The evening of 2023-06-06 was a meeting of the Lima Town Board.
While I went for the Public Hearing on a School Resource Officer, it looked like an otherwise normal Town Board meeting. Or so I would assume, I don’t normally go to Lima meetings.
I’ll point out that the police officer present used the term School Resource Deputy (SRD), while most everyone else used School Resource Officer (SRO). Probably some legal distinction, but (to paraphrase a number of people, including the officer) the two terms are effectively interchangeable in this setting.
And worth noting this is solely for the grade schools in the Town of Lima’s footprint. It does not directly cover any school buildings elsewhere (ie Manor, Middle, High). Now if there was some sort of crisis, yes, this officer would rush where needed. So having him in Lima would most likely have him closer, thus an indirect benefit. Although there are jurisdictional issues for anything less then an ‘all call’ disaster.
Those detail out of the way…
Assuming I heard correctly, the deal on the table is for a one (1) year contract between the Town of Lima, the Honeoye Falls-Lima School District (HFL), and Lima Christian School (LCS). They would split the cost of one (1) School Resource Officer three ways, costing the Town $28k a year. Which implies ~$84k a year total. While there is no commitment for future years (made abundantly clear by two Board members, in different ways), there was a stated plan to decrease the Town’s contribution 25% a year. Which would have them out of this in four years. Again, no commitment on future years, so that plan may not happen (as was pointed out, see any other governmental program). Having said that, the officer present said the schools he is aware of started their programs this way (ie sharing costs), but are now entirely supported by the schools themselves.
And realistically, that was the biggest point of contention: who pays. No one spoke against the idea in the abstract (I counted 11 commenters clearly in favor), but a number of people raised questions on the details of funding and long term viability. Which I think the one Board member addressed well: think of this as a pilot program. Make it work, if in a less then ideal method, for the first year or so. During that time, use what is learned to figure out how to make it work long term. Or toss it as not being of value (which seems unlikely, but you never know).
The commenters were an interesting group. One couldn’t decide if she wanted to speak to the Board or the crowd, which was amusing. Another suggested recruiting volunteers from the public and have them outside the buildings. Not as armed guards, but still there. Which I think is a good idea, regardless of how SRO’s play out. We have ~2000 students, I don’t know parent/student ratio, but 1:1 seems a reasonable assumption. Divided by 4 buildings, so ~500 (or 5 if we count LCS, but that also brings up the student count, so ignoring for now). I think there are ~180 school days a year, but assume 200 for simple math. How many parents would commit to 2.5 days of ‘guard duty’, in the interests of adding another layer of protection for their students?
Which goes to something I’ve said before, the problem of idiots shooting up schools can be mitigated (not solved, because there are always evil idiots out there) by a few simple steps. First, recognize an adults right to be armed at all times. Then remove any signage discouraging them from being armed on campus. Followed by inviting as many adults in as practical, as often as feasible. Make up excuses if needed. Then make it abundantly clear that they are permitted to exercise any of their God given rights while at school. Just don’t distract the kids too much while doing so. When (because again, there are always evil idiots out there) some suicidal idiot attacks a school, they won’t last long. As numerous people said tonight, they would willingly be a ‘bullet sponge’ to protect children. While we should all pray it never comes to that, such is our role as adults. While such an experience might well be traumatic for the students, I would image it’s better than the current model. After all, the kids would have solid evidence that the adults take protecting them seriously. Which has to go a long way towards making schools a ‘safe space’. In the sense of a place where physical threats are eliminated, as opposed to any other way that phrase could be used.
Gene (Superintendent) was there to represent HFL, and he made a few interesting comments. He said if there was a shooting at an HFL school, that building would not reopen. He did not elaborate, and no one ask for details. But from context, it almost sounded like he meant that building would be permanently closed. Hopefully he will elaborate next week, at the HFL School Board’s Public Hearing on this topic.
He also pointed out his mandate is to educate, not provide security services. Unfortunately, we are in the odd place that security appears to be a necessary prerequisite to education. Much like a building to put students in, lights to see by, heating in winter, cooling in summer, electronics galore, and the list just goes on. When did we become so soft? Not criticism of Gene or the school, this is aimed directly at us as a society. And is also outside the scope of tonight’s observations…
Besides the SRO, which definitely took up the bulk of the meeting, it had what looked like a regular Agenda. The Town reviewed quotes on a new mower for the cemetery. They need one that is small enough to get between the stones. Completely reasonable once pointed out, in contrast to the common refrain of ‘bigger is better’.
A water district is being explored (the fifth, apparently). There appears to be some serious contention among the public on the topic. First I’ve heard of it (again, haven’t gone to Lima meetings), but there seems to be a petition going around to gauge interest. And some of the petition carriers have had ‘verbal issues’. From context, ‘yelled at by residents’ is probably a good translation, but I may be reading between the lines wrong here. From comments, there is definitely that level of unrest among segments of the public.
While discussing the water, someone offered a personal anecdote (as they do). Their well has been gradually getting worse, and they attributed this to nearby farmers putting in additional drainage. Which means the water doesn’t spend as much time seeping into the ground, instead it is funneled away as quickly as possible. An interesting idea, that seems plausible enough.
Lima will be having Fourth of July fireworks. Good for them and I’m glad to hear it. But they had to issue themselves a waiver to do so. It sounds like some aspect of State law interacted with Town law to essentially outlaw this activity. I’m sure I’m missing nuance and details, but I found it hilarious. In any case, expect an adjustment to the Town code before too long.
Which brings me to the meeting format itself. As mentioned previously, each board has it’s own ‘flavor’. As this is the first Town of Lima meeting I’ve been too, that difference stood out in a number of ways. Board member communications were at the end, whereas most other groups have it towards the beginning. The Supervisor directly spoke to letters having been sent to the office. He didn’t read them out, as it sounded like they had been shared to the group, but he did list and summarize. And the Board actually engaged the audience (ie public at large) in discussion.
That last one was a bit of a shocker, so is worth repeating: The Board engaged the public in discussion during the meeting. Having been to too many meetings where the public was tolerated (if not almost treated as hostile), this was a welcome change. Although, even as I liked it, it did get a bit chaotic at times, so I can see the appeal of a more rigid system. But even then, more then once I could see Board members gesturing to people to wait, and those people did just that: Waited patiently for their turn to speak. It boggles the mind: A Board and the public they serve engaged in lively discussion.
And this did nicely answer a question I’ve had for a while. If a Board only exists when a quorum is gathered, and they only gather to conduct business, at what point does the public get to have a discussion with the Board? Previously, the answer has appeared to be ‘never’. But for Lima at least, the answer sure looks like ‘any meeting’. I might have to go to more of this groups meetings, just to find out if this was a fluke, or if they are all this amazing.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the June 06, 2023 meeting of the Lima Town Board.