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Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Lansing resident and former Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature (2008-9), formally submitted 325 Town of Lansing petition signatures to the Tompkins County Board of Elections Tuesday to secure the Lansing Lighthouse independent ballot line in the fall general election to represent Town of Lansing residents on the Town Board from 2012 through 2015. Two representatives will be elected to the Town of Lansing Board on November 8 to fill four-year terms. One hundred ninety-eight petition signatures were required to secure a ballot line in the general election. Koplinka-Loehr had already been unanimously endorsed at the July 28, 2011, Town of Lansing Democratic caucus to be one of two Town of Lansing Democratic candidates on the ballot this fall.
“I am honored to have served our larger community with distinction for 12 years as a county legislator and have been involved in the Town of Lansing since becoming a property owner here in 2008. I am humbled to have this level of tangible support—325 signatures from Town of Lansing neighbors from all backgrounds and political perspectives— to allow me the opportunity to continue to serve the public good, representing their voices first and foremost. Especially in these times of unprecedented economic challenge, now is when experience matters most,” he said.
Koplinka-Loehr summarized his conclusions from door-to-door conversations: “Over the past 4 weeks I have visited over 500 Lansing households, leaving literature for those who were not home and listening to the concerns of those who were. Three issue areas resounded: the property tax burden, building a sense of community cohesiveness through common sense governance, and economic development in a sustainable fashion.”
In meeting those concerns Koplinka-Loehr pledged, “Many Lansing residents were aware of my record of keeping the county tax levy at or below the rate of inflation while maintaining the important community services we have all come to expect, and I plan to continue to serve Lansing taxpayers in this manner if elected.”
Koplinka-Loehr was instrumental in initiating the practice of setting a tax levy guideline early each year, which then gained bipartisan support, and allowed organizational managers adequate time to devise plans to meet that target, while maintaining quality services for residents.
Regarding his securing the Lansing Lighthouse independent ballot line, Koplinka-Loehr explained: “A lighthouse is a beacon, providing guidance to the safe harbor of a community that looks out for each other. I have always voted for what is best for the community, and when Chair of the legislature appointed the most qualified candidates for committee assignments, independent of party affiliation. Effective governance requires bi-partisan solutions for the good of all, and an independent ballot line represents the fundamental reality that a representative serves all community members fully. Thus, I hope to earn the support of each Lansing household through my work ethic, my fiscal management and creative inter-municipal coordination-of-services approach.”
For eleven of his twelve years on the County Legislature (1998-2009), Koplinka-Loehr chaired a Legislative Committee of the entire Legislature. Koplinka-Loehr, his wife, Carrie and four children, built an off-grid solar home on Ross Road in 2008 and after renting it out briefly, moved to Lansing during the summer of 2010. He was instrumental in writing grants for the Town of Lansing that secured 3 NYSERDA energy efficiency grants, such that the Town Hall, Community Center and Town Barns are now expected to realize 30%+ in energy savings, in perpetuity, from those cost-saving measures. A biomass technical assistance study is underway (with a prelim. report expected in mid-Sept. 2011,) to examine the feasibility of a multi-fuel boiler near the Town Barns providing heat and hot water for a central heating district loop, to run from the Town Barns to the Town Hall, to gain greater self-reliance for the energy future of the Town.
Over the next 3 months, Koplinka-Loehr plans to continue to meet with Town neighbors and community groups to extend the conversations that have begun about local issues, priorities and any concerns about Lansing services that they may have.
“No area of our community has remained unaffected by the global economic recession and now is when experience matters most," Koplinka-Loehr says. "My public service leadership experience, responsiveness to citizens, and commitment to quality public services at a tax rate we can afford, while continually improving performance for the future, form the solid foundation required to address our present Town needs.”
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