years to continue this record of success.

Candidates Forum Speech - Bonnie Quackenbush

2005-10-07T23:48:00.000-04:00

I AM PROUDLY RUNNING FOR CORTLAND COUNTY LEGISLATURE. And you need to know who I am and why I will be an active, concerned and strong candidate.

First and foremost, I am a proud mother of three amazing boys: Bob, Ed and Dan. It was the day after my two oldest sons (Bob and Ed) graduated from High School this past June that I received a call asking me to run for the County Legislature, Ward 5.

I am a Secondary Ed. Science teacher and have my Bachelor’s Degree and Masters Degree from SUNY Cortland. I am certified in 7-12th grade General and Earth Science, Biology and English (with a mere 3 credits lacking for Physics certification). I am also working toward Special Ed. Certification for my current place of employment, George Junior Republic.

I also taught at the college level. In fact, my first teaching experience (while working on my Graduate Degree) was at Cayuga Correctional Facility, a medium security prison, teaching Geology 101. Two years ago, I taught at SUNY Cortland: it was an Integrated Earth Science and Biology course for soon-to-be Elementary Ed. teachers.

For eight years, I was a Cub Scout Den Leader and Pack Master at Barry Elementary.

For three years, I have produced my show STORYTIME at Time Warner’s CACTV. It airs on Channel 2, Monday – Thursday at 7 p.m. with the idea that if no one else will read to the children, then I will.

For two years, I chaired Chautauqua, an annual event sponsored by the Cortland County Council of Churches.

My children and I were acolytes, and designed and planted the Children’s Garden, at Grace Episcopal Church.

I was the Ithaca Festival Coordinator in 1990, concentrating on making the Festival accessible to the Differently-Abled.

I helped organize the Cortland County/New York State Energy Fair (1990-1992).

I was Liaison between citizen groups and SUNY Cortland in September 1989 when the NYS Siting Commission came to Cortland.

Oddly enough, I managed and played in Steve Southworth and The Rockabilly Rays from March 1986-November 1988.

And recently, I became a block captain on the South side Neighborhood Watch.

OBVIOUSLY, I have already been active in the community as an entertainer, producer, promoter, mediator, gardener, reader and teacher. I am ready to take all these managerial and creative, problem-solving skills to another level. I am ready to put a public name and face on the efforts I already make in order to create a better world here in Cortland and enhance the sense of community and responsibility we all have to each other and to the future.

If you want a passionate supporter of children, the Differently-Abled and those in need, if you want a relentless promoter of Cortland County business, tourism and geologic attributes, if you want a diligent, slightly obsessive perfectionist manning the time-lines and other details, if you want a creative problem-solver to save money on current programs and create projects that we will all benefit from in the future, if you want a caring soul who will sit and talk (and boy can I talk), then I am your Legislator.

You've come a long way, baby!

2005-10-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

This was from September 2003 - how things have changed!

(Click on either image to enlarge to readable size)

Letter to First Ward Citizens

2005-09-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

September 2005

Dear Fellow Citizen of the First Ward:

I write to you as I begin my campaign for reelection to the County Legislature. First, I want to thank you for having given me the chance to represent you. I hope that as you read this letter, you will come to agree that we have made a lot of progress these past two years. There is a lot of good news to report, so this letter is long, but I respectfully ask you to please take the time to continue reading. As I will be making door-to-door visits over the next few weeks, we can talk about these (and other) things when we meet.

Allow me to start with a bit of history. The newly elected Legislature arrived in office on January 1, 2004, with a budget prepared by the prior legislature that called for $71 million in spending. You might recall that I wrote an essay in 2001 (during my first run for office) arguing that we were not taxed too little, but that we spent too much. I am proud to have been a key member of a legislature which, though allowed to spend up to $71 million of your money, spent only $62.7 million. We ran a one-year surplus of $4.8 million. That money has been added to the fund balance - think of that as the county's piggy bank - which is now a healthy $8.9 million. To prove that this is "no shell game" (to quote our independent outside auditor, Rick McNeilly), we are doing it again: we are projecting a surplus this year of about $3-4 million, which could take our savings account to $12-13 million.

