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Two vie for top spot in Spencerport
Greece police chief, incumbent both seek mayoral seat Incumbent Mayor Theodore "Ted" Walker will be challenged by Town of Greece Police Chief Merritt Rahn for the mayoral position with the Village of Spencerport. The election will take place March 15. Two trustee seats will also be on the ballot. Incumbent Ted Rauber and political newcomer John Marello are the candidates. Merritt Rahn Rahn fears that because of skyrocketing taxes the village has seen in recent years, taxpayers on fixed incomes will be priced out of the village. "Projects like the road improvements and upgrades to the sewer plant didn't come about over night," Rahn said. "Projects of this magnitude call for long term planning. My hope is that these projects haven't gone too far and that there will still be an opportunity to look for alternatives to complete the projects without doubling or tripling the taxes." Searching for grant funding should be a priority when a municipality is faced with major projects, Rahn said. A village resident for 26 years, Rahn served previously as the Ogden chief of police and currently works as the Town of Greece Police Chief. "In my present position I deal with politicians and I know how the system works," he said. Rahn also oversees a department with a budget of more than $12 million. The department's budget, overall, has gone up, Rahn said, in areas such as contract negotiations and mandates, but in the areas in which he has control he has reduced spending and increased income. "I handle the department efficiently and am always looking for a better, less expensive way to do things," he said. As a cost saving measure, Rahn said that Spencerport should have joined forces with the many other municipalities who formed a fund to pool money for worker's compensation. "When it comes to taxpayer money, it's not ours to spend - it's ours as elected officials - to use wisely. Spencerport has an elderly community and we should be looking for ways to help people out, not continually raise taxes," he said. Other than trying to think outside the box and look for ways to reduce expenses, Rahn said he doesn't have any agenda in his bid for the mayor's seat. "I truly believe in my heart that I have to do this and that if elected I can make a difference," he said. "I will look for ways to save money and I can guarantee that whatever I do will be at a lot less of a cost to the citizens of this community." As do many other elected officials, Rahn holds down a full time job. He says he has the advantage of having flexible hours. "I live in the village and am available 24 hours a day," he said. Employee recognition is also another aspect of the job that, if elected, Rahn wants to implement. "There are many honest, hard working people employed with the village and we need to recognize their efforts," he said. The people who are in office now are doing a good job, Rahn said. "I believe they have tried their hardest to do what they feel is right for Spencerport and I know they have good intentions but some of those intentions are misguided - they lack the experience and knowledge necessary to run an efficient village," he said. "Not enough is being done right now to reduce taxes." Rahn is running under the Party for Responsible Action. He and his wife, Marilyn, have three children. Ted Walker "I first became involved in village politics as a way to give back to the community," he said. "There have just been so many things going on that the position has kept my interest all these years." Walker is proud of his accomplishments during his time in office. "We are continually improving the quality of life in the village in a variety of ways - from park development to street light improvements to the Day of Caring and Make a Difference Day," he said. The village, Walker said, has a very close working relationship with the towns of Ogden, Parma and Greece and has worked on joint projects and sharing of services with Ogden. Tax and fee stabilization are other accomplishments in which Walker says he takes pride. "We started a fire department consolidation a few years ago. With the ever increasing costs of providing fire protection, it made sense to the village and fire commissioners to combine services," he said. "The move offered better fire protection and a larger financial base to draw from." Switching the village's water system to a long term lease situation with Monroe County Water Authority helped save out of pocket costs for residents, he said. "Prior to switching it looked like village water rates were going to continue to go up because of expenditures for improvements to the system," Walker said. "Turning the water over to Monroe County was the best option." The village's tax rate increased a bit because of the change but the fees for water went down, offsetting the increase, he said. Upgrading the village's sewer treatment plant is also under study. The village is also involved in an equipment replacement program with the department of public works and the electric franchise. "We have a schedule set up for equipment replacement that allows us to balance payments of new equipment fairly equally every tax year," he said. "We don't get hit hard in any one year. This program helps us stabilize the tax rates." Long term planning is one of the things of which Walker is most proud. "We're always looking at the community as a whole and we're following the master plan we developed," he said. All of the streets within the village are on a schedule as part of a village wide improvement program. "We went through and assessed the condition of every street in the village and put together a master plan for the maintenance or replacement of every street," he said. "The goal is to improve streets continually." The village's electric franchise continues to provide revenue and has not resulted in a rate increase since 2000. "One of the biggest things I pride myself and my administration on is our responsiveness to the residents and the business community," Walker said. "Our attitude is if you have taken the time to write, or visit or call us, you have our attention and your issue will be addressed." It goes without saying, Walker explained, that the village employees deserve the credit for the day-to-day operations of the village. As to what the future holds, Walker said it's all about infrastructure upgrades and economic development that will enhance the vitality of the village. Upgrades to building and zoning laws are continuous to make certain they continue to fit the needs of an ever evolving community. "I want to maintain everyone's positive attitude about Spencerport," Walker said. "It's a great place to live and a great place to do business." Walker and his wife, Sherry, have three grown daughters and have lived in the village since 1971. The issues The first is a proposed road construction project that involves a 30-year global plan on road work and maintenance. The village routinely does maintenance and repair of the streets, but this project looks at maintaining and improving the roadways under a quantified program which village officials believe will improve the village's overall network, and in the long run, cost lest money for maintenance. Under the program, the village would be able to maintain its streets at a high level for less money but to get there, village officials say, up front money, in the range of $4 to $7 million would be needed over a five to 10 year period. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered before any decisions are made on the 30-year road plan. When village officials begin the budget process in January, the road project will likely be factored into the figures. The second issue placed before the public concerned the village's waste water treatment facility. Built in the early 1960s, the facility processes sewage from the village and from a few areas of the Town of Ogden that are adjacent to the collection system. Sewage is treated, runs into Northrup Creek to Long Pond and eventually into Lake Ontario. Village officials say it is getting increasingly more expensive for the village to stay in the wastewater treatment business. The village has to make a decision to put "major" money into rebuilding and expanding the facility to meet the ever-increasingly tight state and federal guidelines or find another alternative such as linking with Monroe County Pure Waters. The village would still own and maintain its collection system pipes in the ground and the manholes but it would no longer process the treatment portion of the system. The project isn't anticipated to affect taxes but it would impact the sewer usage rate. The 20-year project is anticipated to be in the $6 to $7 million range. The "best guess" for sewer user rate would be an increase somewhere between $100 and $200 per year. |