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Press-Republican 7ht> Ho^>t*'own N(?w±puper oi ^^H C/<n'pn £ss<?x f-r onkhn Counf.es Vol.90-No.303 Copyright 1984. The Press-Republican Pittsburgh, N.Y., 12901, Thursday Morning, August 16,1984 Suggested Price: 30< 52 Pages Cuomo aims to abolish bridge panel ByTOMBERGIN Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH - Gov. Mario Cuomo will seek interstate legislation between New York and Vermont that would abolish the Lake Champlain Bridge Commission and remove tolls from commission-operated bridges in Rouses Point and Crown Point. Cuomo proposed that commis- sion employees be absorbed by the respective state departments of transportation. Under his plan, no commission worker would lose a job or be forced to relocate to the point of hardship, the governor told Press- Republican editors Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh. Both states would share in bridge maintenance costs, he proposed. As expected, Cuomo announc- ed his support for a new, toll-free Rouses Point Bridge and pledged the state's 10-percent share of the $25 million project. The governor said the commission would be phased out as the new bridge neared completion in 1988. \Tourism the second-leading industry in the state, is a par- ticularly important element of the economy of Clinton and Essex counties,\ he said. \Toll- free interstate bridges will con- tribute to both tourism and the overall economic growth of the North Country.' 1 Cuomo said he spoke Wednes- day morning with Vermont Gov. Richard Snelling and New York State Sen. Ronald B. Stafford (R- Plattsburgh) and that they en- dorsed his plan. \I am very pleased that Gover- nor Cuomo has removed the final roadblock to opening the free flow of people and products bet- ween New York and Nor- thwestern Vermont,\ Snelling said Wednesday. He said in a prepared state- ment he was particularly pleased tolls would also be phased out at the Crown Point Bridge. Snelling said the charging of tolls is unfair to Vermonters who work in New York, and have to pay the tolls every day. The governor proposed three bridge-related recommenda- tions: • Initiate joint efforts with Ver- mont to secure additional federal funds for needed improvements at the Crown Point Bridge; • Seek enactment of bi-state legislation abolishing the bridge commission upon completion of the new Rouses Point Bridge and transfer ownership of both bridges, plus the commission's assets, to the two states ; • Initiate action to incorporate employees of the bridge commis- Meeting the press Press-Republican Publisher Benjamin M. Turnbull shows Cuomo, in dark suit, Wednesday's edition, in which PR predicted governor's action on Rouses Point Bridge. In group are, from left, Regional Editor Lois Clermont, Editor James Dynko, Staff Writer Thomas Bergin, Managing Editor Robert Grady and City Editor Timothy Cunningham. (PR staff photo by Dave Paczak) sion into the transportation agen- cies of both states when the com- mission is dissolved. \Obviously there are some people who work with the com- mission who are nervous, afraid they're going to lose work/' Cuomo told P-R editors. 'You can assume that there's going to be no major dislocation. Nobody is going to get hurt. We need those people working. *' Cuomo said New York state's three bridge commission members, Leo C. Kelly of Peru, Ted Reale of Ticonderoga and Thomas Quinn of Pittsburgh, \have assured me of their full cooperation during this transi- / The pressures of the jobs Licensed Practical Nurse Linda turn. While Cuomo's was no bargain at Baldwin checks Stafford's blood 151/94, Stafford's was less so at 145/113. pressure at the fair as Cuomo awaits his (P-R-staff photo by David Clayton) Good Morning Weather Considerable sunshine and warm Thursday with a chance of a Lotteries The daily number draws Wednesday m the New Yort Sute Lottery was Hi. The winning somber* ia the Wednesday night 83 milbofi Lotto drawing were 31. 44 42. 32. 3t. MB4 II The supplementary M »berwas3T Basinets News 12.13 Classified 24-27 Comics 23 Date Calendar 10 Deaths. Robin: Record 6.? Editorial 4 22 22 23 MO it-20 II Hor Ann Landers Lively Aru Sports • New tax law revises key deductions — Page 12. • Industrial production increases .1 percent — Page 13 • Empire Games open in Syracuse — Page 16. tion period.\ Quinn was the only state member available for comment Wednesday afternoon. Quinn claimed to be unconcerned with the commission's future. \If that's the way he (Cuomo) feels; I don't necessarily have to agree with him. He's the governor and I'll do what he wants/' Quinn said. The Plattsburgh commissioner said the future of commission employees was uppermost in his mind. \That's the important thing/' Quinn said. Stafford said he was pleased with the governor's decision. \The new Rouses Point Bridge will provide a needed linkage between the North Country and the entire northeast region,\ a spokesman quoted him as say- ing. \The linkage will provide the people Qf our area with increased tourism dollars, and will also give a signal to the business com- munity that our area is a viable and attractive location for ex- prfiision and growth/' Stafford said. Other area residents who fought for more than five years to have the Rouses Point Bridge replaced were equally pleased with Cuomo's announcement. \Its been long overdue.