A recent piece (click here) in Adirondack Life by one of the region's most prominent journalists examined in great deal the gargantuan sums of money being pumped into the Olympic Regional Development Authority's facilities, mostly in the Lake Placid area. The astronomical sums of money is not being matched by that amount of oversight and accountability.
The piece by Brian Mann and his son Nicholas estimate that the state has pumped around one BILLION dollars into the facilities in recent years.
The culmination of the investments was supposed to be the FISU World University Games held earlier this year. For a variety of reasons - from bad luck to mismanagement - the Games netted a mere $700,000 in ticketing revenues. Now, the billion dollar investment was for more than just the Games but surely those whose money was being spent had a right to expect more from the showpiece event for their huge investment.
More money is being pumped into ORDA than the much (and rightly) maligned Buffalo Bills' stadium being built in the Gov. Hochul's home Erie County. Meanwhile, Adirondacks communities struggle with basics, like housing, sewer and broadband.
The Adirondack Life investigation reveals a text book case on how bad governance proliferates in New York state. Seemingly unlimited funds. No expectation of a detailed plan for sound budgeting. No accountability. Lavish promises. Fawning sycophants not looking too closely at the details. Little follow up with the lavish promises don't materialize.
Proponents of the ORDA money pit cite the alleged economic development benefits of the facilities, which justify the billion dollar taxpayer subsidy. They cite "economic impact" of the ORDA facilities, which are always astronomically amazing whenever any economic development official anywhere in the country tries to justify any massive taxpayer subsidy.
In a radio interview, ORDA boss Joe Maartens contrasted Lake Placid's upkeep of the facilities with dilapidated facilities in Sarajevo, host of the 1984 games. Sarajevo was the cite of a civil war a decade later. And even without massive taxpayer subsidized winter sport facilities, Bosnia had the 3rd highest growth rate in the world of its tourism sector in 2019.
This is really emblematic of how then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo ran things. Throw lots of money at a big, razzle dazzle project. No coordination. Big promises. Lots of photo ops. And by the time anyone notices the big promises were proven empty, he'd moved on to the next big razzle dazzle project.
Does anyone remember the massive hype around the construction of the new Frontier Town state campground? It was supposed to be the shiny new hub for hikers going to the southern High Peaks. The massive hype from the Cuomo administration claimed it was going to revitalized the tiny town of North Hudson with a beehive of activity. Four years later, it's just another state campground and North Hudson is little different than before.
ORDA officials claim that it is not reasonable to expect public facilities to make a profit. I'm not sure why it's unreasonable to expect public facilities to break even, or at least come remotely close. Private ski centers all over the northeast either make a profit or break even. But this sort of arrogance about spending other people's money is what makes people skeptical of the government?
Their attitude is: "It will help you. We know better than you. Give us unlimited funds, no questions asked."
Public agencies all over New York state are imbued with this sort of unaccountable haughtiness. And that's why the state is drowning in debt.
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