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Democrat Pat Prior has been active in Tompkins County politics and the Democratic Party for many years.  She first came to Lansing in 1962 and stayed for eight years while teaching at Lansing Elementary School.  She moved back in 2004 and has been active in the Tompkins County and Lansing Democratic Committees.  Pryor is currently finishing her first term on the Legislature and is hoping voters will send her back for a second.

She sat down with the Lansing Star last Friday to talk about why she is running and what she wants to do if re-elected.


Lansing Star: What can you offer voters that your opponent can not offer?

Pat Pryor: I think I have a number of things I can offer to the voters of Lansing.  They'll have to take a look at what I have to offer and see if that's what they want.  I have spent a good deal of my life working with people.  In that capacity, whether it's in the classroom or with the parents of the kids, or working in the school district itself, or in the volunteer work I've done in the community... one of the things that I've had to learn to do is really listen and listen carefully.

I think that anybody who knows me knows that I'm a very good listener, and I try to communicate clearly  and really consider seriously the things that folks are saying to me and take that into account in my decision making.

I'm not a person who will just make up my mind based on whatever might be popular at the moment.  I do my research.  Even if I think I know which side of an issue I'm probably going to come down on I really try to look at both sides of the question before I make a decision. 

It's important to me to consider the needs of the folks out here in Lansing.  Although it's true that I'm a county representative and to some degree I have to take into account what's going to be good for the county as a whole, I am always cognizant of the fact that I represent a particular town on the Legislature.  My town, Lansing, has particular needs.  That's never far from my thinking when I make decisions.  I try to be very accessible.  I make sure that my phone number and my email address are easily available to people.  I encourage people to call me.  I attend Town Board meetings.  I try to make sure the community knows that I'm there, I'm available, that I will listen to them and that  I care about the things that they think are important.


What did you do in your first term that directly benefitted Lansing taxpayers and/or county taxpayers, making their lives better?

The first thing that comes to mind... I started my first year on the Legislature in 2010... through conversations with some of my colleagues it became apparent that we were all hearing from the people we represent that the lack of good high speed connection to the Internet was a problem in the rural parts of the community.  There had been a committee in the past that had looked at this, but nothing was happening at the time.

We decided that the committee needed to take a look at it again and I was asked if I would be willing to chair that committee.  I said yes, I would take that on.

So since 2010 I have chaired what came to be known as the Special Committee On Broadband.  Over the course of that time we have thoroughly researched the situation.  We came to some conclusions about how we could expand broadband Internet connections, and we started looking for sources of funding.

We decided once the regional economic development councils that the Governor put together was offering funding, we formed a public/private partnership with Clarity Connect to offer wireless broadband Internet service to as much of the county as it could reach that is not currently served.  That's been a project that I have spent countless hours working on that is just now beginning to come to fruition.

We received a 42.2 million state grant to cover 14 different towns in both Tompkins County and parts of Southern Cayuga County.  It made sense because your wireless signal doesn't stop at a county line or a town line.  That particular geographic area made sense to try to work together.

I am very pleased to see that this is an effort that's come to fruition.  So that's probably the biggest project I have worked on to benefit both the residents of the Town of Lansing as well as rural residents of all parts of the county.

When I interviewed you and your opponent in July he made a comment to the effect that broadband isn't a big issue in the sense that repowering the power plant is.   I've thought about that since he said it.  Has broadband become a piece of infrastructure people expect?  Is it a primary concern for people?

I think it is very much a primary concern for people who don't have it.  I think people who have the connection tend to take it for granted.  I don't think they realize what a detriment it is to families that don't have it. An immediate thought that comes to mind is the degree to which our schools are beginning to integrate technology into the classroom.  If you have children in the school system it is very difficult for them to compete academically with the kids of families who have good high speed connections at home.

Now we do have libraries.  We do have places where people can go where there's a wifi connection, but it's not the same as being able to sit down at home.  There are many classrooms where teachers rely on the Internet these days and they integrate it into their classroom teaching, into their assignments, into their research they expect kids to do.  So I think it has really become integral to people's lives.

It may be, and we did experience this... I will say honestly that there are some people we encountered who said they didn't care that much about Internet service.  But if I could show you the number of email messages that I have received from people since we started this project, the number of phone calls that I've gotten, the number of inquiries that the committee got... people are hungry for this service.  They can't wait to get connected.

They realize that they can pay their bills, do their research, shop, connect with their friends across the country or in the next town or next door... yes, all of the things that they can do that they couldn't do without a good high speed connection.

Most people are very aware of that and they expect that service.  I've spoken to several people in rural parts of Lansing.  People, who are, for instance, connected to Cornell.  One of them told me they bought their house not realizing that they didn't have an Internet connection.  They were going to have to move unless they could be assured that they would get a connection.  And the services that were out there that were available were not affordable.

This project is going to make affordable high speed Internet connection available to 96% of the homes and businesses in rural Tompkins County with the exception of the two towns that we're still trying to find a way to fund.

