Cuomo's map comes under fire

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposal for regional economic development councils has come under criticism because of the first draft of its map.

But, demonstrating just how hard a task it is to split the state into regions, even the critics have vastly different requests for the governor's office.

"Many people looked at it and said there was room for improvement," said Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa.

The governor has proposed 10 regional economic development councils, which would bring together disparate players in the realm at one single point of contact. The councils would compete for money, and dole out hundreds of millions for development programs.

So far, so good, officials say. But several north country officials said that the council in which the north country counties of Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Lewis are tentatively located is too far flung, stretching from Jefferson in the west, Clinton to the northeast, Washington in the southeast and Otsego in the southwest.

Others separately argue that the characteristics of the counties included in the mix should either be more limited — like with the Empire State Development Corp. — or should stretch south down to Onondaga and Oswego counties to include major areas like Syracuse.

Officials in the Cuomo administration said in January that the configuration of the councils was still up in the air, after Mr. Cuomo's visit to Watertown — at which he displayed a PowerPoint slide with the map — sparked criticism.

"It was the first thing I noticed" when the slide came up at Mr. Cuomo's Watertown visit, said state Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton.

At his Feb. 1 budget address in Albany, the PowerPoint slide with the map hadn't changed.

"We are waiting for more conclusive information about how the districts will be configured, but the north country region as it stands now has spent a great deal of effort to forge an identity," said Patrick J. Kelly, the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency deputy CEO," referring to the group of Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Franklin, Essex, Clinton and Hamilton as the north country. "And there's an awareness and a participation between the developers within this region now that we hope to see preserved and encouraged."

Officials argue that the counties that make up the north country might be at a competitive disadvantage when competing for funds if such a wide array of counties — which would make up the largest council of the 10 — are in the mix.

"Our concern is that by trading the traditional region, which is the six northern counties, it will expand to a 14-county pool, which creates a net loss for each of us as we compete," said James W. Wright, the CEO of the Development Authority of the North Country, at a Thursday morning meeting of the Jefferson County Job Development Corp.

"We have created a north-south development axis along (Interstate) 81, but with the proposed region, it is so enormous that effective development will be difficult," said Donald C. Alexander, the CEO of the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, at the same meeting.

Others have a problem not so much with the size of the council, but with the counties that are included in it.

In a Jan. 20 letter to Lt. Gov. Robert J. Duffy — who will chair the regional councils for the governor's office — members of the CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity wrote that the council should go north to south, instead of east to west.

That configuration would lump Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Lewis counties with Oswego, Oneida and Onondaga counties, among others. The letter noted ties that the counties have forged with Clarkson, Syracuse and Cornell universities.

"Simply stated, we have been working together as a unified and effective region for years and have seen and can demonstrate the benefits of this collaboration," wrote the group's board members and CEO. That includes Robert M. Simpson, the CEO, Anthony G. Collins, the president of Clarkson University, and John B. Johnson, Jr., the editor and co-publisher of the Watertown Daily Times.

One Jefferson County official agreed with the group, but for different reasons.

"There's a lot more for agriculture to gain from being in the Central New York region," rather than the Northern New York region, said Jay M. Matteson, the county's agriculture coordinator.

The councils' boundaries — which are not set in stone, administration officials insist — should become more clear as the time for the councils to meet approaches. That should happen in the next few weeks.

Until then, some officials are holding their opinion on the idea of regional councils in general.

"If we're in a council with metropolitan counties, we're going to lose," said Eric J. Virkler, the economic development director for Lewis County, offering yet another competing opinion on how the map should be drawn.

Mr. Virkler said he's withholding opinion on the governor's proposal until he learns more details, including specifics on the boundaries and how small counties will be represented.

"I'm looking forward to understanding what the plan is," he said.

Times staff writer Steve Virkler contributed to this report.