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Friday, January 19, 2007January 19 2007Otsego County Voice In Spitzer’s Cabinet By JIM KEVLIN RICHFIELD SPRINGS Patrick Hooker, Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s nominee for agriculture commissioner, has a Richfield Springs postal address, but actually he lives just across the Herkimer County line; go to Mr. Shake’s on Route 28 and take a left, then merge left by Peter Weiss’ big silos onto Richfield Hill Road. That said, his Otsego County credentials are impeccable. Standing on the front steps of his hilltop home – he and his wife, Karen Huxtable, Bassett Healthcare director of public relations, are raising two children there – Otsego County’s scenic sweep dominates the view to the south, a stone’s throw away. And, yes, look at the county map, and there’s Hooker Mountain outside of Westville. Patrick Hooker’s family came from England in 1830 and settled near the county’s highest point, clearing a farm that has now been reclaimed by the forest, Hooker Mountain State Forest, in fact. The last couple of weeks have been like something out of a movie, said Hooker. A week ago Thursday, on Jan. 4, Hooker, the state Farm Bureau’s public policy director, got his first inkling of what was to follow when he was summoned to “the second floor” – the executive offices in the state Capitol – for an initial screening by Spitzer’s staff. He had planned to attend the National Farm Bureau convention in Salt Lake City and it was there, Monday, Jan. 8, that he received the call: The new governor wanted to see him the following afternoon. He changed his flight and headed out of Utah that night. Bad weather held him up at JFK, and he didn’t get to Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport until the following morning. A break-neck trip followed to his South Columbia home for a shave, shower and a change of clothes, and “slid into the seat” at Spitzer’s Albany office at 4 p.m. sharp. “He offered me the position Tuesday evening,” said Hooker, who becomes the most eminent agriculturist from Richfield Springs since Norman Jay Colman, the lawyer and newspaper publisher who became U.S. secretary of agriculture during Grover Cleveland’s administration and was founder of federal agriculture experiment stations. Rob Robinson, Otesgo County Chamber executive director, called Hooker – he must be confirmed by the state Senate – “an outstanding choice.” “He’s a great choice,” echoed state State Rep. Bill Magee, the Democrat who represents part of Otsego County. Hooker, 48, was raised near Cazenovia, in Nelson, which is also Magee’s hometown. The assemblyman has known the Hooker family for years, and the nominee since he was a young man at Cazenovia High School. It was there, Hooker remembers, that he first became intensely interest in making a career in agriculture. His family grew potatoes on the side – young Patrick spent many a day in farmers’ markets in Syracuse – but it was Andy LePine, a “born leader with a twinkle in his eye” and Future Farmers of America adviser, who inspired him to the presidency of the Cazenovia Aggies’ FFA club. LePine was “mischievous in the most positive way.” FFA meetings were conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order. Patrick’s class made a motion to have a freshman garden, and approved the measure. Hooker than made a motion that dill be grown, “because I wanted dill pickles.” It carried. And so his political life began. He rose to FFA state president – “that is one reason why I’m here today” – then went on to a two-year degree at Morrisville Ag & Tech, where he was president of the College Council. All his credits, every one, was transferred to Cornell, where he received a bachelor’s in 1984, intending to be a college professor. His mentors had other plans. Dr. Donald Butcher, Morrisville’s president, immediately recruited him as alumni affairs director, and no sooner had he started then a former national FFA president ran into him in an elevator in Albany and insisted he join the state Legislature’s staff as rural affairs adviser to the Senate’s Republican majority, saying he could do more good for his alma mater in that role. Spitzer, of course, is a Democrat. “It’s a partisan town,” said Hooker, “but agriculture is not a partisan issue.” He’s been with the Farm Bureau since 1990. Along the way, he met his future wife at a Christmas formal during a trip back to his fraternity – Alpha Gamma Rho, the agriculture frat at Cornell. She had been invited down on a blind date only to discovered her escort for the evening would be driving the Zamboni down at the rink until 11 p.m. He engaged the fuming young woman – at the time, a radio reporter, later, a Utica-based TV broadcaster – in conversation. They had a lot in common – canoeing, camping, hiking, skiing, fishing, even hunting, evident in the trophy heads on their livingroom walls today. They were engaged in