I didn't think it would help anything to publicize the worst things I saw in the County Legislature races during the election, but now that the votes are counted, I'd like to make certain that these pieces get on the record and stay there. In the District 13 race, Dave Restey sent out an attack piece to Republicans (1025KB PDF)...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has a lot from last night's Town Board meeting, with an article on Mike Lane's concession speech and another piece on possible development north of the Village of Dryden near TC3. One plan, proposed by Bill Wilbern, would include a possible Best Western motel, while the other would move (and expand) a large engineering firm, Advanced...
One of the problems with writing this blog is that I frequently have to write on news that saddens me. Tonight is definitely one of those times. County Legislator Mike Lane conceded the District 14 election to Town Board member Mike Hattery tonight at the Town Board meeting. Mike Lane and Mike Hattery shake hands after Lane's concession. I've posted...
This morning's Journal reports on the dwindling of Mike Hattery's lead over Mike Lane to 20 votes in the District 14 legislative contest, with 30 possible ballots still out there. A report on snowmobile safety starts with a quote from 14-year-old T.J. Frost of Dryden: "You get to go out and see what's in the woods, the scenery - just...
Last night, I thought Mike Lane was ahead of Mike Hattery by 10 votes. This morning, the Board of Elections reported Hattery ahead by 41. When I arrived at the Board this afternoon, the difference had changed to 36, as a 9 on the tally sheet had been read as a 4. The next three hours were a long process...
Today's Journal notices the November 8th election. The "Wilkinson wins DA race" across the top is hard to miss, as is the picture of County Legislator Martha Robertson congratulating Gwen Wilkinson, who defeated incumbent District Attorney George Dentes by a preliminary count of 10,947 to 9,099. They credit Robertson with a clear win over W. David Restey, but leave County...
Last night was a night of ups and downs. It looks like Dryden will once again have a Democratic member of the Town Board, as Steve Stelick (R) and Mary Ann Sumner (D) led the field. Our numbers last night showed County Legislator Mike Lane (D) up by 10, but the Board of Elections currently shows challenger Mike Hattery (R)...
I thought I'd already said this, but: Vote today! I've published the polling places list for Dryden if you need to find out where you need to go....
From the Board of Elections listing, polling places for each of the districts are: Etna Fire Station - 26 Wood Road, Etna (map). Freeville Fire Station - 21 Union Street, Freeville (map). Dryden Fire Station - 26 North Street, Dryden (map). Varna Community Center - 943 Dryden Road, Varna (map). Etna Fire Station - 26 Wood Road, Etna (map). Dryden...
Tomorrow we have a choice among candidates for District Attorney, and I'm delighted with Gwen Wilkinson. She wants to ensure that violent criminals of all kinds are prosecuted, and that even difficult cases get a close look. I like what I've heard about improving the efficiency of the DA's office, especially when I look at statistics about how Tompkins County's...
County Legislator Martha Robertson has brought tremendous energy to her job, whether she's speaking at a Town Board meeting, collecting information from constituents to improve road safety, or developing new ideas for lowering the cost of healthcare in Tompkins County. I've wished for a long time that I had nearly her energy level, and I'd like to see her returned...
I've enjoyed this year's relatively quiet Town Board race, and I think voters have an opportunity for change for the better this year. Mary Ann Sumner and Paul Lutwak both bring financial skills and a focus on doing a lot with a little. Mary Ann's experience at the Hanger Theatre and time spent working with finance give her an affinity...
This morning's Journal is quiet on Dryden news, but carries two Dryden letters on the opinion page. They left out County Legislator Mike Lane's final piece out on Saturday, and include it today. Lane notes a number of ways in which his opponent has come to agree with him and asks voters for their support. Also on the opinion page,...
I first met Athena Kalandros at a Groton Democratic Committee meeting where they were looking for candidates. If I remember right, Bob Walpole had talked with her about the possibility of running while she was getting her kids on to a school bus. She was at the meeting to find out what was involved, and the rest of the people...
I missed covering last week's Dryden Courier, and there are only a few days left to get the current issue. I've chosen some especially unfortunate issues to cover late. If you want to get a feel for all the candidates up for election Tuesday, I strongly recommend getting this week's Dryden Courier. It includes answers to a questionnaire from Legislative...
The race for County Legislature 14, most of the eastern half of Dryden, is between a conservative Democrat and a conservative Republican, between two candidates who bring considerable if very different experience to the table. I'm delighted to encourage voters to support Mike Lane. It seems like every time I ask a question of someone about Dryden - whether it's...
Yesterday's Ithaca Journal gave county candidates one last chance to get their message out to voters, and published a set of letters from candidates. Once again, they've published it online as one huge file, but County Legislature candidates Martha Robertson and W. David Restey have a letter each in there....
The Republican Meet-The-Candidates event advertised in The Shopper the past couple of weeks didn't look all that different from the Democratic event, except that the Republicans had balloons and cookies from Googer's. (Not my favorite Googer's half moon cookies, but still delicious.) The Republican Town Board candidates came to the Democratic event, and Democratic Town Board candidate Mary Ann Sumner...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has a long and detailed editorial on the District Attorney's race (in tiny print), but concludes that: The decision before Tompkins County voters is an enormous one. The District Attorney's office is the people's representative at the heart of the most essential function of government. Putting aside the hollow distractions of the campaign trail, the decision...
Today's Ithaca Journal has lots of politics, including lots of Dryden politics. The Town Board race gets a meet-the-candidates article, and there's an article on the 14th district legislature race, but unfortunately the profiles of County Legislator Mike Lane and challenger Mike Hattery aren't online. The opinion pages have the last day of letters on local elections, though they published...
This morning's Ithaca Journal features Hall Pass, a group of Dryden teachers who play jazz together. If you want to hear them, they have a "semi-official gig on the second Friday of the month at the Dryden Hotel." The rest of the Dryden-relevant news is mostly politics. There's a piece on the 13th District legislative race, pitting incumbent Democrat Martha...
I always find it strange that local politics is frequently so, well, local. At least when it's convenient for someone's argument, they don't look beyond the borders of their own municipal unit to see if anyone else is sharing the same pain they are. In county races this year, the Republican message is frequently that Democrats raised your taxes, and...
Tom Hatfield, the Town of Dryden Republican Committee Chairman, was just on WHCU, and I learned a lot about the Coalition for Change: Their organization includes one Democrat, the treasurer, who Tom claims will be more visible in the next week, but hasn't previously been involved in local politics. Every single candidate the Coalition for Change endorsed is a Republican....
The Town Board approved the budget on Thursday night with minor corrections (which I've added to the list). The budget has a property tax rate of $1.436410 per thousand, down from $1.477628, for a decrease of 2.8%, while the tax levy climbs from $912,241 to $958,525, for an increase of 4.8%. At the meeting they also approved the special permit...
Perhaps living up to their name as "the Grand Old Party," the Dryden Town Republican Committee will be having a Meet the Candidates event this next Friday night, November 4th, from 7:30pm to 9:00pm at the Dryden Fire Hall (map). The ad for the event in The Shopper calls the Republicans a vote for intermunicipal cooperation, open government, and fiscal...
The Tompkins County SPCA's Hanshaw Road facility is bulging with dogs and cats in need of homes. Built for 38 dogs, they now have 54, as well as 291 cats. The usual fall drop-off in occupancy hasn't happened this year, and it's a great time to consider getting a new pet, and the Journal has pictures of four to consider....
I've received two invitations today to Dryden events where the public can meet Democratic candidates running for county office. One is for the District Attorney candidate, Gwen Wilkinson: Gwen Wilkinson, the Democratic candidate for District Attorney, will be having a meet the candidate session at the Ellis Hollow Community Center (map) on Thursday, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Cider and cookies...
I just got the latest voter registration data from the Board of Elections this morning. I thought I'd compare registration in Dryden to last year, and was pleasantly surprised. PartyNumber (Oct 2004)Number (Oct 2005)Change Blank (Independent)18851843-42 Conservative8169-12 Democratic30423033-9 Green13099-31 Independence280277-3 Liberal7465-9 Libertarian-2+2 Other34+1 Republican29042796-108 Right-to-Life2119-2 Working Families2629+3 Total84468236-210 Most parties have lost members, with only the Working Families and Libertarian...
This week's Dryden Courier leads with a picture of last week's press conference at which County Legislator Mike Lane and Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton announced $50,000 in funding for firefighting equipment at Dryden's Neptune Hose Company and Freeville's W.B. Strong. $35,000 at Dryden will pay for an emergency generator to let the fire hall operate as an communications center in case...
As I'd announced earlier, the Dryden Democrats held a Meet the Candidates forum at the Varna Community Center on Wednesday night. Democratic District Attorney candidate Gwen Wilkinson, County Legislator Martha Robertson, and Town Board candidates Paul Lutwak and Mary Ann Sumner spoke about what they hoped to accomplish and the skills they bring to the jobs. County Legislator Martha Robertson...
The only Dryden-related item in today's Ithaca Journal is in Briefly in Tompkins, which notes that the Dryden Senior Citizens will be holding their fund-raising bazaar on Saturday from 9:00am to 2:00pm at the Dryden Fire Hall (map). The race for District Attorney looks set to get ugly, as incumbent George Dentes made claims about challenger Gwen Wilkinson's involvement in...
I've been slack in covering the Dryden Courier lately, and I should cover it while it's still available. This week, it's even been available for free at the XtraMart at the Sunoco station on the Route 13/366 overlap with any purchase, so it's a good chance to check out the local weekly. The Courier visits BB Farms, also on 13/366,...
I'm extremely late getting to today's paper, but the Journal does something unusual, issuing a correction to letter to the editor, one with sad relevance to Dryden. The letter stated that: Dentes has prosecuted successfully a decade of criminal cases, just two examples offhand are: [...] the pervert who assaulted, murdered and dismembered two Dryden cheerleaders; are off-the-streets along with...
The Dryden Democrats will be hosting a Meet the Candidates event at the Varna Community Center (map) on Wednesday, October 19th at 7:30pm. We'll be serving refreshments and attendees will have the chance to talk with Democratic candates, including: Town Board candidates Mary Ann Sumner and Paul Lutwak County Legislator Martha Robertson District Attorney candidate Gwen Wilkinson The public is...
I know, I know. The bit at the end of an ad that says "I'm George Bush, and I authorized this message" isn't the most exciting bit of political advertising. But these days, especially when nominally "non-partisan" groups are out there pouring money on races in the hopes of turning them their way, it seems more necessary than ever to...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on Thursday night's Town Board meeting, where the comprehensive plan passed with modification to the trails. The Journal also notes that the New York State Department of Transportation will be reducing speed limits on Route 79 in the Town of Dryden from 55mph to 45mph; County Legislator Martha Robertson reported that in a letter she...
I was late getting there, unfortunately, but Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and County Legislator Mike Lane held a press conference today announcing $50,000 in state funds for equipment for Freeville's W.B. Strong and Dryden's Neptune Hose Company fire departments. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, County Legislator Mike Lane, Neptune Hose Company Chief Ron Flynn, Neptune Hose Company Board Member Dan Tier, W.B. Strong...
Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk column looks at tomorrow night's "Barbershop Stories with Bob and Beachy", talking about McKeon's barbershop where many of the tales were told. The Dryden Town Historical Society will be hosting the event, tomorrow at 7:30pm at Village Hall (map). Wakeman also notes next Friday's Sertoma Spaghetti Dinner, to be held at Dryden High School. Briefly...
