The race for mayor of Auburn has had people talking. But what seems different this time around is not that people are arguing which candidate would do the best job, but which might do the least damage. None of the three choices - David Dempsey, Timothy Lattimore and Michael Quill - stand out as an obvious choice.
Voters will choose from a longtime fire department employee with no political experience, a longtime politician with a sullied reputation and an incumbent mayor with a track record of more talk than accomplishment.
During his campaign, former Auburn Fire Chief Mike Quill (D) repeatedly pointed out that he would seek to bring calm to what many see as a chaotic atmosphere to city hall. He was quick to latch onto the well-publicized 2004 fight between his opponents as an example of the polite professionalism that has clearly been lacking at city council meetings.
We agree with his assertion that the public should be allowed to address the city council at each of its meetings - not just twice monthly; and we appreciate his promise that he would not stand for any business being done in executive session that would fall outside the legal parameters of what government officials are allowed to discuss privately.
But while we believe Quill is the least likely of the three to embarrass the city with untoward antics, bringing “civility” to the job can't be the top priority of Auburn's next mayor. When pressed for specific examples of things he would seek to accomplish, Quill has come up woefully short on details.
Even after having served in the city fire department for more than three decades, he won't say what he believes the department's minimum staffing should be. And while he promises that he would always advocate for the best interests of the city and not the interests of the fire department, we worry that someone with such close ties to the department might indeed find himself in a conflict of interest when issues regarding the fire department come before city council.
Instead of offering concrete ideas, Quill often says he would need to study things first and hold discussions with other members of the council. He doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of the basic issues facing the city. With no political experience on his resume, we don't believe Quill has the qualifications to be the mayor of Auburn. Perhaps he should have first run for a seat on city council. That way, he could have gained some needed experience working as a member of a political body.
Current city councilor David Dempsey (I) is a Democrat running on the Independence Party line in an attempt to unseat a mayor for whom he has no personal or political affection. Dempsey has a long history of public service as a county legislator and a member of the council and has pointed out several times in recent weeks that he has attended 1,500 meetings. We're not impressed with political longevity, itself, because we can point to several examples of entrenched lawmakers who were either completely ineffective or became corrupted by their power.
And while we certainly don't accuse Dempsey of corruption, he does have a tarnished record that's difficult to overlook. Regardless of who started it, and despite both men involved saying the voters need to forget the past and concentrate on the future, the fact is that Dempsey was involved in a fistfight with Lattimore in city hall.
And whether or not the heated argument that led to the physical altercation involved the peoples' business, a personal matter, or a combination of both, the occurrence left the people of Auburn wondering how their leaders could possibly act so unprofessionally. And because the story quickly spread far beyond the borders of Cayuga County, it reached the ears of influential businesspeople and politicians the city so desperately needs as allies in economic development.
Dempsey has brought some solid ideas to the table. He said he believes the city's contract with its firefighters is one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed, and he insists the fire department is an obvious place to start when consolidating municipal services. Sharing emergency services with the town of Owasco, for example, might indeed be a good way to save money on equipment and personnel. He proved he is his own man when he went over the head of his own party's leadership and put himself up as a candidate before local Democrats even met to discuss their choices. Should he win this election, he wouldn't be beholden to local Democrats and would therefor be more or less free from the partisanship so prevalent in the administration of the city's business.
Yes, Dempsey has the most political experience among the candidates in this race, but he also allowed his personal life to interfere with his business at city hall, and he has failed to acknowledge it. A relationship he had with a city employee resulted in an unusual severance arrangement for that worker upon her departure in exchange for promising not to file a lawsuit. No matter what Dempsey says, that is not typical, and reflects extremely poor judgment. Moreover, for all of Dempsey's years in elected office, he always been just a member of a group. We've not seen true leadership, and we can't point to any major accomplishments.
