NY MILLS MAYOR ELECTION

[Disgusted-Daily]

westmoguy said:

what I heard was that if the new guy get elected, he wants to disband the NYM police dept.

This not 100% true. He is looking to possibly cut back. Currently we have 6-full timers and a equal amount of part timers with a fleet of vehicles including an SUV.

This is not needed in the Mills or has it been in the past with 2-full timers and multiple part timers. We have a Mayor now that is a Police Officer (conflict of interest) and gives the Department what ever they need regardless of the cost to the village residents.

To have this coverage so they can patrol commercial drive is absurd. I could give a rats ass what happens on commercial drive. That is what the State & County Police are for. My tax dollars should be spent on patrolling the village streets that we live on. I can count on one hand how many times a Police car drives down my street.

We are over due for a change across the board. The man in their now is not performing the task that are set before him.

Please vote March 18, 2008 and vote responsibly for the village and not for friendship.

[strikeslip]

Why combine only the Suburban PDs? Why not just combine with Utica and be done with it?

In fact, why not combine all the Suburban towns with Utica along with the Water Authority, Part County Sewer District, Aud Authority, Sports Authority, etc etc. It's ridiculous that the people in the burbs have no say in how Utica is run -- and vice versa -- and ridiculous that legislators from Boonville and Rome control the sewer district -- something they have absolutely no stake in, don't pay for, and could care less about. Utica and its suburbs (and certain services/facilities) are intimately tied together by infrastructure and economics - its time our government started reflecting reality. The area is going down the toilet because every two-bit jurisdiction wants to do things their own way -- but the jurisdiction needed to return control back to the people does not exist.

[dgriffin]

admin said:

Good point Dave. Do they do absentee ballots for local elections in these towns? Snowbirds should be allowed to vote also.

Sure they do, but returns are never as good as from people who can just get in the car and drive to the polls. Swimmy, the state passed a law a few years ago putting school budget votes on the same date, in May, I think.

[frankcor]

LOL, Dave, so true.

I didn't realize it until just now; all 19 villages in Oneida County have their elections next Tuesday, although 2 don't have any seats open.

[dgriffin]

admin said:

There would sure have to be a major savings if they had one police department covering NY Mills, Whitesboro, Yorkville and New Hartford.

Even though I don't live there, I'll comment, because we see the same arguments in this area. The problem isn't police coverage, the problem is police jobs being lost. If you think about who gets a police job in the first place, you'll realize that eliminating a policeman's job is akin to eliminating the job of someone who is owed a favor... he or his family.

[Swimmy]

I'm not sure I follow you, Dave. How is eliminating one police officer's job akin to eliminating the job of someone who is owed a favor?

My understanding of clipper's idea, at least how I think it should work, is that you merge the departments. You're not really eliminating any jobs. The town or village police would be offered the opportunity to qualify for county sheriff positions, or be grandfathered in, whichever is more feasible.

[frankcor]

At the very minimum, you wouldn't need three police chiefs. Also, when combining three departments, it's expected you could eliminate some positions because of efficientcies in scheduling. Unfortunately, government never eliminates jobs when it consolidates.

[dgriffin]

And in my town, you would eliminate a dispatcher as well as a chief. Also eliminated would be POTENTIAL jobs. In the game of political favoritism, these are real bullets that just haven't arrived yet at the battle front. Re favors: my point is that mostly those who are politically connected get police jobs and since politics is a milieux of favors exchanged, the elimination of a politically sensitive job means someone lost a favor. Too, in some towns, police and fire are essentially family dynasties. When I see a report in our newspaper of a town meeting where police consolidation was discussed, the most vocal opponents are relatives of members of the force.

[WestmoGuy]

todd said:

westmoguy said:

what I heard was that if the new guy get elected, he wants to disband the NYM police dept.

This not 100% true. He is looking to possibly cut back. Currently we have 6-full timers and a equal amount of part timers with a fleet of vehicles including an SUV.

Thanks for clearing that up Todd. I had heard that from a cop there.

