HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-08-TB-FINAL-minutesTOWN BOARD MEETING
Town of Ulysses
February 8, 2022
Audio of the minutes are available on the website at ulysses.ny.us.
The meeting was held via videoconference on the Zoom platform.
Videoconference chat is saved in the appendix.
Notice of Town Board meetings are posted on the Town’s website and Clerk’s board.
CALL TO ORDER:
Ms. Olson called the meeting to order at 7:01pm.
ATTENDANCE:
TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT:
Supervisor- Katelin Olson
Board members- Michael Boggs, Rich Goldman, Mary Bouchard
Town Clerk- Carissa Parlato
Second Deputy Supervisor- Michelle E. Wright
OTHERS:
Roxanne Marino, Linda Liddle, Liz Thomas, Stan Seltzer, David Breeden, Marlaine Darfler, Pete Angie,
Maureen Shallish, Tom Myers
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Mr. Boggs moved that the agenda for Feb. 8, 2022 be approved with the addition of Privilege of the
Floor. This was seconded by Ms. Bouchard and passed unanimously.
INTERVIEW OF APPLICANTS FOR TOWN BOARD VACANCY
Ms. Olson noted that the applicants, Ms. Marino and Mr. Myers, were presented with the interview questions
in advance and that the board plans to hold a special meeting on Friday, Feb. 11, at which time they may make
an appointment.
Below, see interview questions and the applicants answers copied from a Zoom transcript.
Tell us about yourself and why you're interested in this position.
Ms. Marino:
“Okay well thanks for the opportunity to talk with everybody tonight so about myself well I’ve called the town
of Ulysses home for the past 35 years, which is far longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. My husband and I
raised our daughter here, I have degrees in chemistry and ecosystem ecology I’m currently employed.
As a senior research associate at Cornell my work focuses on water quality influence of land use and nutrient
inputs on aquatic systems greenhouse gas footprint analysis and the implications of energy choices on that.
I’m interested in serving on the town board because I care very deeply about this place.
For nearly all the time that I’ve lived here I’ve been involved in local government and Community activities,
both as a volunteer and as an elected official.
I served on the town board from 2005 to 2008 and as town supervisor from 2010 to 2013 and for the past
several years I’ve been on the Ulysses film ethic library board of trustees.
As I listed in the application materials I’ve represented the town as a volunteer on several advisory boards and
organizations such as the Tompkins county recreation partnership the toxins kind of EMC Water Resources
Council and the Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Watershed Organization.
I have a breadth of experience in all aspects of town government, including planning and zoning as well as
budget and administration and I feel that I would complement those of other board members and town staff.
I have attended the majority of the town board regular and working meetings over the past several years and
I’m familiar with most all of the issues and work plan priorities the Board is or planning to be working on in the
coming year. The major item in particular that I continue to be very interested in and believe that I can make a
strong contribution to the board with is a review and revision of our 2009 comprehensive plan which is
overdue and indicated by the board as a high priority to begin in earnest in 2022.
I’ve worked well with and continue to interact with several people in the Tompkins county planning and
sustainability department and have engaged in water resource protection and sustainability efforts, working
with local organizations. And as the chairperson of the lyses conservation and sustainability council for the
past several years, I have a long standing interest in and demonstrated commitment.
To our town and to the broader community, and I would bring enthusiasm expertise, a detail oriented
approach and a somewhat unique perspective from my past experiences working with many different elected
officials town staff and volunteer organizations, I fully understand the time commitment required, and I am
able to meet it.
I’m really inspired by the opportunities, as well as the challenges that our town government will have in the
coming year and I would welcome an opportunity to help meet them as a town board member.
Thanks.”
Mr. Myers:
“Okay yeah the unmute button didn't work anyway I’ve been a Ulysses resident since 1979,
Tompkins County resident since 1972. In 1976 I entered the construction trades working as a laborer working
my way up to foreman.
After 12 years of working for other folks I started a business with my wife for remodeling business, we ran it
successfully for six years, when we decided to do other stuff I started going into construction and project
management and she went into. Consulting now.
Currently I’m now code enforcement officer for the Village of Trumansburg, I had been working part time for
both the village and the town as code enforcement officer.
