Town & Village

We enjoyed excellent harmony for several years between the Town and the Village. For some reason, the past two years have been marked by Town/Village discord.

We firmly believe that there must be a restoration of comity between the Town and Village Boards. The incumbents have been in place for many years, which may have led to a perception on their part that only they know what is good for the community.

We will change this situation becoming more open in our deliberations and by holding as many as six joint Town/Village meetings a year. We will further work toward providing joint, interactive learning opportunities for Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Appeal.

The overall situation could also be greatly improved by restoring the Town’s planning practice. The independence of the Town Planning Board must be respected by the Town Board, which in the recent past has made personnel changes to the planning body that struck many in the community as hurtful and unnecessary. Our Comprehensive Master Plan Committee was split from one joint “community” committee into three(!) by the current administration, which leads to the question, how can any one of the fractured new committees arrive at a plan that will be in any way comprehensive?

We believe it is misguided to fail to recognize that we are one group of people who share the entire community, and we will attempt to merge the three committees into one. After all, what’s your answer when you’re out of town and people ask you where you’re from? Geneseo! Not the Town of, or the Village of, but just Geneseo. And that’s a good thing. Let’s make sure it stays that way.

We support the plan to refurbish and restore the Geneseo Building. We believe we are a community which values its history and the legacy of its past. Indeed, all over western New York municipalities have been restoring their “Opera Blocks,” with the result being economic boosts to their communities. In April 2004 this community passed a referendum enabling the Town and Village to borrow the money to restore our landmark building.

This vote was overwhelmingly (better than 2 to 1) in favor of restoration, but the Town currently has tabled any further action on the process. The Democrats for Geneseo’s future will get back to work on this important issue and make this restoration a reality by working closely with the Village to meet the community’s goal of updating the Geneseo Building, which should serve as an anchor for a vibrant and vital Main Street.

Both Town and Village Boards have committed thousands of dollars to developing an Access Management Plan. This plan gives us a potential roadmap for traffic. This document is an active document which needs constant input and correction as circumstances change. This must absolutely be utilized, or the time and money spent on the Access Management Plan will be wasted, much as we are wasting already spent dollars for the planning and development of the Geneseo building restoration. These issues must be brought back to both Boards for action.

If elected, Bob Wilcox, Sally Wood, and John Zmich will increase the efforts to create economic growth of the type which complements our Town, while doing minimal destruction to our community character and expensive infrastructure. For example, Bob Wilcox has chaired the Town/Village Tourism Committee for several years. This committee has interacted with the Supporters of Main Street, GUMA, the Chamber of Commerce and the College, with resulting increases in earnings for several locally owned businesses, and we are now starting to see some tour busses stopping in our Town.

Geneseo has many talented people in our community whom we plan to tap for serving on committees aimed at marketing the Geneseo we all love as a great place to live with many resources such as our excellent school, the College, and our well-educated citizenry. The Democrats for Geneseo’s Future will seek the kinds of economic growth which will provide our kids the choice to stay here and build careers, not just get temporary or part-time jobs while they look outside our area for meaningful work. Our Empire Zone is an important part of this.

Unfortunately, the current big box proposal for the Gateway District (our designated Empire Zone) will not allow us to take full advantage of the incentives this state program offers for attracting businesses, as it is designed for non-retail uses. The incumbents have not promoted the long-delayed Empire Zone, as it seems they were already committed to large-scale retail in that area.

Our team will work with Village government, which is part of the reason that many Village Trustees support our efforts. Just ask them. Bob Wilcox, Sally Wood, and John Zmich are familiar with the issues. The Democrats for Geneseo’s Future offer specific responses to our needs. We can and will work together openly and fairly. None of us has personal stakes in the issues facing us. Likewise, each of us feel we need to have a change and we are willing to listen and make the hard decisions which will enable us to grow intelligently and with a net gain for the community.