Quill rightly points out that “antics” have no place in government. We couldn't agree more and we found it reprehensible that Lattimore (along with Dempsey and city councilor William Graney) tried to find a loophole in the state Open Meetings Law by playing musical chairs, each taking turns going in and out of a meeting with county legislators while trying to iron out a compromise on the equitable distribution of sales taxes revenue.
Discussions at city council meetings have often turned into bickering under Lattimore's leadership. And because the mayor is charged with overseeing the meetings, and is responsible for decorum, we can only blame Lattimore for continually allowing meetings to get out of hand and for failing to hold members of public to uniform criteria when they address the council.
And, like Dempsey, we hold Lattimore accountable for the embarrassment the brawl at city hall brought to the entire city.
That being said, we believe Lattimore (R,C) genuinely holds the best interests of the city and its people at heart. He may not know the best way to gain or retain jobs (his four-year-old campaign pledge to produce 1,500 jobs has gone unfulfilled), but he continues to try to develop relationships with businesspeople outside the area. He's always looking to make a pitch to someone, and that's more than a lot of elected officials can say.
Lattimore says he wants to “rightsize” the city fire department to save money on equipment and labor. He has worked with city manager Mark Palesh to cut costs in city government. And Lattimore clearly has made progress in his green energy initiatives, with ground breaking this year for a digester project that will help save the city money and could bring a few businesses this way. He has the determination and the political support to keep pushing these types of initiatives, which can only be of benefit to the city.
Though Lattimore's overall record still lacks substance, he offers the best choice in this particular election.
The Citizen endorses Tim Lattimore for mayor of Auburn.
The battle to replace James Vargason as Cayuga County district attorney has certainly been spirited between Michael Bass (D, I, WF), a local defense attorney who has also worked for short stints as a public defender and in the district attorney's office, and Jon Budelmann (R, C), the longtime chief assistant district attorney under Vargason. Both candidates have eagerly challenged their opponent's fitness to serve, and taken exception to the way the other conducted his campaign.
For the voter, the rhetoric can make it difficult to make an informed choice on Nov. 6.
Throughout this campaign, Bass has presented himself as an agent of major change in the district attorney's office. He has thrown heavy criticism at Vargason, who has held the office for 16 years. Bass blasted Vargason's budget management, his administrative style and his handling of the Roy Brown case, in which a murder conviction was overturned. In doing this, Bass has argued that his opponent would likely be a Vargason clone.
But while it's true that Vargason has his critics, he's also a district attorney who won four elections, including one in 2003 against Bass. Spending did go up in his department, but it would have to over a period of four terms. Most importantly, the proportion of DA's office spending relative to the county budget was stable.
All that said, voters need to remember that Bass is not running against Vargason. Budelmann made it clear during this campaign that he'll be a different DA. He'll be in court more often, for starters, and he plans to launch a public outreach program to focus on crime prevention.
Bass has promised similar efforts, pledging to be a courtroom presence and to improve access to the office.
On those issues, the candidates have common ground.
Then there's the issue of who's better at trying cases. Bass has made a range of claims about his superiority, and Budelmann has been quick to rebut with a list of his own victories over Bass. In the end, it's clear that both men are effective at arguing points orally - they demonstrated it throughout the campaign.
We must admit to being disappointed in Bass' attempts to create scandal where there is none.
We agree Budelmann should not have run an advertisement in which a crime victim, John Turner (who works as an independent contractor for this newspaper), thanks Budelmann for putting his attacker away and points out that Bass represented the attacker.
But no reasonable person can watch this advertisement and conclude that Budelmann believes some defendants shouldn't have a right to counsel, as Bass has tried to suggest.
Bass has also tried to bring Budelmann into the county Legislature's asbestos scandal.
He and his supporters have been conveying conversations they claim to have had with county attorney Fred Westphal, in which they say Westphal told them he told Budelmann about the asbestos problem well in advance of the public finding out.
When pressed for details, the Bass campaign conceded that Westphal didn't say when he talked with Budelmann, and they also don't know the exact nature of the conversation.
