The April 1,2009 Issue of The Capitol

VOL. 2, NO. 4 ApriL 2009www.nycapitolnews.com

Democrats and Republicans focus early on Kemp Hannon.

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Those who would suc-ceed Andrew Cuomo begin to emerge.

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Ruben Diaz, Sr. explains his gay marriage conspiracy theory.

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www.nycapitolnews.com2 APRIL 2009 THE CAPITOL

Last year, Americans passed on the chance to have a rehash of 1990s-era politicians and politics. A

strong majority of the voters, New Yorkers included, were apparently ready to pick a president for reasons few would have actually been able to articulate beyond vague nods at “change.”

Next year, it seems, New Yorkers will get their own chance, with a statewide ballot that could feature the returns of Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Rick Lazio and maybe even Eliot Spitzer. Change at home is not something New Yorkers believe in at home.

Of course, no one would argue that Chuck Schumer should be discouraged from running just because he was on the 1998 ballot. And there is, obviously, a governmental value to experience and a political value to name recognition, both of which make the thinking driving these resurrections totally reasonable. But there is also a clear downside: by keeping the top spots reserved for the giants of the past,

they leave the giants of the future little room to grow. There is more to this than simply standing aside for the sake of a younger

generation’s ambition. The world is changing very quickly, and politics is realigning itself on the ground with even greater speed, as the events of the 2008 presidential election proved. Amid this transitional moment, passing the torch to new leaders could be more important than ever, both to bring in new ideas and to demonstrate to the voters that they welcome new involvement in the political process.

Revival candidacies are not necessarily a bad thing. Age and experience often breed wisdom, and any or all of the rumored returns might help foster a strength of leadership that has been sorely lacking in this state.

Alternatively, they could serve to re-immerse us in the old arguments that consumed the years when the state should have been focused on preempting the various crises in which New York now fi nds itself. At a time when the budget bloat threatens to drown us all, when MTA mismanagement threatens the long-term viability of the system and legislative inertia threatens to make “state government” an oxymoron, this may not be the time to return to the personalities and fi ghts of the past.

Especially if they run, the would-be returning champions have an obligation not just to develop fresh rationales, but to address why state politics remains stuck on names from the past. Our celebrity-obsessed culture is one reason, certainly, but so is a system that presents huge fi nancial hurdles—both in the massive fundraising demands and low salaries that keep many good people

from seeking offi ce—and rewards inertia. What better way to show that their new candidacies will be a break from the past than for these revived politicians to stand up for real campaign fi nance reform, competitive pay rates, term limits and changes in the law that would foster participation, like easing ballot access?

That would be strength. That would be dynamism. That would be a way for the leaders of the past to help guide New York to a better future.

EDITORIAL

Editor: Edward-Isaac [email protected] Editor: David [email protected] Editor: Andrew J. Hawkins [email protected]: Chris Bragg [email protected] Gentile [email protected] Rivoli [email protected] Editor: Andrew SchwartzInterns: Julie Sobel, Katie Briquelet

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The Capitol is published monthly.Copyright © 2009, Manhattan Media, LLC

www.nycapitolnews.com

Forethought

What better way for the comeback

candidates to show that their campaigns will

be a break from the past than for

these revived politicians to

stand up for real changes to the

election system in New York?

Homework for the Once and Future Kings

The faces of the future.

New York State Building &Construction Trades Council“Building an Economic Ladder to“Building an Economic Ladder to

the Middle Class through thethe Middle Class through theUnion Building Trades…”Union Building Trades…”

NY STATE B.C.T.C. 890 Third Street • Albany, NY 12206 • (518) 435-9108Learn more at our website: WWW.NYBCTC.ORG

EDWARD J. MALLOYPresident

LAWRENCE DAVISSecretary/Treasurer

"I do solemnly swear (oraffirm) that I will support theconstitution of the UnitedStates, and the constitution ofthe State of New York, andthat I will faithfully dischargethe duties of the office of......, according to the best of my ability;"

NYS Constitution - Article I - §17.LABOR OF HUMAN BEINGS IS NOT A COMMODITY NOR AN ARTICLE OF COMMERCEAND SHALL NEVER BE SO CONSIDERED OR CONSTRUED.

No laborer, worker or mechanic, in the employ of a contractor or sub-contractor engaged in theperformance of any public work, shall be permitted to work more than eight hours in any day ormore than five days in any week, except in cases of extraordinary emergency; nor shall he or shebe paid less than the rate of wages prevailing in the same trade or occupation in the locality withinthe state where such public work is to be situated, erected or used.

OATH OF OFFICETAKEN BY ALL NYSPUBLIC OFFICIALS:

LET’S BE HONEST:NYS funds a project. We know it’s public work. You know it’s public work.


BY CHRIS BRAGG

In preparation for thepassage of the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, Gov. David Paterson’s

(D) offi ce scoured the state for “shovel-ready” road and bridge projects.

They reached out to local offi cials. They even encouraged members of the public to submit proposals via the state’s economic recovery website. In total, they received over 16,000 pitches, from Staten Island to St. Lawrence.

So small business owners and contractors have responded angrily when at a recent series of town hall meetings Department of Transportation offi cials informed them that their project ideas are unlikely to receive any stimulus funding due to the tight federal deadline to line up projects.

This has been an especially sore spot for some smaller, often minority developers who complain they have been unable to get involved with the process.

In Harlem, a neighborhood with soaring unemployment, there is a fear that because the process is proceeding so rapidly, the stimulus money will go to contractors with established relationships with the state and not minority-owned businesses, which are more likely to hire minorities.

The federal stimulus package contains no provision that a percentage of the money must go to Women and Minority Business Enterprises (WMBEs), but state and city law does have such provisions.

“You keep talking about securing projects in 180 days. But that means your team is already in place,” said Zevilla Jackson Preston, an architect and designer, at a recent town hall on the stimulus convened in Harlem. “There isn’t an opportunity for anyone new to get involved in any of the shovel-ready projects—and it’s really disheartening for people in this community.”

Because of the state’s rush to get projects lined up so quickly, there still has not been enough done yet to ensure minority businesses reap the benefi ts of the stimulus, said John Robinson, president and CEO of the National Minority Business Council.

“The stuff is moving so fast that people haven’t been able to zero in on the existing laws on the books,” Robinson said. “The concern is that the money won’t trickle down to the lowest level possible in the community.”

The Paterson administration appears aware of these concerns. The state’s Division of Minority and Women Business Development was reporting regularly to the governor’s offi ce, said top

infrastructure advisor Timothy Gilchrist at an April 21 Congressional satellite hearing held in Brooklyn.

Also at the Congressional hearing, New York City Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said the mayor’s offi ce has assigned a point person to interact with minority and women-owned businesses.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that most of the projects approved to be built with stimulus funds already had contractors lined up, but had been stopped last fall only due to the state’s revenue crisis.

The projects have largely originated from the 13 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) around the state that developed a backlog of projects called the Transportation Improvement

Program (TIP). Those projects then get passed on to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). Finally, the governor’s economic recovery cabinet, led by Gilchrist, culls through them.

At over 12,000 projects long, the STIP list has more than enough projects to use up all the stimulus money. In fact, New York City alone has enough of a backlog to spend all the stimulus transportation funds for the entire country, said Lisa Daglain, a spokesperson for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, one of the 13 MPOs.

At the hearing, Gilchrist blamed the dissatisfaction on people being misinformed about the stimulus bill.

“I believe that there is not an understanding in the business community about the available funding,” Gilchrist said. “Often, they are looking for funding that was not authorized in the bill.”

Gilchrist admitted that the state is “struggling” to get information about the stimulus out to small businesses that could serve as subcontractors, as well as to potential workers in the Department of Transportation’s job bank who are not necessarily aligned with a primary contractor.

“That’s one of the challenges we are facing moving forward,” he said.

[email protected]

Timothy Gilchrist is in charge of doling out state stimulus dollars.

