Commentary: Betty Little's McCarthyism
by Editorial Staff
Olmstedville (that's in Minerva, Essex County) boat builder and businessman Peter Hornbeck has made it through the NYS Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee, the first hoop in his nomination by Governor David Paterson to serve on the Adirondack Park Agency board of commissioners (APA). The vote was a smack-down of sorts for local Republican Senator Betty Little who sits on the committee and has opposed Hornbeck's nomination from the start. What Little doesn't like about Hornbeck, she told North County Radio, was "his association as chairman of the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks."
Little's spokesman Dan Mac Entee, claiming to represent "dozens" of local officials, told the Plattsburgh Press Republican: "They feel his affiliation with environmental groups suggests he is going to bring an environmental agenda to APA, not an economic-development agenda, which we feel is critically important now." Little wants Lake Placid resort owner Arthur Lussi, whose term is expiring, to remain in his seat. "We feel he has a balanced approach to economic development in the park," Mac Entee said. [BTW, the Minerva Town Board disagrees; it voted to send a letter in support of the Hornbeck nomination to both the Governor and the Environmental Conservation Committee.]
What Little says she really wants is to require all five of the in-park APA Commissioners to be chosen by her pet group, the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages, who is supported by a gaggle of attorneys, engineers, and development interests. NCPR's Brian Mann asked the Senator: "Wouldn't that kind of a measure basically preclude anyone with an environmentalist background being chosen?"
"Not necessarily," Little responded. "I think that they understand that there is a balance and most likely would know that they would have to have some people on that list who were maybe active environmentalists." She kind of mumbled that "maybe" so I don't fault Brian Mann for not following-up with the question, "Maybe Yes or Maybe No?"
Anyone who looks at Betty Little's record of opposing the APA and the concept of a Forest Preserve can see what she's really after: a purge of those she labels "environmentalists" from all decision-making related to the Adirondacks. Pete Hornbeck, who employs five people in good-paying manufacturing jobs at Hornbeck Boats, has made a crucial error in Little's mind, in that he has associated with the wrong people.
"I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five [people] that were known . . . as being environmentalists and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the APA," Little said.
Just kidding - that was a quote from Joseph McCarthy; just replace environmentalists with Communist Party, and APA with State Department.
McCarthy saw enemies everywhere, including really evil places like the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union. Little has her own enemies list that includes not just local conservation organizations, but apparently their supporters and members as well.
I'd like to ask her that famous question from the McCarthy hearings: "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" But I already know the answer, Little showed her sense of decency when she opposed the rights of gay people to be married, when she said that the Republican coup attempt that brought the state legislature to a standstill last year was a good idea, when she toyed with closing North Country Community College, and when she got a little too close to the criminal conspiracy of her leader Joe Bruno.
For background, the APA Board includes five representatives of local interests from inside the Park, three representing the rest of the state, and the state's Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, the Secretary of State, and the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation (Pete Grannis). These last three appoint others to represent the interests of their agencies. Regional Director for DEC Region 5 Betsey Lowe (former Executive Director of Wild Center) is Grannis's substitute on the board; Region 5 includes three-quarters of the Adirondack Park. Lowe recently joined local members in opposing a wilderness classification for Low's Lake. Fred Monroe of the Local Government Review Board has a non-voting seat on the APA Board.
Six of the eleven voting members (plus Monroe) of the current APA Board are full-time residents of the Adirondack Park. Three members of the APA Board—Curt Stiles, Cecil Wray, and Dick Booth—previously served on the board of the Adirondack Council. How many APA Commissioners are members of a Chamber of Commerce is anyone's guess. The status of their connections to the Communist Party are also unknown.
Hornbeck's appointment will need to pass the Senate Finance Committee before a full Senate vote.
Photo: Peter Hornbeck from the Hornbeck Boats website.
25 Comments:
Everyone should really be an "environmentalist". Unfortunately, that label has been co-opted and politicized to the point of being virtually useless.
I agree that her position seems "McCarthyist", but that only assumes that she has some political power and relevance.
More interesting would be an expose on Hornbeck's position on the key Adirondack issues of our day.
Regrettably I comment anonymously. There is an element of witch hunt. As a park resident and community volunteer who has gone hat in hand to Mrs. Little looking for state support of local projects, I have not expressed my support for Mr. Hornbeck, the Finch deal, and other worthy "environmental" initiatives.