two months, and married in 12. That was 21 years ago. Daughter Erika, 16, is a horseback rider; son Mitch, 14, plays soccer. His first goal, he said – and Spitzer emphasized this to him – is to ensure the state’s food supply remains safe. Hooker pointed out his prospective title is commissioner of agriculture AND markets, but he’s bullish about the state’s system of controls despite the e coli scares coming out of California. “When I go into the Price Chopper in Richfield Springs, I have absolute faith in the safety of what I’m buying,” he said. “We have a great food system, and a safe food system. Not everybody believes it is: We’ll work on that.” Second, Hooker is excited about the possibilities of growing switchgrass and willows for ethanol production. Third, he referred to the Jan. 2 State of the State speech, where Spitzer said: “One New York means a state that embraces agriculture, and that is why we must help our struggling, daring farmers and establish a Pride of New York wholesalers market in New York City to connect upstate supply with downstate demand.” That excites Hooker, who said Schoharie and Otsego county farmers are already making the trek to New York City markets a couple of times a week to sell their wares – apples, potatoes, cabbage, milk, cheese and frozen vegetables – and the Pride of New York markets will only make it moreso. Spend an hour with the new agriculture commissioner, and you’ll find him open and accessible – no airs – as he was the other day tromping through the 350 acres around his house with Mitch, a couple of technicians from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, who were tracking turkey flocks, and Lazer, the Hookers’ lab. A tri-athlete, he hardly shows his age, and a youthful outlook – “I’m SO hopeful” – is echoed in what he says. “Farmers love to farm. If farming is profitable,” he declared, “farmers don’t have to sell. How do we help them be profitable?” Don’t Spend Tax Refund, At Least Yet COOPERSTOWN It won’t be days. Possibly, it will be weeks. But it may be months – or even never – before the state Legislature authorizes the Otsego County Board of Representatives to give excess payments back to taxpayers, according to the county Administration Committee chairman. Meanwhile, said County Rep. Ronald Feldstein, D-Otego, the county board has created a “tax stabilization reserve fund” to deposit $2.5 million from the budget it passed in December. At the time, the representatives thought they were approving a 2.5 percent tax increase; mistakenly, it turned out to be a 25 percent increase. But it hasn’t turned out to be that easy to give back. The county board discovered it may lack the authority to simply asks taxpayers to throw away their tax bills and await new ones. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s office believes the state Legislature must grant that authority to the county. However, the state Assembly leadership isn’t sure such legislation is necessary, although state Rep. Bill Magee, D-Nelson, who represents part of Otesgo County, is drafting legislation nonetheless. “We have abeen assured it will be done in an expedient way,” said Feldstein, but he added, “look at the trouble Albany has passing a budget?” If the county isn’t authorized to issue new bills, or to give refunds to taxpayers, eventually the fiscal year will pass with the money unspent in the “tax stabilization reserve fund.” Then, the legislator said, the money may be used as tax relief, to pay down the amount taxpayers would otherwise have to pay next year. When the representatives met Wednesday evening, Jan. 17, nothing related to the tax overpayments was on the agenda. Board chair Donald Lindberg was delayed “on personal business” but the meeting began “on time’ at 7:30 p.m. However, instead of taking public comment from the floor to begin the proceedings, the representatives moved immediately into an executive session to “discuss a labor contract” and adjourned to an adjacent conference room. That left Willy Bruneau, Middlefield Orchard proprietor, waiting in the wings, fingering a thick copy of Otsego County’s budget. “The first thing I will mention is that the tax levy should have been zero, or negative,” Bruneau said, revealing what he planned to say, when and if the representatives offered the “privilege of the floor” to the constituent public. “There are three reasons why this budget (2007) should have been held to zero, or negative,” Bruneau continued. “First the Otsego Manor pulled in $2 million more in revenue than was projected last year. Second, the county sales tax receipts were another $2 million over projections. Third, the projected line on Medicaid was initially $12 million, but it was eventually capped at $9 million.” According to Bruneau, given his analysis, Otsego County’s coffers should have had a surplus amounting to about $7 million. Neither representatives nor pundits could be found to second