That's called hearsay, and it's a bad practice for any campaign. But for a person who wants to be a district attorney, it's unacceptable.
Above and beyond campaign tactics, though, is this reality. Budelmann far outshines Bass when it comes to prosecutorial experience.
He's secured the endorsements of the law enforcement community, something that must be weighed heavily in this race. And he has demonstrated a professionalism and commitment to community that is beyond reproach.
The Citizen endorse Jon Budelmann for Cayuga County district attorney.
This is an exciting year for the Cayuga County Legislature elections because voters are choosing among a large group of new candidates.
There are three uncontested races. Newcomer Michael H. Chapman (R,C) will replace Paul Dudley as the District 2 representative. Incumbents Ann R. Petrus (R) is unopposed in District 4, as is incumbent Peter Tortorici (R, C, I) in District 10. That leaves six contested races, and among the 12 candidates vying for those seats, just two are incumbents. Here's our breakdown of the races:
District 3
This special election features Thomas Weed (D) and David Axton (R, C) in a race to fill the unexpired term of the late Bernard Smith, who passed away last summer. The district includes the towns of Mentz, Montezuma and Throop.
We were impressed with both candidates, especially considering they jumped into these races largely at the last minute. They offered solid observations about challenges facing the Legislature, and they did effective work going out into the district.
While we found no major faults with either candidate, Axton showed us a little more. He's especially tuned in to the needs of his district, proposing ideas to get overdue public water service to residents after years of frustrations dealing with the city of Auburn. He brings energy and enthusiasm for the good the government can do. The Citizen endorses David Axton for Cayuga County Legislature District 3.
District 6
Both Roger Mills (R,C) and Terrence K. Lattimore (D) engaged in solid campaigns for the district that includes Sennett and Owasco. In many ways, the two men did not offer different views.
Both are pushing for more efforts to clean up Owasco Lake, and both are strong proponents of bringing the city of Auburn and county and town governments together to share services and save money. That brings the choice down to the person's background, and Lattimore, whose career has focused on environmental consulting, is a good fit for a district where lake pollution issues are paramount. The Citizen endorses Terrence K. Lattimore for Cayuga County Legislature District 6.
District 7
This special election pits incumbent George C. Fearon (R) against Lon A. Fricano (D, C, I). It's an election brought on by Fearon's temporary resignation to allow him to collect retirement benefits from his job in the Union Springs Central School District. The district includes Springport, Scipio and Ledyard.
Fearon's use of this loophole is just one of many actions he's taken the past two years that raise serious questions about his re-election. As chairman of the Legislature, he was in charge when illegal asbestos removal took place at the county Board of Elections building. There's dispute about when he knew of the activity, but Fearon himself has admitted knowing a month before the general public learned of the situation. That move, along with his refusal to communicate with the public on the, is unacceptable.
Fricano, an emergency services professional in the area, has certainly cited the asbestos scandal in his campaign. But he's also done a good job pointing out other areas where the county has fallen short, such as the care for the mentally ill. What we like most about Fricano is his independent streak. It's clear he's not loyal to political parties, and he'll say what's on his mind. The Legislature can use a few people like that. The Citizen endorses Lon A. Fricano for Cayuga County Legislature District 7.
District 8
This race is a rematch from a special election held two years ago. Sjana M. McClure-Berry (D, I) hopes for a better result this time against incumbent Francis C. Mitchell (R). The district includes the towns of Venice, Genoa and Locke.
McClure-Berry mounted a stronger campaign this time around, proposing some concrete ideas that are definitely worth exploring, such as the elimination of a county tax on fuel. She also is a fierce advocate of taking on Albany's unfunded mandates. But we still see her as a candidate who seems more motivated to tackle state and national issues as opposed to the workings of Cayuga County government.
Mitchell is the opposite. He's a numbers cruncher who also is willing to work with just about anyone on the Legislature. He wants to dedicate considerable effort to getting the county much -needed software that can bring it into the current century when it comes to financial record keeping, and he has the expertise to convince people that it should happen. We also give Mitchell credit for his work as chairman of the Government Operations Committee, which got a needed term limit law revision on this year's ballot. The Citizen endorses Francis C. Mitchell for Cayuga County Legislature District 8.
