These are heady times for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his fellow downstate Democrats in the Legislature. They control Albany, they control the agenda and they control the state of New York.

Their mood borders on the euphoric and they are not afraid to crow about it. For instance, Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal was quoted in The Buffalo News as saying “It’s absolutely true. I think, for once, legislators in both houses represent how most New York State residents feel.” Or, how about the words uttered by fellow Manhattan Democrat State Senator Brad Hoylman who said “This is the beginning of more representative government for all the people of New York state.”

Of course, our beloved governor added his “two cents” saying this “The people are ready for change” and goes on to say that the actions of the legislature have made New York “the social progress capital of the United States of America.”

Those are chilling words for many New Yorkers who live in upstate. I doubt that many upstate residents think the progressive Manhattan Democrats represent us or have our best interests at heart. How many of us supported driver’s licenses for illegal aliens supposedly so they could drive to jobs they can’t legally have or supported abortion legislation that literally legalizes infanticide in New York? Upstate and New York City and environments are very different places with different attitudes and different lifestyles. City residents see upstate as the tail that wags the dog and upstate residents see New York City in the same light. Put another way, they see us as “country hicks” and we see them as “city slickers.”

New York City is the financial center of the world, the nation’s communication hub, and the sparkling center of world commerce. Taxes are high but so are incomes so there is less concern about high taxes.

Upstate is a region of cities and small towns that for many years have suffered the loss of industries, good paying jobs, population and only now are showing signs of recovery. It is a region of farms producing fruit, vegetables and dairy products where new progressive inspired “protections” for farm workers passed by a legislature with little understanding of the agricultural industry will place a severe strain on a seasonal industry plagued by low prices and the vicissitudes of nature.

Upstate also is a region with too many governmental units and where every village and hamlet seem to need their own school putting tremendous pressure on an already strained tax base and making upstate a region where taxes are high but income is not.

Even when Republicans controlled the Senate the upstate economy was suffering and falling further behind downstate with each passing year. This continues even with Cuomo’s vote buying boondoggles like the Buffalo Billions although I pray that Athenex proves more successful than Tesla is proving to be.

Now with Republicans out of power the upstate economy is unlikely to improve with both a governor and a Legislature bent on enacting expensive progressive social programs. With this avalanche of new progressive legislation will come higher fees, higher taxes and more regulations. These are factors that have made upstate unattractive to new businesses and have driven existing businesses out over the last thirty years.

With progressive Democrats having control of state government what can upstate New York do? Frankly our survival as an economically viable region is dependent on us putting our own house in order and streamlining our governmental and educational institutions. Here are some figures you might find informative: there are over 900 school districts in upstate and 534 villages and nearly 900 towns. Most of our school districts are small with declining enrollments and some are unable to provide the advanced instruction needed by students. Our towns and villages, most with declining tax bases, generally have a fulltime staff including highway, and sewer and water departments that provide many of the same services. All of these districts and municipalities assess taxes and every year tax assessments seem to increase.

What do we have to do? Simply put, it is now time to consolidate school districts and municipalities. Many of us have strong feelings about where we went to school and where we live but the multiplicity of small school districts and municipalities is a major cause of high property taxes in upstate New York. If we work to create fewer and larger school districts and municipalities the economies of scale come into play meaning that a few large school districts and a few large municipalities cost less to operate and are more efficient than many small ones and will save taxes.

This is 2019 and not 1949 or even 1959. What worked in an earlier time probably will not work now. If we are to keep upstate New York an economically viable region we will have to change the way we do things and because Albany is so focused on its progressive agenda we necessarily must work to get our own house in order.