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Ed LaVigne (R) began campaigning for Lansing Supervisor Wednesday, going door to door to talk to residents about the town and listen to their ideas about its future direction.  LaVigne will complete his term as Councilman on the Town Board at the end of this year, and has set his sights on the top seat: Supervisor.  He and Chris Williams (R) will go head to head in the Republican primary election on September 10th, and the victor will move onto the general election.

"My personal vision is this: I think we've learned through our experiences and our failures that town-wide sewer is not the way to go," LaVigne said Wednesday.  "But sewer should be built out from the densest areas and pushed out by each individual district, similar to how water districts are.  That way the people that are in the proposed sewer district have the chance to either accept it or reject it.  They and they alone would be paying for that sewer district.  That is where the growth comes.  It comes from density, just like the rings on a tree.  My vision is for the growth to come from the south as it comes towards Peruville Road, as it comes down Triphammer, and also comes down East Shore Drive."

LaVigne grew up in Lansing and has lived here most of his life.  He and his wife Debbie have two children and five grandchildren.  He is a pharmacist at Tops Market.  As president of the Lansing Community Council he has been a leader in countless initiatives that have resulted in the reconstruction of the North Log Cabin, the Myers Park Playground Project (which he dubbed MP3), a successful appeal to raise money for the Lansing Food Pantry, and many other such projects, some of which are in the works now.  He has also been very active at Lansing United Methodist Church, heading up the bi-annual rummage sale for many years, among other activities.

LaVigne says that it is a crucial time for Lansing.  After four years of artisan strife on the Town Board, he says he can provide 'calm, focused leadership'.

"I would be inclusive," he said.  "After this last election I reached out to the Supervisor and asked her to sit down and have lunch and talk.  That was not accepted.  So we try to move forward to the best interests of Lansing.  If that seems divisive, then so be it.  As a supervisor I would reach out to each individual.  Talk to each individual to see where our circles cross, and try to make some sort of compromise.  You don't need to have 5-0 votes all the time, but what you try to do is see what their passions are, even if they are in a different political party.  As long as you can see where that's going and you're agreeable, then by all means let them move forward so there is success.  Because their success is the Town's success."

Despite differences among the members, LaVigne says the Town Board has become more fiscally disciplined over the past year.  He notes the Town has no debt, but lists the threat of the Cayuga Power Plant closing as one of the top three challenges for the next Supervisor.

"We don't know if the power plant will be refired or not," he says.  "That's a huge, huge concern because that's our largest taxpayer in the County.  Therefore, let's be very frugal and very disciplined and move forward in that regard, as opposed to this quote/unquote gridlock."


Supervisor Kathy Miller is retired, so has a great deal of time to be available in the Supervisor's office, and challenger Williams has two jobs for which he sets his own schedule.  LaVigne's pharmacy job is the closest the three have to a 'traditional' day job, which raises concerns about whether he will have the time to devote to the Supervisor's office.  But LaVigne shrugs off that concern, noting that he has a job that gives him two and a half days off weekly, and is flexible because he and his partner in the pharmacy are willing to accomodate each others' schedules.

"I'm used to working 14 hours a day.  It's not uncommon for me to come in early or leave late.  So I don't get a second wind -- I get a fifth wind," LaVigne says.  "The old saying is, 'If you want something done you give it to a busy person,' because they're more efficient.  I don't need to take a half hour to say hello.  Unfortunately, in government, sometimes we tend to fill up our day, where in the private sector we try to get 60 hours worth of work done in 40."

The top three issues LaVigne says he wants to address, if elected, are dealing with the fallout of whatever the decision is on repowering the power plant, facilitating the gas extension along West Dryden Road to provide natural gas to the Warren Road and surrounding areas of Lansing, and increasing Lansing's infrastructure (sewer and water, district by district) and bringing in new businesses.

As of this week LaVigne is campaigning one voter at a time.

"I'm going door to door.  That's what I do best," he says.  "I go to as many districts as I can.  I talk to as many people as I can.  Even when I pass petitions in off-year elections I talk to people, because that's the best time to do it, when they have a Town Board member in their livingroom.  And whatever they say is confidential.  As a pharmacist I know all about confidentiality. it's off the record, because I want them to be comfortable.  I want them to share their concerns with me.  If I can address their concerns I will make every effort to do that.  I am only seven numbers away."

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