Lack of childcare in Cooperstown Central School District is causing a crisis for many families of young children.
The Clark Sports Center had previously served the role but now is closed for children under 12 because of COVID pandemic restrictions.
Mary Jane Sansevere, a Cooperstown resident with a husband and two children, said her family was forced to move her children out of the school district because of a lack of childcare. She also resigned her position in Cooperstown and took a job at Schenevus Central School as a pre-k teacher.
“Childcare in this town is sort of at a crisis level,” Sansevere said in a conversation with AllOtsego.com.
The Agostino family displays its signs Sunday, May 2, at the Otsego Rally for Solidarity with Asian Americans at the Otsego County Courthouse in Cooperstown. (Greg Klein/AllOTSEGO.com)
About 250 people attended a rally Sunday, May 2, at the Otsego County Courthouse, to support the community’s Asian American and Pacific Island residents.
The “Otsego Rally for Solidarity with Asian Americans” was organized and run by a group of Cooperstown Central School freshmen, including 15-year-old Cate Bohler, who said she wanted to speak up to support her friends or anyone who is being harassed.
“As a young Asian-American girl, hearing people call COVID the China virus is hurtful,” Bohler said, reading from her prepared statement about why she wanted to stage the rally. “It is more than hurtful. It is harmful. It perpetuates anti-American sentiments and racism.”
Speakers included the students, as well as local officials, including Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, Cooperstown Police Chief Frank Cavalieri, Otsego Town Supervisor Meg Kiernan and Otsego County Rep. Danny Lapin, D-Oneonta, who said he thinks he is the county’s only elected official of Asian descent. Lapin’s mom is Japanese.
“The deep-seated nature of systemic racism requires us to make continuous choices and take continuous actions to advance anti-racist ideas in the public space,” Lapin said.
In response to the rising number of hate crimes directed at Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, local teens are planing a Solidarity Rally for Sunday, May 2, according to a media release.
Otsego Solidarity Rally for Asian Americans will be held at 2 p.m. in front of the Otsego County Courthouse at 197 Main Street.
May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage month, according to the release.
Students involved in organizing the rally have created a window display at 149 Main Street, Cooperstown, to highlight the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The exhibit will be on view throughout the month of May.
Cate Bohler, one of the 15-year-olds, said in the release, “I want to organize this rally to see how people come together to fight against racial injustice. My biggest goal is to help people become aware, educate them about things they might not know about. The rally is a starting point for action.”
Speakers will include Otsego County Board of Supervisors Danny Lapin and Meg Kiernan and Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh.
COOPERSTOWN – Democrats in the two towns that serve the Village of Cooperstown – Otsego and Middlefield – were fast out of the gate this morning as the county Board of Elections began accepting petitions at 9 a.m. for the Nov. 5 elections.
In the Town of Otsego (including Cooperstown west of the Susquehanna, incumbent Supervisor Meg Kiernan filed to run again, and two newcomers submitted petitions for Town Board seats: Suzanne Johnson and Matthew Zwissler.
FLY CREEK – Taxes have emerged as an issue in the Town of Otsego in the final days of the Town Board campaign, with a Republican incumbent saying they “may double” and a flyer from Republican candidates delivered over the weekend estimating the increase at 25 percent.
But Town Supervisor Meg Kiernan, who is running unopposed in Tuesday’s election, said taxes will go up only a bit this year and still be lower than in 2015. “The Town of Otsego is healthy,” she wrote in a letter to the editor.
To Learn How You Can Help Area Families This Holiday Season CLICK HERE.
SANTA’S COTTAGE –2 p.m. Decorating Party. Help Cooperstown Committee decorate Santa’s cottage and the village lampposts for the holidays. All decorations provided; please bring wirecutters, gloves, and ladders, if available. Meet in Pioneer Park. Free photo of your family in front of Santa’s Cottage as a thank you. To reserve a pole, email Meg Kiernan, megk@oecblue.com Meet in Pioneer Park, Cooperstown.
CELEBRATE NATIVE AMERICAN MONTH – 1 p.m. Roger Longtoe Sheehan, Chief of the El Nu Abenaki tribe of Vermont, will tell traditional tales and display tools and crafts of Northeastern woodland cultures. Program is free and open to the public. Suny Oneonta College Camp Lodge, 119 Hoffman Rd., Oneonta. For more info call 436-3455 or CLICK HERE.
PROGRAM – 3 p.m. “The Very Greatest Victory: Recognizing Women’s Right to Vote in NY State” with Dr. Susan Goodler. Friends of the Village Library Lecture Series. Village Meeting room, Library, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info @ Sunday Programs page villagelibraryofcooperstown.org
Newly elected Otsego Town Supervisor Meg Kiernan and Town Board member Joe Potrikus joined their Otsego Town Board colleagues at 12:30 p.m. today for the organizational meeting. From left are Town Board member Bennett Sandler, Potrikus, Kiernan, and Town Board members Karina Franck and Tom Hohensee. Town Clerk Pam Deane conducted Potrikus’ swearing-in; Kiernan had taken the oath of office on New Year’s Day. The new supervisor provided lunch – homemade ham-salad sandwiches – for the gathering. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
After a stormy period in the Town of Otsego, former town supervisor Meg Kiernan is running unopposed for the top town position in the Nov. 3 local elections, according to a list of candidate released a few minutes ago by the county Board of Elections. The deadline for filing petitions was 5 p.m. Thursday.
Kiernan, a Democrat, would succeed Republican Anne Geddes Atwell, whose sparring with the town Planning Board climaxed in May with the arrest of an angry resident who had allegedly harangued the Town Board at a meeting at the town hall in Fly Creek.
The Town of Otsego encompasses all of the Village of Cooperstown west of the Susquehanna.
In other town elections:
• In Worcester, retiring county rep. Don Lindberg, a Republican, is running for supervisor against incumbent Democrat Diane Addesso.
• In Richfield, incumbent Fran Enjem is being opposed by Paul Palumbo. Both are running as independents.
