Perspectives
A-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015
If City, Town Depend On Each Other – That’s ONE-Onta
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ne of the saddest developments in letters to the editor published leading up to the Nov. 3 elections were writers identifying themselves as “Town of Oneonta” or “City of Oneonta.” Of course, it’s one Oneonta – ONE-onta, as some of the uninitiated happily pronounce it. The imaginary divide – alright, not completely imaginary: There is a legal city and a legal town. Still, Oneonta is one community nonetheless, EDITORIAL united by family ties, schools, churches, community gathering places, restaurants, movie houses, the Santa parade, First Night, Hometown Fourth of July – you can go on and on. The mostly imaginary divide grew out of an accident of our nation’s development after World War II. In the post-war world, better roads and affordable cars allowed families to leave apartments and closely built neighborhoods for a house in the suburbs. That happened in ONE-onta. People could move easily from the city to West Oneonta, Angel Heights, Country Club Road, outer East and West streets. They enjoyed the open space and lower taxes, and continued to benefit from city amenities. No downside – for them. Eventually, commerce – and the city’s tax base – followed. Drogen’s was the first major
The well-known 1884 L.R. Burley map of ONE-onta.
retailer on the Southside, but, of course, Walmart, BJ’s, Home Depot, Southside Mall, and the restaurants and hotels followed, requiring some services that only the city could provide. The town thought the situation could go on forever, last year choosing not to buy city water to supply the Southside, but to seek instead to build its own water plant on the Delaware County line, an ill-advised, sprawl-encouraging adventure that grew out a faulty reality that ONE-onta is two. No: Oneonta is one. • Now, with negotiations stalled with City Hall, Town of Oneonta Fire District #1 is faced with the possibility it will be unable to provide fire-fighting services as of Jan. 1. The district includes all the major development of the past 40 years: the East End to Brooks and
Price Chopper; all of Southside, and the West End from Elm Park United Methodist Church to Route 205, including the two major car dealers on Oneida Street. This is big. If there’s no fire-fighting service, the question has been raised whether the Holiday Inn/Southside, the new Courtyard by Marriott behind McDonald’s, or the Hampton Inn will be able to register guests from Jan. 1 on. Would the same apply to such community gathering places at the big stores? This grew out of a perfect storm. On the town side – Town Supervisor Bob Wood is quick to point out the fire district is separate from the town; still, it’s his constituents who will be endangered if the district’s fire-fighting talks fail – problems began with longtime Fire Commissioner Kellie Place’s untimely passing in Febru-
ary. In the months that followed, the three remaining commissioners – Mike Butler, chair Fred Volpe and Johna Peachin – have been battling (thankfully, with success) serious health setbacks. At the same time, it surfaced that, due to a lack of interest, no elections had been held in Fire District #1 for a few years. Did the fire commissioners even have the legitimacy to negotiate with the city? State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, got legislation enacted in the first half of the year affirming their temporary authority, but it didn’t get off Governor Cuomo’s desk and signed into law until November. On the city side, new Mayor Gary Herzig, on his appointment in October, discovered nine messages from the City Hall to the fire commissioners to start negotiations had been unanswered. But City Hall was in too much turmoil to consistently follow through anyhow. City Manager Martin Murphy had made the initial contact, then acting city manager Meg Hungerford, then Herzig. • So here we are. The situation is nobody’s fault and everybody’s fault. There are various arguments on either side, all with merit. In effect, Common Council believes the Fire District isn’t bearing its fair share of the $3 million cost of running the city’s Oneonta Fire Department. The fire commis-
sioners believe if the agreed-upon formula is applied, Fire District ratepayers should actually pay less in 2016 than this year. Those are negotiating points. But, at this point, the fire commissioners have no viable fire-fighting alternatives to the OFD. The only remaining question is how tough Common Council wants to be. In the end, the fire commissioners may have to accept the city’s final offer, borrow any overage, and add the probably substantial extra cost to district residents’ 2017 bills. What the dispute underscores, however, is the underlying reality of ONE-onta. Town and city can’t live without each other. If a municipality – the Town of Oneonta – cannot provide an essential service without the city, then town and city are, in fact, one. It’s time for the town board to agree with Common Council and approve a consolidation study. Laws have changed significantly since the question was explored eight years ago, and town and city may find it’s now beneficial to work as one municipality. Do the study; let the facts decide. As it stands, Fire District residents are paying $2.31 per thousand assessment in town taxes and $2.40 per thousand in district taxes. The numbers alone may convince the 3,500 Fire District residents that it’s time to be annexed into the city. More than time – a necessity.
FOR THE RECORD TOM MORGAN MONEY MATTERS
They Don’t. Trump Might Editor’s Note: Tom Morgan’s Money Matters is broadcast and published weekly on radio stations and in newspaper. Morgan, a Franklin resident, is a retired Oneonta financial advisor.
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andom thoughts on the Trump phenomenon. If you recall any juggernaut that upset as many political apple carts as Trump has please write. He brings
to mind a famous short story you may have read. About a loose cannon on a sailing ship. Both were rolling in a storm. None of the crew knew which way the cannon would careen next. Those who dared to try to stop it were crushed. He also makes me think of guys like Ted Turner, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Larry Ellison, maybe Michael Bloomberg. And Please See TRUMP, A6
Supervisor Atwell’s Summing Up COOPERSTOWN
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s she nears the end of her term, Otsego Town Supervisor Anne Geddes Atwell has provided a summing up, detailing advances in business promotion, environmental protection and ethics policies achieved during her administration.
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TEXT OF STATEMENT AT www.
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OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR Otsego County • Town of Cherry Valley • Town of Middlefield Cooperstown Central School District Subscriptions Rates: Otsego County, $48 a year. All other areas, $65 a year. First Class Subscription, $130 a year. Published Thursdays 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 Contents © Iron String Press, Inc. Periodicals postage paid at USPS Cooperstown 40 Main St., Cooperstown NY 13326-9598 USPS Permit Number 018-449 Postmaster Send Address Changes To: Box 890, Cooperstown NY 13326 _____________ Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of William Cooper is in The Fenimore Art Museum
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e believe the central ongoing need is for our elected leaders to invest their time and talents to achieve a comprehensive understanding of all the implications of this new system of government and to thoughtfully design and execute a comprehensive plan of change management to complete a full and successful transition. Such an effort was never fully engaged... STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL CHARTER COMMISSION, DEC. 8, 2015
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Paul Scheele, right, an original member of the Oneonta City Charter Revision Commission, reads the commission’s position paper to Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig’s ad hoc Charter Review Committee Tuesday, Dec. 8. Sitting next to Scheele are two other members of the original commission, Martha Forgiano and county Rep. Kay Stuligross, D-Oneonta. Others, from left, are Committee members Russ Southard (former acting mayor), Melissa Nicosia, David W. Brenner (former mayor) and David Martindale; citizen Ed May, Committee chair John Nader (former mayor), new Council member John Rafter and citizen George Siaros.
It’s Time To Properly Implement Charter
Editor’s Note: This statement, from eight members of the original Oneonta City Charter Commission, was read by Paul Scheele to the Mayor’s ad hoc Charter Review Committee at its Tuesday, Dec. 8, meeting.
A. Brief History of the Charter Commission The Oneonta City Charter Commission was appointed in late 2009 and worked for the next 18 months, meeting weekly, conducting interviews with four mayors, all sitting Common Council members, and most department heads. The Commission studied charters of 15 cities about the size of
Oneonta, interviewed mayors, city managers and council members from five different cities. The Commission was advised by Robert McEvoy of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, SUNY Albany. None of the Commission members had preconceived ideas about what we would find about Oneonta’s city government or about the form of government to be recommended. B. Major Findings of the Charter Commission 1. The existing charter was inadequate: unclear, poorly organized, somewhat archaic. 2. Legislative and administrative
functions were mingled, overlapping and unclear. The Council was heavily involved in the minutiae of day-to-day operations, couldn’t readily focus on larger and longer-term issues, and felt overwhelmed trying to do both policy and supervise the departments. 3. Effective supervision and direction of city departments was difficult for part-time elected officials . 4. Vital long-range planning for the city was not being done. C. Major Recommendations of the Charter Commission 1. A clear delineation between legislative and administrative functions. Please See CHARTER, A6
LETTERS
Does Too Few Police Officers Allow Violence? To the Editor: Stories of the latest violence out west fail to note the lack of police for protection of schools and agencies. Because of standard eight-hour shifts, there are only about 350,000 police on duty in America. In a popu-
lation of 330 million, this is absurd. Our rulers often claim they lack the money to get more police. In a system of great wealth, reaching about $20 trillion annual GDP, that claim is rubbish. Cooperstown is an American icon
and possible target. Yet year ’round police patrols are weak or missing. Local voters must demand State police protection now. GERRY WEINBERGER Cooperstown
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