Probably. But about community involvement? Gaining bipartisan support and all that? Probably not.

I was reading this article in the D&C this morning and for the life of me I can’t figure out what our County Executive is trying to say.

She wants to revisit Morin-Ryan.

During an editorial board meeting at the Democrat and Chronicle, Brooks referred to the Morin-Ryan Act, a sales tax revenue sharing agreement codified in state law that allocates revenue to the city, towns, villages and school districts, as a “sacred” document in this community, but one that might be out of date.

“We are an extremely generous county with our revenue sharing,” she said. “At some point, Morin-Ryan served a purpose in their time. … I think we need to at least have those conversations. … The Morin-Ryan is like the sacred policy in this community.”

But not really - it’s just an example,

“Nothing is on the table at this point,” she said. “I use Morin-Ryan as an example of an agreement that dictates resource allocation. There are other things that we do that dictate the way we share resources that have nothing to do with Morin-Ryan. Maybe those are the things that we need to look at. It’s not just a focus on Morin-Ryan and I think that would be misleading to the public at this point.”

So it is looking at all options but….

Ideas from Democrats, apparently need not apply like revisiting the Water Authority

Brooks said at least one of the ideas, dissolving the Monroe County Water Authority, is illegal.

On what basis?

There is more in the article - about unfunded mandates, working with school districts, a report about property taxes.

Having watched or listened to Maggie Brooks over the past week attempting to re-engage on budget issues, I’ve been struck by the apparent air of repetition.

• She keeps stressing how she wants the community involved - yet doesn’t seem to acknowledge that she didn’t involved the community before, so there really isn’t a much needed level of trust in place.
• She calls for bold plans and bi-partisan support, yet shuns plans from the minority party.
• She discusses things that are codified in law, yet does not discuss options that are not.
• She discusses examples of how the County has reduced spending, yet does not give solid concrete examples.
• She seems to have not made progress or at least acknowledged that the unanimous County Legislature called for a “Plan B” to be created, yet movement here is glacial at best. I get the impression she is ignoring it.

Look, I get that we have a budget gap. I also get that a set of multiple solutions will help solve it over time. I want to see progress - joint progress. I want to see some exchange of ideas, give and take between the ruling GOP and the minority Democrats.

After all, what a legacy that would be.