anyway,
so we have a village and town board whose claim to fame has been to spend money on zero accomplished. This is not Cornell you know with endowed schools and taxpayer funds while paying a very small share of taxes.
Trumansburg is the real world not a virtual one where imagined is the same as real. Here if there is no Water it will get thirsty out and expensive. Cornell is a very successful business venture with many many funding advantages. Trumnabsurg is not. Resources in Tburg are not infinite. Water was an important issue and the existing plan should have been presented to those concerned without biases so an informed choice could be made. It was structured to be an excellent step in ongoing development of Town and village resources to support life in this areas. Growth is necessary albeit controlled with out growth, death results and it will happen to a town as well as any other organism.
Water district five was a well thought out and appropriate plan for a step in the right direction. too bad ignorance and self serving have one this one. Since the public has never been asked directly if they were even interested in the project I would say this is no representation by local officials and therefore a removable offense similar to the One in the village. Impeachment seems a good choice when taxation without representation is the style of government locally.
At some point in the near future the Feds will impose a water plan and a district and there will be la=ess control than there would have bben now. Gradual development of infrastructure is what needs to happen
not all the villages upcoming water issues can be solved right now. it is a STEP. and a good one in my view. Of course I would benefit some from municipal wat but do not really need it yet. I/We would also benefit from municipal power long term but the Boards are so tied up squabbling that they cannot get anyhting done. Incompetence does seem to rule and indicates possibilities for removal of non representative government. Ask the public if they weven want municipal water … those in the proposed district. if you don’t you have not represented anyone fairly and after all that is the job.

My memory of the old Village parties was that they did not differ markedly in make-up from the Red and Blue, and the same community-serving individuals helped all 4 keep going (hence, fair elections). I, personally, agree that local issues should be the focus of debate for local candidates and their supporters. In T-burg and Ulysses, there is often too much froth about personalities and style, and not enough reasoned debate on the issues. I think that is actually connected to a tendency to be “do-it-yourselfers” in some areas that are more productively left to professionals (consultants on this level).

The water issue– which I think is the biggest issue currently facing both the village and the town– suffers from this in spades. First off, the time-consuming work involved in d-i-y makes otherwise excellent candidates say they don’t have time to serve. Then, officials’ egos come into the picture in a way that would not happen if the professional planning work was not done by elected officials themselves, but by professional planners. Pros would prepare more than one alternative at the onset (after studying situation and getting even-handed and inclusive input from residents, and drawing on what has worked elsewhere). But, ya know, I have a Cornell planning degree, so, I am inclined to have high standards there. Still, planners are trained to get a lot of community participation incorporated into the decision-making, without having things degenerate into…. you know, all that unprofessional Tempest and soap opera.

I see people finding themselves here, pushing, defending the boundaries of themselves in the community.

This is why I created Finding Ulysses. It’s not journalism. It’s not reporting. It’s finding, pushing, falling, stumbling, fighting to get to the home where we want to be. It is Ulysses.

We should, living in Ulysses, never forget Ulysses.

As for putting the paper online? Not my call. Go bug the publisher about it. He makes those decisions. And if you’re going to accuse me of endorsing anyone, tell me where I did it.

I’ve been very cordial here so far. If my jokes offended you, I apologize. But if you want to cross the barrier into rude, fine. But you’ll get no further answers from me.

howzabout you put the free press up on the web (like every other professional publication nowadays), and then we can all go back and see just who and what has been endorsed, either implicity or explicitly by your “paper”?

and while you’re on your kick on anyonymous poster’s “hiding behind a mask and being from parts unknown”, let’s then ignore the comments from:

Illegal o alien
richard
trumansburg voter
tburg newbie
concerned

all of whom are apparently up to nefarious no good

1. I never used the word hypocrisy in relation to your questions. I said “irony.” I also never asked you to reveal your identity. I’m fine with you keeping yourself secret. That’s your right.

2. Where have I endorsed anyone in these local races? I’ve stayed away completely from endorsing any of the candidates and no place in my paper has there been an endorsement from anyone on my staff. We’ve run letters to the editor in support of candidates, but those were the opinions of the letter writer, not the paper.

3. Local politics should be confined to elections. Local governance should take place year-round. The politics have, in my opinion, taken over the act of governing around here and it’s causing nothing to get done. Again, though, it’s my opinion.

Steven, I can’t believe you took x’s bait hook line and sinker. You’ve exposed yourself as an across the board party line guy, (Schumer, Gore, Kerry, Lifton, Arcuri).

Now what did you say, oh yeah, “I am not currently registered as a member of any political party” Sure.

Go ahead and just register Democrat, you would have had a chance to choose someone other then as you called him “Idiot” Kerry.

