Katz is a proven leader

Jeff Katz has proven himself to be an excellent Village of Cooperstown Trustee and Deputy Mayor. I strongly recommend that we elect him as Mayor on March 16.

Jeff brings several important strengths to the governing process. First, he has a clear understanding of the critical priorities for the village _ sound financial management, infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and preservation of our quality of life. Second, he is a strong leader who is willing and able to accept responsibility while aggressively recruiting capable and responsible people to get involved in community projects and village government.

Third, he exercises good and reasoned judgment in carrying out his duties as Trustee. Fourth, Jeff is a great listener.á Even when he does not agree with one’s point of view, he respectfully listens and always offers a well-reasoned, thought-provoking alternate view.

Jeff’s responsible leadership and involvement in the key issues recently facing the village are good examples of why we should elect him as Mayor.áHe played a key role in the debate over raising rates for teams playing on Doubleday Field, establishing a more rational fee schedule for an undervalued village asset and providing additional income for the village.

He is a strong proponent of testing the implementation of paid parking _ last year’s income from paid parking was significant, equal to a 6.7 percent increase in taxes.

Income from parking came primarily from nonresidents whereas a tax increase would have been the burden of village property owners.

We need intelligent, hard working, responsible community members to lead and govern.á Please join me in voting to elect Jeff Katz as Mayor on March 16.

Stephen Mahlum Cooperstown Volunteers should be recognized Annual reports by the PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization), FoMA (Friends of Music and Art) Sports Boosters, and CFEE (Cooperstown Foundation for Excellence in Education) were presented to the Cooperstown Board of Education at our Jan. 13 meeting.

These should not go unrecognized. Cooperstown schools are very fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers and generous residents who keep their respective school-related organizations active and productive.

A full array of activities and events they sponsored over the past year for students and residents was truly impressive. New audio equipment, summer music camp scholarships, after school tutoring, guest writers and performers, sponsorship of clubs and the CCS Quiz Team, Kid Garden, a new Entrepreneur Club, concession stands for sports events, the annual All Sports Banquet, and Cabaret Night are examples from a list otherwise too long to include here.

These groups bring enrichment to students through enhancements for basic academics, support of art and music activities, and extracurricular opportunities. And all are done through the spark of volunteerism and donations form people and businesses in our community.

The time, effort, and enthusiasm, shown as their works were described to the Board were clearly grounded in a love and concern for children in our schools. We, the educators, along with parents and students, owe a great deal of admiration and thanks to the volunteers and organizations that serve our school community. Lastly, we heartily endorse any help from new volunteers or money contributions as a way for anyone to become a part of a rewarding educational experience.

Cooperstown School Board of Education

I’m voting for Jeff Jeff Katz is my choice to provide the team leadership for the Village of Cooperstown as we continue to creatively confront the challenges faced by communities across the country. The special flavor of the Village, so deeply treasured by its residents, provides its own unique agenda to maintain it aesthetically, recreationally and financially.

We read, hear and witness a great deal about our eroding infrastructureàthe melding of our residential life among thousands of visitorsà the relatively small tax baseà our architectural charm and how to preserve its integrity in a manner that’s fair and the list goes on and on.

We also know the Mayor cannot, and for that matter should not, single-handedly and personally tackle all these issues. Rather, I believe, the role of the Mayor is to identify and recruit the talent needed (and talent is probably our number one asset in this Village) to strategically and sensitively offer solutions. There are many individual agendas among our small, yet diverse community; this is great àfor starters, but it’s the unified and collective approach, teamed with a shared action plan that makes the positive difference. This is where the role of the Mayor facilitating such a process is crucial. I’ve known Jeff almost since the first day he and his family moved to Cooperstown.

He subscribes to life-long learning, researches & acutely knows the issues, solicits opinions, rallies the workforce, builds the network, is punctual, and deeply cares about Cooperstown. Jeff excels in balancing his Village government commitments, personal community involvement, and family well-being.

He is particularly fortunate, as Deputy Mayor, to be working in a bipartisanism relationship with Mayor Carol Waller where the agenda is what’s most beneficial for the Village of Cooperstown. He garners first hand knowledge of the myriad of day-to-day issues that need to be addressedàincluding the tough decisions that do not always result in winning points for a popularity contest.

I’m voting for Jeff _ a dependable friend, caring resident, devoted husband and father, community volunteer, quiet, yet effective leader, resilient demeanor, global thinker and oh yeah, knows he cannotàand should notàdo the job alone.

Rich McCaffery

Cooperstown

Residents will have to choose

The residents of Cooperstown will have to make a choice when they vote for Mayor for the first time in over a decade and a half. After years of a Union Ticket followed by unopposed mayoral candidates, Trustees Jeff Katz and Joe Booan are facing off this March.

Jeff Katz and I have been friends for eight years. I know he has all the fine qualities one has a right to expect from any public servant: smart, sincere, honest, hard working, fair, considerate, dependable and loyal.

Jeff is a solid family man, devoted husband and father, with great moral conviction. While I have not known Joe as long, he clearly has outstanding talent. I supported Joe for Trustee and believe over the last nine months he has worked hard for Cooperstown, a place he deeply loves.

And for me, the deciding difference between the two men is length of experience in office.

Jeff Katz has worked hard for the Village over the last five years, bringing in desperately needed new revenue through concerts, pay and display machines, and fees at Doubleday Field.

Jeff has increased the reserves for both our volunteer Fire Department and our beautiful Village Parks.

Professionally, Jeff is more than ready to step up to be our Village Mayor.

I had the privilege of working with Jeff for three years while we served as Trustee for the Village of Cooperstown, seeing him put his thorough and often exhaustive research into action.

As Deputy Mayor Jeff has guided our community through many matters and has done so in a timely and competent manner.

I am convinced that as Mayor Jeff Katz will work tirelessly on behalf of all of us and deserves your vote as well as mine.

Paul T. Kuhn

Cooperstown

Jeff Katz for mayor I am writing this letter to endorse Jeff Katz in his bid for Mayor of Cooperstown. Over the past five years, I have had many dealings with Jeff in my position as Vice- President and now President of the Cooperstown Fire Department.

Jeff was instrumental in adding additional reserve monies to contracts with other municipalities, adding an additional $40,000 to the Fire Equipment Reserve over the past two budget years.

He led negotiations to bring Paul Simon, Bob Dylan (second show) in 2006, netting over $50,000 profit, around $15,000 to CFD. He also spearheaded the Crosby, Stills & Nash show in 2009, resulting in over $10,000 for the village.

He also

• fought for the police for 24/7 coverage.

•Oversaw the first successful reassessment in decades as Chair of the Planning Committee, insuring an equitable distribution of tax payments.

• Helped work in conjunction with the newly revived Friends of the Parks in 2005. Together, the Parks Board and Friends of the Parks built the first public playground in Cooperstown and vastly improved Badger Park for our community.

He also came up with the idea of Parks Reserve, to start putting away money for future parks projects. Now, there is $20,000 in reserve.

Jeff Katz is one of only two board members who have been consistent in their support of public safety by fighting for the police and fire departments. His concern for the village as a whole, and not just the Main Street businesses, is what we need in a Mayor.

Chris Hollister

Cooperstown