Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli Speaking to the legislature about re-creation of the Council of Governments on April 9, 2018.
The Chemung County Legislature’s meeting on April 9, 2018, was far from mundane.
What appeared on the face of the agenda to be a typical meeting of the full legislature, where most issues have been ironed out in committees ahead of time, instead began with a nearly hour-long presentation by Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli.
One of the purposes for Santulli’s presentation was a proposal by him and Deputy County Executive Mike Krusen for the re-creation of a Council of Governments, an inter-municipal body that existed more than a decade ago to help encourage and facilitate cooperation among elected officials and other local leaders from Chemung County’s various municipalities.
A handout given to attendees at the Chemung County Legislature’s meeting on April 9, 2018.
Santulli’s proposal is ostensibly a good thing, as increased governmental cooperation is something our community desperately needs. In fact, re-creating a Council of Governments is something I have written and spoken about on numerous occasions over the past six months.
In an Op-Ed published in the Star Gazette on February 2, 2018, entitled “Cooperation is Crucial for Solving Elmira’s Fiscal Crisis“, I wrote:
Previously, a group called the “Council of Governments,” consisting of local elected officials from all levels of government across Chemung County, existed to deal with major issues like this. What happened to that group? Maybe it’s time to resurrect it so that all stakeholders have equal standing to voice their concerns and offer collective solutions. Could there be a better time to do this?
I made a similar suggestion in Chemung County Matters blog post from March 8, 2018, called “Economic Issues Spur Interest in Local Government“:
With respect to cooperation, we need to find ways to solicit genuine input from all levels and all types of government. Some of the issues that are certain to be discussed in coming years – further municipal consolidation, sales tax distribution, countywide public safety (i.e. police and/or fire) agencies – affect everyone who lives in Chemung County.
Many years ago there was a group called the Council of Governments. It included representatives from county government, city government, town and village boards, school boards, the library district, etc. Unfortunately that group no longer exists, nor does the cooperative spirit it fostered. Bringing back COG or something similar could be a great first step toward big-picture thinking on these matters.
The re-creation of a Council of Governments is without question a necessary step toward fostering the cooperative spirit we need to allow our community to flourish.
However, tonight’s proposal unfortunately came with a catch.
Unlike nearby counties that utilize their Councils of Governments for the sole purpose of cooperation (the mission of Schuyler County’s council is to “provide a forum for discussion and negotiation leading to agreements for increased efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and improved quality of government services”, and the Tompkins County’s council is “organized to provide a forum for discussion and negotiation leading to agreements for more efficient and fiscally responsible delivery of government services), the version proposed by Santulli includes numerous barriers to participation and a set of fixed rules municipal leaders must accept in order to come on board.
At the onset, Santulli stated tonight that leaders from the City of Elmira will not be invited to participate. This aspect alone is enough to render the plan flawed, as cooperation among county and city leaders is one of the things our community needs most. Excluding Elmira – our county seat and the center of our community – from participating in county-wide governorship reveals that this plan is unlikely to succeed.
Moreover, the proposal sets forth a number “rules”, as Santulli calls them, that participants must agree to in order to participate. Some of the requirements regarding financial transparency and public disclosure of municipal financial statements make a lot of sense and are not likely to be met with substantial pushback.
However, other rules involve specific governing decisions such as the way to fund capital projects or to insure against financial calamity – things that arguably fall squarely within the discretion of elected municipal leaders rather than county officials. This top-down approach must be contrasted with Tompkins County’s Council of Governments, a group that has produced a long list of cooperative initiatives described here.
Although the suggested participatory rules may be based on sound economic rationale, leading off a proposal for cooperation with things potential members must do or agree to in order to partake is a tough way to start out.
Chemung County has a lot of great things afoot right now, yet it is apparent that many others demand our immediate attention. Elmira’s fiscal crisis, ownership of the Arena and the increasing pressure on many towns and villages to do more with less are not going to simply go away. Instead, these issues require genuine leadership and cooperation from all levels of government. Nothing less will do.
