Budgeting:
2013 will be one of the most difficult budget years in the city’s history. Navigating it will require deep thought and hard choices on the part of Common Council.

A slow economy combined with ever increasing pension and health care costs, has pushed our city to the brink. Residents have been taxed to their limit and need solutions that don’t involve dramatic increases in their property tax bill.
Over the last four years, we’ve made changes around the edges to balance our budget – most notably taking millions from our savings and not filling positions as people retired or moved on.

It is time for a more proactive approach; time to make the hard decisions that will mean pain in the short term, but will set our city up for success and fiscal prosperity in the future.

We will explore streamlined processes, shared services, retirement incentives, furloughs and negotiations with our public unions. In the end, we must get our fiscal house in order and nothing is “off the table”. To discuss these and other issues I’ve asked Alderperson Deb Mohlenhoff to organize a strategic planning session later this month so Common Council can
set their priorities. I’ve also asked Alderperson J.R. Clairborne, now a veteran of the budget process, to lead a revamped process this year.

Economic Development:
We cannot simply cut our way out of this hole. We must diversify our economy, build more housing and expand our tax base.
Our local economy is built on education, agriculture and tourism. These industries have served us well. Our community has the highest rate of employment in New York State. As a city we will continue to support these mainstays by – among other things – fighting to protect the area from truck traffic, drilling rigs, air pollution and potential water contamination that threaten the natural environment.

The employment opportunities and continued growth of the student population have increased demand for housing. Failing to respond to this increased demand has led to high rents, high taxes and increased traffic. Recent studies by the Tompkins County Planning Department and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance document a need for thousands of new housing units countywide. We must make sure that population growth happens where it makes the most sense – in our urban core. Growth in our City will mean an expanded tax base, more customers for city-based businesses, and a higher percentage of people walking, biking and using public transit.

To guarantee prosperity and stability in the future, we must also diversify our economy. Creating more light industrial and manufacturing opportunities will provide higher paying jobs and an even more resilient economy. We’ll look to the
west end, downtown and the Emerson site as prime areas for redevelopment and job creation.

Emerson: Working together to get it right
The now vacant Emerson plant and the dozens of acres of empty land present the City with tremendous opportunities amidst daunting challenges. We have an opportunity to create manufacturing jobs, install a combined heat and power plant, and add hundreds of housing units near downtown and Ithaca College. In order to achieve this vision we must remediate in-ground pollution and resolve difficulties arising from the fact that the site is split between the City and the Town.

I’ve already begun working to overcome these challenges and navigate the way to a brighter future. In the past month I have visited Cornell’s Combined Heat and Power Plant and the Lake Source Cooling Facility along with city staff,
Alderperson Cynthia Brock, and South Hill residents to learn more about what might be possible at the Emerson site.
I have also committed, along with Town Supervisor Herb Engman, to working together with the Town of Ithaca to overcome our challenges and turn the Emerson project into a success. We will be convening a joint city-town Emerson Task Force to resolve zoning, tax-revenue sharing and regulatory issues. The solutions this Task Force generates will pave the way for remediation and redevelopment.

Cornell University: Partnering to enhance our community

Late in 2011, Mayor Carolyn Peterson sent a letter to Cornell University President David Skorton requesting an increased monetary contribution to our budget. The Mayor – and the city – was rebuffed.

Still we must persist. Cornell University’s success is inextricably linked to the success of the City of Ithaca. We must make it clear that if the University does not increase their investment in our economy, our mutual success is in danger.
Inspired by Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative in New York City that turned a $100 million investment by that city into a $2 billion return from Cornell and Israel’s Technion Institute, I have asked the City of Ithaca’s economic development staff
to develop our own proposal. Our goal: deliver to the upper administration at Cornell University a project that will fill a need of theirs while contributing to the tax base and economy of the City of Ithaca. It is no small task – but I have full
confidence in the creativity and competence of our staff.

