The August 1, 2008 Issue of The Capitol

www.nycapitolnews.comVOL. 1, NO. 8 AUGUST 2008

TaxingTimes

2

Dean Skelos retools theproperty tax debate and

the SRCC in a high-speedeffort to keep the majority

Hugh Careyoffers his advice onfixing the economy.

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Up and Coming:Central New YorkSpotlighting fiveelected officials to watch.

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Steve Pigeon lookshigh and low for aresponsible New York.

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2 AUGUST 2008 THE CAPITOLwww.nycapitolnews.com

BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

DENNIS DELANO, A NOW LOCALLY

famous Buffalo cold case detec-tive with a gravely voice and

penchant for black leather trench coats,has been described as part Colombo,part Sipowicz.

Unlike Peter Falk or Dennis Franz,though, Delano is trying to trade in hisbadge for a desk in the State Senate.

In April, Delano was suspended fromthe police force for leaking forensic evi-dence to the press in an effort to jump-start a lagging case. With the extra freetime, he began thinking about dirty poli-tics, which he blames for his suspension,and the debilitating economic conditionsin Western New York.

He vowed to do something about both. “I figured, well, it’s time to get rid of

some of these politicians then, if that’sthe way things are going,” Delano said.

Soon after, Delano filed papers torun as a Republican against State Sen.William Stachowski (D-Buffalo), a 21-year veteran of the State Legislature.But his campaign is not about oppos-ing Stachowski specifically, Delanosaid, but about the need for a changein Albany.

As for what that change may be, Delanoadmitted to being a little vague on specifics.

ing too. The senator’s campaign reported having $47,277on hand as of the July disclosure, while Delano report-

ed having only $4,275, all but $75 of which coming fromhis own wallet.

Delano dismisses hisopponent’s fundraisingadvantage as more evi-dence of Albany’s cash-flush, corrupt culture.

“I wasn’t aware that I had to buy my way intooffice,” he said.

Delano, who switched his party affiliation fromDemocrat to Republican close to a decade ago, said if

elected he would begin by investigating where taxpay-er money has been going. Buffalo’s taxes are some ofthe highest in the state and there have been littlenoticeable returns on the investment, he said.

“People are leaving in droves,” Delano said.“Our tax base is way down. Our neighborhoodsare looking like the surface of the moon.”

With regard to taxes, Stachowski has his ownselling point for voters. If Democrats get themajority in the Senate after the November elec-tions, Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) has said that he would make Stachowskichair of the powerful Finance Committee.

Stachowski said holding this post could notonly help his district’s interests, but hasgreater meaning to his constituents as well.

“I think it would mean a lot for allupstate to have an upstater in that honor-able position,” Stachowski said.

Stachowski highlighted three thingshe thought will assure his re-election: hisrecord in Albany as a champion forupstate issues, the high level of con-stituent services offered by his districtoffice, and his party’s enrollment advan-tage in Buffalo.

As for Delano, Stachowski at firstdeclined comment, saying he took all of his

opponents seriously. But when pressed onthe issue, the senator cited Delano’s lack ofexperience as a serious shortcoming.

“I know he likes to brag about the factthat he has no government experience,”Stachowski said. “It’s an awful high levelof government to start out on with noexperience.”

Stachowski added that Delano’s popu-larity in Buffalo is more a product of thedetective’s cozy relationship with themedia than anything else.

“I’m not mistaken, those cases weresolved by teams of people,” he added. “Itwasn’t just an individual doing all thatwork.”

Still, Delano’s celebrity will forceStachowski to campaign harder than hehas in previous years for this traditional-ly safe district in a year when Democratsare waging intense fights for GOP seatsacross the state, said Kevin Hardwick,chair of the political science departmentat Canisius College in Buffalo.

“He’s a rock star,” Hardwick said ofDelano. “But again, it’s a veryDemocratic district.”

Hardwick, who once worked for for-mer Senate Majority Leader WarrenAnderson (R-Binghamton), said Delano’sbiggest obstacle probably is not theDemocratic enrollment advantage somuch as the sheer glut of high-profileraces going on in Western New York thisyear. In addition to the Stachowski-Delano showdown, there are very com-petitive races to succeed retiring Rep.Thomas Reynolds (R-Erie) and StateSen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Genesee/Erie).

“Normally, it would be the premierrace in the area because again there’snothing going on,” Hardwick said. “Butthere’s so much else going on in thisneck of the woods that it might get over-shadowed, which might hurt Delano.”

Stachowski, on the other hand, hasnot had a major challenger in 20 years, sohis campaign apparatus may be rusty,Hardwick said.

The onus is still on Delano to prove hecan appeal to both Republicans andDemocrats.

“It was a safe Democratic seat and I sus-pect it will remain so,”Hardwick said.“However, given that itis Dennis Delano andhe does have that sta-tus that transcends par-tisanship, you’ve got totake him seriously.”

Delano said he is looking forward togetting to Albany, where he believes hewill have the opportunity to do what hehas been missing these past few months:some real police work.

“They know I’m not gonna put up withno crap,” Delano said of how theRepublican leadership in the Senatemight take to his less than politicalapproach to things. “I don’t want tooffend anybody, but you have to do theright thing always.”

[email protected]

Cold case detective challengingStachowski in heavy Democratic district

In Senate Run, Delano Sees AlbanyAs Crime Scene Worth Investigating

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“I don’t know what I can do about it,but I’m going to try to do something,” hesaid. “You have to be different to get dif-ferent results.”

Delano is certainly different fromother Senate candidates across the state.He is widely known throughout theBuffalo area for his efforts to exoneratetwo falsely imprisoned individuals, aswell as for his public duel with DistrictAttorney Frank Clark (D).

Delano said Clark was behind his sus-pension because of thenegative light his coldcase work cast on the dis-trict attorney’s office.

The case and Delanowere featured in June inan episode of Dateline

NBC, further cementinghis folk hero-celebrity status in Buffalo.

“He didn’t give up. He kept fighting,”said Erie County Republican ChairmanJames Domagalski, who is eagerly sup-porting Delano’s candidacy. “He buckedthe police hierarchy, he bucked the pros-ecutors, he bucked everybody.”

But winning a Senate seat in Buffalocould prove to be more difficult than dust-ing for fingerprints. Democrats vastly out-number Republicans in the district, 109,663to 46,270, according to enrollment figures.

Stachowski has Delano beat in fundrais-

“I don’t know what I can do about it, butI’m going to try to do something,” said cold

case detective Dennis Delano, runningagainst Bill Stachowski. “You have to be

different to get different results.”

Cold case detective Dennis Delano sayshe is running for State Senate againstBill Stachowski to investigate where allthe taxpayers’ money has gone.

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO GOVERNOR PATERSONAND THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE

Access to New York’s health care system will be seriouslycompromised by the threatened imposition of major liability premium

increases and surcharges on the medical community.

The Superintendent of Insurance has publicly stated that major increases must be imposed in the absence of needed tort reform.

Any increases in the cost of our liability insurance will significantlyimpact on the availability of medical services for

patients in New York State.

Please help New York physicians and patients avoid a health care disaster by enacting needed liability reforms.

Time is running out.

Please act now.

99 Washington AvenueAlbany New York 12210

(P) 518-465-8085 (F) 518-465-0976

www.nysut .or g

New York State United Teachers represents more than 600,000 professionals in

education and health care.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, President

We all want to reduce the tax burden on hard-workingNew Yorkers. But the tax cap being considered by someAlbany lawmakers doesn’t offer real tax relief. Instead, itdictates revenues a school district could raise locally, jeop-ardizing the progress students across the state are making.

Voters want a say in what happens in their schools. Theywant a voice in deciding what programs and services areoffered to their children. And they want to be the ones todecide just how much their school district should spend.

The proposed cap would rob communities of a localvoice, while doing nothing to address rising fuel costsand other expenses beyond schools' control. It wouldlead to program cuts, shortchange the neediest districtsand leave students without the resources they need tosucceed. And all this, without relieving anyone’s tax burden.

The rightkind of cap

$1.6 Billion Dollar SolutionHow to keep valued services without raising new taxes

STATE'S FISCAL BIND:In a televised address to New Yorkers, Governor Paterson recently reported that the state's fiscal condition is far worse than anyone hadpreviously acknowledged, and called for drastic cuts in spending including reducing the state workforce. He has described our current con-dition in terms of a Depression.

BLOOMBERG URGES ACTION:New York City Mayor has urged Governor Paterson to start collecting taxes on Indian sales of cigarettes to non-Indians in order to generatethe additional revenue needed to avoid another increase in Big Apple bus and subway fares.

In a New York Post 08/04 article, TAXING INDIAN BUTTS, written by Mayor Bloomberg and Long Island Congressman, Peter King of theHome Land Security Committee states, “For years, the state has refused to collect taxes on cigarettes sold to non-residents of Indian reser-vations - despite a 1994 US Supreme Court ruling that states have the right to collect these taxes.

Failure to collect the tax not only hurts public health, it hurts the rest of the state's small businesses, who must sell cigarettes at far higherprices. Worse, there's reason to believe that tobacco smugglers are funneling profits from Indian reservation sales to terrorist organizationsoverseas…As the city and state both struggle to balance budgets in the midst of the national economic downturn, it has become all themore urgent to collect these revenues and put them to good use.

The Math:The Office of the Budget and Department of Tax estimate that the State excise tax from the taxed sales of cigarettes will be $1.320 Billion.

State Excise Tax: (48 million cartons x $27.50) = $1,320,000,000City Excise Tax: (14 million cartons x $15.00) = $210,000,000Average Sales Tax: (48 million cartons x $5.00) = $240,000,000

-------------------------$1,770,000,000

Using National demographics of cigarette consumption and New York tax rates, New York consumers are estimated to smoke 100million cartons. By Government ‘biting the bullet’ and collecting the taxes on Native American sales to non tribal members as pre-scribed by law and increasing our enforcement of tax collection, we will tax 90 million of the 100 million cartons this year.

The New MathState Excise Tax: (90 million cartons x $27.50) = $2,475,000,000City Excise Tax: (30 million cartons x $15.00) = $450,000,000Average Sales Tax: (90 million cartons x $5.00) = $450,000,000

---------------------------$3,375,000,000

• $1,605,000,000 will be added to our tax rolls.• Criminal and Terrorist cigarette funding will be decimated.• Our State Laws will be enforced as intended.• New York Business and our economy will be uplifted.• Fairness and a level playing field will be restored.• Valued State and City Services will be permitted to continue.

This Solution is a ‘no-brainer’! COLLECT THE TAX AS PRESCRIBED BY LAW!!!

Arthur H. KatzExecutive Director

NYSAWMD[NYS Tax Agents]

Alexandra PopePresident

Local Union No.805International Brotherhood

of Teamsters

Ralph BombardlereExecutive Director

NYS Association of ServiceStations & Repair Shops

[Convenience Stores]

James CalvinPresident NYACS

[New York Associationof Convenience Stores]

The Anita Kaufmann FoundationEducating the Public NOT to Fear

Epilepsy and Seizures

Debra Josephs, Executive Director201-655-0420 / [email protected]

Learn more about epilepsy and seizuresVisit – www.akfus.org

One out of Ten People Have ThemWould you know what to do

if someone was having a seizure?

ALL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

AND ELECTED OFFICALS

SHOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO!

FREE• Group Training Seminars

• Seizure First Aid Posters

• 5th Grade Epilepsy Education Program for Children

Push for legislation to make it mandatory at all state government offices

esponsible New York is organized around a core set ofvalues, beliefs and principles that are essential to guiding true political reform in the State of New York. Our quest

is to create a political movement to return Albany to its rightful owners. Our pledge is help create an organization with no personal agendas, other than to give a voice to all New Yorkers – Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and Independents from cities, suburbs and rural areas both upstate and downstate.

We invite you to join Responsible New York.

Please go to our website at www.responsiblenewyork.com

and join the conversation.

We invite candidates to participate in our process. Please go to

www.responsiblenewyork.com/questionnaire.

Our objectives are not to help the few,

but to help the many. –Tom Golisano

Responsible New York is an advocate for:� Responsible State Budgeting� Real Estate Tax Reform� Election and Campaign Finance Reform (including redistricting )� True Government Transparency� An End to Unfunded Mandates� Equitable Distribution of Economic Development Resources� Government Employee Compensation & Pensions Consistent with Private Sector� An End to Back-Door Borrowing /Reining in Our of Control Authorities


Pigeon Hopes For PoliticalCoup As Architect ofResponsible New YorkFormer Erie chair courts more controversyhelping Golisano in Senate battles

BY JOHN R.D. CELOCK

STEVE PIGEON HAS SPENT OVER

a decade as one of the most domi-nant and controversial Democratic

names in Western New York politics. Thisyear, he may become more dominant andcontroversial than ever.

As the chief political advisor to billion-aire Tom Golisano and co-chair of hisResponsible New York committee,Pigeon will help shape this year’s battlefor individual State Senate races acrossNew York, as well as the control of themajority—a stark change for a man wholeft office as Erie County Democraticchair in 2002 after two years under firefrom multiple factions in the party.

Pigeon’s relationship with Golisanobegan through a very unlikely set of cir-cumstances. During Golisano’s firstgubernatorial campaign in 1994, Pigeon,then a county party vice chairman andformer deputy to Clinton Health andHuman Services Secretary DonnaShalala, saw one of Golisano’s commer-cials and decided to call the Rochesterbusinessman seeking a meeting.

“He said, ‘What are you doing tomor-row?’ I got there at 11 AM and I didn’tleave until 3 PM,” Pigeon said. “It was

one of those meetings where we felt wehad known each other a while.”

Pigeon started to boost Golisano’s for-tunes to other Democrats statewide.After becoming Erie county chair in 1996,Pigeon began to lobby other party lead-ers to give the party’s 1998 gubernatorialnomination to Golisano instead of theeventual nominee, then-New York CityCouncil Speaker Peter Vallone ofQueens.

Pigeon argued that Golisano, though aregistered Republican, would be a strongDemocratic candidate based on his abili-ty to self-fund and renown upstate.Democrats were not convinced. Pigeonsees a deeper rationale than most: hesays other leaders wanted to run Vallonefor governor to harm Vallone’s chances inthe 2001 New York mayoral election.

Pigeon was in Golisano’s corner againin 2002, when he was assisting Golisano’sthird run for governor, while simultane-ously positioning himself as the biggestupstate backer of Andrew Cuomo’sgubernatorial primary campaign for theDemocratic nomination. According toPigeon, Cuomo was aware of his workwith Golisano but gave him a pass.