This is a video clip of some of Tom Santulli’s remarks at the April 9th meeting. Discussion of the Council of Governments begins around 6:35. But, the entire clip is important, as it demonstrates why fostering true cooperation may be a lot more challenging than it sounds.
–Christina Sonsire
[…] and arguably not in the best interest of many people living in Chemung County, I wrote a blog post and Op-Ed so that citizens would at least have a chance to learn about what was […]
Loading...As far as the County wide Police, in a indirect way it is already being done. By that I mean Hghts and Hhds PD’s help each other in the time of need, Hghts helps Elmira and visa versa and the State Police and CCSD help each other as well as the local communities.
Loading...Mr. Royle your ideas regarding the Consolidated police force are concerning….if the City needs to fund public protection while hosting tax exempt properties; perhaps a fire/police district charge should be assessed to those properties? The biggest issue is that rural, outlying communities are paying for these services through property taxes yet a good number of them are not seeing any presence due to being considered “low needs areas” this is unacceptable. I have nothing against the city council per-se but perhaps it is time they stop sitting on their hands(as they did to bring about the 17% tax increase) and actually advocate for their City and the people they are supposed to represent…that being said, i and many other County residents agree; the adversarial attitude of both parties is a HUGE turn-off and is not accomplishing anything.
Loading...This is not only a fiscal issue , Do we not have a codes Department, ? We have all these zombie properties and apartment houses that landlords should be held accountable for the up keep most are in deplorable shape with trash surrounding the houses it’s unsightly. why aren’t these issues being addressed ? you can always fine them if not cleaned up. Tax exempt properties can always pay a fee(not a Tax) since they use our police and fire services. and how about some city officials take a pay cut ? But since the city does not want to engage in a solution with COG it’s all just more smoking mirrors and talking heads so nothing will get done , it’s probably too late anyways. Beyond the point of no return. It’s time to declare the city is bankrupt and dissolve the city
Loading...The City does have to help itself..but the struggle is very real.Can it afford to cut public safety to a level it needs to balance a budget.The County knows and understands very well the Cities struggle .The County holds the key to a resolution that would help.They have failed to help drive a solution that would consolidate the police in this County and allow for a dramatic change in the dynamics that have held the City back.The City is one third of the Counties population and is home to nearly all tax exempts.The issues the City government deals with is so distinctly different than any municipality that surrounds it.Its problems however have and will continue to impact this entire area unless it can be brought to a consistent solvent position that does not depend on tax increases to survive.It is shameful to take a position that pits the County government against the City for goodness sakes.There is not a logical option other than to do every thing possible to fix the finances and move to restore and make this City great again.The County seat should be the gem.I believe it can be but it will never happen with the adversarial attitude and tone of this type of presentation.The lack of action to create a County police entity and reduce the public safety cost to the City without jeopardizing safety will lead to either more large tax hikes or bankruptcy..I hope with the potential of new leadership that real progress can be made to finally fix an issue that has been talked about for thirty years but never acted on.
Loading...Christina it sounds like we have agreement.
Loading...“We want to put this together for everybody outside the city of Elmira. The city will not be included in this…we’ve done everything for the city we can do. Now they’ve got to do something for themselves.”
That seems pretty clear, and pretty definitive.
It’s more like, “we’ve done everything TO the city we can do.”
Deplorable.
Loading...Mike – As I indicated in the post, some of your proposed “rules” for the Council of Government, including requirements for financial transparency and public disclosure of municipal financial statements, make a lot of sense and are not likely to be met with substantial pushback. The public clearly wants governmental accountability, particularly when tax dollars are involved. However, creating a group aimed at inter-municipal cooperation that places restraints and/or dictates on how elected officials from towns and villages choose to carry out their responsibilities is not likely to foster genuine buy-in. The Council of Governments model is used by many communities in New York as a way to bring leaders from various parts of local government to the table in order to work through issues and find ways to help each other. For example, the bylaws of Schuyler Counties Council of Governments say it is “an association of municipal governments and school districts organized to provide a forum for discussion and negotiation leading to agreements for increased efficiency, fiscal responsibility and improved quality of government services. Its short term goals include: expanding cooperation among taxing entities and reducing duplication of services, pertaining to both the municipalities and school districts; improving communication among municipalities and County Government; through increased interaction and communication, increase the level of public collaboration and sharing of services within Schuyler County.” This is the type of body our community desperately needs as we continue to deal with a decreasing population and the needs for further shared services and government shrinkage that come along with it.
