COOPERSTOWN – Former Cooperstown mayor Jeff Katz today endorsed Antonio Delgado for Congress in New York’s 19th District, the Delgado campaign announced.
Delgado is facing incumbent Republican John Faso, R-Kinderhook, and former “Law & Order: SVU” star Diane Neal, an independent, in the Nov. 6 election.
To the Editor:
I’ve been fortunate to work with Kim Jastremski the past few years. In her role as Library Board president, Kim has lead the way in converting the library’s funding structure, spearheading the successful public funding ballot initiative, which has put the library on solid financial footing, and pursuing New York State library construction grants.
These much-needed changes have transformed our much loved library both financially and physically. Residents throughout the school district have shared the benefits of her efforts.
To achieve these things, Kim has worked well with village government, the Hartwick Library Board, the state Department of Education and the Cooperstown Central school board. In an ever-changing, and somewhat frightening, world for public education, we need Kim Jastremski on the school board, fighting for our local interests.
Please join me in voting for Kim for the school board on May 16.
JEFF KATZ
Mayor
Village of Cooperstown
ONEONTA – In advance of last night’s debate at Foothills, the mayors of Otsego County’s largest communities – Oneonta’s Gary Herzig and Cooperstown’s Jeff Katz – endorsed Zephyr Teachout for the 19th Congressional District seat.
Editor’s Note: Cooperstown Mayor Jeff Katz’s second book, “Split Season,” officially released today, was written up on page 2 of the Sunday New York Times’ sports section. Here is what The Times had to say.
Jeff Katz was walking down Main Street in Cooperstown, N.Y., last summer when a familiar face said hello.
“How’s it going, Mr. Mayor?” Pete Rose asked, and Katz found him charming.
“It’s a superficial analysis, a five-second interaction,” Katz said. “But hey, it’s Pete Rose. That’s so cool.”
Katz, who is indeed the mayor of Cooperstown, the home of the Hall of Fame, immersed himself for years in the 1981 baseball season, when Rose was still a superstar and beloved ambassador. Katz’s new book, “Split Season,” published by St. Martin’s Press and released on Tuesday, revisits an era that will seem alien to modern readers.
COOPERSTOWN – County Rep. Rick Hulse, R-Otsego, a few minutes ago issued a statement saying Cooperstown Mayor Jeff Katz is “incorrect in his assertion that I do not support Tourism Impact Aid.”
“In fact, I fully support a better distribution of bed tax money to benefit our County and specifically the Town of Otsego and Village of Cooperstown,” he said in a statement. The statement continues:
COOPERSTOWN – Rick Hulse is the only county representative, Republican or Democratic, from District 8 – it includes Cooperstown – not to vote to redistribute bed-tax revenues to help pay for Cooperstown’s tourism-related costs, Mayor Jeff Katz said this evening.
Hulse, a freshman representative from Fly Creek elected last November, called the mayor’s request “last-minute,” and proposed an alternative approach.
Katz was remarking after he appeared at the public hearing on the county’s 2015 budget, held at 6 this evening in Courtroom #1, where he asked the county to help communities – Cooperstown, but also the city and town of Oneonta, and the Town of Hartwick – to help cover the costs of serving tourists. (Hartwick Town Supervisor David Butler also spoke in favor of an extra allocation.)
COOPERSTOWN – The core group that will lead development creating of a strategic plan and development process for the Village of Cooperstown met for the first time this morning at Village Hall.
Mayor Jeff Katz said he and other members of the coordinating committee, Village Trustee Ellen Tillapaugh, Ted Spencer, retired Hall of Fame archivist, and Matt Hazzard, interim executive director, Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, met with county IDA President Sandy Mathes and Vice President/COO Elizabeth Horvath. The other steering committee member is Chris Grady, who was unable to attend.
This evening at the “Local Foods, Local Spirits” gathering at the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, the first questionnaires are to be distributed, beginning the process of building a community consensus on a vision for the future.
Elan Planning & Design, credited with guiding Saratoga Springs’ revival, will guide the effort here as well. The full effort won’t be launched until next month, but Katz said the idea was to try to sample the opinion of summer visitors, who will be gone after Labor Day.
COOPERSTOWN – Mayor Jeff Katz discusses fracking and President Obama’s visit in a guest column in the current edition of The New Republic magazine.
“The sense that, even in intense disagreement over the major issue of fracking, there was a core connection between the people and their president, that they could be opposed but still together, gave truth to the words of the (other) Boss,” he concludes.