I realize I'm the coward, but I'd hate to jeopardize a good community project because of my opinions on park policy.
I also think Protect!'s lawsuit over Low's Lake is a reach and a waste of taxpayer resources, but not a reason to blacklist Hornbeck.
I wish our leaders could talk about park issues with more subtlety and less angry rhetoric.
John, This is really a shameful piece. I don't see any correlation between Joe McCarthy's crazy witch-hunt and Betty Little. She just feels that someone like Art Lussi adds a better balance to the board than Peter Hornbeck. BTW It is my bet that Art Lussi is a member for the Lake Placid Chamber, not that I think it is really relevant. Also, you have poor explanation of what her "pet group" is. This group that you characterize as “supported by a gaggle of attorneys, engineers, and development interests”, is the same group that I have seen you praise in several of your other pieces. John, you can’t have it both ways.
Pete Hornbeck is qualified to be an APA commissioner. He is a resident, owns his own business and he is knowledgeable about Adirondack issues.
I am sorry that Ms. Little thinks that no one with environmentalist leanings should be on the APA. Is he a card carrying member of the Sierra Club? Someone should ask Pete.
Does having your name on a roster of an environmental organization mean an end to a political career or a political appointment?
Apparently, to Ms. Little it does.
If I was Pete, I might have second thoughts on taking on this volunteer job. Does he really want to get into Adirondack politics? Maybe life is better without it.
Sadly, in the Adirondacks, the term 'environmentalist' is a dirty word. I don't know how or when it earned the label; especially as many,(even George Canon) still hold up TR as a hero for being an 'environmentalist'.
I guess it's just a function the contrary nature of the region.
Hornbeck's challenge is to overcome the widely accepted perception that the non-Resident's Committee is primarily a group of out of the park interlopers. It is a difficult hurdle when, by the organization's own admission, fewer than 50% of it's membership are actually Park residents.
I also wonder how Peter could vote, in good conscience, on issues such as Quiet Waters and the Low's Lake wilderness; when he has a vested financial interest in the paddling industry.
His appointment will certainly add fuel to the current perception the APA is out of touch. There have been too many recent screw-ups at the agency with lawsuits, enforcement issues and employee behavior (porn, Stiles "found' key, exparte communication and name-calling) to risk adding such a sensitive appointment to the mix.
The "McCarthyism" rhetoric is way over the top. From Wikipedia, "McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence." Given the title of the piece, I was expecting to find some suggestions from Betty Little along the lines that Peter Hornbeck subsidizes his boat building operation with a meth lab, that he's associated with the Earth Liberation Front, or that he burned down Oscar's. No such luck though.
The only thing she seems to be doing is opposing a nominee in a simple and straightforward manner. What else do you expect her to do? Would you expect someone with a strong environmental agenda to support the nomination of a developer? I too think her opposition to Peter Hornbeck's nomination is silly and don't want to see the APA loaded with pro-development types, but she represents a certain view, and is acting accordingly.
Accusing Betty Little of McCarthyism is much closer to McCarthyism than anything she has done.
Yea I agree with Sen. Little that we don't need any more small business owners on the APA board. After all, that's one less spot available for a big developer. We certainly wouldn't want the little guy's interests represented.
Sen. Little is elected to represent the people of her district. She should not be labled as a McCarthyist for a stated poisition that is quite rational. Is it possible that the various, so called, enviromental groups are in realty the Real Estate special interest group working to increase the value of property in "The Park"? Lake front selling at $ 2K - 4K per foot increases the value of all land and will only drive the working families out. Who will take care of those left?