In the weeks leading up to the pri-mary, Cuomo’s campaign melted down

and Pigeon departed as Erie CountyDemocratic chair. He spent the rest ofthe campaign season working to elect

Golisano, and in the years since—between working as a lawyer and politi-cal consultant in Buffalo—has beeninvolved with several of Golisano’sendeavors, including the billionaire’ssponsorship of the Clinton GlobalInitiative. Pigeon has himself kept up aclose relationship with Sen. HillaryClinton (D), fundraising for her presiden-tial run, and traveling to several primaryand caucus states to campaign for her.

Pigeon said the idea for theResponsible New York committee cameout of Golisano’s brainstorming aboutreforming state government and stimu-lating the upstate economy. The idea ofsupporting Senate candidates quicklyemerged.

“He saw that you have a State Senatethat is very close and a few targeted racescan make the difference,” Pigeon said.

Pigeon will be working with Golisanoand the committee’s other co-chair, for-mer state Independence PartyChairwoman Laureen Oliver, on all factorsof the campaign effort, including selectingcandidates and making decisions on whatresources to use in various districts,though he has recused himself from anydecisions involving Buffalo-area Senatecandidate Joe Mesi, given their closefriendship. Still, that has not halted thecritics: Erie County Legislator MicheleIanello, who is running in the primary

There is a complex web of connections between BarbraKavanagh, Steve Pigeon and the family of 2006 attor-ney general candidate and current state Criminal

Justice Services Commissioner Denise O’Donnell whichKavanagh may have to thank for key support for her pri-mary challenge to Assembly Member Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo).Pigeon, the chief political advisor to Tom Golisano, hasalready helped drive some of the billionaire’s money toKavanagh, and may soon be providing more.

Long a close Pigeon ally, Kavanagh was the principallaw clerk to O’Donnell’s husband, State Supreme CourtJustice John O’Donnell, for the last four years. JudgeO’Donnell was elected to the Supreme Court in 1995 withthe strong support of Pigeon.

Jack O’Donnell, son of the judge and criminal justiceservices commissioner, was executive director of thecounty party under Pigeon and ran Kavanaugh’s 1998 lieu-tenant governor campaign. Now he is a staffer forGolisano’s Responsible New York committee.

“The O’Donnells and Steve Pigeon attached at the hip,”one Buffalo insider said. “Judge O’Donnell and DeniseO’Donnell have done well under Pigeon.”

Hoyt allies have accused Pigeon of mastermindingKavanagh’s political career, which has included stops asa Buffalo city council member, assistant state attorneygeneral and clerk for O’Donnell. In addition to her failedrun for lieutenant governor, she narrowly lost a race forBuffalo city comptroller in the 2003 primary.

Pigeon says that his support for Kavanagh is simply areflection of his belief that she has been well-qualified forall of the posts she has held or sought. He said he did notput her up to the race against Hoyt this year.

But the Hoyt-Kavanaugh race seems to be one of onlytwo Golisano is likely to involve Responsible New York inthis year.

The other is the general election race facing AssemblyMember Francine Delmonte (D-Niagara).

Denise O’Donnell has so far remained silent on the race,and as a member of the Paterson administration, is expectedto continue to do so. But the O’Donnell/Pigeon/Golisano con-nection could have a broader impact on the O’Donnell fami-ly: a source in the Erie County Democratic Party said eventhe indirect association with the challenge to Hoyt could costJudge O’Donnell party support when he runs for reelectionnext year.

—JRDC

After years involved in the top levels and big controversies of local ErieCounty Democratic politics, Golisano advisor Steve Pigeon seems setto expand his influence this year.

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O’Donnell FamilyTies Help ConnectKavanagh to Golisano

against Mesi for retiring State Sen. MaryLou Rath’s (R-Genesse/Erie) seat, hascharged that there may be what she callspossible illegal coordination with the Mesicampaign.

And then there are those who claimPigeon is only working for Golisano andResponsible New York as a plan toreclaim the county chairmanship fromLen Lenihan. Pigeon denies this, sayinghe is too busy with statewide and nation-al political work and his private law prac-tice in Buffalo for that job.

This is far from the first brush withcontroversy for Pigeon, who has beenmixed up in local political clashes eversince the 1987 primary for Erie CountyExecutive, when then-Assembly MemberDennis Gorski defeated then-BuffaloCouncil Member Jim Keane for the nom-ination. Keane was aligned with longtimeparty boss Joe Crangle, and Gorski repre-sented a new younger wing of the party.One of Gorski’s first acts was to take con-trol of the party and install his own chair-man, Jim Sorrentino. Pigeon, then acounty legislator, was aligned withGorski and became a party official underSorrentino.

Then in 1995, Sorrentino backed thenErie County Clerk David Swarts (nowstate motor vehicles commissioner), forcounty executive over Gorski. Pigeon,however, stuck with Gorski. After Gorskidefeated Swarts in the primary, hehelped oust Sorrentino and awarded thechairmanship to Pigeon.

Pigeon’s opponents said his approachto the chairmanship divided the countyparty and helped the local DemocraticParty earn infamy as the “Beirut on theLake.” Things got so bad that duringmost of the 1990s, many statewide offi-cials avoided the county altogether tokeep from getting caught in the crossfirebetween the various factions. Several ofthose who battled with Pigeon place theblame for the situation squarely on hisshoulders, arguing that he made enemieswith party loyalists through his heavy-handedness offensive manner whendeclining certain patronage requests. Hewas spiteful, they say, targeting enemiesfor defeat and demanding total loyaltyfrom those in power.

Assembly Member Sam Hoyt (D-Erie)said he was one of those who battledwith Pigeon, when in 1994 he resisted

Pigeon’s pick of Anthony Nanula for avacant State Senate seat. In the yearssince, Hoyt insisted, Pigeon has beenmore interested in nursing a grudge thanreconciling.

“Steve Pigeon would rather fight thanget along,” Hoyt said.

Hoyt is feeling the brunt of the angerthis year, with Golisano giving both per-sonal donations and Responsible NewYork money to his primary opponent,former Buffalo Council Member BarbraKavanaugh, a longtime Pigeon associ-ate. Pigeon denied he has any personalstake in the matter, insisting instead thatKavanaugh is more in line withGolisano’s reform agenda than Hoyt.

Hoyt sees the support for Kavanaghin the race as a vendetta against him.Pigeon’s allies, on the other hand, seehim steering support to an old ally asanother instance of his being loyal toold friends and willing to work hard ontheir behalf. After all, Pigeon has beenpromoting Kavanagh since he tried toget her on the 1998 ticket as the candi-date for lieutenant governor.

She also represents the continuationof another theme of Pigeon’s approachto politics, which allies say is evident inthe overall effort behind his work forGolisano this year: getting Democrats topay more attention to upstate, especial-ly Western New York.

But Nanula, who credits Pigeonwith getting him involved in politicsoriginally, helping him win the 1994

special election for Senate, then help-ing his successful1999 run for Buffalocity comptroller, said that by helpingcraft Responsible New York, his oldfriend has, not surprisingly, seized anopportune moment in the most oppor-tune way.

“There has never been a better timefor this,” he said. “Steve has to be givena lot of credit for this.”

And his friends do not expect he willleave the legwork to others.

“He can strategize and come up withthemes,” said Buffalo Deputy MayorSteve Casey, who was executive direc-tor of the party under Pigeon. “He willalso knock on doors, he will do thework.”

[email protected]

Direct letters to the editor to

[email protected].

THE CAPITOL AUGUST 2008 5www.nycapitolnews.com

Pigeon will help shape this year’sbattle for individual State Senate

races, as well as the control of themajority—a stark change for a

man who left office as ErieCounty Democratic chair in 2002

after two years under fire frommultiple factions in the party.

www.nysut .or g

New York State United Teachers represents more than 600,000 professionals in

education and health care.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, President

We all want to reduce the tax burden on hard-workingNew Yorkers. But the tax cap being considered by someAlbany lawmakers doesn’t offer real tax relief. Instead, itdictates revenues a school district could raise locally, jeop-ardizing the progress students across the state are making.

Voters want a say in what happens in their schools. Theywant a voice in deciding what programs and services areoffered to their children. And they want to be the ones todecide just how much their school district should spend.

The proposed cap would rob communities of a localvoice, while doing nothing to address rising fuel costsand other expenses beyond schools' control. It wouldlead to program cuts, shortchange the neediest districtsand leave students without the resources they need tosucceed. And all this, without relieving anyone’s tax burden.

The rightkind of cap


In Bruno’s Absence, District Services Get Spread AroundSeveral Assembly members step into the void left by resignation


FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR, ANYONE

calling former State Sen. Joe Bruno’sdistrict office in Saratoga Springs, willhear a friendly voice say: “Forty-third Senatedistrict” instead of the senator’s name.

Bruno’s retirement has leftthe roughly 350,000 residents ofRensselaer and Saratoga coun-ties without a Senate represen-tative, and his district officeswithout a boss.

Kris Thompson, Bruno’s for-mer press secretary and direc-tor of district communications,said that five to six staffers willremain in the district office tohandle constituent servicesuntil a new senator is elected.Until then, Thompson said, itwill be business as usual.

“We’re still getting phone calls. We’restill getting requests,” he said. “There’sstill a lot of work that needs to be done.”

The district office is missing a fewstaffers that left following Bruno’s retire-ment, Thompson said. But he insistedthat this will not affect constituent serv-ices, since no equipment or furniture willbe removed during the interim period.

“Obviously there are people that are

calling, and they may be a little confusedby the way we answer the phones now,”Thompson said. “Once we explain tothem the situation, they still have a con-cern, they still have a situation, some-thing that needs to be addressed. Andthat’s something that we’re trying to do.”

In the meantime, some members ofthe Assembly have stepped into the voidleft by Bruno’s retirement. An aide toRonald Canestrari (D-Albany/Saratoga),the Assembly majority leader, said heexpects a lot of constituents to turn toCanestrari’s office for help in the comingmonths.

“There’s still one majority leader leftin the district,” the aide said.

Assembly Member Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga), who is running for Bruno’sseat this year with the former majorityleader’s endorsement, said he hasstepped up his constituent services aswell, which has been easy given the over-lap in the Senate district he wants and

the Assembly district he currently rep-resents.

“Quite frankly, we’ve been sharingconstituent services for years,”McDonald said. “I’m hoping we don’tlose a beat.”

McDonald said he has tried to tampdown any confusion among residentsused to dealing with Bruno’s officethrough outreach. But there have beensome unintended consequences, hesaid.

“There’s a lot of people who don’tknow the structure of the government.

A lot of people say, ‘We hear you’re thenew senator,’” McDonald said. “And Ihave to explain to them it doesn’t worklike that.”

Canestrari does not have a districtoffice, using his office in the LegislativeOffice Building for constituent services.That office is about 30 miles fromBruno’s district office, while McDonald’sdistrict office in Fort Edwards is about 20miles away.

Brian Premo, an attorney and one ofthe Democratic candidates running forBruno’s Senate seat, was critical ofBruno’s decision to step down before theend of the year, saying his retirement lefta lot of residents in the lurch.

“I think that they’re overwhelmedright now,” Premo said of Bruno’s districtoffice. “I think their staff got cut to thebone over there, and I think that they’retrying to figure it out.”

He cited one example, which headmitted was rather minor, but which hebelieves speaks to a larger concern.Children from the district, like Premo’sson, who complete a reading program,are entitled to a certificate from Bruno’soffice. But this year, none was presented,Premo said.

“It was a promotion to get kids inter-ested in reading,” he said. “But nobodygot back to them.”

Premo, who was originally aiming toface Bruno in November before themajority leader retired, said his son hadhis own theory about the missing certifi-cates

“My son thought, ‘Now I wonder if JoeBruno is doing that because dad’s chal-lenging him?’” Premo said, laughing. “Isaid, ‘No, that wouldn’t happen.’”

[email protected]

“We’re still gettingphone calls. We’re stillgetting requests,” said

Bruno’s former presssecretary, Kris

Thompson. “There’sstill a lot of work that

needs to be done.”

Charges of NIMBYism and Shortsightedness Clash in NYRI Debate Proposal to build power lines connecting Upstate plants generates controversy

BY SAL GENTILE

APROPOSAL FOR A POWER LINE

that would deliver electricity gener-ated Upstate to a booming consumermarket Downstate has infuriated a third,increasingly vocal constituency: those inthe middle.

The New York Regional Interconnection(NYRI) is a proposal by a group of investorsto facilitate the transmission of power pro-duced at Upstate generators to pockets ofincreased consumer demand Downstate, inand around New York City. The new powerline would head off two looming problems:an insatiable thirst for energy coming fromthe state’s economic engine, and skyrocket-ing costs of energy spurred by globaldemand and insufficient production.

NYRI President Chris Thompson saidthe diversion of power from Upstate mayinitially spur an uptick in prices there,but that the transmission line would ulti-mately lower costs for everyone.

“There might be a slight variation, butwe are actually forecasting that rates willbe dropping all across the state as part ofthis project,” he said.

But community groups and their advo-cates in the Legislature have so far beenskeptical of the proposal to string more

than 200 miles of power lines from Uticato the suburbs north of New York City,supported by transmission towers builtalong existing rights of way, such as raillines.

“It is wrong to take power from one regionwhich is cheaper and supply it to anotherregion, hurting the environment, and raisingthe rates of the region with the cheaperpower,” said State Sen. John Bonacic (R-Delaware/Sullivan/Orange/Ulster), whosedistrict would host a considerable stretch ofthe line. “You can’t play one regionagainst the other. That’s not good publicpolicy.”

Opponents have built a fairlyextensive coalition of communityactivists and legislators, producingwhite papers, websites and informa-tion networks to spread word of NYRI’sprogress. NYRI, in turn, has filed thou-sands of pages of information and pro-duced reams of data as part of the appli-cation process with the Public ServiceCommission (PSC), which the group saysis almost complete. (In June, the PSCdeemed a third supplement to NYRI’sdeficient application—not uncommonfor large-scale transmission projects. Thegroup says its next submittal should becomplete).

Thompson and allies say opposition tothe project is rooted in nothing morethan a NIMBY mentality to what they calla critical infrastructure project.

“At some point,” Thompson said, “ifwe’re going to build large infrastructureprojects to support cities, you have to putit in somebody’s backyard.”

Opponents, however, disagree. Bonacic sponsored a bill passed in

2006 and signed by Gov. George Pataki(R) prohibiting the use of eminent

domain to seize land for the $2 billionproject. That bill has only heightened theintensity with which NYRI’s opponents—who include Sens. Hillary Clinton (D)and Charles Schumer (D), as well as localReps. Mike Arcuri (D) and MauriceHinchey (D)—have dug in against thegroup’s efforts, still in the applicationprocess.

