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James J.
Rowley was appointed Supervisor by the Town of Clay Town Board on
November 20th, 2006. Here is the text of the speech Jim
delivered at his swearing-in ceremony November 20th, 2006:
The Town of Clay is a remarkable place.
I love this Town and I am very proud to say that I
was born and raised here. When
I became a resident of Clay in 1961 on Fairfield Drive in North
Syracuse, the population of our town was about 18,000 residents.
Today our population approaches 60,000 people. We are the
17th largest town in New York State.
We’re larger than Binghamton or Niagara Falls and
comparable to Utica or Schenectady.
We have more residents than Cortland County and are not
that far behind Herkimer and Madison Counties.
What has taken place in the Town since I was born has
been remarkable and I am privileged to have played a small part
in its transformation.
People have moved here because the Town of Clay has
become a wonderful place to live, work and raise a
family. We have
more amenities and opportunities in our town than many other
municipal areas, be they city, county or town.
Our school systems are cutting edge and provide
tremendous opportunities for our children. We have college opportunities though OCC and Bryant &
Stratton right here in our town.
We have a considerable amount of private business in Clay
covering the manufacturing, wholesale, retail, farming and
service sectors. The
shopping and restaurant choices are many and varied and continue
to grow and get better. We have an outstanding medical facility at the North Medical
Center and there are a wide variety of medical professionals who
practice in Clay. There
are nursing home care and assisted living facilities available
for our seniors. Wherever you live in Town you don’t have to go far to get
your taxes done, get a hair cut, have your dry cleaning done,
get your pet cared for, obtain an insurance quote, find a good
pizza, take in a movie, get your car fixed, refinance your
mortgage, swing a golf club or find a hotel room for your
visiting relatives.
And that’s not even considering what your town
government provides. Clay
has 5 major parks covering over 280 acres and 27 neighborhood
parks covering an additional 130 acres - the most town park
acreage for any town in the county.
We have a lighted Clay Panther youth football field,
lighted softball fields, and I have to believe we are a leader
in youth soccer fields. Our
recreation department provides 71 categories of recreational
programs covering all the seasons including supervised summer
playground activities at 12 sites, the after school community
series, year-round sports leagues and summer camps, drama and
art classes, and our own senior citizen center on Route 31.
I am proud to say the Town is complimented regularly on
the recreation programs we provide.
Then there are the nuts and bolts of town government
that residents have come to rely on.
We have a very versatile highway department that
plows and paves our roads, maintains our parks, cuts the grass
in our green areas, cleans and maintains our drainage systems,
maintains our buildings, builds play-scape structures for our
children, constructs parking lots, and is capable of
accomplishing almost any project you can think of.
A few good examples of our highway department’s
versatility are their help with construction activities in the
Clay Historical Park, the Clay Center for seniors and the old
Town Hall building. Our
accredited police department answered over 17,000 calls for
service last year and is supplemented by the State Police and
the County Sheriffs and keeps our neighborhoods safe. Our Town
judges and their staff work hand in hand with our police
department to ensure that laws are obeyed and that crime remains
in-check. Our planning and codes enforcement department have
some of the busiest people in town operations - enforcing our
codes, answering a multitude of queries, and ensuring that
projects are properly planned and built to code. Our water
department provides cost efficient service to those residents
fortunate enough to be located in our water district. Our town
clerk’s office, tax receiver’s office, assessor’s office
and finance office are staffed with some of the most
knowledgeable and dedicated people I have ever been associated
with… and… if you compare the unit cost or per capita costs
of running these departments with their counterparts in
neighboring towns, you will find them to be very cost effective
and a bargain relative to the service they provide.
Clay is blessed with dedicated and intelligent people who
serve on our Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and
Assessment Review Board. We
are always looking for qualified people to serve so if you are
interested or know of someone who might be interested in serving
the Town, please have him or her contact my office. We have five
fire departments which serve the town, two of which are wholly
located within Clay: Moyers Corners and Clay fire departments,
who train at a fire training tower located right here in Clay.
