Archive: Opinions

The one thing most people in town seem to agree on at the moment is that they want to vote.  But the State Assembly didn't do anything before they finished their 2013 session in Albany.  The Senate passed a resolution to allow Lansing to vote in a special election on September 10, 2013.  But the Assembly left town without acting on it.  That means that it is illegal for the Town to spend taxpayer dollars on a vote.

There is an easy solution to that: raise private money to hold the election.  If everyone wants to vote won't at least some people donate money to pay for it?  How much could an election cost?  It would be worth it, because despite the increasingly vocal naysayers and the quiet lobbying of the yeasayers, nobody really knows how a vote would go.

Naysayers are claiming a 'no' vote is a slam-dunk.  But 53% of those polled in a school election exit poll said they would vote 'yes' to sewer.  Neither is a real indication of how a vote would go.  Only a vote is.

I think Lansing should vote on sewer.  If the vote is yes we go forward and continue to make the project the best possible sewer for the Town.  If the vote is no we stop the project and stop spending money on it and that's that.  It would be a real vote with only eligible voters able to cast ballots.

How would this be different from the legal municipal vote that some town officials wanted the State Legislature to approve?  If it is done right, not at all different.  Not one jot.  Why?  Because even if the Assembly had said 'yes' to an early sewer vote the project would be subject to a permissive referendum next Spring or Summer and that would be the binding action that officially creates the sewer district whether the September vote were 'yes' or not. 

That means that the election is not the final determining factor whether it is a legal municipal vote or not.  By conducting a private vote the exact same way a public vote would have been held, though, the results will be as valid as they would have been if the Legislature had approved a municipal vote.  That will give the Town Board a definitive answer on what their constituents really want and the decision won't be subject to guessing or politics. 

Even the officials who favor the project say if the townspeople vote 'no' the Town Board will kill the project.  If it's a 'yes' board members who oppose the project or are on the fensce will have that to guide them.

If the Lansing Community Council could raise $15,000 to resurrect a historical log cabin and well over $100,000 to build a playground (have a look in Myers Park -- both projects got their money), couldn't it or some other local group raise the thousand or two it would take to hold an election?  This is something the 'yeas' and the 'nays' could organize together.

Our town officials are split on sewer.  Everybody thinks they know whether or not Lansing wants a sewer.  Nobody really knows.  Here's a way to find out.

v9i24