Ithaca Times - May 25

Since 1995, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University (CU) have had an understanding. The understanding is "that their futures are inextricably entwined." This symbiotic relationship between town and gown is formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding.
       Each city administration has left its mark on the memorandum and that of Mayor Carolyn Peterson, although still in the nascent stage, promises to be no exception. This past winter Peterson corresponded with CU President Jeffrey Lehman about extending their relationship beyond the formal understanding.
       "I suggested exploring ways the city and CU can partner for economic development," Peterson said. That letter spawned a subgroup, and the city and the university are presently engaged in additional talks about "potential co-operative initiatives," reported John Gutenberger, Director of Cornell's Office of Community Relations. Peterson's positive, proactive approach is a far cry from what existed a decade ago, according to Gutenberger.
       The original memorandum emerged out of contentious beginnings. Then Mayor Ben Nichols bartered annual lump sum payments from the university in exchange for a parking variance on campus. In 2003, Mayor Alan Cohen renegotiated a substantial increase in payments, albeit in a much more positive manner than his predecessor.
       Peterson has followed in Cohen's footsteps in keeping the channels of communication open. But she's taken the relationship one more step into the fiscal future by engaging Cornell in a series of satellite talks about mutually beneficial projects the two entities could embark upon in the future. The talks, which started in the spring and have taken on an independent life of their own, were spun out of the working group that was an initial condition of the Memorandum.
       The original working group, established in 1995, consists of three executive officers of the University and the Mayor and two members of Common Council. The group meets at least quarterly to discuss issues of common concern, including the provision of municipal fire and police services to the university and the respective roles of the city and the university in regulating traffic and parking and maintaining the infrastructure.
       The university, which doesn't have a fire department, is dependent on the city's. Cornell does have its own police department. "We have a very good relationship with CUPD and work collaboratively on issues such as Senior week, Slope Day, Collegetown and other events," Peterson noted.
       The voluntary contributions that Cornell makes, and to what purpose they are used, are monitored by the working group. Each calendar year, the city reports to the university how it has expended the previous year's contribution and how it plans to spend the current year's.
       The newly formed group has a wider range of interests represented, including two staff members from the city's planning department, an economic consultant from the National Development Council, two heads from Cornell's Real Estate program and CU's assistant vice president of campus and business services. The mayor, Alderperson Mary Tomlan and Gutenberger round out the group.
The new group has met twice in the last few months. Present discussions are focusing on three main areas of concern: potential collaborative initiatives downtown, the revitalization of the Collegetown area and housing issues, "particularly affordable housing," Gutenberger said.
"Like any project, we're starting by identifying what's out there, so we can start studying it," Gutenberger said.
Although it's too early to say for sure what projects the group might focus on going forward, Gutenberger pointed to a long history of cooperation between the city and the university for an idea of what might be possible.

Since the 1970s, both city residents and Cornellians have benefited from a collaborative approach. In the 1970s, CU worked with the city to help upgrade its housing stock. It was a founding member and still helps fund the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services. In the mid-1980s, an extensive rehabilitation of Collegetown was undertaken by both the city and CU as well as private entities. In the 1990s, the Tompkins County Area Transit was born. The last few years have seen the rise of Seneca Place on The Commons, which will bring 300 Cornell employees downtown.
The present talks bode well for the future - both Cornell's and Ithaca's. The new subgroup, which will report back to the working group, complements the Memorandum of Understanding. "It's a dual path," Peterson noted. The new group can address "long-term sustainability goals, but the contract money makes it possible to pay the bills. Both of these paths are ones that need to be followed." She would still like to review Cornell's contribution during her term, as did Cohen, as part of the budgetary process.
"It's a good partner to the memorandum of understanding," Gutenberger said about the subgroup. "It allows two major entities to pool their resources, but more broadly. Anything that can be done to enhance the community in which Cornell University resides is beneficial to CU as well as the community."