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Pat Prior has been active in Tompkins County politics and the Democratic Party for many years.  She first came to Lansing in 1962 and stayed for eight years while teaching at Lansing Elementary School.  She moved back here in 2004 and has been active in the Tompkins County and Lansing Democratic Committees.

She sat down with the Lansing Star last week to talk about why she is running and what she will bring to the job if she is elected.

Lansing Star: Why are you running for County Board?  Why should there be a Democrat representing the Town of Lansing?  Does it matter that there are so many Democrats on that board?

Pat Pryor:  When I moved to Lansing I had experience as an elected official in the City of Ithaca, and have had quite a bit of experience over the years as a volunteer on various county boards, city boards, and commissions.  I've enjoyed the work that I've been able to do.  I feel like since I retired from teaching I still have a lot of energy, I have a lot of commitment to the community.  I care about what's happening.  Public service feels to me like one of the ways that I can take some of the experience that I've had over the years, and be able to give back to my community, first of all in other places where I've lived, and now I'm back here in Lansing, where I plan to stay.

For me some for of public service is an extension of what I have been doing for the past number of years.  I became active on the Democratic Committee when I moved back here.  As we began to talk about the various elections that were coming up this Fall and the various openings for candidates, I had a number of people approach me and ask if I would be willing to consider running for the County Legislature seat.

I thought about it very seriously and decided that could be a place where I could make a real contribution.  So I decided to run.

As to the question of 'why a Democrat,' or 'why another Democrat' on the County Legislature -- it's true that the County Legislature now is predominantly Democrats.  It just happens to be that way.  I actually think that especially in a rural community like Lansing that the candidate themselves may be more important in some ways than the party that they represent. 

It's not that I don't think the party is important -- I do.  I think there are things that Democrats stand for, which are the things that I'm committed to and the things that I believe in.  Nevertheless I also think it makes a big difference who the person is, and what they have to bring to the table.  I think that party affiliation is only one of the factors that you need to look at when you're considering a candidate, whether it's the Town Board, the County Legislature, or whatever it happens to be.

So I'm not terribly concerned about the issue of how many Democrats versus how many Republicans there are on the County Legislature.  I know that this year Frank Proto, for instance, who is a long-time leader on the Legislature, and is a Republican, was recognized in the Ithaca Times poll as being the most effective county legislator.  I think that lends weight to what I'm saying about the quality of the representation as opposed to just the label of the party.

What was the third part?

LS: The last part was what makes you the best choice.

PP: I think that I will bring a more activist way of working with the Lansing community.  As I was considering whether or not to run, I had people say things like, 'Most people don't even know who our representative is.  Who is it?  Where do we see him?  Where do we hear from him?'  There was this sense that there wasn't a lot of contact between the person who is the representative and the people here in the town.  There wasn't a lot of attempt to reach out and stay connected with townspeople.  That's one thing I'm very committed to doing.

As your representative you will see me.  I will be around town.  I will be at events.  I will make a real attempt to reach out to the voters in Lansing and residents in Lansing, to be in touch with what people are thinking and how they're feeling.  I will be there to do the job in a very active, committed sort of way.  In terms of the kind of process of representation that I will bring as a county legislator will be a change from what we have had, and a change for the better.

LS: What are the key challenges for the County over the next four years, and what are the top issues that you want to address personally?

PP: Like every other municipality Tompkins County is facing huge fiscal problems.  Even with the stimulus money that's coming down from Washington the need to tighten the county budget in order to make it possible for taxpayers to pay what they have to pay in taxes is a huge challenge.  This fiscal turmoil that we're going through right now as a country is not going to ease right away.  Even as some of the figures on the national level begin to look better it's going to be a long time before employment and other financial indicators here in the County even get back to where they were before this downturn began.

I think the need for fiscal restraint, and the need for trying to figure out how to provide the kind of quality programs that residents of Tompkins County have come to expect, and still live within the budget that people can afford is going to be the biggest challenge that we're going to have to face.

I'm personally interested in working on that.  I think the County has done a good job on that these last few years, in keeping the increase in taxes at or close to the rate of inflation.  That has already meant that they have had to make cutbacks in order to keep within the rate of inflation.  I don't see that easing over the next few years.  I think that will be the biggest challenge.

One issue aside from that that I'm particularly interested has to do with the possibility of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.  I think that's something we're just beginning to understand what some of the implications are for Lansing and other municipalities around Tompkins County.  That's one that I'm going to take a very close look at and intend to follow up on.

LS: How do you view the proposed budget cuts in this year's process.  How do you view the balance between social and municipal services in the County?  Do you think they're making the right kinds of cuts?

PP: In terms of balance, let me address that first.  I think everyone is familiar with the fact that the State mandates certain kinds of social services and human services.  Those are things that the County has no choice but to fund.  Over a period of years Tompkins County, based on the values that people have expressed through their representatives at the County level has chosen to fund some of those services above and beyond what the State mandates are.  To the degree that those choices they have made over the years have reflected what the voters have asked their representatives to do, I think that's been very well justified.

