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OPINION: Hochul’s Fulton School Veto Unfairly Punishes Students
Gov. Kathy Hochul, following in lockstep with her predecessor, [recently] vetoed a bill that would have saved the Fulton School District from losing more than $1 million in state aid due to a clerical error dating back to the 2016-17 school year. She did this despite near-unanimous legislative support for the bill and knowing full well the district […]
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Gov. Kathy Hochul, following in lockstep with her predecessor, [recently] vetoed a bill that would have saved the Fulton School District from losing more than $1 million in state aid due to a clerical error dating back to the 2016-17 school year. She did this despite near-unanimous legislative support for the bill and knowing full well the district serves an economically distressed population. They truly do need the money.
Several years ago, the Fulton School District extended its contractual agreement with its transportation provider, but due to a clerical mistake, the state Education Department did not receive the contract in time. As such, the district’s transportation aid was nullified. Gov. Hochul’s decision to veto this common-sense fix punishes students in a high-need area over a filing error over which they have absolutely no control. Now more than ever, we should be putting students first, and the governor’s latest move is unsympathetic and callous, to say the least.
Recently, New York State received a tremendous amount of federal and state revenue, as noted in the Division of the Budget’s First Quarter Financial Plan update. As a result, the state is in a much-better position to remedy this error than the school district. And the state in other similar instances has done exactly that. What makes the matter even more frustrating is that the funds needed to cover the $1.6 million mistake were already appropriated and accounted for in the state budget. Yet students in Fulton and other districts throughout New York were merely an afterthought in the wake of the governor’s vetoes.
While not ideal, clerical errors are common in municipal governance. Under most circumstances, these situations are easily remedied through legislative action and no harm comes from them. Withholding the aid any further is needlessly punitive and extremely disappointing for the families residing in the school district.
The role of government officials is to take care of the residents living in their jurisdiction, not to punish school kids for paperwork oversights. Vetoing this legislation sends a clear signal to the people of Fulton and the rest of the state that this administration, like the one that came before it, is more interested in power plays and gamesmanship than it is in administering equitable governance.
School districts around New York have been put under unprecedented pressure and stress due to COVID-19 and its impact on students, teachers, and parents. Now should be a time when state government does everything in its power to alleviate that stress. Sadly, it appears Gov. Hochul disagrees. As such, I will continue to fight for the people of the Fulton School District and work toward a solution that delivers fairness to the students who rely on that state funding.
William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us.
OPINION: Global water crisis affects us all
Here in the United States, we have grown accustomed to thinking we will always have access to plentiful, clean water. We just assume we can turn on the tap and get all the water we need. But in much of the world, water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning isn’t something to take for granted. Even in the
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Here in the United States, we have grown accustomed to thinking we will always have access to plentiful, clean water. We just assume we can turn on the tap and get all the water we need.
But in much of the world, water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning isn’t something to take for granted. Even in the U.S. and other developed countries, climate change and surging consumption could put our water security at risk. This is an issue we need to take seriously.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), an agency of the United Nations, warned in a recent report of a “looming water crisis” in which more frequent and extreme weather events will put a serious strain on the world’s water supplies and systems.
The numbers in the report are staggering. Two billion people live in “water-stressed countries” that can’t provide basic water and sanitation services. Some 3.6 billion people lacked reliable access to water for at least one month in 2018; the figure could rise to 5 billion by 2050, or more than half the world’s population. Over 11,000 weather- and climate-related disasters have taken place in the past 50 years, causing more than 2 million deaths and $3.6 trillion in damages. Since 2000, flood disasters have increased by 134 percent, with their heaviest impact in Asia; drought has increased by 29 percent, causing the most deaths and economic losses in Africa.
A lack of clean water prevents proper sanitation, and contaminated water causes cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, and other deadly diseases. More than 800,000 people, including nearly 300,000 children under age 5, die each year from diarrhea that could be prevented by good hygiene, according to the World Health Organization.
It’s tempting for us to think these problems are confined to the developing world. But climate change doesn’t spare those of us who live in developed nations. In Europe, record flooding this year killed hundreds of people and shocked climate scientists. Increasingly powerful storms have ravaged U.S. coastal cities from New Orleans to New York. Drought in the American West brought another season of devastating wildfires and hamstrung the region’s agricultural and recreation industries. Western North America, in fact, was labeled a “global water crisis hotspot” in the WMO report.
Water shortages often lead to conflict, as nations and groups compete for scarce resources. Wars, flooding, and drought displace millions of people, creating new crises as nations struggle to accommodate refugees and migrants.
It’s also tempting to think it’s someone else’s job to fix water problems in other regions. But, as residents of the world’s most powerful and wealthiest country, we Americans have an obligation to lead. As a major producer of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, we contributed to the problem.
What can we do? The problem isn’t simply a matter of too much or too little water; it’s that we’re not managing our resources effectively. Water-management systems are “fragmented and inadequate,” in the words of the WMO. It calls for more investment in integrated water-management systems to better conserve and manage water.
Too often we waste water and fail to develop the infrastructure to manage it.
As part of that effort, we must do more individually and as a nation to stem climate change, which is bringing the water to a head.
We can and must step up to the challenge. If we do not, disaster awaits.
Lee Hamilton, 90, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south central Indiana.

