To the Editor:

With the recent passage of the State Budget and the inclusion of the $1.5 billion Upstate Revitalization Competition funds, I anticipate a strong plan from the North Country Regional Economic Council.

The main focus for our region will be advanced manufacturing, agriculture/green energy, and tourism/community infrastructure. Clarkson University President Tony Collins as Co-Chair of our region will continue to lead us in the right direction.

However, I must admit that a major concern of mine is the fact that the City of Ogdensburg does not have a voting member on the North Country Council. I have complete faith in the objectivity of all the existing members to look at winnable projects from anywhere in the North Country but I believe that the City of Ogdensburg has unique circumstances that compel us to have a voting member representing us on the Council.

Ogdensburg is the only community in the North County with a port on the inland St. Lawrence-Great Lakes waterway and we are located less than an hour from one of Canada’s major high technology industrial hub. We are a border community rich in history but isolated from major highway connections.

There are other communities within our region that are represented by their Mayor or Town Supervisor (the Cities of Watertown and Plattsburgh as well as the Supervisor of the Town of Potsdam) so we ask for our Mayor or designee to have a vote on the Council.

I appreciate your willingness to review my request and look forward to a positive response. Letters can be sent to: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, State Capital, Albany, New York 12224; Gov.cuomo@chamber.state.ny.us

Vernon “Sam” Burns

Ogdensburg mayoral candidate, former county legislator