“The initial reaction was suspicion,”said Assembly Member Clifford Crouch(R-Chenango/Broome/Delaware/Ulster),

whose district also overlaps with the pro-posed route. “I really am very impressedwith the quality of information the citi-zens themselves have been able to diginto and find and be able to put togetheras opposition to this.”

He added: “None of them has beenswayed at this point in time.”

NYRI has said that, in addition to theincreased transmission capacity, theproject would generate about $37 millionin tax revenues to local communities, as

well as create morethan 400 constructionjobs over three years asthe transmission line isbuilt.

Aside from thoseprojected benefits,

NYRI sees the increasing Downstatedemand as a problem the state mustface quickly in order to head off an ener-gy crisis.

“At some point, somebody in thestate has to deem what’s in the bestinterests of the majority of the state,”said Thompson, referring to the PSC,which is ultimately responsible forrejecting or approving the proposal. “Onoccasion, the few have to sacrifice forthe many.”

“The initial reaction wassuspicion,” said AssemblyMember Clifford Crouch.


Feld and Oppenheimer Clash Over Rights to Obama’s Change MantleWestchester race may be best chance for GOP pick-up, and referendum on property tax


THE RACE FOR STATE SENATE IN

Westchester County is shaping up tobe a showdown between the circuitbreaker and the tax cap.

Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld (R) is slam-ming her opponent, 12-term Sen. SuziOppenheimer (D-Westchester), for notsupporting Gov. David Paterson’s (D)property tax cap proposal. ButOppenheimer says a tax cap would beunnecessary if the Legislature passes acircuit breaker—a system that ensuresthat property taxes do not exceed a cer-tain percentage of a homeowner’s income.

A recent Sienna Poll found voters pre-ferring a circuit breaker to a tax cap. Butwhat that will mean for the Oppenheimer-Feld race is so far unclear in this racewhich was on no one’s radar just a fewmonths ago. But partially on the strengthof Feld’s candidacy, Republicans seem tothink that the district is their best chanceof a pick-up in a year when Democrats areexpecting to focus most of their efforts onoffense, rather than defense.

Oppenheimer took in around $60,000in donations as of July, while Feld raised$90,000, with an added $150,000 transferfrom the Senate Republican CampaignCommittee. Feld has outspent her oppo-nent as well, putting out a little morethan $200,000. Oppenheimer has morethan $68,000 on hand and Feld has$43,000 on hand.

As is true of many races around the coun-try, the presidential campaign seems to beechoing down to the local level—except inreverse across party lines. In one corner,

there is Feld, a young, feisty Republicanwho favors a tax cap proposal championedby Democrats and who borrows heavilyfrom Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s (D) mes-sage of change. In the other is Oppenheimer,one of the state’s longest-serving incum-bents who is known for working closelywith Senate Republicans, but who is push-ing her own message of change.

After announcing her candidacy, Feldcame fast out of the gate, airing a televi-sion ad and holding a press conference tore-affirm her support among theRepublican establishment. At first, shewas a voice in the wilderness, critical ofthe Senate majority for not picking up theissue. Now, with new Senate MajorityLeader Dean Skelos moving the tax cap

to the top of the agenda, she seems tohave been ahead of the trend.

Feld has also tried to highlight her bipar-tisan appeal—she was elected mayor ofLarchmont on a coalition ticket with twoDemocrats—and her independent streak.

“My vote belongs to one group andthat is the voters of this district,” shesaid. “It doesn’t belong to any party.”

Feld is portraying Oppenheimer as tooentrenched in the Legislature to upendthe system. Lifting phrases and themesfrom Obama’s presidential campaign,Feld is calling for a “new generation ofleadership in Albany.”

“Anyone who stays too long can gettired or run down,” she said ofOppenheimer, then wondered how a sen-ator who has been in Albany for morethan 20 years could ever hope to portrayherself as an agent of reform.

“What is the slogan?” Feld joked,“‘Everything changes in term 13?’”

But Oppenheimer is not content to beJohn McCain to Feld’s Obama (eventhough she is two years older than theRepublican presidential nominee). Howcan Feld be the candidate of change,Oppenheimer wondered, if she is the cho-sen candidate of the Senate Republicans?

“That’s not change,” she said. “It is theSenate Republicans who have consistent-ly blocked change and reform.”

Oppenheimer said real change willcome in November, when Democratstake the Senate.

She called her support in the districtstrong, citing a recent poll that foundalmost 50 percent of voters in her districthad reported meeting her at least once

during her 24 years in the Senate. Enrollment in the district also distinctly

favors Oppenheimer, with Democrats out-numbering Republicans 91,000 to 55,000.

Feld has still managed to secure theendorsement of a few key Democrats,including Larchmont Village BoardTrustee Jim Milstein (D), who raised$100,000 for Feld at a recent event.

“I think she’s a breath of fresh air,”said Milstein. “She’s been successful atgetting both sides of the aisle inLarchmont to work together.”

Still, Milstein acknowledged that therace would be an uphill battle.

Feld has been successful at least ingiving the impression that the race couldbe hard fought, said Jeffrey Binder, a con-sultant for the Westchester-basedStrategic Political Group.

“She’s starting to create the perceptionthat there could be a vigorous race in thefall and that she’s someone who is going tobe not just a sacrificial lamb,” Binder said.

Still, her early ad campaign and pressconference with Republican Senate lead-ers is as much for the benefit of donorsas it is for voters, Binder said.

“It’s an early pop to give her name IDso that the insiders see that there may bea race,” he said.

If Republicans with deep pockets per-ceive her as someone who could giveOppenheimer a run for her money, theywould be more inclined to donate moneyto her campaign, he said.

“They could make a decision as towhether to continue to fund the race,”Binder added, “or pull the plug.”

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At first, Liz Feld, pictured with herdaughter, K.C., has been critical ofthe Senate majority for not pick-ing up a property tax cap earlier.

In Targeted Race for November, Democrats Prepare for Clash in SeptemberDahroug says he made Trunzo race competitive, Foley argues his time has passed

BY JOHN R.D. CELOCK

BEFORE DEMOCRATS GET TO TAKE

on State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Suffolk) in what they believe is a districtwhere they have one of their best chancesto pick up a seat on their way to capturingthe majority, they will need to settle theprimary between Brookhaven TownSupervisor Brian Foley and two-timeSenate candidate Jimmy Dahroug.

While Dahroug has been the Democraticnominee the last two elections and heldTrunzo to his most narrow win in years in2006, the Senate Democrats recruited Foleyinto the race. The county party hasremained neutral between the two. ButDemocrats in Islip, the largest town in thedistrict, have endorsed Dahroug, a stafferfor County Executive Steve Levy.

A Senate Democratic insider saidFoley was picked for the race because ofhis higher name recognition and recordof reform as town supervisor and a coun-ty legislator. They believe Dahroug hadhis chance to unseat Trunzo—twice—and his time has passed.

Foley is basing much of hiscampaign on his record assupervisor and in the Legisla-ture. He cites programs he cre-ated in county government ona smoke-free workplace, com-munity college funding andinfrastructure repair. In addi-tion, he cited his work in towngovernment on open space preservation.

Foley said he often thinks about the sim-ilarities between his race this year and hiscampaign for supervisor three years ago.

“There are a lot of real parallelsbetween this race and the one I ran threeyears ago,” Foley said. “I had run againstone-party rule for 45 years. One-partyrule is damaging.”

Though he hopes to help lead to one-party in Albany by winning Trunzo’s seat

and flipping the Senate majority, Foley saidhis focus was on bringing a mix into theranks of local elected officials. After over a

century without a Democratic senatorfrom Suffolk, he said a Democratic per-spective will help the county’s Senate dele-gation.

In addition to reforming Albany, Foleywould like to address property taxes,education and health care in the Senate.

He plans on releasing detailed pol-icy proposals in the coming weeks.

Though this is a rare competitiveprimary for a seat Democrats arehoping to take from the GOP, Foleysays he bears no ill will towardsDahroug for challenging him. But hebelieves he has higher name recogni-tion in the district, and this will be

key for winning the general election. “I mean this sincerely: He’s a fine

young man and he has a sense of publicCONTINUED ON PAGE 8

A Senate Republicansource said that AlbanyRepublicans have been

more confident regardingthe Trunzo race recently.

service,” he said. “He has a bright futurein politics, but not in this race.”

Dahroug said he had sought the sup-port of Senate Democrats, but determinedearly on that the party would be backinganother candidate. Nonetheless, he decid-ed to mount another campaign. His focushas been fiscal issues, particularlyaddressing the property tax burden. Thisincludes promoting local governmentreform, by regionalizing some services todeliver savings for local governmentwhich can then be passed on to taxpayers.

Knocking on doors daily, he said hehas received a good feedback from a

number of residents who remember himfrom his two previous races. To all ofthem, he has stressed his background inchallenging Trunzo twice.

“We put this seat on the map,” Dahrougsaid. “In 2006, we beat Caesar TrunzoDemocratic ballots to Republican bal-lots—the third party ballots saved him.We did the hard work, and are the oneswho made Caesar Trunzo vulnerable.”

Going past the primary, SenateDemocrats plan on putting resourcesinto the race with the belief Foley willwin the nomination. They may not be theonly ones pouring outside money into thedistrict: A source close to billionaire TomGolisano said the former gubernatorialcandidate is seriously considering back-ing a Democrat in this district. Both

Foley and Dahroug plan to fill out thequestionnaire Golisano is distributing tolegislative candidates statewide whowant his support.

Trunzo spokesman Nathan Marks saidthe 13-term senator is confident in hisreelection and will be making his case tovoters on the resources he has securedfor the district in his over three decadesin the Senate. Marks recited a litany ofcommunity groups and agencies whichhave received member item money fromthe senator over the years.

A Senate Republican source said thatAlbany Republicans have been more con-fident regarding the Trunzo race recently.Marks declined comment on whetherTrunzo felt more confident about facingone Foley or Dahroug.

Though there has been concernexpressed in some circles about the 82-year-old senator’s age and health, Markssaid the senator has been doing well inrecent months and does not believeeither factor will be an issue inNovember.

As for an argument on the campaigntrail, Marks said Trunzo will counterFoley’s take on one-party rule, given theDemocratic control of both the Assemblyand the Executive Mansion.

“He sees the importance of a two-party system,” Marks said. “A two-party system is the best form of gov-ernment.”

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[email protected].

BY SUSAN CAMPRIELLO

WHEN THE VOTE ON THE 1997State Budget was called inAugust of that year, Assembly

Member James Bacalles (R-Steuben/Yates)was in Virginia, attending the Boy Scoutsof America National Jamboree.

His staff sent him a budget briefing,and a few days later, he was in the car,driving to Albany and voted the next day.After the vote, he got right back on theroad and returned to the Jamboree.

After all, he had food to serve thescouts and leaders there.

Bacalles, along with other legislators,spends time over the summer helpingscouts with projects and program develop-ment. He often helps out in the dining room.

“People don’t realize this about theBoy Scouts: It’s a youth-run organization.Adults are just there to keep them fromgetting a little crazy,” he said.

Although Bacalles has traveled to theMidwest for scout events, he can fre-quently be spotted at Camp Gorton, inDundee, and Camp Brulé, in Forksville,Pa., both run by the Five Rivers BoyScout Council, which includes countiesin New York and Pennsylvania.

Although most campers he encoun-ters recognize Bacalles as a legislator,they are more likely to call him “G’sdad”—“G,” Bacalles’ elder son George,helps develop camp programs—then callhim by his title or talk to him about pend-ing legislation in Albany.

Bacalles joined the scouts when hewas a child. His father, a restaurateur,encouraged him to become a scout as away to learn about the outdoors.

As an adult, Bacalles has served asCouncil chair, executive vice president,

and as an adviser to honor scoutsin the Order of the Arrow.

Unlike the Legislature,the scouts meet year-round. Bacalles gets tothe events in the coldermonths whenever hisschedule allows.

These have led to dif-ferent kinds of adven-tures.

One winter eveningsome years ago, Bacallesoversaw a group ofscouts participating in anoutdoor overnight competi-tion. When the temperaturedipped to 30 degrees,Bacalles decided that theboys had to moveindoors. They scouredthe camp for open build-ings in which they could sleep toescape the cold.

By morning, the boys werescattered in various shelters,protected but angry thatBacalles had robbed them ofearning points for sleeping outdoors.Moreover, Bacalles said, they were upsetthat he had not let them make for them-selves the decision to stay outside ormove indoors.

“I caught lots of hell for that one,”Bacalles said.

But he still defends his decision.Bacalles tries to sell boys on the life

experiences that come with scouting whenhe addresses young scouts he hopes toconvince to stay scouts as they grow up.

“Scouting is more than having a goodtime,” he said, “but we tell them that it’sfor having a good time.”

Bacalles watched his own two sons risethrough the scouting ranks to becomeEagle Scouts, testing their leadership andsurvival skills through month-long adven-ture camps and wilderness hikes.

Camps also help scouts form friend-ships, said Assembly Member Dierdre“Dede” Scozzafava (R-Lewis/Oswego/St.Lawrence/Jefferson), a former scout,scout leader and board member of theThousand Islands Girl Scout Council.Though not as involved as she once was,she regularly visits Camp Trefoil, which isjust east of Ft. Drum, home to a numberof soldiers deployed around the world.

Attending camps helps young womenwith a parent overseas feel a sense ofbelonging, she said. At camps, youngwomen can build confidence in them-selves as they enter their teens and maybegin to feel pressured into looking oracting a certain way.

Assembly Member Joseph Saladino(R-Nassau) said that the survival skillsand self-confidence he learned as a scout

have brought him success. Saladino has remained

involved with troop activ-ities through the Kiwanis

Club and as a liaisonbetween Boy and Cub Scouttroops in Massapequabecause he believes in the

importance of the lessonsscouts learn.Saladino has helped scouts

hoping to attain Eagle statusdevelop their service projects. One

project, he recalls, began when asenior citizen approached Saladino

about an issue with her medical bill.Saladino learned that her stoop neededrepairs. An Eagle Scout hopeful soonarrived with tools.

Local scouts also organ-ize campsites for Saladino’sMarine and OutdoorRecreation Expo, an event

at which people can learn aboutLong Island’s water and land activities. “It’s a great way to bring these differ-

ent groups together,” he said.Scouting helped teach Saladino to stay

calm and overcome panic, and today heencourages scouts to take advantage ofscout adventure trips and mountainclimbs. Achieving big goals builds confi-dence, he said.

