More than half of the seats on the Cayuga County Legislature - those in odd-numbered districts - are up for re-election this year, and while some representatives will not be running or are still undecided, most have made the decision to pursue another term.
Christopher Palermo, R-Sterling, said one of the reasons he will run again is because Raymond Lockwood, R-Fleming, is stepping down after this year. Lockwood, who has been on the Legislature since 1996, announced last week he would not seek re-election.
“There's two or three that have been here longer than I have, and as you see them go, there goes the institutional knowledge,” Palermo said. “I think I can offer that ... It would be a disservice not to run.”
Palermo also wants to continue his efforts with the water and sewer authority, he said.
“One of the biggest focuses over the past year or two has been economic development and we can all agree that we want to have economic development but without basic infrastructure ... Without clean water and sewer systems, that can't happen,” he said.
David Axton, R-Mentz, recalled that when he originally ran, he gave his word that he was “in it for the long haul.”
Axton, who will be running this year, wants to continue consolidating duplicate services within the public works department. He also wants to resume discussions about the county office building and whether it's more efficient to move it or rebuild it up to code. During the 2009 budget process, the Legislature voted to remove a $10,000 item from the budget, which was supposed to pay for a feasibility study to determine what is the best course of action to take with the building.
“I will bring that back to the surface within the next few months ... Our buildings are a major, major issue and if we don't take care of it right now, it's just going to (become) somebody else's problem five, six, 15 years down the road,” Axton said. “This is something I want to get a handle on now and deal with it now instead of making it someone else's problem down the road,” Axton said.
The newest member of the Cayuga County Legislature said she will also seek re-election in November. Cynthia Aikman, D-Auburn, said she is excited about going door-to-door again and continuing to get to know people in her district.
“I'm just getting started,” she said. “This first year will be a year for me to get over the freshman everything and then be of even more service to the residents of the 15th (district) for a full four-year term.”
For some legislators, the term limit was a factor in deciding whether or not to run. In June 2007, the Legislature amended a portion of a local law, limiting the time a legislator could be in office. The change states that “no person shall be elected to more than three legislative terms on the Cayuga County Legislature,” and that an appointment to serve the rest of someone's four-year term will count as one term. Previously, the law limited the time a person could serve to 12 consecutive years. This created problems when some legislators resigned and were then reappointed a few days later, thereby restarting the clock.
Because of the amendment, the clock had to be restarted for all legislators who were elected prior to the change. At the time, some legislators like Ann Petrus, R-Brutus, and George Fearon, R-Springport, said they would not seek reappointment beyond their original 12 years.
Lockwood's decision not to run, he said, was based on spending more time with his family but also on the fact that he will have served 12 years.
“When I went in, there was a term limit and I respected that. I may not agree with it, but respect it,” he said. “The term limit was a contributing factor.”
Lockwood spent much of his time as a legislator taking a stand with the Native American issues. He is the vice-chair of the Native American Affairs Committee of New York state.
“It's my long-standing public service and constituent service as well as my willingness to commit the amount of time it really takes to do the job ... It's extremely time-consuming,” he said.
Steven Cuddeback, who will run for a third term this November, said he isn't sure if he will seek re-election beyond his initial 12 years, he said.
“They reset the clock when they changed the rules, so time will tell,” said Cuddeback, R-Niles.
He is running this year because of “unfinished business,” like the 911 radio-communications system, the issues in the county surrounding mental health and the nursing home.
George Fearon will also seek a third term this fall. Fearon, R-Springport, believes the county is involved in many important issues he wants to be part of.
“I want to represent my district to affect where things should go,” he said. “It's just trying to deal with the finances in tough economic times to (positively) affect the taxpayers.”
One issue is Native American affairs, which Fearon has been involved with for many years. He is also the county representative for Auburn Memorial Hospital, and he wants to remain in that role as the hospital continues to successfully emerge from difficult times.
Fearon said he will not be seeking re-election after his third term despite the fact that the term limit clock officially restarted when the local law was amended in 2007.