Stimulus Dollars Begin To Flow, But Small MWBEs Feel Only a TrickleContractors complain that fast pace of spending leaves them out, state admits problems

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WWW.UFANYC.ORGFor more information visit:

Uniformed Firefighters Association

Join the ever growing chorus of sanity, tell Mike Bloomberg: STOP THE MADNESS!

Response Area ofPotential FirehouseClosures

STOP THE MADNESS!

Fire houses closedby Mayor Bloombergin 2003

Firehouses Already Closed by Mayor Bloomberg Are:Engine 36 in East Harlem, ManhattanEngine 204 in Cobble Hill, BrooklynEngine 212 in Williamsburg, BrooklynEngine 278 in Sunset Park, BrooklynEngine 209 in Bedford Stuyvesant, BrooklynEngine 261 in Long Island City, QueensEngine Co. Serving Governor’s Island

closed Jan. 2009

We urge our elected leaders to finally tell Mike Bloomberg to STOP THE MADNESS! Yourconstituents deserve emergency medical and fire protection.

If Mayor Bloomberg threatens to close your community firehouses or one in your borough,Members of Congress, State Senate, Assembly and City Council must join together withcommunity boards and civic associations to protect your neighborhood’s safety.

It is absolutely foolish for the City of New York to be closing vital community firecompanies at a time when the FDNY has completed its four busiest years in its 140-plus year history – including 473,335 Emergency Responses in 2008.

In July 2009 Mike Bloomberg says HE IS CLOSING 11 MORE FIREHOUSES andAFTER ELECTION DAY THERE ARE ANOTHER 5 MORE NEW YORK CITYFIRE COMPANIES to be boarded up.

In 2003 The Mayor of the City of New York appealed to the Governorand State Legislature for billions of dollars in emergency taxpayerfunding to among other things, keep New York City fire housesopen. Without it the city would be doomed, he claimed.

The Legislature gave him the billions of dollars he requested andTHEN HE CLOSED DOWN SIX FIREHOUSES ANYWAY.

Harlem, Williamsburg, Bedford Stuyvesant, Sunset Park,Cobble Hill and Long Island City now have lessemergency medical and fire protection than they had75 years ago. In the first 4 years since theseclosings 40 souls have either been killed orseriously injured in these neighborhoods, thecount continues to grow. Bloomberg evenwent so far as to sell these FDNYbuildings so a future mayor could neverreopen them!

In 2009 MAYOR BLOOMBERGSAYS HE WILL CLOSE 16 MORENEW YORK CITY FIRECOMPANIES, despite gettingbillions in emergency aid fromAlbany and billions more in bailoutfunds from the White House andCongress.


BY SAL GENTILE

At a black-tie fundraiserfor the Nassau Democratic Party earlier this month, the

guest speaker, Gov. David Paterson (D), confessed that he had one regret about the 2008 elections: Not spending enough money to beat State Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau).

“He basically said that he was sorry that he couldn’t put the resources behind it,” said Jay Jacobs, the Nassau Democratic Chairman.

Jacobs fought for months to get party leaders to channel funds into the race against Hannon, only to lose out to other closely-watched battles upstate and in Queens.

Even without the money, Hannon was nearly toppled in November by political newcomer Kristen McElroy, a criminal attorney who lost by just 3,030 votes in what has long been seen as a prized Republican stronghold.

Hannon’s Hempstead-dominated district has been growing increasingly diverse over the years as more city residents move to the suburbs, and Democrats now have a slight registration edge.

“Kemp has been vulnerable for a while. I think it just hasn’t broken through into public consciousness just how vulnerable he is,” said a senior Democratic strategist, who was not authorized to discuss the party’s 2010 strategy because Senate leaders were trying to win Republican support for their agenda. “When you come in with that kind of margin, you’re automatically on the target list next time around.”

Democrats believe that any electoral success there will hinge on running up large margins in African-American and Latino sections of the district such as Uniondale and Hempstead Village. And though the Democratic turnout in minority areas in the district was not as high as Democrats expected in 2008, they have been heartened by a subsequent series of electoral successes on the local level, led by Democrat Wayne Hall, who defeated a well-funded Republican opponent, former Mayor James Garner, in the hotly contested race for mayor of Hempstead village, where a considerable portion of the district’s minority vote is located.

Republicans have been anxious about the shifting demographics in the district as well. Former State Sen. Michael Balboni, a Republican who represented the neighboring district in Nassau before leaving in 2007 to take a job in the Spitzer administration, warned privately for

Garden City

Plainview

Farmingdale

Hempstead

State Sen. Kemp Hannon is the Democrats’ top target in 2010.

Early Interest Mounts for Hannon SeatDemocrats aim for Nassau, Skelos reaches out to possible replacement

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The Capitol covers government and politics better than any other non-daily newspaper in New York, ac-cording to the New York Press Association.

For work done in its very fi rst year of existence since being launched in January 2008, The Capitol took top honors for Best Coverage of Local Government and Best Coverage of Elections and Politics. Referring to the special issue devoted to the aftermath of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) resignation, the judges in the local gov-ernment category wrote that “the in-depth features of Spitzer’s ‘legacy’ deserve this honor on their own. The reporting, design, topic, and writing really deliver a clear and personal look at the man.” The comment from the judges in the elections and politics category were more succinct: “Thorough.”

Special recognition also went to the June 2008 story on Andrew Cuomo, which remains the only at-length interview that the attorney general has granted since taking offi ce.

Contest results were announced at the annual New York Press Association convention in Saratoga Springs on April 3-4.The Capitol also scored top design awards, including one for the best cover design in the state, with special recognition going

to the July 2008 cover for the State Senate Obameter. “Absolutely fabulous,” the judges wrote. “Hands down, the best entries.”The Capitol ’s sister publication, City Hall, also took in top awards.“This paper is dynamic,” the judges wrote of City Hall, “interesting and fun,” adding that stories were “both compelling and

informative” and “addictive.”

The Capitol wins top prizesTHE CAPITOL JUNE 2008 19www.nycapitolnews.com18 JUNE 2008 THE CAPITOLwww.nycapitolnews.com

he attorney general, the one-time gubernatorialcandidate, the scion of New York’s very ownpolitical dynasty, Cuomo is a genuine politicalcelebrity—if only as the last man standing. Of

the state officers voters picked in 2006, Cuomo is theonly one still in the position he was elected to hold.

Quotable, easily recognizable and a saga unto himself,Cuomo is a media favorite, and he knows it. But sincebeing sworn in as attorney general last year, Cuomo hasdone something almost no one ever expected him to do:retreat from the spotlight. He spends more of his dayswringing deals out of marathon conference calls than atpress conferences, where he usually stands to the sidewhile others talk, rather than in front of the microphones.

“I don’t think it was a deliberate strategy, except to apoint,” he says, explaining, “to the extent you getinvolved in personality press and personality politics, itactually detracts from the work.”

So far, the strategy has been successful. Cuomoenjoys high favorability ratings among Republicans andDemocrats alike, across all demographics. His darkdays of September 2002, with him quietly dropping outof the gubernatorial primary, seem more than just sixyears behind him.

But the dark days for New York State government aredarker than ever, Cuomo says. Reminded of his 2006campaign line that dysfunction was too weak a word todescribe Albany, Cuomo stands by his rhetoric.

“You could say it fundamentally hasn’t changed—three men in a room, three men in a room,” he says,comparing the situation then and now, two governorslater. “But there was an intervening fact, which wasEliot Spitzer.”

The greatest problem with Spitzer’s disastrous firstyear and the scandal which cut short his second, Cuomosays, is how much further they lowered New Yorkers’already low opinion of their government.

“You don’t trust the government the way you need totrust the government. You don’t believe in the govern-ment. You’re disillusioned, with good cause,” he says.“You’ve been personally let down by the leadership ofgovernment. I understand that. I don’t disagree withyou. You’re right.”

Enter Cuomo. Using the powers of his office, he pres-ents himself as the man to redeem government. Whatthe people really need, he says, is a good lawyer.

“To the extent that there are issues and problems, I’mgoing to address them,” he says. “To the extent thatthere is waste, fraud and abuse, I’m on the case.”

