Mohawk Valley: Help Thyself . . .

There was an interesting editorial by a Mr. Livadas in this past Sunday's (12/2) O-D entitled "It's time for the Mohawk Valley to help itself." [I would link to it, but it has not been posted online yet.] He really got my attention and had me nodding in agreement (in spite of the mixed metaphors) when he described "the ship of state," as a now grayed "yellow brick road" passing eastward through places from Lackawanna to Amsterdam, "once stable, industrious cities and towns, now laying comatose," that ends in a "flourishing Emerald City" (i.e., Albany). He had me cheering when he said:

"Space prohibits citing the litany of ill-advised decisions leading to the current disheartening state of affairs. But one thing is certain: the birthplace of many of our problems is on the steps of the state Capitol in Albany."

He then called on the leaders and people from Rome, Utica, Herkimer, and the various townships to "[p]ush aside all city vs. city competing "priorities" and establish one priority - the revitalization of the Mohawk Valley . . . " to "join together in an unprecedented spirit of cooperation and good will to . . . "

"form a study commission to undertake a thorough analysis of the issues confronting our region."

That's where he lost me! He had just articulated a lot of the problems that NYS has created for upstate, but now we need a study commission? To tell us what? The things that we already know?

"Commission members would be composed of local state officials such as state Sen. Joseph Griffo, who has formed a committee of business leaders to review the area's needs, together with the presidents of the Utica, Rome, Herkimer and other Chambers of Commerce. Mayors, supervisors, the county executive , economic development officials, civic leaders and area college presidents are to be included."

He really lost me there. He would put in charge the very same officials and "influential" community leaders who have presided over our decline. Their impotence has spanned decades.

The end product of this committee would be a "Revitalization Master Plan" for the Mohawk Valley. But this is just "pie-in-the-sky" philosophizing. While Mr. Livadas would have each municipality put aside its own interests for the benefit of the whole, it simply does not work that way when are talking about local development. As I pointed out in my "Reconnect" post, as long as our municipal boundaries separate people into groupings that will unevenly share costs and benefits, attempts to force "cooperation" will end in "competition," and efforts will be lost in "friction" among the elements. Only when the people reorganize themselves into new municipalities which encompass people with common interests and lets them all share in both the costs and benefits of their decision-making will that friction be overcome.

But even if the Mohawk Valley could be remade into one city to eliminate our regional "frictions," it would not remedy the major woes that stretch in common across Upstate from Schenectady westward -- the woes so well articulated by Mr. Lividas. We would still have Albany-imposed millstones around our neck such as the Thruway and its Tolls, utility rates that are out of proportion with our incomes, state taxes and fees that are out of proportion with our incomes, government programs and regulations that make sense from a Downstate -- but not an Upstate -- perspective. The fact that Upstate legislators do not demand removal of these millstones bespeaks of their being beholden to Downstate interests for their survival.

The only thing we could hope for is for a new boundary to be drawn around Upstate that allows us the opportunity for some self-determination -- to make our own policies in certain areas. The current political leadership on both sides would never go for this. If the public had the right of initiative, referendum and recall, however, there may be a chance for a reorganization -- because, on a person to person level, people are not that different. They have many hopes and aspirations in common. Downstaters would understand and appreciate the benefits of self-determination as much as Upstaters would.