This morning's Ithaca Journal front-pages Thursday night's Town Board vote on the Town Comprehensive Plan. The article mentions the eminent domain controversy which appeared in a letter to the editor last month. Supervisor Steve Trumbull says on the trails that: "They're afraid we're going to put in the 40 miles of trail and take their land away, and that's crazy,"...
Today's Journal is largely quiet about Dryden, though the Groton Town Talk notes food pantries from 1:30pm to 2:30pm on October 8th and 22nd at the McLean Community Church. There will also be a steak dinner fund-raiser at the McLean Community Church on the 8th from 5:00pm to sold out, and a community bazaar from 9:00am to 2:00pm on the...
Dryden resident Nancy Suci writes that: We need to leave Iraq. Our time there diminishes our reputation in the world. Our actions in Iraq increase the anger and resentment that erupts in terrorist acts. And we are neglecting our own citizens, their health, their education, their general welfare. Where are the good ideas? In county news, there's an article comparing...
There isn't much in today's Ithaca Journal about Dryden, except a reminder that school taxes in Dryden are due Saturday to avoid a penalty. (In the Ithaca district, they're due October 31st.) There's lots of county news, however. A front page article visits last night's county budget meeting to see what the public had to say about the proposed no-tax-levy-increase...
Dryden has three county legislative districts. Two of them, those held by Mike Lane and Martha Robertson, are completely within the Town of Dryden. The third, currently represented by George Totman, includes the corner of Dryden north and east of Malloryville Road, along with all of Groton and a sliver of eastern Lansing. Athena Kalandros of Groton is running for...
I was planning to spend this weekend catching up on a number of stories, but instead wound up resting (for the first time in too long), painting and fixing storm windows, and replacing my windshield wiper blades after a chunk of what appears to have been wet cornbread came flying across Route 13 by the airport. Fraternity prank? Fortunately, the...
Today's Ithaca Journal is quiet on Dryden news, but there are two pieces on the opinion page with Dryden connections. One comes from Freeville resident Jennifer Semo, and only appears in the print edition. Semo writes, about the St.Patrick's Four: No one is questioning the right to stand up for your beliefs and the right of protestation. The matter at...
This morning's Ithaca Journal doesn't report much about Dryden, but there's news on two county labor fronts. The county and its white collar CSEA unit have come to terms, and the contract was approved 13-1 last night by the County Legislature. Meanwhile, negotiations with TCAT bus drivers continue, and Cornell is making contingency plans in case of a strike. On...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the County Legislature approved applying for an Empire Zone that includes part of the Town of Dryden as well as Lansing and the City of Ithaca. County Legislators Martha Robertson, Mike Lane, and George Totman all supported it in a 9-5 vote. In addition: Barbara Blanchard, D-City of Ithaca, and Michael Lane, D-Dryden, both...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the death of a 25-year old Freeville woman on Route 13 Sunday night when she apparently crossed the road in the path of a pickup truck. In brighter news in Dryden, the SPCA appointed a new Executive Director, Jeff Lydon. In county news, DA candidates Gwen Wilkinson and George Dentes had a debate yesterday...
Athena Kalandros, running as a Democrat for the District 9 County Legislature seat against Republican Duane "Tyke" Randall, will be having a meet the candidate event from 7:00pm to 9:00pm next Monday the 26th at the Benn Conger Inn (map) in Groton. As her press release says: It will be a great chance to meet the candidate, talk about what...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that today is the last day to donate to Hurricane Katrina victims through the drop boxes at school and athletic offices in the Dryden schools. An article on Town Supervisors candidates notes that Dryden Town Supervisor Steve Trumbull is running unopposed this year. Only Danby and Enfield appear to have races for supervisor this November....
This morning's Ithaca Journal leads with results from yesterday's primary election. The only election in Dryden was for the Republican contest for County Legislator in District 9, which included eastern Lansing, Groton, and northeastern Dryden. Challenger Duane "Tyke" Randall II defeated incumbent legislator George Totman 278-41. On the Our Towns page, Cathy Wakeman writes about a free spaghetti dinner Neptune...
I didn't get to look at yesterday's Ithaca Journal until today, and it has two stories I'd definitely like to highlight. One is about Linda Lavine welcoming former Ithacan Rona King into her house after her house in New Orleans was flooded, and another is about Etna resident May Lovelace, who's offered a space in her home to those in...
This week's issue of The Shopper adds another item to Saturday's busy schedule of Dryden events: the Etna Community Yard Sale, which will be Saturday from 9:00am to noon at Houtz Hall in Etna. There's also a schedule for the Freeville Harvest Festival, which looks like: 8:30am - Service of Hope 10:00am - Back Yard Circus 10:30am - Fool's Gold...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on two big events to be held this Saturday: the Ellis Hollow Fair, from noon to 4:00pm, and the Freeville Harvest Festival, from 8:00am to 3:00pm. Briefly in Dryden lists even more events, with a chicken barbecue at Varna United Methodist Church next Saturday and a Dryden Senior Citizens lunch at 11:30am on Monday. There's...
With the Labor Day weekend, I almost forgot to report on last week's issue of the Dryden Courier. It leads with articles on the Dryden School District's rush to finish renovations on the elementary schools, and with the successful completion of the Virgil Creek restoration project, which put Virgil Creek back in its original bed along Lake Road. Inside, there's...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the upcoming Town Board election, talking with all four candidates about what they'd like to accomplish. The Republicans running are incumbent Steve Stelick and newcomer Dan Tier. The Democrats running are newcomers Mary Ann Sumner and Paul Lutwak. I'm happy to see that the Journal reached all four of them for comment, as well...
At Thursday night's caucus, the Dryden Democrats nominated Paul Lutwak and Mary Ann Sumner as their candidates for the November election for Town Board. Mary Ann Sumner has lived in Dryden on Neimi Road for 30 years, raising children while working as a business director for local nonprofits. She's especially interested in fiscal openness and accountability and the implementation of...
Gwen Wilkinson, the Democratic candidate for District Attorney, will be on the Village Green (map) in Dryden from 5:00pm to 7:00pm on Wednesday. It's a great chance to meet the candidate, talk about what you'd like to see in a District Attorney, and enjoy some cider and donuts. Update: Because of the dismal weather, this event is cancelled, but will...
Today's Journal is mostly quiet on Dryden (except for a correction announcing that the Ellis Hollow Fair will be September 10th), but there are stories on two important fronts in county news. County Legislator Mike Lane is quoted in article about negotiations over tax breaks for the Cayuga Green project in Ithaca. The article notes that: What the city would...
The Dryden Democratic Committee will be holding its caucus on Thursday night at the Dryden Town Hall (map) at 7:30pm on Thursday. We'll be selecting candidates for Town Board (2), Town Supervisor, and Highway Superintendent, and then having a regular meeting afterward. All Democrats are invited to participate....
Kimberly Gazzo, who became Town of Dryden Historian earlier this year, has an article in today's Ithaca Journal that explores the accomplishments of her predecessors as Dryden Historian. It's a wonderful introduction to a job many people don't realize exists. There's an article on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. While it's about Caroline, the southeast corner of the Town of Dryden...
Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk column introduces the incoming Methodist minister, Alan Kinney. She also announces Intergenerational Band performances August 13th and 14th, swimming lessons, and Etna Community Church's Vacation Bibe School. Phoenix Books had a small fire on their porch, as a cigarette apparently started a fire that did $500 worth of damage. I'm very happy to hear that...
It was a perfect morning for a highway cleanup, with clear skies and comfortable temperatures. Around ten Democrats helped clean up Route 366 between Varna and the Route 13 intersection, working in small groups to clean up debris. Signs of activity on Route 366. Sticks with nails driven near the ends are useful for reaching trash, but gloves are necessary,...
I complained yesterday that the Journal didn't provide a breakdown of who voted how at the county legislature, and today they make up for that with both analysis and a list of votes on tobacco bond restructuring, an increase in the Real Estate Transfer Tax, and the confirmation of Ed Marx as Commissioner of Public Works. On the opinion page,...
Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk looks at schoolgirls of yesteryear, the Drydenettes, a group of female Dryden High School alumnae who will be having a reunion July 30th. (If female alums would like to make a reservation to join the fun, please contact Elsie Gutchess at 844-5504.) She also notes a session on starting your own home day care business...
I've wondered a bit about the Tompkins County Coalition for Change, not having been able to find much about it. Tom Hatfield, the Dryden Republican Committee chairman and the apparent spokesman for the group, was on WHCU this morning to talk about the group with Casey Stevens. It's the first detailed explanation of the group I've seen, so I figured...
I was annoyed with the Journal last week for publishing a list of candidates without noticing that there are caucuses yet to come, and they seem to have realized that in time for an editorial overview of races that wishes for more competition. Independent petitioning is underway now, and continues through August 23rd, and caucuses may be held as late...
Thursday night's public hearing on the proposed Town Comprehensive Plan demonstrated residents' concerns and hopes for these guidelines for future development in the Town of Dryden. The first speaker, after Supervisor Steve Trumbull had opened the hearing, noting that this process had been in the works for at least seven years, was Ken Miller, a farmer who has spoken at...
This morning's Journal reports that the new school board president in Dryden is Anderson Young, with Russ Kowalski as vice-president. In Community News, the Journal notes that Erin Radford, who grew up in Freeville, got a master's degree in international studies from the University of London and is "a program assistant for the Middle East/Africa Division of the International Foundation...
I went down to the Board of Elections today, where District Attorney candidate Gwen Wilkinson gave a brief press conference as she turned in the signatures to put her on the ballot in November. Election Commissioner Steve DeWitt examines District Attorney candidate Gwen Wilkinson's petitions, while former Assemblyman Marty Luster and Democratic County Chair Irene Stein look on. I recorded...
This morning's Ithaca Journal introduces Duane Randall as a Republican candidate for incumbent Republican George Totman's seat on the county legislature and provides a complete list of known candidates in all of the county districts. Since the Journal's articles now only last a week, here's the list for races including Dryden: 9th District (Groton, eastern Lansing, northeastern Dryden) - Republican...
This week's Dryden Courier leads with the Dryden High School graduation, as well as congratulations given to the Dryden school board and superintendent. Inside the paper, there are articles on the plans for a Freeville-to-Dryden trail and one on the walk Rebecca Elgie and Bernie Fetterly took, including a stop at Dryden's Time Square park, to highlight health care issues...
Since it's all going to vanish in a week, it's probably a good idea to report what's been in the Ithaca Journal for the past few days. The most Dryden-specific story is one on the renovations in progress at the Dryden elementary schools. Around Dryden, we have articles on the Town of Caroline raising funds for the Brooktondale Community Center,...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has an article on Saturday's Dryden High School graduation, complete with a photo of exuberant graduates in purple and white robes. In his weekly column on Schuyler County, Neil Chaffie gives an entertaining explanation of how candidates get on the ballot in New York State. Right now, Democrats and Republicans are carrying petitions for candidates in...
This morning's Ithaca Journal lists four new candidates for county legislature, including one in the Groton seat that includes parts of Dryden and Lansing. Athena Kalandros, a co-owner of the Red Door Coffee House in the Village of Groton, will be running as a Democrat. Kalandros hopes to "bring a fresh perspective to representing the district, one that is alive...
I should probably write about last week's Dryden Courier while it's still available on newsstands. The front page has an article about Town Councilman Mike Hattery's run for the County Legislature seat held by Mike Lane, as well as a picture of bicycle rodeo and a long piece recognizing retiring Dryden school employees. (Those profiled include high school assistant principal...
