This week on The Debrief, Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine dig into the danger of trying to solve major problems with tiny fixes.From local budget pressure and code enforcement headaches to abandoned buildings, housing concerns, and New York’s increasingly fragile electric grid, the conversation centers on one big question: What happens when governments avoid hard decisions for too long?Josh and Jackie also break down the warning signs around New York’s power supply, including rising demand, transmission problems, electrification, data centers, manufacturing growth, and the real-world cost of outages for families and communities.

This week on episode #237 of The Debrief hosts Jackie Augustine and Josh Durso answer more of your questions, as submitted over the last two weeks. If you have a question you'd like answered in a future episode, email it to [email protected] or leave it here on Spotify.

On episode 236 of The Debrief, Jackie Augustine and Josh Durso talk two major stories taking shape around the Finger Lakes. The first comes from Ontario County, where debate over the functionality of IDAs was debated as officials in Geneva shared concerns with county economic development leaders that they weren't being focused on enough. Augustine wrote a column on the topic, which served as a jumping off point for the discussion. The two also talked about a story out of a small town in Cayuga County, where elected officials there required residents and media to sign-in, in order to attend public meetings. The episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, as well as wherever you get podcasts. If you'd like to submit a question for their next Q&A episode, click here or send it to [email protected].

Episode 235 of The Debrief takes a different approach with an 'Ask Us Anything' edition built around listener questions, comments, and reactions from recent episodes. Hosts Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine dig into Geneva’s property reassessments, the city’s move to a new meeting structure, and why nearly every Finger Lakes school budget passed despite growing frustration over taxes, state spending, and local costs. The conversation also zooms out to talk about New York’s increasingly criticized budget process, the long-term challenges facing Upstate communities, and the growing disconnect between voters and the people tasked with managing complicated local governments and public systems.

This week on The Debrief, Josh Durso and Jackie Augustine connect the dots between political dysfunction, municipal budget pressure, dissolution debates, and New York’s growing energy infrastructure problem. The conversation starts in Seneca Falls following the arrest of Town Supervisor Frank Schmitter, but quickly expands into a broader discussion about leadership, governance, shrinking tax bases, and why so many local governments across Upstate New York appear stuck reacting instead of planning ahead. They also examine why dissolution is often oversold as a solution for struggling communities and why utilities may be making the strongest case yet against the for-profit energy model.

Josh and Jackie break down a packed week on The Debrief, starting with a sharp look at why local governments focus too much on outputs instead of real outcomes. They dive into Albany’s looming climate fight, the realities behind the “senior housing fix,” and growing frustration around property assessments fueled by misinformation. It’s a wide-ranging episode that connects policy decisions to the real pressures facing Upstate New York right now.

Communities say they want growth — until it shows up on the agenda.Urban planner, author, and former mayor Bill Fulton joins In Focus to explain why housing debates stall, why zoning reform won’t fix everything, and how changing work patterns are reshaping the role of place itself. Instead of technical jargon, this conversation breaks down the psychology and economics behind local opposition, affordability, and the future of small towns.At the center of the discussion is a simple idea: The hardest part of solving the housing crisis isn’t regulation — it’s expectations.

Communities across the Finger Lakes and Upstate New York all say they need housing — but approvals still take months or years, small projects stall, and the shortage keeps growing.This week on In Focus, I talk with Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt about the gap between acknowledging the problem and actually fixing it. We discuss the “housing trap,” local regulatory friction, why so many projects require variances, and how incremental development could reshape neighborhoods without large-scale disruption. The conversation also explores the fiscal reality behind growth and why the future of affordability may depend less on large policy changes and more on local decision-making.

How's your town or village handling its future? On this episode of The Debrief - Jackie Augustine and Josh Durso talk about debates shaking out in the Finger Lakes around housing, population decline, how the tax burden will or won't be shared among those residents over time, and what communities are doing now.

Election season is over and in just a few weeks a new class of elected officials will take office across the Finger Lakes. While some will return for new terms, others will be taking on roles for the first time. Today Jackie Augustine and Josh Durso discuss the latest across the Finger Lakes, including implications of closely watched elections.