News Archives

Taking A Stand, a tab on the top menu, provides my take on various issues of community concern in Enfield; commentary on our Town’s Current Events. I hope my words will prompt robust debate.

Highlights :

May 2024: Priority One: Our Boeing Problem; (Addressing poor academic performance in Enfield Elementary School and elsewhere in light of the district’s current budget controversy.)

November 2023: Flycars, Fund Balances, and “Flat-Broke” Towns; (Addressing a committee of the Tompkins County Legislature on the merits of cost-sharing for a Rapid Medical Response Service.)

September 2023: Think Before You Act (They Didn’t); (Addressing the Tompkins County Legislature to urge delay in proceeding with a Center of Government.)

August 2023: Democracy, Clinging by a Thread; (Addressing the Enfield Town Board on the controversy surrounding its appointment of Enfield’s initial Board of Fire Commissioners.)

July 2023: I am Impatient. They are Hungry. (Addressing the Tompkins County Council of Governments regarding the Tompkins County Food System Plan’s “Roadmap” and how it needs improvement.)

Prior postings and statements, (2019-2022) are now included in the Commentary Archives.

Stephanie Redmond

(Jan. 21): Enfield’s Supervisor, Stephanie Redmond, spoke to its adoption, and lawmakers later agonized over the pros and cons for a half-hour.

Barely securing enough votes to pass, the Tompkins County Legislature Tuesday adopted and sent to state regulators a call for a tougher study of Cargill Incorporated’s plans to flood an unused shaft at its Cayuga Salt Mine under Cayuga Lake.

“I’m not saying that it’s highly likely that the mine could collapse,” Lansing’s Deborah Dawson said before casting her affirmative vote. “The problem is that the low probability is more than offset by the catastrophic results that a collapse could have.”

With two legislators excused and with Ulysses’ Anne Koreman attending but unable to vote, the Resolution calling for either an Environmental Impact Statement or the state’s outright denial of Cargill’s permit application passed eight-votes-to-three. The measure mirrored one adopted earlier this month by the Enfield Town Board and by most other local towns.

Lansing’s Mike Sigler prevailed in striking from the resolution a stronger statement that would have held the company’s application in conflict with Tompkins County’s “commitment to sustainability” and its “environmental stewardship.”

Sigler still voted against the final text, suggesting supporters’ true motives were to close the mine and that any talk of retraining laid-off workers is “all B.S.”

(Jan. 20): Ithaca’s Anna Kelles is viewed by many as a rising star on New York’s environmental Left. So it’s not good when the online publication City & State January 17 cited the third-term Democratic Assemblymember as among its three “Losers” for the week.

The demerit stemmed from Governor Hochul’s perceived backtracking on a Kelles-promoted effort to get polluters to pay for the pollution they cause. Albany calls it “Cap-and-Invest.”

“Hochul won’t move forward on implementing ‘cap and invest’ this year, despite promising draft regulations last year,” Politico reported after Hochul delivered her State of the State Address. Instead, Politico informs us, the governor, in an accompanying policy book, has merely “directed state agencies to develop requirements for companies and polluters to report on their emissions.”

Truth is, Kelles didn’t like the “cap and invest” plan a state agency had come up with anyway.

To Kelles, the agency proposal would only have pushed corporations to profit off their sale of pollution credits, rather than prompting them to convert to renewable energy and not need to buy credits in the first place.

Our Assemblymember introduced her own, tougher bill. But without Hochul’s backing the agency measure, her bill’s prospects look dim.

“She can still push to get (the bill) passed,” City & State acknowledges, “but who knows when it would actually go into effect?”

A de facto AC Mandate?

(Jan. 16): Yes, it’s another unfunded state mandate, stumbled onto Thursday by this writer during an otherwise-uneventful Ithaca Board of Education committee meeting.

If your school building doesn’t have air conditioning already, it may need to install it soon, particularly if there’s summer school.

Little noted by most of us, the New York Legislature passed last June and Governor Hochul signed December 13 a bill that sets 88 degrees as the “maximum temperature in classrooms and support services spaces.”

In addition, the law would require school officials to “relieve heat related discomfort” as soon as the mercury reaches 82.

What must they do? Teachers could turn off lights, pull down shades, open doors and windows and turn off electronics. (No mention made of studying on the lawn.)

“Extreme heat can significantly impact a student’s concentration, focus and ability to learn,” Hochul proclaimed in a statement.

Local Democratic Senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Anna Kelles each voted for the new law. Notably among just three dissenters in the Senate were neighboring Republicans Tom O’Mara and Peter Oberacker.

The law takes effect next September.

Holmes retired first.

(Jan. 15): And now it’s Social Services.

Kit Kephart’s announcement Wednesday that she plans to retire in July after nearly eight years as Commissioner of Tompkins County’s Department of Social Services marks yet another top-level departure from the upper ranks of Tompkins County Administration.

First, County Administrator Lisa Holmes announced her own retirement last April. Holmes officially turned over the job to her successor this month. Last week, County Whole Health Commissioner Frank Kruppa announced his hiring away by the local hospital corporation, Cayuga Health. The Director of Human Rights left in December. And, by the way, the Communications Director’s position is open, too.

Each may have had his or her own reasons. But the speed to the exit is frightening… troubling too.

In Wednesday’s news release, Kephart described her management style as “using a strengths-based, person focused, and trauma informed care approach.” Most recently, Kephart was at the front lines of pulling together on short notice the temporary Code Blue Shelter and hardening security at the Human Services Building.

“Kephart served our community with strength and kindness, pragmatism and advocacy,” County legislature Vice-Chair Greg Mezey remarked.

Incoming County Administrator Korsah Akumfi has many jobs to fill.

Blalock: Could kids be shifted around?

(Jan. 14): Without wading into specifics, one Ithaca Board of Education member suggested Tuesday that future budget economies could bring altered elementary school attendance lines. And one could thereby envision a school or two closing in the process.

“We can look for a budget that grows faster than the tax cap, or we can look for savings,” Garrick Blalock advised his fellow Board members.

“What savings,” Erin Croyle asked.

