Politics on the Hudson

   A state Assembly member from Dutchess County is asking Gov. Paterson to reconsider his proposal to eliminate the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council and Hudson River Valley Greenway Heritage Conservancy and transfer liabilities, assets and responsibilities to the Department of State. Hudson Valley communities and groups have had “numerous successful endeavors” working with the council and conservancy, according to Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook. The governor recommended eliminating the agencies in his 2009-10 budget plan, which he presented last week.

   The council was established as a state agency by the Greenway Act of 1991 to work with local and county governments on land-use planning. The Conservancy, also set up at that time, works with local governments, organizations and individuals to set up the Hudson River Valley Trail System, promote tourism and preserve agriculture.

   The success of the Greenway in “spurring intermunicipal cooperation and regional planning is a model for cost savings and consolidation at the local level,” Molinaro wrote in his letter. “Eliminating their independence to work with municipalities, skeptical of state interference, will significantly set back these efforts and diminish your stated desire to further local government sharing.”

   “The bottom line is I do not believe that a budget savings of less than $100,000 (assuming the loss of federal revenues for the management of the National Heritage Area and re-assignment of Greenway staff) is sufficient reason for elimination of these highly functional and successful organizations, shifting the responsibility for DOS,” Molinaro said. “Doing so would significantly limit the state’s ability to work with our local partners, hamper economic development and environmental stewardship in the valley and would signal the state’s abandonment of seeking consensus in order to confront the myriad challenges throughout the Hudson Valley.”