District 12
Voters in District 12, one of the city of Auburn districts, will choose a replacement for David Pappert, who chose not to run after fulfilling one term. Thomas J. McKellop (R) is taking on Patrick V. Mahunik (D, C, I) for this race.
Both candidates offer similar perspectives in terms of ideas for job creation, consolidation of services and ensuring a clean water supply. McKellop, who has also run unsuccessfully for a seat on the Auburn Enlarged City School District, did not seem to have a firm grasp on county issues at times, a shortcoming he had displayed in his bid for the school board.
Mahunik clearly did his homework, and made some strong points during his campaign. He is eager to improve Emerson Park, as well as the Owasco Road corridor leading to it, as a key tourism initiative. We hope he can sustain his optimism that county government can work efficiently, and in the end, produce needed results. The Citizen endorses Patrick V. Mahunik for Cayuga County Legislature District 12.
District 14
The other race involving an Auburn district pits Michael V. Didio (R) against Daniel P. Sincebaugh (D, I) for the seat to replace retiring Michael Lepak.
Both candidates are clearly solid citizens who love their community and want to give something back. To be blunt, though, neither shined during this campaign with bold ideas or effective communication.
In the end, Didio did offer some hopeful promises, such as a commitment to staying on top of water quality issues and a concrete plan for keeping people in his district engaged in the county government process.
The Citizen endorses Michael V. Didio for Cayuga County Legislature District 14.
The race for two open seats on the Auburn City Council is a disappointment, but not because of any major shortcomings among the candidates running. It's simply unfortunate that in a city the size of Auburn, in which the current council is a frequent target of complaints, only three candidates will be on the ballot. The Republican Party's failure to put forward any candidate is simply disgraceful.
All that said, residents should be grateful for the clean, honest campaigns offered this year by incumbent Thomas McNabb and newcomers Gilda Brower and Peter Kotzer.
McNabb (D,C) is seeking a fourth term on the council. His success in past elections certainly indicates that he's satisfied constituents in the past.
In this year's campaign, he's promised to fight to bring back the city's human rights director position, and he's in support of lowering the troubling 15-person-per-shift minimum at the Auburn Fire Department.
If he does return for another four years on council, we encourage him to be more visible and vocal. Plenty of political observers have rightfully pointed out that McNabb seems to only become truly engaged during election seasons. This year he's made plenty of strong comments, and we urge a continuation of that practice going forward.
Brower (D), the founder and director of Auburn's Montessori school, has frustrated us at times this campaign season with her reluctance to take a stand on specific city issues.
Her standard answer to many questions is that she needs to study the issue in question further and try to come to an educated decision. There's nothing wrong with that approach; we just feel that she owed it to voters to do that legwork long before launching an active campaign.
All that said, Brower did take some firm positions toward the end of the campaign. Like McNabb, she favors a reduction in the fire department minimum staffing requirement, and she's passionate about bring the human rights position back. She also shows zeal about the need to improve the city's recycling program. Perhaps most importantly, we see Brower as a person who can restore some needed civility to the council chambers.
Kotzer (I), who has an impressive scientific background, talks most passionately about issues that aren't directly tied to the city council. He's offered strong opinions this campaign season about fathers' rights issues, the war in Iraq and Social Security. When it comes to specific city matters, though, he's prone to say that he'd need to rely on others to help him keep up with the nitty-gritty of city hall workings. That's simply the wrong approach for a city council candidate. Kotzer's campaign themes are much more in line with a person who should run for the state Legislature or U.S. Congress.
The Citizen endorses Thomas McNabb and Gilda Brower for Auburn City Council.
