Published: April 07, 2009 11:03 pm      

Mayor John Nader's 2009 State of the City Address

This is my 4th State of the City address. In preparation I took some time to look back over the past three in search of recurring themes, key points, places where our efforts have been successful and other instances in which these efforts have left much to be desired.



In each case, I summarized a list of the city’s accomplishments and achievements in recent years. These are real tangible benefits that this community has received and from which its citizens will benefit for years to come. In each case, I spent time lauding the good work of our city staff and praising our success in obtaining state and federal support for our programs.



There is an old Russian phrase that says “every person sees the world from the bell tower of their own village.” But it is only looking beyond our community that we can effectively gauge our success, our challenges and our opportunities.



At the most recent New York Conference of Mayors meetings, I visited with numerous state and local officials. Some officials comment on our financial stability. Others commend our effective use of grant funds. Another commented on our comprehensive plan which his city is using as a guide in developing a plan of its own.



Our parks have received local acclaim, our transit and purchasing operations have received state-wide recognition, one of our economic development projects was lauded in a state of the state address. Our energy and environmental initiatives, although still in need of greater attention, have received recognition. Our bond rating could be the envy of many, many municipalities, states and corporations.



Our city is financially stable, credit worthy and well served by its staff. In fact, I preparing these remarks, I was reminded by our city assessor that our present tax rate (the rate that we use to levy taxes per thousand) is lower than it was in 2002.



But I will not spend much more time tonight in recounting or reflecting on the city’s past achievements, although many of us could surely do so. While we are relatively well positioned to cope with the potentially difficult times, we had best be clear about the magnitude of the tasks ahead.



The pressing needs of the coming weeks and months and years require more attention.



Our fiscal position, the relative strength of our institutions and our solid reputation with state and federal officials position us for a bright future even as we confront some near term problems. As the call for change and a renewed vigor on the part of the federal government has surfaced, we have been in persistent contact with state and federal offices pressing our case and reminding our legislators of how prudent and efficient we have been.



These efforts may have paid off most recently with the state budget commitment to current levels of Aid and Incentive for Municipalities funding through the 2010-2011 fiscal year. In addition, today Congressman Arcuri visited to announce an award of $400,000 for a joint Otsego County-City of Oneonta public safety communications proposal



We, nonetheless, have a pressing need to prioritize, focus and complete some key initiatives. We will do so under much more difficult circumstances than we have seen in some time.



In 2006 I cautioned about the inevitable economic fluctuations that affect all cities. In early 2008 I cautioned about the prospects of a slowing economy. In 2009 and beyond we may face a significant fall in some of our revenues. We will, however, face no slackening in the requests for service, in the need for infrastructural improvements, or the requests to assist in promoting the local economy. We will need to honor the most pressing of these, including the need to reconstruct and renovate Bugbee Road.



In essence, the current environment poses the risk that change will become a problem instead of an opportunity.



On several key issues we need to make every effort to capture the opportunities presented to us to better secure our city’s future.



First, we need to take steps soon to fill the downtown developer position. After years of strong demand for downtown space and success in attracting or investing millions of dollars (yes, millions!) for local development projects, our efforts have lagged since at least mid 2008. Since that time the economy has weakened significantly.



We have to move forward. We have had more than enough time to review options. The retail climate has never been more challenging. Fortunately, we have available to us the services of the Otsego County Economic Development Office. In the last three years we have forged an unprecedented partnership with that office. On Main Street, in tourist promotion, in exploring options for the Oneonta Theatre and in submitting funding applications the city and county economic development efforts have been tightly joined. We should act promptly to formalize this comprehensive relationship.



Please know that the city and county work together on a nearly daily basis on development issues. There is now an unprecedented level of cooperation between the city and county on this topic. We should build on this foundation.



Allow me a brief interlude to reflect on the longer history of Oneonta’s downtown.

There was no recent time when people did not wring their hands or despair over the future of our downtown, and the downtowns of similar upstate communities. That is understandable. So a little perspective is in order. SUNY Oneonta professor Alex Thomas has studied carefully the downtown of small cities in upstate NY. Using directories, census data and other sources he made some rather interesting observations. First, the number of establishments in Oneonta downtown in 2005 exceeded by over forty the number that existed in 1955. Further, the population of the greater Oneonta area (Oneonta-town and city, Davenport, Otego, Franklin, Milford, and Laurens) actually grew by 6500 people from 1950 to 2000, although that number has receded in recent years.