A common criticism of the County Legislature is that it appears to waste a lot of time and effort on issues that are beyond its jurisdiction.  Do you agree with that assessment, and, if yes, what will you do to minimize it and keep the Legislature focussed on Tompkins County?

I think the question needs to be a little broader than that and say what have I already done?  I agree in large measure with that assessment.  however I am just one person on the Legislature and I'm in a minority when it comes to this.  I have realized since I've been on the Legislature that to some degree the resolutions that we've passed, especially on state issues, do have an impact with our state legislators and do make a difference.  They do listen to the leadership at the county level when it comes to important decisions they have to make.

I have spoken in favor of not having resolutions on some of these issues.  So it's kind of a balance.  I prefer not to have as many of them.  if it were just my choice I'd say let's limit it to just those things that we really know that we can influence.

But it's not always my choice.


I know (Tompkins County Legislature Chair) Martha Robertson has gone to Albany to lobby for relief from unfunded mandates.  Do you see any realistic possibility of true mandate relief from Albany?  How effective are our state legislators in pushing for relief and what, realistically, if anything can county legislators do about it?

I do think that we have not just Tompkins, but in concert with our association of counties, we have gotten the message through to Albany that we do need relief from these unfunded mandates.  That we cannot continue to ask our local property taxpayers  to pay for these programs that Albany requires us to pay for.  I do think that we have had some impact.  We have seen some relief in the last couple of years from Medicaid payments.  There has been a cap put on those payments that will directly help our county government.


That's the big one, isn't it?


Yes, that's the big one.  If we had not advocated as strongly as we have that Medicaid cap would not have happened.  I do think at the state level there is not as much attention paid to mandate relief as there should be.  We've taken a step in the right direction, but we still need to do a lot more.  The State needs to do a lot more to recognize that property taxes are a regressive tax.  To depend so much on property taxes for these mandates is simply not fair to the taxpayers.  More needs to be done.


In her January address to the Legislature Chairwoman Martha Robertson said a priority of the Legislature should be to 'make a mark on climate change.'  A proposed ban on so-called T-shirt plastic bags is the latest in a series of county laws that are good for the world but more costly in money and effort to constituents.  Look at garbage tags – throwing away trash and garbage is more expensive and more complicated than it was.  I am not implying that the world is not important.  It obviously is.  But I am asking if this is the right course for a county government and if Tompkins County is fairly balancing its philosophical mission with the quality of life and day to day needs of its constituents.

The proposal to prohibit the use of what are termed 'single-use' plastic bags such as you get in the grocery store is, first of all, just that -- a proposal.  It has not been adopted by the County.  I want to make that clear.

I am not in support of that proposal.  I understand the reason behind it.  I understand that, as you say, climate is important.  The environment is important.  We need to think of those things, but I think there needs to be a balance in the approach that wee take to it.

I am not convinced that enough has been done either locally or at the state or national level to educate people as to how they can dispose of these plastic bags so they don't become part of the waste stream.  I believe the use of those bags is a huge convenience, especially for certain categories of folks.

I am very concerned because I have brought up at two meetings the question of people with disabilities who are trying to maintain their independence, be able to do their own shopping and so on.  I think it would be very very difficult and challenging to ask them to carry reusable bags with them, especially since there is clear evidence that one of the things you have to do is was reusable bags frequently or you run the risk of e-coli and other bacteria contaminating whatever you put in the bag.  After the first time you use it it may look clean, but it's not.  Unless you put those bags in the wash every week they're not safe for reuse.

I don't think it's as easy a solution as the proponents would like to pretend it is.  I will not support this proposal.  I am opposed to it.


In the same address she said the Legislature would make a mark on unemployment and income inequality.  She said, “In November 2012 the unemployment rate in Tompkins County was 5.4%, or about 3,100 unemployed residents. Those numbers have been fairly stagnant for the last three years.  Although the rate is well below today's statewide number of 7.9%, it's much higher than our typical unemployment rate and is simply not acceptable.”  If you are re-elected what will you do to impact these things?

There are several things the County is directly involved in that help create employment here.  The biggest one is our work with Tompkins County Area Development (TCAD).  TCAD actively works to create the environment in Ithaca that will attract companies to come here, or companies that are already here to stay here and to grow and employ people here in Tompkins County.  There is a strong history of TCAD's work here in the community to both bring jobs here and keep jobs here.

Another thing that we do is work very closely with our major employers -- Cornell University, Ithaca College, Borg Warner... all the big companies.  We try to and have very good communications with them so if there is something they are thinking of doing we can, as a county, assist them if it's going to be something that will help them to keep employees here or grow their business here.  We're very committed to doing that.

When it comes to wage inequality we have been, practically right from the very start, very strong supporters of what is called a 'livable wage.'  We have been a livable wage employer going back more than ten years now.  Right now we are taking a second look at our living wage policy to see if it needs to be adjusted to accomodate those companies that contract with Tompkins County.

