Finding Ulysses » Trumansburg Politics

Final Public Meeting About Anti-Fracking Ordinance This Wednesday

Jonathan Cook — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:20:30 +0000

This Wednesday, June 29 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium of the Trumansburg elementary school, there will be a public hearing on proposed legislation that would ban drilling for natural gas in the Town of Ulysses. The Town Board will be present to listen to residents’ opinions about the anti-fracking legislation, but those who wish to speak are encouraged to show up early and sign up for a slot.

Written comments, submitted along with name and mailing address, are now being accepted by mail at Town Clerk, 10 Elm St., Trumansburg, NY 14886. Emails to be included in the public record pertaining to the proposed fracking ban can be sent to Liz Thomas at Liz.graeper.thomas@gmail.com with the subject line: Public Comment for Local Law to Amend Zoning.

The text of the draft legislation is as follows:

Proposed Ulysses Gas Drilling Local Law
resolution to go to Public hearing and send to Tompkins County for 239 l,m review passed 6-14-11 1-0

TOWN OF ULYSSES, NEW YORK

LOCAL LAW NO. ___ OF THE YEAR 2011
A Local Law to Amend the Zoning Law of the Town of Ulysses

SECTION 1.
The definition of “Extractive industry” in Article IV of the Zoning Law, Section 4.2
(“Definitions”) shall be amended by the addition of the italicized words:

“The extraction of overburden and minerals from the earth; the preparation and
processing of minerals, including any activities or processes used for the extraction or
removal of minerals from their original location and the preparation such as washing,
cleaning, crushing, stockpiling or other process at the mine location that makes a mineral
suitable for commercial, industrial or construction use, but does not include operations
extracting natural gas and / or petroleum. For the purpose of this Zoning Law, borrow
pits (excavations for removing material for filling operations) which exceed 2,000 tons
in a one (1)-year period are considered extractive industry.”

SECTION 2.
The following definitions shall be added to Article IV of the Zoning Law, Section 4.2,
“Definitions”:

Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Exploration: Geologic or geophysical activities related to
the search for natural gas, petroleum, or other subsurface hydrocarbons including
prospecting, geophysical and geologic seismic surveying and sampling techniques, which
include but are not limited to core or rotary drilling or making an excavation in the
search and evaluation of natural gas, petroleum, or other subsurface hydrocarbon
deposits.

Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Extraction: The digging or drilling of a well for the
purposes of exploring for, developing or producing natural gas, petroleum, or other
hydrocarbons.

Natural Gas and / or Petroleum Support Activities: The construction, use, or
maintenance of a storage or staging yard, a water or fluid injection station, a water or
fluid gathering station, a natural gas or petroleum storage facility, or a natural gas or
petroleum gathering line, venting station, or compressor associated with the exploration
or extraction of natural gas or petroleum.

Natural gas: Any gaseous substance, either combustible or noncombustible, which is
produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains a gaseous or rarified
state at standard temperature and pressure conditions, and/or gaseous components or
vapors occurring in or derived from petroleum or other hydrocarbons.

Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Exploration and Production Wastes shall mean any
garbage, refuse, cuttings, sludge, flow-back fluids, produced waters, or other discarded
materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material that results
from or is associated with the exploration, drilling or extraction of natural gas and/or
petroleum.

SECTION 3.
The following provisions shall be added to “Article XXI – General Provisions” of the
Zoning Law:

21.15. Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Exploration, Natural Gas and/or Petroleum
Extraction, Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Storage, Natural Gas and/or Petroleum
Treatment, and Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Waste Disposal

21.15.1 The provisions of this section are in further clarification of section 2.1, of this
Zoning Law, which provides inpart: “Any use not specifically set forth as a permitted
use in any zoning district shall be expressly prohibited in that zone. A use specifically set
forth as a permitted use in one zoning district shall not be permitted in another zoning
district unless it is specifically set forth as a permitted use in such district.”

21.15.2 The following uses are not permitted in any zoning district:

21.15.2.1 Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Exploration

21.15.2.2 Natural Gas and/or Petroleum Extraction

21.15.2.3 Natural Gas and / or Petroleum Support Activities

21.15.2.4 the transfer, storage, treatment, or disposal of natural gas and/or petroleum
exploration or production wastes;

21.15.2.5 erection of any derrick, building or other structure or placement of any
machinery or equipment for the purposes outlined in paragraphs 21.15.2.1, 21.15.2.2,
21.15.2.3, or 21.15.2.4 above;

21.15.3 No permit issued by any state orfederal agency, commission or board to any
person, firm or corporation, which would violate the prohibitions of this section shall be
deemed valid within the Town of Ulysses.

