The state Public Service Commission is coming to the Cayuga County Office Building at 6 p.m. Monday, May 12, to hear local residents' views on likely changes to the way the current 315 area code is structured. It will be interesting to see how much clout local leaders have in this debate, which is going to result in change one way or the other.
As has been widely reported, within two years, the 315 area code is going to run out of numbers (while our population may be declining, the expansion of phones lines isn't). As a result, the PSC is taking the pro-active step of looking at ways to fix what will likely be a logistical nightmare for some. The bottom line is that some in an 18-county 315 area are going to see change.
The PSC is looking at two plans; one is to overlay a new area code onto the current 315 region and have callers possibly dial newer numbers with a new three-digit prefix, even if it is across town.
The other is to slice off certain territories and assign them a new area code. That would satisfy everyone except those who get hacked off. Going with this premise raises the big question: who gets lopped off? That may come down to who has the most clout when it comes to preventing such a re-assignment.
With that in mind, one might be reminded about a series of articles that ran over a number of years from Empire State Reports, a monthly magazine that once covered statewide issues. The magazine did an irregular series of studies to see how much clout local communities used to have. In the early 1990s, Cayuga County did not do well, with its limited majority status in Albany and Washington. Over time, with the Republicans' national accession in the mid-1990s, the county's clout status rose with new majorities and seniority.
But now, a decade later, it will be interesting to see if clout can help in keeping Cayuga County whole, when it comes to dicing and slicing. Clearly it hasn't when it comes to redistricting for federal and state offices. In a county of 82,000 we have two members of Congress, two state senators and three assemblymen. While some argue that is to the county's benefit because it gives us more voices to advocate, others rightly contend that it dilutes representations - where the buck can be passed to another member of an elected body - holding no one accountable.
In the area code battle, it may come down to who has the most political clout to keep their area whole. One can only hope that local officials have lined up sufficient “power” from Albany and Washington to make the case that Cayuga County not only stays whole, but doesn't have to go through a costly change-over.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com
The PSC is looking at two plans; one is to overlay a new area code onto the current 315 region and have callers possibly dial newer numbers with a new three-digit prefix, even if it is across town.
The other is to slice off certain territories and assign them a new area code. That would satisfy everyone except those who get hacked off. Going with this premise raises the big question: who gets lopped off? That may come down to who has the most clout when it comes to preventing such a re-assignment.
With that in mind, one might be reminded about a series of articles that ran over a number of years from Empire State Reports, a monthly magazine that once covered statewide issues. The magazine did an irregular series of studies to see how much clout local communities used to have. In the early 1990s, Cayuga County did not do well, with its limited majority status in Albany and Washington. Over time, with the Republicans' national accession in the mid-1990s, the county's clout status rose with new majorities and seniority.
But now, a decade later, it will be interesting to see if clout can help in keeping Cayuga County whole, when it comes to dicing and slicing. Clearly it hasn't when it comes to redistricting for federal and state offices. In a county of 82,000 we have two members of Congress, two state senators and three assemblymen. While some argue that is to the county's benefit because it gives us more voices to advocate, others rightly contend that it dilutes representations - where the buck can be passed to another member of an elected body - holding no one accountable.
In the area code battle, it may come down to who has the most political clout to keep their area whole. One can only hope that local officials have lined up sufficient “power” from Albany and Washington to make the case that Cayuga County not only stays whole, but doesn't have to go through a costly change-over.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com
The Citizens' Say
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