“The possibility of operational efficiencies,” Blalock responded. He referred to an earlier Finance Committee meeting, its summary not yet posted by meeting time.

An elementary school enrollment of 450 to 500 students is “optimal,” Blalock asserted. Enrollment at some buildings is below that number right now, he said. “Could enrollment be shifted around?” he asked.

The Board’s president said the ICSD hasn’t done a “demographic study” since 2012.

Again responding to Croyle, Blalock conceded the changes he’d contemplate remain a ways out. Maybe next fall the process could begin.

“The recognition is we have to assure ourselves and assure the public that we’re forward-thinking,” Blalock maintained.

They should have left the Old Library

(Jan 12): Hooray for Todd Bruer, organized labor’s representative on the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency.

Bruer proved the only member of the agency’s Board January 8^th to stand up to Travis Hyde Developers and oppose the firm’s renewed request to lower to age limit threshold for renting an apartment at Library Place.

Travis Hyde, which finagled the Old Library building away from Tompkins County nearly a decade ago and secured a more than $5 Million tax abatement for its replacement apartment building on grounds it would provide senior living apartments, now has permission “to welcome younger tenants,” according to the Ithaca Times.

According to the report, the developer in November said the project faced “financial instability,” with fewer than one-third of its units occupied. In essence, skyrocketing rents became too high for many older adults to afford.

After rejecting Travis Hyde’s age limit reduction in December, the Board relented this time, reportedly on the firm’s promise it would temporarily lower Library Place rents by ten per cent.

But that did not placate Bruer. “When this was sold to the public, it was affordable housing for senior living,” the Times reports the labor rep as saying, “and so we’ve still got that void there for senior living because it is tough for people to get in there financially.” / RL

Frank Kruppa

(Jan 10): During the pandemic, he was Tompkins County’s answer to Dr. Fauci. And now Frank Kruppa is leaving County Government for a job at the hospital corporation with which he’s worked so closely.

Twin releases by County Government and Cayuga Health Systems Thursday confirmed the resignation of Kruppa as County Whole Health Director and his hiring by Cayuga Health as its Assistant Vice President for Community Program Development and Partner Integration.

The announcement confirms a broadcast report that aired briefly December 19 on WHCU. But it then vanished from the station’s air and website, and Health Department officials never responded when asked to confirm it.

Cayuga Health states that Kruppa will “play a key role” in developing its “Crisis Stabilization Center project,” that which gobbled up the largest grant from Tompkins County’s Community Recovery Fund.

“Frank has been a valued partner to Cayuga Health for many years and is a proven advocate for our community,” a hospital official said.

Kruppa’s departure marks another loss for County Government, which has been shedding leadership since County Administrator Lisa Holmes announced her retirement and Schoharie County’s Korsah Akumfi was named to replace her.

It’s a stretch to speculate. But Akumfi in early-2023, apparently on orders from Schoharie’s Board of Supervisors, fired that county’s health director and locked her out of her office over her implementation of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Anytime there’s transition in leadership, there’s always kind of interest and perhaps a health concern about where things are going to go,” Kruppa told The Ithaca Voice.

Read into that what you may.

Clerk’s Office, Jan. 9

(Jan. 9): On the eve of a National Day or Mourning, the Enfield Town Board Wednesday night followed President Biden’s lead and ordered the flags at all Town properties lowered to half-staff in memory of the late President Jimmy Carter, who died December 29. The Resolution described Carter as a leader “who served this nation with compassion, honor, and integrity.”

In accordance with Biden’s directive, the Town Board’s Resolution specified that flags remain lowered “continuously for no less than the full period of time directed by President Biden,” that is, until January 28, “notwithstanding any subsequent Presidential declarations that might otherwise shorten or terminate President Biden’s directive.”

President-Elect Donald Trump has made known his displeasure with flags remaining at half-staff during his January 20 Inauguration, and some have posited Trump may order the flags elevated as soon as he takes office.

But while a Trump command could impact flags at federal facilities, the Enfield Board’s action would retain the reverent gesture for its originally-announced 30 days at Town locations.

The Enfield Board briefly considered declaring the closure of Town Offices the following day, the date of Carter’s state funeral. But with snow to plow and tax payments to receive, members concluded too little time existed to order the closure.

(Jan. 9): Following the lead of the Tompkins County Legislature in mid-November, the Enfield Town Board balked Wednesday at its annual designation of The Ithaca Journal as the official newspaper for posting legal notices.

State law mandates Enfield use of the Gannett daily as the only paper that meets its requirements. But in line with County Government, Enfield will investigate posting ads in a second paper, likely a weekly, partly as a form of protest.

“The Ithaca Journal in recent years has continually declined to cover the news of Enfield, including that of this Town Board, a dereliction of journalistic duty for which this Board wishes to express its extreme displeasure,” the amended designation resolution, states.

Councilperson Robert Lynch (this writer) supplied the amended language, which the Town Board passed unanimously.

Town Clerk Mary Cornell was directed to determine the availability and the costs of a second paper, which could be designated as soon as February.

(Jan. 8): With just the bare number of votes to pass, and with Supervisor Stephanie Redmond recusing herself, the Enfield Town Board adopted an earlier-tabled resolution Wednesday that asks state environmental officials to heighten scrutiny of Cargill’s plans to flood an abandoned shaft at Its Lansing salt mine under Cayuga Lake.

By the Board’s failing to offer a seconding vote, it rejected Councilperson Robert Lynch’s substitute motion that would have had Cargill prepare not only an Environmental Impact Statement of the mine flooding, but also one evaluating the “economic impact” that a tougher stance might have should Cargill respond by closing the mine.

“Notwithstanding these environmental concerns, Cargill’s Cayuga Salt Mine stands as a driving force in the local economy,” Lynch’s amended resolution stated. The mine’s employing more than 200 people and contributing millions to the local economy “demand regulators take a reasoned, balanced approach to any permitting decision,” the amendment stressed.

The adopted recommendation would have state regulators either deny the pending application or demand an Environmental Impact Statement and convene a hearing. It passed by the minimum three votes. Lynch opposed it, and Redmond abstained, as she works for a lobbying group that’s called for the Cayuga Mine’s closure.