SECTION 4.
This local law shall take effect upon filing with the Secretary of State, at which point this
local law shall apply to any and all prohibited activities in the Town of Ulysses regardless
of the date of any applicable New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
permits.

SECTION 5.
The provisions of this local law are severable. If any court of competent jurisdiction
decides that any section, clause, sentence, part or provision of this local law is illegal,
invalid, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the
remaining sections clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of the Local Law.
SECTION 6.
This local law shall supersede or repeal any prior inconsistent Local Law or local law in
the Town of Ulysses purporting to allow natural gas exploration, natural gas extraction or
the transport, storage, treatment or disposal of natural gas exploration or extraction waste.

Rob Cassetti Gets 100 Percent

Jonathan Cook — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:46:45 +0000

Yesterday, there was an election in Trumansburg, for a position on the Village Board of Trustees. There was one candidate on the ballot: Rob Cassetti.

You could say that it was unsurprising that Cassetti got 100 percent of the vote, but it the only possible outcome. Cassetti got 100 percent, but only of a tiny percentage of the village population. Only 82 Trumansburgers turned out to vote yesterday.

With a little bit of organization, Trumansburg Republicans could have easily gotten 100 people to write in the name of their own candidate. There wasn’t even one write-in vote in yesterday’s election, though. It seems that Trumansburg Republicans either don’t have even a little bit of organization, or they’re happy with Rob Cassetti’s leadership.

Trumansburg Village Election Today

Jonathan Cook — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:47:34 +0000

The election for a spot on the Trumansburg Board of Elections is taking place today, from noon to 9 PM. The Board of Elections lists voting locations on their web site.

The sky is blue, and it looks like it will be a fine day, so get out and walk. Even though there’s only one person on the ballot, a write-in campaign is always possible, and today’s vote will be a chance for you to get some more practice on those darned new machines.

Rob Cassetti Vs. ?

Jonathan Cook — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 04:33:03 +0000

The Ithaca Journal reports that Trumansburg has no contested elections next month. That might be true – but on the other hand, it might not be true.

The March 2011 ballot for the Trumansburg village election will look like what you see to the right: Only Rob Cassetti’s name is there. However, careful observers will note that there’s another space for people’s names to be written in.

Could Trumansburg Republicans organize a write-in campaign, sending lots of their party’s voters to the polls with a shadow candidate’s name written in on the ballots? It’s happened in the past.

March 15 is the date of the election. Even though there’s only one name on the ballot, show up anyway. Vote for the person you want to see on Trumanburg Village Board of Trustees. Bring one of your children to watch you vote. Say hello to your neighbors at the polling station, but above all else, don’t stay home.

It’s May In Trumansburg

Jonathan Cook — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 03:50:41 +0000

What a glorious day it was, nearly 60 degrees and bright sun, with that ice melting right off the slick sidewalks. I saw real green grass around town today. It felt like May…

… and in some places, it was.

When I started this Finding Ulysses blog years ago, I thought that I might write on it a bit more than I actually have. Things have happened – two additional children especially – that have gotten in the way of that vision. I’d like to write more, and at more length, here than I do, and every now and then I feel bad when I see the site not so frequently updated.

I’m not feeling that way so much this evening, though, as I look on over at the official web site from the Trumansburg village government. The latest item in the news there is from May of last year, talking about the annual water quality report – the report that will be coming again just three months from now.

Yikes.

Could we arrange for the Village Board of Trustees to start a Twitter feed, perhaps? A quick Twitter search tonight does reveal that Trumansburg resident Don Ellis is a recent winner of an iPad from WSKG. What else of that sort could be shared by our local government?

In other local news, The Piggery announces on Facebook this week that it’s looking for a driver to take its products to New York City every thursday, for “CSA shares”:

“…looking for a farm driver to deliver our CSA shares from Trumansburg to NYC every Thursday starting March 10th. No special driver license needed, but a clean driving record is needed….. Please have anyone who may be interested get in touch:)”

It’s great to see anyone can offer any sort of job these days, even if it’s just one day a week. Also, I strongly respect the Piggery’s local food efforts here and at the Ithaca Farmers Market. Still – if the food travels 4 to 5 hours by road to get to its destination, how does this part of the business qualify as community supported agriculture?