Planning
We must preserve the city’s history even as we plan for its future. We are in the midst of a city-wide comprehensive planning campaign. Once completed, our Comprehensive Plan will lay the groundwork for future infrastructure investments, zoning changes and private developments. We must ensure that dense growth happens in the urban core and along transit
lines. We must mitigate the visual and traffic impacts of this density on the surrounding neighborhoods.
We must ensure that the quiet residential neighborhoods that we all value are preserved and maintained. We must ensure that our natural environment remains accessible and pristine. Most importantly, we must ensure that
everyone with an opinion about the future of the City of Ithaca has their voice heard.

While we plan, we must also recognize that the City continues to change under our feet. This year we will see construction projects in Collegetown, Breckenridge Place, Cayuga Green, Seneca Way, Holiday Inn and the Argos Inn. Many of these projects will be underway while the City is replacing the Clinton Street Bridge and the State of New York is repairing Green Street and Seneca Street.

Each of these public and private investments is good individually. Taken together they mean one thing: gridlock. The City will – as much as we can – do ‘air traffic control’ to stagger the projects and minimize the inconvenience. Still, given the large number of projects and the number of separate agencies involved, residents should expect delays.

We will work hard to get the word out about the delays well in advance in order to help people plan their routes and avoid the construction.

Government Performance
We must institute a performance measurement system and create a Chief of Staff position to improve accountability and transparency, and enhance our public communications. Ithacans demand a high level of service. They want an accountable, responsive and transparent government. We can give it to them by overhauling our management structure.

We cannot manage what we do not measure. A performance measurement system will give Council and the Mayor the information we need to make informed budgetary and personnel decisions. As recommended by the recently completed Novak report the City should also create a Chief of Staff position that will implement this performance measurement system. This position will also give the city departments badly needed administrative oversight and support. Keeping the public informed continues to be a challenge. We must modernize our website so Ithacans can get the information they need without taking time
away from their jobs and families to come to City Hall.

We will begin broadcasting Common Council, Board of Public Works and other meetings online this year. We will also maintain an archive of videos on the website so that if you miss a meeting you can still find out what happened.

It is also time for the City to enter the world of social media. So many thousands of Ithacans are staying connected to each other and the outside world through Facebook and Twitter. These tools will allow us to inform people about routine
matters like meetings, announcements, events etc. and – importantly – will help us get information out more quickly in the event of a crisis.

To achieve these changes I’ve created a new committee, the Government Performance and Accountability (GPA) Committee, to be chaired by Alderperson Deb Mohlenhoff. They will work to create a performance measurement system, explore the creation of a Chief of Staff position, and will work to enhance our public communications.

The State of our City is strong, but its future hangs in the balance. In order to stay healthy, vibrant and successful we will need to reduce costs, grow our economy, partner meaningfully with Cornell University, measure our performance, and improve our public communication. I have no illusions about the scale of the work that lies before us.

I know that is an ambitious and far-reaching agenda. I know too that we are up to the task. I know that Common Council, city staff, and engaged community members can achieve all I’ve laid out today and more. I know this because I have come to
learn what this City is capable of.

We are Ithaca. We are a city that prides itself on being overeducated and overcaffeinated. We are a city that prides itself on thinking otherwise. We are a city that believes an idea can change the world.

We are Ithaca. We are a city of tree-huggers. We are a city of environmentalists. We are a city that uses the term “sustainability” so much it became a buzzword that didn’t mean anything. Then we kept using it until it meant something again. We are a city that knows that the future of our economy, our community and our life depends on keeping our air, our water, and our soil clean.

We are Ithaca. We are a city of entrepreneurs. We are a city that embraces local businesses. We are a city that spawns non-profits. We are the kind of community that – when a business like Buffalo Street Books is about to shut its doors because it cannot compete with box stores and online retailers – binds together to find a creative solution and bring that business back to life.

We are Ithaca. We are a city that believes in its young people. We believe that investing in our youth is not just our responsibility. We believe it is our greatest opportunity. We are a city that has seen how yesterday’s member of the Ithaca Youth Council is today’s Director of Planning and Economic Development.

We are Ithaca. We are a city that believes that – given a chance – anyone can make a difference. We are a city that believes a 24 year old with a passion for public service, a willingness to work, and a love for this community, can lead the
City.

