Are Capraro and Augustine Good for Geneva? Have a Listen

In our monthly WGVA radio interviews, we field questions from host Ted Baker about Geneva City Council business and other government issues. We also discuss stories posted here on the blog. Our year-end interview (December 21, 2007) concluded with some reflections from Ted on our appearances. He said that we brought listeners a diversity of opinion, not only our own, but those of community members who came on to-air to respond to us. There hadn’t been such in depth radio coverage of city issues before we stepped forward and Ted said “the city is better for it.” Click here to listen.

We consider this high praise and appreciate Ted’s perspective. The appearances will continue through 2008, even though Capraro indicated that he will likely be filling a different role in commenting on city issues.

There was a lot of ground covered in the December 21 interview, including Unshackle Upstate’s proposal to improve the state’s business environment by using state tax dollars to reimburse businesses for the local property taxes they pay. The discussion went far beyond our post on the topic. In exploring connections between property tax reform and economic development, we advocate for the reduction of property taxes across the board, rather than deals for special interests, so that all tax payers benefit and the overall tax climate is improved.

There is also an update on the follow up to the November 6 election, which, as things stand, has Capraro behind by nine votes. (Click here to listen) To date, Ontario County Election Commissioners have refused to respond to three key requests: (1) to allow the malfunctioning machine that was taken out of service by a custodian to be inspected and tested by an expert in lever machine mechanics; (2) to explain the discrepancies in reported election results on the Board website and in the newspaper; (3) to explain the circumstances that prevented election officials from offering emergency ballots to voters on the malfunctioning machine, even after it was taken out of service. Capraro notes the irony that an election fought on the issue of open government might be lost based on issues of oversight and ‘closing of ranks.’

When you listen to the interview, you will also hear discussion of the City Manager search and the state of open government in the City. We ask that Mayor-elect Einstein’s call for community based participation in the search will be respected. We are cautiously optimistic about the new Council taking office on January 1, 2008. We note the many strengths of Mayor-elect Einstein, but express concern about voting patterns on council that might hinder his attempts to make city government truly open and honest.

We’ve enjoyed these appearances and thank Ted Baker and WGVA for allowing us the opportunity to share our fact-based point of view. As we point out, our goal is not to get everyone to agree, it’s to get everyone talking seriously and honestly about city government--no hiding, no double speak. That’s what accountability is all about.