Again quoting our outside auditor, this is because operations are "much, much improved". It is, he said, the direct result of controlling spending. When I ran before, the prior legislature blamed the county's financial crisis on "unfunded mandates" and Medicaid - not ever their own excessive spending. You haven't heard the current legislature complain about unfunded mandates and Medicaid much, because we were right: although these are costly (and we have addressed them as best we can), they were not the reason our finances were so sickly: runaway spending was. You gave us the chance to prove we were right, and I believe we have: we have controlled spending and delivered a budget surplus.

How did we do this? We said "no" when we had to. And when the backlash came from the people who didn't like being told "no", we stood firm. The Treasurer's Office was a mess: the annual report (the "AUD") was late year after year; the State Comptroller's Office found major problems not just in that Office, but in the prior legislature's lack of oversight; and everything from the computer software to the lack of staffing was blamed. By prioritizing duties within the Treasurer's Office - and without adding staff - the AUD was completed in a timely manner. This allowed the outside auditor to complete his report much earlier than he had been able to in recent years. This keeps us on track to present the 2006 budget to the taxpayers in October – not hiding it until after the election. We have also said no to a lot of bad ideas that had become "standard operating procedure", demanding justification for spending YOUR money. If they can't, or won't, give us some very good reasons for spending your tax dollars, we say “no”.

But here's the thing that you don't often hear: we also said “YES!”. Let's go back to the Treasurer's Office for a moment. We said “YES!” to establishing an Audit Committee (which I chair) so that we keep an eye not just on the Treasurer's Office, but on the whole audit process. We said “YES!” to moving accounting of Fixed Assets (that is, inventory) to the Administrator's office. For the first time in years, we have taken inventory and we can account for our "fixed assets" (which is necessary by current governmental accounting standards). We said “YES!” to moving payroll to the Personnel Office, so that the Treasurer's Office can focus on the AUD. We said “YES!” to expanded training in all departments, including the Treasurer's Office, sending county personnel to classes at Onondaga Community College and giving them more computer training. We are getting monthly reports from the Treasurer for the first time in years.

Our success, though, is about much more than the Treasurer's Office. We also said “YES!” to adding a Sheriff's Deputy to the Fraud Investigation Unit in Social Services, saving many more dollars than it costs to pay for this position. We had 15 arrests for fraud last year, when we hadn't had more than 1 or 2 in any previous year in memory. We said “YES!” to a new health insurance policy that has saved you as taxpayers millions of dollars. We said “YES!” when Hospice needed an additional nurse, because it is much better run than the average program in New York state or surrounding counties. We said “YES!” to department managers who could give us good reasons to spend tax dollars, and who took the challenge to work with each other across departments to ensure efficient delivery of services. We will continue to say "YES!", to best practices and good government - to things which benefit you as citizens and taxpayers.

Many of us have played a key role in establishing this winning record, and I want you to know about mine. I am Chairman of the Health Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee, and a member of the Human Services Committee. I chaired the Audit & Performance Assessment Team, a bipartisan committee which did the hard work of fixing the problems in the Treasurer's Office - and the poor oversight of that department by the prior legislature. I am Chairman of the Audit Committee and I am the Majority Leader, second in command after the Chairman. I have played a role in encouraging competition for pre-school programs offered to our young children, so that we can offer the same services locally that we are now paying a lot more to get in other counties (not to mention the long bus rides our kids have to endure). A new autism program at The Franziska Racker Center will save us up to $30,000 annually for each local child enrolled. I have encouraged cooperation with local organizations, such as Cortland Memorial Hospital, to deliver services (for example, speech language pathology) better than if we did it alone. I have fostered cooperation among departments, particularly Human Services and Health, so that local folks who receive county services will get them more efficiently and appropriately. On Budget & Finance, I have taken a lead role in critical review of any proposal to spend your money - whoever wants to spend it must give me a good reason to support it. If I don't approve of a spending request, I explain why to the person proposing it and to fellow legislators.