Long before it became a code enforcement officer working in the construction trades had a philosophy about
what would be the ideal code enforcement officer and I’m going to just use the acronym CEO.
I’ve used code enforcement office after a few times, but you know what I mean now and that was I’m in the
position or whoever it is in the position to help people understand how to make code and maybe what
happened, why they didn't and supposed to punish them for it, and now I get to live the that ideal that I’d set
so many years ago really thrilled with that.
I like the outdoors gardening.
Ulysses is a great place to enjoy the outdoors gardening anytime a year really all the snow is wonderful I just
saw some friends post stuff about a sledding on Rice Hill.
I haven't done that in a while, but I’m glad to see folks are still doing it in their kids are all excited about it, I
spent a lot of time at North Point-Taughannock.
My hobbies include woodworking, plant & insect identification, which might be a little geeky but that's okay, I
like it.
And I really love to play volleyball and part of that is organizing team sports and tournament's I really like
bringing people together.
Having them work cooperatively matters and you know it's a competitive sport for sure, but it's also a team
sport and it's essential that everybody worked together well and in all the teams I’ve captained throughout
the years that's one of my big emphasis.
I have many skills and knowledge sets that I think could really help with the Town of Ulysses I’m really eager to
apply them.
With the village I’ve worked on the zoning and comprehensive plan update I’ll give a little bit more about that.
I would like to contribute that knowledge that experience to the town.
I’m at the time of my life now where I can accommodate this.
The dedication and of time and energies and thought to the town earlier in my life wouldn't have worked out
well but before I put in the application, I had a serious evaluation and I feel that I could do that.
So a fun fact is that every board member, except for Mary I’ve directly worked for as a code enforcement
officer. I did for Mary on a project in her house, but I dealt directly with a contractor and never met her.
But that'll give you a little basis to judge how genuine I am how I work with other people and I’m pretty
consistent there.
But thank you for giving me the opportunity to apply for that and I’m really also happy that a few different
people apply for the position, sometimes that's not the case right.
What strengths do you bring to the position?
Mr. Myers:
Well, firstly, I care deeply about the time to be lists I love the diverse nature of the residents the businesses
geography of the town I’m a very careful reader.
With the work I do in code enforcement it's essential that I read through the documents, I have to work from
thoroughly understand them thoroughly before I attempt to put.
them into us, you can imagine if I skim something over and was just came in there saying you got to do this
and then somebody looks closer and said oh my gosh you're wrong.
And I don't mind admitting being wrong, but I care not to be wrong I’d rather come in knowing what I’m doing
right from the start.
I readily communicate with a wide range of people throughout my business career working career I’ve dealt
with everybody from really green green labor just out of high school to other code officers to property owners
to project managers and I have to be able to communicate with them on their level.
Not talk down or look up to them, but I’d I say we understand the same thing I understand what you're looking
for you understand where my where I’m coming from and it's you know not just code enforcement it's as a as
I’m very patient I’m a careful listener when I’m in a conversation with folks I tend to let them speak first and
listen to their perspectives then many times I’ll paraphrase what they've said so we can agree that I
understand what they're talking about.
I place a really high value on effective communication and my work throughout time in the building trades, if
you make a mistake speaking that can add up to dollars, and you know there's a big penalty for losing money
in that trade.
Having lived in Ulysses for so many years I’ve made some really solid connections with residents, so all walks
you Ulysses is a large township probably some of you figured that out and lots of diverse people there and it's
really neat to meet them maintain friendships and relationships with them.
And in that almost everybody that I’ve known I spoken with it's really comfortable speaking with me that
doesn't matter the subject, but it could include love local government. So that's some of the strengths, I can
bring.
Ms. Marino:
Well, some of the strengths, I think I bring I’m very organized person and responsible I get things done, I follow
things through from an initial concept or a question to completion, including whatever you know type of
actions are needed.
I think that I’m a creative thinker and good problem solver which I think is an important aspect for serving on
the temples town board, excuse me, I have strong research skills, I also read carefully.