During his campaign, former Auburn Fire Chief Mike Quill (D) repeatedly pointed out that he would seek to bring calm to what many see as a chaotic atmosphere to city hall. He was quick to latch onto the well-publicized 2004 fight between his opponents as an example of the polite professionalism that has clearly been lacking at city council meetings.
We agree with his assertion that the public should be allowed to address the city council at each of its meetings - not just twice monthly; and we appreciate his promise that he would not stand for any business being done in executive session that would fall outside the legal parameters of what government officials are allowed to discuss privately.
But while we believe Quill is the least likely of the three to embarrass the city with untoward antics, bringing “civility” to the job can't be the top priority of Auburn's next mayor. When pressed for specific examples of things he would seek to accomplish, Quill has come up woefully short on details.
Even after having served in the city fire department for more than three decades, he won't say what he believes the department's minimum staffing should be. And while he promises that he would always advocate for the best interests of the city and not the interests of the fire department, we worry that someone with such close ties to the department might indeed find himself in a conflict of interest when issues regarding the fire department come before city council.
Instead of offering concrete ideas, Quill often says he would need to study things first and hold discussions with other members of the council. He doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of the basic issues facing the city. With no political experience on his resume, we don't believe Quill has the qualifications to be the mayor of Auburn. Perhaps he should have first run for a seat on city council. That way, he could have gained some needed experience working as a member of a political body.
Current city councilor David Dempsey (I) is a Democrat running on the Independence Party line in an attempt to unseat a mayor for whom he has no personal or political affection. Dempsey has a long history of public service as a county legislator and a member of the council and has pointed out several times in recent weeks that he has attended 1,500 meetings. We're not impressed with political longevity, itself, because we can point to several examples of entrenched lawmakers who were either completely ineffective or became corrupted by their power.
And while we certainly don't accuse Dempsey of corruption, he does have a tarnished record that's difficult to overlook. Regardless of who started it, and despite both men involved saying the voters need to forget the past and concentrate on the future, the fact is that Dempsey was involved in a fistfight with Lattimore in city hall.
And whether or not the heated argument that led to the physical altercation involved the peoples' business, a personal matter, or a combination of both, the occurrence left the people of Auburn wondering how their leaders could possibly act so unprofessionally. And because the story quickly spread far beyond the borders of Cayuga County, it reached the ears of influential businesspeople and politicians the city so desperately needs as allies in economic development.
Dempsey has brought some solid ideas to the table. He said he believes the city's contract with its firefighters is one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed, and he insists the fire department is an obvious place to start when consolidating municipal services. Sharing emergency services with the town of Owasco, for example, might indeed be a good way to save money on equipment and personnel. He proved he is his own man when he went over the head of his own party's leadership and put himself up as a candidate before local Democrats even met to discuss their choices. Should he win this election, he wouldn't be beholden to local Democrats and would therefor be more or less free from the partisanship so prevalent in the administration of the city's business.
Yes, Dempsey has the most political experience among the candidates in this race, but he also allowed his personal life to interfere with his business at city hall, and he has failed to acknowledge it. A relationship he had with a city employee resulted in an unusual severance arrangement for that worker upon her departure in exchange for promising not to file a lawsuit. No matter what Dempsey says, that is not typical, and reflects extremely poor judgment. Moreover, for all of Dempsey's years in elected office, he always been just a member of a group. We've not seen true leadership, and we can't point to any major accomplishments.
Quill rightly points out that “antics” have no place in government. We couldn't agree more and we found it reprehensible that Lattimore (along with Dempsey and city councilor William Graney) tried to find a loophole in the state Open Meetings Law by playing musical chairs, each taking turns going in and out of a meeting with county legislators while trying to iron out a compromise on the equitable distribution of sales taxes revenue.
Discussions at city council meetings have often turned into bickering under Lattimore's leadership. And because the mayor is charged with overseeing the meetings, and is responsible for decorum, we can only blame Lattimore for continually allowing meetings to get out of hand and for failing to hold members of public to uniform criteria when they address the council.