Let’s get together, Trumansburg, and commit to eating more of our share of local pork – so they have less to send to Manhattan.

Mike Arcuri, Good Riddance

Jonathan Cook — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:31:26 +0000

I’m a raging liberal, and so I’m not used to celebrating the election of a Republican to Congress. This morning, however, I am celebrating the election of Richard Hanna to the U.S. House of Representatives from our 24th congressional district.

The reason has everything to do with the Congressman Richard Hanna will be replacing: Mike Arcuri. Arcuri has been our Democratic U.S. Representative for four years now, though Democrats in our district never really got the chance to choose him as their candidate. Back in 2006, then-Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Rahm Emanuel hand-picked Arcuri to be our district’s Democratic nominee, and maneuvered to pressure all other Democrats to withdraw from the race before rank and file Democrats could make their voices heard through a primary.

We were told that a primary would weaken Democratic chances of victory. Instead, what we actually got was four years of weakened Democratic Party victories. Because of the election of Michael Arcuri, and right wing Blue Dogs like him, to Congress, Republicans won large numbers of legislative victories even though they were nominally out of power. The Blue Dogs blocked good legislation and worked with Republicans to pass nasty laws.

From the start, liberals like myself were told that we were obligated to vote for Arcuri just because he was a Democrat, regardless of his ideology. Democrats here in Trumansburg howled and scowled when I told them in 2006 that I wouldn’t vote for Arcuri because of his support for the Military Commissions Act, a law that encourages torture and set up kangaroo courts with shamefully low standards of justice (Arcuri announced his support for the law even before he had read it). I was told that I ought to think of the big picture, and imagine all the wonderful things that would be done once the Democrats took control of Congress.

They got what they wanted, and then, almost all those wonderful things that the Democrats promised they’d do when they got control of Congress were blocked by Michael Arcuri and his fellow Blue Dogs. Arcuri’s vote against health care reform and climate legislation this session were just the most recent examples of his frequent collaboration with Congress to the detriment of the political ideals that most Democrats hold dear.

I disagree with a huge amount of Richard Hanna’s political agenda, but there’s one thing Richard Hanna does not do. Richard Hanna does not tell me that he’s progressive and then act regressive.

In fact, Richard Hanna is every now and then surprisingly reasonable. This year, for example, when most Republican congressional candidates were hissing and foaming at the mouth in protest against the renovation of a community center run by Muslims, with a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks in it, calling it a “Ground Zero Mosque”, Richard Hanna refrained from joining in the hateful paranoia… at first. He rightly noted that where any religious group chose to place its buildings is their business, a matter protected by the First Amendment’s freedom of religion.

Then, Mike Arcuri, seeing a political opportunity to exploit fear to his personal advantage, declared that he thought that Muslims ought to move their community center away from the community in which they lived. Arcuri was effectively stating that there ought to be Islam-free zones in the USA. He was joining with Sarah Palin, against Barack Obama’s pleas for toleration. He forced Richard Hanna to change his position, and join in the scapegoating of Muslims.

So now we’ve got to deal with being represented in the U.S. House by a Republican. I can cope with that. Just as electing Mike Arcuri wasn’t what delivered the House to the Democrats in 2006, electing Richard Hanna isn’t now a single blow that’s given John Boehner and his Republican allies control of the House. If you look at the election results from yesterday across the nation, you’ll see that it was overwhelmingly Republican-collaborating Democrats like Mike Arcuri who lost their seats in the House. Blue Dogs and other Democrats like them didn’t retain voter support. Liberal Democrats did. The Democratic committees up in Utica and Auburn, who together dominate the Democratic Party politics in our district, ought to consider that as they look for nominees in 2012.

It’s 2012 I’m thinking of as I celebrate the yesterday’s victory of Richard Hanna. Now, Democrats have the opportunity to organize to find a reasonable, genuine progressive Democrat to represent them in the 2012 election. Democrats don’t have to put on false smiles anymore, making excuses for Arcuri. There’s a chance now that, come January of 2013, Trumansburg Democrats will be represented by someone in Congress who actually shares their values.

Michael Arcuri? Good riddance.

Congressional Donations From Trumansburg

Jonathan Cook — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:47:37 +0000

The state of the 2010 congressional campaign in Trumansburg is… nearly non-existent.

In the first quarter of this year, there have been only three donations over $200 from Trumansburg to the re-election campaign of our incumbent Representative in Congress, Michael Arcuri. The total amount of those donations is $2,400.

