Tourism and business officials reminded their constituents that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease during a prelude to a legislative reception at the Otesaga Hotel last Thursday.

The reception was billed as an opportunity for those in the tourism industry to discuss issues with their state and local legislators.

"This Cooperstown reception brings together, for the first time, the hospitality industry as a collective voice to discuss industry concerns with local representatives, said Daniel Murphy, president of the New York State Hospitality and tourism Association, one of the sponsors of the event. "The purpose is to educate legislators from our own personal perspective."

The other event sponsors include the Cooperstown and Otsego County Chambers of Commerce and the Otsego County Hotel and Lodging Association.

"We've got to lean on our legislators to do what's right for our business," said Rob Robinson, Otsego County Chamber of Commerce CEO. "It's up to us to fight our own battles. It's how business is done in New York."

Nearly 100 people in the industry signed up for the event and many spent an hour hearing from the sponsors about the issues before meeting with legislators.

Murphy talked about his NYSHTA's statewide efforts which included lobbying for more state dollars for tourism, restoring the matching funds program for tourism, establishing dedicated funding and reforming the state's workers' compensation program.

Polly Renckens, executive director of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, focused on local issues that impact tourism.

At the top of her list was the allocation of the bed tax Otsego County collects each year.

Renckens said the goal is open a discussion at the county about how the money is allocated and specifically that more of it should be funneled back into tourism.

More of those tourism dollars need to be spent on tourism, she told the group, adding that they need to reinforce the idea with political leaders that money spent on tourism is a good investment.

Renckens said allocation of sales tax revenues also needs to be revamped.

"Small communities get the short shrift," she said,

Currently the county's four percent share of the sales tax collected is divided by a formula that gives 76 percent to the county, 12 percent to the City of Oneonta and splits the remaining 12 percent between all the other towns and villages.

Renckens said that by some estimates, tourism generates one-third of all the sales tax revenues.

Cooperstown, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year should receive more of the sales tax dollars to help offset the impacts on its infrastructure, she said.

She also touched on the need for an I-88 tourism information system and agri-tourism event funding.

Robinson talked about a county-wide wireless system, getting involved in the county's decision about the future of MOSA and pushing the Department of Transportation to prioritize improvements to Route 28 from Oneonta to the NYS Thruway.

Edwin Cox, the president of the Otsego County Hotel and Lodging Association, said there needs be a uniform standard for temporary housing to insure the safety of visitors. Currently, he said, regulations vary from one community to another.

"We want to make sure we're all playing on the same field," he said.

He also advocated the hiring of a county manager. Otsego County, he said, has a $63 million budget, 700 employees and is run by part-time committees.

"We need somebody at the helm who can run the day-to-day operations of the county," he said.

During a brief question and answer period, Paula Wikoff, who operates the Lake Front Motel, asked about what is coming down the road for Cooperstown as she expressed concerns about its ability to handle more tourists.

"The quality of life is changing so quickly with what's happening on Route 28," she said.

Mayor Carol Waller said the 800,000 to 900,000 people who visit the village as tourists and patients at Bassett Hospital have a tremendous impact on the village's infrastructure and that she has been trying unsuccessfully to get tourism dollars from the county.

Renckens agreed that the advent of the Cooperstown Dreams Park had changed things dramatically and that her organization was trying to build tourism in the off-season.

"We don't need anymore tourists in the summertime," she said.

Cox ended the session by telling people to remember that of the three largest industries in the county - healthcare, education and tourism - tourism is the only one that generates sales tax revenue.