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2-21-2007 Since we moved to Cooperstown five years ago, my husband and I have heard many people complain about how much Cooperstown has changed. The baseball tourism has increased. Dreams Park brings bigger crowds to Cooperstown every summer. Housing prices have risen. Parking has become a problem. The businesses on Main Street serve the needs of tourists rather than our own community. Yet, change is an inevitable part of every community. If you travel around the country, you will see some towns and cities are growing while others are in decline. What you won't see are economically healthy communities that are exactly the same as they were 20 years ago. We believe that what makes many people unhappy with the changes in our village is that Cooperstown residents are not the ones directing the changes. Afraid of change, we are inclined to elect a government that will maintain the status quo. Yet change comes anyway, from the outside, and in ways we often don't like. If, instead, we think progressively, accept that change will happen, and plan for our community to evolve in ways that improve our lives, we can see Cooperstown get better and better. Jeff Katz is a leader who is guiding our community in such a direction. He has been instrumental in getting a public playground approved by the village board. The playground that will be built in Badger Park this spring makes good use of a neglected park. It provides a place for families to gather. When families are considering moving here, the existence of a playground sends a message that Cooperstown is a family-friendly place to live, not just a summer tourist town. All of these benefits come to us from a playground that is being funded by private donations, not taxpayer dollars. Jeff Katz has expanded and improved the Cooperstown Concert Series. These concerts provide us with a wide variety of quality music, and bring people to our community in the wintertime to eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores. Mr. Katz showed courage and conviction when he simultaneously addressed two of our most difficult problems: the need to encourage summer tourists to use our trolley lots so that locals can access village businesses in the summer, and the need to increase village revenue without burdening our property owners with excessive taxes. While the parking plan that passed last summer had support from most village residents, a loud and outspoken minority nearly derailed it at the 11th hour. Though he endured insults and threats, Mr. Katz did not abandon a plan that was in the best interest of our village and its residents. The parking plan that passed will make parking more convenient for locals who can easily afford a $10 permit. At the same time, it will provide revenue for a village whose property owners alone must shoulder the cost of upkeep and maintenance for streets, sidewalks, parks, and public buildings that are used by a much broader population. Importantly, the new parking plan is flexible, easily adjusted year after year to maximize its benefits while alleviating kinks and unintended consequences as they arise. The controversies over the parking plan are part of the growing pains of our small community. Failing to create a plan will not take us "back to the way things used to be." The summer parking needs in Cooperstown have increased and will continue to grow. Change is not avoidable, but good government can steer change in a positive direction. Shelby and Ashley Cooper Cooperstown Re-elect Mayor Waller On March 18, 2008, Village of Cooperstown voters will be asked to vote for the Mayor and two candidates for Village Trustee. I am proud to support Mayor Carol Waller for reelection. She has done an excellent job and is deserving of our support and our votes. I have personally thanked Carol for deciding to serve as Mayor for yet another term. Her work here is unfinished. I am also going to vote for incumbent Trustee Jeff Katz, who is also running for reelection. Jeff has served our community well. Jeff has been active on the Village Parks Board, the Fire, Concert, Planning, Double Day Field, and Finance and Personnel committees of the Village. In addition to his hard work and research-based decisions on each of these committees, Jeff makes his decisions, even the tough ones, by listening to the opinions of all the residents, not just the loudest ones. Jeff is a hard worker who doesn't just talk about sound policy for the village - he works every day for all of us. Jeff will need your support on March 18. Please vote for him. Henry J. Nicols Cooperstown Seward on NYRI: ‘Never surrender' A mule on a racetrack is still a mule. And changing the route of the proposed NYRI power line doesn't change the fact that it will raise our upstate rates and mar our landscape. The towns and property owners coped with the frustration and agony of the Marcy-South power line, and the last thing they need is to be forced to wage another war against another power line that will take their property, change their landscape, and diminish their property values. The alternatives, and the original route, are not acceptable. NYRI was and is a bad deal for upstate. It is intended to take power from upstate and send it downstate, to a region that refuses to take responsibility for its own energy needs and is in fact trying to close down a nuclear power plant that generates electricity for the downstate area. I quote Winston Churchill during the dark days of World War II: "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." The fight goes on. Sen. James L. Seward 51st Senatorial District |
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