The Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce held its annual “State of the City and County” luncheon on Thursday, and while it was a disappointment to hear from the appointed managers instead of elected leaders, it was downright disturbing to hear the county manager's views on where government, as a whole, stands.

County Manager Wayne Allen said state government is broken and asleep at the wheel. He stated that federal and state governments no longer see the need to serve the people. Mr. Allen went on to proclaim that change must come from the people, from the ground up and not from the top down.

We're troubled by the implication that he and the other local leaders have no power to improve what's going on.

Voters elect individuals who they thought understood the issues of taxation on its residents. They believed that they would work toward change in the hopes of bringing economic relief to the people. Lawmakers need to research avenues for change and bring them to the people. It is at this time that residents will weigh in on how effective they believe this change will be.

When asked what the county is doing to bring jobs in and to stop the “outflux” of residents, Mr. Allen said the county is not directly involved in land-use management. He did recognize the county has a planning department but did not recognize the County Industrial Development Authority. But the planning department and the IDA could and should be valuable components in any revitalization plan for our area.

Mr. Allen said that the county can assist in the process but ultimately it's up to the city, towns and villages to make things happen. This shows a complete lack of understanding about what needs to happen to move economic development forward in this county.

In 2007, the local “Blueprint” group of private-sector leaders proposed a centralized economic development approach for Cayuga County. It appears that this move cannot come fast enough.

From turf wars to lack of initiative, it's been proven that the current system of bringing jobs to our area does not work. If the county wants to proclaim itself as the engine to encourage people to work together and the one to break down barriers, then it should be leading the charge on this initiative.

Unfortunately, it's clear that the manager isn't going to offer any alternatives.