Do you recall the consequences to you of the loose spending of the prior legislature? In 2001, in order to balance the budget without raising taxes too much, they raided the piggy bank - withdrawing over $3.5 million. As I said when I ran in 2001, that works once, but what happens next? Spending was increased to a level that required about $19 million in property taxes – but the tax levy at the time was around $14.7 million. Simple math said that our property tax rate would have to go up by nearly 30%. When I said so, I was called "Chicken Little" by my opponents, but the math was proven right! Can you afford to risk having the legislature go back to the old way of doing things? Can you afford to risk emptying the piggy bank which we have worked so hard to refill? If that happens, you will again have to pay for it. Remember, the prior legislature planned to spend $71 million in 2004, but, with your support, a new legislature took over and spent only $62.7 million - nearly 12% less! This new legislature refused to raise the constitutional tax limit. We successfully lobbied Albany to cap the local share of Medicaid. We exercised needed fiscal discipline. The tax rate increase that we gave you in our first budget was just 2.9% (the non-Medicaid increase was only 0.9%), the lowest in years, and it wasn't kept low by stealing from the piggy bank! On the contrary: we filled the piggy bank! We will work to keep taxes low again this year. I have repeatedly challenged the Administrator to have the budget ready by the middle of October, and he has assured me that he will. I will hold him to his promise so that you will know the tax rate before you go to the polls in November.

Don't believe for a minute that this was just dumb luck - that we look good just because we have been fortunate enough to be in office when all these good things "just happened". Our success has taken hard work, researching issues, showing up for lots and lots of meetings, taking a stand against the "business as usual" culture, and standing firm when opponents criticized us again and again. It has taken determination and vision. So this is my plea to you: Know my record. Recognize my success. Understand my role helping to make this happen.

To continue this record of success will require your vote. If you endorse my record by giving me your vote, it will be my pleasure to represent you again for the next two years.

Sincerely,

Paul DiGiovanni
Cortland County First Ward Legislator

PS: A letter, even one this long, can't address everything. If there are matters that you would like to discuss, please call me (756-6313), send e-mail (electdoc@twcny.rr.com), or if you are home when I visit, we can talk face-to-face. There is even more good news, so I look forward to chatting with you soon.

Highway Committee Accomplishments

2005-09-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

New Highway Superintendent
- We hired from within the Cortland County Highway Department to fill the position of Highway Superintendent, elevating Don Chambers to this very important position (Resolution 393-04)
- We promoted from within to fill the newly created position of Deputy Highway Superintendent; Bob Buerkle is the number two person in the Highway Department and acting Superintendent in Don’s absence (Letter of Appointment)
- We eliminated the Supervisor of Solid Waste position in the 2005 budget. In doing so, we were able to create a cost savings overall for the department

Improved scheduling of employees
- We improved our coverage on nights and weekends for snow plow routes in Cortland County. We worked with the Union and came up with better scheduling than before, and we have achieved this while reducing overtime.

Infrastructure
- Cortland County has 1400 culverts, 248 miles of roads, and 60 bridges. Our county has gone without sufficient funding for maintenance or replacement since 1962. Most of Cortland County’s box culvert structures were built in the 1930’s. We have developed a life cycle replacement plan to address the needs of the county’s aging infrastructure. Our plan will fix our culverts and bridges, as well as replace and maintain county roads to ensure that our vital infrastructure is protected. (Capital Road/Bridges Plan)

Landfill
- Remarkably, the Cortland County's landfill permit had lapsed more than 10 years ago. We made correcting this deficiency a priority. We took the necessary action to renew the permit, shielding us from noncompliance penalties and potential liability costs.
- Cortland County spends an inordinate amount of money to haul leachate (the rain water that filters through the landfill) to the City of Cortland’s Waste Water Treatment Plant. We have hired an engineering firm to design an on-site leachate treatment system or a leachate pipeline in conjunction with a needed capping project of cell 1A of the West Side Extension Landfill. By combining these two projects, we can get money from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to help fund a more economical approach to the disposal of leachate. (Resolution 168-05)

Recycling Center
- In May 2004, the county legislature authorized the expenditure of up to $2,985,000 toward construction and equipping of a new recycling center, to replace the one that had been lost to a fire in 2002.
(Resolution 148-04)
- In November 2004, the legislature approved the design for a new Cortland County Recycling Center and construction was completed on the new Recycling Center by May 2005, a mere 7 months later.
- During the design phase of our new center, we applied to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a grant in the amount of $900,000 to help reduce local taxpayers' cost of constructing the new facility.
- Through the diligence of our County Attorney, John Bardsley, we were able to negotiate a larger than anticipated insurance recovery from the 2002 fire (about $2 million dollars). (Announcements)
- We initially anticipated that local tax dollars to pay for this project would be about $800,000. In fact, if the NYSDEC grant is received, very little local taxpayer money (~$60,000) will have been spent to finance this project.
- We contracted with a third party commodity broker to maximize the return on our recyclables in the marketplace while saving money over the previous method. (Resolution 329-04)
- Operating our own Recycling Center has saved Cortland County Taxpayers $50,000 to date over what the county had been spending prior to opening the new Center. As more business is generated, more dollars are added to revenue, saving taxpayers even more money.

Little York Pavilion
- We added an elevator to make the second floor handicapped-accessible and a new sprinkler system for greater safety (Related resolution 211-04)
- We renovated the restrooms and added a handicap-accessible bathroom (Privilege of the Floor)
- We gave Cortland Repertory Theatre a long term lease so that they could plan for the future and invest in improvements and upgrades.

Airport
- The current airport master plan, created in the 1970's, was badly in need of an update; a revised master plan is currently in draft form and final adoption is anticipated by year's end (Resolution 254-04)
- The current Master Plan expands on the prior version by addressing not only the physical plant, but adopts a marketing strategy to make this county asset a greater revenue producer than it has been previously.
- We conducted a Bid advertisement for lease of Main Hangar #1, resulting in an additional Fixed Base Operator who is running both a flight school and a repair operation at Cortland County Airport. This activity results in increased fuel sales and revenues at the airport. (Resolution 14-05)
- We replaced the asphalt apron around the hangars and made other needed improvements to the hangars (Resolution 65-04)
- We are receiving higher lease payments from the T-hangars and Main Hangar #1 (Resolution 64-04)
- Through lobbying efforts, we received $419,400 in federal funds and $23,300 in state funds for the update to the Master Plan and the T-hangar renovations
- Through lobbying efforts, we received another $201,400 in federal funds and $5,300 in state funds for the replacement of the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) and upgrade of fuel sales metering and accounting computer system.

New York State funding
- Received increases in CHIPs money as well as Marchiselli funding for improvements to local highways and bridges.
- Lobbied successfully to increase CHIP funding for highway improvements. Cortland County legislators have been actively pursuing highway funding from New York State by direct lobbying of our elected officials in Albany. We have also worked with organizations such as NYSAC and NYSHSA to lobby for funding.

Federal funds
- Lobbied federal representatives successfully to increase the size of the Federal transportation bill known as TEA21.
- Increased Federally aided project requests
- Cortland County has worked with NACo to lobby for increased funding as well as by making annual office visits to our elected leaders in Washington, DC. One visit with Congressman Boehlert resulted in a request for help with the completion of Page Green (Phase III) being funded directly in the reauthorization of TEA21.

