Hello Everyone!
I think it’s high time for me to officially introduce myself. My name is Phil Ricci and I am running for the Batavia City Council At Large seat this November. As in the past I come to you all with great humility and an eagerness to serve this city through the next phase of its evolution. Even though I would be considered to many as the “newcomer”, I am confident that you will find my ideas and ideals very much in line with what is needed for this position.
My young public service career has seen me thus far as a member of the Batavia City School’s Board of Education, President of the Batavia Youth Board and member of the School’s Audit Committee. As a whole, I have strived to be the positive young voice that stands for controlled spending and forward thinking initiatives that benefit us in the long run, not just the short term. It is my belief that we must act responsibly not just for the current generation, but to our future ones as well. My two young children, Delilah and Vivian, serve as my constant reminder that my actions carry more weight than just a day’s vote, but in fact could help or harm them for years to come.
In my private profession I have been in finance and business management for almost ten years, running and creating profitable businesses that produce jobs and opportunities for many. I am also a small business owner and financial consultant and realize the detriment that our expanded governments cause on the very life blood of our economy.
My platform is simple: It’s time to get “Back to Basics!” It has been my experience that the more government is involved, the more complicated and difficult it becomes to get anything done! It’s not government’s job to solve every problem we have, but it is the responsibility of that body to provide a safe and reasonable place for us to live and grow our families. Even though we have done a good job of reducing our past debts, we are not done by far! It is one thing for any prospective candidate to sit before you and make promises to maintain tax levels and continue to do good works, but that is just not good enough anymore! We must find sensible, pragmatic and realistic solutions to become more efficient and effective in how we govern. We must also do whatever we can to clean up our neighbors so that not only can we can be safe, but reduce our taxes and create real growth through economic development.
If I am given the honor to serve the City of Batavia, I will do my best to represent the public’s interests and remain open to any and all ideas that are brought to my attention. I know that I am new, but I believe that it is time for my generation to stand and put our hands to the plow. I thank you for allowing me this brief time with you and welcome any questions you may have. I look forward to meeting you all as I put the rubber to cement this summer!
Respectfully Yours,
Phil Ricci
With your ties to the Youth
With your ties to the Youth Board, will you be willing to consolidate youth services with Genesee County?
Great Question John! The
Great Question John!
The problem with Youth Services is that so many people do not understand what the county versus the city actually does, so they instantly see it as just a way to save money! There is so much more to it though....
The county does not run many if any direct care programs, meaning the programs that directly facilitate the youth. Instead the county serves as an administrative body over funding and grants by positioning and moving monies throughout the different municipal programs. They do run some of the larger state programs, but the everyday services that hundreds of our city youth enjoy would not be there. The last time around there was no actionable plan that showed how those programs would continue! Hence, my strong opposition.
Let me be clear on a couple of points though! The Youth Bureau's budget represents less than 1% of the total city's budget, yet it is one of the fastest programs to come under question. During the city budget crisis the YB REDUCED their total budget while some other agencies remained the same or even increased! All the while the staff and Youth Board continued to serve hundreds of city kids and to write and obtain grant funding to control the city's cost burden.
We today, as a board realize however that fighting for funding, however small that dollar amount may be, will always be a forefront issue. Which is why we are finding ways to supplement those dollars through creative and community oriented means. Not to replace them, but supplement the cost.
So in a very long winded response, John...(sorry I do that) I do not support any consolidation that will eliminate youth programs. Just as I will not support a consolidation effort that would eliminate Police or Fire services. I am however, not deaf for the calls to control our spending, I am an advocate for it! I am very open to find better ways to govern and being "willing" is apart of that.
I hope that's clear! Thank you so much for asking that question.
What's your feelings on the
What's your feelings on the change from a paid fire service to a volunteer fire service?
If you are for the volunteer service is it for budget reasons? If so why not remove the Batavia PD instead and utilize the sheriffs and troopers that already frequent the city?
So Phil then how are you
So Phil then how are you going to control spending...Your not for consolidation..What exactly are you for..Being on the school board what cost savings have you been for,Student enrollment is decreasing but yet spending it up every year.....and why not combine the city police with the sheriff dept..
I know you are just getting
I know you are just getting started, but I also know you have studied some of the issues and have people working for you.
If not the Youth Dept (1% of the budget), then where would you save money, or are we already lean and mean?
Thanks Peter! Here's one of
Thanks Peter!