The Spitzer aftermath is especially complex forCuomo, who not only succeeded Spitzer in theattorney general’s office, but built the closing argu-

ment of his 2006 campaign around the “Big Shoes”advertisements, which sought to paint him as the heir toSpitzer’s legacy.

The memory of all his support-ers holding up the foot-measuringdevices brings a smile to his face.No matter all that has happenedsince, Cuomo says he stands bythe ads.

“That campaign was, ‘EliotSpitzer was the epitome of whatan attorney general should be.’And the question was: ‘Who couldfill his shoes?’” Cuomo says,reflecting on his term so far. “I’mcomfortable with the comparisonof this office’s performance peri-od, on any scale.”

The tendency to compare Spitzer’s and Cuomo’s

of his persona and how he approached being governor,Spitzer seemed to somehow occupy both offices at once.

There was a new sheriff in town, but the Sheriff ofWall Street had just moved to the second floor. Fewbelieved that the town, or the state, would be bigenough for the both of them.

And, for reasons no one could have predicted, it was not. Spitzer’s disappearance may be something

of a relief for Cuomo, who no longer has tocontend with Spitzer for the spotlight, orpotentially, for the votes in the 2010 primary.But during those tumultuous 15 months ofeverything not changing, while Spitzer wasthe big story, the new and newly headline-adverse attorney general cobbled together adifferent direction for the office.

Campaigning, he said he wanted to be theSheriff of State Street. Today, he shies awayfrom that rhetoric.

“It’s the expression I used on the cam-paign. Yes, I want to do that. I also want toprotect people from consumer frauds—stu-

dent loans Dell I want to fight state fraud—state gov-

An important step in reforming state government,Attorney General Andrew Cuomo believes, is

creating stricter campaign finance laws with lowerdonation caps and taxpayer-supported matchingfunds. The model, he said, should be the system cur-rently used in elections in New York City.

“We desperately need a change in campaignfinance laws,” he said, cautioning that whatevernew laws are passed need to both protect the FirstAmendment and prevent the political system frombeing restricted to rich candidates who can self-finance.

He does not, however, believe in the approach putforward by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (D), who in earlyJune issued a press release declaring that he wouldself-impose $10,000-per-donor limits on his campaign.

“The public is expecting reform,” he said in astatement released with the outline of his new lim-its. “The influence of money in our political systemshould be addressed legislatively and comprehen-sively. However, in the absence of new legislation,I’m taking this step to send a message.”

Cuomo, who had $1.1 million in the bank as ofJanuary and has been fundraising prodigiously forhis 2010 campaign, said he would not self-imposelimits.

“I support public finance,” Cuomo said, but “youcan’t have unilateral public finance. You would haveto have the other person agree.”

Cuomo spent $10 million on his 2006 campaign.He says restrictions are good, but they only work ifall candidates agree to them, or are made to agree tothem.

He called DiNapoli’s approach risky, especiallywith the prospect of self-financed candidates.

“What if someone wakes up one morning anddecides he wants to be comptroller?” Cuomo said.“He can spend 10 million dollars.”

—[email protected]

“I fundamentallyrepresent the

people,” Cuomosays. “If you are

defrauding thepeople, get yourown lawyer. I’m

with them.”

TheStrategist

Public Financing IsGood, Cuomo Says,But Self-ImposedRestrictions Are Not

In his first major interviewas AG, Andrew Cuomo

makes his opening statement

For the second time, they ask the reporters to move. This is Andrew Cuomo’s first press conference out on the street that any of his press and security staff can

remember, and they are a little overwhelmed. The backdrop of Broadway is perfect for him to tout his latestvictory, getting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to stop issuing free EZ-passes to board mem-bers, but the setting is more public than anyone has come to expect of him as attorney general.

Seeing the crowd of cameras wedged onto the sidewalk, a man in a Knicks jersey and a hot dog in hand jay-walks over to the edge of the scrum.

“What happened?” he asks“Cuomo’s giving a speech,” says another bystander.The first one peers through the crowd until he catches sight of the attorney general, head up, hands clasped

at the waist.“Oh, it’s Andy!” he shouts, calling out for attention. “Andy!”Cuomo, meanwhile, has his eyes locked on a reporter who has just asked a question. He almost takes the

bait for a sound bite blasting MTA officials on the symbolism of raising fares while enjoying free rides them-selves.

Then, in mid-sentence, he pivots.“Government must maintain the trust for government to do what it intends to do. Do I believe this was a

public trust issue?” he says, asking himself a new, lower-key question. “Yes. I believe it was a legal issue and apublic trust issue.”

He takes a few more questions, and then quickly wraps up the press conference. A couple walks by, lookingat the dissipating crowd.

“That’s probably, like, a congressman,” the woman says. The man corrects her

T

BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

WA

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www.nycapitolnews.comVOL. 1, NO. 7

JULY 2008

ThomasDiNapolikeeps his eyeon the economy.

Page 4

Joseph Addabbogets ready to runfor Senate.

Page 8

Marc Molinaro,Jack Quinn andRob Walkerhit the road.

Page 7

THE STATE SENATE

Springfieldproduced a

presidentialcandidate—

could Albany?

Experts rate thetop contenders.

Page 10

★ ★

www.nycapitolnews.comVOL. 1, NO. 4

APRIL 2008

James Tedisco

explores his2010 statewideprospects.

Page 8

Norman Adler

on semi-retirementand the newregime in Albany.

Page 31

A Tall Glass of David

Paterson: mixing up anew classic to honor thenew governor.

Page 28

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a year and a half that Hannon was in danger, according to Republicans familiar with those conversations. But until a few days before the votes came in last year, few listened.

Now, Republicans are moving early to shore up their prospects in the district, which has become the top Democratic target to extend their majority in 2010. Acknowledging that defending the seat is critical to any plan to swing back control of the Senate, GOP leaders have also begun to question whether Hannon, who has represented the area for more than two decades, can or should survive.

Though Hannon has held fi rm with the leadership that he intends to run again, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos is already reaching out to a potential replacement, Mineola Mayor Jack Martins, according to

several Republican operatives. Martins ran a slash-and-burn campaign

for Congress against Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (R-Nassau) last year, losing by about 14 percentage points.

Hannon declined to comment for this article. Martins did not return several calls seeking comment.

Democrats, meanwhile, expect to line up a candidate some time after the local elections in 2009, when the party will have to defend its one-seat majority in the Nassau County Legislature.

One of those local Democrats, County Legislator David Mejias, is considered

a leading contender for Hannon’s seat. But fi rst he will have to defend his seat in the county legislature, which local Republicans are themselves targeting in their efforts to win back that chamber this November.

McElroy has also expressed interest in mounting a rematch against Hannon, though she said she does not expect to decide until the end of the year. Democratic leaders may want to recruit a seasoned politician with more electoral experience and a better ability to raise money, according to several party strategists.

But if they do go with McElroy, she said, the campaign will come out much stronger and much earlier than last time.

“In 2010, with everything sort of staying the same, with the registration being Democratic, I think people will actually put money into this race,” she said. “I think it’s really going to happen.”

[email protected]

THE CAPITOL APRIL 2009 7www.nycapitolnews.com

BY CHRIS BRAGG

While past governors made a series of incremental reforms to the Empire Zone

program, Gov. David Paterson (D) has been touting a complete overhaul in this year’s fi nal budget.

“For years, governors have tried to reform the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) that has given tax credits at times when jobs weren’t created, and was fraught with waste and abuse,” Paterson told members of the Association for a Better New York at an April 2 breakfast. “This year, we have achieved that.”

Reform advocates were more measured in their praise.

In hammering out a deal with the business community this year, Paterson may have set the table for a true overhaul next year.

But that was not achieved without serious compromises. In his original budget last December, Paterson proposed scaling the program back by $272 million, or 45 percent. But the fi nal budget cut the program by only $90 million. In addition, what an overhauled program would look like, and whether a consensus can be reached by next year, remains unclear.

New York created what became known as the Empire Zone program in 1986 with modest aims. The program would

help attract businesses to a handful of impoverished areas upstate through a tax credit.

