HOMETOWN Views
A-4 HOMETOWN ONEONTA
FRIDAY, march 4, 2016
ON THE RECORD
The State Of The City, 2016
Herzig: City’s Future Hinges On Housing, Jobs, Revenues Editor’s Note: This is the text of Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig’s first State of the City speech, delivered Tuesday, March 1, to Common Council and the public.
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his past year has been a challenging one for Oneonta – we have had transitions in leadership, a tax cap that leaves us virtually flat funded, a reduced workforce, and an infrastructure of roads, water, and sewer systems that are showing their age. Despite these challenges – as you have seen - our city team, led by acting City Manager Meg Hungerford, has made considerable advances in improving efficiencies, our quality of life,
and our infrastructure. So, to Meg and the entire team, I say, “Thank you.” Of particular importance are the innovations on this list: • We now have a GIS system for the city’s infrastructure. This is the work and vision of City Engineer Greg Mattice. Thank you, Greg. • We have a new creative GPS system for OPT buses thanks to work of Transportation Director Paul Patterson. Thank you, Paul. • And I commend Chief Nayor on his purchase of body cameras to equip our entire force, a move that will certainly help in maintaining a trusting relationship between the police and the
workforce, reformulated our employee benefits, reconsidered the delivery of some services, and we have looked to reinvent our relationships with our neighbors in the town and the county. And by doing so, we have been successful in weaning ourselves off of spending our reserves in order to balance our budget. This is a very significant accomplishment. • First up in 2016, will be Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA the completion of a review, Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig delivers his first I commissioned, of our State of the City speech Thursday, March 1. 4-year-old City Charter. I believe we would be foolpeople of this city. Thank merous actions to maintain ish not to try and learn from you, chief. our essential services, and our experiences of the past • our quality of life. few years. I believe that With a virtual tax freeze, We have seriously the committee’s recomthe city has had to take nureduced the size of our
mendations will clarify and strengthen the role of the city manager and better define the relationship of the city manager and the mayor. The committee will be presenting its recommendations this month and it is my hope the Council will act quickly so that the selection of a permanent city manager can begin shortly thereafter. And, we will continue, as we have the past six months, to have the city’s day-to-day operation overseen by a the city manager, leaving the Mayor and the council to establish policy and set direction for the city’s future. • As we move forward, my priorities will include better Please See MAYOR, A7
NICOLE DILLINGHAM OTHER VOICES
Natural Gas Simply Presents Too Many Risks, Too Many Costs Editor’s Note: Nicole Dillingham is president of Otsego 2000, the Cooperstown-based environmental group.
into the complex world of energy supply. You suggest that we can rely on natural gas now, renewables later, but this begs the question, at what cost? The reality is that our region is now inundated with proposed methane pipeline projects spanning hundreds of miles up, down, and across our state, and each pipeline requires compressor stations every 40-50 miles. The pipelines themselves are
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he headline “We Can Have It All” is so seductive. The concept is usually associated with presidential candidates, diet plans and online dating. In this case, The Freeman’s Journal & Hometown Oneonta interject this simplistic marketing ploy
at risk of rupture, explosion and leakage. The required compressor stations emit high quantities of greenhouse gases and other toxics, not to mention the impacts of noise and unwanted industrialization imposed on quiet rural towns. Further, the land necessary for the construction of the pipelines is taken from private landowners by power of eminent domain, without consent or adequate compensation for the full negative impacts,
not least the reduction in property values that the taking will cause. The anti-fracking debate did not so much demonize natural gas as it revealed the risks which unleashing it would cause. To now decide that fracking should be done in other states to feed New Yorkers’ own desire for supposedly cheap natural gas is both immoral and uneconomic. We cannot escape the costs of environmental degradation,
health care, earthquakes, property value destruction, and climate impacts that reliance on shale gas causes, wherever it is extracted. The experience of Flint, Mich., is instructive. If you make the wrong decision, poisoning and despoiling a community, there will be political, economic, and moral costs to bear across the nation. Those that would argue that profit is the only concern must Please See RISKS, A6
LETTERS
Sometimes, 2 Inches Of Snow Are Better Than Thaw, Freeze To the Editor: Hooray, the village trustees have dumped the snow-removal citations. Folks, an inch or 2 of snow on the sidewalk provides safe traction, as opposed to iced-over so-called cleared sidewalks. So, if you really feel civic minded and want to remove the snow from your sidewalk, you must also remove the snow from a couple of inches
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Jim Kevlin
