Leo Lutwak Memorial Tree, Four Years On

Tweet

Primary Colors

Another primary day has come and gone. I did far better (3 for 3) than in my football picks for the week (damn Jets). As usual, I got to bumble through some commentary prior to the vote. People are all freaked out about the Tea Party wins (remember, people, it's not a party), but I look forward to seeing the GOP eat its tail through until November 2.

BTW, turnout for Dems in the county was around 4 percent, which is horrendous, even for us.

LATER: Got that 4% from an incorrect IJ post. More like 20%, which is typical.

Tweet

Required Reading

Larry Bartels in Slate on income inequality. Startling.

In all income categories except the 95th percentile, income growth rates under Democratic presidents exceeded income growth rates under Republican ones. That suggests greater income equality can coexist with (or even help create) greater prosperity.

Tweet

Labor Day

Here's a nice Labor Day story, complete with spunky heroine and evil exploiter of undocumented workers. And it's true!

Tweet

County Budget

A bunch of folks attended last night's presentation on the county budget at Dryden's Community Center Cafe. The presentation was coherent, thorough, and very depressing. Although county taxes are a drop in the bucket when it comes to our total package of property taxes, they are symptomatic of the whole--no state support + runaway state mandates = disaster. The major budget drivers are pension costs, health benefits (somewhat alleviated by the county's joining of a municipal consortium), fringe benefits, temporary assistance (welfare, aid to dependent children, etc.), and Medicaid. Pension rates alone are projected to leap from 11.5 percent of payroll in 2010 to 16.1 percent in 2011.

I was surprised to see exactly what are considered discretionary programs (and therefore those that are most likely to be cut, although they make up just a small portion of the pie): emergency response, road patrol, facilities and road maintenance, public library, mental health, youth services, IT, office for the aging, and agencies. This doesn't bode well.

There was a small crowd there to advocate for a couple of youth services, particularly one that delivers services to the trailer parks of Dryden. There was a small "no new taxes" crowd, which included the guy who is running against Barbara Lifton for State Assembly. The rest of us just felt generally defeated and glad we weren't on the budget committee.

A rollover of services would raise the levy more than 10 percent, to $6.70 per $1000 assessed value. (For perspective, our school rate is somewhat over $20/$1000, depending where you live.) The budget the county administrator will present is one that raises the levy 5 percent. No doubt that will not stand.

LATER: Simon has additional details.

Tweet

Reunion

We hosted a mini-reunion for my pals from Cornell, including the Chair of Interpol's environmental crime committee, a woodworking artist specializing in hand tooled Japanese shoji, and the next ambassador to Pakistan. We hit the high spots--campus, the Farmers' Market, Taughannock, the Rongo. . . . Much food, drink, and cameraderie.

Tweet

Trip to Ohio

Zac Brown Concert, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Browns preseason game--all the highlights.

Tweet