Professional fire service spared as Medina residents reject dissolution of village

Jan 21, 2015 | nyspffa_news

DailyNews

Medina village voters reject dissolution

Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:00 am

CenterInMedinaMEDINA — Village residents turned out in huge numbers Tuesday, and for good reason – it was only the continuation of Medina as an municipal entity on the line.

More than one in every five villagers cast ballots on village dissolution, returning a divided but decisive result – Medina will remain a village for the foreseeable future.

The proposal to discontinue Medina’s government and services failed by a 949 to 527 margin, a decision that was greeted as reinforcing the position held by much of the village’s workforce, residents outside of the village in Shelby and Ridgeway and half of Medina’s village board.

In the end, a wide majority followed the argument that more options exist to reduce the tax burden on village residents and ensure the continuation of village services.

“This is over now, we go forward,” said Ridgeway Supervisor Brian Napoli, “we have to learn to work together.”

Dissolution via a referendum is now off the table until 2019 at the earliest. Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said hard choices will come sooner than that.

“The same problems we had this morning remain problems tonight,” Meier said. “Declining population, declining property values, increasing costs.”

Meier said the village is now tasked with committing to “constant annual cuts” in the short-term.

“It isn’t sustainable … village residents know this is a problem, it concerned a lot of them,” Meier said. “I think dissolution remains an eventuality, but the people decided they weren’t ready for it yet.”

He pointed to court dissolution, which passed overwhelmingly four years after it was voted down, as the path village dissolution might follow.

Trustee Marguerite Sherman, who opposed dissolution, said it will take cooperation to get through the coming years.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of collaboration ahead,” Sherman said. “I could see where both sides were coming from, but I felt we needed to give the village another chance.”

The more than 1,400 votes cast Tuesday are a record high in recent memory, nearly a 1,000 more than were cast in the 2013 village election that saw Meier re-elected and Sherman and Trustee Mike Sidari ushered into office.

Throughout the day, voters expressed surprise and pride in just how many of their neighbors made their voices known. Dave Barhite, who among the villagers who passed petitions to get the referendum on the ballot, said that level of interest

“I think it’s one of the best things about this,” Barhite said of the turnout. “It’s their village and it’s best that they decide on it.”

Previous coverage:

8:30 p.m. – The electoral fever that struck Medina finally broke at around 6:30 p.m., but a trickle of last-hour voters continued to add to a larger than expected turnout for village dissolution referendum.

Election inspectors say more than 1,300 villagers had cast ballots in the first eight hours of voting, which ends at 9 p.m.

This year’s large vote total is the largest for a village election in recent memory, with previous battles for mayoral and control of the village board bringing out hundreds of voters.

The result that villagers are collectively delivering will likely remain a mystery for at least an hour after polls at the Medina Senior Citizens Center close.

It took around 40 minutes to certify the initial results of the 2013 village elections, when just more than 400 voters were cast for mayor and two contested trustee seats.

There’s only two options in Tuesday’s vote to count, but the shear number of votes will slow things down.

As the final hour of balloting ticked away, election inspectors finally got a reprieve from more than six hours of consistent voting. The return of television cameras and the arrival of villagers wanting to hear the results first was still a while away.

Clerk-Treasurer Debbie Padoleski glanced occasionally at the hefty wooden ballot box  used for the election. It’s modeled after the smaller “letters to santa” container that former clerk Peggy Crowley used to collect village election votes.

“I thought it was too big, but we needed it today,” she said.

8 p.m. – The parking lot of the Medina Senior Citizens Center was the most trafficked stretch of pavement in all of Orleans County Tuesday, but the community calendar did not grind to a halt as voting went on into the evening.

As voters continued to materialize across West Avenue, the Lee-Whedon Library hosted a small crowd for a presentation by Orleans County Chamber of Commerce Director Kathy Blackburn focused on a different village-only improvement project – a privately-funded grant which for a third year is offering $200,000 for curb appeal projects.

