ГлавнаяMy WebLinkО нас1988-03 T ER jJ%fIVS L S1-E T D RETIREES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY VOLUME ONE NUMBER ONE MARCH 1988 SNOW FIGHTERS � v. by Ward Hungerford _ °1. Department of Public Works At 3:30 a.m. the phone rings and , you know who it is. The caller from "*.a { the Highway Department wants you —"I'411114tivain to come in.An hour later you are in a plow truck or a sanding truck on a � r� ,. designated route while most other people are still fast asleep. " Sometimes you no more than get home from work and you are asked to come back. Other times are just Snow Fighters will travel 250 miles of road in a storm. when you are sitting down for a nice meal or getting ready to do some- covered roads become the work abrasive. Thousands of miles are thing with your family. It comes with place for the next several hours or logged on hazardous roads each year the job,but it takes more than that to more. and the few accidents with plow and respond to the phone calls time after Plowing the roads means handling sanding equipment have been minor time after time. What it takes is a a truck that with front plow and wing with no injuries.We can be and are sense of dedication, pride in your is over 13 feet wide on roads that are very proud of that record. work and professionalism. It is a normally 10 feet wide. Maneuvering genuine feeling that what we do is around cars and obstacles and yes An effective winter program is one very important. "missing" hundreds of mailboxes a that requires all that has already been day all takes place unnoticed. Shar- mentioned and many other efforts as Once on the route the driver en- ing the roads with impatient drivers, well.Training, communication,sup- counters conditions that require drivers that are unskilled on slippery port from equipment maintenance skills that take years to develop, roads and dealing with vehicles that personnel;planning,scheduling,and Skills that enable the safe and effec- are not equipped for the conditions tive use of trucks that cost an average are all typical difficulties. Fatigue, "MISSING HUNDREDS of$75,000 each. The slippery snow long hours and many times poor visibility are constant companions. OF MAILBOXES A DAY ALL TAKES NAME THIS The sand and salt truck operators PLACE UNNOTICED" f c are drivers that spread controlled NEWS LETTE R amounts of salt and abrasive. Coun- ty snow fighters in a typical storm will maintaining adequate supplies to Tompkins County's first sand or salt over 250 miles of road. keep the operations going are all es- staff newsletter needs a Once over usually takes about four sential in each and every storm. nan78 hours and then many times you start all over again.Many times conditions Although in the early or late hours Please send your suggestion to are such that drivers are wisely reluc- of the day, it seems like we are out Newsletter, % Central Services (if tant to travel because of the hazard- there all alone,we know that similar using le S.Mail,send to S Newsletter ous road conditions. Snow fighters crews from the State Department of S can not wait until conditions im- Transportation,Towns,Villages and % Central Services, Biggs Center prove, snow fighters must "make" the City are all out working for a corn- Building A, 301 Harris B. Dates conditions improve by being out mon goal-to provide the safest pos- Drive,Ithaca,N.Y 14850). Sugges- tions there, sible roads for our community, t ecetved by April 8, 1988 Will In a typical winter the county work families and friends. be considered force alone will spread over 5,000 tons of salt and over 4,000 tons of County Vacancies as of PROOFREADER: TC3; part- For additional information March 16 1 time(30 hours per week).Grade D. regarding Qualifications contact the County Personnel Office. BUYER:Purchasing and Central Services; AAS and one year ex- SOCIAL SERVICES ATTOR- perience.Grade 10. NEY: DSS; part-time (17 1/2 hours per week), flexible scheduling avail- GROUNDS SUPERVISOR: able. Admission to bar required. TC3;HS plus three years experience Happenings Grade E. OR AAS plus one year experience. Grade J. Kevin Murphy, son of former PROFESSIONAL County Administrator John Murphy THERAPIST (Psychiatric Social CONTINUING TREATMENT and his wife Molly,is on the mend in Worker)Mental Health;after hours SPECIALIST: Mental Health at a Brewster,New York,hospital after programming. MSW or Phd re- Meadow House;BA in Human Ser- being involved in an auto accident on quired.Grade 14. vices, Mental Health, related field February 13th. OR AAS plus two years experience. Murphy, employed by IBM, was PUBLIC HEALTH EN- Grade 10. riding in an automobile with his GINEER: Health Dept.; BA in en- financee when he was struck broad- gineering or NYS engineer's license. C O M P U T E R side after being thrown into the on- Grade 11. OPERATOR/TECHNICIAN: Data coming lane of traffic by a car sliding Processing; AAS in Computer through a stop sign.He was listed in SUPERVISING PUBLIC Operations or related field OR critical condition for several days, HEALTH NURSE: RSN plus two BOCES Data Processing