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Editorial: Selling Need to the Taxpayers |
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Dan Veaner
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Friday, 03 March 2006 |
With two Lansing tax initiatives placed on hold and Ithaca's defeat of the Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) initiative, some municipal boards are learning valuable lessons and integrating them into their plans. Others -- the jury is out.
I'm reminded of an incident that occurred when I was a senior in college. They were building a new theater complex on campus and there was no funding for stage lighting. The Theater Department Chairman was concerned that he would have a beautiful facility with no way for audiences to actually see the events. So he stayed up late one night with the budget and when he was done the lights were funded, but there was no money for seating. That was a need the Alumni could understand and lo and behold! They raised more money!
This is something TCPL doesn't seem to understand. First they asked Ithacans for more money, and when they didn't get it they shut down Sunday hours in what appeared to be a punitive move to make their point. If they had adequately explained the need before the vote it might have gone the other way. Or perhaps they did and the voters were not convinced it was worth it. Either way puts TCPL in a bad light.
The Lansing Board of Education (BOE) seems to have taken this lesson to heart. Their new plan is to involve community members in re-developing the capital improvement project from the ground up, to invest the community in the project and communicate the need for it throughout the process. This is a very different approach from their original one, in which the BOE developed the project without involving the taxpayers until the last moment.
The Lansing Community Library Center (LCLC) has also learned this lesson. They have put their charter proposal on hold, because they want to take the time to build hours, usage, collection and programs before asking for the community's support. While they already have an impressive record of accomplishment and fiscal responsibility they want to do more to convince the public they are worthy of support.
People will pay for things if they are convinced there is a need. Convincing has become a lot harder recently. The Town and Fire District will do well to pay attention with sewer and a new firehouse for the Village in the near future. When they are ready to bring their packages to the public it is going to take some serious convincing in this tax-strapped environment to get initiatives passed.
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