Now we should quickly add that the mix of businesses and institutions has significantly changed and basic retail has experienced a dramatic decline. However, specialty retail and entertainment as well as general services have helped fill the place formerly held by retail establishments.



The mix and range of restaurants and cafes clearly dwarfs that which may have existed in earlier years.



Secondly, we should continue to build on the foundation established by our centennial committee. The events and activities they organized should, to the extent possible, be sustained. Main Street Oneonta has already stepped forward to support the Taste of Oneonta event last month. Oneonta World of Learning is a willing partner in the ice cream social. There is also keen interest in some of the other events that made our centennial year a special one. Efforts are already underway to hold a second balloon fest. Further, UCCCA has stepped forward to sustain the City of Hills Arts Festival.



As a final addendum to the special events of 2008, I am pleased to report that Oneonta’s Lions Club will be placing the old historic town clock in the arcade or walkway between Main Street and the parking garage and the centennial committee will be placing the murals and artwork done by local students in this same space.



I urge, going forward, that we capitalize on the great work of the centennial committee in creating events that our community prizes by forming an events task force. We should work with and help fund such a group to make possible the downtown and other events that put feet on the street and patrons in our shops and cafes.



In conjunction with this, we need to do better at continuing to clean and beautify our Main Street and environs. This is everybody’s responsibility. Last week I had a letter delivered to downtown property owners reminding them of the importance of clean, attractive streets and store fronts to our commercial success.



Beyond this, we need to take continued steps to bring the Bresee project closer to fruition. To be sure, we have been at work on this for two full years. We have moved from an unsafe building declaration against an unresponsive property owner to building stabilization. We have secured about $2 million in funding, we are working on a parking plan that will make Wall Street a real asset to the people who choose to live and work in our downtown. I hasten to add that in order to demonstrate progress we need to take specific steps and so, nearly a year later than I expected, we hope to be working with Otsego County Development Corporation and the preferred developer to remove the aged façade this summer. A proposal to undertake the needed engineering and abatement work is presently being reviewed by the OCDC to determine the feasibility of façade removal.



In the near term, we have been invited to submit an application seeking Round III of Restore NY funds for this project. If successful, this will allow us to address building rehabilitation, the redevelopment of Wall Street, and various the public sector aspects of the project. These include parking, traffic flow, and connecting the Bresee project to any future Huntington Library expansion or restoration.



This project underscores the importance of getting vacant or troubled properties into the right hands. It has involved extensive intergovernmental cooperation from city, county and state offices. It requires patience, capitalizing on our good reputation, and a willing to make investments for the long term benefit of the city.



Although we have worked effectively with parts of our downtown, we have been remiss in sustaining some of our earlier progress on matters on energy conservation and environmental sensibility. These efforts seem to have stalled a bit with the economy. We simply must do better.



A realistic view of our progress is in order. We are at times trying simultaneously to move forward on many projects. Inevitably some of this effort is diffused when we undertake so many projects at once. In the last week alone the Community Development Office has been at work on our Small Cities grant application, a Restore New York grant, the Veterans’ Memorial Walkway, meetings on the future of the Oneonta Theater, federal and state appropriations and more. This does not include any of the pending infrastructural work directed by that office.



In light of this, two key issues receive little public comment, but require our attention. First is the matter of organizational structure. Retirements mean the loss of skilled and dedicated professionals; but they are also an opportune time to embrace new options. We should use the time we have before the next wave of retirements to review the city’s organizational structure. We have filled two vacancies—in personnel and in transit, with outstanding new people who have already contributed in important ways.



The city needs a professional to oversee the totality of its public service functions: code enforcement, public works, water and wastewater and engineering. I have said this before and will say so again.



The environmental, infrastructural and financial challenges faced by our city in the 21st century will best be served by this structural change. We should, to the best of our ability move to implement this or some similar organizational change soon. It is an investment that would help us better meet our infrastructural and public service goals.



The changes we need to better serve our community extend beyond a healthy review and restructuring of our functional areas.



It is long past time to review, revise and rewrite our city charter.



