Rural towns and outdoorsfolk are up in arms about the Paterson administration's proposal to shutter dozens of state parks--an act that would save the state a few million dollars, a pitiful handful of gravel to toss into the yawning abyss of the state budget hole. But every little bit counts, right?
Rubbish, says Dave Pidgeon of Compass Points. It's a political move.
This is about negotiation. When’s the last time you heard of a state either a.) shutting its state parks permanently or b.) laying off massive amounts of public employees. You haven’t. It’s bad politics to do so, even for an embattled governor who is not running for re-election. Plenty of legislators have their elected jobs on the line, too.
Pidgeon believes the real cuts to state park services will be much smaller than those that have been threatened, when the dust finally settles.
Earlier: Park outlook: Stark