The only nod to the ongoing vote was when Blackburn said the grant will continue to be limited to village buildings only, with homes preferred over businesses.

Applicants can receive up to $10,000 in a grant for 50 percent of costs for projects like siding, painting and facade repairs. They can be picked up from the Chamber’s offices in Albion, but Blackburn recommended visiting Meggie Moo’s - her family’s East Center Street restaurant - to catch her.

She fielded questions from around two dozen people.

Across town at the Ridgeway Town Hall, it was business as usual - or as close to usual as it could be - as the town council held its monthly meeting.

Ridgeway normally meets on the third Monday, but January meetings are always rescheduled to avoid the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

It was a swift gathering, ending around 7:30 p.m. - 90 minutes before polls closed.

The town council discussed water district progress, a February 17 public hearing on a LED lighting ordinance and the expenditure of state and town highway funding. More time was spent thanking their colleagues, fire, police and public works staff and Trustee Mike Sidari for speaking in favor of a “no” vote.

“I want to give a sincere thanks to everyone on the front line (on dissolution),” Councilwoman Mary Woodruff said. “I’ve been involved since 2011, when I wrote a letter to Brian Napoli asking about the CGR study.”

“Today was the easiest day, because you knew it was going to end, one way or another.”

And so would the calls, texts and emails, Councilman David Stalker added.

6 p.m. – “It’s been the most stressful time of our lives.”

Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich was among the villagers to swarm the polls as the workday ended Tuesday, but one of the only ones who appreciated the busy part of their day more than the quiet moments.

The Medina Fire Department has been at the center of the dissolution debate, with a proposed independent ambulance service and village-town fire district among the most complicated parts of the dissolution plan.

Both dissolution supporters and opponents – who argue that a continued village is the only way to ensure the fire department remains at current levels – say their proposed path is the one that ensures a viable department for residents and the men who’ve made it their profession to answer fire and ambulance calls.

Medina sent out four ambulances to 9-1-1 calls Tuesday in addition to responding to a quickly-managed oven fire.

Zinkievich said his firefighters are energized by the sirens, which break long stretches of contemplation about the department’s unclear future.

“The downtime is the worst,” Zinkievich said after casting his ballot. “The calls today, it makes the day go by. When we’re waiting, that’s when the morale drops."

Zinkievich, the fire department and neighboring volunteer companies have all asked their neighbors to give village government an extended lease on life.

“I’m not willing to give up on the village,” the chief said, “We’ve worked diligently to maintain the tax rate, it was $16.65 in 2007 and it’s $16.44 now … I just think we have too much to lose (with dissolution) because there’s no clear path to follow.”

Whether dissolution is approved or voted down, Zinkievich said the fire department is ready to provide service for as long they can.

“I hope people have seen how hard we work, a lot of people don’t know if they haven’t used the ambulance,” Zinkievich said. “We’re working hard for them.”

4:25 p.m. – For the first time in this process, Tuesday’s most important actions and decisions were out of the hands of public officials, who have campaigned, offered dueling views and unsuccessfully found a common ground.

That didn’t leave village and towns officials feeling powerless. Both governments believe they’ve made their best case to village residents in the past months and in the final week before today’s referendum.

Shelby Councilman Steve Seitz was among the most passionate speakers at a forum hosted by his town and Ridgeway last week. He feels that a year of consistent messages from the towns have provided a clear view to residents.

“I think people are seeing the facts and that’s what we’ve been saying for a year,” Seitz said. “People are educated on the facts, they know that the towns have not differed from the facts.”

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier entered Tuesday’s vote more confident that efforts to lay out the village’s tax and service realities made dissolution a necessity.

“I think people’s eyes were opened about inequalities we faced with double taxation posed by town taxes,” Meier said. “I sensed after both hearings that things are breaking our way.”

Meier said the point that villagers have kept bringing up to him isn’t one from the dissolution plan or the messages from any municipality. It’s the total amount of village taxes that goes to fund the towns’ operations.

