Regional Council Surviving Attack

Leaders Expect 22-County Group to Continue

By MERRILL FOLSOM

The controversial Metropolitan Regional Council seems to be surviving as a second-level advisory group despite a recent groundswell of opposition.

Leaders of the council, including Mayor Wagner and Edwin G. Michaelian, County Executive of Westchester, said last week that the organization would be essential to study area-wide problems of rail commutation, highways, traffic control, jet-plane annoyances, air pollution, water supply, parks, flood control, recreation and crime.

Critics contended that the council was thinly headed to limbo because the public has never been told what it does. It has a thinly veiled "metro" supergovernment aim in a foreign dictatorship, they describe it as a Trojan Horse waiting to strip away home rule. And some utter "metro" as an ugly word.

Council membership was rejected recently by the Boards of Supervisors of Westchester and Suffolk Counties. But both counties remain among the 56 members of the council in conference. The supervisors' action in Westchester reversed their earlier stand. The battles leading up to rejection in both counties were bitter.

In New Jersey, Middlesex, Union Counties, Jersey City, Paterson and Passaic have ratified the new agreements. Other ratifications have been voted by Westport, Conn., and in New York State by Orange and Rockland Counties. While some Union County and Yonkers officials are challenging the ratifications.

Since its formation in 1956, the council has been a loosely organized association of mayors, supervisors, freeholders, county executives and selectmen of the 22 New York, New Jersey and Connecticut counties in the area.

It has been a discussion and advisory group, with New York City paying most of the $50,000-a-year cost. In recent months it has laid plans through tri-state enabling legislation to make itself a formal dues-paying membership organization, with New York City paying but an annual budget of $100,000 or more for surveys and staff salaries. The dues would be 1 cent a year for each resident of each community.

Home Rule Upheld

Leaders continue to deny any desire to set up a supergovernment or to infringe on home rule. They contend that widespread misunderstandings resulted largely from unsound attempts to equate the council with the quarrel-riddled metropolitan government of Dade County, Fla., with its received County powers.

"Hate literature" against the council is being distributed throughout the area, according to Maxwell Lehman, executive secretary of the council and First Deputy City Administrator of New York.

Prescott Miller, Republican majority leader of the Westchester Board of Supervisors, related that he had been awakened at 2 A.M. in his Pelham home by the "crash of my yard by a security unit with a big sign." He called the police and the man ran away. Later, Mr. Miller found on the front porch anti-council literature that he said was "so violently 'no' that it made Barry Goldwater appear to be a radical Leftist."

Mr. Miller displayed a booklet labeled "terrible 13th". It bore the picture of an employee's name, offices at 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago, on land of the University of Chicago. It said this was set up inviting government tyranny, to destroy local autonomy and set up a world dictatorship with "regional government as in Soviet Russia."

The "terrible 13th" organization, then we must ask ourselves what devices we can invent to assist local government in doing what has to be done. One of these devices is The Metropolitan Regional Council.

"The kind of attacks which led to the Suffolk constitution is a threat to the validity of local government, to the concept of home rule and to the freedom of local officials to hold a constituting dialogue on matters of common concern. The origin of such literature is frequently not clear on these attacks. And while the attackers may be loud, they are not numerous.

"The development of metropolitan areas in the United States cannot continue without recognition of the necessity of thinking in metropolitan terms. Local officials must accept responsibilities or some higher level of government will take these responsibilities from us."

SCORES COUNCIL FOES; Maxwell Lehman, executive secretary of Metropolitan Regional Council, who said "hate literature" is being circulated against group.

The anti-council organizations were said to included the liberty Lobby, a group of governors, attorney generals, finance officers, chief justices, city magistrates and advocates of "metro" councils.

The literature in Mr. Miller's file also accused the Federal Government of forcibly moving entire communities into former all-white neighborhoods to tighten white people's sense of national citizenship. It said the "American Soviet is called Metro" and the "United Nations Charter has superseded the Federal Constitution."

Pamphlets published in Palm Beach, Dallas and New Orleans assailed what they termed the "pigheadery" of metropolitan government and called Metro "a satellite designed to destroy local government."

The Westchester Conservative, a monthly publication, said:

"If the planners cannot actually force you into a mold, finally they can trap us into it by means of metropolitan government."

Young G.O.P. Voices Fears

In reserved terms, the Young Men's Republican Club of Westchester said it feared the council and proclaimed:

"We believe in government by elected representatives directly responsible to the voters."

The Bergen County Young Republican Club took a similar position. Frederick A. Becker, its chairman, called the council "a complete flop" for six years.

"The question that confronts the people of our metropolitan area," the Bergen club said, "is whether they want planning or if they want to be planned. The question has long ceased to be whether anyone is for or against planning. The absurdity of such a question is posed today only to cloud very basic issues."

Michaelian in Defense

In Westchester County Executive Michaelian, vice chairman of the council, said the critics failed to understand the "very laudable" goals of the council as a voluntary agency. He declared that the council would never die until all the overlapping problems of the region have been solved. The solutions cannot be reached independently, he added.

Mayor Wagner, the chairman, said that if the council were discontinued "our communities would be harmed.

"We are trying to effectuate a great and vital idea—an idea that has meaning for the future of our cities, towns, villages, counties and, indeed, our nation," Mayor Wagner declared. "We are living in the twentieth century and we must use our intelligence to deal with twentieth century problems. No matter how nostalgic we might be for the 'Good old days,' the good old days have left us forever.

"If local government is not to be swamped by the juggernaut onrush of new technologies, automation, the growth of population and new communities about to retire and that this city is shopping for leadership under the popular home-ship banner.

The Westchester board finally voted, 26 to 7, that joining the council would be "a formal adjustment of local autonomy which would pave the way for elimination of home rule."

The Westchester neighbors, chief friends of the council for New York City, with 8,000,000 residents, would always have only one vote in the council, compared with one for a Connecticut town of 1,500 residents and five votes for Westchester and its member-cities.

"We believe this numerical ratio is proper to maintain," the papers reported. "And, 'It is our belief that ultimately New York City will have one vote and the five New York counties one vote apiece.'"

Success or Failure

Westchester officials reported some successes of the council, including purchases of park lands from New York City, and studies of interstate transit. The analysis of the situation of Mount Kisco's pollution of New York City's water supply.

"If it weren't for the council, New Haven Railroad probably wouldn't be operating today," Mr. Michaelian said.

A factor in arousing some of the Westchester opposition, in the political opportunism, people affected by the supersonic aircraft were said to believe that Mr. Michaelian might retire toward the end of his county executive's term as Republican chairman. Some also suggested that one of two county commissioners were minorities in the council work."