So prey tell what’s a nice Moderate democrat doing endorsing a bunch of pro-choice, bush loving, flag-waving, under god litigating republicans?

and Steven, you’re dead wrong about politics not being an issue in local politics. Politics is politics. I’m sure you’ve come to your view from a good amount of thinking and consideration, but you’ve let it take over your better judgement. I’d rather have a right wing lunatic in the white house than one literally in my back yard.

you are a public figure and have political power and therefore need to provide transparency into your thinking and beliefs. I am not, and therefore do not need to tell you who I am. There’s no hypocracy there. You’ve chosen your profession. You have a responsibility to the public by virtue of that choice. Thank you for clarifying your views in public.

Second, what you see as a “political bias” I belive to be a dislike for the inclusion of politics into local governance. My issues stem from what I believe to be a political divide among our elected officials, all of whom (with one new exception) identify themselves as Democrats. Whatever the case, I don’t see any reason why politics should enter the picture at the local level. Our representatives are not deciding on Roe. They are not ruling on gay marriage. They are trying to better the lives of those they represent. That should be the only measuring stick we use to judge whether these particular representatives should be elected (or re-elected).

Villages in NYS have the option of using the established political parties (Democrats, Republicans, et al) or using their own parties. I am an advocate of the latter, because calling yourself a Democrat or a Republican in a local race means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Now then, X, you seem to want me to give my bio. I don’t see the relevance, but I am happy to oblige, as I agree that I should be open and honest.

Political affiliation: I am not currently registered as a member of any political party, although if pressed (and I believe I have been) I would call myself a moderate Democrat.

Voting Record: The first election I was eligible for was in 1998. I voted for Chuck Schumer. In 2000, I voted for Al Gore. In 2004, though I believed him to be an idiot, I voted for John Kerry, because, honestly, my cat would make a better president than Mr. Bush. I have voted for Barbara Lifton twice now and I voted for Mike Arcuri for Congress. I skipped over the Senatorial race, because I didn’t feel comfortable voting for Mrs. Clinton and her opponent was an idiot.

Do I support President Bush: He is our president. I cannot wait until he is no longer our president.

Abortion: My stance has always been pro-woman. A bunch of stuffy old men should in no way be deciding what a woman does with her body. Nor should I. If you are a man, x, neither should you.

Church and State: The constitution calls for a seperation of church and state. I’m all for it. I also don’t believe that the government should be in the business of marriages. It should remain a church sacrament and nothing else. By the way, in the interest of openness and honesty, I am a lifelong Catholic. I believe in God. I don’t believe in pressing my beliefs on other people. My Catholicism is mine. It works for me. I don’t expect other people to join me in prayer outside of a church.

Also, I wouldn’t mind seeing “Under God” taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Any other questions? I’ll be happy to answer them.

Seriously, though– I went to the meeting, as a 30-year Town of Ulysses resident who is deeply interested in what the future of T-burg may turn out to be…. ‘cuz I think the future of Ulysses is joined at the hip to that. I thought that Rordan sounded young and naive, with no experience to offer other than having lived here, while Chris and David were more mature, and had clearly paid their dues and learned their lessons through long, hard public service. I enjoyed hearing about the visions that the candidates who had visions for the future of T-burg had, and welcomed the news that the comp plan and zoning update would be coming soon. And, I got a big kick out of contemplating what the difference was between a “lifelong resident” who was very young (Rordan), and a 3-decade resident who was from somewhere else originally (me) was (clue: I think it has to do with graduating from T-burg Schools). Nonetheless, I understand Rordan’s discomfort about confronting his “lifelong resident” campaign rhetoric as “nativist” was, when he is a first-generation American (but life-long T-burger). He is a victim there of his supporters’ advice and party affiliation– the Republicans in Ulysses are the party of the many-generations-lived-here gang– and welcoming to newcomers (even the 3-decade-lived-here variety) they are not (not sure why Rordan’s parents are considered ok– maybe it is the stock market investment thing, or maybe they play golf, or vote Republican).

Rordan’s critique of imperial and you-can’t-have-that-info government spoke to me as a lament on the behavior of that one Republican-endorsed Town official, Doug Austic. I am hoping that, after he loses the Village Board election, Rordan will turn that good energy toward reforming Doug, and bringing openness to Town government. Heaven knows, I (and the rest of the local Democrat Committee) have failed utterly on that Sissiphean (sp?) task. And, it needs doing, ‘cuz all this discord, with its pending lawsuits and wasted engineering studies, is expensive and unproductive.

BTW– the economic development equation on the micro level for me (where might I locate an office if I go back into self-employment? Ithaca, home on DuBois Rd., T-Burg?) was not pulled toward the T-burg pole by all the various personal disses. Want to appeal to potential downtown office renters? Stop being a Tempest in a T-cup, and welcome the newcomers and the tourists, along with their cash.