Archive: News

Currently Mr. Sigler is an account executive at Park Outdoor Advertising. Prior to that he was a news anchor/reporter at WETM in Elmira. He says, "If no one from the college wins (in other districts) I'll be the youngest member of the County Board (he is 35)." We interviewed him at the Star on August 3.

Lansing Star: Why are you running for County Board?

Mike Sigler: A few people asked me to run. I had moved to town.

LS: This year?

MS: Yes. We had moved to town. We had been to Lansing a lot. When I campaigned for Assembly I had walked three or four of the districts in Lansing, because this was a big voter base for us at a State wide level. So I had already known the town pretty well. My step son is starting school in the Fall and we're going to stay here the next, at least, twenty years, because we're going to want him to finish High School here. Then my daughter is only seven months, so she's going to start school here. We're certainly going to want her to go all the way through. So Lansing is a lifetime commitment for us.

We like the school system. It's not that we disliked the Ithaca school system. It's just that we felt that Lansing was more in tune with what we grew up with. We want to support the schools as much as possible, because it's not only self-beneficial, but we really believe that if you can educate children and give them a good foundation, which we believe Lansing does do, and that's part of the reason we moved here, then they'll be successful in life. That's what we were looking for in a school system. Something a little bit smaller, something that would give them more personal attention, and Lansing provides all that.

LS: What are the key challenges for the County as you see them?

MS: Taxes! (laughing)

LS: (laughing) A good Republican answer!

MS: Well I think it's even more than that this time. I know a lot of Democrats in town, too, and that was part of the reason I decided to run, too. People approached me and asked me to run. Then I went through the list of all the voters, and I knew a lot of them. Democrats and Republicans, I didn't really break it down to just Republicans. I looked at the Democrats, too and I knew a lot of them, and everyone is saying, "Our property taxes are too high."

I look at my property taxes... we have a rental in Ithaca as well... I'm paying on both homes, and my taxes are more than my mortgage. I think that's really what people are now saying. That's really been the rub for people. That's really put it into perspective. You know, we're paying more to the County than we are to our bank. And they don't really understand that. And I don't understand that.

And that's what really drives it home for me as well. And I'm really not getting, I don't think, the services for that.

The other problem is the assessments. People understand that "if my assessment goes up my tax rate should go down. We always say we want to hold it to inflation. Well, that's a good goal and that's certainly what I'm going to strive for if I get elected. However, underlying that you should have the goal to reduce the tax rate if our assessments keep going up. In Lansing now the assessed value is just as much as it is in the city, or more now.

So we have to work to get our fair share back from the County. But again, why are we paying so much? I mean our taxes just keep going through the roof and our assessments keep going up. As the assessments go up we should see a decrease in the tax rate. But we haven't seen it.

LS: Looking at the County's census figures from the 2000 census, Lansing Town and Village population is the equivalent of about 48.5% of Ithaca's, but Lansing's representation on the County Board is only 30%. It you take the town alone it comes to 36.5% of Ithaca and 20% representation. So it seems to me that Lansing is under represented. Do you think that's true and is this something that could be changed?

MS: It could be, through redistricting, but they just did that. As everywhere, the politicians that are in power have decided to redistrict so that they can protect seats. Since you have a lot of Democrats in power, they decided to district it so that some of their seats are a little bit safer. I've never understood that. I think you should have fair races. This whole idea of drawing a line so you can have more Democrats or more Republicans I think is nonsense. You know, just draw the lines as simply as possible.

Now, when you say Lansing is under represented, Tom Todd has done a great job. He really focussed all his energies on really representing Lansing well. And you can see that. Everybody I talked to were all very happy with Tom and they felt that he was a strong voice for them on the County Board. And that's what i think you need.

So when you say "under represented," yes, in the number of people, perhaps, however if you have a strong voice, and you're able to work with people... You have to understand that the Republicans could take control of the County Board this year. We definitely have a strong slate of candidates. It could happen.

LS: DO you think the tax situation contributes to that possibility?

