Published: April 14, 2008 10:43 am      

LUCINSKI: NYC meeting coverage sparks official reaction

Last Sunday, the Gazette published a story that received a lot of reaction from some of the people involved.

The headline read “Small Towns in the Big City.” It had to do with the trek of local government officials to New York City for the state Association of Towns gathering held each year in Manhattan. It’s where officials of town governments all across New York gather to hear the latest developments when it comes to operating their townships and navigating the complex relationships with the state and federal governments.

The story, written by reporters Dan Miner and Rick Forgione, detailed the town tax money spent to send the officials to the Big Apple for the three-day conference. Eight Porter officials, nine each from the towns of Niagara and Lewiston and 11 from Wheatfield made the journey.

Those contacted for the story expressed their opinion that the meeting is invaluable for the insight and the knowledge it offers to town officials and is well worth the taxpayer investment.

We published the story in the interest of those taxpayers. We felt people in those towns would want to know what it cost them to send those officials to Manhattan for three days. Is it worth it? That’s for each town resident to decide.

The reaction of some of those officials was striking. One Porter Town Board member canceled his subscription to the paper, saying he was upset that we concentrated on what his meals cost and not on his comments about the value of the conference. A Town of Niagara official told Forgione she was disappointed in him, seeing as they sat next to each other at board meetings.

But the biggest reaction came from an official who, in my personal opinion, is one of the finest public servants on that list. Lewiston Town Councilman Ernie Palmer wrote a letter to the editor, which we published Friday, ripping this newspaper for printing the story, saying he’ll never attend such a session again “after being subjected to this type of scrutiny.”

In addition to serving on the Lewiston Town Board, Palmer is the chief of detectives in the Niagara Falls police department, a tough task by anyone’s measure. He’s the former head of that department and served as chief of the Youngstown police as well. He’s been mentioned as a Republican candidate for the position of Niagara County sheriff. All in all, a glittering resume of public service. Palmer is even a better bass guitar player than I will ever be.

In his letter Palmer said, “I want to do the best job I can for my constituents. I thought that included being better informed. I resent the insinuation that we were somehow involved in scandalous behavior.”

No scandal was insinuated. It was just the newspaper letting its readers know how their money is being spent. By the way, Palmer’s expenses for the trip totaled $1,717.

It all demonstrates what could be called a political equation: The lower on the governmental food chain, the thinner the skin. Here’s a theory on why:

When state or federal legislators deal with the numbers involved in their worlds, the figures are in the millions or the billions. That kind of cash is incomprehensible to most mortals. But $1,500 or $2,000 of their tax dollars spent on a trip to New York City? That they understand.

And, unlike those state legislators or congressional representatives, local officials are approachable. Heck, they live among us. We run into them at the mini-mart or the drug store. And when something bothers us, we let them know it.

That personal contact makes it more uncomfortable for the local leaders. It also helps make local governments the most efficient and responsive political units in our system.

Want to turn lemons into lemonade? Here’s how:

Local officials can suggest to their own association that the annual sessions be moved from the most expensive place to hold a meeting in the state (and one of the most expensive in the world) to other parts of New York. Maybe they could even be held in a town instead of a city, bringing the economic benefits of their meeting to one of their own. Perhaps it could be moved each year, spreading those benefits around.

That way, the town officials could still get the information and training they say is of such great importance at a lower cost to the taxpayer. Of course it would mean three days in, say, suburban Syracuse instead of midtown Manhattan. But a Big Apple holiday is not the reason for the annual session, anyhow. Right?

Dick Lucinski is the managing editor of the Niagara Gazette. His columns appear on Wednesday and Sunday.