And I take a very information based approach to issues, and I believe that document of will facts are key
components to good policy, public policy decisions and sciences real and all of those sort of things, but I really
think it's important to always keep those things in mind information, how it pertains to the items you're
working on I’ve experienced writing and reporting on grants from federal and New York State governments
and NGOs, which I think would be very helpful to us, it has been already in our town I’m open minded I’m
firmly committed to the democratic principles of engagement and transparency and communication.
I have a lot of experience working to bring together coalition's to address critical issues.
And I strongly believe coalition building and interviews for cooperation are really key approaches for effective
governance and along those lines, I really applaud the current efforts, the town board is doing with Covert and
the village in New York state and others on Camp Barton I would bring environmental expertise and
experience working on issues that are in that realm that are of concern to town residents.
Environmental expertise was something that the town board highlighted as important in diversifying the
board when making their last appointment to fill a vacancy in 2020.
I have a high degree of familiarity with issues in front of the town board right now as I’ve been regularly
attending the meetings, and I could jump right into work without a significant learning curve. Additionally, I
have a good background because of my past service for the town in New York state municipal laws as they
applied a local governments and several years of experience with the budget process, having been both a
town board member and the Supervisor.
I care very much about this town and I enjoy living here and have had a lot of experiences with a lot of
different people over the years, as well, and the different groups that I’ve worked in, and I think that I could
bring a different a new an additional perspective to the board and outreach to the Community, thank you.
What different perspective(s) do you bring to public service?
Ms. Marino:
Right so yeah there's I I saw this is having some overlap with it with the previous one, but, as I understand the
question the board wants to know how I might expand the board's perspective and help them better
represent the town as a whole.
So I would just highlight a couple of standpoints there one is that, from my past service on the town board and
as a supervisor I think I’d bring a somewhat unique perspective from the considerable pertinent experiences
over a period spanning 16 years and the historical knowledge that comes from that.
And I’ve listed a lot of those on the application that I submitted and the public has access to, so I thought it
wouldn't take the time to go through them here.
I do think that that perspective, the historical perspective on issues that have been before the town board
concerns the public have had.
Have had how they've been addressed or not, what was left you know hanging as problems would be really
helpful with addressing some of the issues and the top priority work plan items that the Board has on their
agenda for this year and again a particular interest, I am highlighting that I have this the review and revision of
the town comprehensive plan Which as a town board member I took the lead on working with our board to
formulate a successful approach to review that plan, resulting in our current 2009 document.
And key to that effort was forming a steering committee consisting of residents with a broad range of
experiences to leave that work and holding multiple public meetings and outreach sessions.
I served as the town board liaison in that committee and then as a volunteer Member for the final few
months.
So, and the other perspective that I think that I bring that's really added is environmental issues and
experience working with local groups and officials on issues of importance to the town now and that are going
to become increasingly so in the future and particularly water quality protection land use, increasing climate
resiliency and the clustering the transition to renewable energy future and I’d bring a lot of added
conductivity from my past and continued working relationships professionals and organizations in Tompkins
county in the southern tier region.
In that realm some examples are I’ve already said, the Tompkins county planning the Cuba watershed
intermediary organization.
Also, the NGO heat smart which I was a founding board member of and worked on for several years, the
climate smart communities program the clean energy communities Program.
And it's likely that grant opportunities can be coming along as part of the New York state actions to implement
the cl CPA the climate leadership Community Protection Act Such as incorporating sustainability and climate
resilience into comprehensive plans.
And so I think it's valuable for the time to continue working with those programs.
And I’ve had a leadership role doing that, thus far, as a volunteer to maintain our certification and eligibility
for funding and I, I would also want to continue that So those are a couple things I’ll highlight here thanks.
Mr. Myers:
Well, for most of my working career I’ve been a wage earner and the highest degree of garden tried for his
high school diploma from my life I’d had an emphasis on learning, though, and using that learning to make my
life and other folks lives better.
Certainly, all sorts of challenges associated with that, but there were a lot of opportunities to, given the nature
of Tompkins county and they educational institutions here, if you want it, you can find new things.