Since the June Town Board meeting is tomorrow night, and I still haven't covered it, it's probably time to take a look at the minutes from the May meeting I did cover the statement from the fire department chiefs and the recreation survey, but here's a summary of the larger items of the rest of what happened. Cortland Road Sewer...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has a brief item about Republican W. David Restey's announcement yesterday that he will be running for the 13th district county legislature seat against Democratic incumbent Martha Robertson. In county news, Alternatives Federal Credit Union will release an updated set of figures for a living wage in Tompkins County today, based on 2004 data. In 2002,...
It looks like both of Dryden's Democratic county legislators have opponents this, year, as W. David Restey announced his intentions to run against County Legislator Martha Robertson: W. David Restey to run for County Legislature District 13, Town of Dryden Taxes and Spending, Infrastructure Key Issues W. David Restey, 62, who resides at 65 Sunset West Circle in the Town...
Today's Ithaca Journal has a brief item on Mike Hattery's announcement that he'll run for the County Legislature. (I covered Mike's announcement on Casey Stevens earlier this week, which had a lot more detail.) Ithaca College Professor Elia Kacapyr reports that Tompkins County's economic growth slowed in April after March's strong growth, though there were 800 more jobs in April...
This week's issue of The Shopper has a notice for Democrats in the northeast corner of Dryden, as well as Groton and eastern Lansing: Calling All Democrats All Democrats in the 9th Legislative District are encouraged to attend a meeting on Thursday, June 2nd at 7:30PM at the Town Hall located at 101 Conger Boulevard (map) in the Village of...
After the strong Democratic performance in last year's election, and with Democratic voter registration passing Republican registration in the Town last year (currently 2979 D - 2791 R), the Dryden Democrats wanted to do something to increase our visibility. We have a number of projects under way, but one just became visible this morning: we've adopted a highway. Dryden Democrats...
On Casey Stevens' WHCU show this morning, Town Board member Mike Hattery announced his plans to run for the 14th legislative district, currently held by Mike Lane. The 14th district (map, 598KB PDF) includes most of eastern Dryden, the parts east of Caswell, Kirk, Mineah, and Midline Roads except for the area north of Malloryville Road. It includes the villages...
I saw County Legislator Mike Lane this morning at the Memorial Day Parade, and remembered that I hadn't given his re-election announcement the kind of coverage I'd given fellow Legislator Martha Robertson's press conference, and it looks like I'll be writing another of these stories tomorrow for Mike's challenger, if WHCU's promise of "another Morning Report political declaration!!!" holds up....
Devontae Sims, a fourth-grade boy at Dryden Intermediate School, "was awarded Best Design honors by the National Education Association of New York in the kindergarten through fourth-grade division of the first ever Great Public Schools Art Contest," for a poster of the "perfect school." Coming right after high school students' success, it seems that Dryden is doing very well in...
After last night's 2004 presidential voting maps, I thought I'd play with the voter registration data and see what kind of perspective that gives on the politics of the county. As I did with the presidential data, I stripped it down to just two categories, Republican and Democrat, as it's hard to present more categories of data in these kinds...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that both the Dryden Central School District and Ithaca City School District budgets passed, Dryden's by a 916-678 vote and Ithaca's by a 2032-1481 vote. All of the propositions for both districts also passed. In the school board elections, despite a confusing table on the front page that only shows two winners in Dryden, incumbents...
I'm happy to see that the Democrats have a promising candidate for DA, Gwen Wilkinson, who announced her candidacy yesterday. The occasional writings of the current District Attorney, George Dentes, are substantially responsible for getting me interested in local politics. (One of the earliest Living in Dryden entries was on drug courts, actually.) While DA is a countywide position, I...
While the Ithaca Journal may not have any interest in encouraging political activity by publicizing party events, they apparently do want to make sure that prospective candidates have some idea what's involved in running for local office, with an article briefly explaining the petition and caucus processes. If you're interested in running for office in Dryden this year, contact me...
The Ithaca Journal reports this morning that Jason Kelly was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for a DWI last June that cost the lives of two friends riding in the car. Dryden Town Talk reports that the Dryden Grange honored Bob and Sue Cardwell "in recognition of their dedication to the Dryden community," and also...
I spent most of April writing about wind turbines (which now seem not to be happening), and only covered two small pieces of the April Town Board meeting, discussing executive session issues related to the golf course and wind turbines. A lot more than those conversations happened, of course, and minutes for the April 14th meeting are now available. Here's...
This week's issue of the Dryden Courier leads with the reopening of the Dryden Hotel, starting with a party last Friday night and returning to its usual schedule this week. Closed for four months because of a flood from the sprinkler system, the Hotel has been repaired and reopened. The mural of Dryden has been retouched where necessary by the...
The Dryden Democratic Committee will be meeting next Thursday, May 5th, at 7:30pm at the Dryden Village Hall (map). We'll be gearing up for the November election, discussing candidates, issues, and fundraising. Democrats from the Town of Dryden are welcome. Looking ahead to November, the following town positions, all currently held by Republicans, will be up for election: Town Supervisor...
This morning's Ithaca Journal doesn't have much news about Dryden, but it does have an editorial on the need for competitive local elections in Tompkins County. The editorial states: Just as competition makes athletes better -- and more interesting to watch -- active, contested elections force all candidates to be stronger, more open and more thorough in how they outline...
This week's Dryden Courier is packed with news about the town, on levels from local lacrosse to the county legislature to a protest at Congressman Boehlert's office to a Dryden dentist returning from Iraq. Once again, if you don't read the Courier, now's a good time to start. George Birman, a dentist practicing in Dryden and Groton, turns out to...
County Legislator Martha Robertson announced that she would run for re-election yesterday at a press conference that packed Dryden resident Nancy Huffman's Sadie D's restaurant. Robertson said that she was: announcing with great pleasure that I am seeking a second term on the Tompkins County Legislature. I have really enjoyed the work, I am passionate about the work, and in...
A Dryden and a Freeville resident appear in today's monitor, one arrested for forgery and the other for possession of marijuana in violation of parole. The Journal has a roundup of county legislators' plans to run for re-election, including news that all three representatives from Dryden (Mike Lane, George Totman, and as of yesterday, Martha Robertson) are planning to run...
Reverberations from the golf course auction continue in today's Ithaca Journal, with an article on who knew what and when about the price the town was going to bid. Course owner George Szlasa seems to have stepped back a little from his earlier position that his attorney, Town Attorney Mahlon Perkins, told him exactly what the town's bidding price would...
Last night, I continued the discussion of the Town Board's use of executive session with questions raised by the article on the golf course auction in the March 23rd issue of the Dryden Courier. I gave the Town Board an excerpt with questions. I've put the full transcript of this discussion, which includes questions from the audience and lots of...
I'm late getting to the Dryden Courier this week, and their article on the Dryden schools budget getting close to a 10% levy increase has been made obsolete by this morning's Journal article on their staying below 9%. There's lot of good detail on what went in and out of the budget in the Courier, of course. The Courier also...
The Ithaca Journal's editorial starts as "the raspy gee-gaw call of a male redwing blackbird echoed in a Dryden marsh," writing about the studies of local bird populations done by the Birdhouse Network, a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The editorial hopes that concrete steps to ease pressures on bird populations will make "putting up a string of...
At the March Town Board meeting, Mike Hattery distributed a map with one possible scenario for annexing more property north of the Village of Dryden to the village. I've had a little trouble scanning it in so that it's readable and doesn't take forever to download, but hopefully the map below will serve both purposes. (You can click on it...
Apparently the voting machines in the Village of Dryden race had problems early on, so inspectors collected paper ballots. In the new numbers, 240 people voted (20.5% of voters), and the results changed from the ones I reported the day after the election: PositionPersonOld VotesRevised Votes Dryden MayorReba Taylor (R)156177 Dryden TrusteeBob Witty (R)136157 Mark Strom (R)125146 Jerry Carbo (D)9097...
Cathy Wakeman's Town Talk column in today's Journal looks at "Heavenly Recipes," a cookbook dedicated to the memory of Michele Longo Ferris. The cookbook is available at Hill's Drugs in Dryden, and all proceeds will be dedicated to education. Wakeman also notes the memorial plates in many Southworth Library books, a reminder that people have left bequests to support their...
I'm always happy to listen to Tom Hatfield, the Town of Dryden Republican Committee chairman, when he's on Casey Stevens' show on WHCU 870. Usually the conversation is about county news with a bit of Dryden - I picked up an item about a Town Republican fund-raiser there once. Tom had a tougher ride today, specifically about Dryden issues. It...
Last night's fog seems to have contributed to a two-car head-on collision that sent six people to the hospital last night on Yellow Barn Road. Dryden firefighters had to extricate both drivers, and a MedEvac helicopter couldn't help because of the fog. A Freeville man was charged with marijuana possession after a traffic stop on Sunday. In the Ithaca City...
Minutes are available for both the March 2nd hearing on the possible annexation of the Dryden Mutual Property to the Village of Dryden and the Town Board's regular meeting on March 10th, which I missed. The March 2nd minutes are fascinating because they're pretty much an exact transcript of what was said, a different (though I'm not sure better) style...
This week's Dryden Courier has a must-read article on the March 11th auction of the Lakeview Golf Course, where it was purchased by its current owner, George Szlasa. It's definitely worth getting up now and going out to buy the paper if you haven't already. The paragraphs that generated the most shock in me are: [Szlasa] was stunned the town...
The Planning Board sent the Draft Comprehensive Plan to the Town Board on Thursday night, voting 6-0 to send it forward. Unlike the public hearing, the board didn't take public input this time, instead focusing on earlier comments. Apart from some minor language changes, the largest issue was a concern about the trail map. The board had previously removed lines...
This morning's Ithaca Journal devotes its entire editorial page to New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), which gives citizens access to government documents at the state and local levels, complementing the federal government's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). They have four pieces on the subject: Their editorial provides an overview of FOIL, arguing that "while it is true that...
Village elections held yesterday returned incumbents to their seats in both Dryden and Freeville. In Dryden, Mayor Reba Taylor and Village Trustees Bob Witty and Mark Strom were re-elected over new Village Trustee challenger Jerry Carbo, while in Freeville Tom Lyson and Rachel Dickinson won re-election to their Trustee seats. Election inspectors read the Village of Dryden tallies. Dryden turnout...
I just got this past week's Dryden Courier, and should cover it while it's still available. It's also extra-appropriate today because it includes candidate questions and reponses for the Village of Dryden candidates. Polls will be open from noon to 9:00pm at the the Dryden Village Hall (map) and the Freeville Village Hall, although the Courier doesn't cover Freeville's uncontested...
This morning's Journal reports that there are elections today in the Villages of Dryden and Freeville. Polls will be open from noon to 9:00pm at the the Dryden Village Hall (map) and the the Freeville Village Hall (map). Freeville's election is uncontested, with Rachel Dickinson and Tom Lyson running for trustee. In Dryden, the mayor's race is uncontested, with Reba...
County Legislator Mike Lane writes the Ithaca Journal today to endorse Jerry Carbo for Village Trustee in tomorrow's Village of Dryden elections: Jerry Carbo is running for one of the seats, and is well qualified. He has impressive experience in law and accounting. Jerry, his wife and children have returned to our area, bought a house and have made Dryden...
This morning's Ithaca Journal includes a first look at Cornell's plans to put up to eight wind turbines on Mount Pleasant, near its current observatory. Cornell is "still in the study phase of this," and has put "a 50-meter weather station near the WHCU transmission tower." The project, which would provide 10-15% of the university's energy, would be large, nearly...
