Comments by Jan Degenshein before RBA members and guests at the November 16, 2011 RBA Annual Dinner, Hilton, Pearl River NY
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I appreciate the Lieutenant Governor’s informative and uplifting address. I believe that it is within Governor Cuomo’s grand plan that the seed of a new era of responsible government is germinating. The RBA is on board!
In 1979, as a young sole-practitioner, I joined the Rockland County Association, primarily to benefit from the marketing opportunities that it presented. Over the years, the organization grew from a group of the county’s top corporate interests – to nearly 1,000 businesses (most of them small). Annually, at luncheons, we heard financial analysts prognosticate, that – even through economic downturns – Rockland would enjoy a secure economic position. After all, our small businesses possessed the flexibility to survive each maelstrom, and continue to prosper.
During that time, not only did the RBA grow in membership, it consciously evolved into an advocacy organization. Its mission went beyond support of business, to support of the community at large. It was that expanded mission, and its successful application, that inspired my involvement in the RBA.
On all fronts Rockland County continued to prosper: A few years ago, it enjoyed one of the highest per capita household incomes in the country. It benefited from proximity to all that Metropolitan New York had to offer. Our public servants and teachers enjoyed competitive salaries and benefits, and we, in turn, were rewarded with the best and most dedicated. The County provided government services second to none. To many, Rockland was an arcadia, an ideal community. We also shared our fortunes with the needy. Per capita giving was among the highest in the nation. Locally, government provided support to agencies which missions contributed to quality of life for all.
But, at last, the benefits we enjoyed have had a price. Year after year, at every level of government, expenses far outstripped revenues. Year after year, as our expenses increased our elected officials unrealistically projected revenue sources. Year after year, we the electorate – by indifference – ignored this wishful bookkeeping; and we blissfully continued to enjoy the quality of life to which we had assumed an “entitlement.” Today, all the local agencies that are pleading for restoration of county funds exemplify requests that are occurring state-wide and nationally. Sadly, the cupboard is bare! In the end, our elected officials surely must be held accountable, but are not entirely to blame. They have merely assumed the role of “permissive parent” – over and over again. Today we are faced with something far more onerous than diminished services, lay-offs and higher taxes. The County is now faced with an insurmountable eight (or even nine) digit deficit that –if not addressed – will more than likely lead to receivership (just as had occurred in Nassau and Erie Counties). A state appointed control board, insulated from political influence, will decide which services are essential; whose jobs can be spared; how much tax can be levied; whether we can use the term “one time surcharge” instead of “additional taxes;” and if a deficiency bond can be offered to cover the balance of our current debt. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in crisis.
Crisis, of Greek derivation, suggests a “turning point.” Thus, we are confronted with a “crossroads moment” in history, of economic and spiritual force unlike few we have ever experienced. So we stand in this crossroad. In crisis. We can be crushed by it, and relinquish our historical position as an enviable community. Or we can celebrate the moment, and follow a long, previously uncharted path to a newly defined prosperity. We, [not some nebulous "they" (like the "one-percenters")], are responsible for this crisis. And we, not “they,” are responsible for extricating ourselves.
Who better to advocate for a stronger community than the Rockland Business Association? We represent best practice. Who better to take a leadership role in this endeavor than the RBA? We can set the bar for the entire state. I truly believe that in this room, among our members, we possess the intellectual capacity to work shoulder to shoulder with our elected representatives to chart a successful economic turn. Together, we can re-create Rockland into a place of shared vision, where opportunities for family, work and play are unparalleled.
And so I close with a challenge to each and every one of you: Participate in developing a structure for a “blue ribbon panel,” one impelled by your Rockland Business Association, to identify issues and opportunities, to make the looming crisis a “turning point” for a better future. It starts right here. In Rockland County. It starts right now.