His own experiences have beeninstrumental to his political career.After all, for a man who, as a teenager,once had to build a shelter and figureout how to signal a helicopter whenlost in a fog and who has since scaledMount Washington, speaking on thefloor of the Assembly, he said, cannever seem daunting.

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[email protected].


Bacalles, Scozzafava andSaladino Find Benefits FromContinuing Scout Involvement For building grit and connecting withcommunities, valuable experience, they say

Jim Bacalles was a Boy Scout when hewas younger, but is still involved today,volunteering at scout camps and sometimes helping serve food.

TrunzoCONTINUED FROM PAGE 7


BY JOHN R.D. CELOCK

ONE DAY EVERY AUGUST, THE

focus of state Republican politicsmoves to Binghamton, to a golf

course in suburban Endicott, where partymembers feast on grilled meat at State Sen.Thomas Libous’ (R-Broome/Tioga/Chenango)annual steak roast.

They also have the chance to purchaseLibous’ own line of steak sauce and seasoning.

Libous has been hosting the annual steakroast for 20 years. From about 800 attendeeson its first year, the event has grown to onehosting over 3,000 steak lovers in recentyears. Any Republican thinking of runningstatewide drops in to shake hands, andmany Republican rank-and-file fromaround the state drop by for a sirloin.

And, of course, greeting them as theyenter the picnic grounds is a gift shop,where guests can purchase the senator’ssteak sauce and seasoning, along withcommemorative steak roast cups andaprons.

This year’s steak roast is Aug. 21.Libous said the steak roast started

when he was brainstorming with stafferson doing a large-scale fundraiser that hecould make into a community event. Asthe event grew, he began to think abouthow to cultivate the concept of a steakroast, an event much like those held bymany party organizations and candidatesacross Upstate.

“About three years in, I said to my staff,I need my own steak sauce,” Libous said.

Libous began the process of creating hisown sauce by meeting with several chefsacross the Binghamton area to come upwith recipes. They developed four, and thesenator started visiting picnics throughout his

district to conduct taste tests of the con-tenders. Libous debuted the winner atthe following year’s steak roast.

As the steak roast grew, so did thesenator’s product line. He created the

steak seasoning and then put his steakroast logo—a likeness of him holding asteak and wearing a chef’s hat—on aprons,cooler bags and plastic cups, all of whichare sold in the steak roast gift shop, and allbenefiting his campaign committee.

George Pataki, Al D’Amato, RudyGiuliani, Rick Lazio and former SenateMajority Leader Joe Bruno have all

attended past steak roasts. The steaksauce is even on display at

Binghamton International Airportas a part of a display highlightingthe foods of theSouthern Tier. Atthe airport, though,the sauce cannot bepurchased. Bottlesare only available atthe roast and to thelucky visitors toLibous’ office onwhom the senatordecides to bestowthem.

But Libous is thinking of expand-ing.

“We’ve talked about setting up anot-for-profit and selling the sauceand giving the proceeds to charity,”Libous said.

The senator did not say when, or if,such a not-for-profit would be created.

This year, several hundred volun-teers will serve over a ton of beef, 600

pounds of potatoes and 1,600 dishes ofice cream to revelers. Libous estimates that

it takes around two and a half hours to serve all theattendees. Libous confirmed that Senate MajorityLeader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) will attend this year,and an invitation has been sent to Gov. David Paterson(D). Other Democrats have often attended, includingBroome County Executive Barbara Fiala (D).

Former State Republican Chairman Alexander “Sandy”Treadwell, now running for Congress against Rep. KirstenGillibrand (Saratoga/Dutchess/Rensselaer), is one of thefans of Libous’ steak sauce. Having attended the event asboth state chairman and secretary of state, he found it to beone of the best events on the roster of party fundraisersaround the state.

“It’s a legendary event for Tom that grew into some-thing amazingly big,” Treadwell said. “It is a chance forall kinds of people to network.”

With Libous’ recent elevation to deputy majorityleader, the event will likely continue to grow. Already,

he says, his newpost has had someimpact on interestin the pre-steakroast golf tourna-ment. In previousyears, he soldroughly 15 four-somes for the 5-year-old tourna-ment. Demand for

tickets picked up in the weeks following his ascensionto the deputy’s post, and by the end of July, 20 four-somes had been sold.

Former Senate Majority Leader Warren Anderson (R),Libous’ predecessor representing Binghamton, is bestremembered locally for building a highway connectingBinghamton to Albany. Libous said his legacy will besomewhat different.

“I’ll be known,” he said, “as the guy with the greatsteak sauce.”

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“About three years in,I said to my staff, Ineed my own steak

sauce,” said StateSen. Thomas Libous.

For Tom Libous, Special Sauce Adds Extra Flavor to Annual Steak RoastNew Senate No. 2 mulls plans to expand sales and production for his very own A.1.

“We’re going to end the legisla-tors’ vacations and bringthem back to Albany to repri-

oritize the way we manage New YorkState’s finances.”

Okay, maybe that was not the mostdiplomatic phrase Gov. David Patersoncould have used as he called theLegislature back into session, now thatyears of irresponsible budgeting havefinally caught up with New York. But itdoes reflect a feeling that a lot of NewYorkers have about theirstate government, particular-ly when they have gottenused to seeing the storieseach year about lawmakerscareening toward the March31 budget deadline in a flurryof last-minute agreements—and then again toward theend of the session each Junewith even more backroomdeals. This year, the headlines have beenworse than ever, particularly with regardto the state’s finances.

Many lawmakers are engaged in sub-stantive work in Albany. Many of them aswell are providing necessary services toconstituents during their time away fromAlbany. But as the current crisis makesclear, they need to be doing more work,and more of it in Albany.

Of course, there are two problemslawmakers can justifiably point to: first,that they may require the additionalincome they are able to earn during theirtime away from the Capitol, and second,that they do not have the staffingresources to meet the needs of their con-stituents without doing a significantshare of the work themselves.

The solution comes down to a ques-

tion of money. Give lawmakers the raisethey so desperately want, and arguably,need. The current base salary is $79,500.Raise it, and raise it significantly, both tomake clear the additional amount ofwork they need to do to earn the newcash, and to make the salary competitiveenough with jobs outside of governmentto attract some of the best and brightestwho have been forced to turn elsewhereto pay their bills. A $40,000 boost, for atotal base of $119,500, should be enough

to make people pay attention. Additionalleadership stipends could even be left inplace, at least for now.

Then, provide another $40,000 to eachof the 212 legislators, earmarked to hire anew staffer. Call that person the districtdirector of constituent services, and havethat person pick up the slack that willinevitably be left as lawmakers spendmore of their time in Albany.

Sound like a lot of money? The total,plus benefits for the new employees,would still come in under $20 million. Ifthis would help legislators focus on find-ing ways to plug a budget gap that hasalready ballooned an additional $1.4 bil-lion past initial projections, that seemslike one of the best investments the statecan make at this point.

Unlike much of the money allocatedin the state budget, however, this cashwould have to come with conditions:

• The Legislature must be made full-time, or at least fuller-time. The lightsshould be on in both the Assembly andState Senate chambers no less than 10months each year.

• Legislators must be barred from sec-ondary employment.

• Clearer powers for committees mustbe created, to give those outside the top

echelons of leadership greaterinfluence over legislative deci-sions, and enhance the trans-parency of the process by whichagreements are reached.

• The due date of the budgetshould be shifted to June 30, tobring New York in line with justabout every other state govern-ment that waits until revenuesarrive at the end of the fiscal

year before finalizing expenditures.Moreover, the budgeting process for thefollowing year must begin July 1, with thegovernor putting forward an executivebudget by October.

• Several deadlines must be set foraction on the budget and other legisla-tion over the course of the year, to pre-vent legislators from simply spendingmore time in the capital to cram in thesame amount of action in the last fewdays in session. Missing the deadlinesshould result in legislators and the gover-nor being docked pay.

These are important changes, and wemust make them as soon as possible. Thatwill leave some in Albany uncomfort-able—this will be a good sign. If everyoneis happy with the new order, not nearlyenough will have changed.

EDITORIALA Modest Investment in Our Financial Future www.nycapitolnews.com

President/CEO: Tom [email protected]/COO: Joanne [email protected] Publisher: Alex [email protected]

EDITORIALEditor: Edward-Isaac [email protected]: Andrew J. [email protected] Gentile [email protected] Rivoli [email protected] Editors:Christopher Moore, Charlotte EichnaPhotography Editor: Andrew SchwartzInterns: Susan Campriello, Michael SzetoContributors: John Celock, James Caldwell

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www.nycapitolnews.com

VOL. 1, NO. 6

JUNE 2008

Gov. DavidPaterson strikes

into unfamiliarterritory upstate.

Page 2

Charlie King discusses

his new life outside

politics and his interest

in running again.Page 35

Clinton falls to the Curse

of Dewey, and her 2012

Senate campaign may be

in the rough, too.Page 12

Manhattan Media

79 Madison Avenue,

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New York, NY 10016

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BELLMAWR, NJ

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INSIDE: DoubtsaboundaboutBloomberg

actually running

for governor.

DSCCchairsdiscuss

their strategy to

take the majority

in November.

Page 28

Silver’schallengers

strugglewith theirimpossiblecampaign.

Page 8

TheStrategist

In his first major

interview as AG,

Andrew Cuomomakes his

openingstatement

Page18AN

DREWSCHWARTZ

Give lawmakers a $40,000raise to spend more time inAlbany. Give them another$40,000 to hire new staff tohandle constituent services.

But with conditions.

Old Vegas bookmakers have been trumped by new technology, and dozens of websites existto bet on the outcome of all sorts of things, including who will be picked to run for vice presi-dent. Intrade lets people buy shares in the candidates’ futures. Ladbrokes gives odds to betagainst. Here are this month’s standings.

PRICE ON INTRADE

PRICE ON INTRADE

ODDS ONLADBROKES

ODDS ONLADBROKES

REPUBLICAN 2008VP NOMINEE

ODDS Ends&***2008 VICE PRESIDENTIAL ODDS***

**DATAAs ofAugust4, 2008

LAST MONTH CURRENTLY LAST MONTH CURRENTLY

PRICE ON INTRADE

PRICE ON INTRADE

ODDS ONLADBROKES

ODDS ONLADBROKES

DEMOCRATIC 2008VP NOMINEE

LAST MONTH CURRENTLY LAST MONTH CURRENTLY

Mitt Romney 24 32 3.5 to 1 3.5 to 1Tim Pawlenty 14 23 7 to 1 3 to 1Sarah Palin N/A 12 N/A 8 to 1Tom Ridge N/A 10 N/A 11 to 1Charlie Crist 9 7.1 11 to 1 13 to 1Bobby Jindal 4.1 5 9 to 1 13 to 1Rob Portman N/A 4 N/A 13 to 1

Evan Bayh N/A 30.2 N/A 3.75 to 1Tim Kaine N/A 22.5 N/A 4 to 1Kathleen Sebelius 7 14.5 6 to 1 8 to 1Joe Biden 6.9 11.9 13 to 1 7 to 1Hillary Clinton 15.6 5.9 6 to 1 11 to 1Jack Reed N/A 4 N/A 11 to 1Chuck Hagel 12 3.2 26 to 1 26 to 1



By every major indicator, New YorkState government is heading fortough times, really tough

times. The double hit ofthe housing crisis and WallStreet woes mean lesstax revenues for Albany.At the same time, theslowing economymeans more demandfor social services.Throughout New YorkState, the numbers of people qualifyingfor government-funded programs willincrease just as the government’s abilityto pay for them will decline. The budgetshortfall is of historic proportions.

Some are advocating for Albany toraise taxes to cover the projecteddeficits. Others call for massive cuts instate spending. Even if Albany couldagree to a combination of tax increasesand spending cuts, even those would notlikely be enough to plug the budget gap.

There is only one lasting solution to thiscrisis: New York must grow its way of theproblem, by reinventing itself as a leaderof the next industrial revolution in greenenergy technology.

Energy demand will rise exponentiallyin the years ahead, here and

around the world.As we can seefrom the hazy,polluted air at the

Beijing Olympics,we need to do a better job of making surethese energies need to be clean. And aswe are reminded every time we fill up thegas tank, these energies need to be cheap,renewable and under American control.

The engine of growth for in the ’80s and’90s was information technology—com-puters, telecommunications, and Internet-related business. Look inside the back-pack of any well-heeled teenager: He has acell phone, a laptop computer, digital cam-era and an iPod. These products didn’t

exist 20, or even 10 years ago. The compa-nies that invented, manufactured or soldthem are today wealthy beyond belief.Their employees are well paid and theirjobs secure. Their home states are flushwith tax revenues. The info tech revolu-tion was one of the most rapid expansionsof wealth in the history of the world.

Unfortunately, New York State missedmost of it. California, Washington State,Texas and even our neighborMassachusetts, were much luckier…orwiser.

But New York could be a leader in thenext great industrial boom, green energytechnology. First, the state should beginoffering massive tax inducements to anycompany that wants to come here and setup green energy technology jobs.Second, by creating the same kind ofislands of interdisciplinary collaborationbetween different companies thatCalifornia, Texas, Washington andMassachusetts did to create information

technology. These energy-tech parks, likethe info-parks of the 1980s, wouldn’trequire massive up-front expenditures,which New York could ill afford. But theywould require streamlined, user-friendlygovernment, which doesn’t tie their com-panies up in regulatory red tape. Andthose companies should not be forced tobear the added employee costs that alltoo often have resulted in productswhich are invented in New York beingmanufactured in other states.

Some of these energy tech companieshaven’t even been formed yet. Many ofthem are still fledgling small businesses.A few of them are well along, but may notultimately be successful. That’s why gov-ernment shouldn’t try to rig the market orbe in the business of deciding whichcompanies or technologies will prevail.What Albany can do is mandate whatshould be done—like establishing strin-gent standards for mileage, appliances,and power generation—and then get outof the way so the private sector can fig-ure out how to do it.

Some states have already jumped in tothe energy-tech revolution. California’sGov. Schwarzenegger has led the way byestablishing a comprehensive, long-termenergy plan. It includes mandates for pub-lic utilities to get more of their energyfrom renewable sources; low-carbon fuelstandards for transportation fuels; and taxrebates and incentives for manufacturersand consumers of green energy products,such as solar panels and geothermal sys-tems. At the same time, Schwarzeneggerhas streamlined California’s regulatorysystem and bureaucracy to encouragegreen tech business.

