A History of Mayor Alan J. Cohen’s Administration of Ithaca, NY 1996-2002: Or Why Your Taxes are Going Up and Up a pamphlet by Joseph Wetmore will be available at Autumn Leaves Used Books for $2 after November 19, 2002.
This 30-page pamphlet covers the Cohen administration from his race against Ben Nichols to his current problems with the County’s Ethics Advisory Board. The Eckstrom affair, the community’s debate over the development of the Widewaters site, Lower’s controversial demolition of houses on Cleveland Avenue, and the city’s purchase of Ithaca Falls and the subsequent clean-up of the lead contamination are but a few of the stories from this administration that are explored in detail.
Wetmore also provides a critical look at the effects of Cohen’s methods of consolidating authority, including: appointing himself as chair of Common Council Committees; not appointing members to various Advisory Board; and withholding information from Common Council and the public.
Though the pamphlet focuses on Alan Cohen’s administration, it includes side stories about Common Council members who have helped him. Wetmore concludes, “Cohen could not have accomplished any of the above with out help. Members of Common Council, Ed Hershey, Paulette Manos, Pat Vaughan, Pat Pryor, to name a few have uncritically supported nearly every move of the Mayor.”
Wetmore, a vocal critic of the Cohen administration, says his reasons for producing the pamphlet are: “This pamphlet was not produced with the intent of preventing Alan Cohen from being reelected: Alan Cohen has made it clear that he has no intention of running for a third term. Rather, it is presented as a civics lesson, to help us prevent such things from happening again.”
