April 19, 2023
Reporter: Gail Lyman
Wednesday’s meeting:Business of the Club
COLTIVARE and on Zoom
WELCOME & TRADITIONS
Past-President Dale Johnson opened and presided over the meeting while President Mary was with family in Maine. In unison, we recited the Four-Way Test.
Our guests were introduced:
- Rob Covert from the Ithaca Fire Department (and potential member), guest of Brian Wilbur
- Patricia Baxter, guest of Heidi Goldstein
- Howard Reid, guest of Nancy Potter
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
After recently returning from a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, Carol Travis gave her Thought for the Day in honor of the upcoming G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023 to be held May 19–21. She quoted President Dwight Eisenhower:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
Carol added that President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima was the first by a sitting US President and was an important historical event in terms of commemorating the war dead and revitalizing international momentum for realizing a world free of nuclear weapons. Obama’s quote paraphrased: “Let’s make sure this never happens again.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- On behalf of the Youth Exchange Social Committee, Mary Berens announced that the Rotary Club potluck dinner has been rescheduled to Thursday, May 11th. Club members are encouraged to come to the dinner to get to know current and outbound exchange students.
Frank Towner reminded us of our second Visitors Day on May 24th. All Rotarians are asked to bring a potential new club member to lunch that day.- President Mary reposted the GoFundMe link if anyone wants to make a contribution to the fund set up for Tatiana David’s 4-year-old son.
- 10th Annual Mac & Cheese Bowl: May 3rd from 4:30 to 7 PM at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, with proceeds benefiting Foodnet/Meals on Wheels. If you want to volunteer, go to this link. For more information contact Lisa Krueger-Gavin at lkruegergavin@foodnet.org.
- Bob Gravani reminded members of the Spring Highway Cleanup to celebrate Earth Day that was held on Saturday, April 22nd. Joanne Lamoureux brought homemade muffins and drinks.
- Loretta Goss announced Rotary’s happy social two hours was held at The Greenhouse Café & Cocktail Lounge (320 E. State St.) on April 20th with Rotarian Chris Roscoe as bartender.
LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION
Geoff Dunn introduced Lisa Holmes, our Tompkins County Administrator, who was appointed to the position in March 2022 after serving as Interim Tompkins County Administrator since May 2021.
Using the county’s espoused values of integrity, accountability, respect, and equity, Tompkins County’s administration establishes policies, carried out through local laws, and assures that local and state-mandated services are implemented.
Lisa spoke about county initiatives and priorities that are integrated into a Strategic Operational Plan that includes the Green Facilities, Reimaging Public Safety, Whole Health integration, the Community Recovery Fund, the recruitment of qualified employees, and the resolution of conflicts between state and local budgets. The Green Facilities & Sustainability Plan has goals that include reaching net-zero emissions for all county buildings and the electrification of Tompkins County’s fleet. Reimaging Public Safety brings a collaborative approach between Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca for public safety reform and reinvention. Whole Health integration has resulted in merging the former Health and Mental Health departments. The Community Recovery Fund has provided grants to a variety of eligible organizations, government entities, and small businesses to help them recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and to enhance the community’s resilience in the future.
Lisa also discussed the negative budgetary impacts for Tompkins County from state mandated Medicaid and Assigned Counsel programs, based on their proposed required levels in the 2024 NYS budget. In the case of the Medicaid mandate, Governor Kathy Hochul is considering shifting $625 million in Medicaid costs from the NYS budget onto county governments by intercepting the eFMAP (enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage). If this were to occur, Lisa estimates that the 2024 budget impact would be $1.5 million (equal to a 3% increase in the local property tax levy) and a $600,000 plus impact to the local 2023 budget. Lisa stated, “shifting the cost onto counties adds more burden to the local governments that carry out much of the work that the State takes credit for, making it more difficult and expensive for us to do that work and will result in increased property taxes. Since Medicaid is mandated by the State, we have no control over these costs or how they are spent.”
In the case of NYS implementing a plan to increase assigned counsel rates across the board, local counties continue to bear the burden of mandated assigned counsel fees for representing adults in criminal cases and parents in Family Court matters. Currently Lisa is waiting to see if our state representatives will pass a law that will provide more money to the counties for this additional cost. The Assigned Counsel plan has not received an increase since 2004, and the increase is less than the rate of inflation since that time, so while expensive today, the costs have not kept up over time.
To learn more about these initiatives and budgetary challenges, refer to the Tompkins County
website.
HAPPY DOLLARS
Happy Dollars were offered in support of our Community Grants program:
- Brian Wilbur made reference to an Ithaca Journal article about Ghana being the first country to approve the malaria vaccine from Oxford University, reminding him of a local Rotarian that traveled to Africa in prior years to combat malaria.
- Roger Segelken honored the legacy of Dooley Kiefer for her dedicated service on the Tompkins County Legislature and her commitment to environmental concerns.
Mary Berens reported that the Cornell Women’s Sailing Team won its first-ever MAISA (Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association) Women's Team Race Championship on Sunday afternoon, securing the conference’s automatic bid to the national championships.- Dale Johnson was happy to be “up here” again leading a meeting.
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: Gail Lyman
Photographer: Mike Brown
Greeter: Harlin McEwen
Newsletter Editor: Loralyn Light
Setup/Teardown: Brad Carruth, Steve Johnson, Harlin McEwen
Audio/Visual Setup: Bez Thomas
Recording Archive: Paul Martin; click
hereClub Service Facilitator: June Losurdo