We are Ithaca. And we will do this together!

Mayor Svante L. Myrick

I read with interest your report of the Tompkins County Independent Redistricting Commission’s public hearing on January 31 at the Dryden Town Hall.

You correctly noted many of the positive comments from local officials and members of the public who spoke at the hearing. The bipartisan Commission has solicited public comment as we continue to refine our proposal or proposals for submission to the County Legislature by March 1, 2012. Our next public hearing on February 9 at the Tompkins County Public Library has the same objective.

Your suggestion that some of the recommended boundary changes in our currently preferred option, Map 14 C v.1, have been made with political or personal motives in mind is simply not true. If you had attended our meetings, all of which have been open to the public and whose detailed minutes have been published on our web site, you would have observed that at no time since our first meeting on June 27 of last year has there been any reference to the possible impact of our deliberations on incumbents or potential candidates. Our work has focused on adjustments required to be made as a result of population changes since the previous federal census in 2000 and the desire to make our districts as compact as possible, reducing the number of so-called sliver districts in the Town of Ithaca, and reflecting neighborhood and community interests while following existing municipal boundaries.

Thank you for your interest in the Commission’s work. I hope you will attend our upcoming public hearing and share your views with the members of the Commission.

Henrik N. Dullea
Chair
Tompkins County Independent Redistricting Commission

However, Marian Brown, special assistant to the Ithaca College provost for sustainability, told the Ithacan that the college “had this long history” of not using the vehicles enough to pay for their upkeep. After three-and-a-half years, “we weren’t seeing usage that we wanted to see,” Jennifer Dotson, executive director at Carshare and First Ward Common Council representative.

Although the car will not be located at the hear of Ithaca College in Textor Circle, the school will continue to underwrite the Carshare membership for students, faculty and staff.

The service currently has “dozens” of students and almost 40 educational staff as members, Dotson said.

This isn’t the first time Carshare has had better luck attracting students living off-campus. After an auto initially assigned to the Cornell University campus failed to attract the needed response, the vehicle was moved into nearby Collegetown. The service expects the same turn-around for Ithaca College.

“There’s a lot of students who do live farther down on South Hill,” Dotson said. “It’s a good opportunity to serve some of the upperclassmen who are moving around the community more.”

AES Cayuga Power Station (Photo/Bennett V - http://flic.kr/p/9TuHPo)

An information session hosted by the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency public hearing regarding AES takes place 7pm Feb. 6 at Lansing Town Hall. The hearing will focus on a proposed amendement to a PILOT agreement between AES/Cayuga and TCID. Representatives of AES, the IDA, Tompkins County, Town of Lansing and the Lansing Central School District will attend and answer questions.

The presentation will include information on the current condition of AES’ coal-fired power plant, the impact of the PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) amendment on the taxing jurisdictions and the likely impact of the recent bankruptcy filing by AES.

The hearing is set in advance of a Feb. 8 public at Lansing Town Hall. The public hearing, to be held from 7pm to 8pm, will allow the IDA to hear public comment on the agreement. The development agency will meet “sometime in February” to approve the proposed amendment.

Finalizing an agreement between AES and the various taxing bodies has been a contentious process. The IDA said it stepped in to prevent further litigation and provide some stability for area government unable to forecast their budgets due to the uncertainty. Unlike other PILOT agreements which have a goal of increasing jobs, the pact with AES is solely about providing property taxes.

During the 2009-2010 school year, AES paid more than $2.8 million in property taxes, supplying 11.8 percent of the Lansing Central School District’s more than $23 million budget, according to the IDA. For the 2010-2011, school year, AES paid more than $2.4 million in local taxes, providing 9.85 percent of the school district’s overall budget.

As value of AES property falls, the tax burden increases for Lansing home owners. The school district is looking at a 6.5 percent tax hike for the 2012-2013 school year, according to the Lansing Star.

“Because of the crashing economy the PILOT was almost immediately renegotiated, and then renegotiated again. The value that will impact the 2012-2013 school levy is set at $86.5 million, and two years later it will be set at only $60 million. This year that means taxpayers will have to pay $500,000 more of the levy than last year on top of any rises needed to maintain the school budget.”