South Main Street/Page Green project
- This project had been plagued with politics and delayed to the point where not only did the previous legislature jeopardize losing our Federal funding on this project, but we were in jeopardy of not getting future Federal Aid projects as well.
- We made getting this project on track as soon as possible a top priority. We worked with the County Attorney John Bardsley, who obtained the necessary easements and executed the needed legal documents to allow the project to go forward. This preserved our access to state and federal funds.
- We have worked to create relationships at the state and local level to increase our share of federal aid projects.

McGraw-Marathon Bridge
- Project to rebuild the bridge has been completed, and the bridge was re-opened to traffic on September 2, 2005.

Congratulations

2005-09-21T12:29:00.000-04:00

to Scott Steve and Kay Breed for their primary victories. This ensures that the entire current Republican caucus will stand for reelection in November.

I am not sure what the right term for Tom Williams is. He is running for reelection in the sense that he was a legislator a while back, so if he wins, he will have been technically reelected. But in the current term, he is an appointee, so if he wins in November, will that really be "reelection"?

Hey, whatever. Elect him and the rest of us and we can worry about semantics after November 8!

Brief Overview of our County - Past, Present and Future

2005-09-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Neighbor,

I am writing you to give you an update on our County and letting you know I am seeking re-election. Hopefully, after understanding our past, present and future I will again be able to earn your vote and confidence to continue succeeding.

My journey began over four years ago when I first ran for County Legislator on a platform that serious change was needed in focus and performance. I along with others in my party recognized that if things continued the way they were we would all be broke before long. A new mindset and team was needed including admitting nineteen elected part-timers could no longer manage the complexity of a New York State County with a budget of 60-70 million dollars. Although I did not win my first election, I was successful in helping frame the relevant issues that did lead to change including the hiring of a County Administrator as a result of the public outcry occurring after the previous leadership said everything was fine and then forced on taxpayers a post election 18.8% property tax increase.

Once the budget disaster cat was out of the bag no amount of spin could contain the fact that the previous legislative leadership blindsided and let down the people of Cortland. Then you the voters decided enough was enough. Through your vote you provided people like myself with the opportunity to see if we could make things better by providing the right mindset and leadership. Well, without going into a myriad of details we simply got busy, cut out the nonsense and did the job you sent us to do. The following graphs provide a picture of what happens when the right people get elected:

Although many other measurements can be studied I believe the above graphs demonstrate the bottom line impact our efforts have made to get Cortland County going in the right direction. First, the rate of property tax increases has dramatically dropped in the first budget we created (for 2005). Secondly, our General Fund balance (think of it as money in the bank we can use when truly needed) is way up in the first year we managed the finances (2004) and we believe the fund balance will have a healthy increase again in 2005. Make no mistake, this has not occurred by accident and it began with new leadership and mindset and don’t let anyone sell you a different story. We have made a meaningful difference and the numbers show it. Also, keep in mind the near unanimous voting record on the positive changes that have been made clearly demonstrating the bipartisan unity exhibited when good leadership provides good choices and results. It is now clear we can work together when the leadership is right and voters pay attention to the facts and not warm fuzzy stories.

Overall, as Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, I have seen what can happen when the right team puts their minds and hearts together to affect positive change. From keeping tax increases to a minimum; significantly increasing fund balances; on-time budgets; strengthening county finances; restructuring government; cutting expenses; reducing fraud; holding departments accountable; and even providing dumpsters on city streets during the flood in April 2005, our efforts have already made a positive mark on our county and have laid the foundation to a more solid future. But let us be clear, this is no time to sit on our laurels and bask in our victories. We have limited resources that must be balanced wisely. This is why my goals for the next two years include the following:

- Continue developing smart process designs that will enhance our ability to consistently make good decisions in an increasingly difficult environment.