MS: I think it does. I think people are angry to an extent. I talked to a number of people who know people who are moving from their homes into apartments, because they just can't afford the taxes. That's a serious problem. And that's something that shouldn't happen. I mean, I don't like to see taxes driving people from their homes.

School taxes are a good example. Most of the people I talk to understand school taxes, because they see where the money's going. But when they talk about County taxes and then they have a pothole in their road or the response time from the Sheriff's Department isn't quite what it should be, they see problems. They don't understand. "Well we're paying all this money. Where is that money going?"

Yes, I think property are definitely the main issue for people this year. And I think they are upset. Tim Joseph would be a good example. The people I talk to in Lansing, unfortunately, can't vote him out. If they could, he would be out of office. Because they are laying a lot of the blame on his doorstep. We have an excellent candidate in (Larry) Nivison. He has a great set of credentials, and I think he would bring a voice of reason to the board.

I was reading in the paper that they want to build new buildings. There are certain Board members who are saying, "yeah that would be great. We would love to do that." We don't have the money to do that.

Part of it, yes, you have to cut expenses. We all know that. In your own household... we just bought a wood stove. Why? We can't afford the oil to heat the house. So, yeah, the wood stove helps us out a lot. And I think people understand that.

So now you have to decide, "where are the cuts going to come from?" I don't want the cuts to come from infrastructure. I don't want them to come from the Sheriff's department. Because that hurts Lansing. I mean, our police department is the Sheriff's department. We're probably going to do some battle to an extent with Ithaca, because I don't know if they care as much as we do about the Sheriff's Department because they have their own police force. But, for us, that's something Lansing really needs a strong voice to say, "Listen. Our Sheriff's Department it is for us. It's important to us. And we have a pretty high assessed rate. That's where we think our money should go." And that's something I am determined to protect.

And again, if you want to get all political about it, the Sheriff is a Democrat. So there is something that crosses over party lines.

LS: Do you think he is doing a good job?

MS: From what I see, I know that they need more money and they haven't really gotten the support from the Board that they hope for. I plan to work with the Sheriff's Department regardless of who is the Sheriff. I haven't heard a lot of complaints about the Sheriff's Department.

But he is someone you have to work with and I think that's a key to anybody who is going to get on the county board. You're going to have to work with the other party. Even if the Republicans take control of it, it is not going to be by a lot. And if they don't take control of it I certainly think they're going to pick up some seats. We have four now. I think the Republicans have a good shot at picking up seats, and that will bring home the fact that we have to get long here, and we have to cut expenses, and where are we going to cut them from? And you have to get along with the other side to do that.

There are certain people that are good at doing that. I consider myself one of those people. And hopefully you can bring that voice of reason back to the County Board. Because everybody thinks they are spending too much money. Everybody I talk to.

LS: Lansing has one and a half seats right now. Do you view them as a voting block?

MS: I do to an extent. I think Lansing is unique in the fact that it's the fastest growing town. That's going to put pressures on, basically, everything. Infrastructure, Sheriff's Department... Lansing has some of the major industries in the county. We have the salt mine, we have the power plant, and the mall, which isn't in the district (he is running for), but it is a part of Lansing. Everything's growing here in Lansing, and that's something you always have to keep in mind.

But you also have to keep in mind that there is still a lot of farming. If you go to North Lansing it's all farms. So how do you balance those two things? I think I have a good amount of support from the farming community. They know I understand that it's not just peoples homes that are getting taxed out of existence, it's the farms, too. When you hear farmers talk... listen, food has not gone up in price. Why do you see so few dairy fams now? Because milk just hasn't gone up in price. You're paying less for a gallon of milk now in some places than you are for a gallon of gas.

They're saying, "Listen, our expenses have gone up. It's not just the property tax. It's gasoline prices. If we use fertilizers... everything has gone up." That's something the Lansing representative definitely has to understand. You have to get along with industry, but you always have to keep in mind the farmers. That's part of the reason people move to Lansing, too. The open space. And the best way, I think, to keep open space is to farm.