Brian, I appreciate your sarcasm but I think that it is not unreasonable to think that on a board of eleven that four members with backgrounds with regional environmental groups may be a bit off balance (37%). These are vocal groups but I doubt they represent anything like 37% of NYS. The important balance to look at is what is the number of "in park" members that have these ties? If that figure is high then you lose the perspective of folks in the park with opinions that are different than those of "environmental" groups. Peter has already voiced his opinion concerning the Adirondack Resort project in Tupper Lake. He said that it was “just too big”, or something along those lines. The same regional environmental groups above are all clearly opposed to this project. This is a project permit, as best I can tell, will follow all the APA guidelines. It’s “big” but it appears to follow the rules as best I can tell. It will be a difficult issue for Peter to grapple with. He has to make sure that projects brought to the board follow APA regulations, and when they do he should vote for them to proceed. That is the “development” function of the agency, if you want to call it that. Obviously it is not their agenda to block all development. As long as it follows their regulations it should be allowed to go forward. It is a tough job for a person who prescribes to the agenda of a group like the “Residents Comm.”. He can do it; I just think there may be better choices. Going back to your comment. There are lots of “small business owners” without ties to the regional environmental groups, why not nominate some of them? Avoid the controversy. How did Peter get the nod from Patterson in the first place? Did the governor know anything of Peter? Did any of the same regional environmental groups have anything to do with the original choice? It was also interesting, yesterday I heard a story where a representative on the environmental comm. from Buffalo said that he did not have a clue who Peter was but he had never had so much pressure from the governor’s office on any vote. He said he gave Peter the nod since it was clear it was something the governor wanted. I don’t like to hear people voting that way. I wonder what the push is all about?
I don't think that Betty Little is a McCarthyite. I think that she is a dinosaur. She is very poorly informed about the history and purpose of the Adirondack Park, the Forest Preserve and the APA. She doesn't even seem to know that APA has absolutely no statutory authority to engage in economic development and that it certainly was never intended to be an economic development agency. She keeps talking about a "balance" between economic development and environmental concerns, but apart from the fact that it is legally not a function of APA to strike such a balance, she wouldn't begin to know what a "balance" is if you asked her to define it. Betty is just doing what some of her predecessors have done to maintain themselves in office and that is to play off the fears and uncertainties and real problems of her constituents by using APA for a scapegoat. She really is not equipped to do anything more constructive.
Paul, what's your solution? Litmus tests? Quotas?
The purpose of the APA, according to its website, is: "maintaining the protection of the forest preserve, and overseeing development proposals of the privately owned lands."
Basically, it's to keep the balance between environmental and business concerns. It seems that a small businessman with concern for the environment fits the bill perfectly.
Brian, No I would not suggest any type of quota. I just think when a representative like Little hears concerns from her constituents it is her job to voice those concerns. Like I said there are many less controversial choices for the job, and ones that are small business owners to boot, why not give them a shot? You must admit that replacing Art Lussi with Peter Hornbeck changes the dynamic of the board. You might think that is a good change I might think there is a better way to go. In my opinion Peter's opinions regarding preservation issues (that do conflict at times with economic development issues for better or worse) may be a more "important" factor than the fact that he is a respectable small business owner when considering his “qualifications” to sit on the APA board.
Anon 2:07. Betty Little understands that the APA plays a vital role in the economic development of the Adirondacks. Clearly you don’t seem to understand that. Like some people I think that you are confused by some folks that have tried to give us the impression that the APA’s sole role is preservation. That is part of their function but only part. If you don’t believe me ask them yourself, look at the work and studies they have done related to economic impacts on the park including impacts of their own decisions. You are incorrect when you say that the APA is “is legally not a function of APA to strike such a balance” .
From the APA act:
“The state of New York has an obligation to the preservation of the park's resources and open space character and of the park's permanent, seasonal and transient populations for growth and service areas, employment, and a strong economic base, as well.”
Sounds like a "balance" to me?
The agency may have lost its way in this regard in your opinion, but I think that if Betty Little thinks it should get back on track she is doing what she was elected to do.
"There are lots of “small business owners” without ties to the regional environmental groups, why not nominate some of them?"
Because that would not be as balanced a nomination.
If the APA is concerned with maintaining a balance between environmental protections and development, then appointing people with experience and interest in only one is the very definition of imbalance... isn't it?
That is why opposition to someone like Peter, who has feet in both camps - so to speak - strikes me as a position inconsistent with the best interest of the park. It reeks of no-compromise politics.
As for raising the spectre of McCarthyism, I can't speak for John, but pointing out the similarities between two things is not to suggest they are exactly the same... or of the same magnitude.
For some people, including Betty Little, being an environmentalist - or associating with environmental groups - seems like an automatic disqualification from certain positions in the Adirondacks. Being politically 'black listed', for lack of a better description, because you have certain points of view or associations is always going to remind people of Joe McCarthy.
Imagine if someone were to suggest the reverse, that a person who owns a business - or is associated with a business group - is unfit to be a decision maker in the Adirondacks. I'm pretty sure reaction to that suggestion would be very negative, and rightfully so.