From those origins, the program has grown to include 85 zones all across the state and 9,800 businesses which last year alone racked up tax credits worth $600 million in what state offi cials argue was an important tool to spur economic development.

But along the way, deregulation and mismanagement have turned Empire Zones into a program many see as synonymous with fraud and waste.

While this year did not see a complete overhaul, Paterson was able to push through a new sunset for the program, moving the date up to June 30, 2010, a year ahead of schedule.

According to Empire State Development Corporation president and CEO Marisa Lago, this will induce the business community to come to the table during next year’s budget process.

“That poses a challenge and an opportunity in working with the business community: to design the economic development strategy that will replace Empire Zones,” she said.

The concession from business over the sunset date, however, was not without costs to the state.

Cuts to the program were scaled back by some $182 million, despite the presence of a $17 billion budget defi cit.

Paterson’s initial budget required all 9,800 businesses in the program to create $20 of wages and infrastructure for every $1 in state tax breaks they received. Now, only businesses new to the program must perform at that level.

Paterson had initially proposed cutting retail, utilities and real estate companies from the program because those businesses were unlikely to leave the state regardless of whether they receive tax credits. That reform was also axed.

“The business community raised some concerns about the plan that had been presented,” said Paterson spokesperson Matt Anderson. “Our main goal in this fi rst year was to strip the worst abuses of the program. Any proposal is subject to negotiations with the Legislature. That’s just the nature of the process.”

Business interests argued that Paterson’s original budget plan would have cut thousands of companies unable to meet the rigorous new standards from the program, creating job losses during a recession.

Retroactively making businesses produce at a new standard would also send a message that New York does not honor its commitments to business, said Michael Moran, spokesperson for the Business Council.

“It was moving the goalposts in the middle of the game,” Moran said.

Some of Paterson’s more modest

reforms did stick. So-called “shirt changers” that have used paperwork gimmicks to appear as though their business was newly created to qualify for tax breaks will be removed. Freeloading businesses not producing even as much as they received in tax credits will now be kicked out.

The governor and business leaders now have 15 months to fi gure out what a new program will look like. Business leaders say the program should be split in two, with one program to promote general business growth and one targeted towards helping impoverished areas.

But some fear that the program will simply be discontinued when it expires next year. Despite the governor’s promises to the contrary, the state will again face down a huge budget defi cit, money will again be tight, and business interests will be dealing from a position of relative weakness.

Rob Simpson, president of the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York, said completely getting rid of tax credits for business would cripple the upstate economy, especially since New York already has among the highest tax rates in the country.

“Upstate New York simply cannot be left without a viable set of economic tools,” Simpson said.

[email protected]

Paterson’s Empire Zone Overhaul Hints at Larger Plans and Problems

The American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) supports Governor Paterson’s efforts to reduce the budget deficit in New York State:

NYS can lower engineering costs on infrastructure projects 14 percent by using private sector engineers to design public works projects—saving the state taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.*

Private sector engineers are paid only for the time they work on a project, not for life. Once the project is complete, payment stops.

Competition keeps private sector engineers efficient, cost effective and at the top of their game.

Private sector engineers assume risks in design contracts otherwise borne by the state.

Consulting Engineers—Quality, Innovative, Cost-effective Design for New York State

* Results are based on a side-by-side comparison of salary, work hours, fringe benefits and overhead of New York State engineering employees vs. private engineering firm employees, “NYSDOT Engineering Design Costs: In-House Versus Outsourced Design,” Polytechnic Institute of NYU, October 30, 2008.

Keeping New York Strong—It’s Our Business

Albany Office: 6 Airline Drive, Albany, NY 12205, (518) 452-8611

New York City Office: 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1742, New York, NY 10165, (212) 682-6336

www.acecny.org


ISSUE FORUM: ENVIRONMENT

BY STATE SEN. ANTOINE THOMPSON

Infertility. Breast cancer. Obesity. Early puberty. Sperm damage. Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder. Diabetes. Heart disease. This is the rising tide of diseases that are making headlines. They are also the illnesses that scientists have linked to one very common chemical: bisphenol A (or BPA). BPA is used to make hard plastic polycarbonate and epoxy resins, and you find it in baby bottles, sports bottles, sippy cups, food can linings and toys, among other common products. Bisphenol A can leach out of those products, entering food and drinks, and through them, our bodies.

BPA has been shown to cause lifelong problems at alarmingly low levels of exposure, even below the “lowest observed adverse effect” levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency used to set their safety standard. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) found “some concern” for adverse effects on development of the prostate gland and brain and for behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children.

The Center for Disease Control fi nds bisphenol A in over 93 percent of Americans—at or above levels that cause health problems for animals. African Americans have higher levels of BPA than the general population. Infants have 11 times as much BPA in their bodies as adults—they are more exposed and their bodies can’t easily get rid of BPA. Infants,

young children and those going through puberty are most vulnerable to exposure to bisphenol A during these critical windows of development that can have lifelong effects.

Government agencies charged with assessing bisphenol A, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are lagging behind growing scientifi c consensus. Last fall, FDA’s own science advisory panel sharply criticized FDA’s ongoing approval of BPA, saying “the Margins of Safety defi ned by FDA as ‘adequate’ are, in fact, inadequate.” In an investigation last spring, Congress learned that FDA based its determination that BPA is safe on two industry-funded studies, one of which is unpublished. In light of the fi ndings and concerns raised by the NTP draft report and the Canadian risk assessment, the committee asked FDA to reexamine its position on the safety of BPA.

That’s why I introduced Senate bill 3296, the Bisphenol A-Free Children and Babies Act, to protect our children from major sources of BPA. This bill will phase out BPA, starting with baby bottles and sippy cups, moving on to toys for children under three (who are always putting their toys in their mouths) and fi nally,

food and beverage can liners. For many of these products, safer alternatives are already in use. Just this month, six baby bottle manufacturers, including EvenFlo, Playtex and Dr. Brown, announced that they would stop making BPA-laden baby bottles, and Sunoco, which synthesizes raw BPA, announced it would no longer sell BPA for use in products for children under three. In the case that safer alternatives are not available for a specifi c product, the bill has a waiver provision that extends the deadline. Our goal here is not to put anyone out of business. Our goal is to protect the health of our state’s most vulnerable residents.

America has a long history of ingenuity, inventiveness and fi nding better ways to get the job done. Today, the vast majority of baby bottles are BPA-free. The time has come for New York State to ensure our children have the promise of a safe and healthy future. Knowing what we know, there’s no reason to wait any longer to act.

Antoine Thompson, a Democrat

representing parts of Erie and

Niagara counties, is the chair of the

Senate Environmental Conservation

Committee.

BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER ROBERT SWEENEY

The challenging economy did not prevent New York from looking to the future by making

strong environmental investments which will pay dividends now and in the future. The budget provides more than $1.5 billion for the environment. From human health to the economy, every aspect of our life is affected by the quality of our environment. A clean and healthy environment provides countless benefi ts to the State’s residents and visitors and serves as an important economic engine.

The State budget continues a strong commitment to protecting the environment by providing essential funding and toughening penalties for polluters.

The budget includes $222 million for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)—$17 million more than the executive proposed, including: $60 million for land acquisition; $24.4 million for waterfront revitalization; $21.2 million for municipal parks; $17.8 million for non-point source water pollution prevention; $10.8 million for municipal recycling; $9 million for the

Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Program; $9 million for Water Quality Improvement projects; $5 million for invasive species management; $6 million for the Oceans and Great Lakes Initiative; $6 million for the Hudson River Park; and $450,000 for the Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors program.

The budget also includes an expanded “Bottle Bill” that adds water beverage containers under one gallon. Since the bottle bill was enacted nearly 30 years ago, the beverage industry has grown to include water drinks that have proliferated not simply on store shelves, but along the sides of our roads, wetlands, open spaces and beaches. This budget will encourage recycling and help to clean our environment by updating New York’s most successful recycling law to better represent today’s consumers.

The budget also increases air pollution fees, creates a surcharge on environmental violations and institutes a wetland permit fee. There are also new fees for polluters through the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System and increased charges for commercial pesticide applicators.

