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A retired Tompkins County Deputy Sheriff, Jeffery "Otto" Norman is running for Lansing Town Board, his first time running for elected office.  He has lived in 66 years.  He and his wife Denise have eight children between them.  At the Sheriff's office he started as a road patrol officer before being promoted to road patrol sergeant (supervisor).  He retired in 2001.

Norman says he has worked with all different kinds of people from all walks of life through his career in the Sheriff's Department.  He says, "Law enforcement isn't just arresting people or writing parking tickets.  A lot of it is social work."  He says that helped him develop his ability to communicate and to listen and help with problems.  He is running on a platform of public safety and how rapidly the Town is growing.  He says keeping up with increased traffic growth and burden on the schools is up to the Board to deal with these issues.  He summarizes by saying communication skills and being a 'problem fixer' are the key attributes he will bring to the Town Board.

 What do you think is the most important thing Lansing needs right now? What will you do to make that happen?

Right now Lansing needs leadership that's bipartisan, and leadership by people who don't have personal agendas or belong to specific core groups that don't represent the entire town.  We need to get out as board members.  Even if people don't come to the meetings you need to at least try to get out to the fire department, or gatherings wherever you can and talk to people.  You need to get feedback from everybody.

The big reason I'm running is that people come to me and say "we don't feel like we're being heard any more." And it's your core people, not the new people that move in. It's the people who have been here for 60 or 70 years.  You need those people.  They're the ones who built this town.  They're the ones who made this town what it is.  There's a reason this town is so popular -- the schools and the services.  But the people that made it what it is -- the farmers, the workers at Cargill, and several seniors who live here... the people who are out there getting their hands dirty -- are people we need to listen to.  They feel like they're not being represented.

I have a deep passion for the people. We need the people who protest the salt plant. You need them because they keep you honest.  They don't let anything slip by, and that's a good thing.It's not a bad thing.  It keeps everybody honest.  But you also need these core people who are out in the community and have lived here all their lives.

  In your perfect world, how would you like to see development go forward in the Town? What should the town be doing to attract the right kind of developments?

That's a difficult question, because I think our infrastructure has to keep up with development.  Services have to keep up with development.  You can very easily outgrow a pair of shoes.  If you get too big and you can't service the community then it becomes a problem.

There's nothing wrong with development happening the way it's happening.  But I also want to protect our natural resources.  I'd really hate to see natural resources areas being destroyed for development.

So we have to draw a fine line here between development and what's going to override everything.  The ideal situation -- I'd like to see a big shopping center come in, or a storefront where Lansing Plaza used to be... and business come in so people can shop in Lansing besides shopping at the mall, and do that kind of stuff.  Is that going to happen in my lifetime?  I don't know.  But I don't like to see development overtake natural resources to the point where we lose the beauty of this town.

  What do you view as the best solution to powering and heating new developments? If you could wave your wand and make anything happen, what would you do to address the natural gas moratorium in order to encourage development?

I am getting a lot of feedback from people on the natural gas moratorium.  I think you need to come up with a solution that people can afford.  By that I mean not just people in Lakewatch and those areas, but people who live in trailer parks and rental units... you need to come up with an affordable solution.

I believe in protecting the environment.  I'm an outdoor person -- I love the outdoors.  But if natural gas is the way to go and has a minimal impact on the environment I can't see why that wouldn't work.  I understand that there is a lot of science behind it, and it's a national problem. It's not just a local problem.  Solar energy is a biggie right now, but solar energy is also costly.  I've read articles on wind energy and that's working in some areas, but that's costly. So you have to figure out a way to make people be able to afford it.  That's the bottom line in my eyes.

You have people in this town who work in factories.  They don't have $100,000 a year jobs.  They can't afford to pay high energy costs.  How are we going to help these people?

Some people I know have bought homes where the natural gas line runs in front of their property, but they can't get it.  I know a couple of businesses that expanded, but couldn't use natural gas.  One half of a business is on natural gas and they have to use propane for the other half!  I don't think that's right.  It's not fair to these people that they can't use what's available.

If you can come up with a better way that's economically acceptable to people, I'd be all for it.  But if it's costly I can't see putting that burden on the Town and the people who work in the Town.