\ Clin- ton County Legislator Lawrence Paquette said. \I'm delighted that the governor recognizes that Clinton County, because of the toll-free bridge, will substantial- ly increase sales tax revenue paid to the sute.\ Mark L. Barie, a represen- tative of the Rouses Point- Champlain Chamber of Com- merce, and one of the most vocal North Country residents sup- porting the toll-free concept, said: \We'll soon be able to say to Vermont and Canadian tourists 'Now you can come to New York and it won't cost you anything. Welcome to New York/\ Remark abjectly poor, Cuomo allows By DAVID CLAYTON Staff Wfiter Central Essex Bureau WESTPORT - Gov. Mario Cuomo knew \The Question\ Surrounded by reporters soon after reaching the Essex County Fair Wednesday, Cuomo, assum- ing an innocent look, got in the first questions. \What speech?\ \What remark?\ he joked. Soon \The Question\ had struck full force. Everyone holding a microphone or a notebook wanted an explanation of why he referred to \the abject poor of Essex County\ in his globally televised speech to the Democratic National Conven- tion. \I regret it if I offended anyone,\ Cuomo said. \I certain- ly had no intention other than to mention Essex County.\ Cuomo said he wanted Essex County to receive national atten- tion. \This is a place that often gets overlooked/' he said. Justifying his remark to some degree. Cuomo said. \Essex County has very close to the highest unemployment rate in the state.\ Criticism has surfaced that Cuomo chose Essex County to brand as an abjectly poor area because it is a Republican- dominated, sparsely populated region with no political clout But Wednesday Cuomo said political considerations were totally ir- relevant. 'There are peopie -here wht^ need help. That's the only reason.\ His birthright — or wrong ' PLATTSBURGH — Ask Gov. Mario Cuomo, d hf> mmight t*\\ ynn thot grout lggiclatArc flr» made, not born. Unless, of course the legislator is born a Democrat. Cuomo piled compliment after compliment on Republican Sen. Ronald B. Stafford Wednesday for the role the senator played in securing sute funding for the new Rouses Point Bridge. That being the case, a Press-Republican editor asked Cuomo whether he'd root for Stafford in his re-election bid against Democrat Theodore Ruzow this fall. \No I'm a Democrat/' the governor said. 14 But Ron Stafford, if the truth must be told, is a good senator. Can I change that because he's running.against a Democrat?\ Yes, Stafford's good, but there's always room for improvement, Cuomo concluded: \If Ron Stafford were perfect, he'd register as a Democrat.\ Later. Cuomo said that his use of the phrase \abject poor\ in describing Essex County was \abject inadvertence\ on his part. When pressed to explain how New York state will work against poverty in Essex County, Cuomo mentioned the bond money that is employing people to repair local bridges, the new acid rain bill (signed Tuesday, which limits allowable pollution by state industry) that will protect Adirondack forests, and the fun- ding for the Rouses Point Bridge, which he said will help tourism here. By now, thanks to a front-page New York Times article Wednes- day. Cuomo s remark about Essex County is a well-known footnote to his convention speech, a speech that in many circles has been called brilliant. \If there is anything poor about the people of Essex County it is that they will forever have.to live with that footnote.\ Cuomo joked. Because reporters surrounded Cuomo four-deep. Gifford Cross, chairman of Essex County's Board of Supervisors, did not hear Cuomo's remarks Wednes- day. Cross had objected formally to Cuomo s remark \VU igast Essex County i& receiving a lot of publicity (Hit of this.\ Cross said. Poor got poorer, unbiased study says By THOMAS FERRASO WASHINGTON (UP!) - The average U.S in- come rose slightly during the past four years, but it fell for the poor nearly as much as it rose for the rich, a non-partisan assessment of Reagan administration showed Wednesday The study said Reagan % economic and domestic policies accelerated what has been a growing and somewhat unexplained financial among the upper, lower and rr.idd.e class Financed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group, the study is likely to fuel an election-year debate over whether Reagan's policies are unfair to the poor Tht study stowed that the real disposal a- com* of persons on the bottom fifth of the economic scale dropped \ 6 percent, from Sf J13 to $€.3S1. while it increased 5 \ percent for those in the top fifth, from S3\.615 to MC.M© Overall, it said family incomes after taxes and adjusted for inflation increased by about 4 percent from 1»> to -»4 frorr S20.U3 to HUM. — \t «odest increase by historically stan- dards