New York must do the same. We haveall the ingredients we need, especially inUpstate New York, where there is an oldindustrial base desperate to be revived,and a well-educated but under-employedpopulation. We have one of the fineststate college systems in the country, butgraduates are forced to leave the state tofind good jobs. We have the investmentcapital of Wall Street, which is eager tofund energy tech projects, but so far hasbeen forced to turn to opportunities inother states.

In 10 years, all of us could wake up ina geothermally heated house, shower inhot water generated by the solar panelson our roofs, drive to work in ourhybrid cars, and turn on computerspowered by wind energy. Wouldn’t it begreat if all of them are stamped “Madein New York”?

BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER MICHELE TITUS

As Chair of the New York StateAssembly Task Force on Peoplewith Disabilities, one of my top

priorities is to take a close look at thecurrent state of the New York StateMedicaid Buy-In program. For those whomight not be aware, the Medicaid Buy-Inprogram went into effect in 2003 to allowpeople with disabilities to buy into thefederal Medicaid program in order tomaintain critical benefits, such as home

care and prescription coverage, whilealso working at a competitive wage.

At the time of its creation, the programwas a key component of the disabilitycommunity’s legislative agenda that wasintended to significantly improve theunemployment rate of people with dis-abilities. The establishment of the Buy-Inprogram was a huge victory for advocatesand people with disabilities. However, insome instances, it has fallen short ofexpectations. Advocates from across thestate still herald the program as a greattool when made available to individualswith disabilities, but they have made theAssembly critically aware that there are

some significant instances where the pro-gram is simply not working.

For that reason, the Task Force onPeople with Disabilities and theCommittee on Health are planning tohold a public hearing on the MedicaidBuy-In program in New York City thisSeptember. We hope to learn how wellthe program is working and then take theinformation gathered at the hearing anduse it to work with the Legislature, theGovernor and state and local agencies tohelp make the Buy-In program a more

effective asset in the quest to get morepeople with disabilities back to work.

At the hearing, we hope to hear fromfour groups in particular regarding theexisting Buy-In program. The groupsinclude:

• people with disabilities who are suc-cessfully utilizing the program.

• people with disabilities who haveunsuccessfully attempted to enroll in theprogram.

• advocates who work with individu-als who are attempting to enroll in theprogram.

• state and local employees who areresponsible for administering the program.

Furthermore, in the effort to improvethe Medicaid Buy-In program, I havealready taken a few proactive steps byintroducing two pieces of legislation tar-geted toward our goal. The legislationincludes:

• A.7108, which expands the existingMedicaid Buy-In program to furtherenable people with disabilities to be self-supporting.

• A.9200, which allows people with dis-abilities over age 65 to be able to continueto participate in the Medicaid Buy-In pro-

gram, allowing them to keepreceiving the services thatthey need in order to workand live in the community.

I am looking for as muchsupport and advocacy forthese bills as possible. I amalso eager to receive inputregarding this legislation. Iurge all legislators to sup-port the Medicaid Buy-Inprogram along with the

enhancements we are trying to make to it.We cannot let this issue drop until we dra-matically improve the unemploymentrate for people with disabilities.

Michele Titus, a Democrat represent-

ing parts of Queens, is chair of the

Assembly Task Force on People with

Disabilities.

OP-EDTo Invest in Our Future and New York’s Economy, Green-Light Green Tech

welcomes submissions to the op-edpage. A piece should be maximum 650 words long, accompanied bythe name and address of the author, and submitted via email [email protected] to be considered.

K.T.McFarland

Enable a Better Medicaid Buy-In Program for Disabled

Advocates from across the state still heraldthe program as a great tool when made

available to individuals with disabilities, butthey have made the Assembly critically aware

that there are some significant instanceswhere the program is simply not working.


ow do you pronounce his name?”“Is it Greek?”“This is the guy that’s going to take

Bruno’s place?”“Yes,” said New York City Council

Member Anthony Como (R-Queens), help-ing State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens)show Dean Skelos around the GlenridgeSenior Center. “He already took it.”

After 14 years as the assistant minority leader, thefloor manager and loyal deputy to former State Sen.Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), Skelos was combiningcampaigning with a victory lap.

“Senator Dean Skelos, from Nassau County, came tobe with us today,” Maltese said, leaning over one elderlywoman. “He’s going to keep the Senate majority for us.”

Quickly picked and voted during those strange andsurprising closing hours of the regular legislative ses-sion, Skelos has taken the reins of his conference andhis party at the most difficult moment for Republicansanyone can remember. In 2006, for the first time since1942, Democrats seized control of all six statewideoffices, and in two special elections since, narrowed thealready-dwindled margin of Republicans in their laststronghold, the State Senate. Barack Obama is wellahead of John McCain in the state, and despiteDemocrats’ rocky recovery from the Eliot Spitzer mess,they are feeling very good about November.

At the Glenridge Center, though, Skelos is all smilesas he poses with Maltese for group shots with each ofthe tables—though that smile is more a slight raising ofhis tightened upper lip than Bruno’s broad, gleamingflash of teeth.

A lot has been made of the differences betweenSkelos and Bruno. Skelos himself often puts things interms of a personality contrast: Bruno is a little moreextroverted, whereas he is a little more introverted. Hesays this every time he is asked, in nearly every briefinterview he has given since becoming leader.

There is no doubting this. Look at the smile, thereserved manner. Skelos reveals little about making thetransition to leader aside from his learning curve ontime management. He is a quiet, shy man, reluctant todisplay himself or his thoughts to any but a tight innercircle of family, friends and advisers.

And that is perhaps his greatest strength, said formerSen. Alfonse D’Amato (R), who called the new majority

leader “the man that people were continually fooled by,because he’s not the most exuberant.”

In a business where those talking the most and theloudest often win, Skelos moved quietly and effectivelybehind the scenes during his 14 years as Bruno’s deputyand floor manager. Not everyone likes him or his meth-ods, and there are those who privately tend to use morepungent descriptions than “Mean Dean.” But no onewho has worked with Skelos lacks respect for him orwhat he is capable of as leader.

Or what he might be capable of if he gets much of achance. Between the Aug. 19 special session—and pos-sibly more special sessions being considered by Gov.David Paterson (D) as he searches for ways to close theexpanding budget gap—and overseeing a hurried retool-ing of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee(SRCC), these will be busy months for the new tempo-rary president of the Senate.

How temporary depends on what he is able to actu-ally do with the legacy Bruno left him.

Skelos grew up in Rockville Center, in the heart ofNassau County. He went to school in RockvilleCenter, practiced law in Rockville Center and has

represented Rockville Center, first in the Assembly, thenin the Senate, for all but two of the past 28 years. He is,in many ways, an embodiment of the village where hisgrandparents settled, and now, one of its more accom-plished sons.

This is never far from his mind. “Obviously, when you live in a community your

whole life, the fabric of it is within you,” he said, sittingbehind his desk at his district office.

So far, Skelos has resisted redecorating. The recep-tion area is modest, with old furniture and walls coveredin plaques and group photos of the full Senate. His per-sonal office at the back has been redone more recently,but the air conditioning system has not, and it blowsloudly through its metal cover.

He meets with constituents here, or runs into themon their way up to the elevated tracks at the Long IslandRail Road station across the street; property tax reformhas been a hot topic for years. He and just about everypolitician on Long Island have talked about changingthe current system for years, but so far to no avail.

Under Bruno, the Senate passed several versions ofthe STOP program, which would enable school districts

to phase out school property taxes and put several pro-grams in place to restore by the state. Without theAssembly or governor on board, none of these wentvery far. Bruno moved on to other issues.

As a senator from Nassau County, where propertytaxes are particularly high, Skelos did not. And immedi-ately upon becoming leader, he made clear that he

TaxingTimesBY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

Dean Skelos retools the propertytax debate and the SRCC in a

high-speed effort to keep the majority

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would lead the conference to finally act. Property taxreform, he said, was his number one, two and three onthe agenda.

But he resists calling this a major shift for the conference. “We’ve passed numerous pieces of legislation, so it’s

not necessarily something that’s totally new to our con-ference. But it’s reached the crescendo where the public

is demanding that something be done,” he said.Actually getting something done will be tricky. In

addition to the complex policy being debated, there arethe complex political concerns. Skelos must navigatethem both, and all the various Albany players involved,in an election year when the stakes in Senate racesaround the state could not be higher.

First comes the policy. Skelos is not deterred by the skeptics who say a

solution is beyond Albany’s grasp. Nor is he lacking inambition: He expects a property tax cap to pass aspart of a legislative package aimed to reshape theoften-criticized but rarely changed, structure of gov-ernment in New York.

“We’re looking at mandate relief. We’re looking at thewhole issue of assessment, reassessment. We’re lookingat consolidation incentives. We’re looking at a wholeslew of things to put in this bill,” Skelos said.

So far, there has only been serious public discussionabout the cap. Skelos said he and the governor are work-ing together in an effort to convince Assembly SpeakerSheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) to negotiate a compro-mise. That Silver has not already, Skelos said, demon-strates what he believes is Silver’s lack of understandingfor the problem, given that he lives in New York City.

“The governor and I are seeing eye-to-eye, so I’mhopeful that the speaker begins to understand. Perhapscoming from the city, where the property taxes are notthat high, he may not understand how it’s choking peo-ple outside of the city,” Skelos said. “I’m hopeful he willtalk to some of his members in suburban and rural com-munities and get a better idea of how hard it is for peo-ple to make ends meet.”

Not surprisingly, Silver’s office rejects this explana-tion of the speaker’s resistance.

“Dean Skelos has been going around the state saying thatShelly Silver has said a property tax cap is dead on arrival,”said Silver spokesman Daniel Weiller. “That’s absolutelyinaccurate. His position on a property tax cap is that he sup-ports it, but only if there are restrictions in place to ensurethat children around the state receive a quality education.”

For the first time in 14 years, Bruno, seemingly theonly man who could read Silver’s famously mysteriousrhythms, will not be there. To those who believe this putsthe new majority leader at a disadvantage as the horse-trading and stonewalling begin, Skelos begs to differ.Silver may be the veteran negotiator, but Skelos says heknows a lot more about Silver’s methods than Silverknows about his.

“I think he’s got to figure out what’s going on in myhead,” Skelos said. “I’ve been observing him in theroom. He’s never observed me yet.”

After so many years as leader, Bruno was the embod-iment of the Senate Republicans. To manyDemocrats, his surprise departure in the closing

days was an indication that he lacked confidence in theRepublicans’ chances of keeping the Senate, and want-ed to go out on top.

“It’s like a team losing their starting quarterback asthey head into the playoffs,” said State Sen. EricSchneiderman (D-Manhattan/Bronx).

However, citing several polls by Senate Democrats,Schneiderman suggested that the leadership changemay actually help Republican candidates who might

otherwise have been dragged down by their associationwith Bruno.

“He was very much associated with gridlock,”Schneiderman said. “In some of the districts, he polledworse than Shelly Silver. Joe had a great following in theCapitol, but I’m not sure he was doing them that muchgood on the campaign trail.”

But overall, the change will help Democratic efforts,said State Sen. Antoine Thompson (D-Erie/Niagara), theco-chair of his conference’s campaign effort.

“I think that in terms of people seeing change on thehorizon, more people recognize it now,” he said.

Skelos has been moving quickly to present the case forRepublicans staying in power. Using Silver’s resistance toa property tax cap as a prime example, he said the Senatemust stay Republican so he and his members can protectthe interests of suburban and rural New Yorkers, and pro-vide a check on partisan power in a state where everyother Albany leader is a Democrat, and all, butComptroller Thomas DiNapoli, live in Manhattan.

Though he stopped short of saying so directly, Skelosseemed to think that Paterson agrees.

“You’d have to ask him that question,” Skelos said,“but he also understands that we’ve been a good partnerwith him and that we’ve governed well with him andthat we represent balance in the state.”

Whatever Skelos, or even Paterson, might want,Senate Democrats believe they will take the majoritythis year, or by 2010 at latest. Just as demographics andvoting trends have allowed them to steadily chip awayat the GOP majority since 2002, it is only matter of time,they say, until they control the chamber.

Skelos shrugged.

“They’ve been saying that for the 24 years I’ve been inthe Senate. And they’ve been probably saying that for 20years before that,” he said.

Not that he is sitting back and gloating. Shortly aftercoming onto his new job, Skelos restructured the SRCCstaff and began a review of all strategic decisions andcommitments.

Whereas Bruno’s plan was mostly defensive, to havepopular longtime incumbents hold on to their districtsand do whatever he could until this more Democratic-friendly moment in state politics passed. Skelos reject-ed this strategy.

“We’re analyzing all the different districts,” he said.“We see opportunities to pick up seats.”

He spoke confidently about retaining the seats ofBruno and retiring State Sen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie/Genesee), as well as those of top Democratic tar-gets, like Maltese.

“Right there, you’ve started with 32, and I think wehave many opportunities throughout the state to winback seats,” he said.

Though he did not name favorites, the seats of CraigJohnson (D-Nassau) and Darrel Aubertine (D-Oswego/Lewis/St. Lawrence)—both of which wereRepublican for decades and were body-blow special elec-tion losses in the last 18 months—seem a top priority.

What happens in the property tax debate could helpdetermine the outcomes.

In an election year when the governor is looking at pos-sible budget cuts, leading the charge to cap taxes could bean appealing talking point for vulnerable Republicanincumbents and aspiring candidates alike, especially in

“I think he’s got to figure out what’s going on in my head,”Skelos said of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

“I’ve been observing him in the room. He’s never observed me yet.”

14 AUGUST 2008 THE CAPITOLwww.nycapitolnews.commarginal districts where property taxesare high.

Skelos acknowledged this, though hetreaded carefully when discussing propertytax reform as a political issue which couldhelp Senate Republicans in the fall.

“I think it’s positive for the taxpayers,”he said. “Each one of us individually hasdone wonderful things in our districts. Ithink our records alone will be receivedvery positively.”

But insisting on a cap could prove aliability as well. Bruno avoided the issuein part because so many of the state’spowerful labor leaders were alignedagainst a cap, and union endorsementsand campaign cash were key to Bruno’smore defensive SRCC approach.

Now, said New York State UnitedTeachers (NYSUT) President RichardIannuzzi, Skelos risks losing his unionand others.

“A vote for the property tax cap isclearly going to have an impact on ourendorsements, and how it affects ourposition on the majority is too early totell,” he said. “But there’s no question inmy mind that I expect my local leaders tocome to Albany at the time of ourendorsement conference and expect toknow exactly how senators andAssembly members from both partiesview this particular issue.”

NYSUT endorsement decisions arescheduled for the week of August 11. However, Iannuzzisaid the union is considering withholding decisions onendorsements until they see how the votes are cast in theproperty tax debate, or possibly reconsidering them afterthe floor vote.