At this point it is not being recommended that we make any change in the policy itself.  Bt we do plan to put in place some procedural steps and guidance for our department heads and our administrators, as they enact that policy, to make sure that we bring as many people as close as possible to the living wage standard here.


So when you hire a contractor you make sure that they are on board with this?


It's very complex.  There are some contracts that are influenced by federal and state regulations that have to do with prevailing wage, for example.  So to the extent that we can do it within existing regulations -- we don't necessarily require it.  it depends on the situation.  -- but yes, we strongly try to influence our contractors to bring their employees to the minimum wage.

Another example is hotels that come into Ithaca.  We talk to them about whether or not the people that clean rooms and work in the kitchen, and folks like that are up to that level.


In a recent discussion with Legislator Carol Chock about a proposed law she told me that the legislature does not pass laws that it does not intend to enforce, but she acknowledged that resources for enforcing them are limited.  We were not talking about a felony law and she suggested other county departments that could regulate that particular one.

But it got me to thinking about law enforcement in general, the old saw that only three deputy sheriff vehicles patrol 476 square miles at any given time.  Is law enforcement adequately supported by the Legislature?  Do we have enough deputies for the size of our county?

That's another question that has to be looked at in a broader sense.  We don't have enough employees in any of our departments to meet what would be the ideal situation.  That includes law enforcement.

One of the things that we have struggled with especially since the crash in 2009 is how to get the work done with fewer employees.  We have reduced the county workforce by about nine percent since 209.  Every department has taken a hit.  We've had to learn how to work smarter rather than have more people doing the work.

I think the Sheriff's Department does a fine job with resources that they have.  We take very seriously any recommendations that they bring to us, any requests that they bring to us.  The first step, if in fact there is a need for more deputies, would be for the Sheriff to bring that request to us at budget time so that we could consider it.  I think we would take that very seriously and take a close look at it.


Budget time is now.


The biggest thing we're looking at right now for the Sheriff's Department is a modification of the jail so that we can house more individuals there.  We do not meet what the state would like us to have in terms of our ability to house people who are currently in jail.  We have a proposal that would add some beds there and improve the recreational area.

Whether or not we're going to add any deputies -- I don't recall a request for the addition of deputies.  We really rely on the Sheriff to let us know if he feels he needs more deputies.


As I look at what various elected officials take credit for on the national and state level I see that many of them do peripheral things that may be nice but do not significantly impact the lives of the people they represent.  On the county level, what do you see as the top couple of issues that will make a real difference in the lives of Lansing constituents (and county residents in general) and what will you personally do to address them if you are re-elected?

I'd like to see the buildout of the broadband system to its conclusion.  When we finish that buildout and get everyone who has expressed an interest connected, that's going to be a huge accomplishment that will definitely improve the lives of many people across Tompkins County.  That is something that I clearly want to see finished.

We have some organizations in Ithaca that have taken really big hits with the sequestration and since the crash.  Money has become less available for everybody.  One group is our human services organizations.  We heard a presentation from the Human Services Coalition this past week.  We heard from one agency, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization, that has lost 69% of its funding.  Maybe you or I don't have kids who directly benefit from that program, but I don't think that anybody questions the value of it for the kids who are involved in it.

And that's not the only human services group that has suffered badly in the past few years.  So one of the things I would like to focus on is how we can work with those agencies so that they are able to do the most good in the community.   Not by simply giving them money... because I think there needs to be a huge amount of accountability that goes with that.  I think we have good systems set up here in Tompkins County, the way we work through the human services coalition to monitor  and hold accountable the groups that we provide services and funding for.  But that's a very big need here in Tompkins County.

I am very worried about some of the programs that have taken hits at the federal level, like Head Start.  We need to find a way to provide places in Head Start programs for kids that need them.  I don't know how we're going to do that when it's programs that have taken hits on the federal level, but those are things that I would really like to focus on.


On the town level when the County cut funding to youth services, they came to the towns to try to make it up.  It just goes down and down and down.

That's right.  When the federal government cuts things like that they expect the state to pick it up.  The state passes it to the county.  The county passes it onto the towns.  And it's the kids and families that suffer.


Anything we missed?  Why should voters vote for you?


I work very hard.  I care very much about this town.  I came back here to settle because I love this town.  I care very much about the people.  This is where I want to be.

I will continue working very hard for the people of Lansing.  I have tried to be very accessible.  I've tried to be a good listener.  I will be out in the community.  You will see me at various meetings and events, whatever needs to happen, whether it be on the individual level of a constituent who calls me for help with something that has to do with the system, or whether it has to do with being present at all of the meetings I am supposed to be at.

You haven't asked me about my attendance record.  My attendance at both Legislature and committee meetings has been very, very good.  I intend to keep that up.  A lot of the work in the Legislature goes on in our standing committee meetings.  We handle a lot of issues at that level before they ever get to the level of the Legislature.  That's something I'm very committed to -- to being there and making sure Lansing residents have a voice.

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