No-compromise politics is another meaningless phrase in this discussion. If that "reeks," then compromise-politics, as in politics is the art of compromise, must be a good thing that doesn't reek. This is all nonsense. How about just following the law, inadequate as it is? Has anyone out there read the APA Act with a critical eye? We are bound by it, yet numerous compromises were made in passing it in 1971, to the point where APA was crippled in accomplishing its mission before it ever got off the ground, apart from the fact that after 40 years it is positively an antiquarian document.
The McCarthyism analogy is fitting. Anyone associated with one of the environmental groups is on chicken little's black list.
This is very disturbing. It is not good that the minority control government and are dictating and controlling.
This is a excellent example of corruption. But I guess corruption is okay when its for the sake of environmentalism. Oh the environmentalists are so pure, with such pure intent. PLEASE!!! Such behavior is disgusting. People in the Park are suffering, conscious poverty has been the selected course of action.
And regarding this description as a folksy little ole' north country "small businessman"...I would love to see his client list. The wealthy stock market barrens and elitists who dictate from outside how we are going to save us from ourselves.
There has long been talk of reestablishing a railroad in the Park. Well, we have one, the "ENVIRONMENTALIST'S EXPRESS". Their rails avoid preserve natural resources but if the people get in the way? Too bad, mow'em down!
The difference between conservation and "environmentalism" is the difference between Betty Little and Joe McCarthy.
It's a silly -- and outrageous -- connection but it did exactly what you wanted -- got people talking.
I guess that's what blogs are for?
I agree that we should talk and come to a reasonable solution and stop the sillyness.
Labeling Betty Little with the "McCarthyist" handle is way out of line and totally unjustified. She works hard for the people she represents...that is her job and she does it well. Peter Hornbeck is not the real issue...fair representation on the APA board is. Local Adirondackers feel left out of the process and that must change for any real progress to be made. As for the APA not being involved with the economy, I beg to differ. As I write these comments, I'm looking at an APA business card that lists Stephen M. Erman as Special Assistant for Economic Affairs. I would say that means they are involved in the economics of the Adirondacks, if not why do they have someone doing that job..?? As others have stated, there has been unusual pressure from the governor's office regarding this appointment...why..?? It has to make you wonder just a little, doesn't it..?? Hopefully, some good will come from this process
Not only is Erman on the APA staff as an economist, but one of the State's members on the APA board is the Commissioner of Economic Development. That was done back in 1971 when the APA was passed in order to have input from that Department. Of course APA has to have an economist on staff to do economic studies or review economic and financial aspects of development that APA regulates, etc.
These things have nothing to do with economic development, per se, however. And, as already stated, APA has absolutely no legal authority to engage in economic development and that, too, was on purpose. Can you imagine the built-in conflict there would be if an agency whose primary job is to protect natural resources by regulating development was also assigned a mission to actually engage in economic development? Yet that's what Betty Little is pushing for in her idea that there should be "balance." She is titally clueless.
I think that you meant totally clueless, not titally. Either way, your analysis is correct.
The article was very appropriate. There is an anti-green undercurrent in the Park and many local folks like anon 8:37 are reluctant to openly show support for environmental issues out of fear of retribution, blacklisting, etc. Beyond that is the very real prospect of physical intimidation - of which past incidents have been documented in several books.
Senator Little’s comments and actions are often divisive which feeds the “us vs them” mentality and promotes this ugly anti-green resentment. The Senator should be more responsible with her words and more inclusive with her attitude. She may feel her job is to represent those in her district who whine the loudest, but she does so at the cost of marginalizing her effectiveness as a State Senator.
Right on the button! Very perceptive. In short, Betty Little is a demagogue, catering to the basest instincts of her constituents.
The sooner she leaves office the better.
I am a college student and joined ADK a few years ago. I had no idea it was going to be a career limiting move!
I actually agree (for a change) with Betty Little. I am also a park resident, along with having degrees in environmental biology. It didn't take long after moving back here (I'm a native) to learn why "environmentalist" is a dirty word with so many residents. If you haven't seen the members of the ADK and Adirondack Council blithely - even purposefully - trespassing on private property, advocating for things that protect their friend's interests, but don't have much to do with protecting the environment, and demanding of special treatment because of their membership, then you wouldn't understand it. From my own personal experience, I can say that I really loved being told by a "staff ecologist" - a college junior doing an internship - that I "didn't understand the environmental principles." Yes, I skipped those when I was going for my Master's in environmental sciences.
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