That's why I like the wineries so much. They keep the open space, yet you're making money on it, and you're able to pay the property taxes.

LS: Tim Joseph states in the budget summary that future tax increases in our community are largely in the hands of the State and Federal governments. Last year taxes went up about six and a half percent. The two years before that they went up about 13% each year. And now they are talking about a zero rise budget. Even the 6.59% tax rise is pretty high, isn't it?

The best people who know this are the D.A. and the A.D.A.s. You have to talk to them about how to do it. A lot of them say, "Well listen, we have a probation department that's been around for decades. Why are we spending so much money on ATI which really has no proven results. Whereas probation is the same thing. It not only seems like we're throwing money into something to make people feel good in jail, but we're putting money into something that we're already putting money into: probation. It seams like a redundancy to me.

So that's something that I would look at and likely cut, ATI. It just doesn't make any sense to me. , because we already have it in probation. And it seems to me the best way to get people to stop coming back to jail is to get them into the workplace. I mean if people are making money and they have something to lose... It's like drug offenders. (They say) "I don't feel good about myself so I take drugs." Well what makes people feel good about themselves? I think being a productive member of society is how you do that.

So when it comes to things like Work Force new york and these programs, these things have proven results. I talked to people from Workforce New York when I was running for Assembly. Proven results. Here we have this person, they were taking drugs, they came in. We helped them, maybe get their GED. We helped them get their High School diploma. These are things that have a proven effect on someone's ability to find a job. Well, why are we not focusing on that?

I don't believe ATI concentrates on that. They concentrate on a whole 'nother set of issues. And I've never seen proven results from them, and they don't want to give them.

LS: I understood that the privacy issue for graduates is why they don't track that.

MS: You know, when you commit a crime, you give up certain things. And I think you understand that. You have to have proven results, because (laughs) really what are we spending our money on?

I want to help the most people. I think that's what government is really supposed to do. To help as many people as possible. But you only have a certain amount of money to do that.

LS: Are there other programs you would target?

MS: ATI is where I would start. I think that's the one that really sticks in people's craw to an extent. There are certain ones that I would protect. The Sheriff's Department would be one. I think the D.A.'s office. Because if I'm going to take money from ATI that money has to go into probation, perhaps. Not all of it, because I think that you would have some savings there. I think you have people who are already working for probation who are saying, "We can do with more checking in to people." But I believe there are more savings to be had there.

I certainly wouldn't cut roads, because infrastructure, especially for Lansing... Again, here's something where you are going to have some conflict with people. But I think it's also been shown that if you neglect your infrastructure it only gets more expensive down the road. You're basically putting it off. That's where, you know, you have to do the maintenance. So road crews and things like that are essential. Bridges. That's something I think you need to focus your money on. And that's the responsibility of the County. I believe those two are the main responsibility of the County (roads and public safety).

LS: The zero tax increase for the 2006 budget: do you think the County will be able to achieve that?

MS: I think with the board you have in place right now, I don't think they'll be able to achieve it.

LS: Do you think it's achievable?

MS: I think it is. I think it's more than achievable. I think you probably could cut the budget. I think you need some board members who are willing to be unpopular with some groups of people. When you cut things people get angry. You're going to affect their budgets. However you have to be willing to take that political hit and I don't see many politicians today who are willing to do that.

I think that if a new board does come in, it's a noble goal. I think that's a good place to start. I'm glad that they've said, "we understand the problem." We'll find out if they really do understand the problem.

LS: Do you think it's for real or just an election year effort?

MS: Well, I notice a lot of people are leaving the board. There are a lot of open seats. Tom not included. I think Tom has been there a while and he said, "Time for somebody new to step up." But other members I know have said "It's time for us to go" and hopefully with this new board coming in, they'll understand the problem.