Program and many expressions of affection years experience as Public Health plus one year Experience OR HS and support have been sent to the Nurse.Grade 14. plus two years experience.Grade 7. family by County employees. John Murphy was County Com- STENOGRAPHER: District MICROCOMPUTER missioner of Budget & Administra- Attorney's Office; high school SPECIALIST:Data Processing;HS. Lion from 1970 to 1973 and County graduation,35 wpm typing, 80 wpm plus one year experience.Grade 9. Administrator from 1974 to 1985. stenography.Grade 5. HEALTHY NOTES 1 By Suzanne R.Stopen,Department of Health t March is National Poison Control Month.Common household poisons to keep out of the reach of"explor- ing"children are: n f Alcohol Insecticides Antifreeze Kerosene 1 p Aspirin Lighter fluid ~ 1 Chlorine pool products Medicines ,, 41 Cleanser Nail polish �� Detergents Nail polish remover ' w� Disinfectants Paints and paint thinner —! Drain cleaners Pesticides ` � . _ —7 Floor wax Rat poison `, Furniture polish Tranquilizers +: Gasoline Turpentine ,T !. ----- To make your home safe,these 7 steps can be of help: • - '— 1.READ ALL LABELS and follow instructions. 2.Clearly mark all poisons;do not store them in food or beverage containers. 3.When possible use child-resistant packaging. 0■171 L I 5TARTF� G'ETTISCI -roe 4.Never call medicines"candy." NWSLET� , I tJEvER KtS6vv Wl OU2 5.Throw away unused portions of medicines. GarwPa►�Y —010.'' 6.Teach your children to stay away from storage areas and medicine cabinets.Use child-proof locks. page 2 Employee of the Month Man for the Future By Mary Pat Dolan and improved public water systems. Only Department of Social • the Town and City of Services Ithaca had zoning and planning The year is about boards, and his of- 1959.Frank Liguori has lice served as quasi- been this county's planners to offer the Director of Environ- "'` " expertise and ser- mental Health since '" vice in promoting in- July 1954. He is sitting /'!^� f r a s t r u c t u r e on the front porch with development which the mayor of one of the ' Frank feels is one of county's villages. They the hallmarks of the are talking about the d" '' planners' mission. lack of sewer service in County legislators the village and over- also recognized that flowing septic tanks. they needed to do "Frank", he said, "we'll t more to stimulate have sewers here over ";,., : community planning my dead body." Some if they were to meet time later, the mayor the multiplicity of passed away and sewers - problems facing soon followed. You Photo by BillChapp them, and in 1969 have to be patient. Frank Liguori the then Board of The war was over. The population and development in- Supervisors created the County planning department and creased at its fastest rate ever. The housing market is ex- named Frank as the first director. tremely active with young veterans and others looking for In addition to his 16 years of experience as Director of their own dream home and their own lot. Growth is taking Environmental Health(a position he continued for 6 months place in all of the county's municipalities, both large and after being named Director of Planning),Frank brought a small, and Frank Liguori is working with local officials in bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Syracuse places where the population and assessment are still insuffi- University and a master's degree in sanitary engineering dent to support the needed infrastructure.He needs to con- from Harvard to his work with the County.He had spent the vince them that they must look ahead and see their towns and war years in the Commissioned Officers Corps of the U.S. villages, not as they will be next year,but as they will be in Public Health Service where he had served around military ten years or more, bases in North Carolina, protecting both the area and the It was an era which Frank recalls with pride and fondness. troops from the threat of malaria and typhus. Frank only It was an era during which he played a key role in assisting recently retired from reserve status with the Corps, having the villages like Groton,Cayuga Heights,Trumansburg,and attained the rank of Colonel. Dryden in building sewers,waste water treatment facilities Cont. on page 4 Articles and opinion pieces for this employee and retiree newsletter are selected by the volunteer editorial board based on their interest to Tompkins County employees and retirees. Material is welcome and is solicited from current and former employees,retirees,and others. This newsletter is published by County Central Services using"desktop publishing"typography and layout. Submissions must tre typewritten originals,on white paper,single spaced between lines`double spaced between paragraphs. Submissions will not 5e published that do not include author's name and signature,<department,and County telephone number..,?Publishing dead- line is 3:30p m. nine days before the second County payroll of the month Publication and distribution is on the second Count' ty payday of the:month »: Material forpublicati in is selected by the editorial board which reserves the right to edit any submissions The editorial board &made up of Bell Chapp(DSS),Sheila Ferrari(Purchasing and Central Services),Scott Heyman(Administration),Joyce Mus- son(Administration),Janet Nissenson.