Lots to learn, I have all have held all sorts of certifications for lead, asbestos, Risk assessor I could delve into
that a little deeper but it's probably not necessary, but it's an EPA certification that requires quite a bit of
study and learning and awareness of different hazards in the built environment. I moved my mother from
Denver Colorado to the Ithaca area because she had alzheimer's put her in a facility weren't a whole lot about
the disease at that point.
I have Danes such a greater understanding of folks that have memory disabilities, one of the things I looked
into was a concept called cognitive resilience where You establish new neural pathways by learning new
things, and the more established neural pathways, you have the less opportunity there is for the disease to
debilitate you, because if it takes out one thing there's another pathway with something else, and the more
you establish the better off you'll be and I find that makes it so We understand people better get along with
them.
More insight into the particular situations that we're in I really try to work with other people to make things
happen, I think I’ve talked a little bit about that earlier, not just use my authority.
So I’ve talked about being able to work with people of all sorts of different abilities and interest that's Perhaps
that's not a different perspective, I have to make assumptions about you folks to say what kind of different
perspectives I would been in I’ve worked with all of you a little bit, as I said, but not a whole lot probably
enough to give you an idea about me in an idea me an idea about you But when it comes to using authority
I’m really judicious I don't like to use my authority, I understand that it's there for a reason.
All the time that our trainings we get lectures we being code officers about don't abuse your authority, listen
to the other people try to work with them don't just come in there with your guns a blazing so part of my
philosophy on that.
As a long term Ulysses resident I’ve watched the township grow and develop it's when I first moved here, it
was bedrock republican really Conservative and things have changed dramatically over the years I’ve had
peripheral involvement in political organizations and Other volunteer work nothing substantial, but over
continued a continual basis over the years, where I feel like the little time I had I could give to back to the
township the folks that live here. And having that long range perspective really does help me think about what
may be best for the township it'll help me influence my decisions I make here is a code officer and you know,
hopefully, I say, a town board member.
Thank you.
Give us an example of when you had to come to a decision with other people that you didn't agree with.
What happens if you feel very strongly about something and someone disagrees with you? How do you
manage that?
Mr. Myers:
Well, the first thing is make sure everybody's clear about what the disagreement is work out the things you
agree about. And when you find a spot where you disagree and find out pick it apart, a little bit find out where
it is and then experiment with solutions act like everybody's on the same side, I read a bunch about How to
work with people who disagree with you one of the things I really like.
Is you find something positive about their what they their position is or their side some aspect of it. and say
you agree with it wow this is really good point I think you have something to work with there, so you don't get
an adversarial thing you know we can all puff up our chest, and you know knock into each other, but I think it's
really important to find commonality. But it's tough but I’m all the time, having people tell me that they know
building code better than I do, or that I shouldn't have to do this and I just have to calmly explained in
situations like that, and you know there's a power dynamic but explain that know here is the. Part of the code
book that says, we must do it this way and here's a good and here's, why not just say you do it so having.
More knowledge miss so important for everybody, you find out what the other person needs and once you let
them know what you're you need what what your requirements are.
And sometimes it doesn't work, most of the times, it can, but if it doesn't work there's always mediation or the
courts, depending on the how serious the matter is.
Ms. Marino:
Well, people have often not agreed with me I think it's the nature of working on a board or with a group on
complicated or controversial topics. And that work as Tom just said, can on occasion be frustrating and
difficult and I do admit to being passionate sometimes on issues that I delve deeply into and believe strongly
in so how to manage a disagreement I think it's important to remain focused on the big picture.
Of what you're trying to accomplish with everyone it's important to be respectful and I always think of this this
really wonderful song that a local musician Ghana Niagara wrote. A children's song that my daughter, and I
used to listen to all the time walk a mile in each other choose so really trying to see where that person is
coming from. And so walk a mile and I pause and listen carefully to the points of disagreement I then try to
gather more information that informs both sides continue the dialogue, and you know reevaluate my position
as I’m doing this. And so I guess as. As one example of when I’ve had to come to a decision with others, you
know in my time in municipal services as Tom said this town was very different in its orientation and in the
orientation of its governing body. When I first joined that board in 2005 and people had very different
perspectives. than I am the constituents, I heard from head, so I needed to work really hard with research and
in many meetings. over the year that we were finishing a major zoning update that I stepped into and.
