North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Democratic Town Council incumbent Melanie Cunningham says if re-elected, she wants to keep up their current strategy of marketing Massena as a fishing destination and focus on hospital privatization and updating building codes.

The 45-year-old mother of five is a former Massena Memorial Hospital Board of Managers trustee, having been appointed in 2013. She is a registered nurse at the Salmon River Central School District and a former General Motors Powertrain production worker, team leader and union benefit representative. She was let go from the plant in 2009, which she said she “saw as an opportunity to reinvent myself” and went into healthcare. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from SUNY Canton.

Hospital Privatization, Living Wage Jobs

Cunningham said there are a number of problem areas she thinks the board needs to address.

“Waterlines. The hospital. Infrastructure. Moving forward. Keeping the community safe. Jobs,” she said in a phone interview.

The publicly-owned Massena Memorial Hospital is in the process of privatizing and affiliating with a larger health network. Cunningham said due to the ongoing asset transfer negotiations between the town and hospital, she declined to offer comment on specific hospital-related actions she would take, if re-elected.

“The only thing I can say with the hospital is it’s continuing forward in a positive manner … I can’t talk too much about it because of contractual issues,” she said.

She added that they are striving to make sure the hospital stays and avoid potential taxpayer liability.

“One thing I can say is we’re making sure the taxpayers are not burdened with having to support the hospital financially. We need to have a hospital here ... and do what’s best financially. The community needs that hospital,” she said. “I’ve been very thankful that hospital there. We need to keep the services and the jobs here.”

She said she would strive to support not just bringing more jobs to town, but living wage jobs that people can work and not need second or third jobs to make ends meet.

“We look into every opportunity and fully investigate it to the fullest” when deciding on offering incentives to businesses. “Every pro, con, everything.”

“We work with investors to make it easier to establish and be able to open doors, set their shop up, make jobs here,” the candidate said. “People need jobs with benefits to support their families. They need a living wage and not have to work two or three jobs … They need to have every opportunity to support themselves.

“In my personal job experience as a school nurse, I see what families are dealing with daily, both socially and economically … I know what’ it’s like having to work two jobs … and ‘do we pay this or do we pay that?’”

Building Codes Need Updates

Cunningham said she would support the town making additions to their building codes along the lines of what the village has done in recent years. Three years ago, the village ratified a points-based system for determining and remedying blighted structures. This year, they enacted renovation guidelines for homes and businesses in the so-called “downtown core” area.

“We need to make Massena attractive for businesses to want to come here. We need to make it look good, make it presentable,” she said. “We need to continue to move forward to reinvent Massena, to make it a wonderful place for people to want to work, to want to live, to come shop here, and people to want to play.”

Supports Marketing Strategy

Cunningham said she agrees with the town’s economic development strategy of marketing the area as a fishing destination. That includes paying local angler Don Meissner to market the town around the country at sporting shows. He recently landed a national tournament that Meissner described as on par with Bassmaster Elite - Fishing League Worldwide, or FLW for short. They are planning a big event in Massena next year that Meissner expects will draw many pro anglers.

“Next year we have the … tournament coming and we need to capitalize on that,” she said. “We live in a beautiful area.

“It takes a lot of work, but we as a town and committed people can do it.”

The town last year voted to spend $15,000 on turning a parcel of land on state Route 131 into a retriever dog training ground. Cunningham said she thinks the town should commit to using the facility as a means to bring events that would draw crowds with money to spend, and professional trainers in the summer.

“I believe it’s the only one in New York state,” she said, adding that she thinks it’s a means to get visitors to “use the restaurants, use the local businesses and grow” the local economy.

“I am running because … I want to see Massena continue to grow. We need to work as a team and as a community to enhance living conditions and economic stability,” Cunningham said. “We need to move forward and reinvent Massena. I know what it is like to not have a job and have a family. I know what it’s like to leave the state to go work and support a family.

“I think it’s important for someone, if you want to see change, you have to get involved … I’ve educated myself. I know what it’s like to be a mother, a wife, a working person and going to college and support a family. I am willing, young dedicated and want to keep moving Massena forward.”