“I will absolutely honor the 12-year contract. I have absolutely no intention of running for office again after this November,” he said. “When I went in, that's the way I understood it and you don't change the game ... I honor it, I honor what the intent was, whether I'm obligated or not. If you can't do it in 12 years, forget it.”
But while most legislators in odd districts will seek re-election in November, one familiar face will not be returning in 2010.
Linda Murphy, R-Auburn, said she has other career options she wants to leave open and therefore will not be running for a second term at this time.
“I've been involved in a very positive body of people working for the community, and I'm glad that I have done that and that I still have another year to go,” Murphy said.
This year, Murphy is chairing the Planning and Economic Development Committee and she hopes to move forward with the one-stop place for businesses and improve the opportunity for economic growth within Cayuga County.
Though not everything will be accomplished when she leaves at the end of the year, Murphy feels good about having been a part of important projects such as the 911 radio communications system and the mental health building project.
Murphy's advice to the next legislator of the 11th district is to spend time attending committee meetings and to ask questions about the process and the goals of the Legislature, as well as to have an idea of what they want to accomplish during their time on the sixth floor.
The only undecided legislator is Daniel Schuster, D-Auburn. For him, it's an issue of spending time with his family and deciding if he can put the necessary time into being a legislator again. Schuster would not give details about what will help him make the decision other than saying “I have to evaluate my options.”
Republican committee chairperson Cherl Heary said her party is showing interest in this year's election, though she would not provide specific names. She said that by April, she will have a list of names and the endorsement meeting will take place in early June.
Democratic committee chairperson Katie Lacey said her party is working on recruiting candidates, specifically in Lockwood's and Murphy's district. At this point, nobody has announced their interest to run in Lockwood's district but a search party has been set up, she said.
“There's going to be considerable effort this year to have more competitive legislative races, obviously making gains in the Legislature is high on my priority list,” Lacey said. “As far as the Democratic party is concerned, we've had a lot of success here locally in the last few years. I think there's some enthusiasm built up by the success of the presidential campaign and that should be filtering down. We had a great turnout for the election, a lot of new registrants and all those things point to there being more interest in getting involved.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
“There's two or three that have been here longer than I have, and as you see them go, there goes the institutional knowledge,” Palermo said. “I think I can offer that ... It would be a disservice not to run.”
Palermo also wants to continue his efforts with the water and sewer authority, he said.
“One of the biggest focuses over the past year or two has been economic development and we can all agree that we want to have economic development but without basic infrastructure ... Without clean water and sewer systems, that can't happen,” he said.
David Axton, R-Mentz, recalled that when he originally ran, he gave his word that he was “in it for the long haul.”
Axton, who will be running this year, wants to continue consolidating duplicate services within the public works department. He also wants to resume discussions about the county office building and whether it's more efficient to move it or rebuild it up to code. During the 2009 budget process, the Legislature voted to remove a $10,000 item from the budget, which was supposed to pay for a feasibility study to determine what is the best course of action to take with the building.
“I will bring that back to the surface within the next few months ... Our buildings are a major, major issue and if we don't take care of it right now, it's just going to (become) somebody else's problem five, six, 15 years down the road,” Axton said. “This is something I want to get a handle on now and deal with it now instead of making it someone else's problem down the road,” Axton said.
The newest member of the Cayuga County Legislature said she will also seek re-election in November. Cynthia Aikman, D-Auburn, said she is excited about going door-to-door again and continuing to get to know people in her district.
“I'm just getting started,” she said. “This first year will be a year for me to get over the freshman everything and then be of even more service to the residents of the 15th (district) for a full four-year term.”
For some legislators, the term limit was a factor in deciding whether or not to run. In June 2007, the Legislature amended a portion of a local law, limiting the time a legislator could be in office. The change states that “no person shall be elected to more than three legislative terms on the Cayuga County Legislature,” and that an appointment to serve the rest of someone's four-year term will count as one term. Previously, the law limited the time a person could serve to 12 consecutive years. This created problems when some legislators resigned and were then reappointed a few days later, thereby restarting the clock.