Here's one of the big questions! I'm not a hundred percent sold that going to 100% volunteer force or even the 50/50 (50% paid/ 50% Volunteer) is the best way to go. Although I understand the push to do something and it is an option.
I have been doing research into an entity which is known as Public Safety Departments. This is when Police and Fire Departments merge and a cross training process occurs. In example, Police officers would be given training as fire fighters while a certain amount of fire staff would be kept to be dedicated drivers, run the base operations and lead trainings. This would allow for a 100% professional squad and also the reductions to the budget that we need. Although, I'm sure there are drawbacks, the upside is that there is flexibility in how the two services can combine to find the right mix.
The other measure in which you suggest, Peter, is where the Fire department would stay, but the Police would consolidate. This option I've seen would be known as a Metro Unit plan. The best example that I can give you is how Las Vegas operates their police services. The Sheriff's department runs the entire police force and jail services. In this scenario, we most likely would send a certain number of officers up to the county (like we did with dispatch) and then reduce the rest. Again same idea in maintaining service/reducing cost.
To be honest Peter, I'm not sure which would be better. Gaining access to all of the numbers and evaluating "real" time statistics would have to happen. I know that the Public Safety option was raised but Council did not go forward at that time. Whether it wasn't a viable option or there wasn't enough data is unclear, but I'm sure the answers to that can be obtained.
Either way, this will not be an easy decision. Yet I feel that it's one that will have to be addressed.
Thank you for your question!
Hello Mark, I'm a very much
Hello Mark,
I'm a very much in favor of consolidation where it makes sense. I don't believe in eliminating services for very little in return. I do believe in finding ways to reduce the size of our government while providing quality services.
To answer the other part, Mark and for anyone who doesn't know...School Districts are one of the most complex budgets out there. The sheer amounts of state and federal mandated programs are absolutely staggering. Much like the county's payment to Medicaid, school districts are not given choices to a large amount of their budgets, but rather are told what must be done.
Also, much like the county, they are completely under funded. It is the job of the Board of Education to control costs. While I was on the BOE we kept spending to less then two percent and had a less than one percent increase to the tax levy.
Since getting off the BOE in 07' I have been a Budget Ambassador for the district and I can tell you that this current year's budget was awful! I was one of the more vocal members constantly questioning every non-mandated program. I think the real hard truth is that not many people really know what the Federal and State governments force down on the schools and what they have to go through to deliver.
As far as enrollment goes...you're right! The numbers were decreasing for a good number of years there, but they are stable now. Nonetheless, I agree that regardless, the cost goes up every single year which is absolutely infuriating to me as well.
Mark, I would totally suggest that you serve as a budget ambassador so that you can see this and ask those very potent questions!
Thanks for the response!
When you spoke with the
When you spoke with the Conservative Party, did you talk about privatizing youth services?
This is the second time I
This is the second time I have heard this and I think that I should just set this straight.
First, I want to thank Art and the committee for even meeting with me. I felt that we had a very good conversation and look forward to more in the future.
Now, as I've said this is the second time that I have heard this, allow me to answer it directly. When I was asked about youth services, I spoke about how I was working with the board on creating a private entity to help supplement and control costs for youth service programs. My goal was, and still is, to find a way to generate enough income through this private source so we do not need the state's funding to offer services to our youth. I further believe that if we can be successful in this project, we could control or even reduce funding levels and still offer excellent programs. Youth Services however, could not be "privatized" or it would just not exist.
To add to that though. There did come a question asking me if I did find a way to save that money what would I do with it? I recall being asked to promise to give it back. I took that one step farther then and I will take it now.
Any works that I do that reduce the budget, I promise I will NOT support any vote where it redirects or re-purposes monies into another program! If we work hard to save it, it goes back to the taxpayers!
Thanks John for allowing me to clarify that!
Good to hear it. The idea
Good to hear it. The idea sounded goofy and now that is cleared up.
I love that the money saved
I love that the money saved goes to tax payers in your plans. I'm new to Batavia and have only heard of the local politics through this site. It is my understanding that the city has a large debt. As much as I would love to see taxes lowered, what is your plan for the debt?
Phil , Thanks for answering
Phil , Thanks for answering my questions .I'm sure you will get plenty more..I guess what i don't understand is if you couldn't keep the school budget in check then how will your imput on city council keep the city budget in check..since 2006 the school budget has gone up 3.6 million dollars..in 2002 the tax rate was 20.52.now in 2009 its 24.00..In 2002 until 2009 enrollment is down 400 students..those tax rate don't include the library tax rate.At the same time assessments have been going up..You say serve as a budget ambassador,but you know more that i about this then i do and you couldn't slow down the spending..Good Luck..