And, like Dempsey, we hold Lattimore accountable for the embarrassment the brawl at city hall brought to the entire city.
That being said, we believe Lattimore (R,C) genuinely holds the best interests of the city and its people at heart. He may not know the best way to gain or retain jobs (his four-year-old campaign pledge to produce 1,500 jobs has gone unfulfilled), but he continues to try to develop relationships with businesspeople outside the area. He's always looking to make a pitch to someone, and that's more than a lot of elected officials can say.
Lattimore says he wants to “rightsize” the city fire department to save money on equipment and labor. He has worked with city manager Mark Palesh to cut costs in city government. And Lattimore clearly has made progress in his green energy initiatives, with ground breaking this year for a digester project that will help save the city money and could bring a few businesses this way. He has the determination and the political support to keep pushing these types of initiatives, which can only be of benefit to the city.
Though Lattimore's overall record still lacks substance, he offers the best choice in this particular election.
The Citizen endorses Tim Lattimore for mayor of Auburn.
The battle to replace James Vargason as Cayuga County district attorney has certainly been spirited between Michael Bass (D, I, WF), a local defense attorney who has also worked for short stints as a public defender and in the district attorney's office, and Jon Budelmann (R, C), the longtime chief assistant district attorney under Vargason. Both candidates have eagerly challenged their opponent's fitness to serve, and taken exception to the way the other conducted his campaign.
For the voter, the rhetoric can make it difficult to make an informed choice on Nov. 6.
Throughout this campaign, Bass has presented himself as an agent of major change in the district attorney's office. He has thrown heavy criticism at Vargason, who has held the office for 16 years. Bass blasted Vargason's budget management, his administrative style and his handling of the Roy Brown case, in which a murder conviction was overturned. In doing this, Bass has argued that his opponent would likely be a Vargason clone.
But while it's true that Vargason has his critics, he's also a district attorney who won four elections, including one in 2003 against Bass. Spending did go up in his department, but it would have to over a period of four terms. Most importantly, the proportion of DA's office spending relative to the county budget was stable.
All that said, voters need to remember that Bass is not running against Vargason. Budelmann made it clear during this campaign that he'll be a different DA. He'll be in court more often, for starters, and he plans to launch a public outreach program to focus on crime prevention.
Bass has promised similar efforts, pledging to be a courtroom presence and to improve access to the office.
On those issues, the candidates have common ground.
Then there's the issue of who's better at trying cases. Bass has made a range of claims about his superiority, and Budelmann has been quick to rebut with a list of his own victories over Bass. In the end, it's clear that both men are effective at arguing points orally - they demonstrated it throughout the campaign.
We must admit to being disappointed in Bass' attempts to create scandal where there is none.
We agree Budelmann should not have run an advertisement in which a crime victim, John Turner (who works as an independent contractor for this newspaper), thanks Budelmann for putting his attacker away and points out that Bass represented the attacker.
But no reasonable person can watch this advertisement and conclude that Budelmann believes some defendants shouldn't have a right to counsel, as Bass has tried to suggest.
Bass has also tried to bring Budelmann into the county Legislature's asbestos scandal.
He and his supporters have been conveying conversations they claim to have had with county attorney Fred Westphal, in which they say Westphal told them he told Budelmann about the asbestos problem well in advance of the public finding out.
When pressed for details, the Bass campaign conceded that Westphal didn't say when he talked with Budelmann, and they also don't know the exact nature of the conversation.
That's called hearsay, and it's a bad practice for any campaign. But for a person who wants to be a district attorney, it's unacceptable.
Above and beyond campaign tactics, though, is this reality. Budelmann far outshines Bass when it comes to prosecutorial experience.
He's secured the endorsements of the law enforcement community, something that must be weighed heavily in this race. And he has demonstrated a professionalism and commitment to community that is beyond reproach.
The Citizen endorse Jon Budelmann for Cayuga County district attorney.
This is an exciting year for the Cayuga County Legislature elections because voters are choosing among a large group of new candidates.
