Archive: News

Dan Pace has led the fight to make the Lansing School District polls require that voters be registered.  Last year he was successful in getting that to happen when the Lansing Board Of Education voted to change voting procedures and requirements for the district.  The library may be a victim of this campaign.  While Pace originally opposed putting another taxing authority on property owner's annual bill, he now says that it's about a certifiably fair vote.

Pace sat down with the Lansing Star Monday to talk about the tug of war between his group and library supporters that started when the May 2007 vote asked for 17 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value and failed by a narrow margin.   In December supporters brought it to a revote, asking for 15 cents, and it won by a slightly less narrow margin.  This year Pace brought a petition to the school board to have a third vote, this time with voter registration required.

Friends of the Library President Donna Scott is frustrated with accusations that nobody uses the library.  If people believe that rumor she fears they will vote to abolish the library on Tuesday.  She is fighting back by releasing statistics (see her Letter to the Editor ) that show exactly how many people use the facility, materials used, program attendance, and more.  Library supporters are doing their best to get the facts out, and get taxpayers to vote on Tuesday.

The Friends of the Library is an independent group that raises funds and provides support to the library.  It is separate from the Board of Directors, which is the official body that oversees and runs the facility.

Tompkins County has been told that Continental Airlines will terminate service to Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, effective June 11.  While the airline has announced that service will be cut, Airport Manager Robert Nicholas says that the County immediately engaged in a strategic conversation with key stake holders, upon receiving the news, to work with Continental to achieve a compromise solution to preserve air service in our market.

Mr. Nicholas said:  “Despite encouraging growth and some really positive passenger numbers over the past two months, general air traffic congestion in Newark has been causing some major headaches for Continental. While I understand the need to try to ease this congestion by thinning out the number of operations in Newark, we feel there are ways to achieve their objective while preserving air service to Ithaca.”

WASHINGTON, DC - On Wednesday, April 29, 2009, U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri (NY-24) was named "Legislator of the Year" by the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) for his commitment to improving fire safety and crime prevention for senior citizens.

"I'm honored to be recognized for my efforts to protect our seniors from deadly fires," Arcuri said. "It is absolutely critical that the facilities that house our seniors are equipped with professionally installed fire prevention and detection systems - they deserve nothing less."

 

Only four or five people showed up at the Lansing Central School District budget hearing Monday night.  Considering that we're voting on a $23.95 million budget next week, that was low, though historically attendance has always been low.  Only one candidate is running for two vacant school board seats, which means that only a few write-in votes will decide who takes the second seat instead of the community at large. Does that mean low voter turnout?  If history is a guide it very well could.  That would also mean that the library's fate is decided by an unrepresentative fraction of district taxpayers.  Will the controversy surrounding the library and school board election bring voters out, or will Lansing be content to let a minority decide?  We won't know until next Tuesday.
The Library Vote Privately and sometimes publicly someone on one side or the other will accuse the other side of lying about the library issue, of being deceptive, or spreading rumors that don't match the facts.  Most of the time it's obvious what's true and what's not if you bother to get the facts.  But not always. The Lansing Star set a record last week for the most 'Letters to the Editor' in a single week, and every single one of them were about Tuesday's vote.  School district property owners will be asked to vote yes or no on this proposition, put on the ballot after a petition was presented to the Board Of Education by Dan Pace earlier this year: "Resolved, that the Lansing Community Library Center be abolished as a Public Library under the Lansing Central School District, and all funding of said library through taxation of taxable property of said School District be terminated." The Lansing Star interviewed the leaders of each side of the argument this week.  Here is what they have to say:
Library: Why Vote No? Friends of the Library President Donna Scott is frustrated with accusations that nobody uses the library.  If people believe that rumor she fears they will vote to abolish the library on Tuesday.  She is fighting back by releasing statistics (see her Letter to the Editor ) that show exactly how many people use the facility, materials used, program attendance, and more.  Library supporters are doing their best to get the facts out, and get taxpayers to vote on Tuesday.	Library: Why Vote Yes? Dan Pace has led the fight to make the Lansing School District polls require that voters be registered.  Last year he was successful in getting that to happen when the Lansing Board Of Education voted to change voting procedures and requirements for the district.  The library may be a victim of this campaign.  While Pace originally opposed putting another taxing authority on property owner's annual bill, he now says that it's about a certifiably fair vote.
Editorial: Will Voters Get What They Deserve? Next Tuesday's school district vote is a curious combination of propositions.  Two school board seats are up for grabs, but there is only one candidate.  A budget proposal is structured to keep the same tax rate, meaning that if all else is equal property owners will pay the same as last year.  A second resolution would allow voter registration any school day.  The third asks voters to decide whether to abolish the public library. On the face of it the ballot is straightforward, but the issues are intertwined.  The apparent lack of controversy about the school budget and voter registration propositions are seen by some as a threat to the library.  But for some reason nobody is talking about the potential for disaster with only one candidate running when there are two vacant school board seats.  A single write-in vote has the potential to turn the board in the wrong direction, that vote being the reflection of an individual rather than the Lansing community at large.

