ANNEXATION ANGST and STEVIE'S POWER GRAB

Dear Nieces and Nephews, Stevie thought your Auntie was sleeping. Auntie Alibi was waiting. Sometimes it pays to wait quietly, listening and watching.

On Monday, Feb 23^rd Dain deftly released this: “Orange County Presents 2015 Legislative Priorities to State Officials” announcing the meeting for 10:00 a.m. the next day. Wow! A half days’ notice for a County meeting with State Officials! We guess Stevie didn’t want an audience at his dog and pony show. (The Barnum and Bailey circus had the clown, Emmet Kelly, and the Steve Neuhaus Circus, not to be outdone, has their own clown: “Bobble head” Brabenec.)

From the midhudsonneus.com about the meeting:

Neuhaus had his own proposal: Grant counties “Lead Agency” authority whenever there is a large annexation which would expand a municipal border by 10 percent or more.  That’s a measure clearly driven by the ongoing tussle between the town and village of Monroe and Kiryas Joel.

This suggestion doesn’t make sense because it is not the size of the annexed parcel that is at issue. It is about the ability of a municipality, with numerous environmental violations that continue today, to conduct an environmental review.* Stevie's proposal tears away at the fabric of home rule, wiping away some of the wonderful checks and balances in our system of government.

It basically provides more control to a County Government that is out of control.

When you shrink home rule and local control, Government becomes more “regionalized”. And big. Do you think a regionalized government is going to care about the garbage pick-up in your village or town? We can see Steve now: “Oh, I’ll get right on it.” if it pertains to his most supportive municipality. But “those antsy ones will not get anything”. And while you may think that is far-fetched, it does happen. Better to have someone in your town/village hall who answers directly to you. 

And Local Control does NOT rule out cost cutting measures such as shared services.

Some concerns about lessening home rule are expressed in the following:

From St. John’s law review, Volume 59 Issue 4 Volume 59, Summer 1985, Number 4 Article 2: (p715)

“…This has resulted in the continued incursion of state authority into areas that might reasonably be considered primarily local concerns. The recent trend toward a more precipitous contraction of home

rule powers is crumbling the foundation of effective home rule in New York. The balance between state and local powers has tipped away from the preservation of local authority toward a presumption

of state concern. The foundation, "property, affairs or government," has come to embody "the ghost of home rule."

Steve’s plan calls for amending the State Statutes regarding annexation. Steve does have a buffoon and a senile state rep that would be willing to “carry the ball” but no one in Albany is going to take them seriously.

From the NYS Assembly Legislative Commission on State Local Relations, 8-23-07:

 Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages– Authorized. Requires the filing of a petition by at least 20 percent of the qualified voters or by the owners of a majority of the assessed value of real estate within the territory to be annexed. The annexing municipality must have a public hearing to determine whether annexation is in the overall public interest. The boards of each affected local government must approve annexation by a majority. If one board fails to approve, there is a procedure for judicial review. Once approved by the boards, the proposition must be submitted for election by the voters in the territory to be annexed. [Constitution, Article IX, § 1(d); General Municipal Law, §§ 702, 703] Restrictions and prohibitions on annexation. [General Municipal Law § 716]

And from the DEC website, we find support for local control but also concern for a municipality’s ability to assess environmental impacts (which makes us question the DEC Commissioner’s recent decision):  http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6459.html

Although state and county agencies occasionally have involvement with some aspect of specific projects associated with annexations, the most appropriate lead agency is likely to be from one of the involved municipalities. Major considerations are the agency's: jurisdiction over activities in the proposed annexation; jurisdiction over environmental impacts which may occur outside the proposed annexation due to activities within it (e.g., traffic congestion and waste generation); and the municipal ability to assess and mitigate anticipated environmental impacts.*

So, if we had a county government in this process, Steve, are you proposing that it be the executive branch or legislative branch? Sound like you are suggesting yourself as the “intermediary.”

”Now why should that bother you, Auntie?” you say.

Because Auntie knows that a County Executive elected by the block vote of the Village of Kiryas Joel is not going to be “objective”. (And we know that a County Executive that tries to control the water supply and already controls sewer capacity will determine which municipality gets what.)

From the THR, C. McKenna:

STEVE SAID: "I believe the public would be a lot more comfortable having" an intermediary lead the study,”

What intermediary, Stevie? You?

Are you kidding?