Savings vs. services trade-off may be worth it

Editorials

March 31, 2010

The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Wed Mar 31, 2010, 12:26 AM EDT

When it comes to government consolidation, a common belief has been that most people are for it, unless it involves their own municipality or school district. That’s why despite the talk, the amount of actual consolidating in New York state has been small. It’s just human nature to protect what you’re used to having, and to resist change.

But it’s also human nature to feel the weight of an ever-increasing tax burden, and to jump at the chance for some relief.

That’s likely a big reason behind the recent public vote that appeared to show majority support for the dissolution of the village of Seneca Falls, certainly a place steeped in history and a sense of community pride. Absentee ballots need to be tallied, but it appears that the margin in favor of having the village absorbed by the town of Seneca Falls is big enough to hold.

The vote is not the first recent example of the public getting behind a controversial consolidation effort. The merger vote of the town of Clay police department into the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office took place less than two years ago.

These two cases should send a signal to officials who have been dabbling with the idea of consolidation, but not gone much further with it beyond some studies. It should also wake up those officials who hold the firm belief that the public would never support consolidation involving their particular piece of turf.

Cayuga County is a small, mostly rural county with fewer than 80,000 residents. The reality is that its residents probably can be served just as effectively with a smaller number of towns and/or villages. Each layer of government is a layer of services, for sure, but it’s also a layer of taxes.

And it sure seems like the public is increasingly willing to give up some services in exchange for some savings.

— The Citizen of Auburn

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Editorials

‘Mailing it in’ is not good enough
The U.S. Postal Service has been mailing it in for years. It has stuck like an old postage stamp to a business model that was going nowhere fast, literally. Snail mail is still the USPS stock in trade, and it has increasingly earned its nickname. And for a poorly run operation, it certainly does cost a lot. USPS must offer competitive shipping options, guaranteed faster delivery times and overall service enhancements — or the death spiral of an American institution will continue.

March 2, 2012
OUR VIEW: Time for Mongielo to face the music
Town of Lockport auto repair shop owner David Mongielo has gone over the line in his violation of a town sign ordinance.

January 2, 2012
OUR VIEW: At dawn of New Year, a call for civility
Each new year brings with it an inherent hopefulness in our own lives and the larger world around us, this one in particular — if only because it isn’t 2011.

January 2, 2012
Have a safe New Year's Eve
This isn’t the Prohibition era, and we’re not into moralizing about alcohol consumption.
We have no beef about adults having a few drinks on New Year’s Eve, as long as no one else gets hurt in the process. Your choice — hangover, no hangover. Check yes or no.
But, with one very important proviso: Don’t drink and drive.
And we’re very much against hosts of a New Year’s Eve party sending their guests out to their cars when their guests have overindulged. Especially when there are safe options to avoid behavior that risks your life and that of others you may encounter on the road.

December 31, 2011
The bus stops here
The NFTA’s proposed cuts to local bus routes have the potential to really hurt the little guy, the rider who relies on the bus to get to work, to shop, to get to the doctor’s.
It just shouldn’t happen.

December 28, 2011
OUR VIEW: Lockport taxpayers lose again
We find it highly inappropriate that the City of Lockport — via its development corporation — is again punishing taxpayers for renovations to 57 Canal St.

April 26, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS
We applaud Lockport Town Court and Judge Leonard G. Tilney Jr. for recusing themselves from the driving-while-intoxicated case against local attorney Daniel E. Seaman due to conflict of interest.

April 26, 2011
OUR VIEW: Recharge N.Y. is a plus for us
We’re encouraged that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s visit to Niagara County this week brings a new and improved version of the Power For Jobs program to our area.

April 21, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS: The US&J’s view on the best and worst of the week
April 21, 2011
OUR VIEW: Cleanup is up the creek
New York state had an Eighteenmile Creek cleanup within its grasp — and now it’s trying to change horses in mid-stream. And that could leave the cleanup effort up the creek without a paddle.

April 21, 2011
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