Bruneau’s figures, or rebut them. “There’s no fiscal restraint in this county, whatsoever,” Bruneau continued. “The towns, the schools and the county – they’re all broke. In my opinion this (the county budget) is a disaster. This is unacceptable.” There was one more thing on Bruneau’s agenda. “I’m going to call for Donald Lindberg to resign.” However, Lindberg wasn’t around at the stage to get Bruneau’s message. Insistence on Quality Won Alex & Ika Fame COOPERSTOWN If fresh, high-quality cilantro is unavailable, Alex Webster takes cilantro off the menu. For a time, only European butter was served at Webster’s Alex & Ika Restaurant in Cherry Valley, because it’s simply the best. And the coffee... When Alex and wife Ika Fognell – he’s a Brit, she’s Swedish – served BLTs for lunch, “people were raving about it, but we weren’t making any money.” The bacon was from Dean & Delucca, the gourmet food supplier. That attention to detail won Alex & Ika – which has closed in Cherry Valley and will be reopened in larger quarters in Coopertown in May – exceptional attention. Alex & Ika’s new location is the former Gil Gallery at 149 Main St., formerly Homescapes, an interior design shop, and before that Spaulding’s Restaurant, which thrived for years. Webster’s timing may be just right: A market survey NYSHA recently completed indicated Cooperstown attracts high-end visitors who are looking for high-end restaurants, and find the village lacking. Villa Isidoro, which opened in December in a former stone mansion on Route 20 near Richfield Springs and features a celebrity chef, has been operating at capacity. When Alex & Ika opened in 1997 in a former bowling alley, it wasn’t a secret for long. Regional restaurant critics – in Syracuse and Albany – raved; so did The New York Times. U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-NY, would often drive up from his country home in Pindars Corners, south of Oneonta, to enjoy the offerings. One time, he brought along then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and it was there that she launched her famous “listening tour,” the start of her campaign to succeed Moynihan. (The Secret Service contingent’s cell phones didn’t work in Cherry Valley either.) In 2004 came the icing on the tort: Frommer’s ranked the Websters’ restaurant “one of the 10 best” in New York State, along with such famed Manhattan establishments as Aquavit and Peter Luger. Frommer’s followed up in its 2006 New York State guide, which praised the “laid-back cuisine magic show.” “He’s defined a new segment,” said a long-time pal (and former employer) of Alex’s, Stagecoach founder Rod Torrence, picking up on that observation. “Elegant food; laid-back setting.” Frommer’s made another observation, “It’s hard to believe they can hit a home run with every dish, but somehow they do ... the food is packed with so many flavor combinations, you’ll be talking about the food long after you leave.” Which brings us back to the beginning. When the couple – they’d met in the restaurant business in Florida – opened Alex & Ika, they experimented. “When we were excited,” said Alex, “people were excited too.” They offered a limited menu – three appetizers, three main courses and three desserts – that depended on the availability of the top ingredients and required “more effort into fewer dishes.” That goal was ingredients – star anise, for example – that diners wouldn’t tend to try at home. “They would think, that’s a great meal, even if they aren’t sure why,” Alex said. The result was “a very, very loyal following.” Seven years ago, Alex overcame a struggle with cancer and, during that period, cut back from five nights a week to two. He discovered the fan base was “quite a finite audience,” about the same number of dinners per week – about 100 – either way. In Cooperstown, though, the plan is to have an extended schedule. “It was time to go one way or the other” – bigger or smaller, he said. Before choosing the Main Street site, the Websters – they have two sons, Lukas, 8, and Oskar, 3 – considered building a new place in the country on land they own outside Cherry Valley, but the cost of new construction deterred them. Last month, the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals concluded the new Alex & Ika’s presents no regulatory challenges, and so work began immediately. You might have seen Webster going in and out of the building in the past couple of weeks. Right now, brown paper covers the windows as work gets under way in preparation for an unveiling four months from now. When May Flowers, Thank Snow COOPERSTOWN After unseasonably warm weeks, the weather outside has just recently become frightful. But if you’re expecting to see flowers in June, the snow is just what’s needed. When temperatures soared well past 40 degrees in December and earlier this month, trees began to bud; stems and stalks started peeking through flower-bed surfaces. This will