I think there are programs that people value very highly.  I certainly support human services programs, because I believe that when you can intervene in a person's life in such a way as you can assist them to become more independent and more self-supportive, in the long run that's actually going to save money for the county.  So I'm a big supporter of human service programs.

However I also believe that in a time of real tough fiscal constraint you have to look at the ways in which the County may be funding some of your social service programs above and beyond what the State is requiring.  I think what the County has done this year has made a lot of sense, and I support it.  First of all I support the idea that they set a cap for the budget, the three percent.  When they set that cap they knew full well that even a three percent increase would mean that they would have to make severe cuts, you know, millions of dollars.

In order to reach that goal every department has been looked at with a fine tooth comb.  Every department has had to share the pain of some of those cuts.

LS: They had an across the board cut of, what -- 6.something percent?

PP: I don't know the exact feature, but yes, in order to reach that three percent reduction they had to cut more than that because there are certain costs that are fixed.  So they have to cut from someplace else.

I think the Legislature, by looking at each department as they have been doing, by setting the cap, by saying there are not going to be any exceptions to this, by saying that every department is going to have to shoulder its fair share of these cuts -- to me that's the only fair way to do it.  Even though those cuts are painful I have to agree with what they're doing.

There are some kinds of things that I think the County has to be sure that it continues to keep up with.  Infrastructure is one of those things.  I would have to have more information than I have at hand right now to say what the impact of the cutbacks on roads and other things is going to be, but that does concern me, that that's one of the places that they're having to cut.


LS: Of all the issues we have in Tompkins County I picked two that I think are relevant to Lansing right now.  The first is how important is rural broadband at this point in time, and what can the Legislature do about it?

PP: I'm very interested in rural broadband.  First of all by profession I am an educator.  As a retired teacher I place a high value on people being able to communicate.   I see the value of technology.  I see the difference that it's made for people who live in areas where they have fast communications.  I've been in many of the rural parts of Lansing where they don't have that easy connection, and they can't get that information as quickly.

I think that it's critically important for our families -- all families in Lansing -- to have access to broadband.  I'm very interested in seeing what we can do to improve that situation.

There is a proposal that is being made by a local company, Clarity Connect, to try to extend broadband here in Tompkins County.  Not only Tompkins County but some of the contiguous counties also.  I am very supportive of that.  I would like to see that happen.

LS: Because you prefer to support a local company or because you think it's the best solution?

PP: Well, it's the best solution that I've heard and the fact that it happens to be a local company , I think, adds to the positive side of it.

LS: The second issue is what can or should the County do to control natural gas drilling or to contain its consequences?

PP: I think there are some things that the County can do, and I think there are some things that the local municipalities can do.  From what I've been reading and learning about it -- and I've been to some of the meetings that they have had about this -- the State right now is in a period where they are going to be accepting comments on their draft generic environmental impact statement.  I think it's important for municipal representatives at the town and county level to make comments as part of that process.  Comments that become part of the record.

For instance they can speak to disclosure, making sure that the proposed regulations require the gas drilling companies to disclose the chemicals that they're using.  That those stay in the proposed regulations and become part of the law that applies to gas drilling.

They can speak to issues like the water.  Where is the water going to come from that they need for the fracting process?  What's going to happen to the water after it's been used? 

I fear in Tompkins County and in Lansing in particular an issue I haven't seen addressed is the fact that we already have extensive salt mines under our land.  If they are doing gas drilling have they seriously investigated what the impact would be if there was cross-contamination between a gas drilling well and one of the salt mines?  I haven't seen that raised as an issue at all.

Aside from commenting on the DEC process and making sure that residents get voiced officially, I think the County and the Town can take a look at its road systems.  One of the things that we have the authority to do is regulate weight limits on roads.  We need to take a look at what the impact on the infrastructure is going to be with the increased truck traffic once they start gas drilling in a particular area.  That's an important thing for the County to be doing.

A third critical piece of this is going to be oversight.  It seems at this time that the DEC, regardless of what the regulations are, does not have the kind of personnel that they're going to need to adequately oversee the permitting process and the actual drilling process.  So I think that the County, perhaps working together with other counties, should be saying very strongly that this should not happen until the DEC is fully staffed in such a way that we can know that there is going to be adequate oversight of this whole process.

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

PP: I've had a variety of experiences over the years, having lived in various parts of Tompkins County I think I have a very keen appreciation of the rural lifestyle.  I'm a country girl myself.  I love our open spaces.  I treasure our natural resources, so I bring that kind of a viewpoint.

I also have a lot of insight into the relationships between the Town and the City, for example.  I know that a lot of people feel -- and it's a reality -- that there's tension between the needs of the city and the needs of the more rural parts of Tompkins County.

I've lived in both places.  I know people in both places.  I've worked with leaders in both places.  I think that I can help to build bridges between people in the rural parts of the County and the City, and work together for the common good of everybody in the County.  I think that my experience will help bring that kind of a perspective.

I also have a tremendous commitment to doing a good job.  I really, really want to listen to the people out here in Lansing. I want to hear what their opinions are, what their concerns are.  I want to represent them well, and I will work hard to do that.  I plan to be very accessible, to communicate with people, and I think they will find that I will work very hard to do a good job in representing them.

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