“Our responsibility here is to our members, andwhat’s in the best interests of the schools that they workin,” Iannuzzi said. “If, as a consequence of that, theSenate flips or the current majority grows—we’re notmaking our decisions based on who should be orshouldn’t be in the majority.”

He urged Skelos to bend on the issue, perhaps settlingfor a compromise like the so-called “circuit-breaker,”which would limit the percentage of income which peo-ple could be taxed on their property. If he does not,Iannuzzi warned that Skelos and the Senate Republicanswill find themselves at odds with the very same laborforces which have proved invaluable friends in the past.

“It’s not only a teacher issue,” Iannuzzi said. “It’s aschool district issue. Many other unions have memberswho work in school districts.”

Stephen Madarasz, commu-nications director for the CivilService Employees Association(CSEA), said his union agrees,and will also be looking forSkelos to abandon his quest fora cap.

“Whether one issue would bea threshold issue—I don’t thinkwe would necessarily look atthat, because we have so manydisparate interests in CSEA,” hesaid, while adding the warning,“alternatives that don’t getembraced—certainly that canstrain a relationship.”

The CSEA endorsements willbe made by union’s statewidepolitical action committee withinput from the local level.

Traditionally, the leadership has guided theunion to backing Senate Republicans, and as ofnow, Madarasz expects it will again.

But maybe not. “We’re looking at a very fluid situation,” he said. “It’s

certainly a challenging time for us and a challenging timefor the state.”

Skelos treaded carefully in discussing the relationshipbetween the unions and the Republican conference.

“We’re not looking to create a problem,” he said,insisting that his goal is to find some way to lower prop-erty taxes without endangering the quality of education.

He urged NYSUT and other unions to think about thebigger picture, of the many other collaborationsbetween the Senate Republicans and labor interestsover the years, whatever the final version of propertytax reform is.

“I don’t think there has to be a real disagreement, butsometimes you do have disagreements in public policy,”he said. “I think they also have to recognize that it’s been

the Senate majority thathas insisted on the recordincreases in education thathave occurred throughoutthe state. So you don’t nec-essarily agree on every-thing, but it doesn’t meanyou become enemies.”

There are three monthsuntil Election Day.They are sure to be dif-

ficult and exhausting.If he loses the majority,

things will be much, muchdifferent. Democrats antic-ipate that several olderRepublican senators willretire if suddenly in theminority, rather than dealwith moving offices, selec-

tive staff layoffs and personal pay cuts that come withthe loss of their gavels. One elected official who knowsSkelos well even suggested that he might join them inquitting. Vacancies would in turn prompt a slew of spe-cial elections, and Democrats believe they will haveample opportunities to expand their margin. TheRepublicans would be shut out of state government,and Skelos’ tenure as majority leader would be a blip.Meanwhile, he could face an internal coup from thosein the conference looking to make him the scapegoat.At best, he would get to be the first Republican minor-ity leader in decades, the head of a thinned and deject-ed conference.

If Skelos retains the majority, he will be aRepublican hero, the man who somehow kept hisparty alive when few held out any hope. By preservinghis 32 seats or somehow managing to add to them, hewill have a few months to identify some real policypriorities and, with a friend in the governor, perhapsbe able to turn them into law. Sure, the Democrats willbe gunning for him again in 2010, but this time, he willhave time to really define the SRCC approach from thestart of the cycle. He will be able to make the kind ofintense candidate recruitment effort which Brunolargely ignored.

Most people expect things to go one way. Skelos isscrambling to make sure they go the other.

As friends and enemies agree, the new majorityleader is aggressive and intensely partisan, hardworkingand pragmatic. But according to Norman Adler, a politi-cal consultant who has advised Skelos on his individualraces for the past six years, the new majority leader maybe able to combine all these traits to be something else:surprising. Or, at least, just surprising enough.

“While he may not be able to make a silk purse out ofsow’s ear here,” Adler said, “he may be able to make ahell of a good pig leather purse.”

[email protected]

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“The governor and I are seeing eye-to-eye, so I’mhopeful that the speaker begins to understand,”Skelos said, discussing property tax reform. Skelosalso indicated he believes Paterson might agree withhim about Republican control of the State Senate.

“Our responsibility here is toour members, and what’s in

the best interests of theschools that they work in,”

said NYSUT President RichardIannuzzi. “If, as a consequenceof that, the Senate flips or thecurrent majority grows—we’re

not making our decisionsbased on who should be or

shouldn’t be in the majority.”

$1.6 Billion Dollar SolutionHow to keep valued services without raising new taxes

STATE'S FISCAL BIND:In a televised address to New Yorkers, Governor Paterson recently reported that the state's fiscal condition is far worse than anyone hadpreviously acknowledged, and called for drastic cuts in spending including reducing the state workforce. He has described our current con-dition in terms of a Depression.

BLOOMBERG URGES ACTION:New York City Mayor has urged Governor Paterson to start collecting taxes on Indian sales of cigarettes to non-Indians in order to generatethe additional revenue needed to avoid another increase in Big Apple bus and subway fares.

In a New York Post 08/04 article, TAXING INDIAN BUTTS, written by Mayor Bloomberg and Long Island Congressman, Peter King of theHome Land Security Committee states, “For years, the state has refused to collect taxes on cigarettes sold to non-residents of Indian reser-vations - despite a 1994 US Supreme Court ruling that states have the right to collect these taxes.

Failure to collect the tax not only hurts public health, it hurts the rest of the state's small businesses, who must sell cigarettes at far higherprices. Worse, there's reason to believe that tobacco smugglers are funneling profits from Indian reservation sales to terrorist organizationsoverseas…As the city and state both struggle to balance budgets in the midst of the national economic downturn, it has become all themore urgent to collect these revenues and put them to good use.

The Math:The Office of the Budget and Department of Tax estimate that the State excise tax from the taxed sales of cigarettes will be $1.320 Billion.

State Excise Tax: (48 million cartons x $27.50) = $1,320,000,000City Excise Tax: (14 million cartons x $15.00) = $210,000,000Average Sales Tax: (48 million cartons x $5.00) = $240,000,000

-------------------------$1,770,000,000

Using National demographics of cigarette consumption and New York tax rates, New York consumers are estimated to smoke 100million cartons. By Government ‘biting the bullet’ and collecting the taxes on Native American sales to non tribal members as pre-scribed by law and increasing our enforcement of tax collection, we will tax 90 million of the 100 million cartons this year.

The New MathState Excise Tax: (90 million cartons x $27.50) = $2,475,000,000City Excise Tax: (30 million cartons x $15.00) = $450,000,000Average Sales Tax: (90 million cartons x $5.00) = $450,000,000

---------------------------$3,375,000,000

• $1,605,000,000 will be added to our tax rolls.• Criminal and Terrorist cigarette funding will be decimated.• Our State Laws will be enforced as intended.• New York Business and our economy will be uplifted.• Fairness and a level playing field will be restored.• Valued State and City Services will be permitted to continue.

This Solution is a ‘no-brainer’! COLLECT THE TAX AS PRESCRIBED BY LAW!!!

Arthur H. KatzExecutive Director

NYSAWMD[NYS Tax Agents]

Alexandra PopePresident

Local Union No.805International Brotherhood

of Teamsters

Ralph BombardlereExecutive Director

NYS Association of ServiceStations & Repair Shops

[Convenience Stores]

James CalvinPresident NYACS

[New York Associationof Convenience Stores]


ISSUE FORUM:MENTAL HEALTH

BY COMMISSIONER MICHAEL HOGAN

MENTAL ILLNESS PRESENTS GREAT

challenges for individuals, familiesand communities. From stress disordersand depression among an over-stressedmilitary, to incidents of school violence,to the $193 billion in wages lost annuallyin the United States because of mental ill-ness, mental health issues affect us all.But despite this significance—and thefact that mental illness is a major driverof school failure, health care costs andsuicide—many are not aware of itsimpact until mental health problemsstrike home.

How are we doing in New York Stateon these challenges? We are a leader!From services to children to treatment forstate prison inmates, we have approachesthat are the envy of other states. UnderGov. David Paterson’s leadership, theOffice of Mental Health is partnering withother agencies, such as the Office ofAlcoholism and Substance Abuse, to bet-ter address the needs of those with bothmental health and substance abuse issues.

It is a sad irony that even though men-tal health issues are so prevalent andtheir effects so far-reaching, at thenational level, mental health care is oftenan afterthought. Too many health set-tings don’t screen for or treat mental ill-

nesses, and many insurance plans don’tfully cover mental health care. In toomany schools, emotional disturbance is aneglected driver of dropouts and failure.And as a result of this neglect, mental ill-ness disability is the nation’s largest andcostliest category of disability payments.

This historic pattern of neglect isespecially significant and especially trou-bling in health care. Mental illness isunique among all major categories of ill-ness in that we must maintain a separate,government-run, illness-specific “mentalhealth system” instead of providing earlycare within mainstream health care pro-grams, covered like care for other illness-es by mainstream health insurance.

The good news is that the times arechanging. In 1999, the first surgeon gen-eral’s Report on Mental Health wasissued, concluding that “there is no over-all health without good mental health.”From 2002-2003, I was privileged to chairthe first president’s mental health com-mission since the Carter administration,recommending sweeping changes inmental health care—such as earlier

detection and family-centered care forchildren—which are now being pio-neered in New York.

These signs of national attention fol-low what people with mental illness areteaching us. With early identification,appropriate treatment and suitable sup-ports, people with mental illnesses canlive full, productive and meaningful livesin their communities.

Now, Congress is in the final stages ofconsidering legislation that would putcare for brain disorders on a par withcare for other illnesses within health careplans. Through the enactment of“Timothy’s Law,” New York State hasalready taken this important step. In2002, President Bush called for such leg-islation nationally. Congress must enactit and the President must sign it this year.Equal medical care for the brain is com-mon sense, and is long overdue. As anation, we should expect no less.

Michael Hogan, Ph.D. is the commis-

sioner of the New York State Office of

Mental Health.

BY STATE SEN. THOMAS MORAHAN

THE SAD FACT IS THAT MANY OF

the nearly 14 million United Stateschildren and adolescents who sufferfrom mental health problems do notreceive treatment. One of the many rea-sons for lack of treatment is access to care.Problems concerning access to careinclude a shortage of specialists, insurancebarriers and stigma. According to a recentreport prepared at my request by the NewYork State Department of Health and Officeof Mental Health, “The greatest problem inchildren’s mental health is that most chil-dren needing help get too little, too late.”

The lack of child and adolescent psychi-atrists nationally and particularly in NewYork is part of the problem. Some regionsof New York State do not have a singlechild or adolescent psychiatrist. One studyfound that nearly 60 percent of the youthwho were referred by a primary care prac-titioner to a mental health specialist neverreceived the care they were referred for.

Several years ago in response to this cri-sis, New York State established aTelepsychiatry Program to technologicallylink through a video monitor child psychia-trists with children needing access to spe-cialized mental health care where noneexists. While this was a helpful first step,Telepsychiatry can only address part of theproblem. More access is needed if we aregoing to treat the many children and ado-lescents in need of mental health care.

In June, the Senate and Assemblypassed legislation, which I introduced, S7033A/A 10297A, to establish RegionalChild Psychiatry Access Projects across thestate. These projects or centers would com-plement the Telepsychiatry initiative byserving as a resource for pediatricians andprimary care providers who, given the prob-lems associated with accessing mentalhealth care, end up caring for young peoplewith behavioral and emotional problems.This legislation was in part born out of thegrowing concern about appropriate andsafe prescribing of medication to childrenand adolescents suffering from mental ill-ness. Providing physicians with timelyaccess by telephone to child and adolescentpsychiatrists will give health care providersthe help they need to know how best totreat their young patients. The centerswould also be able to provide educationaland advocacy services to the providers andthe mental health community in theirregions. This legislation, which is based onsome very successful existing models inNew York and Massachusetts, will be sentto the governor for his consideration.

Another part of the problem childrenand adolescents face, as do adults, inaccessing mental health care has beenhealth insurance barriers. I am proud tohave played a part in New York State’sadoption in 2006 of mental health insur-ance parity with the passage of Timothy’sLaw, which was named after a 12-year-old boy who committed suicide after

being denied access to adequate care byhis insurer.

Since the passage of Timothy’s Law,there have been several proposals toexpand its scope. Among the proposedimprovements is a bill I introduced thisyear, S 6818/A 10078, to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) withinthe definition of those biologically basedillnesses covered by Timothy’s Law.While PTSD is usually thought of as acondition suffered by those who haveserved in the military, it also afflicts manychildren who have suffered trauma intheir lives. As Timothy’s Law comes upfor reconsideration by the Legislature in2009, I and many of my colleagues will bepushing for its renewal and expansion.

There is an exceptionally high level ofstigma associated with mental illness,which also hinders access to treatment.This stigma is a holdover from pervioustimes when treatment for mental illnesswas minimal, at best, and individualswere placed in asylums. It continues toexist due to a general ignorance abouttreatment options and advances inachieving successful recovery.Unfortunately, this stigma hinders manyparents from accessing the care theirchildren may need early on. While no par-ent would wait to treat a health-relatedillness, many parents resist having theirchild labeled with a mental illness oremotional problem until it gets unman-ageable or worse, it is too late.

As with any illness, the sooner it canbe identified and treated, the better theoutcome. The average age of onset formental disorders is during childhood atthe age of 14. However, on average, chil-dren do not enter care for another nineyears. Obviously, addressing mentalhealth issues early in children and ado-lescent must be a priority. New YorkState has taken some important stepsand, working together, I am confidentthat advocates, professionals and publicservants will continue to make address-ing the mental health needs of children,adolescents and adults in New York Statea priority.

Thomas Morahan, a Republican rep-

resenting parts of Orange and Rockland

counties, is chair of the State Senate

Committee on Mental Health and

Developmental Disabilities.

Addressing the Mental Health Needs ofChildren and Adolescents Must Be a Priority

Mental Illness Presents Challenges to Individuals, Families, Communities

The Anita Kaufmann FoundationEducating the Public NOT to Fear

Epilepsy and Seizures

Debra Josephs, Executive Director201-655-0420 / [email protected]

Learn more about epilepsy and seizuresVisit – www.akfus.org

One out of Ten People Have ThemWould you know what to do

if someone was having a seizure?

ALL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

AND ELECTED OFFICALS

SHOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO!

