| CITIZEN GROUP DELIVERS BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS Acting as the spokesperson for the Budget Community Advisory Panel (CAP), Andy Sciarabba, of the Sciarabba Walker accounting firm, presented the group's recommendations to the Legislature. The panel met nine times, reported Sciarabba, and raised hundreds of possible ideas which could improve the County's budget process. The final report represents a consensus of the group's deliberations, said Sciarabba, who highlighted five central messages the report conveys to the Legislature. 1.) "Adopt a budget which lives within the means available." 2.) Set priorities for decision-making. 3.) Pursue "a permanent shift in the emphasis to a target budget that funds only those items that meet predetermined criteria." 4.) Initiate long-range planning "to guide decisions beyond the current year's needs" and that "incorporates strategic planning, capital budgeting, revenue alternatives, and cost reductions." 5.) Apply the report's recommended "financial stability initiatives to prevent unusual tax increases, provide for contingencies, and moderate the cost of capital projects." Among these recommendations are stabilizing the cost of labor, reducoing administrative costs, and examining purchasing options. "Most importantly," added Sciarabba, "do everything you can to negate the local share impact of factors that are outside your control." Sciarabba stated that the panel is available to assist the County further and he also recommended the County seek assistance from the talents available in the community. CAP was formed in February 2004 by Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Chair of the Budget and Capital Committee. The panel consisted of ten community members with backgrounds in budgeting, finance, and administration in both the private and public sectors. In addition to Sciarabba, the members were Carolyn Ainslie, Mary Pat Dolan, Joanne Florino, John Galt, Carl Haynes, Jean McPheeters, John Neuman, Cathy Valentino, and Roger Wood. The report will be posted on the County website, www.tompkins-co.org. Contacts: Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Chair, Budget and Capital Committee, 257-2329; County Administrator Stephen Whicher, 274-5551; Andy Sciarabba, 272-5550. 911 DISPATCH CONSOLIDATION AGREEMENT IS APPROVED DESPITE STAFF PROTEST By unanimous vote, the Legislature approved a resolution in support of a memorandum of understanding with the City of Ithaca for consolidation of County and City dispatch staff at the new Emergency Response Center, due to open later this summer. The City has also approved the agreement. The agreement states the County will maintain a minimum staff of 19 dispatchers, including five solely dedicated to City of Ithaca police dispatching. To assure adequate 24-hour, seven-day-a-week coverage, a total of four dispatchers will be on duty at all times, with at least one dedicated to taking City police calls, according to the agreement. To partially pay for the transferred positions, the City will pay the County an annual fee of $147,000 for five years, a lump sum in year five of $287,195, and $180,000 a year thereafter. During the meeting's open comment period, a member of the existing dispatch staff presented a petition signed by 13 out of 14 of his co-workers. The petition protests the agreement, stating concerns about increased workload, a decline in service, and ultimately higher costs as a result of moving the City dispatchers from the central police station to the new center. There was apparent confidence among the Legislators that the long-planned arrangement will ultimately improve 911 dispatch service. The difficulty of consolidation was acknowledged as a reality, but it was felt that the problems can be overcome. The goals of improved communication among response agencies working in the same location, with the same equipment and training, will result in improvements over the long term, said Lee Shurtleff, Director of Emergency Response. Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera asked for and was given assurance by County Administrator Steve Whicher that the employees' concerns will be taken into consideration. Contacts: Barbara Blanchard, Chair, Public Safety Committee, 277-1374; County Administrator Stephen Whicher, 274-5551. STATE LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO ELIMINATE MANDATORY GUN TRAINING Legislature Chair Tim Joseph reported that bipartisan legislation was introduced in Albany last week to eliminate mandatory firearm training for unarmed peace officers, including probation officers. The legislation, introduced by Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Senator Michael Nozzolio would spare Tompkins and other counties from having to pay for unnecessary gun training and equipment for probation officers who aren't required to carry guns as part of their jobs. When Tompkins County was recently directed to carry out this training, Joseph protested and asked Lifton and Nozollio for a solution. Contact: Tim Joseph, Chair of the Legislature, 277-2519. MENTAL HEALTH'S BART DELUCA HONORED; INTERIM COMMISSIONER APPOINTED The Legislature honored retiring Commissioner of Mental Health Services Anthony "Bart" DeLuca with a resolution recounting the accomplishment of his 27-year career with Tompkins County. DeLuca became Commissioner in 1977. He steered the County's mental health programs throughout the era of multiple closings of state institutions and was instrumental in securing state funding for the construction of the Mental Health building. Described in the resolution as a quiet, low-key person with a hands-off style of management, DeLuca knew the bureaucratic ins and outs of a complicated system of services and reimbursements that has allowed for the provision of excellent mental health services. DeLuca officially retires June 18. County Administrator Steve Whicher's appointment of Robert J. DeLuca (no relation), currently the Deputy Commissioner, as interim Commissioner of Mental Health was unanimously confirmed. Contact: County Administrator Stephen Whicher, 274-5551. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS ACCEPTED The Legislature unanimously approved a group of grants, mostly from the New York State Department of Labor, that will benefit Tompkins County's One-Stop Center for employers and job-seekers. The grants include $100,000 for long-term strategic workforce planning; $17,904 for equipment and staff funding at the Center; $55,700 for employment services for the disabled; $65,724 for job training for individuals leaving public assistance; $50,000 for assistance to workers dislocated as a result of the Fair Trade Act; $24,960 from the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. for greater job access by disabled workers; and $20,000 from the National Retail Foundation for the sales and service program at the Center. In response to a concern raised by Legislator George Totman, Workforce Investment Board Director Deb Giordano explained that the grants require no matching County funds now or in the future. In a related matter, the Legislature accepted $39,761 of a Carl D. Perkins vocational education grant to support a job skills training program for inmates at the County jail. Contacts: Kathy Luz Herrera, Chair, Planning, Development, and Environmental Quality Committee, 273-8169; Deb Giordano, Director, Workforce Investment Board, 274-7526. HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDS BOOST EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS A grant of $100,000 distributed through New York State's Homeland Security Program was accepted by unanimous consent of the Legislature. The funds will go to the County's Department of Emergency Response for planning, equipment, and training related to terrorism or terrorism-related activities. Contacts: Barbara Blanchard, Chair, Public Safety Committee, 277-1374; Lee Shurtleff, Director of Emergency Response, 257-3888. LOCAL GRANT BENEFITS DRUG COURTS The Legislature accepted by unanimous consent a grant of $40,000 from an anonymous foundation to be used in support of the Drug Treatment Court programs administered by the County Department of Probation and Criminal Justice Services. Drug courts combine treatment for addiction with ongoing judicial supervision in an effort to break the cycle of drug and alcohol usage, crime, and repeat incarceration. Contacts: Barbara Blanchard, Chair, Public Safety Committee, 277-1374; Kathy Leinthall, Director of Probation, 274-5380. MULHOLLAND QUILT DISPLAYED IN LEGISLATURE CHAMBERS Matt Braun, Director of the History Center of Tompkins County, pointed out that a quilt made by the late Elizabeth Mulholland in the 1980s is now on display in the Legislature chambers. Mulholland, a long-time community activist for whom the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve is named, was the first director of the History Center (then the Dewitt Historical Society) and was also an expert quilter, said Braun. The quilt is one of a series that will be displayed in the Legislative meeting room as a courtesy of the Tompkins County Quilters Guild. |