I can assure you that the cost of these VOLUNTEER fire
departments on your tax bills is less than the increased
homeowners’ premium you would have to pay if these dedicated
people did not serve. Nova,
Navac, Rural Metro and GBAC are the main ambulance services that
cover Clay. I can’t begin to thank the people who work for Clay and the
volunteers who protect us for all that they do. I am proud to be associated with them and I will continue to
support their efforts to the best of my ability.
None of what has transpired in Clay during my 45 years
of existence has happened by chance… nor was there a grand
plan. It happened
because of the stewardship of my predecessors Ernie Casale, Pat
DiDomenico and Mark Rupprecht.
To be sure, we had help from a number of current and
former legislators, assemblymen, senators and congressmen. The
supervisors I mentioned though, along with the town boards they
led, applied logic and reason and wisdom to the issues of the
day. They were clever enough to exploit the physical resources
of our town, and smart enough to manage the government in a
fiscally prudent manner. County
officials have recognized Clay as a leader in land use planning
and development. Clay’s
tax rate, computed on a Full Value basis, is the third lowest in
the County according to the latest report available from the New
York State Comptroller’s office.
With the Town Board’s support, I am confident in making
two promises to you tonight: 1) that Clay will continue to be a leader in land use
planning and development and 2) that the fiscal integrity of the
Town of Clay will never be compromised.
I am very confident of that!
The Town Board I am privileged to serve with is second
to none. Our award
winning town code and the reclamation project underway at Three
Rivers point would not have happened without the leadership of
Naomi Bray. Robert
Edick has used his insurance background to the benefit of the
town, has been deeply involved in working the kinks out of our
new building and led the effort to write our hazard mitigation
plan. Clarence Rycraft is our voice of reason on the board when it
comes to planning and development and you won’t find a more
passionate board member anywhere.
Bill Weaver is an invaluable member of our board with his
intimate knowledge of every swale, ditch, and drainage facility
that was ever built in Clay, garnered from his decades of
experience in our highway department. And last, but not least, Damian Ulatowski, who is smart,
professional and who has used his knowledge of employee benefits
and insurance for the benefit of the Town and has been a stellar
liaison to our highway department and who, by my first official
act as supervisor, I appoint as Deputy Supervisor of the Town of
Clay. Viv Mason our
Town Clerk – I could never forget her. She is extremely
helpful to the board and I am very appreciative of her service.
Robert
Germain, our attorney, Doug Wickman, our engineer, and Dave
Tessier, our Commissioner of Planning and Development, are
tireless professionals who do their jobs in a quiet, efficient
manner. Let me just
share one story with you of many that could be told. Some of you
may remember the pickle that the Town got in a couple of years
ago with the proposed waste transfer station that wanted to
locate in our Woodard Industrial Park across from Pompton
Knolls. Such a
project was legal at the time, but neighbors were justifiably
upset. We conducted Public Hearings and took a lashing as a
public board. I’ll
never forget the woman who came up to me in the auditorium at
Liverpool High School and cursed at me in anger.
Did you ever wonder what happened?
There was never an article in the paper or a news story
on television or a press conference! Well, it went away!!!
Legal briefs, with engineering and planning input,
letters, and many, many phone calls carried the day.
It went away quietly, efficiently the way it should with
much credit owed to the three gentlemen over there, Robert
Germain, Doug Wickman and Dave Tessier.
The future of Clay will be more remarkable still.
It is not a question of if, but rather a question of when
the Clay Industrial Park attracts a major employer.
Being a finalist for the Bristol Myers plant has put that
location on the map. I fully expect that site to generate hundreds of jobs for the
upstate region and it will transform Clay once again. I almost can’t wait for Three Rivers point to evolve.
I have no idea today what will happen there, but be
assured that whatever happens there in the future will be
amazing! These are
heady times for our town. It
is with much respect for the past, humbleness in the present,
and determination for the future that I begin my term as Clay
supervisor. Tonight I am the luckiest guy in the room.
I have a loving and supportive wife and three children
who have made me more proud than they will ever know.
And, tonight I have the distinct privilege of serving you
as Supervisor of the Town of Clay! I am truly honored and I promise to do my very best.
Thank you!
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