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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2008-05-21 Final Special Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Wednesday, May 21 , 2008 Present Herb Engman , Supervisor Pat Leary, Town Board Eric Levine , Town Board Peter Stein , Town Board Staff Karen Billings , Town Clerk; Carrie Coates-Whitmore , First Deputy Town Clerk Others Chris Clapper, 107 Glenside Rd - Applicant Krissy Gasler, Ithaca Journal Stephen Wagner Supervisor Engman called the meeting to order at 5 : 15 p . m . He announced that the fourth candidate withdrew her application for personal reasons . Supervisor Engman asked Mr. Clapper to verbally provide a brief summary of his background ; whereby Mr. Clapper stated he has been a high school teacher for 6 years in Aurora . He teaches 12th grade Economics and US Government; he also teaches a course through Syracuse University to high school students on Public Policy. In Aurora he works closely with the Union as the Department Coordinator, organizing the department and the workings of the department. Mr. Clapper has lived in Ithaca for 12 to 13 years . He feels like he has been able to take advantage of what the Town and City offers and would like to start giving back . He explained that his inspiration to apply for this position came through his association with and the urging of Will Burbank, who he has known for a couple of years . Supervisor Engman invited the Town Board members to begin their questions of Mr. Clapper, Councilwoman Leary opened by asking Mr. Clapper to cite differences between the town and the city of Ithaca . Mr. Clapper responded that the areas are different jurisdictions ; land wise the town is the peripheral area . He went on say that they are separate jurisdictions , as such they work , technically, separately, but also work together in the efforts of planning and executing the business of both the town and the city. Councilwoman Leary further questioned Mr. Clapper as to the differences and Mr. Clapper responded that it shows up one way in the tax bills and there are differences in jurisdiction and technically . . . there are overlapping governmental units , but they are fairly separate institutions . Approved June 9, 2008 Page I of 5 Final Councilman Levine asked Mr. Clapper if he is interested in any particular issue in the Town . Chris said he' s not interested in any particular issue , but over the last few years he has seen a lot of things that he ' s liked and he would like to be a part of it . Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper what his vision is for the Town . Chris stated that development is an important issue ; development needs to be done responsibly. Councilman Stein then asked what he meant by development . Chris said growth- both in housing and infrastructure due to population increases . Councilman Stein added that he had learned something through Cornell ' s Master Plan about turning the unbuilt environment into the built environment , which he said explains development . Proceeding forward , Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper to explain to him what is meant by " Intelligent Growth" , understanding that that' s what' s meant by growth . Mr. Clapper explained it is not a responsible thing to say " I am anti growth " or " I am pro growth " , because each case stands alone and should be viewed independently, and in terms of what we want Ithaca to look like — the big picture , adding that one cannot just take a pro- or non-development stance . Councilman Stein then asked Mr. Clapper to explain the criteria , asking him to describe what Ithaca should look like ; what is good development and what is bad development? Mr. Clapper mentioned the viewshed and references to it in the newspaper, etc . , further stating that it is all in what one is looking for. He further explained , growth is not bad , as long as you take in the local character — local thoughts , local ideas ; stating that his personal opinion is not what Ithaca should be ; that growth is a collective opinion and we all share in the vision of Ithaca . Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper if he was familiar with the term NIMBY ; not familiar with the term , Councilman Stein explained that it means Not In My Back Yard , and explained that this is the way many people look at development; for instance , 1 want to shop there, but 1 don 't want it to be near me . Councilman Stein went on to say that the thought process could be said of many different things , such as gas stations , mental health facilities , manufacturing , etc . Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper what he would say if he heard this from a constituent . Mr. Clapper responded that currently energy/wind power is a big deal . People favor it , but they don 't want to see it in their backyard , but change has to happen . He doesn 't think the Toyota Prius is going to win an award for styling , either, but it' s beautiful because of what it represents ; windmills are beautiful for what they represent ; this is progress and this is what is going to take us to the future . Supervisor Engman wanted to shift gears . He stated that the Town is negotiating its first union contract and noticed that Mr. Clapper had some experience with unions . Supervisor Engman asked Mr. Clapper to talk about his experience . Mr. Clapper said that he is actually going through his first union negotiation now and that he is in a learning mode . Supervisor Engman asked "which union ? " and Mr. Clapper responded , Southern Cayuga Teachers Union ; Supervisor Engman asked whether or not it had a national affiliate and prompted him for an answer, CSEA ? Mr. Clapper explained that he is working locally with the local administrators . Councilman Stein questioned whether this could be CSEA , and Mr. Clapper responded that it is not CSEA ; Councilman Stein then said AFT?! And Mr. Clapper Approved June 9 , 2008 Page 2 of 5 Final and Councilwoman Leary responded at the same time , NYSUT. Mr. Clapper went on to say that he is working with the local administrators and working on his conflict management skills ; finding common ground , developing solutions that have to be accomplished , stating that the [union] is in the very beginning stages of negotiation . Mr. Clapper stated that he likes working with people and in this endeavor. Mr. Clapper explained that this is a tough time to negotiate a contract , and that the budget was voted down yesterday — for health costs ; citing that this will certainly affect negotiations going forward . Supervisor Engman was empathetic and Councilman Stein said that he has always' wanted to be a part of union negotiations . Councilman Levine asked Mr. Clapper, what makes the Town of Ithaca special? Mr. Clapper gave a rousing endorsement of Ithaca , saying Ithaca is the place where you can be who you want to be ; you don 't have to be afraid of who you want to be ; it' s progressive ; it' s a great place to raise families ; it has great schools ; it' s a place in CNY that is like no other and that' s why I have stayed and not moved where the jobs are . Councilman Stein expressed that Mr. Clapper has a long drive , and Mr. Clapper explained that there is no other place in Upstate NY that