FREE• Group Training Seminars

• Seizure First Aid Posters

• 5th Grade Epilepsy Education Program for Children

Push for legislation to make it mandatory at all state government offices


ISSUE FORUM: MENTAL HEALTH

BY REP. JOHN HALL

THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

have tested our men and women inuniform, who have consistently per-formed above expectations. However,because every war is different, ourreturning soldiers and our nation are fac-ing new dilemmas in the treatment ofwar-related injuries.

Because of increased deployments,and the fact that today’s combat oftenhas no clear front or rear lines withinwhich a soldier can feel safe, a growingnumber of returning service membersare experiencing mental health prob-lems. Recent RAND Corporation studiesreport that approximately 20 percent—over 300,000—of veterans returning fromIraq and Afghanistan come home withsymptoms of Post-Traumatic StressDisorder (PTSD) or depression. Unlessthese illnesses are addressed promptlyand properly, they are projected to costthe nation $6.2 billion in over just twoyears through lost productivity andhomelessness.

There is no doubt that the attention

placed on PTSD and Traumatic BrainInjury (TBI) has helped tremendously inadvancing the support and treatment ofsymptoms. However, much more workremains to be done in order to fullyaddress the needs of our returningheroes.

That is why I have introduced legisla-

tion specifically aimed at providingquicker and better treatment of claimsfor disability compensation by disabledveterans. I am proud to say that HR 5892,the Disability Benefits ClaimsModernization Act of 2008, has passedthe House of Representatives with unan-imous support. This bill will force theVeterans Administration (VA) to readjustits schedule for rating disabilities (whichgives veterans their compensation) sothat there will be parity between the diag-nosis of physical and mental injuries.This will foster stronger support for vet-erans’ mental health services and helpprevent suicides, bankruptcies, poverty,family crises, and homelessness amongour nation’s disabled veterans.

More important for veterans returningwith PTSD, depression and TBI, is tomake it easier to receive diagnosis andtreatment for their condition and disabil-ity compensation. I have introduced leg-islation specifically aimed at accomplish-ing this. The bill would ease the weightyevidentiary burdens that the VA imposeson combat veterans who may not haveunit records or other documentation of

exposure to stressful events, but whoseinjuries are consistent with the dutiesand hardships of their service and shouldbe rated as “service-connected.” Thisusually arises when a soldier is separatedfrom his or her unit during the time theinjury occurs, for instance when a mili-tary police officer or a truck driver in aconvoy are temporarily isolated. My billstill requires a doctor’s diagnosis of thedisability.

Rather than being forced to waitmonths or years to receive treatment,injured veterans should instead be wel-comed home to a country that welcomesthem, honors their service, and keeps itscommitment to care for them and theirfamily. My bill will make sure that thispromise is kept to every veteran, regard-less of the nature of the injuries sus-tained in the line of duty.

John Hall, a Democrat representing

parts of Orange and Putnam counties,

is the chair of the House Veterans

Affairs Subcommittee on Disability

Assistance and Memorial Affairs.

Both Mental and Physical War Injuries Deserve Prompt VA Action

BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER PETER RIVERA

ALL THE FLAG WAVING AND

patriotic speeches do notamount to much for combat vet-

erans and their families caught livingwith the dreadful aftermath of war. Fullaccess to the health care services theyneed for recovery should be paramountin the hearts of a grateful nation.

The pain and suffering being enduredby tens of thousands of our troops andtheir families have been well document-ed by media organizations across NewYork. The large number our service menand women returning from combat butnow faced with battling Post-TraumaticStress Disorder (PTSD) is a clear call topolicymakers and health care providersthat more needs to be done soon to assistour soldiers and their families.

The New York State Legislaturerecently had an opportunity to increasethe health care services we provide tothe more than 75,000 New Yorkers thathave been deployed to Iraq and

Afghanistan since 2001. Unfortunately itwas an opportunity lost even though wehave all the evidence we need to requirehealth insurance coverage for PTSDtreatment. News accounts of sharpincreases in domestic violence, childabuse cases, suicide rates and sub-stance abuse cases impacting our veter-ans and their families outline a clearcall for action.

On July 9, 2008, a federal court judge inSan Francisco demanded that the JusticeDepartment attorneys representing theVeterans Administration explain why anemail written by a top VA official askedstaffers to diagnose fewer cases of PTSD.The judge was ruling on a case broughtforward by veterans suing the VA over theagency’s failure to treat veterans with thisdisease. In New York, where thousands ofNational Guards have been deployed butlack the full services of the VA, it is essen-tial that we expand Timothy’s Law, thelandmark legislation, which created pari-ty for mental health care, to include treat-ment of PTSD.

Earlier this year, the RANDCorporation released a study that docu-mented the mental health needs of ourreturning combat troops; 300,000 are suf-fering from major depression or PTSDand 320,000 have suffered traumaticbrain injuries. With over 1.6 million U.S.troops deployed and redeployed, combatstress and traumatic events haveincreased the need for health care insur-ers to cover treatment for PTSD. For the180,000 women who have beendeployed, there is deep concern that ourVA system and their present health cov-erage will not help them recover fromthe battle wounds and combat stressthey suffer from witnessing the horrorsof war firsthand.

With Gov. David Paterson calling theLegislature back into session, we willonce again have an opportunity to do theright thing for our combat veterans. Boththe Assembly and Senate must act onexpanding Timothy’s Law. Treatment ofPTSD is successful at both helping ourtroops recover from this disease and the

substance abuse behavior they experi-ence to escape the psychological injuriesof war.

One thing is very clear: Our troops willbegin coming home en masse next year,and New York State must do more toensure we honor their sacrifices throughpragmatic public policies that will helpthem heal both physically and psycholog-ically. It will be shameful for elected lead-ers not to mandate that our combat veter-ans and their families are better served byour health care system.

Peter Rivera, a Democrat represent-

ing parts of the Bronx, is chair of the

Assembly Mental Health Committee.

Honor Our Veterans by Providing Them With Adequate Care

www.nycapitolnews.com

The Publicationfor and aboutNew York State Government

Their constituencies are oftenspread across many miles, butthat has not stopped the nextgeneration of New YorkState’s elected leaders frommaking themselves knownand prompting intensespeculation into theirpolitical futures.

The Capitol has identi-fied five of the most prom-ising up-and-comers ineach of the state’s sevenregions outside of New YorkCity. Ages were not takeninto account in the develop-ment of these lists. What mat-ters here is potential, which every-one in this group has in abundance.

UpandComingin the Empire State

REGION DESCRIPTION:Home to the Syracuse Orangemen and the

Seneca Falls Women’s Rights National Park,Central New York is a mix of typical upstatescenes. Decaying urban centers sit in the middleof sprawling suburbs, ringed by farms as far asthe eye can see. The downfall of the city centersin the district is reflected in local politics, as sub-urban Republicans have come to dominate coun-tywide elections which traditional Democraticmachines once controlled.

Central New York becomes the center of thestate’s political universe for two weeks at the endof every summer when the state fair opens inSyracuse. Any politician with the dream ofstatewide office comes to milk the cows, be pho-

tographed with the butter sculpture,marvel at the prize-winning quilts,and eat a sausage sandwich.

By John Celock

Bea Gonzalez may be one Democrat with reason to thank President George W. Bush—he almost made her gov-ernor of New York. After Bush brought then-Mayor Roy Bernardi (R) to Washington in 2001 as a HUD assis-

tant secretary, Council President Matt Driscoll (D) ascended to the mayoralty. With Democrats looking to fill thevacant council presidency and nominate a candidate for a full four-year term that November, Gonzalez, a formerschool board member and Syracuse University dean, was quickly approached. She agreed to accept the appointment,but only if Democrats agreed to clear the primary field for her.

As Upstate’s most prominent Latina politician, Gonzalez was encouraged to run for lieutenant governor in 2006—a race she gave serious consideration to. She passed on the race before Eliot Spitzer (D) chose David Paterson (D)for the ticket. Had she made a different decision and gained Spitzer’s support, Gonzalez would have succeeded afterSpitzer’s sudden fall from grace.

Gonzalez said she has no regrets.“I think David Paterson was an exceptional lieutenant governor and will be an excellent governor,” she said. “I

really am more focused on my ability to serve as an executive at the local level.”As someone who was appointed to a school board seat as an upset parent in 1991, Gonzalez said she has made

quality of life issues the cornerstone of her council presidency. These include housing, job development, expandingaccess to city contracts and promoting the Earned Income Tax Credit.

With Gonzalez and Driscoll both term-limited out of their current offices next year, she confirms speculation thatshe is seriously considering a bid to be Syracuse’s chief executive. If successful, she would be the first woman andfirst Hispanic to be mayor of one of the state’s five biggest cities.

What is your biggest accomplishment in office so far? “I am very proud of the role I have been able to playin expanding the number of companies getting city contracts.The other is the role I have played in highlighting issuesrelating to poverty in our communities.”

What do you want to accomplish in the next two years, governmentally and politically? “We havea joint schools construction board here and I want to successfully implement phase one of the school constructionprogram.”

What are the top challenges facing New York State right now? “Tax structure, education funding.”

Bea Gonzalez (D)President of the Syracuse

Common CouncilAge: 53

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Central New York


David Valesky’s 2004 victory over 10-term incumbent Republican Nancy Larraine Hoffmann is cited as the beginningof the Senate Democrats march for the majority—a campaign they hope to conclude this year. A former community

television host, Valesky saw the 2004 race as providing an opening to gain entry into government.Like most Senate Democrats elected after 2000, Valesky has made institutional reform a key part of his platform, call-

ing for more openness in Senate operations and floor proceedings.The most rural Senate Democrat until Darrel Aubertine(D-Oswego/Jefferson/St. Lawrence) was elected,Valesky has been trying to educate his mostly urban conference colleaguesin the world of farming.

“Last summer we had a two-day farm tour in Madison County,” he said. “We had a Dozen Downstate colleagues comehere, where we did a tour of family farms and agriculture facilities.”

He cites his summer farm tour as one way he has been trying to grow awareness of Upstate issues for Downstate senators.A common Upstate worry is that a Democratic Senate will ignore Upstate issues, something Valesky believes will not happen.

Outside of work on Senate reform and Upstate issues, Valesky takes the most pride in his constituent service work, anarea where a minority senator can excel. After narrowly unseating Hoffmann in a three-way race, Valesky was Bruno’s toptarget in 2006. He easily beat then-Assembly Member Jeff Brown (R). He does not have a major challenger this year.

What is your biggest accomplishment in office so far? “I have made it the highest priority to pro-vide the best constituent services and to be as visible and accessible as possible to my constituents.”

What do you want to accomplish in the next two years, governmentally and politically?“We have made some steps in openness and transparency in government, but clearly we have a ways to go. That will be atthe forefront from a process perspective. From a policy perspective, we need to do more on economic development acrossUpstate and reduce the burden of property taxes on homeowners.”

What are the top challenges facing New York State right now? The fiscal situation of the state.

David ValeskyState SenatorAge: 42

Many Syracuse students come from far away and leave after graduation, and of those who stay in the area, most soonmove to the suburbs. Ryan McMahon, defying all trends, chose to stay in Syracuse and begin a career in politics.

After narrowly losing an open race in 2003, McMahon captured the seat in 2005 and held on to it in the 2007 elections.But McMahon stands out more as a Republican representing one of the most Democratic districts in Syracuse, a

city where Republicans are always rare. He is now the Council’s minority leader.Passionate about neighborhood issues in his district, he is also very concerned with the issues ahead of him in his

second year as council finance chair. Keeping budget growth at the rate of inflation is his top priority, he said.He recently passed legislation which would give tax breaks to new developers for new buildings constructed to

LEED standards. The proposal awaits state approval.When Rep. James Walsh (R-Wayne/Onondaga) announced his retirement, McMahon quickly expressed interest in

the seat.While he said he thought the race was winnable, he decided that the time away from his 6-month-old son wasnot worth the race. McMahon clearly remains interested in higher office, which may draw him into a race even beforeterm limits will force him off the council in 2013.

“The next step has to be where I would have a greater impact than I am having now,” McMahon said. “I thinkAlbany is broke and dysfunctional and I see the impact of that dysfunction. If the timing was different, I would be goingfull-blown for the congressional seat.”

What is your biggest accomplishment in office so far? “What I am most proud of is what I have done in theneighborhoods—securing dollars to go to housing, neighborhood improvements and more police presence.”

What do you want to accomplish in the next two years, governmentally and politically? “Iwould like to see the work we’ve done in the neighborhoods completed. Some are in the infant stages and I want to seethem completed before planning more. I would like to keep stewarding the city’s finances.”

What are the top challenges facing New York State right now? Taxes, unfriendly business environment,high cost of energy.

Ryan McMahon (R)Syracuse City Councilor

Age: 28

Abachelor’s degree in Astrophysics may be an unlikely jumping pad for a county legislator in an Upstate county whois focused on economic and tourism issues. But Dan Schuster has made it work. With an undergraduate degree

from the University of Montana and a graduate degree with SUNY Brockport, Schuster returned to his hometown ofAuburn on a mission to rejuvenate the region’s economy.

Schuster jumped into the legislative race in 2005 after seeing a small district where a candidate with a small budgetcould easily win. While a Democrat in a heavily Democratic district, Schuster is in the minority in the county legisla-ture, in which rural Republicans outnumber Auburn Democrats.

Professionally, he is the head of Auburn’s business improvement district, while in the Legislature Schuster chairs theeconomic development committee, along with the board of the county’s power agency.

In office, Schuster has concentrated his efforts on increasing tourism to the county, which sits in the Finger Lakes regionof the state. He led an effort to increase the county’s bed tax, dedicating the funds to increased tourism promotion pro-grams. Schuster is also working on a program to convert excess manure from the county’s dairy farms into a renewableenergy source, and selling the energy to residents and to businesses relocating to a county business park.

“In our area the population is pretty stagnant, so it’s always difficult to rely on the residents to provide revenue forthe government,” he said.

Though Schuster said he is undecided on whether to seek a second term next year, he has given some thought to ahigher office.While not commenting on what office this could be, he stressed that this run, if it comes, is still a few yearsdown the road.

What is your biggest accomplishment in office so far? “Getting the bed tax passed.”

What do you want to accomplish in the next two years, governmentally and politi-cally? “I am working on a renewable energy program and I am hoping to get funding to push for that.”

What are the top challenges facing New York State right now? Cost of doing business in thestate, cost of energy.

Dan Schuster (D)Cayuga County Legislator

Age: 28

UpandComing in the Empire StateA

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Legal Linguistics CutsDeep for MacheteSwingerPeople v. Montilla Decided by: Court of Appeals, June 25

One month after pleading guilty tothird-degree assault, Franklyn Montillahad the bold wisdom to swing a machetein front of several police officers. Whilehe did not threaten or harm anyone, hewas indicted for third-degree criminalpossession of a weapon.