There are three uncontested races. Newcomer Michael H. Chapman (R,C) will replace Paul Dudley as the District 2 representative. Incumbents Ann R. Petrus (R) is unopposed in District 4, as is incumbent Peter Tortorici (R, C, I) in District 10. That leaves six contested races, and among the 12 candidates vying for those seats, just two are incumbents. Here's our breakdown of the races:
District 3
This special election features Thomas Weed (D) and David Axton (R, C) in a race to fill the unexpired term of the late Bernard Smith, who passed away last summer. The district includes the towns of Mentz, Montezuma and Throop.
We were impressed with both candidates, especially considering they jumped into these races largely at the last minute. They offered solid observations about challenges facing the Legislature, and they did effective work going out into the district.
While we found no major faults with either candidate, Axton showed us a little more. He's especially tuned in to the needs of his district, proposing ideas to get overdue public water service to residents after years of frustrations dealing with the city of Auburn. He brings energy and enthusiasm for the good the government can do. The Citizen endorses David Axton for Cayuga County Legislature District 3.
District 6
Both Roger Mills (R,C) and Terrence K. Lattimore (D) engaged in solid campaigns for the district that includes Sennett and Owasco. In many ways, the two men did not offer different views.
Both are pushing for more efforts to clean up Owasco Lake, and both are strong proponents of bringing the city of Auburn and county and town governments together to share services and save money. That brings the choice down to the person's background, and Lattimore, whose career has focused on environmental consulting, is a good fit for a district where lake pollution issues are paramount. The Citizen endorses Terrence K. Lattimore for Cayuga County Legislature District 6.
District 7
This special election pits incumbent George C. Fearon (R) against Lon A. Fricano (D, C, I). It's an election brought on by Fearon's temporary resignation to allow him to collect retirement benefits from his job in the Union Springs Central School District. The district includes Springport, Scipio and Ledyard.
Fearon's use of this loophole is just one of many actions he's taken the past two years that raise serious questions about his re-election. As chairman of the Legislature, he was in charge when illegal asbestos removal took place at the county Board of Elections building. There's dispute about when he knew of the activity, but Fearon himself has admitted knowing a month before the general public learned of the situation. That move, along with his refusal to communicate with the public on the, is unacceptable.
Fricano, an emergency services professional in the area, has certainly cited the asbestos scandal in his campaign. But he's also done a good job pointing out other areas where the county has fallen short, such as the care for the mentally ill. What we like most about Fricano is his independent streak. It's clear he's not loyal to political parties, and he'll say what's on his mind. The Legislature can use a few people like that. The Citizen endorses Lon A. Fricano for Cayuga County Legislature District 7.
District 8
This race is a rematch from a special election held two years ago. Sjana M. McClure-Berry (D, I) hopes for a better result this time against incumbent Francis C. Mitchell (R). The district includes the towns of Venice, Genoa and Locke.
McClure-Berry mounted a stronger campaign this time around, proposing some concrete ideas that are definitely worth exploring, such as the elimination of a county tax on fuel. She also is a fierce advocate of taking on Albany's unfunded mandates. But we still see her as a candidate who seems more motivated to tackle state and national issues as opposed to the workings of Cayuga County government.
Mitchell is the opposite. He's a numbers cruncher who also is willing to work with just about anyone on the Legislature. He wants to dedicate considerable effort to getting the county much -needed software that can bring it into the current century when it comes to financial record keeping, and he has the expertise to convince people that it should happen. We also give Mitchell credit for his work as chairman of the Government Operations Committee, which got a needed term limit law revision on this year's ballot. The Citizen endorses Francis C. Mitchell for Cayuga County Legislature District 8.
District 12
Voters in District 12, one of the city of Auburn districts, will choose a replacement for David Pappert, who chose not to run after fulfilling one term. Thomas J. McKellop (R) is taking on Patrick V. Mahunik (D, C, I) for this race.
