News Briefs:
Coronations This Time?
(Feb. 10): Two-term New York State Senator Lea Webb announced her expected run for reelection Saturday, February 7. That’s really not news. Nor is the fact that Tompkins County’s Assemblymember, Anna Kelles, has likewise filed with the New York State Board of Elections for another term.
The news could be that both Democratic Party incumbents may cruise toward reelection without Republican opposition.
Petitioning for party designations begins February 24. But with that date just two weeks away, Board of Elections filings indicate the GOP has yet to identify a candidate for either office.
Two years ago, Lansing Tompkins County legislator Mike Sigler ran as the Republican against Webb. Sigler lost to the Binghamton Democrat; Webb receiving 57.4 percent of the vote, Sigler 42.6 percent. Webb won the heavily-Democrat-favored Tompkins County handily, carried her home county of Broome just barely, and lost to Sigler in Cortland County, the three counties that comprise the 52nd District.
Mike Sigler has given no indication so far that he wants a rematch.
Kelles’ seat is even more secure for the Democrats than is Senator Webb’s. The Ithaca Democrat faced no opposition in 2024 or 2022. This year may prove the same.
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Unforced Error
(Feb. 7): I guess Donald Trump can’t help himself. Bullets keep piercing his foot.
All have now learned of the crude, insensitive meme video reposted on our President’s Truth Social page in recent days, the one in which AI-generated images depict President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama as primates. It should rightly offend anyone with common decency. It yielded our President no benefit. I guess Trump or someone he works with thought it funny.
A few media outlets have shown the depiction. I will not. I prefer a classier photo.
A decade or two ago, a Rochester talk show host lost his job after thoughtlessly comparing his city’s African-American mayor with an orangutan that had escaped the zoo. His was a hard lesson to learn. Our President hasn’t learned it.
I’m a local political leader, albeit in a tiny, rural town. But because of the position I hold, I sense an obligation to answer to a higher standard: Think before speaking or writing; guard against impulse; respect sensibilities; and travel the High Road, especially when the gutter tempts one’s detour.
Political criticism has its place. But what got attributed to our President’s digits and desires that night stood devoid of meaningful purpose. It was cheap. It was childish. It inflicted pain. It invited shame.
And for those among us who support President Trump and his policies, it set you back. / RL
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Trump Endorses Oberacker, Blasts Riley
(Feb. 7): For Republican Congressional aspirant Peter Oberacker, it could be an asset or a liability, depending on who’s listening.
On his Truth Social platform February 4, President Donald Trump endorsed State Senator Oberacker in his bid to unseat incumbent NY-19 District Congressman Josh Riley. Trump blasted Riley with predictable insults in the process.
Josh Riley is “a true Radical Left Extremist who does not represent the Values of Central New York,” the President posted. “Josh Riley wants Open Borders, Men playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, Defund the Police, and wants to take away your Second Amendment, meaning, your guns,” Trump stated.
Yes, there’s a “cookie-cutter” nature to all of this. One wonders how many other Democratic incumbents get similar treatment. Does Donald Trump even know Josh Riley?
Trump’s tweet lauded Senator Oberacker as “a very successful ‘Meat Maker’ Businessman, Dedicated Public Servant, and now, as State Senator, who has strongly served his community with a career ‘loaded up’ with accolades and wins.” By “Meat Maker,” Trump likely refers to Oberacker’s agri-business background.
Had Trump not endorsed Oberacker, that would have been the surprise. The senator has no competitive GOP primary opponent in the NY-19 congressional contest. / RL
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No Free Lunch, Enfield
(Feb.6): To the passerby, the concrete culvert carrying Rumsey Hill Road over an (unnamed) creek doesn’t look that bad. But roadway experts may soon demand its replacement.
Toward that end, and at Supervisor Stephanie Redmond’s request, the Enfield Town Board in January authorized application for a New York State Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant that if approved, would cover 80 percent of the culvert replacement’s cost.
The money won’t be coming. In an email February 5, the Department of Transportation rejected Enfield’s request.
“Based on our pre-review, the proposed culvert replacement project is ineligible as written,” the DOT’s Ike Achufusi wrote the Supervisor.
Redmond had argued for funding on grounds the culvert would “improve safety, accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles, support emergency response, and connect to the Finger Lakes Trail, Stevenson Preserve, and other community amenities.” In essence, the replacement would benefit more than just cars.
But DOT thought differently: “TAP eligible projects are ones where pedestrians or bicycle improvements are the primary purpose,” Achufusi stated. “This project seems to describe incidental use by non-motorized travelers and does not meet the eligibility requirements.”
Redmond pegged culvert replacement at $2.5 Million, perhaps a bit high. No decision’s been made on how soon the work need occur.
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New Enfield Cell Tower Sketched
(Feb. 4): It wouldn’t improve cell service. It would just save Verizon some money.
And developers of a newly-proposed, 195-foot communications tower off Van Dorn Road admitted as much as they brought their initial “sketch plan” drawings before the Enfield Planning Board February 4.
“Rent is increasing and increasing; the rent becomes just crazy,” Tony Phillips of Kendall Communications, a promoter for the new structure, told planners Wednesday.
The new tower at 217 Van Dorn Road North would stand just two-tenths mile from an existing tower where Verizon now locates. But the current tower’s owner keeps jacking up the rent. And Phillips describes his plan as part of Verizon’s “High Rent Relocation Program.”
Enfield planners voiced concerns, in part about the tiny, 100-foot square proposed lot, beyond which the tower might fall, They also don’t like its close proximity to the road.
“I think we’re going to get a lot of pushback from the public, given the location of it and proximity to other houses,” Board Chair Dan Walker predicted.
“It’s all financial. It’s not like the Town’s going to get any benefit,” Board member Rich Teeter remarked.
Plans may advance to the next stage come March, or more likely, April. A public hearing would follow.
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Black: ICE “vicious and vengeful”
(Feb. 3): In her strongest words to date, Tompkins County Legislature Chair Shawna Black Tuesday put herself—and by inference, all 15 colleagues—at odds with the Trump Administration’s deportation practices.
Addressing the February 3 meeting with her Chair’s report, Black, masked, paused to acknowledge the killing of Renee Good and Ales Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. She then said:
“While these incidents did not occur in Tompkins County, they have had a profound impact here because they were connected to federal immigration enforcement activities and have raised fear and concern in many communities across the region and the country.”
Black continued: “Particularly in our county, we realize that ICE can appear without notice. We stand firm with resolve that we will protect those that need protecting however unpredictable, vicious and vengeful actions on behalf of our federal government put us all at risk.”
“We also know that it’s not a matter of if it will happen, but probably when it will happen,” Black said as to the prospects of a Minneapolis-style crackdown coming here.
Unlike at the Legislature’s two prior meetings, few from the public attended Tuesday’s session. The meeting was short, its business routine, and no action was taken to address Shawna Black’s concerns. Legislators meet again February 17.
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