To be missed; Dawson

(Jan. 8): Call them the “sophomore class” on the Tompkins County Legislature. Ulysses’ Anne Koreman, the Ithaca Town’s Amanda Champion, and Lansing’s Deborah Dawson all were elected in 2017. They’ve admitted they’ve clung and caucused together, a squad of like-minded liberals.

Now, each is leaving.

Koreman had revealed her intention not to seek reelection before Christmas. But in a joint statement Wednesday, Dawson and Champion, along with Legislature Chair Dan Klein and Ithaca Democrat Susan Currey announced with Koreman their decision not to run in this year’s elections.

All County legislative terms come up this fall. A new state law will likely limit the new terms to three years, rather than four.

“We have served with pride, but we also recognize that all good things must come to an end,” the five stated in a letter to local media. Beyond that, little stands known about why the group chose to exit right now.

Of the five, Dawson’s departure may be most striking. A budget hawk and unabashedly outspoken, Dawson has notably fought against drawing down budget surpluses to fund tax relief.

The County Legislature is set to expand by two seats next year. Wednesday’s announcement means at least seven of next year’s 16 members will be newcomers.

The Chairmanship vote; unanimous

(Jan. 7): Little drama; no contest. In a brief, efficient affirmation, the Tompkins County Legislature Tuesday night re-elected Danby’s Dan Klein its Chair for this, a second year.

Dan’s a “clear communicator… and an excellent listener,” Ithaca’s Veronica Pillar said as she placed Klein’s name in nomination. Klein’s “done a very good job; a steady job,” she said.

The only surprise was in the election of Vice-Chair. Without any opposing candidate, Dryden’s Greg Mezey was tapped to succeed the Ithaca Town’s Shawna Black as Vice-Chair.

Black did not comment on the replacement. Yet she was one of two legislators (the other, Susan Currey) who opposed Mezey’s elevation, without nominating a candidate of their own.

“My goal is to live up to your expectations,” Klein said as he assumed the gavel he’s held for the past 12 months.

“I appreciate the confidence,” Mezey said following his own election.

The January 7^th meeting also marked the first for Tompkins County’s new County Administrator, Korsah Akumfi.

(Jan. 7): Enfield’s Board of Fire Commissioners reorganized for the New Year Tuesday night. Without controversy, Commissioners unanimously reelected Greg Stevenson as chair.

But when it came to designating a Fire District Bank, the Board chose three institutions, not just last year’s exclusive depository, Tompkins Community Bank. And the action builds on a festering grievance Stevenson has had with the Ithaca-based company.

“I was really disappointed that the Trust Company (Tompkins’ better-known name) didn’t step up and help us with our credit cards,” Stevenson told Commissioners.

After a meeting in early-December, the Chairman related that in order to issue credit cards to himself, the Fire Chief, and the Fire Company President, Tompkins had demanded the District post a $15,000 bond, arguing the Fire District, formed by Town Board action in 2023, had “not been in business for very long.”

Truth is, the underlying Enfield fire service began in 1948.

“It troubles me that they’re willing to keep up to a half-Million of our dollars, but say we don’t have credit,” Stevenson said of Tompkins Bank Tuesday.

Commissioners added Chemung Canal Trust Company and the Bank of Greene County (where their fire trucks are financed) as additional designees. Stevenson will try to get credit cards there.

(Jan. 7): No, it’s not the flashing blinker some of us may have wanted. But word this week from the State Department of Transportation should make the accident-prone “Applegate Corners” in Enfield a bit safer.

“We’ve completed our work order for a new Stop ahead warning sign and new Stop sign with reflective posts on North Applegate Road and sent the request to our maintenance forces,” Scott Bates, Regional Traffic Engineer for our region of NYDOT, wrote Enfield Fire Commissioner Robyn Wishna on January 6. Wishna, who lives on North Applegate, has taken a lead in this safety upgrade.

“The sign work will be completed by our maintenance crews once the materials are procured and the work scheduled,” Bates told Wishna.

Many auto accidents have occurred over the decades at the corner of Route 79 and Applegate Road, at least one of them fatal. In response to both Wishna’s and the Enfield Town Board’s prodding, Bates’ department ordered improved signage at the crossroads last February. But the accidents kept coming, a couple more last October.

The Town Board’s request went so far as to seek a flashing blinker at the intersection. But DOT hasn’t agreed to that.

“It seems that increasing signage is a small price to pay to make the intersection less dangerous,” Wishna wrote NYDOT after the latest accidents. She’s pleased the State agreed.

(Jan. 7): Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) announced its winter-spring schedule this week. The revised schedules commence January 12.

The good news is that not much has changed for Route 20 trips to Enfield. But that’s also a disappointment. TCAT has declined to resume its Sunday service to Enfield Center, discontinued a few years ago in the face of declining post-pandemic ridership.

“Most service is unchanged from fall, but TCAT planners adjusted some routes to meet ridership demand, fulfill riders’ requests, and to improve on-time performance,” the intermunicipal transit service released in a statement.

For Route 20, alternating between Enfield and the Ithaca Commons, the second weekday trip leaves three minutes earlier. It will depart the Green Street stop at 10:07 AM and from the Enfield Highway Garage at 10:32 AM. To Enfield, the service makes three round-trips daily.

TCAT winter-spring service runs through May 24.

Ed and Helen, online Town Board attendees.

(Jan. 4): We should have invited them to our meeting. We didn’t. There should have been photos. There weren’t. In fact, some of those we lauded only learned of it when I informed them days later. Our Enfield Town Board should have done better. And each of us who represent you should demonstrate better courtesy the next time.

Wednesday, December 11, by a unanimous vote among those attending, our Town Board awarded Volunteers of the Year to three worthy couples or individuals for their selfless efforts in Enfield.

Ed and Helen Hetherington were lauded, in part, for their beautification efforts. “They created the beautiful barrels of flowers that the town has used for the past two years around our light poles and cared for our fall flower displays,” their award nomination states.