Loading...Elmira city officials bankrupted this city and let it fall down and become a trash city . First of all no county executive should make $166,000 a year
Loading...I believe the city should be dissolved and absorbed then maybe taxes will be fair for all . I have already written to Gov. Cuomo about how bad the city is and it should be investigated I believe there is corruption somewhere. The citizens can’t afford Elmira anymore . Our properties are so devalued and no one wants to live here Too much trash, undesirables, crime , drugs, guns etc. I propose you start by cleaning up the city , downtown went with the flood of 72 never to return give it up. There is no draw to Elmira other a bad reputation, my friends won’t even come here to disgusting
Maybe you could auction off the whole city and properties when we can’t pay taxes anymore
Christina I find these conclusions inconsistent with the intent of the effort that will be put forth. How much more cooperation can one envision then the very group that is being created is the group that will fashion the conditions of that relationship and the types of issues that will be discussed and addressed. It is not unreasonable however to suggest that participation and transparency at a minimum should be expected before assistance can be requested. Certainly that is where mutual respect and appreciation of others issues will be derived from and improved upon. The intent of the proposals is how I have outlined and any misinterpretation or misrepresentation I am sure were unintentional. Thank you
Loading...Christina I think the mark was missed. The City of Elmira will be invited to join the Council of Goernments. Mr Santulli’s statement was that because the county currently provides and will continue to provide $400,000 of annual shared service savings to the city until all City DPW and Building and Grounds ($3.2 million when fully operational) expenses have been assumed by the County the city would not be eligible to participate in the additional $400,000 reserve fund that will be established in the 2019 county budget as a “emergency” reserve for all other county municipalities. This fund will be increased by $400,000 each year until it reaches a yet to be determined level of total town and village reserves. Early conversation has centered around 25%. The operating conditions and means of accessing these reserve funds will be recommended by the COG and referred back to the County Legislature for final adoption. The only conditions being placed upon these funds in advance is participation in the COG and the fiscal monitoring process that will also be established by the COG and a review of reserve accounts of any requesting municipalities. Our conversations with many municipalities indicates that they would welcome assistance through the County Treasures Office with fiscal monitoring (as many already do) and an emergency reserve account such as this would give them more comfort in complying with the New York State Comptrollers guidance on fund balance management. The COG working in collaboration and cooperation will be a terrific platform for advancing shared services and a transparent fiscal monitoring procees shared between our governing bodies and the public. It will allow for best practice implementation and likewise early indicators of fiscal issues with a platform for resolution. These can be difficult issues to communicate but perhaps this will give some additional clarity. Any additional questions you may have regarding this matter or the many additional shared service plans that were also discussed please do not hesitate to contact me. Hopefully your post can be updated to ensure accuracy.
Loading...I appreciate your willingness to engage in dialogue, Mike.
However, I refer you to 6:35 – 7:00 of the video embedded at the end of the post. Just after Tom Santulli introduced the proposal for a Council of Governments, he explicitly stated “the city will not be included” as “we have done everything for the city that can be done.” If this is not what he meant, it is a good thing – but it is certainly the perception myself and others had after listening to the presentation.
Regardless, this proposal neither envisions the type of Council of Governments found in other communities, nor seeks to re-create the kind we used to have here. Assistance from the county can certainly be a good thing, but inviting other municipal players to the table to really work together to find solutions is something else entirely.
Loading...This is not leadership. Excluding the city is unacceptable. Time for town and village heads to speak up. Great reporting Christina. Thanks!
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