Editorial Saving Article IX Among the most important sections of our New York State Constitution is Article IX, one that has been on the local books since the organization of our local governments—our counties, cities, towns and villages: home rule. This, in a broad sense, describes those governmental functions and activities traditionally reserved to or performed by local governments without undue infringement by the state. More technically, home rule refers to the constitutional and statutory powers given local governments to…
Online home of The Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta
Advertisement
local government
Chamber Kicks Off 2023 with ‘State of the State’ Breakfast Event By CASPAR EWIGONEONTA It was a sellout crowd last Friday, January 20, as the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual “State of the State” networking breakfast. The conference, which took place in the Otsego Grille of SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Hall, was introduced by Sean Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, as a vehicle to “allow the panelists a chance to express their view of…
LETTER from MARY-MARGARET ROBBINS-SOHNS Village money should improve lives of villagers In regard to the pier in the lake “viewing deck,” I urge the Board of Trustees to stop spending money on tourist attractions. Rather focus on our neglected community. Sidewalks, piers, etc., don’t make a village. Its people do. The viewing deck/dock may sound fun, but it provides little to the community. It is not environmentally friendly and poses numerous liability issues, not to mention potentially risking our water…
Death certificates lead to Coop-Otsego dispute By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com A financial dispute over dead people has left officials in the village of Cooperstown and town of Otsego frustrated with one another. The disagreement stems from services performed by the registrar of vital statistics, which is a job village officials perform town-wide. Registrar duties include birth and death certificates. While there are some births outside of the village, most are at Cooperstown’s Bassett Medical Center. However, it…
In other business: COVID $ disapoints; Glen project gets permit By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com • The village has received $89,000 from the federal government as part of the corona-virus relief package. Tillapaugh said it is much less than she anticipated or the village lost in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and shutdown. The assignments were based on population, a formula that did not favor Cooperstown, she said. The village will receive a similar amount in 2022…
Otsego preps for hiring new administrator By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Otsego County’s legislators began an in-depth look at crafting the county administrator position at a special all board workshop Monday, May 10. The 14 board members listened and asked questions during a two-hour meeting as County Attorney Ellen Coccoma reiterated to them the details of the local law they passed in 2019 to establish the position and several experts on local governments that are using a county…
City Promotes Mattice To Administrator Position By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – The city of Oneonta has promoted Greg Mattice to fill the position of city administrator. Mattice, who has been with the city since 2010 and has been the city engineer for about half of that time, was approved for his new position by the city’s Common Council Tuesday, April 20. The administrator position is a revised position in the city, an attempt to turn the…
LETTER from DANNY LAPIN Voting Lets Citizens Hire Best Leadership Editor’s Note: Danny Lapin, D-Oneonta, is retiring from the county board to focus on chairing the city Planning Commission, and to share his reflections on development and environmentalism through his blog, (accessible by Googling “danny lapin blog”.) This is an excerpt to his introduction to the blog. One of my best friends in graduate school lovingly coined the topic of local government the “most important thing nobody cares about.” This…
Local Governments Should Tend Our Roads, Not Our Minds Do we really expect our local elected officials to tell us what to think? Quite the opposite, probably. And yet instead of focusing on paving streets, keeping tax at a reasonable level, and providing whatever might be considered essential services, they seem increasingly determined to do just that. Three examples popped up in the past few days that suggest this may be spinning out of control, including at the February meeting…
Column by Adrian Kuzminski for November 2, 2018 Gerrymandering Takes Away Our Right To Representation The most remarkable thing I’ve seen in this year’s midterm election campaigns is Chad McEvoy’s op-ed in the New York Times. The headline says it all: “If I win my district, I’ll get rid of it.” That’s the 101st Assembly District, a model of gerrymandering, which snakes in a narrow strip from New Hartford near Utica through part of Otsego county to the Hudson Valley.…