The federal economic stimulus package includes $432.6 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which funds water quality protection projects; $395 million for the Low Income Weatherization Program, helping to reduce home energy costs for lower-income New Yorkers and

train workers to weatherize homes; $126 million for the State Energy Program, which provides grants to adopt renewable energy and energy effi ciency technologies; $86.8 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which helps fi nance water system infrastructure improvements; $75 million for nuclear waste cleanup; $31 million for Energy Effi ciency and Conservation to help entities reduce greenhouse gas emissions; $9.5 million for enforcement and cleanup of petroleum leaks from underground storage tanks; and $1.7 million to create clean diesel programs that improve air quality.

New York’s natural resources—our pristine forests, the wonders of the Great Lakes and the majesty of the ocean—provide intrinsic and recreational value to the residents of the state and to future generations. These marvels will not appear on any balance sheet, but they are precious and must be preserved.

Robert Sweeney, a Democrat repre-

senting Suffolk County, is the chair of

the Assembly Environmental Conserva-

tion Committee.

The New York State Budget Goes Green

New York Needs To Protect Children from Major Sources of Deadly Chemical

The publication for and about New York State Government


As our nation works toward a path of energy independence, an energy-effi cient technology is making strides to lower societal Btu consumption while protecting the environment. With a focus on reusing fuel energy, micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) technology combines clean heat and power with its dual approach of generating electricity while heating a home.

With the ability to supply both heat and power to U.S. homes, micro-CHP significantly reduces the amount of fuel normally needed to supply electricity and heat to a home, which directly and dramatically impacts the environment by reducing the greenhouse gases associated with global warming.

Improved Energy EfficiencyTh e 2008 Annual Energy Outlook of the Energy Information Administration found that 47 percent of all energy supplied for residential consumption in the U.S. is wasted, partially due to ineffi ciencies in the production and transmission/distribution of electricity.1 In addition, the Department of Energy states that if 20 percent of the U.S. energy supply were to be produced by combined heat and power by 2030, it could save nearly half the total energy currently consumed by U.S. households.2

“If consumers install a micro-CHP system in new or existing homes, they can signifi cantly reduce their energy use and electric bills,” said Michael Paparone, president and CEO of ECR International who manufactures freewatt®

micro-CHP systems in New York State.

Micro-CHP technologies are designed for both retro-fi t and new construction applications, so they can be placed into a majority of current U.S. homes today without the physical and aesthetic limitations associated with solar panels or wind turbines. Th is enables micro-CHP to have maximum short-term and transitional impact before renewables are universal.

EPA Climate ChoiceTh e United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Program has designated micro-CHP as its fi rst Climate Choice technology. Climate Choice is a new partnership program that recognizes emerging technologies with the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions once they are more widely adopted.

Power to the PeopleIn addition to reducing their electric bills (in an average size home in the northern U.S., micro-CHP can generate half of a home’s annual electrical needs, eff ectively cutting the electric bill in half ) and their carbon footprint (a typical homeowner will cut 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of carbon annually – the equivalent of removing a car from the road for 6 months), homeowners gain increased control over the comfort of their home. Not only does micro-CHP deliver a continuous low level of heat, reducing temperature swings experienced with traditional home heating appliances, but it also off ers Internet smart grid connectivity for remote monitoring, control, troubleshooting, diagnostics and maintenance. Th e Stimulus Act places high priority on smart grid demonstrations.

Th e freewatt system, manufactured in New York State by ECR International, is currently available in the Northeast for homeowners who want to reduce their carbon footprint and experience micro-CHP. Th e Climate-Choice rated freewatt system marries an ENERGY STAR-rated, high-effi ciency natural gas or propane furnace to a quiet Honda generator. Th e electricity created by the Honda generator can be used to power the home or it can be sent to the “grid.” By utilizing natural gas, the electricity freewatt produces is greener than electricity produced by coal- and oil-generated power plants.

“Unlike a traditional home heating system, freewatt puts you in control,” said Michael Paparone, ECR president and CEO. “For example, by using freewatt for one year, a household can reduce its CO2 burden equivalent to not driving the family car for six months.”

freewatt can be easier to install and use than solar, wind and geothermal power and it is smart grid ready. Utilizing freewatt may also help residential projects qualify for points under the LEED for Homes Rating System.

For more information, visit www.FutureOfHomeEnergy.com or call 877-386-5475.

Making micro-CHP a Reality – The freewatt System

1 Based on the Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2008 fi gure of 11.52 QBtu consumed in the residential sector in 2005. “Energy Consumption by Sector and Source.” Date Published: June 2008, p. 117, table A2.2 ORNL/TM – 2008/224, COMBINED HEAT AND POWER, Eff ective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Date Published: December 1, 2008, p. 4.

©2009 ECR International, 2201 Dwyer Avenue, Utica, NY 13501. freewatt® is an innovation of Climate Energy, LLC, a JV of ECR International and Yankee Scientifi c. ECR-0090


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According to the World Economic Forum report “Green Investing,” Energy-from-Waste is one of the eight large-scale clean technologies that is helping to shape a lower-carbon infrastructure for the world. It’s more than rubbish. It’s renewable energy.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Recover Energy-from-Waste.

In the search for renewable energy sources, you are bound to run into some garbage.

www.covantaenergy.com


BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

Questions about Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) these days usually fall into two categories: “Will he?” or “Won’t he?”

But there is also the more puzzling question: Who will succeed him if he decides to run for governor in 2010?

With Cuomo’s poll numbers sky high, potential successors (who are not Eliot Spitzer) are already being sized up. Among them are state legislators, upstate lawyers, Long Island offi cials, former U.S. attorneys, current district attorneys and several perennial candidates.

“There’s nobody who’s obviously a candidate for attorney general,” said veteran Democratic consultant Norman Adler. “They always seem to come out of the woodwork.”

Despite a glut of ambitious legal types in New York State, no one stands out as an obvious shoe-in, even those who have run for attorney general before, Adler added.

State Democrats are looking to sort out whether Cuomo or Gov. David Paterson (D) will be the gubernatorial nominee by the fall. The longer the indecision goes on, however, the less time potential Cuomo successors will have to make their plans, which for now must remain extremely quiet, given the risk of alienating Paterson. That could give an advantage to those who already have name recognition from previous runs or have a stockpile of money in the bank.

Those elected offi cials who have run briefl y before (or have expressed interest in running) are Assembly Member Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), Assembly Member Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx). Coincidentally, two of them have seen other political opportunities dissipate, with Gianaris skipping an expected run for New York City Council and bid for Council speaker before Michael Bloomberg’s extension of term limits, and Klein pulling back from an anticipated challenge to Malcolm Smith for majority leader.

Also very much on the minds of those beginning to have these conversations are State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan/Bronx) and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (D).

When asked if he would be interested in an open race for attorney general, Klein gave his stock answer.

“I like to focus on one thing at a time,” said Klein, who was considering running for attorney general in 2006 but dropped out after Cuomo entered the race. “So far, Andrew Cuomo tells everybody that he’s not running,” he added.

But Klein did add another name to the mix, that of State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who worked alongside Spitzer in the attorney general’s offi ce before joining his administration in 2006. Klein said he had heard

Dinallo’s name mentioned by several Democratic donors. Another name that has popped up in political

conversations around the state is Denise O’Donnell, a Buffalo resident and deputy secretary for public safety under Paterson. O’Donnell ran in the Democratic

primary in 2006, but dropped out after falling behind Cuomo in a number of state conventions. O’Donnell would be an interesting candidate, several people said, mainly

because she is a woman and is from upstate in a fi eld that seems likely to be stocked high with men from downstate.

Another Buffalo lawyer, Leecia Eve, is also discussed as a possible candidate. Eve dropped her candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2006 after Spitzer chose Paterson as his running mate. She appears to be the only African-American currently being mentioned as a serious contender.

Other names being tossed around are Kathleen Rice, district attorney for Nassau County, Assembly Member Peter Rivera (D-Bronx), a former police offi cer and the highest-ranking Latino elected offi cial in the state, and Janet DiFiore, district attorney for Westchester County.

