The announcement on Thursday by U.S. Rep. James T. Walsh, R-Onondaga, that he would not seek an 11th term in Congress will have a major impact on central New York that will be felt for years to come. While some have talked about the personal impact of losing the friendly and always approachable local congressman, there is a bigger picture regarding his departure.

It is likely that local leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, putting aside partisanship, reacted looking at the long term and were not totally optimistic about the future - even if it does shake up the local political world to allow for partisan personal advancement. All who have worked with Walsh (and I am somewhat biased, having had him as a friend for nearly two decades) know that this decision goes far beyond the normal political fortunes of one person.

In Washington, with seniority, comes clout (with clout comes money) and Walsh clearly has clout. It will take years for his to be replaced once he finishes his 10th term.

When he was in the majority, prior to the Democratic take over of Congress last January, he was a “cardinal,” a powerful head of a sub-committee of the House Appropriations Committee. Appropriations may be the most powerful in the House, because it doles out all the funds for the federal budget.

All of Cayuga County benefited for the 12 years that he was a Cardinal (and even beyond when he didn't represent more of the county ) he now represents just the northern tip of the county that connects Onondaga and Monroe counties - from 1995 to 2006.

There is little doubt, for example, that Cayuga County would not have made the massive investment to re-build the Owasco Seawall and got Cayuga County Community College to have the first geo-spatial program at a community college in the nation without him. His chairing one of the 12 subcommittees allowed him to look out for the interests of his constituents' - in whatever part of his district they lived in - and for all of central New York as a whole.

That all changes the morning of Jan. 4, 2009. There is no way to know if another New Yorker, let alone a central New Yorker, will get a slot on appropriations, someone who will, over time and with their own rising political fortunes (i.e. re-elections), make the slow climb to power, as did Walsh. His time in office paid dividends, and the bank will be shutting down, at least for now, at the start of a new Congress.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com