SYRACUSE, N.Y. – This costly Albany program was supposed to be different.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the Upstate Revitalization Initiative offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Syracuse-area business leaders to construct the “economy of tomorrow.” If their ideas were good enough to create lots of jobs, he would provide $500 million in taxpayer money to turn their vision into reality.

Local movers and shakers responded with a plan that focused on cutting-edge drone technology, agribusiness and a new inland port. Central New York won the high-stakes competition in December 2015.

Since then, Cuomo has followed through with $45 million in grants for drone technology projects.

But Cuomo also dipped into the half-billion-dollar kitty to pay for a $20 million highway ramp. That project was never part of the plan, and shows how Central New York’s award can be tapped at will by Cuomo and his local allies.

The ramp will be used a couple of months out of the year to ease traffic jams during the state fair and during big concerts at Onondaga County’s new amphitheater.

Cuomo announced the project last month during a visit to the state fair. He also touted plans for a $15 million gondola and a $35 million event center, neither of which will be funded with money from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, or URI.

State officials say the highway ramp fits with the URI because it will promote tourism.

But the project appears to be a response to traffic problems created by the county’s new amphitheater, not the URI. The ramp is the only piece of Cuomo’s two-year, $120 million state fair upgrade to be paid for with the URI.

The URI was sold as a bottom-up economic development initiative. But critics say it’s prone to the same problems that dogged previous state programs: It can be used for political grandstanding or to benefit well-connected insiders.

Ken Girardin, of the conservative Empire Center for Public Policy, said he was not familiar with specific Central New York projects but he regards the URI as wasteful.

“The slush-fund mentality in Albany invites bad behavior and guarantees that taxpayers won’t get the best value for their dollar,” Girardin said.

In 2015, Cuomo told regional leaders that the “bottom line” for the URI was job creation. He offered this advice in a video for applicants:

“This is a competition that is going to look for specific transactions with a specific private-sector partner that will develop jobs,” Cuomo said. “This is posing a specific question: If you win this competition and you get this funding: What business partners will you invest in? What will they contribute? How many jobs will that generate? And how is that in furtherance of your region’s vision for your cluster economy? That’s the bottom line.”

With state Legislature approval, Cuomo set aside $1.5 billion from New York’s windfall settlements with Wall Street banks to pay for three regional URI awards.

Built for surprises

The Central New York URI plan promised to focus investment on six target areas: the drone industry, agribusiness, an inland port, government consolidation, fighting poverty and veterans services.

But the URI is built for surprises. Unlike most funding requests that ask for money for a specific project, the URI asked for $500 million over five years, almost all of which would be used for projects to be named later.

The word “jobs” appears 76 times in the 88-page plan submitted by the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council. Most projects, the council said, will be evaluated on their potential to create jobs or to train workers for jobs.

But the document contains other, hazier objectives such as to ”build welcoming and connected world-class communities.”

That’s the goal that justifies the highway ramp, according to Jason Conwall, spokesman for Empire State Development Corp., the state economic development agency.

“(It) supports the strategy to ‘build welcoming and connected world-class communities,’ ” Conwall wrote in an email. “A sub-tactic of that strategy is ‘grow and support destination tourism assets.’ ”

Tourism is a growing sector of the regional economy, Conwall said, supporting nearly 18,000 jobs throughout Central New York.

Cuomo announced plans for the ramp before a formal proposal was made to the regional council.

Onondaga County officials applied for URI funding for the highway ramp Feb. 3, said Justin Sayles, the spokesman for County Executive Joanie Mahoney. After more information is gathered, the proposal will be presented for to the regional council for “further action,” Sayles said.

But Cuomo had already confirmed the project at a news conference Jan. 23 – some 11 days before the county application. Cuomo’s announcement was based on an informal request from county officials and tacit approval by state legislators from the Syracuse area, Conwall said.

The two co-chairs of the regional council – Rob Simpson of CenterState CEO and Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena, president of Upstate Medical University – also signed off, Conwall said.

How the decisions are made

Who, exactly, is supposed to decide how URI money gets spent? The regional economic development council plays an advisory role, but it’s an opaque process that seems to shift with circumstances.

Several regional council members said they weren’t entirely sure how some of the decisions are made. Nancy Weber, a regional council member from Oswego County, said some proposals come directly to the council for review. But Weber said she suspects other deals originate behind closed doors.

“It’s like the Hamilton play, who’s in ‘The room where it happens,’ ” Weber said, referring to a song from the popular Broadway musical. “Who gets to be in the room? That, you and I will probably find out at some point.”

Cuomo has the ultimate say. The regional council is composed of volunteers appointed by the governor. They have no statutory authority. They only provide advice. They are instructed to refer questions to state officials.

During state budget hearings this month, some legislators questioned whether the regional councils should be more accountable to the public. But Howard Zemsky, CEO of Empire State Development, said council members are volunteers, not elected officials.

“They are not establishing a public record that they’re running on,” Zemsky said.

Cuomo established 10 regional councils in 2011. His idea was to generate homegrown economic development plans rather than sprinkle money around the state based on which legislative districts have the most powerful representatives.

So far, about $150 million of the URI money for Central New York has been spoken for. Some of the projects clearly target investments anticipated by the regional council’s plan.

Cuomo announced a $10 million grant to induce Saab to move 260 jobs to its facilities in Onondaga County, a project that will enhance the region’s drone industry. The governor also provided $30 million to build a 50-mile flight corridor between Syracuse and Rome to refine air traffic management systems for drones. Another $5 million went to start-up company Gryphon Sensors to work on the corridor.

The URI plan bets heavily on drone-related business. It anticipates that up to half the money — $250 million – could be spent on that sector.

Other URI investments, including the state fair highway ramp, were not anticipated.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, an outspoken advocate for more state spending on infrastructure projects, said she was told the URI would not pay for roads, water mains or other infrastructure. Miner frequently butts heads with Cuomo, but like other elected officials holds a non-voting seat on the regional council.

Guidelines put out by the Cuomo administration advised regional councils not to include generic infrastructure projects. Conwall, of Empire State Development, said the highway ramp is an exception because it promotes tourism.

“I was told explicitly . . . that infrastructure would not be allowed as part of a proposal,” Miner said. “I was, and continue to be, very interested in infrastructure as a way to drive economic development. That being said, I think there are better ways to spend $20 million, that could benefit the entire community, other than an off-ramp.”

© 2017 Syracuse Media Group