That’s more than what Arcuri’s Republican rival, Richard Hanna has obtained from Trumansburg. Although Hanna took more than half again as much money as Arcuri in general during the first quarter of this year, Hanna did not receive any donations over $200 from Trumansburg.

It seems that a general lack of enthusiasm characterizes Trumansburg’s role in the 2010 congressional election so far. Support for Richard Hanna is low, but support for Congressman Arcuri isn’t high either.

Mike Arcuri Heavily Funded By Corporate PACs

Jonathan Cook — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:19:10 +0000

When our U.S. Representative, Mike Arcuri, joined congressional Republicans to vote against health care reform, many Ulysses Democrats wondered how on earth he could have made such a decision, when 24th district Democrats overwhelmingly support reform. A look at Arcuri’s 2009 sources of campaign donations goes some way toward clearing up the mystery.

Three quarters of donations to Congressman Arcuri’s re-election campaign last year came from political action commitees. Only one quarter of donations came from individuals – and a good number of those individuals aren’t even from our district.

For example, there are the two checks Arcuri took from Robert Blancato, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, and has spent 5 of the last 10 years as a registered lobbyist. Also sending money from Arlington were Shawn Bullard, who works for the lobbying firm Duetto Group, and lobbyist Bob Gray, working for Strategic Insight. Arcuri took a $5,000 check from Gilbert Butler, an investment manager in New York City, a check from Patrick Foley, who lobbies for the firm Bolton-St. Johns, and Patricia Guay, lobbying with the Petrizzo Strategic Group for clients such as Agios Pharmaceuticals and Medica Healthcare Plans. The list of lobbyists counted as individual contributors to Arcuri’s re-election campaign continues on, and on. Search through that list, and you’ll see that even the 24 percent of donations that Arcuri took from individuals isn’t wholly comprised of fawning Arcuri constituents in our district.

Of course, many lobbying firms were quite open about handing money to Congressman Arcuri. For example, before he voted against climate change legislation, Arcuri took a check from Kelley, Drye and Warren, a lobbying firm that represents ExxonMobil. Arcuri also took money from the PAC for the lobbying firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, a lobbying firm representing Allstate Insurance, as well as the PAC for the lobbyists of Williams & Jensen, which represents pharmaceuticals giants Novartis, Amgen, and AstraZeneca.

Are you starting to get the picture of how Michael Arcuri could have seen his way to vote against health care reform? Yes, Arcuri certainly got some interesting telephone messages from Tea Party protesters, but perhaps more convincing was the $53,500 he received from medical industry PACs, and $15,000 from insurance industry PACs. That’s in addition to the amounts given by the lobbyists listed above.

Arcuri also took $10,000 in donations from the Blue Dog PAC. Arcuri is a Blue Dog himself, and along with rank-and-file members such as Arcuri, every single leader of the Blue Dog Coalition voted against health care reform.

Did Democratic voters here in Trumansburg think that Representative Arcuri would listen to them on the issue of health care reform, with the loud voices of all that corporate money competing for attention?

Marty Petrovic, Deborah Nottke, Debra Watkins Win

Jonathan Cook — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:39:08 +0000

Results from the Tompkins County Board of Elections are in. With 100 percent of the vote being reported, Trumansburg’s incument mayor Marty Petrovic has a clear victory over John White, 68.9 percent to 31.1 percent.

For the other positions, Democrat Debra Watkins and incumbent Republican Deborah Nottke were the victors. Cayuga Street Democrat Blake Reid made a respectable showing, however, behind Nottke by just 13 votes. We can look to seeing Reid give another strong run in a future election, I think.

New Optical Scanner Voting In Trumansburg

Jonathan Cook — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:23:19 +0000

Please get out and vote in today’s village elections in the back room at the Trumansburg village offices – and give yourself a few minutes more than you would ordinarily expect. Everyone, election workers included, is getting used to the new optical scanner voting technology that’s being used for the first time in Trumansburg today.

There is a problem with the process as I experienced it today: Privacy isn’t great at the end of the process. You go in and fill in the circles next to the names of the people you want to vote for. That part is done behind a privacy shield. Then, however, you’ve got to go take your ballot out of a concealing folder, and feed it into the scanning machine. That takes place just one or two feet from where people are walking in the door, standing in line, waiting for their turn. The election worker can get a good glance at the ballot too.

In order to be private, the scanning machine needs to be operated by a voter, or started by an election worker who then walks away. Whichever way it works, the machine needs to be behind a privacy screen of its own.