In New York, third-degree criminalpossession is the same crime as fourth-degree criminal possession, except it isapplicable only to persons who have pre-viously been convicted of any crime. HadMontilla done the same act before hisplea, it would have been a misdemeanorcharge. As a felony, however, third-degree possession carries a stiffer sen-tence that left Montilla facing severalmore years in prison. Attempting tochange the charge to fourth-degree pos-session, Montilla argued that he techni-cally had not yet been “convicted” ofassault; after all, he had only pleadedguilty.

A unanimous Court of Appeals reject-ed Montilla’s nod to technical linguistics.While the New York Penal Law, perhapssurprisingly, does not define “convic-tion,” the Criminal Procedure code does.A guilty plea counts.

Criminal Procedure Law does, howev-er, permit a defendant to withdraw aguilty plea anytime prior to sentencing.Both the Court of Appeals and Montilla’sattorney neglected to mention this point.

Troopers InadvertentlyBargained Away theRight to an Attorney Police Benevolent Association ofNew York v. New York StatePoliceDecided by: Court of Appeals, July 1

An officer in a high-speed chase col-lides with another car killing its passen-ger. Police surround a house and shoot amurder suspect. A state trooper takes aknife from a suspect and fatally stabs him.

These are the kind of incidents, whenlife and limb are in jeopardy or lost,which trigger a Critical Incident Review(CIR) by the New York State Police.

While the New York State governmentargues that CIRs are used to ensure rapidreporting of events up to the governor,state troopers have filed several lawsuitsin recent years arguing the reports areused to determine disciplinary action. Ifthe report could result in discipline, thetroopers argue, the right to counselshould apply during CIR questioning.The state has maintained the troopers

must not interact with alawyer or their union rep-resentative during CIRs.

In Police Benevolent

Association v. New York

State Police, the Court ofAppeals tried to resolvethis seven-year dispute,issuing a decision denyingthe troopers’ right tocounsel. But, the deci-sion’s reasoning is opaque,with the possible disci-

pline issue left unaddressed. Instead, thestate’s highest judges relied on employ-ment law for their answer. Basicallyassuming that CIRs were unrelated to dis-cipline, Chief Judge Judith Kaye found thepolice union never negotiated for a CIR-related right to counsel in its contractnegotiations with the state. The result isthat troopers have no right to speak to anattorney or union representatives duringthe very first stage of an investigation.

The decision is likely to frustrate bothsides. The court’s refusal to elucidate itsreasons for rejecting the officers’ CIR-disciplinary argument provides incen-tives for dissembling or silence for troop-ers who desire advice on what questionsto answer. Doing so only slows the statein its task of determining what happensin a particular tragic incident.

Setting a New Bar onBreathalyzer TestWindowsPeople v. Holbrook Decided by: Supreme Court, BronxCounty, July 1

Netania Holbrook fell asleep in theparking lot of a White Castle restaurantin the Bronx last year. Noticing her idlingcar was “parked kind of crooked,” anNYPD officer tapped on the windows,waking Holbrook and a companion.Upon questioning, Holbrook admitted todrinking at a wedding and driving to theWhite Castle, at which time the officerarrested her. It was 2:40 a.m.

At 5:30 a.m., a breathalyzer testadministered to Holbrook showed ablood alcohol content (BAC) of .133, alevel sufficient to charge her withdriving under the influence (DUI). Ather trial on the DUI charge, she movedto suppress the evidence stating thatthe entire test was unreliable. Shebased this argument on New YorkVehicle and Traffic Law, whichrequires BAC tests to occur within twohours of arrest.

Despite an existing Court of Appealsdecision in People v. Atkins about beingable to admit tests administered morethan two hours after an arrest, the trialjudge agreed with Holbrook and agreedto exclude the evidence.

Given that there were more than57,000 DUI arrests in New York in 2000,decisions like this have the potential toaffect thousands of prosecutions.Clarification from the Legislature orCourt of Appeals is certain to follow ifthe reasoning in Holbrook’s case stickson appeal—for instance, would the samestandard apply to a test administeredtwo hours and one minute after anarrest?

—James McDonald

POINTCase

in

Major Court DecisionsImpacting New Yorkers This Month

Though she is coming to the end of her second term-limited term on the Syracuse City Council, Stephanie Minershows no signs of stopping her work in the public arena. The winner of two citywide campaigns, Miner’s name

keeps being mentioned as possibility for a run for higher office in the 2009 elections.Following a six-year stint reforming the city budget, and restructuring city debt as the Council’s finance chair,

Miner became education chair last year. She talks passionately about reforming the city school system, and proudlycites her work bringing in the Say Yes to Education Foundation, which helps provide after-school services and tutor-ing to inner city students to enhance their college prospects. She has also been working to bring social services intothe schools in order to assist students.

“We have an opportunity to make positive radical change,” Miner said of her education agenda.Outside of education and the city’s finances, Miner, like many Upstate politicians, has been focusing on econom-

ic development. She has been calling for a major change in state economic development policy, calling for large-scaleprograms for cities to replace tax credits to developers.

Her tackling of the often thorny subjects of the budget and school reform has led Miner to be mentioned as a poten-tial successor to term-limited Mayor Matt Driscoll (D) next year. While not admitting to a mayoral run, Miner, whotalks about various policy areas in terms of long-term goals, does not deny that she has her eyes on Syracuse’s top job.

“It’s been a tremendous opportunity to serve the people of Syracuse,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it tremendously andI will pursue all the opportunities I have in the future.”

What is your biggest accomplishment in office so far? “Voting to give the Say Yes to EducationFoundation a million dollars. This put the city’s stake in the ground and we need change. This is the best change togive real effective change.”

What do you want to accomplish in the next two years, governmentally and polit-ically? “Continue to advocate for the economy and continue to point out that we need different and new ideas—the ones urged for the last 10 years have not worked for Upstate.”

What are the top challenges facing New York State right now? “Getting the state’sfinances in order, controlling property taxes, improving the Upstate economy, and tackling the lack of accountabili-ty in Albany.”

Stephanie Miner (D)President Pro Tempore

Syracuse Common CouncilAge: 38

UpandComing in the Empire StateS

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www.nycapitolnews.com22 AUGUST 2008 THE CAPITOL

FOR JULY 2008PERIODIC ONLY

1199/SEIU PAC

Dem. Assembly Camp. Cmte $100,000.00

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Top Ten State PA s

Law PacNew York City Council

Member Hiram Monserrate $9,500.00

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Voice of Teachers for Education, COPENew York Democratic

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#2 Candidate/CmteGovernor David Paterson

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#3 Candidate/CmteNew York State Democratic Committee

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Citigroup PACNew York Democratic Senate

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#2 Candidate/CmteAssembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

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In 1975, former Gov. Hugh Carey (D)came into office at a time when thestate was on the verge of bankrupt-

cy. In his first State of the Statespeech, he famously said that “thedays of wine and roses are over,” andthen set out to bring business andlabor leaders together to help steerthe state through the financial storm.Today, in the face of expanding budg-et shortfalls, Gov. David Paterson (D)is drawing comparisons to the 1970scrisis while echoing Carey’s call forfiscal prudence. The 89-year-old for-mer governor—a title he insists on,instead of Gov. Carey—spoke aboutPaterson’s approach to the currentproblems, how New York can competein a global economy, and why thedays of roses may still be over, but notthe days of wine.

What follows is an edited tran-script.

The Capitol: When you were governor,there was a lot of talk of economic cri-sis.Hugh Carey: Not just talk, we had one.

TC: Governor Paterson evoked yourmemory to describe today’s financialtroubles. How similar is that crisis totoday’s problems? HC: Part of my successful administrationwas to appoint Basil Paterson, my life-long friend—he was a member of theteam right on through. He should havefirst-hand knowledge.

TC: What worked financially that youwere not expecting to work?HC: This may surprise you. We attractedtourism during that time. We are a serv-ice economy now—hospitality andmeans of entertainment. Attraction oftourism is a mainstay in New York. Inthose days, people rushed to New Yorkbecause they heard it was really conven-ient, a hapless corpse. They wanted toattend the wake of the death of a city. Butit didn’t happen. Now we’re attractingthem because there so much to do inNew York. That’s a huge difference. Wewere a young population. During myadministration we had 2 million illegalaliens. And I said, ‘That’s a resource forthe future’—Caribbean origin and manyothers—from the south, the blacks. Andthat population is not only integrated buthighly trained now.

TC: Should Governor Paterson lookinto cutting taxes as you did?HC: When he gets there, he should. Ican’t dictate when it’s right to cut taxes.But we’re in a competitive economy. Notjust 50 states, but competitive economiesaround the world are seeking to attractour business. And we got to capitalize on

our proficient labor, productivity, all thethings we needed to do back in the 70s.

I was talking about competition andglobalization. I think what happened inthe 70s, we were vaccinated. Because ofthe competition of the Rust Belt andother parts of our own country…When Imention globalization, we’re vaccinatedbut we’re not immune. And now we haveto think about competition with AbuDhabi and Calcutta.

Our financial markets [30 years ago]didn’t have to thinkabout the globalfinancial markets.Certainly, AbuDhabi and otherparts of the worldare able to com-plete transactionsas quickly as wecan. We have toglobalize our education system. Andanother thing, the Legislature is movingfor a property cap, which would save thelocal property owners’ homes, but wehave to find a substitute for property tax.That’s more of a national challenge thanstate. As I learned on the Ways andMeans Committee, the only way to getaway from excess reliance on propertytax is to do something radical, and that isto pass our version of VAT [value-addedtax]. That’s a resource in Europe and allover the world that we don’t have.

TC: Will the current budget deficitimpede the state’s competitiveness?HC: If we don’t go back to new forms oftaxation, that’s exactly what’s going tohappen. I notice that the Legislature ispointing at the property cap as a meansof alleviating those whose homes are suf-

fering—growing educational taxes, prop-erty taxes are a major resource. If yougave me six months and a good team, Icould design a VAT for the country thatwould make us competitive with Europeand Abu Dhabi for that matter.

TC: Do you think Paterson would giveyou the job?HC: No, he’s got Ravitch and SteveBerger, my old team, working on that.

TC: How do you think Paterson’s teamof economic advisors compares toyours?HC: He’s putting it together. He’s had allthose years in the Legislature, plus thetutelage of his father. I think he’s as pre-pared as he can be. He’s a very warm andcollaborative individual. Easy access. Isuggest we all give him a decent chanceto show us what he can do well.

TC: Why does New York continue tohave the same budget problems overand over?HC: We had a yardstick. We tried tohold spending within half the rate ofinflation. And that guarantees surpluseswhich were used by other governors tomake tax cuts, far ahead of where wewere in the 70s and the Rockefelleradministration. Everything was over-taxed at that time. And that was aweight on New York City’s economy.That does not exist today. But we areaware that we’re not immune to any ofthe afflictions nationwide, including the

energy crisis, which is a real dimensionright now—a major source of instabili-ty. We have to be mindful of conserva-tion and other kinds of energy produc-tion which can work in our favor.

TC: How much confidence do youhave in Governor Paterson’s ability tosteer the state out of this crisis?HC: He’s giving words without alarm.He’s indicating that the Legislature hasto partner with him. He came out ofthe Legislature. He wants them towork with him. The budget which waspassed could need some corrections.And I note also with some satisfactionthat Comptroller [Thomas] DiNapoli ispart of the process. In my days, we hada good comptroller, but he gave ordersafter the fact. Now, I notice that

Comptroller DiNapoli is suggestingcertain recommendations, timely rec-ommendations, to the governor. Theymay not be in agreement all the time.But there are two watchdogs now: thegovernor’s budget office and thecomptroller. New York in my day, NewYork City, was a terrible drag—analmost cataclysmic event. That’s notthe condition today.

The Urban Development Corporationhad to be rescued from the very brink ofinsolvency. I brought in people like DickRavitch, David Burke … we came togetherand evolved during the crisis period. Notonly effective mechanisms—controlboards, [Freddie] Mac, so forth—but alsobrought in people like [former AT&TPresident] Bill Ellinghouse, head of tele-phone, to work side-by-side with unions toput together at that time a rescue plan.That rescue plan, with the guidance of peo-ple like Felix Rohatyn and many others andparticipation of labor like Al Shanker, thelate Al Shanker. It was a cohesive effortthat brought together different parts of thestate and maximized cooperation. And wehad to force our way into Washington. Ihope that won’t be the case with what Iexpect to be an Obama government.

TC: Are the days of wine and rosesstill over? Or were they back and nowthey’re over again?HC: No, no. I did that—I’d been a mem-ber of the [House] Ways and MeansCommittee. As such, I was able to do—people I brought into my administra-

tion—an introspective andvery careful analysis of thestate’s condition. I’ll quoteNelson Rockefeller, who wasthere before me, who said, ‘Idrank the champagne andCarey got the hangover.’ Veryaccurate. When I saw that, Iused that expression. I’d sug-gest to you it’s out-of-date

now because one of the things I did withJohn Dyson, the commissioner of com-merce, we stimulated, organized theLong Island wines, as well as encourag-ing wineries in the Upstate region. Andthat’s been a huge resource becauseSuffolk County, which used to producepotatoes, suffered the gold nematode.Almost lost the whole potato crop. Wehad a very resourceful, and I should sayburgeoning source of income now. Thedays of good wine on Long Island, whitesand reds and blends, are so good we haveto defend ourselves from Californiawineries shipping into our market.

TC: So the days of Long Island winesare still here?HC: With moderation.

—Andrew J. Hawkins

[email protected]

: Back to Hugh

The only way to get away fromexcess reliance on property tax isto do something radical, and that

is to pass our version of VAT.

esponsible New York is organized around a core set ofvalues, beliefs and principles that are essential to guiding true political reform in the State of New York. Our quest

is to create a political movement to return Albany to its rightful owners. Our pledge is help create an organization with no personal agendas, other than to give a voice to all New Yorkers – Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and Independents from cities, suburbs and rural areas both upstate and downstate.

We invite you to join Responsible New York.

Please go to our website at www.responsiblenewyork.com

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Responsible New York is an advocate for:� Responsible State Budgeting� Real Estate Tax Reform� Election and Campaign Finance Reform (including redistricting )� True Government Transparency� An End to Unfunded Mandates� Equitable Distribution of Economic Development Resources� Government Employee Compensation & Pensions Consistent with Private Sector� An End to Back-Door Borrowing /Reining in Out of Control Authorities

The August 1, 2008 Issue of The Capitol

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Transcript of The August 1, 2008 Issue of The Capitol