Monday
Herb Engman Declares Candidacy for Town Supervisor
July 23, 2007. Last Thursday, Herb Engman held a press conference and officially declared his candidacy for Town Supervisor. (His website is accessible here.) He will be running against Cathy Valentino, who has decided to run for re-election after initially claiming that she would not.
Below is the text of his speech. He mentions many issues that will be familiar to those who are following the Sapsucker Woods controversy:
I'm Herb Engman, and I'm a candidate for the Supervisor of the Town of Ithaca.
I am pleased to report that my fellow Democrats got 555 signers on the nominating petitions, more than double the required number. Thanks to all the wonderful petition-carriers who spent part of their summer going door-to-door in their neighborhoods.
Some background: after a stint in the Peace Corps and as a high school teacher and Cooperative Extension regional specialist and youth development specialist in the Department of Human Development, I was appointed director of the Cornell Migrant Program and served in that role for 25 years. I’ve lived in Tompkins County for most of my adult life and am a resident of the Town of Ithaca's Forest Home neighborhood. My work with the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council and many other community groups led to my running for and being elected to the Town of Ithaca Board nearly 4 years ago. My impending retirement from Cornell allows me to devote more time and energy to town government, and led to my decision to run for Town Supervisor.
I am enthusiastically looking forward to working with town board, staff, and volunteers and particularly with the residents of our many neighborhoods, to move the Town of Ithaca forward and meet the challenges of tomorrow. My lifetime commitment to protection of the environment and to social justice makes me eager to do what I can to focus the energy and perspective of town government to addressing many critical and vexing problems. Do I have all the answers? I confess that I do not. But I have the passion to find them and a simple and time-tested approach that I believe will serve us well in dealing with the complexities of the twenty-first century: Open Government. To me, open government means frank and open dialogue with residents, town board members and other municipalities.
Today, the issues and decisions faced by town governments have become much more complicated than they were even as recently as a decade ago. Storm water, sidewalks, preserving open spaces, sustainability, walkability, alternative energy, stream setbacks, low and middle income housing, bus routes, bike paths, parks are now discussed as routinely at Town Board meetings as road repairs, leaf pickup, and snow removal. The Town of Ithaca needs the wisdom and full attention of all the Town Board members in addition to the timely input of residents. The decision making process I found when I joined the town board four years ago, whereby major decisions, and the information required to make them, were considered the province of the Supervisor, with little or no dialogue, are not appropriate to deal with today's challenges. We need to find a way to routinely understand and respond to the problems experienced by residents in all parts of the Town as we decide what's working and what's not, and where you want your money spent.
As your next Supervisor, in the name of Open Government, I will institute the following new policies and make them a cornerstone of Town government.
= I will make a Focus on Neighborhoods a new priority of Town government.
= I will bring all issues that I see, whether on the near or distant horizon, to the attention of the Town Board, and will discuss them fully in open, public meetings.
=I will revamp the Town Board Committee structure, and encourage all committees to seek the input of residents.
= I will form a Citizens Committee to recommend a "Citizen's Budget Format" to make the Town Budget more easily understood by Board members and citizens
= I will work to establish a new atmosphere of trust and cooperation with all governments within Tompkins County so that residents can reap the full benefits of intermunicipal cooperation.
For me, Open Government and Focus on Neighborhoods are not empty phrases and slogans. They are how I approach Town government. The problems facing us are too daunting to be solved solely in the Supervisor's office or just in Town Hall. We need the benefit of the collective wisdom of Town officials, the capable and dedicated Town staff, town volunteers and Town residents, whose interests Town officials and staff serve.
I ask you to join me and my colleagues in Town Hall to build a better Town for today's Ithacans and for tomorrow's as well.
----
An article covering Mr. Engman's press conference appeared in the Ithaca Journal.
Below is the text of his speech. He mentions many issues that will be familiar to those who are following the Sapsucker Woods controversy:
I'm Herb Engman, and I'm a candidate for the Supervisor of the Town of Ithaca.
I am pleased to report that my fellow Democrats got 555 signers on the nominating petitions, more than double the required number. Thanks to all the wonderful petition-carriers who spent part of their summer going door-to-door in their neighborhoods.
Some background: after a stint in the Peace Corps and as a high school teacher and Cooperative Extension regional specialist and youth development specialist in the Department of Human Development, I was appointed director of the Cornell Migrant Program and served in that role for 25 years. I’ve lived in Tompkins County for most of my adult life and am a resident of the Town of Ithaca's Forest Home neighborhood. My work with the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council and many other community groups led to my running for and being elected to the Town of Ithaca Board nearly 4 years ago. My impending retirement from Cornell allows me to devote more time and energy to town government, and led to my decision to run for Town Supervisor.
I am enthusiastically looking forward to working with town board, staff, and volunteers and particularly with the residents of our many neighborhoods, to move the Town of Ithaca forward and meet the challenges of tomorrow. My lifetime commitment to protection of the environment and to social justice makes me eager to do what I can to focus the energy and perspective of town government to addressing many critical and vexing problems. Do I have all the answers? I confess that I do not. But I have the passion to find them and a simple and time-tested approach that I believe will serve us well in dealing with the complexities of the twenty-first century: Open Government. To me, open government means frank and open dialogue with residents, town board members and other municipalities.
Today, the issues and decisions faced by town governments have become much more complicated than they were even as recently as a decade ago. Storm water, sidewalks, preserving open spaces, sustainability, walkability, alternative energy, stream setbacks, low and middle income housing, bus routes, bike paths, parks are now discussed as routinely at Town Board meetings as road repairs, leaf pickup, and snow removal. The Town of Ithaca needs the wisdom and full attention of all the Town Board members in addition to the timely input of residents. The decision making process I found when I joined the town board four years ago, whereby major decisions, and the information required to make them, were considered the province of the Supervisor, with little or no dialogue, are not appropriate to deal with today's challenges. We need to find a way to routinely understand and respond to the problems experienced by residents in all parts of the Town as we decide what's working and what's not, and where you want your money spent.
As your next Supervisor, in the name of Open Government, I will institute the following new policies and make them a cornerstone of Town government.
= I will make a Focus on Neighborhoods a new priority of Town government.
= I will bring all issues that I see, whether on the near or distant horizon, to the attention of the Town Board, and will discuss them fully in open, public meetings.
=I will revamp the Town Board Committee structure, and encourage all committees to seek the input of residents.
= I will form a Citizens Committee to recommend a "Citizen's Budget Format" to make the Town Budget more easily understood by Board members and citizens
= I will work to establish a new atmosphere of trust and cooperation with all governments within Tompkins County so that residents can reap the full benefits of intermunicipal cooperation.
For me, Open Government and Focus on Neighborhoods are not empty phrases and slogans. They are how I approach Town government. The problems facing us are too daunting to be solved solely in the Supervisor's office or just in Town Hall. We need the benefit of the collective wisdom of Town officials, the capable and dedicated Town staff, town volunteers and Town residents, whose interests Town officials and staff serve.
I ask you to join me and my colleagues in Town Hall to build a better Town for today's Ithacans and for tomorrow's as well.
----
An article covering Mr. Engman's press conference appeared in the Ithaca Journal.