- Maintain strong fund balances and strengthen our bond rating to decrease debt costs

- Stay within our state constitutional tax limit for property taxes by putting taxpayers first

- Strengthen our road, culvert and bridge infrastructure that has been seriously neglected before 2004

- Continue investing in our police, judiciary and public safety infrastructure to combat crime and keep our public safe

- Continue providing needed human and health services to those in need and crack down on fraud as begun in 2005 when we hired a full time investigator

I know you may still have questions and thoughts to share and I look forward to speaking with you at your door and/or on the phone. As election-day approaches I hope you will make a well-informed decision to vote for me and in so doing provide me with the opportunity to represent you for two more years and continue the good work that has been completed and provide the necessary leadership for the work to be accomplished.

Most Sincerely,

Kurt Behrenfeld
County Legislator – District 6
Chairman, Budget and Finance Committee

Health & Human Services Cooperation

2005-09-19T22:43:00.001-04:00

One of the things that became quickly obvious to me as a new legislator was that the county government was tightly "vertically aligned". That is, lines of authority are present within each department, beginning at the top with, for example, the Public Health Director in the Department of Health, and flow down the organizational chart within the department.

The advantage of such a system is that the lines of authority within each department are quite clear, and where the buck stops in each department is obvious. What concerned me was that segments of our population were likely to be receiving services from multiple departments at one time. Where the vertical alignment could fail, it seemed to me, would be in efficient coordination of services when multiple departments were serving the same people. I pushed the concept of "thinking horizontally", or across departments, to see where we might be able to develop efficiencies, reduce duplication of services, etc.

If this sounds rather theoretical, well, maybe it is. I struggled with how to put this into actual operation; most of my time was spent discussing the concept, not making concrete progress in becoming horizontally integrated. But to my rescue came the Department heads in Health and Social Services, who worked together, without my (or any other legislator's) direct involvement, to put into place what had until then just been an idea. I was thrilled to receive the following e-mail from these two department heads recently:

We have recently worked with our staff to analyze the coordination and effectiveness of our case management programs for families with young children. We feel it is important to share the steps we took and the things we learned with both of you.

1. We started the process by meeting with Program Directors to discuss funding streams, regulations, and purposes of our respective services. We were specifically reviewing the services offered by the Health Department's Children with Special Needs service coordination programs and the Department of Social Services' preventive/foster care case management programs. It was clear from the beginning that the purpose of our programs and the expertise of our employees are different. The Health Department service coordinators focus on child developmental and medical disabilities (more long term factors) and the DSS caseworkers focus on health and safety (more immediate household factors).

2. We decided to come up with a list of cases that were served by both Departments to begin our analysis. This resulted in 14 cases being served by both Departments. Five of the 14 were served by the Health Department's Child Find program, which provides only surveillance visits every six months.

3. Next, we had our supervisors set up case conferences with the line staff involved in each of the cases that are served by both Departments. The purpose of these conferences was to explore duplication of efforts, share information, evaluate what coordination efforts were missing or needed, and to establish ideas for future coordination.

4. We learned the following things from these case conferences:

- There is no duplication of the work being done in these very needy families.
- There is a need for more information to be shared by staff working with common families to better align case goals and messages given to families. This includes a need to coordinate with all other service providers working with the families under contract.
- There is a common barrier identified by both Departments that mental health services for young children are not adequately available in our community. Linda Medeiros has been made aware of this and will be assisting us in tracking any referrals that cannot be accommodated with current services.

5. We are implementing the following things as a result of our discussions to better maximize our effectiveness:

- DSS caseworkers will consistently have families sign releases of information for our contract parent educators to be able to speak to Health Department coordinators.
- DSS caseworkers will consistently invite Health Department coordinators to meetings with families to review goals and plans every six months. Health Department coordinators will invite DSS caseworkers to reviews they hold with families in the homes. Attempts will be made to have all service providers involved with a family attend these reviews.
- Workers from both Departments will be expected to keep one another informed of significant case planning changes including case closure.
- DSS caseworkers will be invited by the Health Department to Committee on Preschool Special Education meetings when kids are transitioning from the Early Intervention Program.
- Referrals for young children with mental health needs are going to be made to the Mental Health Clinic so that there is documentation to verify what many perceive to be an unmet need (in the past, many referrals were not made as we knew services were not available).
- The supervisors from DSS and the Health Department are committed to having regular contact with one another and monitoring the communication between staff on cases in common.

I am thrilled with the efforts made by these department heads and their staff. I hope that interdepartmental cooperation becomes the norm.

Health Committee: Accomplishments

2005-09-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

Board of Health and Community Services Board
- Members of both boards have received training from the state due to the legislature's action

Board of Health and Health Committee
- Initiated quarterly joint meetings of the two groups to ensure open communication and joint setting of goals

OASAS (Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services) funding
- Received money that we hadn't received previously and which would have gone to other counties had we not lobbied for it

Psychiatry Services
- We have ensured that psychiatrists' time spent on clinical work is maximized, so that we don't pay hourly rates for excessive non-clinical work
- Created a part-time staff psychiatrist position

Autism
- A local autism classroom for pre-schoolers is being operated by the Rackers Center (opened September 2005)
- The availability of a local option means that county children in need of this service no longer have to take long bus rides to Onondaga, Broome, or Tompkins County
- In addition to not forcing young children to endure lengthy bus rides to reach out-of-county sites, we do not have to pay nearly as much in transportation costs as we used to
- We can coordinate the educational program for pre-schoolers in this program with local school programs, making the transition as seamless as possible, for the benefit of the kids in the program

Early Intervention/Pre-school
- A new service provider is in the process of applying for approval to open an office in Cortland County, bringing needed competition to this area
- A competitor will challenge Rackers Center to offer more flexible programming, potentially saving the county money (e.g., half day programs instead of full day only programs)

Community Home Health Agency
- Improvement in items that had been deemed out of compliance with state standards on prior surveys has been made; the state surveyors now regard our CHHA as compliant with standards

Cooperation in delivery of services with Cortland Memorial Hospital
- We expanded the pool of speech language pathology providers without taking on the cost of hiring a new county employee

Hospice
- Our Health Department runs one of the state's most efficient Hospice programs, bringing comfort, symptomatic treatment, and support to the terminally ill and their families
- We have approved the creation of a part-time nursing position, as the program can demonstrate its efficient operation, even with the addition of another part-time employee

Budget & Finance Accomplishments

2005-09-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

Audit Committee created in response to State Comptroller's recommendation
- tighter oversight of independent auditor; better oversight of the Treasurer's Office
- enhanced planning of future operational audits designed to monitor and improve process design and increase accountability
- establish risk assessment procedures to ensure audit function resources are effectively and efficiently utilized
- improve overall internal control environment by strengthening preventive, detective and corrective controls

Designed and implemented new budget forecasting model
- A new budgeting model has been implemented, allowing department heads to update annual forecast information each month and provide legislators and others with a need to know where the County is heading for the year by budget, category, and in total. This tool increases visibility of future County finances, thereby allowing a timely mechanism to make changes in a proactive versus reactive mode.

Budget
- Budget process streamlined and improved
- All resolutions affecting the budget include reference to the specific budget lines affected
- All costs are captured on budget, including fringe benefits, retirement, etc. These costs, in the past, were put in a separate category, so that a false sense of departmental "balanced budgets" was created. However, by placing these costs on budget and within the departments where they originate, we have a much clearer view of revenues - and genuine expenses - within each department.
- The budget we inherited called for spending of $71 million; we spent only $62.7 (11.8% less than we were authorized to) and ran a surplus of $4.8 million

Delinquent taxes
- improved system of finding delinquents and collecting money/foreclosing property

Refinancing of TC3 Dormitories
- Authorized refinancing of dormitories at TC3, saving thousands of dollars

Sold the county farm

Westvale Road
- liquidated and cleaned up parcels acquired in foreclosures

Property exchange with the NY Susquehanna & Western RR Corp.
- This allowed the county more room for the recycling center; it enabled Port Watson Street to remain unblocked when the RR had deliveries and pick-ups in town; and the extra space allows for recycling pick-ups

