Headline: Boating Safety at Risk in Ithaca
“For 50+ years, US Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 2-2 volunteers have provided basic boating safety education classes, vessel safety checks, safety information to marinas, and patrol on the federally-regulated inland waterway of Cayuga Lake from their iconic building and antenna, seasonal dock and USCG Auxiliary boat on Inlet Island. This boater safety mission is even more important as the City of Ithaca approves 5 story residential buildings up and down the West End waterfront and New York State requires boating safety certificates from motorized watercraft operators age 10 and up effective January 1, 2025.
Yet, this mission is at risk. Most recent plans for Inlet Island development show Flotilla 2-2’s home demolished for a waterfront promenade and entrance plaza for a 5 story hotel.
City of Ithaca’s “PlanIthaca” (2015) and Phase I “Waterfront Plan” (2019) call for the City to partner with USCG Auxiliary Flotilla 2-2 to provide boater safety. According to public records, “commitment…to address the US Coast Guard Auxiliary’s need to maintain its water access and continued operations” was one reason Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency recommended Common Council select the current developer.
The City of Ithaca, IURA, and the developer have the power to make this right. Now more than ever, USCG Auxiliary Flotilla 2-2 needs a home and dock from which to keep doing its work in the City of Ithaca for Cayuga Lake boaters.” — Vivian E. Rose
Headline: ICSD Budget Vote
“Due to public outcry, ICSD has reduced the tax levy from 12.14% to 8.42%. However, the reduced levy is still four times larger than the New York State cap of 2% on a tax levy increase. Lansing and Trumansburg school districts have reduced expenses due to declining enrollment and the expiration of covid funding. ICSD is experiencing the same effect, but ICSD would rather burden the taxpayer than making the hard decisions to reduce expenses further. Further reductions would require a staff reduction, and the board of education appears to be incapable of reining in the spendthrift habits of Superintendent Brown. It is time to vote NO on the ICSD budget approval.
The ballot will also contain a capital bond expenditure of $125 million dollars. A significant portion of this money will be used to electrify the bus fleet. Justification for this expenditure is that the state has mandated that school buses be converted to electric power by 2035. However, the board ignores the state cap on budget increases when it allows them to avoid making cuts. They should pay attention to TCAT’s experience with electric buses before they spend more money that will be wasted. TCAT purchased seven electric buses for a million dollars apiece. Recently, they decided to replace the electric buses with diesel buses due to reliability issues. Electric technology has not been proven to be reliable on heavy vehicles. It is time to vote NO on the capital expenditure initiative.
It is time to vote for Board of Education candidates that can hold Superintendent Brown accountable to the taxpayers.” — Jim Meehan
Headline: ICSD Taxes
“I hope taxpayers will not accept this very small tax levy concession. The tax rate and the tax levy need to be reduced even more in order for families to keep more of their own money to provide for their own needs.
Buying unreliable/unusable electric school busses now, that will be 10 years old by the time the NYS mandate arrives…2035 seems financially irresponsible. Even with rebates, an unusable electric bus is a waste of money. Maybe keep some money in reserves for this purpose, but wait for electric bus technology to improve before buying any.” — Sarah Padula
Headline: RE: Lake Street Townhome Project
“#1 We have known for decades that Gun Hill and Emerson Power have been dangerous. What changed? Are clean up efforts done? A company who wants to build there did their own testing and said it’s safe. That is a conflict of interest. Appoint 3 independent consultants to assess the area. #2 Ithaca is short on housing. We know that. Approving more housing makes sense. But consider the location and cost. Selling “at market rate” means this housing project will continue gentrifying Ithaca further. The only residents who will live here are college students.
This project does not help locals. #3 Walter Hang has been our own Erin Brokovich. However, unlike Hinkley, CA, those who will live here will be short term residents. If they get sick, it will be impossible to prove the site was the cause. #4 “Auden Ithaca” is the new name for the other Gun Hill Apartment complex across the street, also owned by DMG Investments of NYC, also a subsidiary of Do Think Group of Hangzhou. I am against corporate landlords from well outside our community controlling our housing supply.
If you visit “https://dmginvestments.com/portfolio/auden-ithaca/” (also archived on Wayback Machine) there is a paragraph stating how the “Auden Ithaca” is in “Albany, NY,” and just “one block away from SUNY Albany.” This company can’t even keep their website straight. They won’t serve our community. SUMMARY- Hire independent consultants to assess the site and keep landlords local.”
Headline: Thanks Joe Biden
“Thanks to Joe Biden, you have to marvel at America’s economic recovery.
Not long ago it was widely thought to be on the brink of recession. Instead, the economic recovery since the pandemic has been amazing.
The gross domestic product has grown so much that 2023 was one of the “boomiest” years on record.
And it continues to defy expectations. At the start of this year, economists had been forecasting annualized growth in the first quarter of 1%; that prediction has since doubled.
The labor market is in great health, too. The unemployment rate has been below 4% for 25 consecutive months, the longest such spell in over 50 years.
Thousands of new, well paying, manufacturing jobs, particularly in central and upstate NY, are returning to rural areas for the first time in several decades!
Inflation has already come down dramatically from 9 to 10% right after the recession to just above 3%, with more progress to come.
No wonder Uncle Sam is putting the rest of the world to shame. Since the end of 2019 the economy has grown by nearly 8% in real terms, more than twice as fast as the euro zone’s and ten times as quickly as Japan’s. Britain’s has barely grown at all.
The state of our economy is good. The recovery unbelievable. Thanks Joe.” — Sherwood Guernsey