St. Lawrence County - No Go To Flow Control For DANC

The City of Watertown has refused to entertain flow control, Jefferson County has given it thumbs down and according to one St. Lawrence County Legislator there will be no support for flow control in that county either.

That is the right decision by St Lawrence County.

Government exist to provide services to the public that cannot be otherwise provided by the free market place, but occasionally they stray from their mission and enter into enterprise business activities that are provided in a competitive basis in the market place.

Such is the case with the Rodman Landfill, of the landfills around the state approximately 6 of 28 are privately owned and operated and three landfills are relatively close enough to compete with Rodman. Franklin and Clinton County which are county operated facilities and a privately owned facility in Monroe County are within reach to compete with the quasi-government operated facility locally, therefore, DANC has requested flow control legislation be enacted in order to mandate all local waste be disposed of in their landfill.

Government operations such as the landfill should not attempt to utilize the unbridled power of government in order to create a monopoly and force private haulers to utilize their operations, they produce enough profit to remain competitive and they need to survive in the marketplace by providing that competitive edge.

The City of Watertown, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties need to maintain that thought and St. Lawrence is to be commended for recognizing it and not passing flow control.

Related information 

Landfills 

The Political Alley

Like it or not, the path to the 118th Assembly seat for a Republican leads through Watertown and this holds especially true for a Jefferson County Republican; they should be prepared.

The St. Lawrence County portion of the 118th Assembly District consistently has more votes cast than Jefferson County in each Aubertine victory, over Ritchie, Gray and one unopposed contest. Further breakdown of the St. Lawrence County votes shows 50% of that county's total comes from the Democratic strong holds of Massena, Canton, Potsdam, and Ogdensburg, hence that being labeled a "safe seat" for Aubertine and possibly for any Democrat.

A good sound St. Lawrence County Republican, such as Ritchie, can possibly neutralize or even eliminate that threat in St. Lawrence County, but then must do battle in the City of Watertown in order to win. A city of Watertown victory is problematic for the St. Lawrence County Republican if they are running against a Jefferson County Democrat.

A Jefferson County Republican in the same scenario will likely lose to a Democrat from either county in the St. Lawrence portion of the district, therefore, the Jefferson County Republican must win big in Jefferson County at least 60% to 40% and that can only be done by winning the City of Watertown.

A Jefferson County Republican must win in this county by a substantial margin in any given scenario, and that cannot be done without Watertown. The candidates favored by parties should be chosen wisely, parochialism will be a big part of this race as it has been in the past.

Jeff Graham, in spite of the State Independence Party ripping from him the responsibility of giving the line to a candidate, is still in play as Mayor. Mayor Graham needs to make certain the city's interests are being considered by a candidate and commitments are made by a candidate to assist the city. His endorsement and efforts to support a candidate will loom large over the results.

A candidate for the 118th Assembly seat will be met in the political alley called the City of Watertown by those looking out for the city's interest; they should be prepared to earn the support.