This morning's Ithaca Journal includes a first look at Cornell's plans to put up to eight wind turbines on Mount Pleasant, near its current observatory. Cornell is "still in the study phase of this," and has put "a 50-meter weather station near the WHCU transmission tower." The project, which would provide 10-15% of the university's energy, would be large, nearly...
A letter in today's Ithaca Journal from Town Supervisor Steve Trumbull says that the Lakeview Golf Course is up for auction and the town still has hope: that the Town of Dryden and the new owners of the golf course can work together to expand recreational opportunities that the area would offer in addition to golf. The auction will be...
Thursday's hour-long information meeting on the land purchase for the new Town Hall brought over 25 attendees to find out what the town's plans were for the 47 acres the Town is purchasing behind the existing Town Hall for $100,000. Information meeting on Town Hall land purchase. Zoning Officer Henry Slater walked attendees through the map. The town is purchasing...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has all kinds of Dryden news. There's an article on last night's informational meeting on the Town Hall land purchase, "a 47-acre parcel adjacent to the current town hall location for $100,000 from ELM Acquisition Corporation." Near the Dryden VFW, there was a snowmobile accident that put a Richford man in intensive care. Getting to the...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Town Board will be meeting tonight at 7:00pm in the Dryden Village Hall (map) for a public information session about the purchase of land for a new Town Hall and other possible uses. The Dryden Courier had reported on the prospect of 20-25 acres, but the parcel in question turns out to...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Hotel will reopen sometime around April 1st, after repairs from water damage are completed. Briefly in Tompkins lists several upcoming Dryden events: The Dryden Town Board will be meeting tonight at 7:00pm at the Dryden Village Hall (map) in joint session with the Village Board to discuss an annexation petition from Dryden...
I've been slack in covering the February Town Board meeting, and the minutes are now available if you want full details on what happened. Some key moments stand out in the meeting, so here are some highlights. I've bolded subjects for easy looking around. After a long search, the Town Board appointed Kimberly Gazzo, a Village of Dryden resident who...
This week's Dryden Courier has lots and lots of Dryden news. The cover stories include a continuation of last week's profiles of the two Dryden student school board liaisons, focusing on Amanda Christofferson's accomplishments this time. The Courier reports that the Club Dryden event the town held on Febuary 5th was a huge success, with 240 participants instead of the...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Albert Miller, a trash collector was injured on West Dryden Road early on Thursday. The Freeville Fire Department and Dryden ambulance responded, and Miller was taken by helicoper to Arnot-Ogden hospital in Elmira. Briefly in Tompkins mentions the Dryden-Caroline Drifters Febuary 26th 2nd Annual Chicks Ride for women to raise funds for the Ithaca...
Dryden County Legislator Mike Lane is cited in this morning's Ithaca Journal as saying "he wants the Legislature to vote on changing the cycle to every three years, a move he proposed twice last year but was shot down both times by his colleagues." Lane goes on to say: "Some of us have been hearing about the new assessments," Lane...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that New York State Police are offering inspection and help with child restraint seats at their barracks on Route 13 in Dryden tomorrow from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. State law will be changing March 27th: The new child restraint law states children younger than age 4 must ride in a federally approved restraint. Children younger than...
The Dryden Courier's editorial this week reverses a policy it had set after the last round of local elections, when it decided "to no longer print letters supporting local candidates." They've changed their minds because: Local elections hit closer to home than any state or national contest. While bureaucrats on Capitol Hill argue over policies that will never have an...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's Town Board meeting. They lead with the question of the purchase of land for the new Town Hall, writing that: In an unexpected move, the Dryden Town Board went into executive session at the end of its meeting Thursday night without taking action on the proposed purchase of land for a new...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's Town Board meeting. They lead with the question of the purchase of land for the new Town Hall, writing that: In an unexpected move, the Dryden Town Board went into executive session at the end of its meeting Thursday night without taking action on the proposed purchase of land for a new...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's public meeting to discuss the possible annexation of an area north of Dryden to the Village. Dryden Mutual Insurance has applied to be annexed to the Village, and there are large questions about sewer and water service in the area. Annexing parcel by parcel is a slow process that costs a lot...
This morning's Journal reports that Mao-Sheng Lin was convicted of kidnapping in a robbery of the Song Tao restaurant in November 2003. Lin had disappeared after posting $200,000 in bail and was returned from Texas in November 2004. Two other suspects pleaded guilty earlier. An article on students raising money for tsunami aid includes a list of student projects at...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Village of Dryden will have a contested race for Village Trustee on March 15th. Jerry Carbo will be running as a Democrat against incumbent Republicans Robert Witty and Mark Strom. Carbo, 32, makes a comment that comes close to the heart of why I started Living in Dryden: "I've been somewhat discouraged to...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that negotiations with ELM Acquisition Corporation for land for a new town hall have been delayed because of a "small glitch." The negotiations are still proceeding: Steve Trumbull, the town supervisor, said the town board should be able to vote on the revised deal at its meeting Feb. 10. In the meantime, Trumbull said he...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that negotiations with ELM Acquisition Corporation for land for a new town hall have been delayed because of a "small glitch." The negotiations are still proceeding: Steve Trumbull, the town supervisor, said the town board should be able to vote on the revised deal at its meeting Feb. 10. In the meantime, Trumbull said he...
I've been painfully slack in getting the Dryden Courier over the last few weeks. I bought last week's on the Tuesday night before it disappeared, misplaced it, and just got to the current issue tonight. There's still one more day to buy this one! This week's issue takes a look at the prospects for parts of the Town of Dryden...
As Village of Dryden elections are coming up in March, I've been looking at voter registration data again. Here's my current snapshot of the Village of Dryden registrations: PartyNumber Registered Blank203 Conservative15 Democratic386 Green11 Independence36 Liberal6 Republican504 Right-to-Life5 Working Families3 "Blank" voters in New York are typically called "Independent" voters in other states, and the Independence party is an organization...
There's not a lot of Dryden-specific news in today's Journal, though there's plenty of news that affects us. We'll be sharing in the weekend forecast of snow and cold, and the current winter storm warning claims: SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS CENTRAL NEW YORK AND NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE SNOW WILL FALL HEAVILY AT TIMES LATER...
Most of the Dryden-specific activity in today's Ithaca Journal is on the opinion page, so I'll start there for the first time in a while. Henry Kramer of Dryden writes to argue that New York (population 19.2 million) follow Connecticut's (population 3.4 million) lead and abolish counties, suggesting that: "For municipalities, cooperative arrangements and use of consortia could be used...
This week's issue of The Shopper includes notices from both the Dryden Democratic Committee and the Dryden Republican Committee that they will be holding caucuses on Tuesday, January 25th to select candidates for Village of Dryden Mayor and Village of Dryden Trustees. All terms are for two years this time. Republicans will be meeting at 7:30pm at the Dryden Village...
In this morning's Journal, Cathy Wakeman's Town Talk column visits a local business that grows coral, Reef Encounters. As Wakeman notes, their photo section is especially stunning, especially on a cold January day. Wakeman also mentions a a 4-H spaghetti dinner, which will be held Friday, January 21st from 4:30pm to 7:30pm at the Neptune Hose Company. (map) The Journal...
It's a quiet day for Dryden news, but the Journal has a few stories that affect parts of Dryden. The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) reports having raised $94,917 to support programs in the Ithaca City School District. You can see more about them at the IPEI web site. (The Dryden distirct has a similar organization, the Dryden Youth Opportunity...
As I mentioned yesterday, one of the major issues at Thursday night's Town Board meeting was the purchase of land for the town hall, and the interest expressed by a number of board members in including recreation land in that purchase. I don't oppose the purchase of the land, and think it may well turn out to be a good...
This morning's Journal follows up yesterday's articles on reasons to buy land for a new Town Hall with a report that the Town Board voted last night to approve it. I'll have more detail on the conversation about this issue over the weekend (I talked too much!), but at least some of the conversation about possible recreation uses took place...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the space shortage in Dryden Town Hall and a possible land purchase to build a new one which will be discussed at tonight's 7:00pm board meeting. They have a nice collection of pictures illustrating the problem, which is hard to miss if you visit Town Hall. The question of recreation land as part of...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has a photo of Varna and Dryden firefighters putting out a fire at a workshop on Ringwood Road yesterday. Briefly in Tompkins mentions the Dryden Senior Citizens' meeting and lunch at the Dryden Fire Hall this coming Monday, January 10th, at 11:30am, as well as a firewood lottery at the DEC. There's an article on how...
Today's Ithaca Journal provides more information on the Etna fire coverage agreement that was discussed at Tuesday's Town Board meeting. The article looks at the agreement between the four Dryden fire departments as well as the new Mobile Response Vehicle that Dryden Ambulance is keeping on the west side of town on weekdays. An article on yesterday's snow day talks...
Last night's town board organizational meeting was a lot like last year's, passing a huge number of routine resolutions, but there were some interesting bits, notably around investments, appointments, the abstract of bills, tax collection, and fire coverage in the Etna area. The audience for the meeting was pretty small - seven Lansing High School students there for an assignment...
In this morning's Ithaca Journal, Cathy Wakeman looks at the opening of the Integrative Montessori Nursery School, which will be having an open house Friday through Sunday: The public is invited to visit and learn about this new classroom at 4 Thresher Place, off of Spring Run Road in the Yellow Barn area of Freeville. A multi-day open house will...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES has named Ellen O'Donnell as its new superintendent. O'Donnell is currently the superintendent of the Chenango Forks Central School District. An article on Tioga County notes that renewing your car registration by mail gives the state fees that would normally go to the county, so I'll be driving down to Ithaca in...
The year seems to be going out quietly for Dryden. Today's Journal does mention Dryden a few times, though. Mike Hall of the Dryden Fire Department received the Ithaca Rescue Steamer and Chemical Co. No. 2's Chuckie Fletcher Award, "given to a person who exhibits the dedication that marked the life of Fletcher." At the county level, there's an article...
In this morning's Ithaca Journal, Dryden County Legislator Mike Lane argues for lower pay raises than those supported in a competing plan: "Legislators work hard," Lane said. "You can't expect them to work for nothing. On the other hand, we have to come to a level at what a part-time legislator in Tompkins County has to be compensated at. At...
I had a few questions after Friday's Ithaca Journal article on fire company news, which says: Stelick and Michaels have long served as town liaisons to the emergency service providers and have found themselves wishing they had permanent, experienced staff to help them. "They're in over their heads," Ron Flynn, chief of the Neptune Hose Company, said. "I commend the...
It's a quiet day for Dryden in the Ithaca Journal. There's an odd short recap of Tuesday's county budget vote that seems to repeat yesterday's article on the budget. I did talk with County Legislator Michael Lane yesterday, and he supported the jail and voted against the budget. The Journal's editorial looks at the challenge given to local school districts...
Cathy Wakeman's describes last Friday's Victorian Winter Festival and provides a list of holiday events yet to come in today's Ithaca Journal. There's also a profile of Freeville physical therapist Richard Weiner, looking at a class he taught in Ithaca on the Feldenkrais Method. The Ithaca City School District continues to discuss redistricting, though no plans have yet been drawn....
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the quick thinking of an off-duty sheriff's deputy that led to the arrest of a Dryden teen for the theft of $53 from the Santa Claus photo booth at Pyramid Mall. The County Legislature will be voting tonight on whether to build a new $20 million jail after last month's failure to pass a...
The Monitor reports on two cocaine busts in Dryden, one tied to an arrest earlier this week, and one marijuana arrest. The Journal has an article on the fatal fire in Slaterville this past week, exploring safety measures needed to keep wood stoves safe. It notes that 5.6% of Dryden residents have woodstoves, fewer than many towns in the county...