“The one statistic that hangs in their minds has been the $1.1 million - they didn’t realize how much money we paid (in town taxes) and they can’t answer where it all goes to,” Meier said.

Seitz said the he’s gotten the biggest reaction after the forum and the release of a “unfiltered” letter to residents.

“The biggest thing I took away from the meeting is that people want the facts, but they also want to know how we actually feel about this situation,” Seitz said. “It’s a passionate subject for me, I’m extremely happy with our outreach with the firemen and people … I’m proud to live in such a good community.”

2:50 p.m. – The emotions surrounding dissolution grew more pronounced in the final weeks before Medina voted.

Some of it was based on economic concerns for taxpayers on both sides of the village borders. The rest was flooded by deeply personal concerns over whether long-held village assets and community bonds could survive either the status quo or the proposed post-dissolution decisions.

But as villagers entered the lines to vote Tuesday afternoon, many described their moods and those inside the Medina Senior Citizens Center as warm.

“I think people were startled by the lines … but everyone seems upbeat,” Jonathan Incho said as he left the polls shortly after 2 p.m. “They’re talking nicely, and not about (dissolution).”

It may have been the reawakening of old connections that washed away the divisiveness. Lindsey Stewart said she has avoided the “nastiness” present at local meetings and online postings, but saw her neighbors smiling when they saw friends in line.

“No one is talking about it, but everyone’s talking,” said Stewart, who believes those bonds will lead to dissolution being voted down. “I believe it’s going to be a no (victory) because we’re so close knit.”

“It’s good that it’s brought people together,” Stewart added.

Or maybe the atmosphere was calmed by the decisiveness of individual voters.

Sue Metzo arrived during a burst of traffic, when there wasn’t as much chatter in the polling place. She didn’t think it would’ve have altered the vote.

“I think everyone has made up their mind, and they want it to go their way,” Metzo said.

12:45 p.m. – After the first half-hour of voting on the Medina dissolution referendum one thing was clear — this will not be a low-turnout election.

About 50 voters were gathered in line as polls opened at the Medina Senior Citizens Center, a pile-up that continued to grow as throngs of villagers packed inside the polls.

The record will show that Mrs. Paula Hill was the first to emerge from the polling place into the cold air outside.

“I was out and stopped by on my way home,” Hill said. “I told them I wouldn’t come back if (I had to wait longer) and I sat down there.”

Like many of those outside, Hill said she has no idea how the final tally will end up.

Paul Leno was part of the third wave of voters, finishing after about 100 to 150 voters had cast their ballots. He took the early turnout as a positive.

“I came thinking I wouldn’t have to wait in line, but I did anyways,” Leno said. “I’m really happy to see the turnout. I don’t care if they voted yes or no — I voted my own way — but I'll be happy as long as we get a good turnout.”

Hector Fuentes, a lifelong village resident, was surprised to see so many beat him to the polls despite the frigid temperatures.

Fuentes and many others kept their choice a secret as they departed, but he was proud to have played a role in the vote.

“I wanted to have a voice in the process,” he said. “I can tell my daughter and my grandkids that I had a voice.”

Becky Bashford and her husband Taylor said they’re happy their part in the referendum is over after weeks of pressure and postage from supporters and opponents of dissolution.

“It was a lot of propaganda from both sides, it was intense,” she said. “We went to the meetings (last week) but we're glad the mail will stop coming.”

11:45 a.m. — Voting in the village’s dissolution referendum will be a no-frills process, Clerk-Treasurer Debbie Padoleski said she and election inspectors set up the Medina Senior Citizens Center ahead of the noon opening of polls.

With only two options on the ballot, voting is going to be a quick process. Voters will divide to two tables based on the first letter in their street name, have their status as a registered voter checked and be handed a ballot.

For there it's a get-in and get-out situation.

“We don’t want people to congregate,” said Judy Szulis, part of a team of inspectors who have worked past village and town elections.

