Legislature

Dooley Kiefer brings an environmental and social justice perspective to the Legislature, as well as a “good government” approach from her years of work with the League of Women Voters. In the 1960s and ’70s, she helped to block a nuclear and later a larger coal-fired power plant on Cayuga Lake. On the County Legislature since 1994, Kiefer engineered a land policy that ascertains and protects the natural, historic, or cultural resources of any land the County owns, acquires, or sells. More recently she focused on having solar panels added to the new County library--the first time Tompkins County has invested in using clean, renewable energy to generate electricity. She spearheaded the first-time codification of County laws and, in 2002, the County adoption of the Neighbor Noficiation Law for Pesticides. She is an advocate for modernizing the County's emergency communications system by being part of New York's new statewide system. She is an informed critic of State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) regulations and processes. Other Legislature issues of interest to Kiefer are requiring a fair wage for County contract workers, data available on the Internet consistent with the need to protect the personal privacy of County residents. Previously, Kiefer was on the boards of the Village of Cayuga Heights and the Town of Ithaca and belongs to many environmental, consumer, civil liberties, and humanitarian groups. She has lived in the County for over 50 years. She is a copy editor for the Ecological Society of America.

Legislators are elected and serve for four years. Current terms run from 2006 through 2009.