I've written a piece on why I think the Democratic Party should take reform as a core issue, including the need to reform places where we have control. The article isn't specific to Dryden, so I've posted it on my personal site, but it definitely informs the writing I'm doing here....
Wednesdays are usually pretty busy days for Dryden in the Ithaca Journal because of the Our Towns section, but this week's news there is mostly of Groton and Caroline. There is a piece on trains in Caroline, including some discussion of the Besemer station, right near the Dryden-Caroline boundary. There is a Briefly in Dryden section, which lists continued openings...
The Town Board meeting last night lasted about an hour, most of it in executive session. At the end, they passed this resolution: Resolution to Approve Memorandum of Understanding with Teamsters Local 317 Whereas, the Town of Dryden has bargained in good faith with Teamsters Local 317 and reached an understanding to amend the current agreement, which amendment provides for...
It's been over three months since I last posted a piece of George Goodrich's The Centennial History of the Town of Dryden, 1797-1897. There's been plenty of Dryden news to keep the days busy, and the chapters I haven't yet done are, naturally, the longest and most complicated ones. I plan to improve on my recent record. In this chapter,...
While I'm grateful that there haven't been many accidents inside Dryden lately, there seem to be more and more nearby. Yesterday, Dryden rescue workers were among those responding to tractor-trailer crash on Route 13 in Cortland that left one of the victims' vehicles buried under tons of salt. At the county level, the jail project remains a possibility after Tuesday's...
Today's Ithaca Journal has lots of news about McLean, a hamlet that crosses the Groton/Dryden town line. McLean residents are working on new activities for youth, preferably run by teens themselves. There's also an article on Turtle Dreams, a bed and breakfast that's working on creating Turtle Village, which will do agritourism. Briefly in Dryden lists a Women's Business Showcase...
I've been meaning to post the Town Budget for most of this week, but have had problems scanning and converting it. Here, finally, if you're interested, is the Town of Dryden budget for 2005. Cover page - clearer (80KB PDF) or selectable (109KB PDF) General (Townwide and Outside) - clearer (706KB PDF) or selectable (780KB PDF) Highway (Townwide and Outside)...
Today's Ithaca Journal includes an article by John Marcham on the history of the Lehigh Valley's Auburn Division, giving a brief overview of many lines, including the ones that crisscrossed Dryden. The History Center of Tompkins County has just published a book on the subject, with lots of pictures. There's an article on the county budget, which will likely be...
Democrats and sympathetic independents met last night at the Dryden Town Hall to discuss the 2004 election, looking over how well we'd done locally while contemplating the growing divide among Americans and talking about how to communicate with people on the other side of that divide. Democrats and independents listen while County Legislator Martha Robertson talks about small-group conclusions. I...
The Dryden Democrats will be hosting a gathering this Wednesday night, November 10th, at 7:30pm at the Dryden Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, Dryden (map). Democrats and independents are welcome. We'll be taking a look at what worked for Democrats locally and what we can do to build on that, as well as considering the national situation....
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the county will be distributing flu shots at the National Guard Armory on Hanshaw Road (map). The county will be screening people to make sure they live in Tompkins County, for medical reasons not to get the vaccine, and to ensure that they are members of one of the Centers for Disease Control's priority...
Yesterday was a fairly quiet day in Dryden. The county legislature approved requiring apprenticeship programs of its contractors by a 9-5 vote. County Legislator Michael Lane is quoted at the end of the article supporting the measure, though they don't give a vote listing. On Veterans Day, November 11th at 11:00 am, there will be a number of ceremonies honoring...
Much of the Journal's coverage today is about yesterday's elections. They lead their local coverage with a piece on the defeat of the OTB referendum, which quotes Bruce Drowne of Dryden as supporting the measure. There's also an article on Sherwood Boehlert's re-election to Congress. The print edition includes results for Tompkins County, though you can find those (and more...
73% of registered voters turned out across Dryden yesterday, with 10 of 11 polls reporting 69% or greater turnout. In Dryden, John Kerry won 3398-2597, while congressional challenger Jeff Miller defeated incumbent Sherwood Boehlert 2556-2444. Neither of those results seem to have held up for the rest of the country or the congressional district, unfortunately. Town Justice Joseph Valentinelli won...
While Town Hall is occupied with voting machines right now, on Thursday night it will be the scene of a budget hearing. [Update: No, it won't be. The budget hearing has moved to the Village Hall (map).] With all the election work I've been doing, I haven't managed to cover last Monday's budget workshop (the four hours of it I...
From the Board of Elections listing, polling places for each of the districts are: Etna Fire Station - 26 Wood Road, Etna (map). Freeville Fire Station - 21 Union Street, Freeville (map). Dryden Fire Station - 26 North Street, Dryden (map). Varna Community Center - 943 Dryden Road, Varna (map). Etna Fire Station - 26 Wood Road, Etna (map). Dryden...
There's not much Dryden news in today's Journal, but there's a fair amount that applies to Dryden in some way. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) is starting up again for the winter, and the Tompkins County Office for the Aging is taking applications from those over 60 or on SSI or SSD. The Journal reports that the Tompkins County...
Democrats have gained 239 voter registrations in the Town of Dryden since May, while Republicans have gained 99, giving Democrats a 138-vote lead in registrations. Voters with no party registration (Blank) have also increased 165. PartyNumber (May)Number (Oct)Change Blank (Independent)17201885+165 Conservative7181+10 Democratic28033042+239 Green110130+20 Independence251280+29 Liberal6974+5 Republican28052904+99 Right-to-Life2120-1 Working Families2026+6 There are now 8444 voters registered in the town, up from...
Today's Ithaca Journal looks at the proposition to allow Off-Track Betting in Tompkins County that is on next Tuesday's ballot. They've had two opinion pieces on the subject in the last few weeks. This is the one part of next week's ballot for which I haven't yet made up my mind. Briefly in Tompkins contains a number of Dryden-related items:...
Ithaca Journal reporter Jennie Daley provides details on a subject that wasn't addressed directly at last night's meeting: the budget, and a likely 7% tax levy increase. Highway equipment, recreation, and a decline in state and federal aid are all cited as factors. There will be a budget meeting Monday, October 25th, at 5:00pm at the Neptune Hose Company (map)...
As we get closer to the election, more and more of the news is political. The Journal today mentions Congressional candidate Jeff Miller's stop in Ithaca this coming Saturday, October 16th, at 2:00pm in the Mural Lounge in the Clinton House (map). I've also posted a flyer for the event (272K PDF) if you'd like more information. Miller will also...
County Legislator Martha Robertson is quoted in this morning's Ithaca Journal opposing a defeated motion to add $418,000 to the County Highway Department budget. The Journal notes that the "proposal failed by a 6-5 vote with four legislators absent," but doesn't list which legislators voted which way, or even which were present. The highway department budget already includes four new...
Several stories in this morning's Ithaca Journal touch on Dryden, so I'll start with a mention I didn't expect to see, given the article's setting up Cayuga Lake in Aurora. The Journal's contact among students protesting Wells College trustees decision to go co-ed is Railey Jane Savage, who graduated from Dryden High School last year. Nearly half the students are...
The minutes for both the September 9th and September 24th Town Board meetings are available. I missed the September 9th meeting, so it's good to catch up. Highlights include: A very quiet public hearing on increased costs for upgrading the Bolton Point water works, which were eventually approved. Neptune Fire Chief Ron Flynn introduced a new Director of Operations for...
In today's Dryden Town Talk, Cathy Wakeman reports that Adam Pamel's Eagle Scout project, raising money for school supplies for 33 children, was a success. Pamel set up collection boxes, held a car wash, and was noticed by Cayuga's Helping Hands and Cargill, which both made donations. The children each got a backpack as well as supplies. Wakeman also notes...
This morning's Journal looks at last night's Dryden School Board meeting. The Board appointed Amanda Kittelberger to the seat Tricia Edgecomb resigned, and worked on annual goals, the strategic planning committee, and the public relations committee. Following state mandates, they increased the number of credits required for graduation has increased from 20.5 to 22. There will be a reception for...
The Town Board met Friday at 8:30am. Because court was in session, the board met in the Zoning Officer's office. It was a little crowded, and the picture doesn't even show two more of us who were in there. Town Board meeting in a cramped space. It was a powerful reminder that the Town is working toward building a new...
Dryden news is mostly quiet today, but the county is poised to make a $19.96 million (or $2.13 million) decision tonight: what to do about the county jail. The more expensive option will expand the jail to 136 beds, while the cheaper option will repair the existing 72-bed jail. Community Briefs note that the county Environmental Management Council has an...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that questions about what constitutes an 'active member' are delaying the distribution of foreign fire insurance money. State law requires that the money, which comes from out-of-state insurance carriers covering property in Dryden, be distributed according to the number of active members in the companies, but doesn't define active. Etna reported 59 members last year...
I was away last week, so I'm covering two issues of the Dryden Courier in one article. Both issues focus on farming issues and the start of the school sports seasons. In the September 8th issue, Courier reporter Tony Hall looks at the difficulties caused by increasing costs on the Dryden elementary school renovations and the challenges of extending the...
It looks like the contract negotiations in the Dryden Central School District have finally reached a positive conclusion, as the school board voted unanimously to approve the contract that teachers approved September 2nd. Meanwhile, in the Ithaca District, negotiations with the service union reached an impasse. At the county level, District Attorney George Dentes relived last year's failed attempt to...
Today's Ithaca Journal reports that Sherwood Boehlert defeated David Walrath by 20,365 to 14,741. In Tompkins County, the vote was 919 for Boehlert to 613 for Walrath. In the general election, Boehlert will face Walrath, who has the Conservative line, and Jeffrey Miller, a Democrat. Closer to home, the Journal's "Our Towns" section seems to be shrinking. It's no longer...
It's a quiet holiday for Dryden news. There is an announcement for next Tuesday's Republican primary, where Congressional incumbent Sherwood Boehlert and challenger David Walrath will face off. On the opinion page, Fred Quinlan of Freeville writes of Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton that "I really had to chuckle at her comment about not sponsoring a certain bill. She said it would...
Dryden teachers finally have a contract, after working four of the last five years without one. The Dryden Faculty Association (DFA) approved a new contract yesterday, and teachers will start the school year with a contract in place. The Board of Education still has to approve the contract at its September 13th meeting. The Journal quotes DFA president Mary Ellen...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that 10 to 15% increases in the cost of materials may force changes in plans for elementary school renovation. The Dryden Central School Board will have to look at a list of options and choose priorities. In the Our Towns section, Jennie Daley reports on the double festival weekend coming September 11th, with both the...
After all the excitement earlier this year over a county executive proposal, I figured someone might show up at a public forum to speak in support of the idea. Similarly, given the questions of the cost of the state's expectations for jail expansion, someone might come who actually wants a larger jail. It was not to be. County Legislator Mike...
Yesterday's heavy rains are a big story in the Ithaca Journal today, with a piece on a rollover on Hanshaw Road caused by flooding, an article on flooding in Groton and throughout the county, and an article that looks at the rain's impact across the state. The Tompkins County Legislature will be holding a public forum tonight at 7pm to...
It doesn't sound like anything happened in Dryden yesterday, but the Journal reports on another option for the Rec Partnership: forming a non-profit. There's no mention of Dryden's position on this option, but the Caroline, Newfield, and Ulysses town boards have voted in favor of it....