Our board works and came to compromises and in the end, I was disappointed in some aspects but felt that
many things.Were that I thought were important were incorporated and then the other thing that I just have
to mention that probably everybody on this call is familiar with some extent, was the issue of.Hydro fracking
which rocketed to prominence in our town in and in New York state when I became the supervisor in 2010.
was a highly controversial and emotionally charged issue, there were many significant public health land value
legal, financial implications there's so many aspects.To investigate so many unknowns and uncertainties and
what a town could or couldn't do to stop or mitigate the impacts of the activity, people were just panicking.
There were people on all sides, there were so many meetings and workshops and legal consultations and
discussions with concerned citizens, it was a very protracted process.With the ground shifting under US daily
people that agreed with one approach, one day, were opposed to my approach the next day someone had
faster action someone did not.
I wanted to ensure that the town board town did it's best to have solid documentable reasons in line.
With our comprehensive plan and our public health and safety concerns that could hold up in court that took
time.
Many were angry about that supporters one day we're writing blogs and emails a few months later, saying I
should step down or be driven out, so they could get things done.
I forged a coalition with two other towns which the town board originally disagreed with but we persisted and
we ended up passing a local law banning hydro fracking based on the Home Rule principle.
And after hearing much public input, some people were even angry that we were the third town to pass the
ban fracking and in Tompkins county So the first they were mad at me for that. But I wanted to wait for all the
board members to be present to vote, so it was one of the most difficult. decision processes I’ve ever been
engaged in or lead, but it was also one of the most satisfying and. It was very challenging I took a lot of deep
breaths kept my eyes on the prize, so to speak, listened respectfully to all sides kept the public informed with
written updates did a lot of research and work closely with our board to come to the anonymous agreement.
And I just think I firmly believe that in order for representative government to work as it should.
And the very best interest of its citizens a member needs to develop well thought out positions present their
views in a clear and respectful way for discussion and consideration by the whole.
And you need to recognize that your position may not always turn out to be the one favorite or the majority
and keep in mind that copyright my requires an evaluation of the highest priorities and concerns and letting go
of your others that aren't going to be viable.
What is your philosophy on zoning?
Ms. Marino:
zoning okay so zoning is a discretionary action of towns and villages in New York state and the town of Ulysses
has had zoning for a very long time, it was one of the first in Tompkins county, as I understand it to do so.
And it is part of the reason that we chose to move here 36 years ago when we looked around at the different
towns. In addition to just the really natural beauty and rural nature of the town zoning allow some
predictability and knowing what might impact. The use and enjoyment of your property, as well as future
growth patterns and priorities in the town for land use and conservation. municipal Home Rule gives towns,
the authority to pass laws to affect public health, safety and welfare and protect natural resources and so that
is kind of the the the umbrella under which zoning is considered I.I’ve always believed that zoning is an
important action that towns can take and that regulation should be carefully considered in regularly evaluated
and I’ve always kind of said that in in all the sort of research, trying to understand the different aspects of it
when I was on previous. boards working on zoning updates it's kind of a holy grail of rural land use planning is
is trying to make zoning work for everybody and for all the needs it's not an easy thing and so zoning is not
static and it's often termed a living document your zoning code.
That can respond to changes in Community needs and changing conditions, and I think that's important,
however, I also think zoning should not be designed or changed to adjust favorite individual are very projects
are very narrow. means zoning can be a tool to enhance the Community and strengthen the long term viability
of the town in many ways, such as encouraging sustainable and appropriate scale growth and development
patterns. And, environmental protection and resilience again how to actually achieve that is is much.easier
said than done, but important sounding should align with and follow the principles and goals of the town's
comprehensive plan as the primary guiding document for land use and also other pertinent documents.
That that affect the town such as plans that the county has shouldn't be kept in mind Sony should be based on
data such as demographics survey results land use maps.and take into account unique natural resources, the
rights and the needs of property owners and needs to mitigate threats to public health and well being.
