Rudy Johnson Calls for Reform of the Adirondack Park Agency

New York State Assembly candidate Rudy Johnson is calling for comprehensive, sweeping reform of the Adirondack Park Agency. Rudy feels that the APA is not responsive to the needs of the people and communities within the Adirondack Park, and is out of touch with the economic realities of life in the North Country. He feels that the APA must be radically restructured in order to make it accountable to local citizens.

“While I agree that the beauty and integrity of the Adirondacks must be preserved, it has become increasingly clear that the APA is no longer doing what is best for our people, our communities, or our environment,” Rudy stated. “The APA has become a means for outside interests to exercise control over the park and to override the needs and desires of local individuals and businesses. Often this means prioritizing superficial aesthetic standards and trivial regulations over developing our economy and really protecting the natural world. The only way to fix this problem is to return control over the park to those who live there, and that can only happen through a complete restructuring of the APA.”

Rudy feels that the following steps must be taken to reform the Adirondack Park Agency:

 Only local citizens should serve on the APA board. Currently many of those serving on the APA board are from outside of the Adirondacks. This means that they are often willing to put the interests of outsiders—activists, tourists, wealthy camp owners, etc.—over the interests of those who live and work in the region. An APA board that consisted exclusively of local community leaders, citizens and business people would be better suited to fairly balance the need to preserve the natural environment of the park with the need for sustainable economic development and job creation within the region.

 Disputes and appeals should be handled by local courts. Since the APA is a state agency, currently appeals of the agency’s decisions are heard by the New York State Supreme Court. This means that someone attempting to reverse an APA decision that they feel is unfair will be subject to the lengthy delays and cumbersome procedure of the state court system, as well as having their case heard by a judge who may be detached from and unsympathetic to the realities of life in the Adirondacks. These cases should instead be resolves in local courts overseen by local judges and justices who have the life experience and knowledge necessary to understand the unique realities of each case. This would also allow these cases to be resolved more quickly and efficiently, since local courts rarely have the same delays and bureaucratic obstacles that exist in the state court system.

 The APA standards and guidelines must be rewritten with a focus on clarity and transparency. Many of the failures of the APA have been a result of its inability to establish standards and guidelines that are clearly written and transparently presented. It is this failure to offer simple, coherent rules with clear justification that has generated a lot of the animosity that exists toward the agency and that has been responsible for many of the disputes between the APA and local citizens. If the APA were required to meet specific standards for clarity and transparency when developing, presenting and enforcing news rules and decisions, a lot of these disputes could be prevented. Existing APA rules and guidelines should also be rewritten in straightforward, unambiguous language.

If elected, Rudy will work diligently to see that the APA is restructured and that these reforms occur. He believes that not only is reform of the APA possible, it is necessary to foster growth and development within the Adirondack Park.