Can someone please explain
Can someone please explain what an "at large" seat is. I'm guessing that they cover the entire city, not just a specific ward. How many at large seats are there and is there a reason for it?
Beth there are three At-Large
Beth there are three At-Large council seats. They are city wide seats and those people represent all the wards. From those three seats, the Council elects the President.
I have another question as
I have another question as well. What is your stance on Government Consolidation? It may well be decided before you have a chance to affect it but it is a hot topic right now.
Thanks Charlie.
Thanks Charlie.
Hi Peter, I will get both of
Hi Peter,
I will get both of your questions here and thanks!
The budget debt from what I understand is being eliminated with the current council under Mr. Mallow’s leadership and the plan is already laid out for its completion.
The better question of how do we never allow that happen again is equally simple and difficult at the same time. The beginning to this end has already started to manifest itself in how we go forward. I believe that the consolidation talks will have to become actions in some ways in the near future. What do we do with our current Police/Fire setup? How do we proceed with a Town/City merge? Where can we reduce, reuse and improve our long term equipment purchases/replacements and so forth.
We are a city just shy of 16,000 and yet in some cases it feels that we have models that are beyond that. We have to really take the time and make hard choices to right size to what we are today and make plans to improve our infra-structure and neighborhoods to market ourselves in the future.
At the end of the day, Peter, bringing in new business and growth is the key to realizing not only lower taxes, but ending the brain drain in our area.
How do I feel about the consolidation? I have been reading about the plans for a while now. I see the merits and the detractors. Consolidation in many ways is like a marriage. We are looking to partner with another and make us one. Right now the town is looking at their potential partner and sees someone with a history of money problems, messy fights and in some cases stagnant growth...Yeah I guess I could understand why they might not be too keen with that!
Overall, I think that in the end there very well could be great gains by making it happen. I think the different plans laid out are interesting, but no I'm not sold on them either. I plan on attending the meeting tonight and listening to what is said.
Thanks Peter!
Thanks a bunch Phil. Unless
Thanks a bunch Phil. Unless something drastically changes, you have my vote.
How do you get more business
How do you get more business into the city under the proposed 3 Tier tax plan under consolidation?
Why wouldn’t all new business go outside the current city limits since they would still be “tax free” areas? In fact, they would have less incentive to come downtown than before since they would receive the combined DPW service.
Under the present consolidation plan, I would “save” maybe $100/year in property taxes. But that is only if the State gives us the promised money forever. Without the State money, I save $30/year. Take out the DPW, which would be about half the savings (we can get that without consolidation by just sharing services) I am now saving about $15/year.
Why bother? Without the Fire and Police Department as part of this, where do we in the city come out ahead?
John, dont worry about it the
John, dont worry about it the NYS senate will insure the money gets here. LMAO !
Mark, You have no idea how
Mark,
You have no idea how grateful I am that you have brought up this topic! I really am excited to get down a little deeper because I honestly believe that if everyone really could understand how we got here, we could see just how difficult this process is, so thank you!
In 2001 Former President Bush passed a little bill titled "No Child Left Behind". Its intention was to create a universal standard of education throughout the country. Its premise was to "punish" schools and districts that could not achieve the new standard. In theory it sounded like a great plan and was hailed with triumphant horns by all. It came with promises of increased federal funding to the states to accomplish this over the next decade…
Now let me tell what really happened. Since 2002 the amount of mandated programs that the federal and state have created to comply with this law has increased 38%!!! All the while funding has only increased less than 10%!!! The dollars that the President promised never arrived, but the law remains active!
How schools get funding is literally broken down into two segments: State Funding and Tax Levy!
Mark, I am not disagreeing that it's just too high. I think that what is not understood is the why. To only increase spending by less than two percent in a year, (while I was there) while state aid goes down and contract obligations and mandates push it up is controlling spending.
Last, Budget Ambassadors do not create or even control the budget. We are presented it and then give feedback to the BOE. The BOE takes those opinions into consideration and makes whatever changes they can. In the end the BOE approves the spending bill and the public votes on it! The budget has passed the public vote each and every year that you have mentioned; in most cases by a vast majority.
Thank you for talking about this! Great Discussion!
Thank you very much, Peter!
Thank you very much, Peter!
While on the School Board,
While on the School Board, what cuts did you recommend?