The regulation should strive to balance economic development with the capacity of a municipality, to provide
necessary services and to maintain the character desired by the residents and that, hence the importance of
the comprehensive plan. : And that process it's important to keep the comprehensive plan updated and in
doing so, to use a process that is broad, open and engages the whole Community.
that's it for me.
Mr. Myers:
Okay um well, starting in 2015 I read have been regularly working with the 2012 zoning ordinance of the
village of Trumansburg I was thrilled when I became zoning officer that I knew that we're going to be updating
the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance because, after having worked with it. directly for a few
years, I could see many in consistencies holes and in that particular document, and it was getting a better
understanding of it, the. comprehensive plan and zoning revisionist committee CP ZR was formed.
We had a consultant ADR after a while working with us was great for guidance, as well as public input and
public and input from the trustees we were able to come up with a new. zoning ordinance I’m not excuse me,
comprehensive plan after a year and a half of work trustees looked over a few times public presentations.
ADR had guidance they made it really, really clear that they're going to help us but not offer what to do, you
said it's your village it's what you do so, the. ccr committee is one of the most effective committees I’ve ever
worked on I’m really thrilled I see Dave freedom from that committee is here.
But I’m really thrilled with our our lead meetings we get so much done.
I’ve also joined a subcommittee to look at our two district that's where the it's a trailer park district basically
and we're. Not just looking on fine tuning and we're actually wondering if it's a discriminatory district, because
it says only trailers and trailers can only be in this part of town so we're looking long and hard at it from a
different direction which I’m really thrilled about.
I see zoning is a tool it's a valuable tool and it's basically to realize the the stated goals of the comprehensive
plan. But I didn't know that when I started here, but after working with it for a long time. that's became
obvious through. Law and from practice that having the public input into the comprehensive plan was really
important because we're supposed to reflect the desires and needs of the Community.
And we want to the Community has various standards of living, they want to encourage and some
discouraged, but have the village or whatever municipality is be in the image of the what the residents want
without being discriminatory with taking the environment into account.and allowing for a vibrant business
community and there's a lot to balance there but it's really, really important one of the things I really liked
about the Ulysses zoning ordinance is that it's organic it's not set in stone, you can take a look at it change
bets and obviously there's a procedure to go through with that, but the flexibility there, I think, is really
important, because. Things don't say the same for 10 years or 12 years or however long it is between each
updated the ordinance and sometimes it's really important to be able to do that.
The one of the more recent things that we've been talking about and dealing with, or is the whole short term
Rentals or in my.code enforcement world we call them unregulated short term Rentals and there's so many
different factors to consider on that and we're doing that in a very.Comprehensive and throw away so I’m glad
about that is some of it, you want to be knee jerk and just say, we can only have it this way that way, the other
way, without looking at how it affects other folks but um.
it's a tool for the residents people own properties in the village, but it's also one that needs to be looked at
and it's relatively new.But that's about it.
The Town Board adopted our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy in 2021. Give us an example of when, in
a leadership role, you increased the diversity, inclusivity, equity and/or civility of an organization.
Mr. Myers:
Looked at this one and thought long and hard, because you know in I had various leadership roles, but not.
In an organization, but in 1989 I was elected to be the Chair of the adirondack chapter of the North American
rock garden society, it was part of a national society of. Really talented and knowledgeable gardeners trouble
with the organization, though it had lost membership over the years, it was down to about 25 members and
they're all older white wealthy folks and.The average age was 70. So I’m looking at this, the first year, I decided
okay Michael for my. Time as Chair is I’m going to decrease the average age encourage younger folks to get in
part of that and more diverse folks not just somebody who's really wealthy, they can afford to buy these rare
plants from. High peaks in Turkey or or China or something like that and working with the board over to turn
to to your terms were I was able to. reduce the average age from the 70s from 70 to 55. I can increase the
membership to 70 Members I was thrilled with that everybody was thrilled with that so that increase Dudes
and stuff but one of the best things are was that there were. younger folks folks of color folks have different.
Ethnic, Religious also just a wide variety of backgrounds, you could imagine the old the old Protestants in the
chapter beforehand. And the older members did not get alienated because they're a wealth of knowledge, it
was really important to keep them, so instead of having a few people snuffing that the younger folks because
they didn't pronounce a Latin name the way it should be pronounced.
