If, by consolidation, you mean the elimination of municipalities, villages and towns with everyone employed by the county and reporting to the County Executive: well then, I am against consolidation. I have never been a fan of big government.
If, by consolidation, you mean reorganization so that services are delivered effectively and efficiently to the taxpayers by the smallest possible organization (village/town/city/county), then I am for consolidation.
If, by consolidation, you mean the County Executive and leadership devise a plan without consulting those municipalities impacted and the result is more county employees, then I’m against consolidation.
If, by consolidation, you mean taxpayer initiated dissolution actions that are decided at the ballot box by the very taxpayers affected, then I am for consolidation.
If you have read my opinion and critique of County Executive Fiala’s poorly thought out ‘Metro police force’ plan, then you know that it is a prime example of a bad consolidation idea.
In the same article I made reference to and provided a link to a consolidation that started with the taxpayers themselves and resulted in 2 professional police forces joining together to become more efficient and effective, a good plan involving town Town of Clay, New York.
I have been the President and Vice President of the Council of Governments, where I have been a leader in developing shared services initiatives. As a group, the town and village leadership have found ways to ‘consolidate’ efforts to better serve our constituents. Sometime it is the county that has the best, most efficient way to deliver a service. A prime example is tax bills and tax collection. The county is best positioned to perform this function efficiently. But if a better system comes along, more accurate and less cost, we should go to it. A big problem with governments as they become larger is that they become more bureaucratic, less efficient and less effective. They start to think they are more important that the taxpayer. They start to be removed and lack a connection to the taxpayer. That’s a recipe for waste.

Right-sizing the County:

I believe that services should be delivered to taxpayers at the lowest possible cost consistent with a level of quality we can afford and, most importantly, by the persons or entity closest to the end-user. The only solution proposed by the current administration is to eliminate people and services closest to the eventual customer and move responsibility for those services to a bigger entity. My idea is to deliver a quality service by putting the resources where they are closest to the taxpayer. Highway departments belong in the towns where they know every inch of the land. Tax collection and parcel mapping belongs at the County where information can be central and shared. Are there cases of overlapping services….yes. Are there examples of towns and villages sharing services… yes. Shared service agreements between towns and villages have saved County taxpayers millions of dollars. Better service, closest to the customer, lowest cost.
Should some jurisdictions dissolve? Yes, if that is the will of the voters.
The current County Executive believes, consolidation is the only solution. Then let’s dissolve every town and village, even the city of Binghamton and have 1 large County government run everything. Then when you have a problem, question or concern, instead of calling a Town councilperson or Supervisor who might be your neighbor, you can call someone in the County government in Binghamton. I think your local representative is likely to be more responsive because they will have a more intimate knowledge of their region.
I challenge County Executive Fiala to prove that dissolving and consolidating the Towns of Lisle, Triangle, Maine, Nanticoke and Barker saves money. I challenge the assumption that consolidation such as this better serves the residents and taxpayers. How would the residents of Fenton and Colesville feel if they have a problem and their only recourse is to call someone at the County office building?
I believe that there is an essential role for the county and that there are services that the county can/should be able to deliver more effectively and efficiently than anyone else. I also believe that a bigger county government does NOT guarantee more effective and efficient services. For County Executive Fiala to propose the elimination of municipalities by consolidation and promote the growth of county government (‘metro police’) is a mistake. We have to explore all options.

Thank you for visiting my website and for reading my view of this topic. I hope that you see the difference in my beliefs and approach from Ms. Fiala’s administration. Won’t you help me get the word out to others? Will you put a lawn sign in your yard or would you like some information cards about my campaign mailed to you? And most importantly, please send a donation so that I can continue our fight. Please see the HOW TO HELP page for more information on how to support my campaign.Thank you.