The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida Wards 1-3 supervisor candidates
The following are answers from the Oneida Supervisor for Wards 1-3candidates to community questions. Each candidate had 700words.
How do you anticipate building a working relationship with the Oneida Indian Nation?
Mary Cavanagh: The Oneida Indian Nation is part of our community and we should continue to respect their culture and work together with them to build our economy. The historic signing of the agreement in 2013between the OIN and the counties has greatly improved our relationship and we need to consider how we can benefit from continuing to work with them. The OIN currently employs nearly 800Oneida City residents and perhaps the recent agreement with the boxing hall of fame will create a spin off that will benefit more. Margaret Milman-Barris: Working relationships already exist between the Oneida Indian Nation, the City of Oneida, and Madison County. The question is, how do we make them better, to best serve the people in these intertwined communities. Honesty and transparency are the starting point. Frequent communication is the next step to strengthening any relationship. Each organization must continue to build trust by following through on their commitments and obligations. And finally, acknowledging the spheres of authority of each body, respecting the inevitable instances where differences arise, and having faith that our interests will realign again in the future. John Reinhardt: Madison County already has a positive working relationship with the Oneida Indian Nation. The channels of communication are open at the senior leadership levels of the Nation and of the county and both entities have been responsive to any questions, concerns, etc. that have arisen.
What would you do to support police and advocacy groups in the fight against the drug epidemic?
Mary Cavanagh: As your supervisor I would encourage all levels of law enforcement in the area and advocacy groups to work together and foster good relations to help fight this growing epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control, 91Americans die every day from opioid overdoses including prescription opioids and heroin. I truly believe “it takes a village to raise a child” and feel we all have a responsibility to help strengthen the vulnerable children and families in our community. We could bring back programs such as DARE for our school-aged children and perhaps introduce mentoring programs such Big Brothers/Sisters to help kids learn life skills and reach their potential outside of the classroom. Margaret Milman-Barris: I met with the head of the Madison County Public Health Department in October to discuss this topic. I discussed the new Oneida Strong group with him, and will continue to look for ways that the county can interface with advocacy groups. I have also met with the directors of local non-profits to hear their perspective on what the community needs. There have been many recent advancements including the formation of the Madison County Opioid Task Force; the Narcan training of local emergency responders, including the Oneida Fire Department; additional funding to the PROS Clinic in Oneida; and chemical dependency programs in the Madison County jail. Some areas of need remain, such as the need for more inpatient addiction treatment centers. We also need to focus on prevention activities among teenagers. Local government and community groups can play a larger role in re-directing teens with alternative activities, and connecting youth to mental health treatment when they need it. I also applaud the City Police and County Sheriff’s office in their fight against illegal drug dealers.
John Reinhardt: Illicit drug use is not going to go away by itself. For medications that are made available by prescriptions, I depend on the continued expertise and foresight by the medical community in prescribing medications, the dosages, and number of prescription refills. Enforcement and punishment for illegal drug use needs to be strengthened and supported by the public to reduce and ultimately eliminate what has become an epidemic. There are opportunities for counseling and drug education which can be and are utilized. I just read an article that suggested opioids are being over-prescribed, and consideration should be given for partial prescriptions with no refills unless and until another prescription is rendered. Further, the DBA should consider requiring that illicit distributors, when apprehended, be publicly named in addition to legal penalties.
How do you plan on addressing the exodus of young people from the region?
Mary Cavanagh: Oneida and the surrounding area is an awesome place to live and raise a family. I’m a lifelong resident of Oneida, raised three children here and they would say the same. Madison County and the Oneida area has a lot to offer with our own hospital/ urgent care/medical providers, great schools with caring and compassionate educators, and great places to gather and hold events such as the Kallet and the Historical Society. The area has several churches, many local shops and businesses, top notch public safety departments, many clubs such as the Elks & Rotary. We have numerous sports programs such as little league and AYSO, programs directed by our parks and recreation department at the city pool and armory for all ages, beautiful golf courses such as Oneida Community, Old Erie, Kanon Valley, and affordable housing including a new facility for seniors. I recently had the pleasure of touring the renovated Oneida YMCA, which has 500of its 4,600members attend the facility daily. The facility is amazing and is a gem in our own backyard boasting several different programs and events for community members of all ages and income levels including school-aged day care. We need to consider marketing all that Oneida and Madison County has to offer and make it easier for businesses to start up and thrive in our community. I had the pleasure of speaking with a young resident and asked him why he decided to stay in the area. He first stated that he loves the community feel and all that Oneida has to offer but did state the only reason he was able to stay here is because of his job he secured at the YMCA. Secure, good paying jobs and affordable living are what ultimately will entice people to stay in the region. Margaret Milman-Barris: If we want young people to stay here, they must have jobs. Jobs can come from expanding existing businesses, bringing new businesses from outside, or local entrepreneurs creating new businesses. The Madison County IDA is a resource not only for bringing businesses into Madison County, but for local entrepreneurs to access business loans and advice. I would like to see more programs here in Oneida to encourage entrepreneurialism in teenagers and young adults, similar to the Young Entrepreneurs Academy at MVCC. Madison County and the City of Oneida have many advantages: a low cost of living, proximity to outdoor recreation, and excellent colleges that bring young people from other areas. But all those advan-
tages are worthless if there are no jobs. Also, if we want young families to be able to stay here, we must improve the affordability and availability of child care. Full-time child care costs roughly $10,000 per child per year, which puts a severe strain on working families. Madison County government can address this situation by contributing county funds to make sure there is never a waiting list for existing DSS child care subsidies; getting other existing state child care subsidy programs to expand into this county; and facilitating networking and financial training opportunities for child care boards of directors, so they can increase their external fundraising and maximize their effectiveness with the money they do have. John Reinhardt: Many of our young people initially leave the region to pursue additional education, but unfortunately they cannot find employment in our region after their education has been completed. In the 50+ years in which our family has lived, grown, and been educated in Madison County, it has been and continues to be overall a good place to live. Addressing the exodus is considerably easier than curing it; however, if by saying “region” we are including portions of Onondaga and Oneida Counties where there are additional employment opportunities, a half hour or so drive is a reasonable commute -- and Madison County is always a pleasure to come home to.
Do you favor or oppose a state constitutional convention and why?
Mary Cavanagh: N.Y. voters are asked every 20 years if they would like to call a convention to make changes or improvements to the state constitution. If approved, delegates would make changes that would then be voted on in 2019. There are a lot of good things that a convention could bring to the table and several problems it could resolve. However, I think Albany and politics would be injected into the process, which could cause some major issues, not to mention cost tax payers’ money that could be used elsewhere. Margaret Milman-Barris: In an ideal world, a constitutional convention would be a good way to “shake out the wrinkles” and accomplish things that are difficult to do by the normal legislative route of Constitutional amendments. This might be a good way to accomplish meaningful ethics reform or end unfunded state mandates to county governments. However, since the Citizens United decision has allowed unlimited money to flow into politics, I do worry that the process would be hijacked by moneyed interests. Therefore, I reluctantly oppose the constitutional convention. Instead, I urge citizens to get more involved in the political process: advocate with your elected officials, find and support new candidates to run for office, or work to increase voter turnout. John Reinhardt: I oppose it. When held, State constitutional conventions convene in 20-year intervals. It is the voters who determine whether a Constitutional Convention should be held. In the alternative, the state’s legislature has the power to propose Constitutional amendments literally at any time they are in session. However, it has been reported that a Constitutional Convention could cost $50million to $108 million (Syracuse Post-Standard October 29, 2017). In contrast, by effecting Constitutional amendments legislatively there should be no additional cost in that the Legislature is already in place. Further, if a Legislative amendment was approved and was later determined by a subsequent Legislature that it should not have been or it needed correction, we would not have to wait 20years for the next Constitutional Convention to make that adjustment.
What experience do you have with multimillion dollar budgets?
Mary Cavanagh: The county budget is currently $130million, and the city’s is almost $18million. Approximately 92percent of county funds are mandated by the state, which leaves 8percent for the county to manage. I have experience with budgets in my current HR role and I would handle the county budget the same way I do my own household budget. It’s simple, I don’t spend what I cannot afford, which was sometimes hard with three children involved in many different activities. We need to be sensible with our spending and as your Supervisor for Wards 1,2, & 3I will be fiscally responsible while meeting the needs of all the residents. Margaret Milman-Barris: My career is as a geologist at FPM Remediations here in Oneida. Right now I manage work on one project that has a $1.3million budget, and manage a $439,000 portion of another $10.1 million project, on contracts with the Federal government. In addition, I am the treasurer at Celebration Children’s Center, which has roughly a $500,000annual budget. I have experience in bidding work, evaluating bids, creating cost estimates, and working collaboratively with other people to come up with budgets. John Reinhardt: My 36 years experience in the banking industry has given me the opportunity to work with clients and business firms which had million dollar and multi-million dollar budgets. More recently, my ten years serving as Chairman of the Finance, Ways and Means, Committee of the Madison County Board of Supervisors has given me the hands-on experience to plan, review, and periodically modify the annual multimillion dollar budgets for Madison County.