Editor & Publisher
Tara Barnwell
Advertising Director
Thom Rhodes • Allison Green Advertising Consultants Celeste Brown Thomas Copy Editor
of the grass on both sides. Otherwise, this snow melts onto the sidewalk during the day, freezes at night and the result is a far more treacherous walkway than the snow covered walk. Now 1-2 feet of snow is another story, but we haven’t had to deal with that this year, at least so far. MAY-BRITT JOYCE Cooperstown
Mary Joan Kevlin Business Manager
Kathleen Peters • Christine Scales Graphics Libby Cudmore Reporter
Judith Bartow Ivan Potocnik Billing Office Manager & Web Architect
Ian Austin Photographer Tom Heitz Consultant
MEMBER OF New York Press Association • The Otsego County Chamber Published weekly by Iron String Press, Inc. 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown NY 13326 Telephone: (607) 547-6103. Fax: (607) 547-6080. E-mail: info@allotsego.com • www.allotsego.com
MAKE OTSEGO COUNTY, NY, A MAGNET
Many Proprietors More Stable Than A Single Employer To the Editor: I have known Dick Downey for some years and I appreciate his response to my recent letter to the editor, but he may have missed my main point. We hold similar views in many ways about the struggling economy in Upstate New York, but we have some differing views on how to move toward possible solutions. Dick’s position, that we need to create jobs to attract people, is understandable, but unfortunately no longer works that well in this country. It is more of a wish than a possible reality. In my view, we cannot hope to create enough jobs to attract young
families and others, to make much of a difference in the school populations or to significantly expand our economy. Otsego County, New York is not exactly a household name outside of Otsego County, New York (but it needs to be). Dick is also a proponent of gas drilling and pipelines, and I am not. Fossil fuels are destructive, and slowly losing ground, but renewable energy is not yet fully able to take us into the clean energy future that we desperately need. More renewable energy is coming online every day. We are in a period of a transformative energy transition while at the same time the
fossil fuel industry continues to choose profit above the future of life on earth. New York State is a leader in transitioning to renewable energy and a high-tech economy, thanks in large part to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but the war is not yet won. New York State will rise again and it will be greater than it was before, in part because it is a state undamaged by hydrofracking and all that it brings. While I think “lipstick on a pig” is a little harsh, I can understand why Dick said it. If we do not believe in the potential of Otsego County, then why should anyone else? If we are not Please See DEAN, A6
Register! So You Can Vote In April 19 Primary To the Editor: Oneonta and Cooperstown area residents have a chance to participate in important primary elections this spring. The primary elections may be close, and a relatively small number of voters in most primaries mean your vote can be significant. Your vote is your voice, but to vote you must be registered! The Presidential Primary election in New York is April 19. The primary battle for party nominations in both the Republican and Democratic parties will likely still be in full swing. To participate you must be registered by March 25. To vote in our local June 28 New York 19th Congressional District Primary – where exciting contests to succeed Chris Gibson as our representative in Washington are now taking shape – you must registered in the district by June 3. Later this year, primaries for state and local positions are currently scheduled for Sept. 13, with a registration deadline of Aug. 24. Unlike the “open” primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, where you
can “cross over” and vote on any party’s ballot, New York holds “closed” primaries – in New York you can only vote in the party in which you are registered. For already registered voters, the deadline for switching parties is long past, but – AND STUDENTS TAKE NOTE – in keeping with the deadlines above, you can change your legal address and be eligible to vote locally. For instructions on how to register, get an absentee ballot, or check your current registration, party affiliation, polling place, etc. visit vote411.org, a service of the League of Women Voters or contact your local Board of Elections; (in Otsego County, at 547-4247.) To help area voters make informed choices, once these primary election ballots are finalized, the local League of Women Voters chapters in Oneonta and Cooperstown intend to organize local candidate forums/debates. PAUL CONWAY Steering Committee League of Women Voters Oneonta Area
Lee Winnie Always There For All Of Us To the Editor: Anyone who has taken stuff to recycling up on the hill will know whom I am writing about if they read on. He is the guy who has kept track of the bins, gave you a hand if you needed help, and always said “hello” if he was nearby. I am writing about Lee Winnie of Fly Creek. He had a heart attack last November and has been on the mend since then. I saw him as I was stopping at the Fly Creek Country Store the other day. I don’t know if or when he is returning to work, perhaps this spring. However, I do want to say thank you for his friendly help, rain or shine, wind or snow. Lee served our county well when he was on the job. STANLEY E. HALL Cooperstown
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