Sales Tax agreement
- revised process of distribution of funds to local municipalities

Created a 10% of annual operating costs reserve fund
- Maintaining at least 10% of annual operating costs in reserves will allow us to receive an improved bond rating. This will lower the cost of borrowing, should we have to issue bonds.
- Having cash on hand allows the county to avoid bonding for short-term cash flow needs (As an example, within two days of the 2001 election, a bond anticipation note was issued to cover cash flow needs until the end of the year. You weren't told about this by the incumbents running for reelection in 2001, but you had to pay for the bond and the interest that went with it)
- Having a reserve fund allows us to consider long-term projects, such as addressing infrastructure needs, that have been neglected for generations
- Having cash in a reserve fund allows us to realize interest income
- Responsible maintenance of the reserve fund may include diverting some amount of the reserve above the 10% minimum into revenue, to mitigate future tax increases

Local Resources
- A museum fund was created to support local museums such as the Cortland County Historical Society
- The Lime Hollow Nature Center has received county funding

Retiring debt
- We paid off the balance of a $916,000 bond anticipation note for a poorly designed early retirement system within one year of its issuance by the previous legislature.

Retirement
- We established a retirement contribution reserve fund (budget line A382700), anticipating and funding future retirement expenses

Treasurer's Office
- We addressed all deficiencies within the office identified by the State Comptroller
- We improved legislative oversight of the Department by the legislature, improving the performance of the Office (e.g., fixed assets reporting done, inventory is being taken, the books are balanced monthly, the AUD was completed in a timely manner, and the Independent Auditor completed his audit in August 2005 - the earliest in years)
- Moved functions out of the Treasurer's Office to allow the office to focus on the AUD and basic accounting matters

Thanks

2005-09-19T20:24:00.000-04:00

Thanks for setting this up! People really do need a spot where they can read what's really happening...not supposition and rumor.

Welcome!

2005-09-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

This is a blog maintained by some Cortland County legislators who think we have a good story to tell. Good enough that (we hope) you will support us when it comes time to vote on November 8. We will post things about our successes and our plans for the future if we are given the chance to do it again.

To offer feedback, please e-mail us.

CSEA Endorsements

2005-09-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

The CSEA has endorsed the Chairman and the Majority Leader.

The Chairman is Scott Steve.

The Majority Leader is Paul DiGiovanni.

Many thanks to Jim Moore and Diana Breed and the rest of the leadership of the CSEA local for their support.

Straight Dope banner

2005-09-02T07:25:00.000-04:00

2005: October-December

2005-09-01T23:33:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2005 legislative session are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here (links atop each image will be added when available).

October 2005 (link not yet available)

2005 Legislature Votes: June through September

2005-09-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2005 legislative session are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

September 2005

August 2005

July 2005

June 2005

2005 Legislature Votes: January through May

2005-09-01T21:10:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2005 legislative session are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

May 2005

April 2005

March 2005

February 2005

January 2005

2004 Vote Tally: October-December

2005-09-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2004 legislative session from October through December are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

December 9, 2004

November 18, 2004

October 27, 2004

October 21, 2004

2004 Vote Tally: July-September

2005-09-01T10:15:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2004 legislative session from July through September are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

September 28, 2004

September 16, 2004

August 19, 2004

July 29, 2004

2004 Vote Tally: April-June

2005-09-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2004 legislative session from April through the end of June are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

June 17, 2004

May 20, 2004

April 15, 2004

2004 Vote Tally: January-March

2005-09-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

The votes on agenda items brought to the floor during the 2004 legislative session from January through the end of March are presented below. Click on an image for an enlarged view. To see detailed information on agenda items, select from the appropriate set of minutes here, or follow the links atop each image.

March 18, 2004

February 19, 2004

January 29, 2004

January 14, 2004

January 2, 2004