On Wednesday, June 21, 2017, Madison-Chenango Call to Action hosted a general meeting at the Hamilton Public Library.
After welcoming remarks by co-chair Diane Halloran, two guest speakers gave informative and provocative presentations.
Mark Scimone, Madison County Administrator and chairman of the Shared Services Panel, spoke on the Madison County Shared Services Initiative. The Panel has been charged with implementing this initiative, which was established by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The goals include spending cuts fueled by increasing the economy of scale when local governments share the cost of providing services.
Some of the services under consideration for consolidation include election services, highway equipment and information technology. A final plan will be submitted in September, with a public presentation occurring in October. The public is encouraged to check the county Facebook page for additional information.
Joyce St. George, who holds multiple degrees in criminal justice and who has extensive experience in the field, spoke about Reclaim New York, which was founded in 2014 by Stephen Bannon and the Mercer family.
While the group is registered as a non-profit, its goals are less clear.
Organizers claim New York state is experiencing an affordability crisis and they are encouraging constituents to question local government and school spending plans using the Freedom of Information Law. Reclaim New York has had devastating effects on the towns and counties where multiple FOIL requests have been made; these requests can use up to 25 percent of town clerks’ time and budgets.
After reports from various committee chairs, the meeting ended with a strategy session. This included a discussion of our statement on violence: “Although M/C CTA is committed to activism, we reject violence as a tactic that is both immoral and counterproductive.”
This statement was developed after the recent shooting in Washington and in response to the suggestion by some politicians that the resistance movement has “normalized” violence.
MC CTA is a non-partisan group of citizens in Southern Madison and Northern Chenango Counties. We are working together in support of the rights of all community members and to uphold the democratic principles that make our nation strong and diverse. MCCTA is committed to non-violent activism.
If you would like more information about the activities of M/C CTA, visit madisonchenangocta.org/. New actions and information are added weekly.