What really needs to be done like they talked about was have a Town of Whitestown PD that encompasses NYM, Yorkville, Whitesboro and Oriskany. Makes sense, dont it?

Problem is everyone and their stupid turf war crap wont let that happen. They all take from their big brother the Town of NH. Everyone wants their own whatever it is.

That will be the downfall of this area. What ever happened to all the consolidation talk of a few years ago as ways for all the towns and villages to save money?

[Swimmy]

westmoguy said:

What ever happened to all the consolidation talk of a few years ago as ways for all the towns and villages to save money?

That all ended when they realized they would lose their identities and become more regional. Gods like town supervisors and town justices of the peace would be returned to mere mortal status.

[Clipper]

Dave is 100% correct in his statement that family dynasties are predominant in small town fire and police departments. Simply look at the recent political battle between the familiy in Lee Center's volunteer fire department with the town fire commissioners. I was a member of that fire department in the early 1980's and even back then, if you weren't a member of that family, you weren't an officer.

I was both a professional firefighter and an NY State EMT instructor at the time, and I was foiled at every turn, in any attempt to assist with training, or to make any suggestions to the ambulance corps. A family member "ran" the fire department, and his wife "ran" the ambulance corps. I ended up simply answering fire calls and staying away from their ambulance corps completely. The animosity from the ambulance corps president at the time, made it uncomfortable for me to even serve as a volunteer and ride the ambulance.

I taught the EMT course at BOCES at the time, and I suspect there was some insecurity in letting me into her Queendom.

There is much wisdom in the observation that Oneida county and the CNY area will never combine services because of the narrow minded, short sighted, attitudes of that kind of people. It is a shame that we as taxpayers pay for such self importance and BS.

I don't care if it was a Town of Whitestown force or if the Sheriff's Dept. took over the police coverage. Simply doing away with the chief positions and the extra equipment would be a substantial savings to taxpayers. Duplication is very expensive when it entails 3 or 4 police chief salaries, when the positions could be consolidated with no loss of services to the people of the community.

[Disgusted-Daily]

Well its over. The Mills residents have done no justice for their community tonight and we are sure to pay the price for it in the years to come.

With the surplus money gone the only thing left to do is raise our taxes. I don't think this Mayor can budget his own checkbook let alone a Village Budget.

[strikeslip]

Not so sure about the"no justice" part, Todd. I think some people were in a quandary and chose the lesser of two evils . . . vote for the current guy and risk increased taxes and a ballooning local police budget . . . or vote for the other guy and risk having the New Hartford "clique" take over (at least that is what his alignment with Ms Krupa told some people).

NH does little for NYM but take its residents money. From what I've seen, there is flooding on Royal Brook (your neighborhood??) caused by all the paving-over of fields in NH.. . . and I've read elsewhere that there is little interest by the Town in fixing this -- (though NH will be happy to benefit from any elimination of stormwater in NYM -- which NYM should have benefitted from EPA grandfathering but through the collusion of NH and OC will not)

I am VERY disappointed that Ms. Ciacia lost.

[wcup102]

I agree, maybe some things shouldbe consolidated. If police forces are consolidated, lets start with the Sheriff's Dept. consolidating with NYSP. <wink> <snicker>

[Clipper]

Gosh wcup102, you are jumping from needing a raise, to a whole new level of fair pay there! Now that would be a worthwhile consolidation for each and every one of you deputies, haha.

You aren't kidding me any. You just want a blue and gold car, a newer weapon, and a bigger brim on your hat!

Where does Middaugh stand on your issues? I know he won't really speak out, as a manager and an elected official, but do you guys get any indication of support for your issues from his daily actions and the way he communicates with the deputies? Now that he has his raise in the works, maybe he can make his opinions known.

I am sure that the cuts in state and federal funding are holding up some of the negotiations. The county has stalled negotiations and settlement for so long now, that any raise, figured retroactively will be a pretty good chunk of change for the county coffers. they are probably backed in a corner, where they don't have the budget money in place to cover their asses if they were to settle now.

It will be interesting to see what the arbitrator has to say. Good luck guys.