Archive: Around Town

Saturday saw local Republicans at the town ballfields slinging chicken at the annual Lansing Republicans barbecue fundraiser.  Candidates and Lansing Republican committee members alike were manning the barbecues and the sales tent, hoping to fund what promises to be an interesting campaign this year.

"It's a fluid situation as far as candidates are concerned," said Lansing Republicans Chairman Lin Davidson.  "I think we can really look forward to a good slate and keep the town where it has been.  We'll have a full slate without a doubt."

Town Supervisor Scott Pinney's (D) seat is up this year, as are town council seats for Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox (D) and Marty Christopher (R).  Only Christopher has officially announced his intention: he is not running.  Rumor has it that Pinney and Wilcox will run again, but Democratic candidates are not officially chosen until the annual Democratic caucus in August.  Some Republicans were hopeful that former Town Supervisor Steve Farkas (R) would run again, but Farkas stated categorically Saturday that he is not running.  At the time of this writing Lansing Community Council President Ed LaVigne is running for town council.

"I do have a person interested in running for Supervisor, and I think that's a positive situation," Davidson says.  "We're trying to fill the slate.  We're still a long way from November and times change.  A lot of things will happen in the next month and a half will get things to where we want them to be."


Long-time Town Clerk Bonita Boles' (R) last day was last Friday, but because of accrued vacation time her official retirement day is June 2.  Until then Deputy Clerk Debbie Crandall (R) will be filling in, after which point she has been appointed by the Town Board to fill Boles' term, with Darlene Marshall becoming Deputy Clerk.  Crandall will be running for Clerk in November.

Filling out the slate as it now stands is incumbent Highway Superintendent Jack French (R) and Judge John Howell (R).

Before Farkas squashed the rumors that he would run again it looked like there might be a rematch between he and Pinney.  Many people have privately groused that Pinney campaigned much harder than Farkas in the last election when Pinney unseated Farkas by only a handful of votes.  That illustrated a change in Lansing's political winds.  Until recently Lansing was a largely Republican town.  Republicans could simply put their names on the ballot and get elected.  But with a growing Democrat population -- there are now more registered Democrats in the town than Republicans -- local Republicans are waking up to the fact that they have to campaign more aggressively.

"I think it could be said that some assumptions were made in the past, maybe not so much on the part of the committee," Davidson says.  "Whatever happened in the last election was influenced by the number of people that come to the polls.  I really do worry that we should vote for good people in the town that we know, and not just go in and pull a lever because it has an R or a D in front of the lever.  I hope that people will actually look and read about and find out about the candidates and what they have, in fact done in the town.  In (the last Supervisor election) you're talking 12 votes either way.  It's not like it was a landslide."

The Lansing Republicans hold a barbecue every year as their main fundraiser.  The money is divided among the candidates, who individually decide how to spend it and any other money they might raise for their campaigns.  The committee also provides signs around town listing the whole Republican slate when it gets closer to election time.

"Everyone is supposed to keep track of their campaign funds," says Republican Tompkins County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Cree.  "Any town with a population of over 10,000 people has to file automatically for campaign finance.  So all of our candidates in Lansing will have to file."

That is separate from filing their actual candidacy.  Republicans petition between June 7 and July 18, and the Republican committee votes on whether or not to endorse them for the party line on the ballot.  Democrats are chosen at a caucus, where candidates state their case and any registered Democrat in attendance can vote.  The Tompkins County Board of Elections has links and detailed information on their Web site listing requirements and deadlines for candidates.


The Republican slate will likely be complete by some time in June.  The Lansing Democrats typically hold the caucus to set their slate the second week in August.  After that, with issues like the town's largest property taxpayer hemorrhaging property value, a move to bring sewer to South Lansing, and increasing interest in attracting business to a town center, this year's election should be interesting.

Will Lansing Republicans spend their funds on a more aggressive campaign strategy?  At least one candidate is planning to do just that, but is waiting for the party's nomination before going public.  Ed LaVigne took time out from the barbecue Saturday to attend a local candidate school, which Davidson says he hopes will give Republicans more tools to make their campaigns successful.

"It's a necessary part of the show," Davidson says.  "We'll have more fun this year."

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