(Stop DWI), Geri Roebal(Youth Bureau), Greg Smestad(Central Services),Marilyn Strassberg(Office for the Aging),and Judy Tynyk(Mental Health Clinic). Articles and other correspondence may be sent to Newsletter,Central Services through County interoffice mail,or to Newsletter,%Purchasing and Central Services,Biter Center $uildingA,301.Hams B.Dates Drive,IthacaN.Y. 14850 via S Mail page 3 • Future Culligan Serves Longest from page 3 by Phyllis B.Howell WO His first assignment as Director of Planning: Do something about the solid waste problem. And with his Clerk,Board of Representatives 4114 staff of two, do something he did! Within about six months,three coun- In 1958 when Averill Harriman was Governor of ty landfills were cited and in opera- New York State and Dwight Eisenhower was Presi- tion. He remarked that those were dent of the United States a young man named Donald i 1 simpler times. The County program J.Culligan became a member of the Tompkins Coun- eliminated twelve old-fashioned ty Board representing the City of Ithaca. He is now municipal open dumps. The im- serving his 31st year and is the longest serving mem- provement was spectacular.He com- ber since Tompkins County's establishment in 1817. mented, "I never imagined that I Previous longevity honors were held by Harvey would get involved again 18 years Stevenson of the Town of Enfield with 28 years(1934- later, only this time it will take 1961) and Harris B. Dates of the Town of Lansing i I £, longer". with 29 years(1957-1985). '_......:iiiliiiill Asked how he forces himself to al- Donald Culligan retired in 1978 from the Ithaca ways look into the future, Frank City School System after 30 years of teaching,coach- Donald J.Culligan replied that "after you do it enough, ing and administering athletic programs. looking at the future just becomes Since 1958 Mr. Culligan has served with 68 different Board members and 9 part of the way you think and look at chairmen.He has served on almost every committee of the Board and has been the world".And as with TOMTRAN, chairman of many Board committees,including 20 years on the Health Commit- which he quietly proclaims as one of tee,and is presently Chairman of the Public Safety and Corrections Committee. his best ideas, negotiating the world He has represented the County on the Soil and Water Conservation District, of ideas and looking for ways that Regional Planning Board,and the Finger Lakes Association. those ideas can become realities has He said thirty-two more programs are included in County government today kept our first Employee Of The than in 1958.He mentioned serving with Harris B.Dates on the first ad hoc Air- Month interested and involved for his port Committee and lengthening the runway from 3,000 to 4,000 feet and no one 34 years of County service. would believe him when he said the runway should go to 5,000 feet because we would have jets landing here someday.Early in his County career he pushed suc- cessfully to get permanent personal voter registration.He recalled working with the late William Kerr on a resolution to study county-wide use of the Cornell MILESTONES Library which eventually resulted in our Tompkins County Public Library and a new building on Cayuga Street.Don recalled the days of working with Represen- tative Claude Holden of Groton in selecting a site and building the Tompkins Kathy West assumed the duties of Cortland Community College.Other physical changes have included the High- Director of Budget & Finance on way Building and the new Public Safety Building. March 9, 1988, succeeding Robert a Nicholas,as n Washington,left for a position with FREE CLASSIFIEDS a Washington,DC law firm. West returns to County service Classified ads up to 20 words in length are free to Coun- after three years as Controller of ty employees, retirees, and their immediate'families. Courtside Racquet & Fitness Club and three years as an Associate with Ads may be for any purpose except that personal ads , Hollander, Sprague & Associates. will not be accepted. No County addresses or telephone From 1973 to 1981 she was employed in the Budget & Finance Of- numbers may be listed in the ads. fice,which at that time included func- Deadline for receipt of a classified ad to be published in lions now assigned to the County the next issue is nine days before the second County Controller. The Budget & Finance Office paycheck of the month.' receives and disburses all County Ads should be sent to Newsletter, % Central Services funds, receives unpaid taxes for all municipalities outside the City of (through County inter- office mail) or to Newsletter, Ithaca, oversees the tax foreclosure Central Services, Biggs Center Building A,301 Harris and auction, provides certificates of B. Dates Drive, Ithaca, N.Y.esidency and tracks the County's in- 14850 (through U.S. B surance program and fixed assets. Mail). page 4