KEVIN DIDIO, CPA, has joined Dannible & McKee, LLP as senior audit manager. He brings more than nine years of accounting, assurance, and consulting experience. Didio has worked with a wide range of companies and concentrates in manufacturing, transportation, consumer and retail, and state and local governments. He also has extensive experience working with clients,
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KEVIN DIDIO, CPA, has joined Dannible & McKee, LLP as senior audit manager. He brings more than nine years of accounting, assurance, and consulting experience. Didio has worked with a wide range of companies and concentrates in manufacturing, transportation, consumer and retail, and state and local governments. He also has extensive experience working with clients, providing services to both private and publicly held domestic and foreign companies. Prior to joining Dannible, Didio served as account manager at Oneida Nation Enterprises, where he provided corporate accounting and external reporting. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, a public accounting and professional-services firm, where he received multiple promotions throughout his tenure. In his position at Dannible & McKee, Didio will be responsible for the planning and management of multiple engagement teams through the performance of audits, reviews, and compilations for the firm’s clients. He is a 2011 graduate of Ithaca College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a 2012 graduate of Syracuse University with a master’s degree in professional accounting.

Mohawk Valley Community College
VALERIE ANGUILLI was recently appointed nursing instructor in the School of Health Sciences at Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC). She spent 13 years in the nursing field before transitioning to education. Anguilli began as a critical-care nurse in 2005 at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital and then worked as a nurse-care manager at St. Elizabeth’s Homecare
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VALERIE ANGUILLI was recently appointed nursing instructor in the School of Health Sciences at Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC). She spent 13 years in the nursing field before transitioning to education. Anguilli began as a critical-care nurse in 2005 at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital and then worked as a nurse-care manager at St. Elizabeth’s Homecare and a Start of Care Oasis Nurse at St. Joseph’s Homecare. Anguilli began teaching in 2011 as an adjunct clinical educator at Utica College, a position she has maintained. From 2017-2020, she served as a clinical educator at Acacia Home Care Company, and in 2020, she moved to hold several different positions: pandemic educator at Quality Training Solution Corporation, master instructor at BOCES, and adjunct clinical educator at MVCC. Anguilli holds a master’s degree in nursing education from Purdue University, a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Kaplan University, and an associate degree in Nursing from MVCC.
SAMANTHA BARNES has been named student-support advisor at MVCC. She will provide students with a single point-of-contact to create a pathway for student success from pre-boarding to completion, working with a team to provide academic, career, financial, and related support to a group of students over the course of their MVCC education. She was most recently assistant registrar at Hartwick College. Barnes also has served as academic advisor at SUNY Morrisville, admissions counselor at Le Moyne College, and assistant director of admissions at Cazenovia College. Barnes holds a master’s degree in higher-education administration and a post-baccalaureate certificate in higher education leadership from Le Moyne College and a bachelor’s degree in human services with a minor in psychology from Cazenovia College.
KRISTA COLUCCI has been appointed assistant to the Office of Human Resources at MVCC. She will provide administrative and office support and will work on a variety of office administrative functions, including those of a timely, sensitive, and confidential nature, and other functions including recruitment, onboarding, payroll, and benefits. Colucci served most recently as the HR onboarding coordinator for the Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse corporate office. She also worked as a bookkeeper at Home Depot, a caregiver/personal assistant in a private household, a client-service coordinator at Banfield Pet Hospital in Georgia, and a PetsHotel manager and training manager, also in Georgia. Colucci holds a bachelor’s degree in business communications from Florida State University.
ASHLEIGH FRANK has been hired as secretary to the president at MVCC. She will independently perform complex clerical operations and relieve the president of the college of administrative detail. Frank was previously the assistant to the director of ENL and special education in the Utica City School District for seven years, and before that was the owner and operator of Fiesta MexiCali Food Truck for five years. Frank holds an associate degree in food service administration – restaurant management from MVCC.
TERESA LAKE has been appointed Job Corps Scholars counselor at MVCC. She will provide
youth of diverse backgrounds from the high-needs population of the city of Utica with rigorous academic instruction, occupational-skills training, and viable pathways to college and careers. Prior to joining MVCC, Lake worked as a social-work assistant 3 at the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center, a case worker for adult-protective services/child-protective services at the Montgomery County Department of Social Services, and as an apartment counselor for the Mental Health Association of Fulton and Montgomery Counties. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The College of St. Rose and an associate degree in psychology from MVCC.
VINCENT PETRONIO has been hired as director of hospitality programs at MVCC. He will be
responsible for the management of the hospitality programs and the daily operations that support and implement the programs’ objectives. Petronio most recently was an owner and executive chef at Motus, and a chef de cuisine at The Tailor and the Cook. He holds a bachelor’s degree in culinary-arts management from the Culinary Institute of America.