The most Dryden-specific news in this morning's Ithaca Journal is a notice calling for volunteers to help Project CARE, a volunteer program of the Tompkins County Office for the Aging. There are two opportunities to help people in Freeville and one near NYSEG. At the county level, the Journal has an article on the many capital projects competing for space...
The August Town Board meeting was relatively brief and not very dramatic. Only three board members (Trumbull, Stelick, and Hattery) were there. It included: Nancy Zahler and Liz Vance presented on the Tompkins County Recreation Partnership, discussing Dryden's participation, the distribution of participants within Dryden, and some options for changing the Partnership structure. Households participating in Recreation Partnership programming. John...
There aren't any headlines that mention Dryden in today's Ithaca Journal, but there's lots of news relating to Dryden. There's an article on state aid to local schools that cites Dryden Central School Board President Rachel Dickinson: "Dryden's tax rate was planned to jump 74 cents to $22.56 for 2004-05, but Dickinson said the levy cut will reduce that increase...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the New York State Legislature has finally passed an education bill, so schools will know their aid levels before they send out tax bills. Dryden will be getting $12.85 million this coming year as opposed to $12.22 million last year, and Ithaca will be getting $19.71 million as opposed to $18.48 million last year....
This morning's Ithaca Journal doesn't have a lot of news specifically about Dryden, but there's a fair amount that applies to Dryden. County Legislator Mike Lane is quoted asking "How do you weigh the employee health risks vs. the economic loss of any applicants?" in an article on the Ithaca Bowl-O-Drome's request for a smoking waiver. There are also two...
The "politics" category had accumulated enough stories that it was getting hard to see from the archives quite what was going on here. I've now split it into three categories. There's now a politics (local) category that focuses on town, village, and county politics. There's a politics (state) category that focuses on New York State politics. Finally, there's a politics...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has an article on the volunteers keeping the Lakeview Golf Course going. Town Supervisor Steve Trumbull appreciates their efforts: "Those members who are donating time, fully free, mowing the course, mowing the greens, donating money for gas -- those guys are unsung heroes." Trumbull notes that the town's preference is for a private buyer to purchase...
At last night's Town Board meeting, the board heard five different public hearings, as well as two points of citizen's privilege. (The Recreation Partnership discussion was apparently postponed.) The first hearing was on an application by Andrew and Elaine Morenus for a special permit to operate a home appliance and furniture rental business, Home Necessities, at 234 Johnson Road (map)....
Wednesdays are often busy Dryden days in the Ithaca Journal, but today's issue is overflowing. Doug Premo, Dryden Intermediate School Principal for grades three through five, is leaving for a job in Ballston Spa after fifteen months in Dryden. He'll be departing July 30th, and the board is looking for an interim principal and a replacement. In happier news, the...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the sudden death of Rere Hassett, a professor at TC3 and head of the Public Assistance Comprehensive Employment (PACE) program there. They also report that senior coupon booklets for the Farmers' Market will be available at the Dryden Food Pantry, at the Dryden Presbyterian Church (map), from 11am to noon on Friday the 23rd....
This week's Dryden Courier looks at the protracted saga of the Crown Castle Atlantic cell phone tower that the Town Board approved last week. They also visit the Dryden Historical Society, looking through the collections and talking about the programs. Inside, they examine grants made by the Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund and a challenge faced by Dryden High School students...
Meeting at Etna's Houtz Hall on Tuesday night, a Democratic caucus unanimously selected Joseph Valentinelli, the incumbent Town Justice, to run again as their candidate this November. County Legislator Mike Lane spoke glowingly about Judge Valentinelli's fairness and passion for the job. Valentinelli taught at Dryden Central School for 37 years and is completing his second term as Town Justice....
The Ithaca Journal has lots of news stories on Dryden today, though Dryden plays only a small part in many of them. On the schools front, Tricia Edgecomb is resigning from the Dryden school board a year into her term. Dryden's 1979 High School Class Reunion will be July 17th at 4:30pm.There's also a piece on prospects for resolution of...
Today's Ithaca Journal has a strong focus on volunteer firefighting, with a piece on families volunteering and the difficulties of recruiting volunteers, the latter of which quotes Dryden Chief Ron Flynn about the sign in front of the Neptune station. Neptune Hose Company needs volunteers There's also a piece on options for the Tompkins County Jail that quotes County Legislator...
I'll be writing this up in more detail, but here are some quick highlights from last night's Town Board meeting: The board decided to appeal a FEMA decision to halt payment on $170,000 of grants for work on Virgil Creek. FEMA claims the scope of the project grew beyond the grant, while the town believes the changes that were made...
The Town of Dryden Democrats will be caucusing at Houtz Hall (map), 2 Lower Creek Road, Etna, at 7:30pm on July 13th to choose a candidate for Town Judge. The incumbent is a Democrat, Joseph Valentinelli. (Christopher Clauson, a Republican, is the other Town Judge, but is not up for election this year.) After the caucus we'll be having a...
It doesn't look like I'm going to have time to write up the rest of the June Town Board meeting the way I'd like to, and the town's minutes are already available, so I'm just going to talk a bit about the meeting beyond the infrastructure and recreation issues I've already covered. If you've been curious about the construction at...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Nathan Winograd, executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA, will be leaving at the end of the summer. Winograd has overseen the adoption of a no-kill policy and the construction of the Dorothy Park Pet Adoption Center, and will be returning to San Francisco. The Journal's editorial page returns to its winter obsession with...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Nathan Winograd, executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA, will be leaving at the end of the summer. Winograd has overseen the adoption of a no-kill policy and the construction of the Dorothy Park Pet Adoption Center, and will be returning to San Francisco. The Journal's editorial page returns to its winter obsession with...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the revised Dryden Central School District budget was approved by a 1287-860 vote, avoiding a contingency vote. The original budget failed on a 718-718 tie. On a related note, the Our Towns section focuses on high school graduations, with a lead article that talks to students, as well as a listing of the Class...
I finally got to look at the registration data I picked up from the Board of Elections in May. People have probably moved in and out of the district, adding new voters and taking others out, but this is where registrations in Dryden stood in May. partynumber Blank (Independent)1720 Conservative71 Democratic2803 Green110 Independence251 Liberal69 Republican2805 Right-to-Life21 Working Families20 I'd heard...
I happily pick up any free newspaper I find in the bins at the supermarket, and I found a new one today: The June Issue. It's published by Ithaca High School students, apparently because the last issue of their regular paper, The Tattler, was cancelled. I wasn't particularly looking for Dryden news in it, but they had an interview with...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports from last night's Town Board meeting that the board settled on the location of the existing town hall (map) as the best of their options for building a new Town Hall. The combination of its having water and sewer, already being owned by the town, being familiar, and not needing to take more property off...
The Town Board is meeting tonight at 7pm at the Dryden Town Hall (map). The agenda is available. Highlights include two public hearings affecting the Route 13/366 overlap area, discussion of a new town hall, a report from Town Attorney Mahlon Perkins on actions in a dispute over an enjoining action because of a faulty septic system, "tax exemptions for...
Today's Ithaca Journal takes a close look at the numbers in the revised Dryden school budget, which will increase the tax rate from $21.92/$1000 to $22.56, a 3.39% rate increase. The tax levy increases 10.69%, though spending increases only 7.11%. There's also a story on delay in state approval for borrowing Empire Zone acreage from Schuyler County, including some discussion...
Yesterday's Ithaca Journal has an article on Dryden Superintendent Patricia Archambault's upcoming retirement, looking over her last five years in Dryden as well as a career that went from South Seneca to Newfield through BOCES and around the state to Dryden. The Dryden Elementary PTA will be hosting a farewell reception for her on Wednesday, June 16th, from 7pm-8:30pm at...
This week's Dryden Courier features an article on prospects for a new Town Hall, a project that's been in the works for a while but which was deferred to executive session at the May Town Board meeting. It seems there's a problem: the recent annexation of a parcel to the Village has increased the price of land in that parcel...
Today's Ithaca Journal has a brief article on the Dryden school district offices' move to the High School/Middle School, as well as a report on a state BOCES championship in which two Dryden High School students, Daniel Carpenter and Bert Barned, won awards. On the opinion page, there's a duplicate of a letter that was published Saturday supporting Sherwood Boehlert...
The Ithaca Times reports that County Legislator Martha Robertson is working on creating a prescription discount card program for Tompkins County, "aimed mostly at county residents with no health insurance or no prescription drug insurance program options." For $15 or $26 per year, card users would be able to get discounts at pharmacies, through a mail order system, or possibly...
Dryden news is quiet today in the Ithaca Journal, but the opinion page has some sparks which affect at least part of Dryden. In today's letters from readers, Tompkins County Republican Committee Chairman Mark Finkelstein complains of criticism for his "decision to write a personal letter to local Republicans encouraging them to vote for a certain candidate for ICSD school...
County Legislator Mike Lane put forward a resolution to shift assessment from every year to every three years, citing rapid increases in the last few years, but the meeting of the Government Operations Council wouldn't move on it. (I stopped by Dryden Town Hall yesterday, and the parking lot was pretty full, apparently because of assessment reviews going on. Deputy...
This week's Dryden Courier takes a long look at Lakeview Golf Course, the course the Town of Dryden has been considering buying. While it opens with the prospect of the town buying the course, it spends most of its time talking about the course itself, the problematic nine extra holes added two years ago, and the volunteers keeping the course...
I haven't been reading legal notices as consistently as I should be, but this one from Ulysses today caught my eye: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses will hold a Special Town Board Meeting May 22, 2004 at 8:00 AM for the purpose of interviewing of the applicants interested in the Planning Board. While...
County Legislator Mike Lane is quoted in today's Ithaca Journal on the state's Empire Zone program, which has left Tompkins County as one of 11 counties without one. Lane says that "it would be different if only really economically depressed areas were targeted for zones." He also notes that the county's Industrial Development Agency is conservative about handing out tax...
Now that I'm attending Town Board meetings, I'm less frantic about the minutes, but it's still good to see them, as they have a lot of detail (especially about resolutions) that isn't easily captured. For instance, in the April minutes, Resolution #71 says that: "this Town Board does hereby authorize the Town Supervisor, subject to review and approval by the...
The Ithaca Journal's Jennie Daley reports on Thursday night's golf course discussion as well as a new Town Hall, a subject that was on the agenda but only discussed in executive session. It sounds from the article like the decision whether to pursue the golf course and for how much (it's going up for auction) will be made in executive...
On WHCU this morning, Tom Hatfield, chairman of the Town of Dryden Republican Committee, announced that the Dryden Republicans are having a golf outing and dinner on June 4th to honor Thomas Todd, a former Dryden town supervisor and current Lansing county legislator. Dinner only is $25, while a golf/dinner combination is $300 for four people. Hatfield said there weren't...
While I've been working on a piece that explains the relationships between state, county, town, and village governments, I've also been spending a lot more time in the Village of Dryden. (I'm regularly there while collecting materials for this site.) I have to admit that I've developed a certain amount of jealousy for things the Villages of Dryden and Freeville...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that assessments are going to be up around 11% county-wide, and "the largest assessment increases occurred in Enfield (21 percent), Ulysses (14.83 percent), and Newfield (13.47 percent)." The City and Town of Ithaca were both slightly above the average, but they don't provide data for Dryden. They mention County Legislator Michael Lane's proposal to shift...
Today's Ithaca Journal, taking note of Earth Day, takes a look at green building practices in Tompkins County, including the Tompkins County SPCA expansion building under construction on Hanshaw Road. There's also a lot of coverage of the Ithaca City School District, with coverage of a press conference Superintendent Pastel held on continuing incidents of racial bias. They also cover...