Simply put the document is dated in too many ways, unclear or contradictory in others; its lines of accountability are unrealistic, the duties of some elected officials are obscure at best, it establishes a chief executive position without sufficiently empowering the office and is certainly not adequate to the needs of a modern, progressive city.



The document is largely a vestige of the early 20th century and includes references to an era long since past. Now that we have celebrated our centennial, let’s turn our attention to making the charter of city government responsive and consistent with the need for government to be nimble, efficient and transparent. This will better enable us to interact even more effectively with the other levels of government that are so important to the success of our community.



Therefore, consistent with NYS Home Rule Law I intend, with your involvement, to establish a charter revision commission.



“A good charter should provide a clear distribution of the powers of city government and a clear description of the duties and powers of municipal officials.” The commission should be asked to review the entire charter and prepare a new or significantly revised charter. Our current charter is both too detailed and too ambiguous. It has diffused authority among numerous entities without sufficiently empowering those who assume day to day responsibility for public affairs and public policy.



City officials have attempted this without success in both the early 1960s and the later 1970s. I have taken the time to read the minutes from the commission that worked in the late 1970s. Many of those elected and appointed officials who spoke before the commission agreed that the present structure was more likely to restrain prompt and timely action in the public interest than to facilitate such action.



By and large, our citizens receive good value for the taxes paid and our quality of life remains high. This has long been true. The current environment, however, should prompt us to look to the future. This is true of many institutions and it should be no less true of the city. Real transformations are at work. We see this daily in government, in health care, in higher education, in some neighborhoods, and in the rapidly changing economic environment, especially including the retail environment. We are not immune from these trends. Even an economic recovery by itself will not return us to a comfortable place from the past.



The organizational structure of city government needs to be adjusted so that we as a community can better serve our citizens and our posterity.



We are fortunate that our city continues to attract the attention of potential investors and visitors. The enrollment at our local colleges remains strong. Some local entrepreneurs have chosen to expand, even in this difficult environment. Some of us, perhaps, are not fully aware of the frequency with which we continue to receive serious inquiries about retail and commercial space. Home prices here have not experienced the devastating trend that we see in other parts of the county.



However, the issues raised by student housing and some seasonal rentals continue to be matters of concern for our year round residents.



The Zoning Task Force led by our Intergovernmental Affairs Committee reflects our commitment to pursuing the vision outlined in the 2007 Comprehensive Plan. The Task Force needs to move with all deliberate speed. The need to strike a balance between the needs of our year round residents and those of students and visitors could not be more obvious and has never been more important. This will be the first truly professional, community based and systematic reviewing in decades.



In the year past we have been engaged in an extensive dialog with college students that will continue with the goal of improving relations within our neighborhoods and between neighbors and students. More will need to be done.



But I would be less than honest if I did not add that I have a times been troubled by the tone of some of the dissent and discussion around the issues raised by students and tourists. Discord and distrust are not the same as debate and dialogue. If we distrust the people with whom we differ, we share geography, but not community.



Oneonta needs to convene a ongoing community dialog to engage our students, our landlords and our permanent residents in a honest discussion of the issues that face a community that is fortunate enough to enjoy the advantages of retaining two vibrant colleges, a tourist trade, high quality residential neighborhoods and a robust civic life.



For all of our residents, quality of life is our greatest asset—socially and economically. It must be nurtured with the full understanding that those very institutions that make Oneonta so vital bring new people to our community each and every day. Striking the appropriate balance between our desirability as a destination and our desire to remain a community of contiguous, coherent neighborhoods remains a real challenge, but not our only one.



Narrow agendas that do not recognize Oneonta’s potential as a destination will only subject us to broader trends which may not favor those smaller cities that cannot distinguish themselves. At the same time we cannot compromise the quality of life that drew or kept so many of us here.



If we cannot agree on some version of an agenda that maintains financial stability, preserves neighborhood integrity, improves our downtown and strengthens our energy and environmental sensitivity, I will venture to say that we cannot progress beyond narrow, individual agendas. Beyond this, we must begin to establish the institutional foundation that will make city government better able enact an agenda of sustained community improvement.



I, for one, will pledge here and now to work even harder with you toward this goal of making Oneonta an even better place.