6622 Van Buren Road, Warners
Background 2nd Ward Councilor since 1999; Deputy Supervisor; 30+ years of conservative fiscal management for human service agencies; extensive community involvement
Occupation Fiscal Officer/Administrator
Endorsed by Republicans, Independents
Given the current economy and budget crises at the state and county levels, which areas of the budget do you feel the town could cut back to alleviate the pressure on taxpayers?
The economic challenges that we all face must not be compounded with increased taxes. The Town Board, Department Heads and staff have worked hard to decrease the tax rate for 2010 despite increased contractual costs and unfunded mandates. We must continue to search for lower cost alternatives i.e. our recent reduction in costs for telephone services and liability and health insurance. Additionally we must challenge the state and county mandates whose costs are transferred to the Town without reimbursement.
In what ways do you think the town could consolidate services with villages, neighboring towns or the county to increase efficiency and keep costs down?
We will continue to explore consolidation and collaboration of services with shared staff, services and purchasing such as our recent efforts with the town of Van Buren for Dog Control services and Assessment services with the town of Elbridge.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment thus far in your position?
My greatest accomplishment has been to keep residents informed of projects relative to their neighborhoods. Over the last two years, I have sent out over 120 e-mails and held 20+ information meetings to talk about various projects. It is imperative to obtain resident input to ensure they are informed and to maintain the integrity of our neighborhoods with the least impact on them.
What specific projects or goals are you most interested in completing or pursuing in your next term?
I would like to continue working with the residents on the Onondaga Lake clean up project with Honeywell and NYS DEC. The Town has retained its own independent expert engineers to represent our residents’ best interests and assure our safety. The town must approve the project before moving forward. We have not done that. I also would like to continue working on the Township 5 project. The new development must balance the needs of Town residents for services and shopping alternatives while minimizing the adverse impacts on the contiguous neighborhoods.
