Should He Who Pays the Piper Call the Tune--In a Democracy?

Earmarks are tough. No one seems to support them until they are on the receiving end of one. But, even then, are they always a good thing?

The Finger Lakes Times carried an outline of Senator Nozzolio’s latest earmarks for projects in and around the City of Geneva. What’s been dubbed the “21st Century Geneva Initiative” will have five major components:

$10 million: grape genetics facility at the Ag Tech Park.
$4 million: grape crushing facility at the Ag Tech Park for area winemakers.
$5 million: Chamber of Commerce building and visitor’s center on the lakefront.
$1.7 million: Geneva Community Center, already underway in the Town.
$6 million: FLCC extension center, downtown.

The announcements were received by most as good news. Depending on your point of view, some, maybe even all, of the projects are worthwhile. That’s not our point here. What concerns us is how such earmarks can interfere with local government and community-based planning efforts. They make some sense, and are consistent with open and accountable democratic government, if a deliberative process has been completed by a legitimate and appropriate body, and all that’s lacking is funding.

It is safe to say there is consensus that the wine and grape industry are critical to our region’s economic future. Whether it be wine-related tourism or world-class research, people agree on that. We’ve long supported the grape genetics facility, and we have supported the federal legislation that would provide the bulk of the funding. If the influx of state money can help bring that project home, so much the better. Combined with the grape crushing facility, it’s an exciting, and sensible, economic development project for the region. We give funding for those two projects an enthusiastic thumbs up!

The Community Center, an ambitious, altruistic project launched by the Boys and Girls Club also makes sense. It is well underway, and while it has it has its critics, there’s been a planning process and an approval process with a broad base. It’s a win-win for the City and the Town, and money from the state dovetails nicely with the local fundraising efforts that have been undertaken.

As for a lakefront visitor’s center and Chamber building on the lakefront, that’s another story. We’re in the midst of a community based planning process sponsored by the Geneva City Council, and the Geneva Arts Development Council has a similar effort under way, exploring connections between the arts downtown and the lakefront as an art venue. So a visitor’s center should be examined in the context of the current lakefront planning. Same with a Chamber building, with its location long debated.

If Nozzolio is simply saying “when you figure out what is best suited for your needs, the money’s here” then that’s great; but if he is saying “the Chamber of Commerce will remain on the lakefront and this is your money to add a visitor’s center” then that is not okay. A land use plan for the lakefront is exactly what is being developed through the community visioning process, and it should not be preempted by any one person, no matter how much pull he has in Albany.

We are even more concerned about his plan to replace the FLCC extension center at Pulteney and Middle streets (the former Geneva Middle School) with a new center in downtown. This proposal is a “blast from the past.” Previous interest in building a facility downtown met with fierce local opposition. Augustine was part of that opposition and we believe that the arguments against such a move still hold.

First of all, we remind our readers that Geneva’s tax rate is too high. And at least one reason that the rate is so high is because over 50% of Geneva’s property is tax-exempt. So, tax exempt building projects can’t really be called ‘problem-solving’ projects.

Second, Geneva has very little land available for new development. Therefore, we must be seeking the highest and best use for each parcel under consideration. Calculating the ‘highest and best use’ is somewhat subjective, but it is a combination of catalytic factors for stimulating the local economy. If the community did not already have a community college extension center, we might think differently about this. But the extension center would not be new, merely relocated, and that doesn’t justify taking a broad swath of downtown land for a tax-exempt building.

If our downtown were a vast wasteland of open space, with no prospect of private investment, we’d consider the college extension center a reasonable proposal. But history, current trends, and the market potential show that downtown is a place where real expansion, using private dollars and generating taxable, value-added properties is Geneva’s reality. So we shouldn’t jump on the ‘save us with a large public facility’ bandwagon too quickly.

And speaking of the existing extension center, that brings us to our last argument against putting $12 million of our tax dollars (state and county) into a new building. Another thing Geneva should avoid (besides more tax exempt properties) is creating more ‘white elephant’ buildings. Neighbors surrounding the former Middle School fought hard for an acceptable reuse of that property. Apart from FLCC, the prospects were quite dim. Years of marketing, community meetings, and petitioning from the neighborhood watch group led to the current arrangement. The building has been tax-exempt from its construction, and has been an academic facility for just as long, so a tax-exempt academic use (like a community college) seems the perfect fit. In addition, student (and some business) concerns about parking, made the Pulteney Street facility ideal.

That leads to perhaps the most glaring part of this proposal--the lack of community input. Clearly, some members of the community seem to be aware of this plan, but not all members of city council were briefed and the users and neighbors of the current facility were not consulted. Senator Nozzolio references a meeting in February, which Augustine attended. The ‘meeting’ was actually a luncheon, attended by Town and City officials as well as local Republican party committee members. Hobart and William Smith Colleges President Mark Gearan was present, but the FLCC President was not. In passing, a reference was made to “increasing the Colleges’ presence in downtown.” Augustine hoped this meant that HWS would rent some downtown storefront space for college merchandise or lease some upper-floors housing. Nozzolio also spoke about coordinated programming between Cayuga Community College and the Auburn community. But at no time did anyone even remotely suggest relocating the extension center. If we’ve learned anything from the past few years, it’s that government decision-making needs to be community decision-making.

So, we wish Nozzolio godspeed in pursuing funding for the first few projects. They reflect an appreciation of the local decision-making process and the community’s needs. But we hope Senator Nozzolio can appreciate the role of the average citizen in evaluating the FLCC and lakefront proposals.