A
Better Way
The fascinating thing about watching local government is that
sometimes, no matter how well we think we understand what's
going on, it's still possible to be very pleasantly surprised
by a turn of events hardly anyone could have predicted. That's
what happened this past Monday night, and we thank sincerely,
and commend each and every member of Shandaken's planning
board for their vote to seek full party status in the state's
hearings for the proposed Belleayre Resort. Based on the information
provided to the board by its consultants, and based on the
board's willingness to receive objective professional comments
as information to be acted on, that was the right and the
responsible thing to do.
In the local political climate we've become accustomed to,
many of us have come to see town government as the stage for
the unfolding of conflict, along lines defined in recent years
at least, by a political split that's dominated much of our
collective dialogue. And of course we do have a collective
dialogue that's been dominated for over four years now, by
a single very big and wholly unavoidable issue. So while that
view of our recent elective politics is, well, true, it's
not thankfully, the whole of the picture. And what our
planning board's shown us this week is that there's no damn
reason things have to work like that, and that it's possible
that people working in good faith and in the town's genuine
interests can make important decisions that really are independent
of politics. That we think, is news.
We are extremely disappointed however, in the town board's
choice not to participate in the resort's review process,
and not to try and make sure that our voices here in Shandaken
will make a difference in what happens here. Some of
the same people who are often among the first to express concern
about the loss of Home Rule to regional and state government
are now among the first to say, effectively, that whatever
they think in Albany or New York City or wherever is just
fine with us. On a scale of irony, this giveaway of our own
ability to decide our own future is off the scale. We
think it's a sellout of Shandaken's future, and the issue's
got very little to do with the particulars of the Belleayre
Resort project. It's about our home, our town, and our ability
to choose for ourselves what kind of place it's going to be.
Right now we're just thankful we've got a planning board that's
both smart enough and independent enough to understand that.
As for why the town board's chosen to go the other way, we're
not going to venture any opinions on that today, in the interest
of fostering the civic pride that our planning board has justly
given us given us reason to feel this week.
There are literally millions of dollars in future municipal
revenue at stake from the potential build out of the Belleayre
Resort. It's the job of town government to maximize that potential
revenue, to accelerate the time frame in which income's received
by the town, and to make sure its citizens aren't just protected
from negative fiscal impacts, but stand to benefit from positive
ones. We believe the tax offer to Shandaken contained in the
DEIS is a terrible one for the town. But we also believe it
can be fixed, if our elected officials choose to make that
a priority. And while no one knows whether or on what scale
the project might eventually be built, we do have an obligation
to protect our town financially if it is. Our planning
board has no statutory authority to act on our behalf with
respect to securing future tax income for the town. But our
town board on the other hand, has an unequivocal obligation
to do exactly that. By choosing not to file for a place at
the resort's review to discuss its fiscal impacts, our town
board has abrogated that responsibility, and we think it's
violated a fundamental trust given to it by the town's voters
to protect us financially. We think it's a very bad choice,
and the rationale offered - we can't do it because there are
legal bills involved - is just unbelievably shortsighted and
irresponsible.
These past few months have been a sobering time for Shandaken
political observers. Those who had hoped Supervisor Cross
might have tried to bring the town together through consensus
building have found little reason to be hopeful.The removal
of Howie McGowan from the planning board, Jay Braman Sr, from
the ZBA, and most recently Beth Waterman as planning board
chair have all underscored the intensely and aggressively
partisan nature of the town board's decision making.
At the same time there are serious new causes of concern regarding
the nature of public dialogue in town. Bob Cross' promise
to restore "civility" has turned out to have a somewhat
chilling edge, which many have come to feel bodes something
like the end of participatory democracy at town meetings.
We've certainly never before had public dialogue in the public's
only forum for dialogue virtually prohibited, nor have we
ever had meetings where residents were unable to question
and get answers from town board members. And while Cross hasn't
always enforced the new rules of order rigidly, there have
been many instances already where discussion has been repeatedly
gaveled down, generally based on the supervisor's willingness
to discuss the subject matter involved.
There's a price we all pay for this, and it's a price we pay
for with an intensified partisanship that serves few of us
well. Our planning board has shown us that if what matters
is to serve the town, then there is a better way. It's to
be open to hearing more than just the truth we knew before,
fair enough to judge things for ourselves, and free enough
to act on what we come to understand.
