With the decision by Village of Owego Trustees Eric Jantz and Karl Yetter, two open seats will be up for village voters to fill on March 18, along with one incumbent race. Note that the election is Wednesday, as the election was moved from the traditional Tuesday because of St. Patrick’s Day.
Two hot button issues spark the interest of village residents – and taxpayers – like no others. Those are the Fire Department and Police Department. The Candidates running in the three races are all unanimous on the Fire Department, praising the amount of work and training members have put in to meet and exceed state regulations following the tragic line-of-duty death of Matthew Porcari two years ago.
It’s the fate of the Owego Police Department (OPD) that’s the touchstone for this election season.
For one candidate running on the Rebuild Owego Party, it was the moves by the ascendant A+ Change Party to limit OPD hiring that led to her decision to run. Phoebe Morris already served a two-year stint on the board following the 2011 flood. Morris said that when the majority A+ Change party members currently on the Board of Trustees voted against hiring the two officers already included in last year’s budget, she had to run to support OPD.
“We should stop persecuting the Owego Police Department,” Morris said, “what caused me to put my hat in the ring again was when they didn’t hire the two officers last fall.”
Chief Karen Vinti had requested funding to hire two officers to fill vacant positions on her force, bringing her to eight full-time officers. The village passed a budget that included the hiring, but Trustees Earl Hartman, Steve May, and Ann Lockwood later voted against the actual hiring. Without a clear majority, the officers were not hired.
Lockwood is running for re-election to her 3rd Ward seat against Rebuild Owego’s Jenny Ceccherelli. Lockwood is a member of the Village Public Safety Committee, and is knowledgeable about the law enforcement options, which are available for Owego. While it is technically impossible to completely disband OPD without changing the village charter, it could be reduced to just one position – the Chief of Police. That’s the extreme option on the cut side.
Should the department be gutted, the village would be left with a couple options. One would be to leave things at the coverage already provided by the Tioga County Sheriff Department and New York State Police, without OPD. A second option would be to contract with the Sheriff’s Department for dedicated coverage in the village. If that option would be chosen, Lockwood says that a rough framework for how it would work has been hashed out.
Deputies would work three shifts in Owego, one on first and third and two during the second, with the Sheriff hiring six deputies. Lockwood would favor a ten-year contract with the Sheriff, but currently a five-year contract is on the table. Lockwood said there would be daily reports to the village mayor, and a substation established in Owego. That would cost the Village of Owego $651,000 a year, according to Lockwood.
Morris acknowledges it’s hard to balance ideals with what’s practical, but she’s in favor of hiring the two officers, which were turned down last year.
“What we had was working,” Morris said, noting that the two officers would have been replacements for officers leaving OPD. She fears the decision to pass on the hires has put Vinti’s force below a safe level of protection. If two officers were hired, that would be the extreme of the pro-OPD side, and cost approximately $1,300,000 a year.
Morris is running against long-time business owner Lisa Curatolo for the vacated 1st Ward seat of Jantz. Curatolo would explore options for what level of policing is appropriate for Owego, including adding more officers if appropriate, as well as whether a new arrangement with the Sheriff might be the answer – “if they can provide equal or better service at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
Ceccherelli criticized the rancor over the OPD issue, which has infected the campaign, and said she would like to usher in a return to civil discourse. She points out that the budget is carefully crafted to meet the needs of the village, and that taxpayers have already paid for the two officers the board passed on last Fall.
Ceccherelli’s answer to increasing taxes is economic growth in Owego, and sees the police department as something that helps attract businesses and homebuyers. And with enough growth, Ceccherelli said tax revenue would rise, and could lead to a cut in property taxes.
Rob Manville is facing Jaque Millar for the 2nd Ward seat being vacated by Yetter. Manville said repeatedly nobody is talking about dissolving OPD, only that he and A+ Change party candidates want to look at options for the village going forward. It all comes down to how to pay for everything.
“After the flood, the tax base receded, and if nothing changes taxes will be going up,” Manville said. He said if elected he would look at village budget items, and how best to reduce costs “where it makes sense.”
Voting will take place from noon to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at the Village Fire Station #1 located at the corner of North Avenue and Temple Street in Owego. Jacque Millar could not be reached for comment.