Both candidates offer similar perspectives in terms of ideas for job creation, consolidation of services and ensuring a clean water supply. McKellop, who has also run unsuccessfully for a seat on the Auburn Enlarged City School District, did not seem to have a firm grasp on county issues at times, a shortcoming he had displayed in his bid for the school board.
Mahunik clearly did his homework, and made some strong points during his campaign. He is eager to improve Emerson Park, as well as the Owasco Road corridor leading to it, as a key tourism initiative. We hope he can sustain his optimism that county government can work efficiently, and in the end, produce needed results. The Citizen endorses Patrick V. Mahunik for Cayuga County Legislature District 12.
District 14
The other race involving an Auburn district pits Michael V. Didio (R) against Daniel P. Sincebaugh (D, I) for the seat to replace retiring Michael Lepak.
Both candidates are clearly solid citizens who love their community and want to give something back. To be blunt, though, neither shined during this campaign with bold ideas or effective communication.
In the end, Didio did offer some hopeful promises, such as a commitment to staying on top of water quality issues and a concrete plan for keeping people in his district engaged in the county government process.
The Citizen endorses Michael V. Didio for Cayuga County Legislature District 14.
The race for two open seats on the Auburn City Council is a disappointment, but not because of any major shortcomings among the candidates running. It's simply unfortunate that in a city the size of Auburn, in which the current council is a frequent target of complaints, only three candidates will be on the ballot. The Republican Party's failure to put forward any candidate is simply disgraceful.
All that said, residents should be grateful for the clean, honest campaigns offered this year by incumbent Thomas McNabb and newcomers Gilda Brower and Peter Kotzer.
McNabb (D,C) is seeking a fourth term on the council. His success in past elections certainly indicates that he's satisfied constituents in the past.
In this year's campaign, he's promised to fight to bring back the city's human rights director position, and he's in support of lowering the troubling 15-person-per-shift minimum at the Auburn Fire Department.
If he does return for another four years on council, we encourage him to be more visible and vocal. Plenty of political observers have rightfully pointed out that McNabb seems to only become truly engaged during election seasons. This year he's made plenty of strong comments, and we urge a continuation of that practice going forward.
Brower (D), the founder and director of Auburn's Montessori school, has frustrated us at times this campaign season with her reluctance to take a stand on specific city issues.
Her standard answer to many questions is that she needs to study the issue in question further and try to come to an educated decision. There's nothing wrong with that approach; we just feel that she owed it to voters to do that legwork long before launching an active campaign.
All that said, Brower did take some firm positions toward the end of the campaign. Like McNabb, she favors a reduction in the fire department minimum staffing requirement, and she's passionate about bring the human rights position back. She also shows zeal about the need to improve the city's recycling program. Perhaps most importantly, we see Brower as a person who can restore some needed civility to the council chambers.
Kotzer (I), who has an impressive scientific background, talks most passionately about issues that aren't directly tied to the city council. He's offered strong opinions this campaign season about fathers' rights issues, the war in Iraq and Social Security. When it comes to specific city matters, though, he's prone to say that he'd need to rely on others to help him keep up with the nitty-gritty of city hall workings. That's simply the wrong approach for a city council candidate. Kotzer's campaign themes are much more in line with a person who should run for the state Legislature or U.S. Congress.
The Citizen endorses Thomas McNabb and Gilda Brower for Auburn City Council.
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are 9 comment(s)
silentriver wrote on Nov 5, 2007 12:08 PM:
Andy B wrote on Nov 5, 2007 10:08 AM:
City/County Taxpayer wrote on Nov 4, 2007 3:06 PM:
Yikes wrote on Nov 4, 2007 1:03 PM:
zapped wrote on Nov 4, 2007 11:04 AM:
Yikes wrote on Nov 4, 2007 11:01 AM:
forrest wrote on Nov 4, 2007 8:38 AM:
thetruthisoutthere wrote on Nov 4, 2007 7:56 AM:
Yikes wrote on Nov 4, 2007 1:36 AM: