While no longer a trustee, I intend to resume posting entries here pertaining to the upcoming budgeting process, but as a private citizen. Even while the Board and the public continue to wait on a number of salient data points, such as fund balances and accurate end-of-year budget reports, we can use available open-access data to, for example, follow year-to-year trends in salaries and “fringe” benefits that together make up the bulk of village expenses, as well as trends in property tax rates, especially as it relates to this March’s revaluation of property values.
But first: how or why am I no longer a village trustee? I fully expected to complete my term when I ran for office in 2021 as my husband planned to retire from Clarkson University only in 2027. Unfortunately, a major re-organization at Clarkson eliminated the School of Arts and Sciences and with that my husband accepted an early retirement offer. It then became obvious that we needed to downsize: it makes no sense for 2 people to occupy a house with 5 bedrooms, a large yard and an increasingly long driveway (it seems).
As we began to re-home numerous belongings no longer used or required, Marie Kondo style, I hoped to simultaneously continue analyzing village budget reports to prepare for this year’s budget negotiations. But as village staff have been unusually busy with the very successful pursuit of federal and state funding for various high-profile projects, it became apparent that my efforts to obtain the minutiae of past and current expenses and revenues were placing excessive strain on staff. In time, perhaps, accurate and complete end-of-year budget reports will be released to the Board, the public and New York’s Office of the State Comptroller, or perhaps staff will wait for a future external audit firm to supply those numbers, but either way, I will have too little time for the nitty-gritty analyses that could have helped in the design of the next budget. And therefore I retired from my position a bit early.
As stated in NCN, it has been an unparalleled honor and privilege to serve as your elected representative on the village board! I will treasure that experience for the rest of my life: learning the brilliant design of representative democracy with its innate self-regulation of checks and balances. So too, I learned to treasure New York’s generous open access laws and the amazing, effective support for elected officials from NYCOM and NYOSC. To those who might also seek public office, know that as a new, “green” representative, you will receive as much assistance and support as you could possibly hope for: online classes, in-person meetings, free-access manuals, CPAs and legal counsel available 8-5 every weekday via NYCOM and NYOSC and much, much more. Please consider running for the two empty trustee positions next November, and bring your energy to bear on the direction the village moves!
Till next time, your friend,
Monique
Local Government Matters 