mean trouble for local flora if normal winter weather experienced in the past few days doesn’t settle in for the next six to eight weeks. “The problem with all the warm weather ... is that it will most likely stunt the growth of flowers in the spring,” said Hartwick’s Frank Malack, who operates his Garden Guy business out of Cooperstown. “Sap (was) starting to run out of maple trees and that’s a major no-no. “I realize lots of snow is a pain to deal with, but snow essentially protects our plants during the cold winter months.” A heavy blanket of snow would sprevent bulbs and buds from freezer burn, Malack said. “Plus, when it melts, snow provides new plants with water,” he continued. “I’m concerned for next spring’s growth. I believe that we’re going to be facing some serious issues in our gardens.” In addition to green thumb enthusiasts and maple syrup farmers, greenhouse attendants are also standing guard against the return of spring-like temperatures. “I believe in global warming, but I think the warm weather we had ... has something to do with some other sort of cycle,” said Sarah Millenbach of the Clark Foundation’s Fernleigh greenhouse attendants are also standing guard against the return of spring-like temperatures. “I believe in global warming, but I think the warm weather we had ... has something to do with some other sort of cycle,” said Sarah Millenbach of the Clark Foundation’s Fernleigh greenhouse crew. “A lot of the plants that people see popping up now usually pop up under the snow in the first place. We just don’t see them, because their usually covered with snow. Millenbach, an avid gardener with bachelor in flora culture from SUNY Cobleskill, said trees budding now should have time to bounce back before spring, regardless of what happens during the rest of January and the entire month of February. “Most trees push out more than one set of leaves,” said Millenbach. “Trees that had buds pop out early, during the warm weather, will most likely drop one set of leaves early, and then push out another set in the spring. Overall, I think everything’s going to be okay.” With local temperatures not expected to rise above freezing through the weekend and into next week, it appears that winter has finally arrived. Bicentennial: Joe Tom, A Man of Many Parts Editor’s Note: Town of Otsego Historian Tom Heitz will be recounting interesting vignettes from Cooperstown history during the village’s Bicentennial year. By TOM HEITZ Joe Tom, as he was familiarly known in Cooperstown, was born into slavery in 1808, the property of Joseph Dottin Husbands, the British colonial secretary in Bridgetown, Barbados. Given the first and last names of his owner and his father’s first name as his middle name, Joseph Thomas Husbands was brought to Cooperstown as a child in 1815. Here Joe Tom, his mother Mary Best and his father Thomas Skinner were given their freedom. Though liberated from the yoke of slavery, Joe Tom and his family lived in a village where the economy and the social life were constrained and driven by birth and skin color. From early boyhood, Joe Tom learned to do what others needed doing, were not prepared to do for themselves, but were pleased to pay Joe Tom and others like him for their labor. In their own way, Joe Tom and other day laborers were as much the true pioneers and founders of the village as its merchants, bankers, lawyers and doctors. For more than 60 years, Joe Tom served his neighbors and the community in many capacities – handyman, gardener, cook, boatman, fisherman, hunter, tour guide, storyteller, musician and entertainer. A quiet, unassuming and congenial man, Joe Tom’s reputation for honesty and hard work earned him the respect and affection of village residents. Sought after as a caterer for lake excursions and shoreline picnics, Joe Tom knew how to build a fire, how to catch fish and cook them to a turn. He played the fiddle, sang, hummed and whistled a repertoire of popular tunes. Joe Tom was, by today’s standards, the village’s first tour guide, an adoptive native son who became a fixture in the village’s life and landscape. Joe Tom died on Oct. 2, 1881. He had served as the sexton for Christ Church in his later years and had joined that congregation as a member. His fellow parishioners raised the funds for his burial. Joe Tom’s grave marker can be seen today from River Street, situated just beyond the fence north of the Rev. Ralph Birdsall Memorial archway entrance. It faces the road. The photograph and other resources for this article were provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association. Special thanks go to Village Historian Hugh MacDougall and to Cooperstown Graduate Program graduate Sylvea Hollis, whose master’s thesis, “More Than A Passing Notice: Tracing the Lives of African-American Workers, 1860-1900” was consulted for this article. Labels: Archives
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