Archive: News

Bronwyn Losey is running for Lansing Town Board.  She came to Lansing over 30 years ago when she was in first grade.  She and her husband Jeff have two children.  She is the founding director at Global Roots Play School, which provides child care for children whose parents are in English as a Second Language class.

Losey says she has experience in starting and running organizations, and says she is a quick study.  She has overseen budgets, grant writing and recording, and has managerial experience.  She says she is running because she has heard from a lot of people that they want more control over the shape of the future of the Town in terms of how development happens.  "I'm running out of a sense of public service," she says. "It hasn't necessarily always been my dream, but I think I can do the job, and I think I can do it well, and I was asked."

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

The most important thing Lansing needs right now is for residents and community members to feel heard and a part of the decision making process.  What's working well now is people hearing about meetings and knowing when meetings are, and knowing that they can come and observe or speak as they desire.  But I have heard from a number of people who feel that maybe they want to be part of the decision making process sooner than when (issues) get to the Town Board and is at the point of a vote.  Or they feel they were able to speak but weren't necessarily really heard.

I would want to address those concerns and talk to people who are feeling not heard to see what would work for people to feel heard.

  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?

Part of the reason I chose to run now is because the next town board is going to be pivotal in these decisions about what future development is going to look like.  I want that to take into account what people love about Lansing and why people want to live here.  I want to make future development something that makes people feel good about living in Lansing.  Not just development because we need it, but development because it's what we want.

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

It's clear that the future needs to be based on truly renewable and sustainable energy.  I think heat syncs and geothermal are what needs to be done.  I would advocate for longer term incentives and more incentives.  Whatever we can do to get people both individually and municipally to move toward sustainable and renewable (energy), that's what we have to do.

  Three key points have been proposed in this election: 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?

My understanding is that there was a lot of work towards a comprehensive plan for the Town, and that there is a feeling that the concern for making up for the loss of tax base is being prioritized over the thoughts in the comprehensive plan and the work that went into that originally.  I would want to, again, go back to listening to the community and making sure that when we can we get out ahead of development, instead of responding to developers coming to us.

One way to help people feel engaged and really heard is meeting people in their neighborhoods. Lansing is a big place.  It's a small town, but it's a big place and a diverse place, so a lot of people's concerns are particular to their neighborhood or their road.  Offering to meet people literally where they are, as an individual councilwoman or with a couple of other folks, would be a way for people to really feel heard.  For people to be able to express themselves in a place that feels comfortable to them.

Informal meetings.  Sometimes people can feel intimidated about speaking at a board meeting.  They would like to share their opinion and sit around a kitchen table and chat about what they want their neighborhood to look like.

Part of better communications is that idea of having small gatherings in a space where people are.  Also I would want to explore possibilities for a solution that is electronic, some kind of forum.  I was reading about how in Trumansburg they are really active with a town Facebook page that has all of the board members and the Supervisor in the same place, able to participate and respond to the whole community.  I don't know if that would be the right solution, but I want to explore possibilities there.  I think it would feel more open to people with differing views if it were posted not by one person, but by the Town.

Spending accountability: The information is out there, but it can be really hard to understand.  It's so complicated between the interplay of the Town and the Village and what part is what part.  Having it in a more readable format for folks would be helpful.

  What have you done to prepare for the position should you be elected?

I've gone to some town board meetings.  I've read through the current proposed budget and done my best to decipher that.  And I've talked to people and listened to people, more than talked to them, listened to what matters to people and what they want to see.

  What makes you the best candidate?

I don't know that I'm the best candidate, but what I bring to the table is a willingness to listen and a desire to be a representative to the Town Board.  I'm not bringing a lot of my own agenda, but I'm bringing a desire to represent the citizens of Lansing in a decision-making capacity.

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