KEENE - U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy says he favors giving Adirondack governments a say in appointing state Adirondack Park Agency commissioners.
"I want to be sure the APA is responsive to the people who live in these communities," Murphy, D-Glens Falls, said Tuesday afternoon at a "Congress on your Corner" event at the Keene Town Hall, attended by about 20 people.
State Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, introduced a bill earlier this year that would require the governor to appoint the five in-Park commissioners on the APA's board from a list established by the county legislatures in the Adirondacks. The bill was referred to the Finance Committee in the Senate and the Environmental Conservation Committee in the Assembly.
The APA is a state agency, but "people don't look at their government and say, '(This) must be a county, state or federal issue,'" Murphy said to reporters after the event. Murphy said he talks to Gov. David Paterson on a regular basis and has discussed the issue with him.
Murphy said he considers himself a moderate and tries to work with and consider ideas from both Democrats and Republicans. He said he thinks a balance needs to be struck between the needs of the environment and development.
Murphy is running for re-election against Republican Chris Gibson, a retired Army colonel from Kinderhook.
Several of the questions were about environmental issues such as road salt and global warming, and infrastructure also came up several times. Another topic was the lack of compromise and cooperation in Washington.
"It's a perpetual campaign," Murphy said of being in Congress, saying the degree of partisanship has been the greatest disappointment of his roughly year-and-a-half in office.
Murphy said he favors putting redistricting in the hands of an independent commission, instead of under the control of politicians, as it is currently. The oddly shaped district Murphy represents, New York's 20th, includes about a third of Saranac Lake and stretches to the outskirts of Poughkeepsie and Cooperstown. It was drawn to have a Republican majority, skirting the Democratic-majority areas around Albany, and was represented by Republicans for decades until Kirsten Gillibrand won it in 2006.
Murphy said such reforms would make it easier for representatives to focus on the needs of a more cohesive constituency.
"It would be great to represent all of one community, instead of pieces of each one," Murphy said.
Murphy also said he supports the proposed Fair Elections Now Act, which would allow congressional candidates who receive numerous small donations to receive public funding for their campaigns.
Murphy said he favors term limits of around 12 or 14 years, saying people should be allowed to stay in Congress long enough to learn about the system but not so long that they make it a full career.
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Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