Democrats appear content that should the attorney general’s offi ce open up, they would have a suffi cient number of qualifi ed candidates to keep that position fi rmly Democratic.

“The good news is we’ve got a great farm system,” said Assembly Member Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo). “A lot of quality candidates who could serve well.”

But Republicans, looking to win back some ground, could make a serious push for attorney general

next year. Possibilities include Michael Garcia, a former U.S. attorney for New York’s southern

tier who made a name for himself weeding out corruption in state government, including

in the prostitution case against Spitzer. Another potential GOP candidate is

Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, who is being urged by

conservative groups around the state to consider running.

Either of these candidates might be stronger, and therefore presumed to be more likely to run, if they faced an open race rather than one against an extremely popular incumbent.

Whoever runs will need to raise at least $8 million in campaign cash to be considered a serious candidate, said Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

“Whoever raises eight million bucks, he’s the one to watch,” Sheinkopf said. “He or she.”

But at this point, fi guring out a race so far in the future remains an exercise in wild speculation. For example, even Mark Green, who is currently running for New York City public advocate, has achieved mention as a potential

candidate. Unless, of course, he loses his bid this year.

“If [Green] lost, I think running for attorney general would be viewed as quixotic,” said Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), who served in the offi ce for one year in 1994 and ran twice unsuccessfully for the offi ce afterward. “But if he wins for public advocate, that’d be different.”

Koppell paused, and then added, “I guess that would be unlikely.”

This is the type of guessing game many fi nd themselves in when discussing Cuomo’s potential successor. The attorney general’s offi ce is seen as the “catbird seat” of New York politics. So anyone who could run to replace Cuomo must also be considered a possible candidate for governor somewhere further down the line. After all, the joke goes, AG really stands for “aspiring governor.”

[email protected]

Not Waiting for Cuomo, Quiet Speculation About Successor Sprouts Shortened race could give advantage to candidates with money in the bank

As Cuomo sizes up a run for governor, names of his potential successors as at-torney general are already being tossed around.

“There’s nobody who’s obviously a candidate for attorney general,”

said veteran Democratic consultant Norman Adler

JER

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BY CHRIS BRAGG

With state labor commissioner Patricia Smith heading to Washington to join

the Obama administration, Gov. David Paterson (D) faces a dilemma in replacing a Spitzer appointee widely regarded as one of the most competent members of his administration.

Smith, who served as chief of the labor bureau in then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s (D) offi ce for eight years before becoming labor commissioner, took a law enforcement-style approach to the job. She gained renown for aggressively cracking down on minimum wage and overtime violations at supermarkets, car washes, restaurants and racetracks, helping low-wage workers win more than $20 million in back pay from employers.

In contrast to the George Pataki (R) administration, the department under Smith took a much more aggressive approach to the enforcement of labor violations and to the imposition of stiff penalties, labor leaders say.

That record helped her catch the eye of the White House, which tapped her to be the solicitor in the United States Department of Labor, the department’s No. 3 position.

Smith remains in Albany for now, however, with the date for her confi rmation hearing in the U.S. Senate still unscheduled, though it is expected in the next two months.

Nevertheless, the jockeying to replace her has been in full swing for weeks, with three people who work under Smith seen as the leading candidates.

The powerful New York AFL-CIO is privately pushing Colleen Gardner, the Department of Labor’s executive assistant for labor affairs who joined the agency in March 2007, after working for the AFL-CIO for 23 years. Her résumé includes more than a decade as community services director for the group, during which time she built up relationships with leaders of local member unions across the state.

Patrick Purcell, spokesperson for the United Food Commercial Workers Local 1500, said Gardner’s appointment could serve as an olive branch to labor from Paterson, in light of the increasingly acrimonious budget battle and the threat of 9,000 impending state worker layoffs, as well as possibly help bring an understanding to the administration, which would pre-empt future stand-offs.

“She is someone who could understand both labor’s issues and management’s issues,” Purcell said.

The department’s deputy

commissioner for wage and immigrant services, Terri Gerstein, is seen as Smith’s protégé and the potential successor who has the outgoing commissioner’s blessing. Gerstein lacks Gardner’s union ties, but worked under Smith as deputy section chief in the attorney general’s labor bureau from 2004 to 2006, before following Smith to the Department of Labor.

The connection to Smith may help validate Gerstein in the minds of those looking for her approach to the offi ce to continue.

“We all felt that Patricia was a terrifi c labor commissioner,” said Bob Master, political director for the New York chapter of the Communication Workers of America, who is not yet backing a particular candidate. “Basically, we’d be excited to have a clone.”

Bruce Herman, the Department’s deputy commissioner for workforce development, is also generating conversation. Like Gardner, Herman has ties to the AFL-CIO, as the former executive director for the union’s Working for America Institute in Washington. Nonetheless, Gardner remains the AFL-CIO preferred choice.

Paterson’s opponents among the labor community have set themselves the mission of stopping his proposed cuts, ready to damage his image with New

Yorkers to whatever extent necessary. For all the hopes expressed, his pick for Smith’s successor will likely be largely symbolic: the labor commissioner typically does not negotiate contracts with public sector unions—a role currently assumed by the governor’s offi ce—and would be unlikely to play a major role in hammering out a truce.

“What infl uence that person would have on the governor’s plan would be marginal,” said Public Employees Federation spokesperson Darcy Wells. “He’s not listening to the advice of some of his top economic advisors on this. So I’m not sure the appointment of a new labor commissioner would make any difference.”

But labor leaders do see the offi ce as a potential prize and bully pulpit. They hope the new commissioner would back them on issues such as increasing state unemployment insurance benefi ts and reforming Industrial Development Agencies.

The governor has for now given no indication of whether that new commissioner will be one of three names in the mix or someone else entirely, said Purcell.

“With David Paterson,” he said, “nobody knows who’s got the inside track.”

[email protected]

In Replacing Patricia Smith, Chance for Paterson to Mend Fences with Unions

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Governor, Cut the Waste, Not the Workers!

MORE!178%

MORE!126%

MORE!138%

For Governor Patersonit’s not about the money or getting the best value for New York’s taxpayers.

If it were, the governor wouldn’t be ignoring the savings!

The governor says the state can’t afford 8,700 state workers,but can afford to continue to pay private consultants at a muchhigher cost, including built-in yearly raises of 4 to 5 percent.

VS

VS

VS


BY SAL GENTILE

Joseph Mondello, the embattled chairmanof the New York Republican Party, said he will seek re-election in the fall, despite a series of missteps

and losses that have left GOP activists from across the state eager to see him gone.

Nonetheless, Mondello said he is optimistic about his chances.

“Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think I’ll get re-elected,” Mondello said at the party’s annual dinner in New York City earlier this month, laying out an ultimatum for his critics. “I’m too old a dog, I’m not about to change my spots now. So you’re either going to have to take me as I am or reject me.”

Mondello was elected state chair in 2006. Since then, the party’s performance at the ballot has led to him being lambasted privately by Republican operatives and elected offi cials from across the state, especially after the loss of the last bastion of power in the State Senate last fall.

And the hits have kept coming, from the nosedive of Assembly Member James Tedisco’s Congressional campaign upstate and the failed campaign for Brookhaven Town Supervisor in March in Republican-heavy Suffolk County.

For months, Republican operatives and elected offi cials assumed Mondello would serve out the remainder of his term and gracefully exit once the 62 county chairs had agreed on a successor. Mondello himself had assured them in private conversations that he would mollify his critics within the party by stepping down at the end of his term, according to Republican offi cials.

Now, Mondello may be digging his heels in just as the chorus of dissent grows over how Tedisco’s race was handled.

“There is a lot of opposition around the state,” said one senior Republican who has been critical of Mondello. “If Tedisco loses, it will be a terrible embarrassment for him.”

But while the dissatisfaction is widespread among the party’s grassroots, and even among elected offi cials, many confess that toppling Mondello would be diffi cult if he does indeed decide to go ahead with a re-election bid.