Ron Space, the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3), gave a presentation to the Dryden Town Historical Association Monday night, shedding some light on how exactly the college came to be, and how it came to be in Dryden. County Legislator Mike Lane introduced Space, and suggested that that "this union of two...
I don't typically report from The Monitor, the Ithaca Journal's crime reporting. Lately it seems to have had some stranger entries, though. Today's Monitor reports on a Cortland man who was: driving east on Fall Creek Road in Freeville when police spotted him speeding at 2 a.m. New York State police followed him at 90 mph before stopping him on...
The April 8 Town Board meeting also included a number of conversations about activity at the county level, making town tax policy match county policy, and about environmental planning in conjunction with the county and the state. As noted in legal notices, the town had hearings on property tax exemptions for senior citizens and people whose incomes are limited by...
This morning's Ithaca Journal is quiet on Dryden news but has two letters from Freeville residents: Stephen Prentice thanks the Journal for their recent coverage of speeding and notes the dangers of speeding and tailgating. Shelley Forsythe writes to say she thinks that "if the religious right were to truly align themselves with a party according to Jesus' teachings, it...
After yesterday's relative torrent of Dryden news, today's Ithaca Journal is fairly quiet about Dryden. Three pieces definitely affect Dryden, though: The state Department of Environmental Conservation's Wildlife Management Unit 76, which includes Dryden south of Routes 13 and 366, is aiming for a 36% decrease in the deer population through increased hunting. Congressman Sherwood Behlert is getting an early...
The Town of Dryden Democratic Committee met tonight for the first time since January and elected a new Chair: Simon St.Laurent, me, the author of this weblog. I've updated the disclosures page to reflect this, but figured it was worth noting in a story. I don't expect it will change anything here. If you're interested in participating in local Democratic...
The Town Board spent some time in its April meeting discussing the organization of town government, as well as on hiring a grant-writing firm to focus on new projects. The board followed up on the presentation made at the February board meeting by Bernie Thoma of Thoma Development Consultants, examining a contract for grant-writing services. Councilman Marty Christofferson asked a...
A lot of Thursday night's Town Board meeting was spent on infrastructure issues, ranging from sewer issues to cell phone towers to roads. The meeting included two public hearings on sewer districts, one affecting the area north of the Village of Dryden and one affecting the Varna area. The Board changed the billing for the Cortland Road Sewer District so...
Today's Ithaca Journal has highlights of last night's Town Board meeting, including: rate changes (lower for most users) in the Cortland Road Sewer District discussion of a Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) rewarding volunteer firefighters approval of Nextel's upgrading equipment on a cell phone tower on Walker Road appointing a new bookkeeper, Dawn Bogdan. I'll be writing up the...
Today's Ithaca Journal reports on growing activity in the Democratic primary for the 24th Congressional District, which includes Dryden. Brian Goodell of Lansing is running against Jeff Miller of New Hartford, near Utica. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, who currently holds the seat, is himself facing a primary challenge from Dr. David Walrath. The Journal also examines a Cornell report on damage...
Today's Ithaca Journal editorial page continues a few Dryden-specific items: Betsy Darlington and the Finger Lakes Land Trust send a laurel to "Engineers without Frontiers" for building a footbridge in the Trust's Etna Preserve. Though cited as an Ithaca resident, Arthur Berkey of Ellis Hollow Road also sends a laurel to Cornell Fingerlakes Credit Union for funding scholarships. Ithaca Journal...
After last week's letter about the two Charlie Harts in Dryden, one of whom writes letters to the editor, the letter-writing Charlie Hart wrote in. He argues that what's on the Opinion Page should stay on the Opinion Page: If someone is upset enough to call me at home because of my opinions they will really be upset when they...
Today's golf course article does what I'd hoped the Journal would do in the Our Towns section - take a deeper look at an issue that's been building for some time. The article captures some of the division on the Town Board over the issue, and talks with the architectural firm the board hired to examine its prospects as a...
The Ithaca Journal's first installment of the "Our Towns" page on Dryden and Groton arrived today, on page 3B. Most of the section is available on the Journal's site. The lead article is Dryden surveys golf course purchase (which I'll discuss in a separate entry). In features that will be regulars on the page, there are a Dryden Town Talk...
Today's Ithaca Journal contains lots of notices for public hearings to be held at the Town Board's April 8 meeting. The full text of the notices follows, but a quick description of the hearings is: There are two hearings on property tax exemptions, one for people with disabilities that affect their incomes, and one for senior citizens. The Ithaca Journal...
New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton held a public forum last night at Dryden Town Hall, and the audience brought issues very different from the ones I've seen at the Town Board and Planning Board meetings in that same room. The audience was focused on jobs, pay, and making sure that people could enjoy their lives, whatever income they might...
The town has posted minutes for the joint meeting of the Dryden Town Board and the Village of Dryden Board of Trustees. Most of the minutes focus on the remarkable complexities of the Cortland Road Sewer District, north of the Village, and water service in the area, though later parts of the meeting reflect a separate Town Board meeting that...
Today's Ithaca Journal editorial praises Town Supervisor Steve Trumbull for improving relations with the fire companies and for the recent annexation of land to the Village for a DOT facility. There certainly does seem to be much less strife with the fire companies, though some of achieving that is reflected in this year's 31.8% tax levy increase and the things...
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton will be holding a public meeting on March 25th at the Dryden Town Hall (map) at 7pm. Lifton represents all of Tompkins County and the towns of Virgil and Cortlandville as well as the city of Cortland in Cortland County. She is a member of Assembly committees on agriculture, economic development and job creation, environmental conservation, higher...
Fire department issues came up repeatedly during the Town Board meeting on March 18, ranging from fire hydrant painting to contracts and audits. Fire hydrant maintentance came up during the engineering report, with questions about painting, flushing, and flow-testing. Much of this work may be done this summer. Bolton Point requires that their active hydrants be painted orange. (There is...
Today's Ithaca Journal reports on the 11% percent increase in the tax levy proposed in the Village of Dryden, driven by a 7% increase in total spending and reflected in a 4.5% tax rate increase. Health insurance, retirement, legal, and gasoline costs have increased substantially, as did the need for some salaries to rise to stay competitive. Freeville also reduced...
Another issue that came up at the Town Board meeting last Thursday was the question of health insurance for full-time elected officials: the Town Clerk and Highway Superintendent. The town pays the full cost of either single or family health insurance for appointed employees, but only the single cost for full-time elected officials. The elected officials can use the family...
The Journal reports that unofficially, 211 people voted in yesterday's Dryden village election and 21 voted in Freeville's uncontested races. In the Village of Dryden's only contested race, Republican Robert Witty defeated Democrat David Potter 132-76. In the uncontested races, Republican Daniel Wakeman received 121 votes, while Democrat Mary Ellen Bossack received 95. In the Village of Freeville, incoming mayor...
Today's Ithaca Journal has an extended article on schools looking forward to tomorrow's state test results, and opens with discussion of Dryden Intermediate School's fourth grade. There's also a piece on the Ithaca City School District's budget plan, which currently includes a tax levy increase of 5.82%, though a tax rate decrease of about 4%, reflecting increased assessmements. On the...
Elections will be held in the Villages of Dryden and Freeville today from noon to 9pm. In the Village of Dryden, voting will be on the second floor of the Village Hall (map). In the Village of Freeville, voting will be at the Village Hall (map). As noted earlier, Dryden's election is contested, while Freeville's is not....
[This Thursday's Town Board meeting had enough to it that I'm going to publish a series of articles on what happened, focusing on specific topics, rather than try to cover it in one huge piece.] The Town Board resolved the annexation issue this Thursday, voting 3-2 in favor of findings proposed by Mike Hattery that put annexation in a much...
There's an article examining the contested Village of Dryden race for a one-year term as trustee in today's Ithaca Journal, speaking with both Democrat David Potter and Republican Robert Witty. Witty, who was appointed to fill the seat when Michael Hattery left for the Town Board, cites his financial experience as CEO and president of CFCU Community Credit Union as...
Settling the division on the board over annexation of a parcel to the Village of Dryden, Supervisor Steve Trumbull voted for annexation. A lot happened at last night's Town Board meeting, and I'll be reporting it in detail over the next few days, but meeting highlights are available in today's Ithaca Journal....
Today's Ithaca Journal notes an April 1 deadline for Dryden Central School District residents seeking buses to non-public schools and a report from the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership, and examines what next year's Ithaca City School District budget would look like if held to a 5% tax levy increase. On the opinion page, Dr. William Klepack of Dryden Family Medicine (and...
The Ithaca Journal reports that today is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the Freeville or Dryden village elections, though ballots may still be picked up in person until March 15 from the Board of Elections. Also in today's Journal, in the Ithaca City School District, the Food Service Program is offering healthier lunches for children....
This morning's Ithaca Journal includes two articles looking at issues affecting towns throughout the county, though neither has much Dryden-specific detail. The first looks at how towns outside the City and Town of Ithaca plan not to accept marriage certificate applications from same-sex couples, while the other looks at tax exemptions for seniors. County Legislator Michael Lane has a letter...
I've been surprised by how little coverage village elections have had this year, though at least today's Ithaca Journal editorial mentions village elections. Even finding out who the candidates are has been a challenge, though yesterday's Shopper included a notice on Freeville elections. Thanks to County Legislator Michael Lane, I now have a complete list of who is running for...
Today's Ithaca Journal has a story on the new principal of Dryden Middle School, Roger Fedele, interviewing both Fedele and Dryden parents. There will be a welcoming reception for Fedele on March 8th, at 7pm in the Middle School cafeteria. In the Ithaca City School District, they're repairing lots and lots of school roofs with extra money that has become...
The Shopper has an Election Notice for the Village of Freeville today. All of the candidates are on the "Citizens Party" line (Freeville elections aren't along traditional party lines) and there appear to be no contests this year. The nominees are Lotte Carpenter for Mayor, Diana J. Radford and Penny Beebe for two-year Trustee terms, and Thomas A. Lyson for...
In today's Dryden Town Talk, Cathy Wakeman tells of Kody Kirkland, a fifth-grade student at Dryden Elementary who will be a "student ambassador to Australia and New Zealand" along with sixteen other kids from central New York and a dozen from Philadelphia. She also notes that registration for Kiwanis baseball and softball, for kids from kindgeraten through seventh grade who...
I didn't make it to this month's Town Board meeting, so I was especially interested to see the minutes which recently appeared. As a number of issues were discussed at different points in the meeting, the summary below attempts to cluster information by subject rather than time. Citizens question the town The meeting started with Robin Seeley's question about actions...
Somewhere around the time that the Town of Dryden updated their web site, the complete (approved) 2004 Town budget (1.8MB PDF) was posted. The preliminary 2004 budget is also available for comparison, though I think it's the much less detailed version that was earlier referred to as a "coversheet". The 2003 budget (2.4MB HTML) is also available. The Town's budget...
While the Town of Dryden Planning Board takes up revisions to the Draft Comprehensive Plan for hamlets tonight, the Ithaca Journal reports that the Village of Dryden will have a public hearing on maintaining their housing construction moratorium while discussing a call for proposals on their own Comprehensive Plan. The Village recently received a $15,000 state grant for planning, and...
The minutes for the January 27th meeting the Dryden Town Board had with the fire companies are now available. I covered this a few weeks ago, but the minutes have a much more detailed reporting of the flow of conversation....
The agenda for tomorrow night's Town Board meeting has been posted. A public hearing on the Time-Warner Cable franchise, an update on the Freese Road sewer pump, annexation issues, fire company audits, a Conservation Board, 2004 Old Home Days, and lots more will be discussed....
