By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON -- St. Lawrence County Legislators have tabled the new chairman’s call for strategic planning, voting instead to create a sub-committee focused on cutting county costs.

In an 11-4 vote Monday, St. Lawrence County legislators voted for a resolution that will allow St. Lawrence County Legislature Chairman John Burke to appoint three Republicans and three Democrats to a six-person sub committee.

Burke, who had hoped to include the entire legislature in the planning process, said he was disappointed in the new arrangement because it means fewer ideas from fewer people with less transparency and less focus on strategy.

“The idea of having a planning secession is you talk about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). In that context you develop some short- and long-term policies. If I understand this proposal correctly, we will skip the SWOT process and go right to development.”

Burke’s original plan would have forced the county to discuss its plans in public sessions. However, the new arrangement, which includes only six legislators, could be held behind closed doors.

Burke says he’d like to see the public at meetings, because more people means more ideas. Burke said he would also like to see county planners Keith Zimmerman and Jason Pfotenhauer stay involved in the planning process.

Although this new plan is not what he had intended, Burke says he plans to roll up his sleeves and dig in.

“My intent is to work very hard for people in the county and try to produce good results. If that means I will have to be to be working from what is in my perspective a less desirable process, that’s all right. I am still going to a try to produce some good results,” he said.

Burke says he is disappointed with the dialogue from Monday’s meeting, which he says included some attacks on people’s character, but said he is hopeful the county can move forward despite the different opinions.

“The reality is there is a bigger issue here and we need to put our differences aside. For me life is to short for this type of leadership and mounting personal attacks, we need to get to work and do what’s best for the county.”