The IDA has a fact sheet on its AES Pilot at the agency website.

Two days before taking office on Jan. 1, Myrick told Wykstra he would be replaced. Because no replacement had been named, the mayor’s political foe served throughout January. At Myrick’s first Board of Public Works meeting, Wykstra was surprised his seat was still open, having taken his official nameplate home.

But now he is pointing to a series of miscommunications leading up to Wednesday announcement. Wykstra said he emailed the mayor in December, asking about his place on the board, “but I didn’t hear back,” Wykstra told the Sun. Earlier, in November, he spoke with Myrick at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. There, he said, Myrick said he’d “heard that Wykstra didn’t want to serve on the Board of another term,” according to the article.

Wykstra suggests there was a communication mix-up when he told the then mayoral candidate that he didn’t want to serve under City of Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson. He said he told Myrick that he didn’t want to serve again under Peterson.

At the same Wednesday Common Council meeting, Myrick appointed Jeanne Leccese to replace Warden. Leccese is listed as the Creating Healthy Places Coordinator for the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County. The City of Ithaca funds the Coalition, along with the Town of Ithaca, Town of Groton and Tompkins County.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Ed Schultz (video), Fox said he went through the usual channels to gain accreditation to film the hearings. “We had done that successfully in the past when the Democrats were in control of the House. Since the Republicans took over, we have had obstruction after obstruction getting into Congress.”

Texas Republican Committee Chairman Ralph M. Hall denied access to both Fox and ABC. When North Carolina Democratic committee Rep. Brad Miller said it was clear “we have space in this room to film this hearing,” Republican committee members tabled Miller’s request, blocking the film crews. The committee later released this official statement on the hearing.)

“They are kicking science and journalism out of the science and technology committee and it’s really a brazen attack on American civil liberties and frankly our ability to investigate the truth,” Fox told the MSNBC host.

West said Cornell may be unique when it comes to the attitude about same-sex marriage. “I think the campus climate here has been more positively disposed to same-sex marriage that what might be the case on other campuses,” he said.

New York State legalized same-sex marriage in July 2011.

However, commission member Linda Duttweiler, expressed concern the Coddington Road neighborhood could be split into two districts. Duttweiler, the only commission member to vote against the current redistricting plan, also objected to the districts connecting the Ithaca College campus with West Hill rather than the school’s eastern neighbors.

Cora Yao, member of the city’s redistricting committee, asked the commission to reconsider the boundary between District 4 (represented by Democrat Nathan Shinagawa) and District 5 (held by Democrat Kathy Luz Herrera.) The boundary would split the University Avenue and Linn Street area of the Fall Creek neighborhood.

Although expressly independent, the commission’s proposal is not without political overtones. District expansion went to districts who’s representatives supported Democrat Martha Robertson’s bid to retain the Legislature’s Chair position against Lane. Republican Tompkins County Legislator Brian Robison, who helped swing the repeatedly tied votes toward Robertson gained new slices of county voters.

Robinson’s Groton-based District 9 would be enlarged to include portions of eastern Dryden, now held by Democrat Lane. Not only does the reapportionment benefit the Republican, but hurts any chance of Lane again mounting an insurrection because Robertson represents the western portion of the Town of Dryden.

James Dennis’s District 15 expands into the northwest corner of the Town of Ithaca. The Trumansburg Democrat also voted to reelect Robertson.

The county commission next holds a public hearing at 5:30 pm, Feb. 9 at the Tompkins County Public library. Tuesday night Herrera asked city residents to attend the hearing, calling the county proposal’s to eliminate one representative in the city “detrimental to representation of City residents’ concerns on
the County Legislature.” The day before, the city’s redistricting committee also meets.

A map of the redistricting proposal can be found on the county website.

The county is also taking up a look at redistricting that would affect the number of local representatives in the Tompkins County Legislature. That group meets 5:30pm Thursday, Feb. 9 in the Borg Warner room of the Tompkins County Public Library on East Green Street.