Today's Ithaca Journal legal notices section contains part of the agenda for Thursday's Town Board meeting: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, has scheduled a public hearing for the 12th day of February, 2004, at 7:30 P.M. at the Dryden Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, Dryden, New York, to...
Today's Ithaca Journal includes three letters and a dart from Dryden residents: In Darts and Laurels, David Connor sends CBS a dart for refusing to run ads from MoveOn and PETA during the Super Bowl; A letter from Kathy Zahler on the Everyday Math program, in response to an earlier guest column; A letter from Charlie Hart on smoking and...
If you want to vote in New York's March 2nd presidential primary, today is the last day to register....
Minutes for the January 15 Town Board meeting are now now available, including vague details of resolutions passed at the executive session. I can only find one 'no' vote in the whole thing. It's a very different style from my coverage, but it's certainly more detailed. If you want more detail on the Section 284 Highway Funds agreement, it's available...
Today's Ithaca Journal editorial lauds the incoming town board for meeting with volunteer fire companies this week. They note that: Often, friction between some board members, the town supervisor, several firefighters and chiefs often hampered progress on the more substantive issues of audits, budgets, equipment and services provided. While there clearly was friction in the past, it wan't clear at...
Last night's special Town Board meeting on fire department issues was more like an informal get-together than a formal meeting. Instead of the usual board at a front table facing an audience, there was a circle of tables, with the board mostly in one corner and everyone else spread around. Apart from the Board and the Town Clerk, there were...
The recently posted minutes of the Town of Dryden 2004 organizational meeting were much like those of prior years, but there's a lot in those minutes that can be compared across years. The positions the town appoints and their salaries fluctuate from year to year, as the table below shows: 200220032004% increase2002-3% increase2003-4 Supervisor$12,000.00$12,000.00$12,240.000.0%2.0% Council (4)$5,000.00$5,000.00$5,100.000.0%2.0% Highway superintendent$46,000.00$49,993.00$50,993.008.680%2.0% Deputy highway...
The Dryden Democrats gathered yesterday at the Varna Community Center to thank former Town Supervisor Mark Varvayanis, former Town Board member Deb Grantham, and Town Board candidate Jim Skaley for their service and for running in last fall's election, as well as to thank contributors and volunteers. Mark Varvayanis and Jim Skaley listen to Kathy Zahler read a letter from...
The Town of Dryden Public Notices page (local copy) announces a meeting for Tuesday, January 27, at the Dryden Fire Hall (map), noting: The purpose of this meeting is to discuss ways to improve communications between the Town of Dryden and the Fire Departments that serve its residents, together with such other business as the board may deem necessary. There...
On January 20, I sat down with Duane Testut, the Varna Volunteer Fire Company's treasurer, to talk about how our fire protection taxes are being spent. He'd seen my earlier post about the fire tax levy climbing 31.8% this year, after years of changes from 2-5%, and wanted to explain where the money was going, emphasisizing that this was a...
I think I may have to start a new category just on the county executive issue, or maybe just on the Ithaca Journal's coverage of it, as they can't seem to stop writing about it. Tompkins County Republican Chairman Mark Finkelstein had a brilliant idea when he announced the idea with a press conference rather than through the County Legislature,...
The minutes for the January 5, 2004 Town Board organizational meeting are now available. It's largely similar to last year's similar meeting, with a different cast of characters, slightly higher salaries, and different kinds of questions. There's one bit at the end regarding fire contracts and communications between the town and the fire companies that seems worth pulling out: The...
This week's Shopper contains Notices of Caucuses for Village of Dryden Democrats and Republicans, as both parties will be meeting to select candidates for the two 2-year and one 1-year positions for village trustees. The actual election will be in March. Both caucuses will be held January 27 at the Dryden Village Hall (map). The Republican Party caucus is at...
I ran out of time yesterday to cover most of the local reactions to Governor Pataki's budget. (I had to drive to Albany and back.) The state budget at this point seems to be the largest determining factor for local taxes - mostly county, though the county's troubles may affect the towns as well. The Ithaca Journal had a piece...
I stopped by Dryden Town Hall this morning - they're open Saturdays in January - and asked Dryden Town Clerk Bambi Hollenbeck for a copy of the highway funds spending resolution that was probably the most controversial aspect of Thursday's meeting. I took it home and scanned it. The optical character recognition (OCR) program that came with my scanner just...
After nearly a day, the Town Board meeting last night seems to have had four main Dryden-related themes: More interest in efficiency than public input Sewer pump with problems Storm water a growing issue Recreation and trails as important services The first one, of course, is the most troubling, though hopefully things will improve as the board settles in. On...
Stapled to the agenda at tonight's meeting was this memorable prose: The Town Board will conduct the people's business as the law stipulates at the table. Public comment period will vary depending upon how many citizens wish to address the Board. A maximum of one-half hour is allotted at the beginning of the regular board meeting. Everyone who signs in...
One of Dryden's County Legislators, Mike Lane, has a guest editorial in the Ithaca Journal that examines the many ways that county governments in New York can operate, and some of the history of Tompkins County government, especially as it relates to the proposal for a county executive. Lane notes that Tompkins County runs under a charter established in the...
Yesterday's postings made me take a closer look at the information about the town available on the web and how long it lasts. First, Town Clerk Bambi Hollenbeck's saying that the Town was getting a new web site soon led me to look again at what was there now and wonder a bit more about the older minutes I remembered...
The Elmira Star-Gazette has an article on a press conference in Elmira yesterday including leaders of Tompkins, Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler, Broome, Tioga, and "several other" counties. The press conference comes in advance of Governor Pataki's "State of the State" speech, and asked for some specific fixes: Long-term relief will have to come in a multiyear plan that could include prescribing...
Tim Joseph was re-elected chairman of the Tompkins County Legislature last night by an 11-3 vote. Among the Dryden representatives, Democrat Martha Robertson and Republican George Totman voted for him, while Democrat Michael Lane voted against him. While Lane noted that "I have a different feeling on the direction of the Legislature," Joseph still nominated him to be vice-chairman....
Well, I'd been planning to go to the Dryden Town Board's organizational meeting, but they never got around to announcing when it was on their web page (local copy), and it was at an unusual time. So I guess I get to hear about it from the Ithaca Journal - they did, at least, apparently let the paper know that...
If you have lots of interest in local politics or a case of insomnia, there are at least two sets of legislative minutes available pertaining to Dryden. The first is the Town of Dryden's own Minutes page, with 2001-2003 minutes from the Town Board and older minutes from the Zoning Board, Planning Board, and Conservation Advisory Council. The second set...
I picked up my 2004 tax bill at the Town Hall today so I could sort out some questions I have about my mortgage escrow. The staff was pleasant, found my easily-misfiled name quickly enough, and gave me a copy of the bill. I knew the bill would be higher, as my house's assessment increased by about 23%, county tax...
The minutes for Dryden Town Board meetings of December 3, December 10, and December 18 are now available on line. I'd worried earlier this week that there might not be new minutes, but we seem to have a complete set for 2003. Hopefully this will continue into 2004 and beyond. The December 3 meeting was brief, largely a public hearing...
It seems to have been a quiet weekend in Dryden, or at least there's nothing in the paper. That seems best for a holiday weekend. The Journal's lead editorial, on openness in the City of Ithaca government, though, reminds me of some controversies here from four years ago, just as I was moving into the town. The way I remember...
Michael Lane, a Tompkins County Legislator from Dryden, has a letter in today's Ithaca Journal criticizing an earlier guest column by David Ferris on the budget process. The Journal's own editorial also looks at the budget process, through the lens of the County Executive proposal Republicans made a few weeks ago. Their conclusion on whether it's a good idea: "It's...
The County Department of Assessment maintains files of current municipal tax rates and current school tax rates. I wish they also included historical information so I could examine the rate of change, and numbers for the total levy (not just the rate) would be helpful too. Guess I'll have to go down there sometime and see what I can find...
The Journal also has an article today on the volunteer fire departments and the transition from the current board to the all-Republican board elected in November. A few pieces of it really struck me. The Etna Fire Department is still refusing an audit, and Republican councilman Steve Stelick confirmed outgoing Supervisor Varvayanis' comment that ""I don't believe there'll be a...
The Journal now has a more complete article on the County Executive proposal made by Republicans yesterday. It's hard for me to see the point, and citing Chemung County as an example of how a government should run doesn't impress me much. G. Thomas Tranter parlayed the executive position into close ties with Pataki and D'Amato (and eventually a job...
The Ithaca Journal tends to post the contents of their paper to their web site once a day, and I've not seen very many "news updates". It's a little surprising to see one posted this afternoon, reported without any contrasting quotes, on a topic that doesn't exactly need to be rushed to the presses. Tompkins County Republican Chairman Mark Finkelstein...
Tompkins County passed a budget last night. Legislators hunted for extra revenue, lowering the tax rate increate from 19.65% to 15.81% without changing spending. The property tax levy is increasing from $25 million to $31 million, 23.6%. (Assessment changes make up the difference, so I'll be paying 42% higher county taxes next year overall.) In Dryden, legislators Martha Robertson and...
The Ithaca Journal offers analysis of what might happen at tonight's county budget meeting, after the rejection of the proposed budget two weeks ago....
The Town website now hosts the 2003 Draft Comprehensive Plan. This is a fascinating document with lots of pieces, but I'll be a while digesting before I comment on it in depth. The draft (without maps) is 2.4MB long, so it'll take a little while even if you have a high-speed connection. If you're on dial-up, you'll need to be...
I've got a letter to the editor in the Ithaca Journal today on George Dentes' fight against such notoriously soft-hearted liberals as the Bush administration on the matter of drug courts. Yesterday, there were two letters for the courts and one against....
In today's Ithaca Journal, the lead editorial, "Dryden's Controversies" hopes that the new Republican supervisor and board members will "will enjoy success in bringing Dryden residents together and moving their town beyond the divisiveness that seemed to dominate politics this year." That's a nice sentiment, but the Journal seems determined to forget that there are real issues in Dryden. The...
The County Legislature voted 9-5 last night to reject the proposed budget. Of the Dryden legislators, Martha Robertson voted for it, while Mike Lane and George Totman voted against it. The future of the budget looks pretty complicated, so I urge you to read the whole Ithaca Journal article. In other county news, the Enfield Republican party seems to have...
I came back from the Varna pancake breakfast thinking there were a lot more Democrats in Dryden than it felt like on Wednesday after the election. Then the Dryden Republicans conveniently put up unofficial results, district by district, and the reasons for that were a lot clearer. I took the total votes for Supervisor and concocted my own simplified table....
Today's Ithaca Journal has a piece on taxes in Tompkins County, noting that assessments have gone up for many people as well as taxes. One comparison is especially interesting for Dryden: "In the villages selected for this article, a Village of Dryden property went up 9.3 percent while its tax bill increased 16.2 percent. The Trumansburg property's assessment increased 2.2...
Teachers in the Dryden Central School District rejected a contract offer. Earlier this week, the Dryden Town Board passed next year's budget. The Journal says that the town tax stayed at $1.47 per $1000 assessment, while the fire tax increased from $1.53 to $1.57. My tax bill for last year agrees with the town tax number, but cites a fire...
I spent a lot of the last few weeks' worth of evenings making phone calls for the Dryden Democratic Party. While we did carry the districts I called (phew), we lost the election pretty soundly, roughly 3 to 2. Dryden has long been a predominantly Republican place, but this was a major setback for the Democrats. We lost both the...