Because of the amendment, the clock had to be restarted for all legislators who were elected prior to the change. At the time, some legislators like Ann Petrus, R-Brutus, and George Fearon, R-Springport, said they would not seek reappointment beyond their original 12 years.
Lockwood's decision not to run, he said, was based on spending more time with his family but also on the fact that he will have served 12 years.
“When I went in, there was a term limit and I respected that. I may not agree with it, but respect it,” he said. “The term limit was a contributing factor.”
Lockwood spent much of his time as a legislator taking a stand with the Native American issues. He is the vice-chair of the Native American Affairs Committee of New York state.
“It's my long-standing public service and constituent service as well as my willingness to commit the amount of time it really takes to do the job ... It's extremely time-consuming,” he said.
Steven Cuddeback, who will run for a third term this November, said he isn't sure if he will seek re-election beyond his initial 12 years, he said.
“They reset the clock when they changed the rules, so time will tell,” said Cuddeback, R-Niles.
He is running this year because of “unfinished business,” like the 911 radio-communications system, the issues in the county surrounding mental health and the nursing home.
George Fearon will also seek a third term this fall. Fearon, R-Springport, believes the county is involved in many important issues he wants to be part of.
“I want to represent my district to affect where things should go,” he said. “It's just trying to deal with the finances in tough economic times to (positively) affect the taxpayers.”
One issue is Native American affairs, which Fearon has been involved with for many years. He is also the county representative for Auburn Memorial Hospital, and he wants to remain in that role as the hospital continues to successfully emerge from difficult times.
Fearon said he will not be seeking re-election after his third term despite the fact that the term limit clock officially restarted when the local law was amended in 2007.
“I will absolutely honor the 12-year contract. I have absolutely no intention of running for office again after this November,” he said. “When I went in, that's the way I understood it and you don't change the game ... I honor it, I honor what the intent was, whether I'm obligated or not. If you can't do it in 12 years, forget it.”
But while most legislators in odd districts will seek re-election in November, one familiar face will not be returning in 2010.
Linda Murphy, R-Auburn, said she has other career options she wants to leave open and therefore will not be running for a second term at this time.
“I've been involved in a very positive body of people working for the community, and I'm glad that I have done that and that I still have another year to go,” Murphy said.
This year, Murphy is chairing the Planning and Economic Development Committee and she hopes to move forward with the one-stop place for businesses and improve the opportunity for economic growth within Cayuga County.
Though not everything will be accomplished when she leaves at the end of the year, Murphy feels good about having been a part of important projects such as the 911 radio communications system and the mental health building project.
Murphy's advice to the next legislator of the 11th district is to spend time attending committee meetings and to ask questions about the process and the goals of the Legislature, as well as to have an idea of what they want to accomplish during their time on the sixth floor.
The only undecided legislator is Daniel Schuster, D-Auburn. For him, it's an issue of spending time with his family and deciding if he can put the necessary time into being a legislator again. Schuster would not give details about what will help him make the decision other than saying “I have to evaluate my options.”
Republican committee chairperson Cherl Heary said her party is showing interest in this year's election, though she would not provide specific names. She said that by April, she will have a list of names and the endorsement meeting will take place in early June.
Democratic committee chairperson Katie Lacey said her party is working on recruiting candidates, specifically in Lockwood's and Murphy's district. At this point, nobody has announced their interest to run in Lockwood's district but a search party has been set up, she said.
“There's going to be considerable effort this year to have more competitive legislative races, obviously making gains in the Legislature is high on my priority list,” Lacey said. “As far as the Democratic party is concerned, we've had a lot of success here locally in the last few years. I think there's some enthusiasm built up by the success of the presidential campaign and that should be filtering down. We had a great turnout for the election, a lot of new registrants and all those things point to there being more interest in getting involved.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
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