Maureen Bolton was recognized for her repair of the holiday wreaths that grace light poles in Enfield Center each winter. “The wreaths enrich our community by bringing a sense of joy to others,” Bolton’s nomination proclaims.

And we recognized former Town Supervisor Roy Barriere and his wife, Carol, for their involvement with the Community Council, the Food Pantry, and our Fire Company. “When they see a need, they step up to the plate,” their nomination states. “They are always willing to assist those in our community whenever needed.”

Congratulations, volunteers all. / RL

Praising Clarke: “Stability, stature, and scholarship.”

(Jan. 4): It couldn’t have been more low-key. So no wonder most of us were blindsided when Tompkins County announced December 30^th that the Office of Human Rights headquarters on West State Street would close temporarily and that the Office’s Director, Dr. Kenneth Clarke, had departed.

First word of Clarke’s leaving, we now learn, was shared at a Tompkins County Legislature meeting December 17, but buried within a routine report by County Administrator Lisa Holmes.

“He served the County for seven years and brought stability, stature, and scholarship to that Department,” Holmes said in praise of Clarke’s service. Her otherwise-routine disclosure took but 30 seconds.

Legislator Rich John followed with his own commendation.

“He really stepped in at a time when we needed help, and he stood up and did that, and it’s really appreciated,” John said of Clarke. “I wish him all good things.”

A reception, similarly low-key, occurred a couple days later. Unless you’d waded through the mid-December meeting, only a much-delayed summary of it, posted by County staff on New Year’s Eve, would have informed you of Clarke’s decision. The “why” of that resignation remains unstated.

(Dec. 31): In a statement that leaves many loose ends untied, Tompkins County Monday announced the temporary closing of its storefront Human Rights Office and the unexpected departure of its Director.

“Tompkins County is alerting the community to the developing restructure of the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights (OHR), following the departure of Director Dr. Kenneth Clarke,” a County spokesperson revealed in a news release. “In 2025, the Tompkins County Legislature Chair will appoint a working group to consider the restructuring of OHR,” the terse, six-paragraph statement concluded.

Kenneth Clarke, a retired pastor, was confirmed as Director of Human Rights in January 2020 following a period of leadership tumult at OHR. The office principally assists those filing human rights complaints with a New York State agency.

“OHR services will continue uninterrupted to the best of our ability,” the news release stated somewhat unconfidently.

OHR has until now operated an office at 120 West State Street. With its temporary closing—for duration not stated—the office and its one remaining staffer will relocate to the County Administration’s main office at the Old Jail.

None of Monday’s announcement had been telegraphed beforehand, nor have the circumstances surrounding Dr. Clarke’s departure been explained.

Legislator Brown

(Dec. 26): It’s an uphill climb. But legislator Randy Brown intends early in the New Year to seek reversal of a two-year old legislatively-adopted decision that expands the Tompkins County Legislature from 14 to 16 members under a redistricting plan urged it by an independent commission.

“Well, I’m the only one that wants to do this,” Brown admitted to the Enfield Town Board during its December monthly meeting.

“There’s no value in it,” the Newfield-Enfield rep insisted of the two-person expansion. “It won’t represent us any better than we are now.” What’s more, Brown said, the new districts would be in the City and Town of Ithaca, and their creation would “deplete the value of rural members.”

But any rescission would invariably violate the Tompkins County Charter. The Charter assigns line-drawing responsibility to the Independent Redistricting Commission that recommended—and reaffirmed—the 16-member model in mid-2022. It saw 16 districts as the only way to keep “communities of interest” intact.

“I think it’s just a matter of drawing a few lines,” Brown assuredly told Enfield lawmakers December 11. “Give me an hour and I’ll figure it out,” Brown said, the legislator caring less about respecting municipal boundaries than in cutting cost.

“I don’t want to waste the money,” Brown remarked. And axing two new legislators would trim $52,000 from the 2026 payroll.

Anne Koreman

(Dec. 23): Anne Koreman, who’s represented northern Enfield, Ulysses, and a small slice of the Ithaca Town since 2018, will not seek re-election to the Tompkins County Legislature, Koreman disclosed in an email Monday.

“I wanted to let you know I will not be running for Tompkins County Legislature again,” Koreman announced in a one-paragraph statement to the Enfield Democratic Committee. “It has been an honor representing Enfield for these past 7 years,” she added.

Koreman gave no reason for her decision to retire from the Legislature. She invited others to contact her should they have interest in running. The two-term incumbent revealed no preferred successor.

Koreman’s service on the Legislature began when she unseated incumbent Jim Dennis in 2017 as the Democratic nominee and then went on to beat an independent in that year’s general election. Koreman won re-election in 2021 unopposed.

All seats on the Tompkins County Legislature come up for election next year. Probably—though not with certainty, given legal challenges—next year’s new terms will be shortened from four to three years to comply with a state mandate that moves the contests to even-numbered years.

Legislator Kelles

(Dec. 23): Governor Kathy Hochul hasn’t made a big deal about it. But some environmental activists have.

Saturday, December 21, legislative records report, Hochul signed a locally-sponsored bill to expand New York’s fracking ban to include use of carbon dioxide, as well as water.

“This is a significant win for our region and state, protecting our environment, our water, and the health of our communities from the harmful and uncertain impacts of CO2 fracking,” our area’s State Senator and bill sponsor, Lea Webb, said.

“This bill is closing a loophole in our state’s fracking ban to protect our people, our environment, and our economy.” Assemblymember Anna Kelles, the bill’s sponsor in the lower house, stated.

Led by communities like Enfield and Dryden, New York State in 2020 banned hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas. But the gas industry found a work-around and began utilizing elsewhere carbon dioxide as a fracking propellant.

The Webb-Kelles bill passed the Senate and Assembly with bipartisan—though not unanimous—support last March. Yet some feared Hochul would veto the measure amid pressure from the gas-drilling industry.

More puzzling, an Ithaca-based environmental group, Toxics Targeting, last month urged Hochul not to sign, calling the bill “inaccurate, misleading, and irresponsible.” Its leader faulted the legislation as not tough enough.

(Dec. 19): The Enfield Community Council will continue holding summer camp next year. The six-week program will bear its original name and remain quartered at ECC’s Community Center. But as outlined to the agency’s Board of Directors December 19, much change will occur behind the scenes.

Due largely to Rural Youth Services Program Coordinator Eric Carter’s recent departure, The ECC will strengthen its ties with Cornell Cooperative Extension to oversee camp management. Extension will hire staff and handle payroll while keeping the camp’s public face much as it’s been. ECC’s will effectively become a “4-H Camp,” similar to a change recently made in Groton.

“Summer camp has never put money back into the budget,” ECC president Cortney Bailey admitted Thursday. “We take money from the Town to make summer camp work.”

Budget figures presented the Board Thursday indicated the change will cost Town Government less money, allowing some of Enfield’s annual $73,453 Town subsidy to be plowed into other programs.

Still, the higher New York Minimum Wage will demand belt-tightening. The Board gave a preliminary nod to raising camp fees by $50 (up to $1,050 for Enfield residents). It will also end weekly field trips, substituting one big trip near the program’s end.

Tripp (c) with three-member Facilities Ctte.

(Dec. 19): The Ithaca Board of Education avoided talk about a looming capital bonding referendum during its final meeting of the year, December 17. And at its session one week earlier, the Board left unresolved whether to hold such a vote during its annual May 2025 elections or at some later date.

Quietly—and largely in secret—some on the Board have gravitated toward a referendum next October.

The disclosure came during a weedy, hour-long committee meeting December 12 that made little other news.

“We had a discussion at OACM this morning and would like to recommend to the committee that we have an October 21^st vote on this upcoming capital project that we discussed at the meeting on Tuesday,” Facilities Committee Chair Jill Tripp told members. “We seemed to sort of agree on putting it off (to) be not at the usual time in May, but going forward,” Tripp said.

“OACM” stands for “Owner, Architect, and Construction Management.” The committee meets in private. Its recommendations hold only the power of persuasion.

At the end of the Facilities meeting, Tripp urged her committee to endorse the October date. It adjourned without doing so.

And most notably, School Board member Erin Croyle did not attend the committee’s session. Two days earlier, Croyle had insisted she was “not okay” with a stand-alone referendum, and urged any capital vote be coupled with the district’s May elections.

(Dec. 18): Call it gubernatorial generosity or just plain “walkin’ around money.” What do you think?

New York’s election for Governor isn’t until 2026. But you can tell Kathy Hochul is running scared.

On December 9^th, the Democratic incumbent announced her “Inflation Refund.” It’s a planned $300 a person—or $500 a couple—giveback to every taxpayer of modest means. She’ll tuck it into next month’s State of the State address. You’d get your check in the fall.

“It’s simple: the cost of living is still too damn high, and New Yorkers deserve a break,” Hochul’s self-serving news release proclaims.

In accountant-speak, the Inflation Refund is highly “progressive.” It’s a one-size-fits-all payment. So the less money you’ve earned, the higher a percentage of your tax burden it becomes. And for singles earning more than $150,000—or couples over $300,000—you wouldn’t get a penny.

The refund’s intended “to help address the impacts of inflation on the cost of everyday goods in the years following the COVID pandemic,” Hochul’s press release claims.

But by any objective standard, New York State is broke and getting broker. The Inflation Refund will cost our treasury some $3 Billion. It could throw us over the edge. Needed services suffer. And all the while, Hochul’s bean-counters hijack the federal Medicaid assistance that counties like ours rightly deserve.

Keep your gimmicky cash, Governor Hochul. To me, it’s filthy lucre. / RL

Megan Conaway

(Dec. 18): The Trumansburg Central School District will promote from within to fill its soon-to-be-vacated Superintendent’s slot.

In a December 10^th news release, the District announced that Megan Conaway, T-Burg’s current High School Principal, will become Superintendent of Schools January 11^th, succeeding the retiring Kimberly Bell.

The district’s glowing statement says Conaway “brings a wealth of experience in educational leadership, equity initiatives, and community engagement.”

The release quoted School Board President Megan Williams: “Ms. Conaway’s seven years of experience [at T-Burg Schools] has given her a strong foundation to be able to support current district goals as well as look at ways that we can move the district forward with new and innovative ideas.”

Superintendent-designate Conaway described herself as “beyond excited.”

“I am proud of my tenure at Trumansburg, and I look forward to strengthening partnerships to ensure our students receive the best education in a safe and vibrant community,” Conaway said.

Lily Talcott, now CEO of TST BOCES and until this summer an Assistant Superintendent at Ithaca’s schools, led the Trumansburg search. The search reportedly “sought wide-ranging community feedback,” seeking input from students, families and staff.

The District’s statement did not discuss the candidate field beyond its designee.

(Dec. 11): Following a spirited exchange that put Town Supervisor and environmental activist Stephanie Redmond on one side and Councilperson Robert Lynch (this writer) on the other, the Enfield Town Board Wednesday postponed action for a month on calling upon state regulators to heighten review of Cargill’s renewal and modification of a Reclamation permit for its salt mine under Cayuga Lake.

Delay came after Lynch accused Redmond of holding a conflict of interest, as she draws a salary from Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN), a group that’s already taken a stand against Cargill.

Had Redmond recused herself, and with another Councilperson absent, the Enfield Board would have had one vote too few for the measure to pass.

“Significant concerns have been raised regarding the adequacy of Cargill’s application,” the proposed Resolution before Enfield lawmakers stated. It said the company’s proposal to flood an underground zone “raises serious questions about the safety and environmental integrity of Cayuga Lake.”

State regulators have issued a “Negative Declaration,” concluding that a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement isn’t needed. Groups like CLEAN disagree.

Lynch warned that putting too much pressure on Cargill could force the mine to close and cost more than 200 people their jobs.

Redmond countered that the Lansing mine is being sold, and that the buyer may shutter it anyway, leaving the employees both jobless and with few benefits.

Delaying its vote for a month could allow the excused Enfield Board member to return and provide the one vote needed for passage.

It could have saved Hoyt’s life

(Dec. 10): On November 25, Tompkins County opened its new, state-mandated “Code Blue” shelter at Tioga and Buffalo Streets to warm the homeless on cold nights. Early on the morning of December 2, at the end of a cold night, a homeless man died while sleeping outdoors just one block away from that shelter. He may have frozen to death.

Roland Hoyt was 60. Suffering from mental illness, he’d been unhoused for two years. There’s no evidence of drug or alcohol abuse. Best information says cold temperatures contributed to Hoyt’s death. Media reports indicate that when Hoyt reached the hospital, staff tried to raise his body temperature, but failed.

This death didn’t have to happen. We in Tompkins County are spending hundreds of thousands, likely millions of dollars to renovate and staff-up the interim Code Blue shelter. We’ll spend millions more to build a more permanent shelter on Cherry street to harbor up to 100 of the unhoused at a time.

But the unspoken question is whether if we build shelter housing, the homeless will come… and choose to use it. Whether Roland Hoyt tried to visit the Code Blue shelter that night, County officials won’t comment.

Roland Hoyt, of course, cannot be asked about what went wrong. But the people who represent us… and spend our money… can be asked. And ask them we should. / RL

(Dec. 4): After a long… long… executive session—more than two-and-a-half-hours—with Commissioners seen animated at times behind their closed, windowed doors, the Enfield Board of Fire Commissioners Tuesday approved revised leadership standards for the Fire District’s line officers, from Fire Chief on down.

“It’s a little bit more training,” Board Chair Greg Stevenson summarized the changes after the meeting had ended. Stevenson conceded it’s a “delicate balance” between demanding more proficiency from those who command the firefighting force, and not placing demands so high that members don’t volunteer.

The Board of Fire Commissioners’ vote was four-to-one. Chris Willis dissented on both the final package of requirements and on considering the standards collectively, rather than officer-by-officer.

Willis gave no explanation for his dissents. And no one on the Board explained why with so few changes, the closed discussion took so much time.

The Enfield Fire Chief, unlike others in leadership, requires five years of line officer service with Enfield’s Fire Company. But that’s been a requirement since at least 2020.

The Enfield Volunteer Fire Company nominates its line officers December 5^th. Fire Commissioners consent to the selections come January.

Commissioner Willis (second from left)

(Dec. 1): This year, unlike last, Enfield voters will have just one Fire Commissioner, not five, to elect in the Enfield Fire District’s December 10^th election. But just like last year, two of the same candidates will be running.

Fire District Secretary Alexis Beckley confirms that incumbent Chris Willis has filed to lengthen his current one-year term of office by five additional years. Opposing Willis will be Donald Gunning, whom Willis beat by only two votes last December. No other candidates sought the post of Fire Commissioner this year.

As was the case in 2023, this month’s contest could put Fire District finances at center stage. Willis is a member of the Enfield Volunteer Fire Company. And Willis voted this October for a 2025 District Budget that will raise spending by more than 28 per cent.

Donald Gunning, by contrast, is a long-time critic of fire service spending. And in a campaign statement mailed Enfield residents, his supporters cite that double-digit increase.

“It’s time to elect a new Fire Commissioner to help rein in future Fire District costs and residents’ taxes,” the three-paragraph flyer states.

Polls at the Enfield Fire station will be open Dec. 10^th from 3PM-9PM. There’s no opportunity to vote absentee. No word yet on any pre-election debate.

Anna Kelles

(Dec. 1): This is truly an odd one. It’s as though an imposter had written it. But apparently not.

Ithaca-based anti-fracking activist Walter Hang—who actually hosted a fundraiser for Assemblymember Anna Kelles long ago—is now urging Governor Hochul NOT to sign a supposed frack-hostile bill that both Kelles and State Senator Lea Webb had sponsored.

The bill, initially heralded by environmental activists and adopted by the State Legislature last March, would expand New York’s statutory fracking ban to also prohibit using carbon dioxide to crack underground shale. But now Hang and his group, Toxics Targeting, assert the bill doesn’t go far enough.

In a blast email to his supporters Nov. 26, Hang stated, “[T]he bill clearly does not include carbon dioxide in the definition of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing. This makes zero sense,” (emphasis added).

Hang labels a Kelles news release touting the bill’s passage as “inaccurate, misleading, and irresponsible.” And he fears it may not have the strength to stop frack-friendly Donald Trump from overriding New York’s current prohibitions.

“We must not allow public interest groups to provide political cover for a horrifically weak bill that cannot 100% stop carbon dioxide shale fracking proposed throughout New York’s Southern Tier,” Hang asserts. “That plan was announced a year ago and is still alive.”

Supervisor Redmond

(Nov. 27): Giving her first public comment on the subject, Enfield Town Supervisor Stephanie Redmond said in a recent radio interview she will likely seek a fourth—now four-year—term in office.

“Have you decided to run again?” WHCU’s Joe Salzone asked Redmond during a morning news interview November 21st.

“I probably will, yes,” Redmond answered. “I think I will.”

Democrat Redmond was first elevated to Supervisor by the Town Board in January 2021 following the resignation of her predecessor.

Voters elected Redmond the following November, and then reelected her two years later. The first time she faced opposition from a write-in candidate. In 2023, she ran unopposed.

Redmond indicated she’d make a final decision about running when petitions circulate in the spring.

Voters earlier this month lengthened future terms for Supervisor and two other Enfield offices from two years to four. During her interview, Redmond applauded the change.

“It will really help create stability in these positions,” Redmond stated. “It also creates a level of ownership for these positions, so you can really get to know how to do the job really well and the ins and outs of it,” she said.

Some may think that the voters “own” the position, not the office-holder. But Redmond is entitled to her words… and her beliefs. / RL

Brown: Pricey, but needed.

(Nov. 26): Tompkins County has embarked on something it’s never really done before: shelter the homeless.

At a Tuesday news conference, County officials revealed the chosen site for a long-term emergency shelter facility. It’s a lot at 227 Cherry Street in Ithaca’s West End, not far from the so-called “jungle” encampments where many of the unhoused live.

The one-acre site will cost $1.1 Million. Our tax dollars will buy it.

“Of all the locations available, I believe this is the best site although I thought the price was too high,” legislator Randy Brown told municipal leaders Tuesday.

A fact sheet distributed by Brown states an additional $1 Million lies in the County’s Capital Program to actually develop the shelter. Up to $6.1 Million will also be sought next year from New York State.

“Tompkins County is in a position to significantly strengthen our shelter system, giving as many people as we can a safe place to go and a reasonable path out of negative situations,” Legislature Chair Dan Klein stated. “We agree with the vision of making homelessness rare, brief, and one time,” he added.

Ithaca City officials also crowed. “The City is glad to see the progress that the County is making and stands ready to partner and contribute where we can now and in the future,” Mayor Robert Cantelmo enounced. Tellingly, though, nowhere in the announcement does the City promise to cough up any money toward the purchase .

(Nov. 18): The time when a job-hungry Congressional aspirant respected home district lines is long past. Remember Claudia Tenney?

Multiple sources report that Congressman Marc Molinaro, defeated in this month’s re-election bid in his home 19^th District, is shopping around, eyeing a potential run for the North Country House seat likely soon to be vacated by Elise Stefanik, should she be confirmed as President-Elect Trump’s choice for U.N. Ambassador.

“A source familiar confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Molinaro is in the mix to be Stefanik’s successor,” the paper reported on Veteran’s Day.

“I am not done providing public service to the people of the state of New York, and quite frankly, considering what options might be available to me moving forward,” Republican Molinaro told a Spectrum News broadcast one night later.

Assuming Stefanik secured Senate confirmation in January, she’d resign the House and Governor Hochul would need to call a special election. There’d be no primary. Party committees would pick their nominees. The candidate need not live in the district.

Unlike the politically-blended 19^th District—where Democrat Josh Riley will serve in Congress come January—Stefanik’s Adirondack-centered territory is ruby-red. In view of that, several other Republicans also consider running.

Less often from now on

(Nov. 15): They’re still unofficial, yet not expected to change.

Final tallies, released Friday by the Tompkins County Board of Elections, show that all three Enfield ballot propositions, those extending future terms of Town Supervisor, Town Clerk, and Highway Superintendent, secured voter approval, although the Supervisor’s term extension just squeaked by.

Friday’s revised tallies included for the first time the absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day, though received by elections officials up until nearly a week after the polls had closed.

The Enfield Supervisor’s term change cleared by just 32 votes (837 to 805, or a mere 51 to 49 per cent margin.)

Voters endorsed giving the Highway Superintendent a 4-year term, 903 votes to 754, a nine percentage point spread. The Town Clerk’s term fared best; 948 votes to 701, a 247 vote difference.

Nevertheless, in each referendum, 150 or more voters simply left the ballot issues blank.

Incumbents current terms aren’t affected. Extended terms for each of the Enfield offices will kick in with the 2025 elections. There’s the possibility that the initial terms filled in ’25 will be shortened by a year to conform to a state election year change. But the Albany initiative remains under review by state courts.

(Nov. 13): At a meeting devoid of controversy, the Enfield Town Board Wednesday approved a two-year extension of its ongoing animal control contract with the Tompkins County SPCA.

Board members made no mention of concerns, voiced at their mid-October session, about a management culture at the Hanshaw Road animal shelter that one former volunteer described as existing “contrary to Tompkins County’s list of values and principles.”

Instead, Town Clerk Mary Cornell—labeled by this Councilperson as Enfield’s “Dog Czar”—said she was satisfied with the agreement now that an intermunicipal SPCA Advisory Board on which she sits had met for its first time in years and supported the agreement’s terms.

Enfield’s annual charge for SPCA dog control services will remain at $16,737.

The Town Board also completed review and forwarded to its attorney a long-discussed revised Dog Control and Licensing Law.

Members skirted prior controversy involving pet-owner liability. And while the SPCA demands that euthanasia remain an option for unclaimed impounded canines, the Board inserted words expressing the law’s intent that “any unredeemed dog shall be offered for adoption whenever practicable.”

Expect the Enfield Dog Law to go to Public Hearing in early-2025. / RL

(Nov. 12): Three County legislators dominate its membership. An Ithaca City Alderperson holds a seat as well, as does a representative of organized labor. Now the Ithaca Board of Education seeks to resume its membership on the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the powerful governmental board that grants big-bucks tax abatements.

“Some sort of school district or school board representation on the IDA is very much warranted,” ICSD Board member Jill Tripp said Tuesday. She moved a Resolution asking the County Legislature to add a permanent school board voting position on the IDA Board. All seven Ithaca School Board members attending Tuesday’s meeting endorsed the idea. The IDA’s expansion may require state legislation.

The Ithaca School Board once held a position on the IDA. Why it relinquished membership in 2005, some were not sure. Board President Sean Eversley Bradwell recalled it was ICSD’s own decision.

Eversley Bradwell referenced the IDA’s recent massive abatements given Ithaca’s Chainworks redevelopment. ICSD is the “largest taxing entity, so it’s affected,” the Board President said.

“The ICSD, along with other school districts in Tompkins County, has a vested interest in the decisions made by the TCIDA, as these decisions impact the funding available for essential educational programs, services, and infrastructure,” the adopted Resolution states.

Dominick Recckio (credit Ithaca Times)

(Nov. 8): Not so long ago, a modestly-paid mayor used to administer the City of Ithaca single-handedly. Not so, anymore.

Wednesday, Nov. 6, Common Council appointed Dominick Recckio, Tompkins County’s Communications Director since 2020, to fill a newly-created post of Deputy City Manager. In his new job, Recckio will earn $143,750 annually, assisting a City Manager who earns even much more.

The Ithaca Times reports Wednesday’s vote was not unanimous. Three alderpersons dissented, essentially arguing the job wasn’t needed.

Recckio’s experience lies in public relations, not law enforcement. Nonetheless, it’s reported Recckio’s first responsibility will be police oversight, most notably implementing racially-sensitive reimagining initiatives. He’ll also address Ithaca’s homelessness crisis.

The Times quotes Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo as saying Recckio’s hiring is one of the final steps towards “settling into our new form of government.”

That may be true. But that “new form” is one in which elected politicians talk platitudes and highly-paid staff shoulders the load.

Welcome aboard, Dom. City Hall is a changin.’ / RL

Baffled by silence: Dan Klein

(Nov. 8): It’s gotta’ frustrate a couple of Enfield agencies that fought so hard for cash from the Tompkins County Community Recovery Fund, yet came up dry.

The Recovery Fund’s Advisory Committee this week resolved to recommend that up to $175,000 of the fund’s original $6.5 Million total, about 2.7 per cent, be repurposed for the County’s “Fleet Procurement Program” because agencies originally funded have yet to use the cash.

The committee identified five recipients as potential losers. A TC3 tuition reimbursement program is one of them. Another, the New Roots Charter School, could forfeit $93,000.

Advisory Committee and Legislature Chair Dan Klein said it’s often because agency leaders refuse to return funding officials’ phone calls.

“I don’t quite understand it either,” Klein told the committee. “But I guarantee it’s not for lack of trying; we want to give this money to people, but if they don’t do their part, we can’t.”

Enfield’s Community Council and Fire Company had vied for support from the Recovery Fund, yet never secured final approval. It’s too late now.

Washington’s rules require federally-subsidized contracts be finalized before year’s end. The unspent money would likely buy a couple of trucks, one for the County Highway Department.

Restroom to the rear. The makeshift shelter’s new “potty trailer.”

(Nov. 7): Tompkins County chose not to declare a Homelessness “State of Emergency.” But that doesn’t mean it’s providing mandated emergency shelter facilities exactly like clockwork.

In a conference call to local elected leaders Thursday, County Administrator Lisa Holmes revealed that the St. John’s Community Services shelter on West State Street will cease operations November 8^th, one week earlier than first planned. Media reports say St. John’s will close its doors to residents the afternoon of Thursday, the 7^th.

But Holmes also told the call’s attendees that the makeshift Tompkins County Code Blue Shelter, the one at the former bank building near the Courthouse, won’t be ready until November 25^th. That’s later than first planned. It’s a staffing issue.

Holmes described the bank-based downtown shelter as a “stopgap measure.” A permanent, pricier shelter is the long-range plan.

As for those displaced by the accelerated St. John’s closing, Holmes said “hotel rooms have been secured for most of those residents.”

But as for a “warming center,” also at St. John’s, the administrator said the Department of Social Services lobby will be employed during DSS office hours. The former bank, once finished, will warm the unhoused from 4 PM until 8 AM weekdays and all day, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

There’s yet another issue: dogs. “We do not have the capacity to handle animals at the Code Blue Shelter,” Holmes stated. “We’re working with the SPCA,” she added.

(Nov. 6): It’s been an off-and-on plan since August. Wednesday night, the Enfield Town Planning Board gave it the go-ahead.

Planners unanimously granted Enfield contractor Patrick Head site plan approval for a cluster of four “tiny houses” near the corner of Enfield Center and East Van Dorn Roads.

“The Project involves the construction of four, 2 bedroom approximately 720 Square Foot homes on a 1-acre site,” the Planning Board’s authorization states. “The buildings will be supplied water from a common well and will utilize a shared onsite wastewater treatment system located on an adjacent 1-acre lot that has been approved by the Tompkins County Health Department.”

Head had originally advanced his tiny-house idea three months ago, He then quietly withdrew his plans thinking he’d sell the one-acre parcel as a single lot. That, too, got sidelined, and Head returned to his original plans.

The Planning Board in the past has lauded the tiny-house concept as an efficient way to expand Enfield’s affordable housing stock.

Wednesday’s approval came at one of the shortest Planning Board sessions in recent memory, barely a half-hour. One member admitted he’d been up too late watching election returns the night before.

(Nov. 3): Is a high school athletic field truly open to the public, or just to the people school officials say should be there?

Democratic Congressional Candidate Josh Riley got his hands slapped this past week after he recorded a campaign ad on the stands of the Union-Endicott High School Stadium. School officials complained, forcing Riley to take down the commercial, one in which he’d talked with his former football coach.

“As a public institution dedicated to education, we maintain a neutral position and do not endorse or support any political candidates or parties,” The New York Post’s Vaughn Golden reports a school district spokesperson as stating.

“Our focus is on providing a quality education and supporting the well-being of our students, regardless of external political influences,” the statement continued.

Broome County, where Union-Endicott is located, has a much more politically-blended constituency than does Tompkins County. Golden reports some residents there questioned the school’s involvement in the ad. It had none, and told Riley he hadn’t gotten permission to shoot on school property.

Riley’s campaign took down the ad the same day as the district raised the issue.

Golden reports that Riley’s campaign had also attempted to hold a press conference on school grounds, but was asked to move to the sidewalk.

What’s not stated is whether the “no politics” policy at U-E was written, or just impromptu.

From the Enfield Civility Resolution, adopted by the Town Board, Sept. 13, 2017:

RESOLVED to exhibit and encourage the kinds of personal qualities that are typical in a civil society—gratitude, humility, openness, passion for service to others, propriety, kindness, caring, sense of duty, and a commitment to doing what is right in the Enfield community. All Enfield board members, committee members and staff shall strive to:

Treat everyone courteously
Listen to others respectfully
Give open minded consideration to all viewpoints
Focus on the issues and avoid personalizing debate
Embrace respectful disagreement and dissent as democratic rights that are inherent components of an inclusive public process and tools for forging sound decisions and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Enfield board members, committees and staff shall strive to promote the use of and adherence to these guidelines in all Enfield community activities.

Since January 2020, I’m proud to have been the Enfield Town Board’s representative on the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG). At our regular Town Board meetings, I report on TCCOG discussions of intermunicipal interest that TCCOG has addressed in its meetings.

Now added to this website, filed under the the “TCCOG” tab, are the written versions of my monthly reports, presuming TCCOG has met since our Town Board’s last session. Please browse these reports and provide me whatever input you’d like.