he would consider living in . Ithaca is very special and he feels fortunate for having lived here and loves what it is and wants to continue to keep it a special place . Councilwoman Leary mentioned that Councilman Stein is on a board with the city that is investigating shared services and even possibly consolidation and wanted to know if Mr. Clapper had any thoughts regarding this . Mr. Clapper responded that there can always be the argument that there are too many overlapping layers of government and there are certainly those things that could be consolidated . Mr. Clapper stated , "As far as interests , people in the City and people in the town have different interests , so they can 't be one — I don 't think , but certainly there is overlap there , too . " He explained that due to stretched budgets and limited resources , sometimes this is a rationale for consolidation , saying we' ve seen this at the state level. I ' m not an expert but I would suspect that yes there are areas of consolidation . Councilwoman Leary asked for clarification , wondering if Mr. Clapper was talking about services or political consolidation ; she wanted to know how Mr. Clapper felt about Town/City consolidation . Mr. Clapper explained that there are people with different interests and people need to be represented differently in terms of government , but services could be overlapped . Councilman Stein , adding to Councilwoman Leary' s question , explained that the reason there are two governments is historical . It started in 1848 and the City was carved out of the Town . The decision was made a long time ago , and it had to do with ferry boats to Buffalo and the entrance to the west; that decision was made a long time ago . Supervisor Engman added that the town was carved out of Ulysses ; stressing that we can go way back on this . Councilman Stein added that there is a lot of history, adding that there tends to be a certain static nature to political boundaries . Approved June 9, 2008 Page 3 of 5 Final Councilman Stein went on to ask his question , stating that he like Mr. Clapper' s first answer ( regarding consolidation ) , because it' s such a difficult issue to give a quick answer to . Councilman Stein wanted to ask about Mr. Clapper' s family, but Herb said this type of questioning is not allowed in an interview situation . Supervisor Engman asked Mr. Clapper to describe his political views based on being conservative on the right to progressive on the left . Mr. Clapper didn 't want to put himself in a specific category, but said he was probably responsibly progressive ( ? ) ; adding that he is forward looking , progressive , a healthy, good left. Councilwoman Leary asked how Chris would feel if a colleague was convicted of a sex crime and served his/her time , particularly in light of the new NY Senate bill that certification could be pulled if a teacher is convicted of questionable moral character s/he would automatically lose his/her license , without going through an administrative hearing . She added that NYSUT is in favor of this Senate Bill . Councilwoman Leary added that the town of Lansing has a residency restriction within a thousand feet of churches , schools [sexual predators] , and the city of Ithaca is proposing a ban against smoking wherever children congregate and asked Mr. Clapper how far is it appropriate for a lawmaker to go ? Councilwoman Leary asked Mr. Clapper if he would favor residency restriction for people who have already served his/her probation . Mr. Clapper responded that once a person has been convicted , served his/her time , they have paid for the crime and it is done . It' s paid for; it' s in the past . Mr. Clapper added , " I think once a crime is committed and paid for, it' s done , and that' s what I think the expectation ( maybe not is) but should be . " He added that there should be a countywide standard , alleviating separate issues out of each town . Councilman Stein added that Councilwoman Leary' s comment/question was not pulled out of the air. He said that at the last Town Board meeting the Town Board Members heard from about 15 parents of small children in an elementary school because they were concerned because a convicted sex offender moved into a house that is right next to the school . These mothers were terrified , because this " monster" had moved in . Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper how he would handle this , because the parents are asking you [the lawmaker] to allay their fear. If you decided that this person had paid his debt to society, would you stand up and tell them [the parents] that? Or what , how would you react to that particular situation? Mr. Clapper responded that he believes that you would have to stand up and tell them , if that' s what your belief was . Mr. Clapper went on to say, "what' s enough ; how much is enough , " insofar as drawing the line ; questioning treating everyone fairly. He added that we live in a society where we have to balance security with individual freedoms , which is tough because it' s not a black and white situation . Mr. Clapper stated that he does not think there is a right or wrong answer; there are two separate schools of thought . Councilman Stein asked Mr. Clapper if he would be prepared to tell all those people that he does not share their point of view. Mr. Clapper responded that if you felt that strongly about it you would have to . You [lawmakers] are in a position where you have to justify your feelings and your thoughts . Approved June 9, 2008 Page 4 of 5 Final Councilwoman Leary added that sometimes you [a lawmaker] do have to say yes or no , and these conflicting values present themselves and we get this kind of thing more often than you would imagine . Councilwoman Leary added more information about the law and recidivism rates , etc . Councilman Stein added that people get very emotional about certain kinds of issues , for instance this issue spoke to mothers being afraid for their children , but we have also dealt with issues surrounding how long a dock should be , which drew collective comments from the other board members in the room. Supervisor Engman said this is a very interesting position because you get to consider so many interesting things . He asked Mr. Clapper about any time constraints he might have insofar as attending night meetings , etc . Mr. Clapper responded that he is a school teacher and he has free afternoons and that he would not have considered the job if he did not have the time to do it. Supervisor Engman asked Mr. Clapper about his commute from Aurora and Mr. Clapper responded that he is typically back in Ithaca around 3 p . m . Supervisor Engman cited his experience as a school teacher, which gives vacation time , school breaks , et al . To sum up the meeting , he said that they have generally been scheduling about a half hour for these meetings and asked Mr. Clapper if there was anything else he wanted to know? Mr. Clapper asked if there was a time period to fill this position? Any idea when to fill ? Supervisor Engman answered that we would hope to appoint in our June meeting — June 9th Supervisor Engman asked if there were any further questions? Motion to adjourn : Councilman Stein Second : Councilman Levine Approved June 9, 2008 Page 5 of 5