Archive: Opinions

A resident asked the Lansing Town Board to pass a resolution calling for the United States government to renounce using nuclear weapons first, strip the President's authority to launch a nuclear attack without congressional approval, and pursue an agreement that will remove nuclear weapons from the planet.  Further, the resolution, if passed, would be forwarded to Lansing's federal representatives, including Congressman Tom Reed, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, and President Donald Trump.

Laudable goals to be sure.  But should local governments waste time and taxpayers' money on resolutions that are not within their jurisdiction?

The Tompkins County Legislature and Ithaca Common Council are infamous for doing that.  The Town of Lansing government has historically been a 'just get the work done' kind of government, not prone to arguing great philosophical points or telling the federal government what to do.  When a town sends such a resolution to federal officials, what impact does it have?  It is hard to believe that the current president would even personally see a resolution forwarded from the little ol' Town of Lansing.  And I don't picture our congressman or senators doing a darn thing they don't already believe.


The individual who made the request Wednesday recalled nuclear attack drills from his childhood.  I remember them, too.  We all practiced cowering underneath our school desks as if that would protect us from being vaporized by a nuclear strike.  It was scary, and people carried an underlying fear - rightly so at a time when the Cuban nuclear missile crisis was real and almost precipitated a war.

Let's face it.  Municipalities don't vote.  But people vote.  Who are these federal representatives going to listen to?  An obscure (to them) municipality that does nothing but ask for favors from the federal government, or voters who they must court if they want to stay in office (and the four individuals singled out have certainly proved they want to stay in office!)?

Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne said Wednesday that all citizens should he heard respectfully and made to feel they are being listened to and included in local government.  He implied that the Town Board may consider an anti-nuclear weapons resolution.  For all the good it would do, it doesn't seem like the best use of a government's time, especially when they have plenty on their plate that is actually within the town's jurisdiction.

Wouldn't a grass roots effort to get citizens to send letters to these representatives carry a lot more weight than a resolution from a presumptuous local government that thinks it can tell the feds how to run the country?

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