We had a group of folks learning new things folks.Contributing what their knowledge, was what their
experience what their strengths were, and so it was a just a huge success all around I was thrilled with that so
people were worse civil there were more diversity in the chapter, and you know it's not like town government
or anything but it is a human interaction and always like human interaction to go well and be happy and not
worry about peripheral things so. I’m not in the chapter anymore, but it's still going quite strong and I feel
really proud that I was able to help get it to the point and said.
Ms. Marino:
First I just to the to the diversity equity and inclusion policy, I want to applaud the board for adopting a policy
statement.
That recognizes that people in positions of power and privilege, particularly public servants. need to always be
aware of the consequences of their behavior and actions on other people's lives, and that in doing so they can
help create more equity and inclusivity in the Community.And from a personal standpoint I recognize the
innate privilege that I have as a white person and with a stable income and a flexible job. and as such I really
feel that I have an obligation to work against existing inequities that comes with that.
Having grown up economically challenged and having an opportunity to go to colleges, the first in my family
then to work in a job that allowed me.To really expand my horizons and experiences greatly, and then to earn
a further degree, while and employee. I believe really strongly in personal and collective responsibility to
promote diversity equity and opportunities for all, so to the question directly in terms of leadership in an
organization.
I’ll speak to one increasing civility and inclusive city of voices and.When I came on as a new town board
member which I’ve referred to before.who often had a minority viewpoint on major issues I worked very
diligently to write and and get adopted board policies on meeting process that would promote civil discourse
and productive discussion of all viewpoints things were far different than meetings than they are now.
And then, as the town supervisor, which may be I increased some diversity, because I was a supervisor but.
Just joking I brought in meeting facilitators when we were faced with difficult and controversial issues to help
guide the Board and the public and objective respectful discussion.
And I met regularly with other elected officials or members of the public who disagreed with the positions
taken by me or by the board.to listen and to try to understand the underlying concerns and find common
ground ground to resolve the conflict and that included engaging workplace facilitator, at one point with
within the town. Staff and and elected officials.
I also just wanted to say, an example of a leadership action that I took working with an organization to
promote diversity equity and inclusion mostly equity and inclusion.
And I really feel that in general the work I’m involved in with environmental protection and towards clean
energy transitions. is very important to increasing equity and inclusion diversity in our society in our
Community. and passing the environmental rights amendment this past November New York voters spoke
pretty clearly on the basic human rights. Of all regardless of their race, their zip code their tax bracket to clean
air, water and a healthful environment.
So when I was on the board of heat smart Tompkins I co developed a proposal in a successful grant to nicer to
for a program to assist low and moderate income eligible residents of tomkinson contiguous counties.
Without reaching technical assistance to bring affordable clean energy upgrades to their households, it was a
partnership with sustainable Tompkins that combined heat smart contractors and grant funds.
With the heat with the sustainable Tompkins local carbon offset program and that program uses funds that
are donated by people who can afford it, who wants to take responsibility for offsetting their carbon
emissions. and use them to help local families in need to reduce their energy bills and that fund climate fun
they call it supports energy democracy and a transition to a resilient local economy and our grant program
with that. contributing to that helped benefit over 150 households that were both renters and Homeowners
so So those are just two areas, I thought of that right, I think I my work contributed to equity or inclusion or
civility.
Thanks.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:
Ms. Thomas appreciated each applicant, noting that she has worked longer with Ms. Marino who has a proven
record and a wealth of knowledge.
Ms. Liddle noted that both applicants bring valuable perspectives but favors Ms. Marino in the town’s 2022
agenda.
Ms. Marino thanked Mr. Myers for his work with the town and thanked for the opportunity and questions.
Ms. Olson noted that the Town Board will still accept written comments through Thurs. and a special meeting
will be held on Friday.
ADJOURN
Mr. Goldman made a move to adjourn at 7:57pm. This was seconded by Ms. Bouchard and passed
unanimously.
Respectfully submitted by Carissa Parlato, Town Clerk
3/2/22