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Original Web Announcement.

Geneva City Council, 4th Ward Candidate (August 31, 2007)

It is with great pleasure that I am announcing my candidacy for the 4th Ward, Geneva City Council. I am running as an unendorsed Republican and also on my own as the Lake Party candidate.

I am currently working on an agenda/platform for release to the media and the voters of the 4th Ward, but in the interim, this is a short statement about my orientation and goals that will guide my run.

When considering serving as the 4th Ward Councilman for the City of Geneva, the word "protection" comes to mind. I believe that elected representatives should pledge their efforts first toward protecting representative government and second the character and fabric of the entity we serve. There has been a majority group in power for many years that has forgotten that transparency, careful process, and honest dealings are necessary for effective debate and governance to occur. I want to renew these aspects of Council operations and believe this would go a long way to reducing the rancor and diviseness we have seen at some meetings. A corollary of this first principle, is to improve the user friendliness of City Council meetings so that the public can better understand the issues being discussed, the newspaper can report more effectively and factually, and viewers at home watching the reruns on TV can understand as well. This will only take a little bit of technology to do the job, including an overhead projector to display exhibits being discussed or presentations that members of the public might distribute to Council. Maybe, it would even be possible for those who video tape the meetings, to provide a split screen so that exhibits can be displayed on residents' home televisions. And giving Council an attitude adjustment would also help this cause. Council should be more friendly to the public so that Council is more user-friendly.

Protection of our financial security as taxpayers is also of an area of critical importance. As a result, I will do my utmost to keep our tax rate the at the same rate during my term of office. As part of this effort, I will ask that Council develop and display a sign at our meetings that shows our current tax rates, city, water, sewage and then ask that every action we take be either tax neutral or compensated with an offsetting reduction in expenses in some other area of the City budget or an increase in revenues. We are now in the age of trade-offs. Let us get on with making the tough decisions so Geneva's future is secure.

Of course, the word "protection" cannot be used without thinking about the recent death of Elvin Cruz at the hands of accused fellow Genevan Tremaine Green, the troubling news is a recent stabbing of Willie Golden by a 17-year old at Geneva's Courtyard Apartments, and the possible revenge shooting at Al's Inn. Many residents have spoken and Council has listened and the community is thinking about the ways that we can improve the situation. Unfortunately, "the solution" is really a "complex" or spectrum of varied solutions that need to permeate our whole way of life - not only here in Geneva but in the country at large. Fortunately, we may be in more control of our destiny than many other places. As a founding member of the Geneva Middle School Parent Initiative along with my wife Andrea, Tom and Beverly Burrall and Bram and Victoria Lehman, I believe that we are developing and implementing one aspect of this spectrum at GMS - modeling good behavior, civility, and a caring attitude toward each other. At the other end of the spectrum, are proposals for a curfew, volunteer patrols, parental fines, and more rigorous enforcement of existing laws. My views on all these aspects of our community life are still developing, but i have one guideline that i think is important to consider. Many may be focused on what remedies we want to apply to the most violent and incorrigible elements of our community, but if we do not focus the majority of our efforts on developing and exhibiting a kinder voice and code of conduct among the other 98% of residents, then we will lose the battle. And that effort cannot be implemented by the Geneva City Council and City government although some leadership from them will help a great deal.

With protection as my focus, i would also suggest that Council keep an eye on regional issues that may well affect our way of life. If i had been on Council during the Town of Geneva's consideration of the Wal-Mart expansion this past winter, I would have introduced a resolution asking the Town to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the economic impact of the project on downtown businesses. If I had been on Council more recently, I would have asked that the City of Geneva attend the hearings in Seneca County considering Empire BioFuel's proposed ethanol plant and request that an EIS be conducted before that project was approved mainly because it will result in a significant increase in train and truck traffic in the region. I believe that the public interest is best served in getting this information from a rigorous and objective assessment rather than acceptance of the developer's own statements and marketing literature. The positions that i hold on these two issues should be considered instructive as to where i would stand on future projects and developments that will inevitably come to light and be proposed as good for the community.

Finally, I will try to represent the interests of the unaffiliated and under represented citizens of Geneva to the best of my ability. And the best way i can do that is first to make sure that i ask questions and assure that they have the best information possible to understand the issues.

My platform is in formation and i will release a draft in the near future. In the interim my candidacy is about PROTECTION. For the rights of citizens, for our neighborhoods, for our region, for our financial securing, and for a system of transparency and due process. In reaching for our destiny as a community which i am in this race to help lead, i will protect the best things about Geneva which make it one of the best places to live in the United States.

Best Regards

Robert (Ken) Camera, 163 Lafayette Ave, Geneva, NY

Candidate for Geneva City Council, 4th Ward Republican and Lake Party lines on your ballot.

Mayoral

Following were suggestions for any aspiring future Mayors of Geneva. It is a pleasant surprise that we have more choices this year.

Mayor of the City of Geneva (Suggested Mayoral Platform, fall 2006)

To improve overall governance of the City of Geneva through better leadership. Provide better leadership to improve the health and well-being of the citizens of Geneva through more open government and better policy making. Leadership initiatives should include the following:

1. Reorient City Council deliberations so that the agenda is controlled and directed by the Mayor with Councilman input.
2. Make City Council meetings more "user friendly" by improving dissemintation of meeting agendas/materials so that citizens have a better understanding of issues and therefore can participate more fully in the process.
3. Develop a policy and set of administration procedures designed to arrest the downtown deterioration dynamic (DDD) that promotes demolition of downtown structures through neglect.
4. Open up the political process and governmental business of the City to independents and others who are not members of either the Republican or Democratic party so that they may more fully participate and serve on commissions and boards (Human Rights Commission, Planning and Zoning Boards, etc...).
5. Assure that regardless of the issue before Council the first order of business will be for the City Manager and his/her staff to compile a set of facts and relevant information related to that issue amd make it available to the public by posting on the City's website and also for dissemination or display at City Coucil meetings.
6. Implement the recommendations of the City of Geneva Overlay Committee to improve the planning and redevelopment of the City of Geneva while preserving its historic physical assets that create the traditional urban environment that connects us to our roots.
7. Assist citizen groups to assemble and present their issues to City Council so that Council can become better informed about their problems and concerns and determine what, if anything, can be improved through Council action.
8. Participate and support the County's initiatives to provide lower cost perscription drugs to residents.
9. Stabilize and then aggressively market the City's non-governmental properties that have been taken over in tax sales.
10. In the spirit of "thinking globally and acting locally" identify and discuss national and international policy and trends that have a direct impact on our citizens and ultimately the health and financial stability of our tax base.