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RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Village Election

Public Meets the Candidates in Tuesday Election

Fri, Jun 17, 2011

About 50 people attended the Hamilton Forum's program introducing the candidates in Tuesday's village election.

Public Meets the Candidates in Tuesday Election

Candidates who will appear on the ballot in Tuesday's village election stated their positions and gave responses to questions at tonight's Hamilton Forum program.

Larry Baker moderated the program, which included Margaret Miller, the only candidate for mayor, and trustee candidates:

  • Debbie Kliman;
  • Meredith Leland Getchonis;
  • Anne Clauss;
  • and Sam Cooper.

Each candidate gave brief opening and closing statements and in between was given the opportunity to answer questions submitted by the audience. The candidates were asked for their views on:

  • The specific strengths of the village;
  • Improving the village's economic climate;
  • Lowering the tax rate without cutting essential services;
  • Environmental issues;
  • and the five-way intersection.

On the strengths of the village:

  • Leland Getchonis: it's a unique little village with a great college; preserved our historic architecture; village green is the heart of the community; its churches and schools
  • Clauss: "We have done a hell of a job of holding onto our traditions."; work class university and an incredible hospital;
  • Cooper: the quality of the people of Hamilton; stable employment offered by Colgate and Community Memorial Hospital
  • Miller: the people who volunteer, who give of themselves to the fire department, the recreation commission, the pedestrian safety committee, the trails committee.
  • Kliman: it's a unique village with assets of Colgate, the library, hospital and good schools.

On improving the economic climate of the village:

  • Clauss: an opportunity to have more Colgate students live in the village itself, but not necessarily in the neighborhoods; said an Upstate Institute study showed students who live in the village spend more money there.
  • Cooper: encourage a culture that creates and supports small businesses; bring people from other communities to Hamiton to consider opening businesses here; ask residents to promote the village as a place to have a business.
  • Miller: create a roundtable of people with ideas on how to expand on what is already being done by the Partnership for Community Development; improve marketing of the village.
  • Kliman: hire a consultant to recruit businesses; create a committee of people to help promote the village; encourage people to buy local;
  • Leland Getchonis: is concerned that rents for business space in the village may be too expensive for some start-ups; cited Richard Florida's book, The Rise of the Creative Class saying artists, musicians and others could add to the economy if they could afford reasonably-priced spaces.

On lowering the tax rate without cutting essential services:

  • Cooper: expand the tax base, and believes the budget can be lowered;
  • Miller: said she doesn't believe the tax rate should be lowered, Hamilton has great services and that is one of the reasons people live here, wants the village to get its fair share of sales tax revenue from the county;
  • Kliman: doesn't propose raising or lowering tax rates; wants to expand the tax base with more businesses and moderately prices housing;
  • Leland Getchonis: believes people enjoy and are willing to pay for the services they receive; increase the tax base; solve the issue of the village not receiving its fair share of sales taxes;
  • Clauss: be aware of where every dollar comes from and where every dollar goes. 

On environmental issues:

  • Miller: pointed to her work on the committee that plants trees in the village;
  • Kliman: cited her work on the Chenango Canal Association and the village's multi-use trails and the Southern Madison heritage Trust;
  • Leland Getchonis: feels very strongly about environmental issues, practices "reduce, reuse and recycle" in her own life and urges others to do the same; 
  • Clauss: have best environmental practices for DPW vehicle and police cars, educate citizens about energy conservation; urge people to buy local;
  • Cooper: urge citizens to practice sound environmental principles at home, continue the sound environmental practices already undertaken by the village (i.e. using brine on streets in the winter instead of only salt); encourage folks to walk; be aware of the impact of new clean water regulations driven by the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay.

On the five-way intersection:

  • Kliman: not sure how big a problem it is; study it more; improve signage for municipal parking; consider better aligning Payne and Lebanon streets;
  • Leland Getchonis: easily solved by keeping left turn lanes clearly delineated;
  • Cooper: it would cost a lot to make the changes that had been suggested and "funding is just not there"; determine who is parking in spaces and suggested some store owners may be part of the problem;
  • Miller: said the state Department of Transportation supports continued study of the issue; it is more than just a traffic issue; is an economic issue as well;
  • Clauss passed on answering the question.

The polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday. All voting is in the community room of the Hamilton Public Library.

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Comments(1):

  1. Clarification to Economic Climate Response

    Friday, June 17, 2011 Anne

    I want to clarify my comments last night in response to the question asking for one specific idea for improving the local economy. My comments were not about the number of students living off campus, but rather where they live. Based on the Upstate Institute study, the closer a student lives to the downtown (Village Core), the greater their economic impact is on local businesses. Anne Clauss, Candidate for Village Trustee