John White Conflict Of Interest For Trumansburg Mayor?

Jonathan Cook — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:53:54 +0000

Tuesday is Election Day here in Trumansburg, with two seats on the Board of Trustees up for grabs, along with the position of Mayor of our village.

As the campaign approaches its zenith, there are political lawn signs up and down our streets, and even a big billboard far outside of village limits on route 96. What’s more important, however, is the talk going on around town about the candidates. In a small community like ours, what people already know about a candidate is not easily overpowered by a quick investment in campaign gear.

This weekend, much of the talk has to do with Republican mayoral candidate John White, who is seeking to replace incumbent Democrat Marty Petrovic. The concern being expressed has to do with one of the hottest political topics in our region: Natural gas drilling, and the impact of its fracking technology on our local water supplies.

It seems that John White owns a good deal of land outside of Trumansburg – land that’s leased out to natural gas drilling companies. In order for those leases to bring a profit to White, however, there would have to be an arrangement for local water to be used, so that dangerous substances could be added to it for hydrofracking, in which natural gas is released through the pumping of the resulting mixture into the ground.

As Mayor of Trumansburg, John White would be in a position to lead the village into providing some of our water to natural gas drilling companies such as the one that holds a lease on his own property. It smells like a serious conflict of interest.

Extensive New Zoning Ordinance

Jonathan Cook — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:50:11 +0000

Citizen alert: There has been proposed an extensive (66 page) revision of the zoning ordinance for the Village of Trumansburg. It’s available for viewing online at: http://www.trumansburg-ny.gov/docs/Trumansburg%20Revised%20Zoning%20Ordinance.pdf

It’s a big deal how our zoning works, given that it governs much of how we can live in the village. Yet, only 2 people showed up to the December 14 meeting at which the zoning was discussed.

I’ve been told that our mayor expressed the opinion that there isn’t any need for further input, given that so few people are interested. I don’t know for certain that’s actually what was said, but I have heard similar things being said by many elected officials here in Ulysses.

I want to suggest that our Mayor consider slowing down the zoning process, for the reason that he, and other members of the Village Board, may be overestimating the speed with which village residents can fairly be expected to become acquainted with, consider, and react meaningfully to a document such as the proposed Zoning Ordinance.

The Trustees of Trumansburg have a certain way of looking at village business, which is natural to their position: They have sought, and been granted through competitive elections, the privilege of dealing with the minutae of our community’s business. They know the ins and outs of what’s going on in our village, and are consistently focused upon the legislative matters that keep Trumansburg going.

Most of the rest of us in Trumansburg are not so focused. For some, it’s because they don’t care much. For most of the rest of us, it’s because of other factors.

The proposed zoning ordinance was last edited on November 13. The new version was posted online on December 7 – just a week before the meeting that apparently disappointed the Mayor. In that time, people have had the holidays to deal with – family coming in for Thanksgiving, and preparations for whatever winter holidays we celebrate. At this time of year, it can be especially difficult to make it out for a long evening meeting, especially one that requires a person to read a 66-page document in order to meaningfully contribute.

But, even if it weren’t the holiday season, many of us would have been hard put to make that December 14th meeting, and to prepare for it. That’s because, in these hard economic times, more residents of Trumansburg are working longer hours, sometimes working more than one job to make ends meet. For those of us with children, these village meetings are at bedtime, and practically impossible to attend at any time of year, especially when one spouse in a family is working at that extra job to bring in extra income to make up for losses elsewhere.

There’s something else the Village Board ought to take into account in its schedule considering the proposed zoning changes: The pace of a community like ours. Even for adults in Trumansburg who work simple 9 to 5, 40 hour work weeks, and don’t have children to take care of, it can seem rather rushed to post a document online and then have a hearing about it a week later.

People here know their neighbors. They like to soak in news about their community, contemplating it slowly, through discussions with friends in town, to see what the general consensus is. Most residents aren’t going to keep a watch on the official web site of the Village, and react immediately, as if their citizenship is as simple as a vote on Dancing With the Stars.

There’s no need to hurry a revision of our zoning ordinance. It would be nice if people had some time to consider the changes gradually, making sure that they understand what’s being proposed before they rush to an opinion. If it takes another 9 months, another year or two even, to pass some revisions, there isn’t much lost.

Let’s not interpret lack of physical absence at a meeting as apathy. Instead, let’s recognize the way that people in Trumansburg are really living these days – that’s what zoning ought to reflect anyway, isn’t it?