Archive: News

Tim Little came to our newsroom to talk about his campaign for Tompkins County Sheriff.  Little is running on the Citizens for Change Ticket against incumbent Democrat Peter Meskill and Republican Brian Robison, whose interview will be in next week's Star.  Here is what he had to say:

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Wednesday's sewer information meeting drew a crowd almost large enough to fill the Town Hall.  And the ones who spoke weren't happy about the prospect of a Lansing sewer.  The purpose of the meeting was to give as many interested residents as possible information about the project, including its scope, benefits and costs, as well as to give the public to ask questions or raise concerns.

Democrat Peter Meskill is running for his third term as Tompkins County Sheriff.  He stopped by the Star to talk about his campaign and the directions he sees the Sheriff's Office taking if he is reelected in November.  He is running against Republican Brian Robison, whose interview we will publish in the November 3rd issue, and Citizens for Change candidate Timothy Little, whose interview will be featured next week.  Here is what Sheriff Meskill had to say:

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Prices are going up, not down, and that is also true about taxes.  But the proposed $5.38  million 2007 Town budget will only bring taxes up about six cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.  When you consider that the tax base of assessed value didn't even go up to 1% this year, that is almost remarkable.  ""We really worked to keep the tax rate increase under the cost of living, which is over 4% right now," Town Bookkeeper and Personnel Officer Sharon Bowman says.  "We think we have a pretty decent budget to put before the public."

How a municipal budget really affects taxpayer wallets is a balancing act between property assessments, the tax levy and the tax rate.  If assessments are high, government officials have a larger pool to draw from, so they can appear to take less out of it with a lower tax rate.  But the amount of money they budget is the same, whether the assessments are high or the tax rate.  Typically if one is up, the other is down, but homeowners pay more taxes anyway.  Even if the levy stays constant, people pay more if their assessments go up.

The Star met Jim Rohan in a conference room in Cornell's offices near the airport, where he works as Assistant Bursar.  Republican Rohan is running against incumbent Barbara Lifton, a Democrat.  He talked about what he will do if the voters send him to Albany, including a plan for keeping students in Tompkins and Cortland counties when they enter the workforce.

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Public reaction was generally positive at a Lansing school capital project public information meeting a week ago.  The Board Of Education (BOE) held the meeting to explain a proposal submitted by the Facilities group of district residents, teachers and administrators.  The group met from March through last month to develop a project that school officials hope will be acceptable to taxpayers.  The 19.8 million dollar project, half the cost of an earlier proposal that died because it was not supported, will cost taxpayers about $1.12 per assessed $1000 the first year, and an average of 94 cents per thousand in an average year.


School officials presented the project to the public, explaining the scope, cost, and tax impact.  Much of the project is focussed on repairs and infrastructure in the three school buildings.  Construction to address current program needs in the High School are also included.  Principal Michelle Stone explained those needs in detail and demonstrated how the project could alleviate program and over crowding in the school.  She explained that 100% of the rooms in her school are booked well above the recommended 80%, and that many teachers spend time travelling to make room for other teachers in their classrooms.

When New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton came to participate in the opening of the Tompkins County Democratic Campaign headquarters, the Lansing Star got to interview her about her campaign and what she hopes to accomplish if she wins another term in Albany.

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Lansing voters will get to choose between Republican James Rohan and Democrat incumbent Barbara Lifton for New York State Assembly. Below is a summary of the candidates' positions, along with links to Lansing Star articles about and interviews with each candidate.

Lansing voters will get to choose between Republican State Senator Ray Meier and Democrat and Oneida County DA Michael Arcuri for the U.S. Congress seat being vacated by Republican Sherwood Boehlert this year.  Both candidates have visited Lansing and the greater Tompkins County area. The campaigns have become a bit hot with accusations of improper campaign contributions.  But the race is pretty close, with voters split along party lines. Below is a summary of the candidates' positions, along with links to Lansing Star articles about and interviews with each candidate.

Lansing voters will get to choose between Republicancandidate Brian Robison, Incumbent Democrat Peter Meskill, and 'Citizens For Change' candidate Timothy C. Little. See a comparison below.

When Mike Arcuri was in town for the opening of the Tompkins County Democratic Campaign headquarters, the Lansing Star got to interview him on topics that concern local residents, notably tax relief.  And we wanted to know how much of his ambitious campaign he thinks he will realistically achieve if elected as a freshman congressman.

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Wednesday night the Board Of Education (BOE) got to see a new capital project proposal, developed 'from the ground up' by a committee of school district residents, teachers, and administrators.  Committee members were on hand, as well as design team representatives from King & King Architects and C&S Technical Resources.  The proposal was bound in a 96 page document that was handed out to BOE and committee members, and presented in a Powerpoint presentation by Superintendent Mark Lewis, District Business Administrator Larry Lawrence, High School Principal Michelle Stone, and Marc Stammer, a community member who had facilitated the process of developing the proposal.

The Facilities Group met nearly two weeks ago for the last time to complete its work on the project.  The committee has met in a series of meetings since March to come up with a project, built from the ground up after the BOE chose not to bring an approximately $40 million project to the voters last year.  The result is a "portfolio" describing a project costing half that amount that was presented to the BOE Wednesday.  "The board of education will conduct a public hearing on the project at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 5 in the high school library," said School Superintendent Mark Lewis.  Formal action regarding a referendum will take place at the regular board meeting on October 12 at 6pm."