Look at the farmers -- there goes your natural resources, because if they have to put panels in for solar instead of growing crops they're going to be putting them in.  There is no real solid evidence that solar is going to save you anything in the long run.

It's a Catch-22, I think, no matter how you rule on it.  Look at just the seed farmers in this area.  There are a lot of farmers here that lease land for seed sale.  That's their livelihood.  There comes a point in time when you're either going to take away their livelihoods or driving down Peruville Road, instead of seeing corn or wheat fields there are going to be these big steel panels.  People are going to start saying, "well that looks ugly".

So it's a Catch-22 and there's no real answer.  I believe in what's fair and what's economically correct for people. That's the way I have to lean. I have to lean the way that's going to be the best, economy-wise, for the people that live in Lansing.

  Three key points have been proposed in this election by the Democratic candidates: better planning, communication, and spending accountability. What do you think about the current state of those items, and what, if anything, do you plan to do to improve them?

On spending accountability I don't want to get into this political rhetoric, because they make it seem like everything's behind the scenes. It's not. I've been to board meetings. I've listened to them. I've read the minutes.  I can think of a couple of occasions where using town funds behind the scenes was done, and it didn't involve a minority of the board.  I think Eddie has done a wonderful job for this community.  He's done a lot of work in this community. He lives for Lansing.  I've known him all my life.  He lives for Lansing.  What he does on that board is for the people, and I back him 100% win, lose, or draw.

So making (spending) accountability better -- I think those are not really factual ideas.  I consider it done. I don't think there's a problem with accountability.

Communication - Eddie gets out every day.  If you look on Facebook he's got something posted every day.  Not just in the election year. He's done it for as long as I know, letting people what's going on in the town.  And the board gets out there.

Communications can always be better. You can always be better at it.  I plan on getting out and going to fire department meetings and others, seeing, talking, or offering to talk to people and getting out more.  Using electronic communication devices we have nowadays it's a lot easier.  I really don't see that as a problem with the board right now.

I think there's a lack of teamwork and special interest or personal agendas are a problem.  In our platform we bring teamwork, bringing us together for one common goal.

The planning issue involves growth.  We have to make sure that the infrastructure can handle what's going on. Right now with the new project across from the ball fields is going to bring a lot of people into this community.  The schools have to be able to handle it. The buses, the fire department, the ambulance service, the police... we need to make sure we have that covered.

Developers will tend to lean toward his development and what's going to benefit him. The Town does need somebody that represents the Town to look at these situations on an individual basis and decide what's best for the community. On that point I agree that we need a planner to look at this stuff.  With all the foresight in the world you can't predict what's going to happen... you can't look in a crystal ball and say this is going to be how it's going to be, because things change.  You've got to be realistic about what you're doing.

  What have you done to prepare for the position should you be elected? (Andra- What have you done on the Board?)

I've been talking to a lot of people all through the town.  I've been talking to people, getting ideas of what their problems are and how they fee about the Board and how they feel about the direction we're headed in.  So I'm getting a lot of ideas from these people, and business owners and what their concerns are.  I get a lot of public safety and that kind of issue.  I've been going to board meetings.  I try to make as many board meetings as I can to get a feel for the process.

The budget -- I've been reading up on it. I'm not an expert on it, but I do know people that are that I can consult and get up to base with that.  That will be something that I'll have to work on once I'm elected.


  What makes you the best candidate?

I've been an armchair quarterback for the last few years, reading minutes online about the board and often complaining.  Finally somebody said, "you have some good ideas.  Why don't you run and try to bring your ideas to the Board?"  I talked to my wife about it. I've been out of public service for a while and I got the itch to get back into it.  I have a lot to offer, as far as my ideas, but also my communication skills.  I know a lot of people in the Town of Lansing and I talk to a lot of people.

And I'm a listener. I like to listen.  I like to listen to what people have to say.  In my job you learned to not only listen, but you had to act on what you heard. So I learned -- and that's a unique position.  I don't think the Board has ever had someone who was a police officer -- being on the Board and having the skills I have.  I was an instructor at the Sheriff's Department. I went to supervisor training. I've had risk management.  I had training in disaster coordination. So there are several fields that I've trained in that IO could bring to this board.

Communication is the biggest thing.  I listen to people and I listen to their problems, and I give them the respect that they are due no matter who they are.  That's what I believe in.

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