POTSDAM — Panelists at the Managing Local Government Conference urged municipalities to streamline services Tuesday, but St. Lawrence County officials seemed reluctant to change the way they conduct business.
"The state is spending a lot of money to study the small municipalities. Who's studying the state?" Norwood Mayor James H. McFaddin said, to applause.
The 17th annual conference, at SUNY Potsdam, included workshops on budgeting, contract negotiations, open-government law and ethics.
In the open session following lunch, John Clarkson, executive director of the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, answered questions about the push to centralize services and change some elected offices to appointed positions.
"This is an almost ancient system. It goes way, way back," Mr. Clarkson said. "Today, with the financial difficulties we're facing, maybe we don't have the choices we used to have — and it may result in changes that not everybody's comfortable with."
The commission wants to convert town clerk, highway superintendent, assessor, tax receiver and collector positions — as well as county sheriff, treasurer and clerk positions — into appointed offices, so qualifications and not politics are the primary consideration for those jobs.
But officials at Tuesday's conference pointed out that town and county boards could make politically motivated appointments.
They also said Albany doesn't set a great example for cooperation and efficiency.
"Local governments and school boards have to pass their budgets on time and balance the budget. Albany doesn't always pass its budget on time and pass the budget. So how can we afford consolidation?" Potsdam town Clerk Cindy J. Goliber said.
The panel also featured Lee Kyriacou, executive director of the state Office of Real Property Services. He called for all of the state's taxing districts to reassess property to full market value.
"We have no ability to treat properties the same way across the state. It's not a very good system, in terms of fairness," Mr. Kyriacou said. "Some districts haven't done reassessments since the Civil War. I can't make this stuff up."
Potsdam Deputy Mayor Ruth F. Garner, who has chaired the conference committee for 15 years, told Mr. Kyriacou that municipalities need a way to deal with tax-exempt property, which she said could be both a "burden and a boon."
Development Authority of the North Country engineer Carrie A. Tuttle also spoke, comparing the regional projects she oversees to marriage. She said the town and village of Potsdam represent one example of a dysfunctional relationship.
"You have to overcome politics and personalities. That broke down between the town and the village and we all get to read about it in the newspaper, unfortunately," Mrs. Tuttle said. "I think a lot of government officials can't see the forest for the trees, frankly. Many can't see past the short-term costs for the long-term benefits for their whole community."
