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Ruth HopkinsIn the past several years one of the hottest political potatoes in Lansing has been a disagreement on whether the Town should hire a full time or a part time planner.  the argument has split along party lines, with Republicans arguing that a part time planner would save taxpayer dollars, and Democrats arguing the opposite.  But until this week neither side could offer hard figures to support their position.  Councilwoman Ruth Hopkins (D) gave a preliminary report at Wednesday's Town Board meeting that concluded the Town is paying $9,000 more because it has a part time planner.

"In recent days I've been asked if we know whether we've saved any money by hiring a part time planner.  I didn't initially  know the answer to that, so I used our accounting reports with some additional input from our Town accounting office to look at what the projected year end expenses are in our planning and zoning account would be, in order to compare them with expenses in that account for the last year in which we had a full time person in that position, which was 2012," Hopkins told the Board.  "I corrected that for inflation.  I found, so far, that our expenses in our planning and zoning account are projected to be $9,000 higher in 2015 than they were in 2012, corrected for inflation."

Hopkins, along with Supervisor Kathy Miller (D) have voted in favor of a full time planner since the money for a full time position was included in the 2014 Lansing Town Budget.  The position was added in the budget at a time when the Board consisted of three Democrats and two Republicans.  But before a planner could be hired the makeup of the Board changed to two Democrats and three Republicans.  A search was conducted, and the time came for the Board to vote on hiring John Zepko, the top candidate.  During a Town Board meeting in late May of 2014 at which 25 people spoke on planning issues, 23 of them in favor of hiring a full time planner.

But the Board voted to not to hire anyone.  Later that year Councilmen Ed LaVigne and Robert Cree were given the task to find a part time planning consultant, and in October 2014 Michael Long was hired to fill the position that had been filled by part time planner Jonathan Kanter until March of that year.

Republicans argued that the expense for a part time planner would be much less, especially because no benefits would be part of the compensation.

"Yes, I found the part time planner portion of the expenses are less," Hopkins said Wednesday.  "But, as predicted the legal and zoning expenses  are greater.  I also find that revenues from permits and developers have increased 60% over 2012, showing an even greater need, in my opinion, for a full time planner to help guide and administer the work."

She went on to argue that the Town has suffered because day to day questions must wait for a time when Long has office hours, a few days a week instead of every weekday.

"I also contend that the Supervisor is performing work normally done by a planning administrator, such as knocking on doors to get water distribution easements, and responding to citizen concerns about many of the planning and storm water issues," she added.

There has been no argument from either side about the benefits of a planner.  There seems to be universal agreement that having a professional planner work with the town Planning Board and local residents and developers has been beneficial.  Cree said last year that he wanted to hire a part time planner and monitor the situation to see if the necessary work of the Town could be conducted at less expense before committing to a full time position.  In 2014 Planning Board members were among those who argued for a full time planner after working closely with Kanter.  But the issue of whether the Town can justify the expense of a full time vs. a part time planner continues in this year's election campaigns.

Hopkins offered to share her findings, including a spreadsheet with expenses and the formula for adjusting the 2012 dollars for inflation, with board members, and said she hopes the Board will continue to review the issue.

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