MICHAEL JENNINGS has joined Brackens Financial Solutions Network as a business-development associate for financial planning. He is a lifelong resident of Syracuse and has worked in the financial industry since 2019. As a graduate of Syracuse University, Jennings earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology and forensic science. With a desire to experience new things and
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MICHAEL JENNINGS has joined Brackens Financial Solutions Network as a business-development associate for financial planning. He is a lifelong resident of Syracuse and has worked in the financial industry since 2019. As a graduate of Syracuse University, Jennings earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology and forensic science. With a desire to experience new things and a sense of wanting to help as many others as possible, he found his way into the role of a financial advisor. After starting his career with another firm, Jennings decided to join Vicki Brackens and her financial network. A passion for meeting new people and connecting with others has put Jennings into many positions within the community he calls home. He is a volunteer of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York in the young professionals’ “Red Shoe Society” group. Jennings is also a champion of downtown Syracuse residents. In conjunction with the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, he aims to welcome, inform, and connect with other residents in the neighborhood.

OBINNA (OBI) EBOH has been named the new supply-chain manager at Finger Lakes Health. Eboh is responsible for managing direct reports in purchasing, order entry, inventory control, logistics and courier operations, and customer service. He reviews purchase requisitions and orders to ensure adherence to contractual obligations while meeting customer standards, securing low-cost suppliers, and maintaining
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OBINNA (OBI) EBOH has been named the new supply-chain manager at Finger Lakes Health. Eboh is responsible for managing direct reports in purchasing, order entry, inventory control, logistics and courier operations, and customer service. He reviews purchase requisitions and orders to ensure adherence to contractual obligations while meeting customer standards, securing low-cost suppliers, and maintaining vendor relations, and much more. Prior to joining Finger Lakes Health, Eboh served as dean at Remnant Bible College in Horseheads. He also brings valuable background knowledge from his previous commercial operations, forecasting and engineering roles at Corning Incorporated and Kennedy Valve. Eboh has an MBA degree from SUNY Oswego and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Villanova University.

NYSDOT seeking firms interested in contract to begin first phase of I-81 project in Syracuse
The first contract is related to the conversion of the section of I-81 between the southern I-81/I-481 interchange (16A) and the northern I-81/I-481 interchange (29) to

Ithaca College to use $1 million donation for physician-assistant program scholarship
“This incredible gift from Manley and Doriseve Thaler will allow learners to gain critical skills and expertise with a lessened financial burden,” Susan Salahshor, assistant

People news: NBT Bank names LaRusch director of workforce management
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — NBT Bank announced it has appointed Richard LaRusch director of workforce management. LaRusch joined NBT Bank in 2012 as human-resources generalist.

Corn production in New York is expected to have risen 6 percent this year
New York farms are forecast to have produced 83.5 million bushels of corn for grain this year, up 6 percent from 2020. That’s according to
Stay up-to-date on the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Syracuse, Central New York and beyond.