Healthy v. Hellthy ONEONTA CHEFS HOPE TO TURN HEALTHY JUNK FOOD INTO GOLD/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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F Volume 7, No. 31
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, April 24, 2015
Complimentary
City Hall Committee Begins Planning
City of The Hills
Memorializing Dick Miller By JIM KEVLIN
W Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Water & Sewer Department Supervisor Tom Pondolfino was among city workers who filled Common Council’s Tuesday, April 21, meeting.
hen the Mayor Miller Memorial Task Force formed, Council members Larry Malone and Mike Lynch, the co-chairs, asked anyone interested in participating to step forward. Among those who did
were Malone’s son, Theo, an OHS senior. “Dick was really a heroic figure for him,” said Theo’s father, who with Lynch convened the task force’s first meeting Thursday, April 16, in the first floor conference room at City Hall. The meeting began, as you might imagine,
Richard P. Miller Jr., 1943-2014
with task force members remembering Dick Miller, whose sudden death last Oct. 25 evoked a citywide outpouring of mourning, culminating in a packed memorial service that filled Foothills’ main theater and overflowed into the Atrium. “There were some interesting moments,” said
RECORD-BREAKING RELAY
City Workers En Masse At City Council
S
By LIBBY CUDMORE
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WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
THEY’RE HERE! Two permits for chickens in the city of Oneonta have been issued since Mayor Russ Southard signed the ordinance into law in March. The $20 permits are good for two years.
DEBATES BEGIN: 1,000
high-school students and family members will be in the city over the weekend, April 25-26, as SUNY Oneonta hosts the New York Forensic League’s state championship tournament.
Vigorous Campaign Shapes Up Rafter, Nicosia, Back Run For City Council
ilently, watchful city workers from police, fire and public works filled the benches at the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, April 21. Though no one spoke during the public comment period, Tom Pondolfino, Water & Sewer Department supervisor, said: “The message here is that workers are interested in the process of management – and we’re not happy with management.” For an explanation Wednesday, April 22, visit
BILLBOARDS OUT: Council voted 6-2 to table the proposed 10-year lease agreement with Park Outdoor and DC Marketing to put billboards on city property at Silas Lane and Bridge Street.
Malone. Some task force members recounted how they have been unable to remove his cell phone number from their iPhones of mobile devices. Task force members recalled “the way he always welcomed people, and welcomed engagement and welcomed involvement,” Please See MILLER, A7
1,500 SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick students, and community members, stayed up all night to raise a record-setting $67,293 at the Relay For Life on Friday-Saturday, April 17-18, at the Alumni Field House. Team Mimi, from left, are Ethan Lowe, Otego, Elaine Lowe, Otego, Moira Beach, Oneonta, Diane Loveland, Otego, Laura Emmett, Maryland, Judi McWherter, Oneonta, Rachael Price, Oneonta, Kate Bronk, Oneonta, and Natalia Allen, Oneonta. In photo at left, SUNY students Kayla Newton and Amanda Pentak made their way.
Buses Rolling Toward ‘Destination Downtown Oneonta’ want people to come downtown – there are so many shops and restaurants to enjoy.” ou may have seen the The website is geared towards “Destination Downtown highlighting the commercial Oneonta” bus rolling side of their business. “We’re around town and wondered what major landholders in Oneonta,” it’s about. And with the launch of said Clark. “We own 30 comwww.downtownoneonta.com on mercial buildings and hundreds Monday, April 20, Peter Clark and of student rentals. We got tired Liz Rose are ready to show you a of having this bad reputation as brand new way to experience Main Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA bad landlords when we’re trying Street. Peter Clark, Liz Rose and Paul Pat- to make Oneonta a better place “Main Street is the heart of to live.” terson show off the “Destination the whole city,” said Rose. “We Please See BUSES, B6 Downtown Oneonta” bus. By LIBBY CUDMORE
Y
ith Democrats John Rafter and Melissa Nicosia announcing campaigns Tuesday, April 21, candidates are quickly multiplying in anticipation of the Nov. 3 elections. The new candidates enter a field that already offers a race in the Fourth Ward – Republican Laura Dohner vs. independent Jeff Back – aiming to succeed retiring Council member Mike Lynch, and more names are surfacing citywide almost daily. Rafter is aiming for Bob Brzozowski’s Seventh Ward Please See RACES, B6
City Woman Will Manage ‘New’ Manor By LIBBY CUDMORE
F
or Oneonta native Shannon Cayea, her appointment as chief administrator at Focus Otsego Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a chance to come home. “I was working as COO of VestraCare in Johnson City and right now I’m in Saratoga helping their Center for Rehab transition from public to private,” she Please See FOCUS, From A1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD