The incumbent candidates in this year’s Brockport Village election are running on the Revitalize Brockport party line.
Mayor Margay Blackman and Trustees Kathy Kristansen and Annie Crane say they would like to continue to get the job done for the village by working together on the issues they care about most – public safety, good infrastructure and neighborhood quality of life.
“We have things we’ve started and want to finish,” Crane says.
“We’re on a roll,” Kristansen observes. “We are working together constructively. We are a team, we can disagree respectfully and be kind to each other.”
“Everybody is hardworking and does their job. That has not always been the case,” Mayor Blackman says of the chemistry of the current village board.
Members of the Revitalize Brockport party say they support projects such as the recent mural installed on the railroad overpass on Main Street. They are also excited about a proposed boat house to facilitate competitive rowing along the Erie Canal in the village.
“Why can’t you have both?” Kristansen asks, regarding cultural related events and improvements and infrastructure maintenance and improvements.
Mayor Blackman says the village works to fund aesthetic projects from outside sources, not tax dollars. “The murals were funded with outside grants,” she said. The village has secured over $1.14 million in grants since 2013, Revitalize candidates say.
Having pride of place is important to a community, they believe, in ways which cannot be put into dollars and cents. “Cutting out aesthetics won’t change the bottom line one penny,” says Trustee Kristansen.
Mayor Blackman says the current board has worked to stay on top of infrastructure issues and to keep taxes stable. The village is sharing public works services with Sweden, Clarkson, Hilton and Spencerport, which results in tax savings. Additional savings are coming from LED lights and plans are to install money saving LEDs for more street and municipal building lighting. Municipal solar is expected to save the village, library and fire district $1.2 million over 25 years, and the village has stayed under the property tax cap for four years, Revitalize candidates say.
Additionally, they are working as a board to have Brockport designated as a Clean Energy Community which would make the village eligible for additional grants. Mayor Blackman says the village has also been a leader in the effort to secure SUNY Impact Aid Assistance for SUNY municipalities. A “Good Neighbor Law” to improve quality of life in village neighborhoods is also in the works.
In regards to proposed nuisance property legislation, Blackman, Kristansen and Crane say they have learned much from feedback acquired through focus groups. Meeting with groups such as landlords has helped leaders to see that annual inspection of properties is unaffordable, for example, Trustee Kristansen says. “I’m glad we approached the table with an open mind and an open ear (regarding the proposed legislation). We learned what their perspective of the (proposed law) is.”
A code review committee is meeting twice each month in a process the candidates say is moving along. “It does not happen overnight,” Kristansen says.
She explains that finishing the Comprehensive Plan, “is right up there,” on the list of priorities, but, “it takes steps to get to that and costs money.”
The village is working with the Town of Sweden, the Heritage Square mixed-use development, and the College at Brockport on a waterfront revitalization planning grant for shared canal frontage. Trustee Kristansen notes the Comprehensive Plan will be part of that planning process.
Candidates explain that town/gown relations are very important. “The college is here to stay,” says Mayor Blackman. “Students are changing,” Trustee Kristansen observes. “We have to keep on top of that, we have to bend.”
A town/gown committee established by the current village board focuses on landlord-tenant relations, alcohol and substance abuse and community outreach.
Public safety is a priority, the Revitalize candidates explain. They note the village is focusing on consistent, fair code enforcement with an enlarged staff, strong community policing, and a fair and impartial Village Court.
In regards to union contracts and benefits. Mayor Blackman says the unions are already contributing more to health care. “With benefits, it’s always an issue,” she explains. “We got our foot in the door with healthcare … (union members) know their contributions have to go up … it must be done subtly, respectfully and firmly.”
Trustee Kristansen says health benefits do need to change, but in respect to the whole picture. “It has to be a compromise,” she says, and adds the village’s Tax Relief Task Force has been investigating what union benefits are costing the village.
Trustee Crane says changes will come when contracts are re-negotiated. “They (union members) are paying more now than before … to go from zero to 25 percent at once could be devastating for families.”
