Next year, the mayor of Cortland – be it incumbent Republican Scott Steve or Democrat and Emergent Party nominee Luke Stevenson – will face some challenges.
•An austerity budget following audits showing poor fiscal planning dating back years.
•The completion of major reconstruction projects on Main Street and Groton Avenue, plus planning more in the future.
•Transparency, brownfields, housing and assessments.
“We have to restructure, we have to retool,” Scott said.
The $12 million Main Street project to replace century-old infrastructure is to be completed next year, as is a similar project on Groton Avenue. The project has been filled with challenges, from a lack of maps showing where the mains were beneath the surface to a water main break Oct. 16, in a pipe that was supposed to have been closed off.
“I drove over the potholes too and I was annoyed,” Steve said. “Ultimately the businesses have been awesome.”
Steve said the project will be worth the inconvenience.
However, Stevenson said the construction has lacked consideration for accessibility, such as people with baby strollers, or who use a wheelchair.
“I don’t think that’s equitable,” Stevenson said, and counter to the project’s goals.
Before he was elected in 2021, Scott had been chair of the Cortland County Legislature and was president of the New York Association of Counties.
Stevenson said he has experience in running community-based projects and community organizing.
“If a position only exists based on prior experience, no one will get the chance to do it,” he said, adding he’s skilled in “focusing people’s passions and interests to do great things.”
Stevenson said he decided to run in May, when the state saw a surge in migrant refugees. He said he didn’t feel the city responded properly. The county went on to temporarily ban asylum seekers, sparking a lawsuit eventually dismissed after the ban was lifted.
“I couldn’t figure the motivation behind that,” Stevenson said. “I decided to try to help.”
The city also needs to cope with its spending practices after a pair of audits found it was dipping into cash reserves to balance the budget, including $200,000 in inappropriate or unapproved spending in 2018 and 2019, and some problems going back a decade.
Steve said he’s drafting a plan to re-balance the books, creating new revenue and sharing costs with other local governments.
He also plans to focus on the city’s housing, racing abandoned buildings and working to return properties to the tax rolls. He noted a downtown commercial and residential building had the same assessment as his single-family home.
“That’s where we lose money,” Scott said. “It’s unsustainable.”
COMMON COUNCIL
Four of the eight Cortland Common Council seats are contested.
•First Ward – Incumbent Republican Wayne Schutt faces Democrat Adam Ferguson.
Ferguson, a SUNY Cortland professor, said he wants to oversee infrastructure and public safety, such as a stretch of West Main Street with no stop sign. And he wants to reduce food insecurity.
Schutt, who owns WayneCo LLc, which makes epoxy countertops, signs and floors, said small towns have no room for national agendas and that he makes Cortland a better place to raise a family.
•Second Ward – Incumbent Democrat Kathryn Silliman faces Republican Tyler Hatfield.
•Third Ward – Incumbent Democrat Mary Clare Pennello faces Republican and Conservative Donald Neff.
•Fifth Ward – Incumbent Democrat Seth Thompson faces Republican Theodore Philips.
Editor's note: This story was updated to correct an error regarding Wayne Schutt's employment.
