The View From Fly Creek Ensure Local Politics Are Local Everybody knows that it takes millions of dollars to run for the most important political offices, and even billions (counting PACs and ‘dark money’) to run for president. Although big campaigns can be funded by small donors (under $200 each), as Bernie Sanders has shown, most campaigns depend on large donors (up to and including more or less self-funded billionaire campaigns like those of Trump in 2016, and Tom Steyer…
Online home of The Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta
Advertisement
Opinion - Page 253
Cooperstown, Oneonta Face Common Problem That the aristocratic Village of Cooperstown and funky City of Oneonta are so different adds texture and richness to the experience of living in Otsego County. Different as they may be, it turns out they are united by the same challenge: Both lack sufficient housing to thrive. Cooperstown’s school and downtown are suffering from a declining population. Oneonta’s colleges and institutions attract young professionals, but many have to commute from afar. Thinking people understand it:…
THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT $1B In Fracking Royalties? To Penna., Not New York By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com As Americans, it’s our right to advocate for things we believe in and against things we don’t like or want. However, with that right comes a responsibility – a responsibility to take the time to thoroughly educate ourselves about the pros and cons of whatever it is we want to advocate for or oppose. That means thinking in advance…
ONEONTA MUST BUILD 100 Units Will Buoy Business Downtown By AL CLEINMAN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Of late, social media and other community forums have been full of dialogue about the initiatives in downtown Oneonta. Why do we need this housing? Why the rebranding? Why artist lofts? Why not somewhere else? What about parking? While comments many are supportive of these initiatives, the majority of comments appear to be an emotional response, perhaps the result of a lack of understanding…
COOPERSTOWN MUST BUILD Bassett Staffers Would Fill Any New Housing By TIM HAYES • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing. For those who are counting, that’s one “housing” for every year since I served on the Cooperstown Village Board’s Subcommittee on Economic Sustainability, where housing became a primary recommendation. Since then, the physical manifestation of village policies has been parking, parks and pavement. Hardly housing. Why housing? Because, historically, housing nearly always accompanied…
VIEW FROM 197 MAIN #KeepTheCap! NYS Must Pay Fair Share By MEG KENNEDY • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com #KeepTheCap! This is a rallying cry for local government officials from around the state. What cap? The New York State 0% growth Medicaid Tax Cap that has been in place since 2012. It goes hand in hand with another cap – the 2% cap on property tax levies that has been in place for NYS municipalities since roughly the same time. They were…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR from JOHN WEBB As Cooperstown’s Only Newspaper, Please Add Balance, Enlightenment To the Editor: I have been taken aback in recent months by the stridently conservative rightwing posture of The Freeman’s Journal (and Hometown Oneonta), but the edition of Feb. 13 was particularly glaring, and that prompts me to write. First of all, among other features, there was your long, space-consuming editorial calling for the repeal of the “Green Light Law” because it prohibits the State’s…
DISSENSION IN TOWN OF RICHFIELD Electorate Spoke – Now, Work Together It was troubling to attend the Richfield Town Board’s latest meeting, on Monday, Feb. 17. The meeting room in the Town Hall on East James Street was full, which is good – citizens participating. But what followed was less so. Control of the Richfield Town Board shifted from 3-2 to 2-3 on Jan. 1, with the majority shifting from supporters of the town’s new comprehensive plan and zoning code…
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Are 2 Billionaires Best Choice For U.S.? By LARRY BENNETT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com I am undecided. After a year of run up to the Democratic primaries it seems safe to say party voters still don’t know who they want. The only thing they agree on is they want the candidate most likely to defeat Trump. Yet the entire party is tied up in a Gordian knot of confusion about who that candidate should be.…
EDITORIAL If Not Allen Ruffles, Someone With SOME Of His Qualities The question was, “Do you think THEY will let the county administrator do the job?” They, of course, being the county Board of Representatives. But the question misunderstands how the new county administrator job is envisioned. Judging from discussions surrounding the new job’s creation, the county representatives aren’t looking for someone to tell them what to do. They’re looking for someone who will allow them to do what THEY…