Village of Lansing Planning Board Chairman Ned Hickey says that Tops Market in Lansing will be adding a gas station to the premises.  Hickey gave an overview to the Village Board of Trustees at their regular Monday meeting.  "We had a very informative, interesting meeting," Hickey said.  "We expect to give final approval in our May 11th meeting if they get everything together."

The plan calls for three pumps in the southeast corner of the Tops parking lot, across the access road from the video store.  A small kiosk will be manned by an attendant, but will not house a convenience store as the one at the downtown Tops does.

In Split Vote, Legislature Sets 3 Percent Tax Levy Goal
The Legislature has established a 3% tax levy increase goal as the County’s financial goal for the 2010 budget, but tonight’s decision was not easy.  The final vote, which followed 45 minutes of discussion, was 8-7, with Legislators Mike Hattery, Dooley Kiefer, Pam Mackesey, Tyke Randall, Will Burbank and Carol Chock and Martha Robertson voting no.

The 3% levy goal, which had been recommended by the Legislature’s budget committee, requires County Administrator Joe Mareane to incorporate close to $4.4 million in program changes, through spending reductions or new revenue, to the tentative budget he will present to the Legislature in September, a task that he has cautioned will be “extraordinarily difficult” since the County is experiencing the local impacts of a global recession.  The 3% target translates to an average county tax rate of $5.93 per thousand dollars assessed valuation, a decrease of one-tenth of one percent, or a 59 cent decrease for a $100,000 home, assuming no change in assessed value.

There are no confirmed cases of swine flu in Tompkins County to date. The Tompkins County Health Department is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and will notify the community if and when there is a laboratory confirmed case.

The purpose of laboratory confirmation is to determine if swine flu is present in the community. Not all cases will be sent for laboratory confirmation. The Tompkins County Health Department (in consultation with a patient’s physician) will determine which cases will be sent for laboratory confirmation based on criteria set by NYSDOH and the CDC. Once there is a laboratory confirmed case, providers will assess and treat other cases accordingly.

Back in February things were looking bleak for the Lansing school system.  After more than $1 million of cuts last year it looked like another $1.2 million would be cut in the 2009-2010 budget with as many as 10.5 teacher positions and five teacher aid positions on the chopping block.  But after crunching the numbers and late breaking news on state and federal stimulus funding, Business Administrator Mary June King and Superintendent Stephen Grimm announced that cuts would only come to $326,532 and that the rise in the tax rate would be 0%.

"It did end up very well," says Lansing Faculty Association (LFA) President Stacie Kropp.  "It's part savvy planning on Mary June's part.  She really dug into some of the records and history, and found out where the money actually is.  I don't think that has been done in a number of years.  And the fact that we had money in different accounts.  It's sort of like the perfect storm of things coming together for Lansing."

Albany- State Senator Mike Nozzolio joined other senators from across New York today demanding that Governor David Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver fix a serious problem they created during the passage of the 2009-10 New York State budget.

Under a recent revision in the law, businesses certified under the 2008 Empire Development Zone program must now reapply for certification under the new 2009 guidelines and regulations.  This means that these businesses will not be receiving their 2008 tax benefits as promised by New York State, benefits that were anticipated, budgeted for and in some cases, already expended. The affected businesses were notified by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance on April 15th - the last day to file their state and federal income tax returns.  The notice came without warning or without any time to adjust to the changes in the law.

The Lansing Board of Education voted Monday to place a resolution on its May ballot to abolish the Lansing Community Library as a publicly funded library, according to the Lansing Star Online.  This will be the third vote in a seesaw tug of war between proponents and opponents led by local resident Dan Pace.

After falling short by only 32 votes to establish a public library in May of 2007, supporters called for a new vote that December, which they won by 65.  On April 13 Pace submitted a new petition with 73 signatures to dissolve the library to replace an improperly worded one that was rejected earlier this year.  "We could be in a never ending loop here," noted school board member David Dittman.