From the moment he sat at his desk to look at the new congressional district maps, Watertown Mayor Jeff Smith has wished he never saw it.

“Above everything, here you have another congressional district smack dab in the middle, literally surrounded by another congressional district. That’s gerrymandering at its best,” Smith said.

Breaking down Smith’s concerns: It’s a more than four-hour drive from one end of the district to the other, in good weather.

Watertown, Oswego and Western New York can experience five to six months of troublesome lake-effect weather. Also, so far, every candidate to show interest has come from Western New York, where the sitting congressional representative lives.

“Will our area be represented? Will we get good representation? I think it’s really a complete disservice,” Smith said.

From there, his list only grew.

He’s heard the talk that the district shares one very large thing in common — Lake Ontario and its shorelines. But he said look no further than the recent flooding events, and the plan that controls water levels.

The wants and desires of the North Country could not be any more different than those out west, he said.

“They were completely different. What affects here in Jefferson County and what affects out west are different,” he said.

The same can be said for border issues. Shared theme, but dig deeper, Smith said.

Canadians are important to Watertown’s economy. The new district loses its northern border crossing.

“Our relationships with Kingston, Ontario and Brockville, cities that are similar to Watertown. Kingston is our sister city in Canada. Those are issues, border-crossing issues,” Smith said.

But perhaps no issue is larger than the North Country’s biggest economic driver, Fort Drum. The new district basically splits in half the post’s land and the communities its soldiers and families live in.

He hears that Fort Drum would have two direct advocates, but he worries about representatives being on the same page. He also worries about the confusion it could bring to families who often come and go, but have local needs, such as the smaller Jefferson County Airport.

He's concerned it will weaken the very mission the 10th Mountain Division works so hard to succeed at.

“It’s a vital relationship, I would argue, to maintaining the future of Fort Drum,” he added.

Smith believes that wherever the next representative is from, that person will have the entire district in mind. But it’s that closeness, the knowledge of the minor details and true desire to fix them that he hopes won’t get lost in the shuffle.

Smith said he’s also bewildered by the fact the district is, to him, about as wide as a snowmobile trail as it approaches southern Rochester.