As the election is a referendum, there will be no one authorized to stand by as villagers cast their ballots. Padoleski said voters should not be hassled as they decide a yes/no question — a message the inspectors will strictly enforce.

“No loitering, no poll watching, no politicking,” inspector Linda Deyle said when asked about activities not welcome at the polling place.

The message was further reinforced outside the senior citizens center, where a village public works crew salted the walkways before installing a series of barrels that would create a no-electioneering barrier outside of the polling place.

Doing so is a misdemeanor, the signs warn.

Some 500 single-page ballots were printed ahead of the polls opening, with more to be printed if voting is heavier than anticipated. The inspectors said more will definitely be needed before polls close at 9 p.m.

Padoleski expects the vote counting to be a quicker process than most village elections, as the compiling of votes for multiple candidates is often the cause of any post-vote headaches.

As for any hemming-and-hawing over ballots?

“I think everyone will have their minds made up by the time they park,” Padoleski said.

10 a.m. — Voting was still three hours from starting (and results at least 12 hours away) as the Medina Business Association met earlier this morning, but the MBA’s leaders were already bracing for a post-dissolution future.

As it was in many stores, talk inevitably turned to the day’s big questions — will villagers vote to dissolve, and what would that mean for Medina?

The MBA as an organization has stayed neutral on the dissolution referendum, leaving individual members free to take part in the “yes” and “no” campaigns.

MBA President Cindy Robinson, who served on the Medina Dissolution Plan Committee, said Tuesday that the MBA’s stability if there is no village has been questioned, pulling the independent association into the storm of uncertainty that clouds the post-dissolution picture.

“I want to alleviate fears that we’ll go away (with dissolution),” Robinson said as MBA members discussed their Feb. 7 Wine About Winter event. “We’re not tied to the village, we’re our own entity. We pay for everything ourselves.”

The MBA has working relationships with the village’s public works, police and fire departments, and has taken an increasing role in organizing the Olde Tyme Christmas event in conjunction with the village’s tourism committee.

If a post-dissolution government can’t provide security at events, put up promotional banners, or help organize events, the MBA will have to adapt. And it will, MBA Treasurer Mary Lewis said.

“If we need to put the banners up ourselves, we’ll find a way,” Lewis said. “If the need arises, we’d hire security or have volunteers.”

Robinson said the approvals needed by the State Liquor Authority for events like Wine About Winter do ask what Orleans County law enforcement unit has jurisdiction for events, but the question is more about notification than setting up a protection plan.

That question may one day be answered by the unchanged village police department, a potential town-wide police force or the county Sheriff’s Office.

With preparations rushing ahead for Wine About Winter, events that may be two to three years away were a less pressing concern — at least during the MBA's meeting.

“No one knows, ultimately, what’s going to happen,” Lewis said, summing up the discussion and the community it was held in.

Previous coverage:

MEDINA — After years of research and months of campaigning, the fate of Medina’s municipal government is now in the village voters.

A referendum on village dissolution will be decided Tuesday, with Medina asking its residents a simple question with a complicated backstory - “Shall the Village of Medina New York Be Dissolved?”

The dissolution vote will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Medina Senior Citizens Center, 615 West Avenue.

An affirmative vote would set a village dissolution in motion, likely to occur in the next two to three years. The village would cease to exist as a municipality, requiring a shuffling or shuttering of services.

Proponents of a dissolution have argued that a 2014 dissolution plan outlines a viable scenario for how fire, police, ambulance, public works and village clerk/treasurer’s office services could be largely retained through town governments and independent entities; with village taxpayers seeing a significant tax savings.

Opponents of dissolution include many in the surrounding towns, who are unable to vote in the referendum. They argue dissolution merely shifts the costs of local government onto a wider community that neither desires nor can afford village-level services; and possibly the loss of some services to lessen the tax burden on all residents.

A negative vote would retain the village’s municipal structure for the near future, with Medina’s 2015-16 budget and renewed shared services talks with Ridgeway and Shelby both likely to be impacted.

 

View article here.

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