NY considers switching Belleayre management – WSJ.com

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal points to the possibility that New York State may move responsibility of Belleayre Ski Center to the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

NY considers switching Belleayre management – WSJ.com.

Hooray!!!

DEC is a regulatory authority and generally does that well.  With the prospect of natural gas drilling in New York and the resulting necessary oversight, the agency will be very busy.

Belleayre Ski Center is a key part of the economic activity for the Central Catskill Mountains. New York State is failing our region by treating it as just another regulatory entity.  Belleayre needs to be promoted–yes, regionally and to the downstate market–as a destination and can be a central point of regional promotion throughout the year.

ORDA promotes! The folks at ORDA (presumably) understand that promotion requires a different set of skills than knowing how to regulate and rule-making.  Creativity, flexibility, and market-oriented thinking are generally not items that come to mind when talking about a regulatory body.

There are some who would prefer letting things stay the same.  To those people, I say “I wish you success in finding repair parts for you iceboxes and crank telephones. ” We progress. Things change.

Let DEC be DEC and let Belleayre be the economic engine it can be.  The result may be a healthier and improving local economy that will benefit everyone.