Round Table Missing Three Legs!

by Contributor | February 21, 2016 2:00 pm

To The Editor:
Thursday night (2/18) in the city of Fulton the mayor of Fulton along with the Greater Oswego/Fulton Chamber of Commerce hosted a roundtable meeting about economic development in the city of Fulton.

The members of the Fulton Common Council along with the mayor, Joe Fiumara (Fulton CDA-Community Development  Agency), and Greg Mills (host, Greater Oswego/Fulton Chamber of Commerce) were all at the head table.

In attendance in the audience was an assembly of approximately 20 people of the community along with several business owners.

Topics ranged from development of the old 24-acre Nestles’ site and the dredging of the lake to community events and plans for the sale of city-owned property acquired through tax foreclosure.

Upon scanning those in attendance, I couldn’t help but notice the absence of anyone from the Oswego County IDA (the nine members of the Industrial Development  Agency), any of the seven member Oswego County legislature’s EDP (Economic Development & Planning Committee), or any of the eight members of the Economic Development & Poverty Reduction Task Force.

It is common practice to have the committee chairman or department head attend these events.

Although I asked to be on the EDP Committee again this year I was not granted that request (maybe I asked the wrong people too many questions).

It is almost impossible to obtain economic development without the presence of industrial development that is why it is imperative that a representative or representatives from the IDA or County EDP committee be sent to any and all round table discussions about economic development.

All of these absences represent the fact that the city of Fulton is furthest from the minds of anyone (other than myself) at the county level for economic development in the city of Fulton.

Maybe there wasn’t any mileage reimbursement money to be had by members of the task force.

Now maybe all 24 members of these committees were out of town or were ill.

We pay county taxes and we deserved to have some type of representation from a member or members of one or more of these committees at an economic roundtable discussion.

Legislator Frank Castiglia

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/round-table-missing-three-legs/

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