The people that are still there on the board, I don't know if they necessarily understand the whole situation. I don't want to continue to slam Tim Joseph, but I'm not entirely sure that he recognizes the damage that is being done to people. I mean when I pay my tax bill.. I have a step son and a daughter who I would like to send to college some day. And that money that is going into helping everybody else... I have to help my family, too. And that money is coming directly out of their college (funds). It's not just that these people have the money to spend. It's coming directly out of their college funds, or the money that I need to support them. Because I'm already paying a lot in taxes. New York State is definitely not tax friendly.

If you add up all the taxes you're getting hit very hard. Even the sales tax. My Father came up to visit and he said, "Your tax rate is much higher (than mine)." Six percent in New Jersey. Eight percent here. That's a big difference when you're talking about home improvement or anything. When you're paying taxes on basically everything.

I went through my salary, and just after taxes... I mean you're taking out Social Security, which you have to pay, Federal Income Tax.. Then you're paying your State. Then you get back, say, 60%. So they're taking 40 already. Then you're going to spen, probably that whole 60%. So that's another 8% (sales tax) no matter what. And then you add on property taxes.

I mean I'm having trouble doing it and I know there are people who make a lot less money than I am. I'm not making a huge salary, however I know there are people making less and I don't know how they're doing it. I understand the problem. And, thank goodness, if somebody at least has the money to buy a home that saves them some of their taxes, but still property tax... they're getting hit, they're getting killed by that.

And the assessments. People are saying, "I didn't realize my house is worth that much!" And why do home improvement? Contractors are getting a lot of business, however people have to look at that, too. "Why am I improving my home?" Because they're just going to assess them more.

So why do it? You need the room, so you do it. But then it's like you're paying somebody to live. And that's never what government was supposed to be, to my mind.

LS: I heard someone on the radio expounding on how he felt government below the County level is unnecessary.

MS: (Laughs)

LS: His justification was economy of scale. That the county could save a lot of money like Wal Mart by buying in bulk for the various schools, Sheriff and police. Do you think that is a good idea, and do you think Tompkins County could accomplish it?

MS: Well I certainly don't think you would eliminate Town Boards. I mean Town Boards are essential. However, when it comes to buying things in bulk I agree with him. That's something that, I don't know if the County would take over, but it could certainly facilitate it. If Lansing was going to by salt and Trumansburg was buying their salt and everyone was buying salt in bulk, certainly the County can facilitate that.

I don't see any reason to do away with Town Boards, but I think you could get a lot of benefit out of it. That's something I said in the Assembly race. You can consolidate certain areas and you can definitely get a better price, but I wouldn't eliminate Town Boards.

LS: How do you think the County's doing with the airport?

MS: I think the airport's doing real well. I'm pleasantly surprised. Because I was worried just three years ago. I had talked to Cornell and they were worried about it. I said, "if I do win the Assembly race I think there is something I can do to help you." But the people running it, they brought in Northwest (Airline). that's been a great addition. Without the airport Cornell would be hurt, and, let's face facts, Cornell is the biggest business in town. In Lansing we have the airport corporate park. A lot of these businesses would not be able to function without reliable air service.

And I'm pleasantly surprised, too, when my Mother-in Law flew up here from Detroit is was about $200 round trip. Granted, it was one of those new fares. But I am glad to see that the prices are better than they were. And I'm very pleased with how the airport's worked out. It serves an essential county function.

LS: ATI aside, do you think the County adequately supports the Sheriff and D.A.'s office?

MS: I talked to (D.A.) George Dentes about it. He says, "I have this case load and I don't have the people to do it." If he needs a new A.D.A I believe what George is telling me. He's definitely a fiscal conservative, so if he's asking for money I tend to believe it. And I think the Sheriff's Department is well run, from what I see. And if they say, "We're not having the patrols that we need," again in Lansing that's our police force. For a lot of the outlying towns from the city, that is their major police force.

So there's an area where I don't want to see cuts. If they need additional funds to get done what needs to get done in public safety, that's what the County's responsibility is. I believe the main function of the County is public safety.