Elections for chairman are based on a weighted vote that gives more infl uence to the counties with the most GOP votes in the most recent gubernatorial election. Those counties, such as Nassau and Erie, are generally seen as closer to the party leadership than the smaller counties, and generally fall in line with Mondello. As one party offi cial put it: “It’s about maximizing as much control as possible.”

If Mondello were to lock up the votes from Nassau and Suffolk, as party operatives expect he would, he would already have close to a quarter of the vote. A viable challenger would have to consolidate support from the rest of the state, and wrest one or two of the big counties—such as Erie or Monroe—from Mondello’s control.

Mondello, meanwhile, would likely be able to rely on old alliances with county chairs such as Vincent Reda of Rockland and Jasper Nolan of Saratoga to run up the score and scare off potential opponents.

Compounding Mondello’s problems is the lack of a bigwig elected offi cial, such as a governor or senator, to lend him credibility and help keep the rank-and-fi le

in line. The power vacuum has encouraged insurgent Republicans to consider mounting campaigns for chairman, even if they have to run against him. And the most likely party leaders, such as Rudy Giuliani or George Pataki, are not active enough to referee the infi ghting.

If Mondello sent clear signals through the party ranks that he was serious about seeking another term, party operatives say, that could keep even the widespread frustration with him from translating into much beyond a long-shot, slash-and-burn campaign against him.

“There is enough anger out there that I could see some county chairman just saying ‘Screw it, I’ve got nothing to lose anyway,’ and going out on a limb,” said one party offi cial. “Honestly, they could get clobbered 90-10 or something in terms of percentages.”

Some party operatives who know Mondello personally maintain that his public insistence about running for re-election may just be misdirection, an attempt to avoid becoming a lame duck and buy time to anoint his preferred successor.

That process, in fact, may already be under way. Mondello is scheduled to sit down with one of the leading contenders for his job, Niagara Chair Henry Wojtaszek, in the next few weeks to discuss the future of the party, according to a GOP offi cial familiar with the meeting. Wojtaszek, one of the younger county chairs, was appointed “upstate coordinator” by Mondello last year, and is seen as the most likely heir apparent should Mondello step aside.

Wojtaszek declined to comment on Mondello’s future, saying party leaders should wait for the results of the Tedisco race before making judgments.

Other potential candidates include former State Sen. Raymond Meier, who has been in discussions with party leaders about a bid for chairman; Ed Cox, the chair of John McCain’s presidential campaign in New York, who has also been gauging support among the county chairs; former New York City Council Member Andrew Eristoff, who is currently spearheading a commission to revitalize the party; and former Assembly Minority Leader John Faso. Dan Isaacs, a Manhattan attorney and former Young Republicans president, has already declared his intention to challenge Mondello, but is not seen as having the heft of the other potential candidates.

Cox, Faso and Eristoff all declined to comment on the prospect of running for chairman, though Faso did say that he thought Mondello should step aside.

Meier said he has been approached about the job, and is currently considering whether or not to go ahead with a run. The question confronting him, he said, is whether he could gather enough support from some of the larger counties to make his candidacy credible.

He’s also not sure whether he wants what many see as a largely thankless job: heading a party that may well be out of power for decades.

“It’s not exactly a choice position to seek right now,” Meier said.

[email protected]

—Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed reporting

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Joe Mondello, the embattled chairman of the state Republican Party, said he intends to seek re-election despite heavy criticism from the party faithful.

Rank-and-File Fury Erupts atMondello Plan To Seek Re-Election

Arthur H. KatzExecutive Director

NYSAWMD211 East 43rd Street

New York, NY 10017

Alexandria PopePresident

Local 805, I.B.T., AFL-CIO44-61 11th Street

Long Island City, NY 11101


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The last time most people saw George Pataki (R), he was sitting on stage at Eliot Spitzer’s (D)

inauguration, being compared to Rip Van Winkle.

What a difference the most tumultuous two years in state political history makes.

Of the Democrats elected in 2006, Spitzer, Alan Hevesi and Hillary Clinton are gone, as is their mandate and most of the reserve of good will.

In their place is the ever-less popular Gov. David Paterson, an ongoing embarrassment for Democrats, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the result of an appointment process that may only be rivaled in rockiness by the crowded primary she seems certain to face next year.

And in response there is George Pataki, the man not so long ago reviled for presiding over the long, slow funeral of the state GOP through the end of the last decade and the beginning of this one, about to be drafted as his party’s great hope for the next one.

Or, in the words of one former operative: “Jesus Christ. I mean, he could win—but Jesus Christ.”

Former State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is on board. “We sure miss him,” he explained. “He’s a winner.” State Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos is too. “I’d love to see him,” he said.

Even GOP state chair Joseph Mondello, who all of eight months ago left Pataki’s name off the delegate list for the Republican National Convention allegedly because the former three-term governor did not call personally to ask for a spot, has thrown himself hard into Pataki’s corner and pledged to do everything he can to convince Pataki to run for Senate (the rumors of his interest in another run for governor do not appear to have much grounding).

“I’m thrilled to death that Governor Pataki is back,” Mondello said.

Brian Kolb, the new Assembly minority leader, tried to explain the collective change of heart.

“Sometimes when you’re in public service for a period of time, people take you for granted. They say, ‘Oh, Governor Pataki.’ They want somebody new,” Kolb said. “Then they get somebody new, and they say, ‘Oh god, we want Governor Pataki back.’”

Kolb chuckled. “Absence makes the heart grow

fonder,” he said. All this is a welcome change, Pataki

said. “Obviously, it’s wonderful when people

come up on the street and say, ‘Thank you, you did a good job, we want you back,’” he said, explaining his thinking in his fi rst extended interview since leaving offi ce. “I’m as human as anybody else. I like that. It’s a lot better than people coming up and saying, ‘You bum.’”

Pataki’s electoral appeal is hard to dispute. He was 36 years old when he knocked off his fi rst incumbent

to become mayor of Peekskill. Three years later, he knocked off another to take an Assembly seat. Those were both Democrats. But in 1992, instead of trying to win re-election in a redrawn district, Pataki ran and won a primary against seven-term Republican State Sen. Mary Goodhue. Two years later, he was the governor-elect, and he barely broke a sweat defending the offi ce in the next two elections.

In part, he got lucky. New Yorkers were tired of Mario Cuomo (D) by 1994, and being a Republican the year of the Gingrich Revolution did not hurt either. Democrats strained for candidates in 1998, with their bigger guns all in the fi ght for the Senate nomination, and in 2002,

By Edward-Isaac Dovere

he rode a post-Sept. 11 bump to victory as the Democrats collapsed into the Shakespearean primary between Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall.

There was also that undeniable Pataki charm, or what Quinnipiac pollster Mickey Carroll, who has covered Pataki as a reporter during the early years of his administration, called “the old Jimmy Stewart stuff. Tall, low key and amiable.”

But perhaps most important was Pataki’s shifting of policy away from traditional Republican principles to win himself political support in an increasingly non-Republican state—most famously, with the political masterstroke which made an ally out of Dennis Rivera and 1199 through concessions on health care, though there are numerous examples of this triangulation and co-opting the Democratic base from throughout his years as governor.

Part of being a savvy politician is knowing when to quit. Pataki took himself out of a race for a fourth term in August 2005, and with his image battered,

GeorgePataki

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that 2008 presidential run that had him traveling to and opening offi ces in Iowa never materialized either. But still, after a quarter century in politics and a history of uphill battles, he has never delivered a concession speech.

Two years in private life have not changed Pataki much. As governor, he perfected the art of avoiding direct answers, and he boasts, justifi ably, at how sharp those skills remain. Sitting next door to the offi ce in 30 Rockefeller Center where he works as counsel at Chadbourne & Parke and helps run the Pataki-Cahill environmental consulting group, he is still gleefully bland, friendly, fl uid in conversation and ready with a folksy twang whenever he tears into the Democrats.

“I’m extremely disappointed with the course of government both in the state and on the federal level,” he said, “and certainly want to articulate some ideas and some concepts that I think would help us solve the current problems in a way that’s better than what is out there

today.”Conveniently for someone who has a

Senate run being dangled in front of him, those ideas and concepts are increasingly focused on federal policy and less on the state matters that were so long at the center of his mind. But as Pataki tells the tale, that is a natural evolution.