LS: The library's budget woes were in the news this year a lot. What action do you think the County should take to address them?

MS: I'm concerned about the library down town. I love our little Lansing public library. I see all this money going downtown and I'm concerned that we're not bringing enough money to our local library and the outlying libraries. We live twenty five minutes to the down town library. And parking down there... every time we go down my wife gets a ticket. Oh, she only put in (enough money) for thirty minutes and she was in for thirty five. Bam! There's a ticket.

And granted, she can park in the parking garages, but, again, you want easy access. When we lived down town we used the library more and it was a big benefit, but I think maybe we've lost perspective, too. I mean what are libraries meant to do? When I was a kid we went to the library to get books. And I appreciate that they have movies and everything, but I would like to see our town library supported better as opposed to just pouring money into the library down town. I thought the library that we had down town before we took over the Woolworths building seemed pretty adequate.

MS: Yes. I'm a big supporter of recycling because it saves me on my garbage bill. We recycle a ton. And I think there is money to be made there. And if it does cost a little extra money I think that the more people do it, we'll see savings. It has been a success. I'm very happy, I put these things out, they take 'em, yes, I think that's been a huge success.

I would like to see that continue. It's certainly not something I would like to see go away. It annoys me when towns like New York City saying "We're not going to do recycling any more." I say "You're the biggest city in the country. You probably should keep doing it." (laughs) Because, again, there is money to be had. I was born in a state where we had all the land fills and were running out of room. It seems a shame to throw away plastic.

And now my friend Kevin Talty sells plastic cups that has been bought by a lot of places down town that is made of corn. It breaks down after 30 days. So you don't have to recycle that cup. They're great. They break down in 30 to 60 days, something along those lines.

So it's not that people aren't focussed on recycling and the environment. Ithaca and Lansing are very concerned about these things.

LS: what unique benefits will you bring to the County as a Lansing representative?

MS: I bring two things. My ability to communicate ideas and make them reasonable enough that I can get along with the other side. I'm not unbendable. I'm very flexible when it comes to things and I think I can communicate ideas to the other side how it's a benefit to all and not just my district or just downtown Ithaca. But I understand that there are certain needs that Lansing has, and I understand those needs. And I think I can communicate them to a broader audience.

The only downside is that I haven't lived in Lansing that long. I guess it's a matter of do you want somebody who is at the end or somebody who is at the beginning? And I'm definitely at the beginning. We've bought that house, we're doing work on it, we're settled in there and we're going to live there a long, long time. I know that people may be concerned we haven't lived here that long. I know the area, I know a lot of people in Lansing. There's a reason we moved here. We had our choice of all the towns and this is the one we picked.

So if you elect me I'll be your legislator as long as you want me. And if you decide to vote me out one day, well I'm still going to live here.

LS: What do you see for Lansing in the future?

MS: I see us growing out further in the future. I mean I don't see Lansing slowing down. They're thinking about putting in sewer lines, right up my road, actually, and water. Now granted that's been on the table a long time so I don't know if it will ever happen. But I think it will happen. I think Lansing is going to expand into that kind of growth.

And I don't think property taxes, with the board we have now, going down. They're going to say these are because of a lot of State mandates. But if you actually go through the State mandates there really aren't that many. And if they are mandated, they're not mandated at the level that we're paying. And that's where I think the cuts can come. We have to look at the programs and say, "What is mandated? These are the things we can't touch." But then you have to look at everything else. If you don't get new board members in there I really don't see a change of direction. And I think that's what everyone is looking for. We have to slow down. We have to slow down the growth in property tax rates. Because that's the one area that the county government really has control over, is spending. And they may say, "Oh we don't." Well you do. Because you set the budget.

And you can't throw up your hands and want to be the popular person all the time. There are certain people who are going to get angry with you, and you have to understand that going in. If you're getting in for that reason you're going to spend money like it's not yours. I think that's something that everyone has to keep in mind, too. You have to hire a legislator who keeps in mind that it's not county money. It's your money.

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