“Now with Washington glomming on to such a massive role, not just at the expense of the private sector, but at the expense of state government too often as well—like with the undoing of welfare reform—then it becomes important to start talking about those issues as well,” Pataki explained.

The extent of Pataki’s foray into national politics was in 2000, when he made George W. Bush’ vice-presidential short list, and in 2004, when he delivered a rip-roaring attack on John Kerry in his introduction of Bush to the convention crowd at Madison Square Garden.

For all the talk and anticipation, he never did join the dozen other Republicans on stage for the 2008 presidential primary debates. Instead, he endorsed John McCain and devoted time to rallying support for the Arizona senator whose name he had tried to keep off the state primary ballot eight years earlier.

And while he voted for McCain and said he would again in a heartbeat, he said he was troubled by how the Republican campaign had unfolded.

“To me it was very disappointing, but not overly surprising. One of the sad things is that I can’t sit here and think of two or three things that we were saying if we win we will do that will make your life better,” he said.

Going forward, he said, Republicans will have to take more responsibility for their role in the fi nancial collapse.

“I can’t believe my party was so lax on regulation. Yes, we trust the marketplace, and it’s a good thing, but it was Ronald Reagan who said ‘Trust, but verify.’ It wasn’t in the context of the economy, but in the context of the economy, that should be us,” he said.

From this he moved into what could become a campaign talking point.

“I think we failed, meaning my party at the national level over the course of the past few years,” he said, “but on the other hand, I think the solution of having politicians in Washington run our economy is a recipe for failure as well.”

Pataki agrees with the idea of a stimulus, but said that while he approves of the attention paid to infrastructure and clean energy in the one passed by the Democratic Congress and signed by President Obama, the fi nal version was crammed too full of “social engineering and Washington power grabs that had nothing to do with economic growth.”

But politics is not about voters parsing details like these. New York was a happier place when Pataki was governor—the economy was booming, and the bumbling of the governor’s offi ce was not a constant

Focusing on national policy is one essential part of George Pataki’s pivot into a potential Senate candidacy. Trying to recast how people remember his performance as governor is the other.

First of all, Pataki contends, the withering of New York Republicans was the result of the national party’s failures and George W. Bush’s unpopularity, and not his fault. He rejects the very common complaint that he did not do enough to build a farm team over his 12 years in charge.

“We tried very hard,” he said. “I tried very hard to work at the grassroots level to help the party. But take a look in the Northeast! It’s been very frustrating to see the impact that the perception of the national party has had on my party throughout the Northeast, and it’s made it very diffi cult.”

Nor does he accept the general assessment of his record as governor—that, especially as time went on, he did not do enough, he was not engaged enough, and that his administration simply treaded water.

“We got so much done,” he said. In addition to his undisputed record on the environment, Pataki said, he has the

distinction of leaving offi ce with record highs for the state bond rating and record lows for the state unemployment numbers, all while building up billions of dollars in reserve.

But for all the blame he lays at the feet of Democrats, Pataki has his own questions to answer for, said H. Carl McCall (D), the former state comptroller and Pataki’s 2002 opponent.

“He would have to explain why the state is in such a terrible fi scal condition now, given the fact that he was here for 12 years, and one could suggest he would be the one responsible,” McCall said.

For example, McCall indicated that the bond rating might be attributable to the fi scally questionable move of racking up large debts. And anyway, McCall added, there are quite a few questions about how the bond agencies made their ratings in the wake of the Wall Street collapse.

Pataki stands by what he called a forward-thinking approach, despite the jump from a $63.23 billion state budget in his fi rst year to a $112.8 billion budget in his 12th

“We worked very hard to prepare for diffi cult times,” he said, attributing the success to doing “the fi scally conservative, prudent things.”

There is more to his record than that, though. Pataki wants people to recognize the pro-business, pro-development atmosphere he fostered, which meant that more towers were built in Manhattan during his years in charge than at any other time in history (and, notably, that leaves the building he had dubbed the Freedom Tower as the only such project currently underway in the United States).

And they should recognize as well his record on fi ghting crime, instead of just giving all the credit for the declines to mayors Rudy Giuliani (R) and Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) and a sustained economic boom. The 100-plus criminal justice laws he signed, including measures to toss bad judges and reform the parole system, has a lot to do with New York going from the most dangerous state to the safest large state between 1995 and 2006.

“Yes, Rudy and Mike and Commissioner Kelly, and before him, Rudy’s commissioners, deserve a lot of credit, but so too does what happened in Albany,” he said. “We never got any press for that. Probably most people don’t know much of what we accomplished, if they know anything about it on crime. But I do. And I know that hundreds, if not thousands, have been saved.”

But not getting the attention he believes he deserves, he admits, is an inherent danger of politics in the Empire State.

“If you run for offi ce because you want to be put on a pedestal and people say what a great job you’re doing, don’t do it in New York,” he said. “But I knew that before I ran.”

—EIRD

topic conversation. Albany may have been slow and dysfunctional, but what people seem to remember now is the lack of prostitution scandals and tax hikes. Not much could have revived Pataki and the Republican Party in the minds of New Yorkers. Helped along by the fi nancial crisis, the Democrats have managed to fi nd a way.

Two months after they sent him off into the sunset, only 36 percent of New Yorkers had a favorable opinion of their former governor, according to a Siena College poll from February 2007. In Siena’s April 20, 2009 poll, his approval numbers had climbed to 49 percent, only a few points shy of the highest approval numbers Siena ever recorded for him.

Looking to the Future, Pataki Mounts Defense of the Past


The same poll put Paterson at 27 percent and Gillibrand at 33 percent. And while Siena did not ask what would happen in a potential Pataki-Gillibrand match-up, it did fi nd that only 20 percent of people were ready to elect her next year, while 47 percent were looking for someone else, in a nearly 20-point spike since she took offi ce, even as the numbers of those who would elect her have remained level.

Marist College did ask the Pataki-Gillibrand question in its March 4 poll. Just a few weeks after National Republican Senatorial Committee chair John Cornyn came to New York to broach the idea of running with the governor, 41 percent of those polled picked him over Gillibrand, with only 45 percent for her. Things may have changed since, but already, said Marist Poll director Lee Miringoff, those are “very competitive numbers.”

This has gotten Pataki’s attention, even

Back in 1994, then-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R) helped propel an obscure state senator named George Pataki (R) into the governor’s mansion. The Republican Revolution was at hand across the country, and D’Amato was the New York fi eld general, making sure his handpicked candidate knocked Mario Cuomo (D) from power.

These days, D’Amato calls his political viewpoint “Republicrat,” had a spot front-and-center at the press conference announcing Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D) appointment, and says he has not talked to Pataki recently about the idea of running for Senate or anything else.

Even so, the man who once admitted that his old protégé’s performance in offi ce broke his heart said that New York Republicans should and will be open to Pataki running for Senate.

“The party would like to have a winner, and just because he may have made some decisions that I felt were not in the state’s best interests and I felt badly about doesn’t mean” that he should be disqualifi ed, D’Amato said.

“There’s some hardliners, there are always some hardliners,” he explained. “But if they can forgive Rudy Giuliani for having supported Mario Cuomo, certainly it seems to me that the party is big enough to be able to support George Pataki enthusiastically if he decided to run.”

But though D’Amato says he is over the problems of the past, his once-broken heart now seems to be with Rep. Peter King (R-Nassau), whose interest in the race has been largely drowned out since the rumors of Pataki’s interest in the Gillibrand race began to emerge. It is King, not Pataki, whom D’Amato now refers to as the “leading luminary” in the state GOP.

Indeed, asked whether he would support Pataki, his old ally, over Gillibrand, who interned in his Senate offi ce while she was in college and whose father is an old friend, D’Amato turned the conversation to King.

“I am a Republican, and if the choice is between Peter King or Gillibrand, I would be supporting Peter,” D’Amato said, citing his close friendship with the nine-term congressman and kindred philosophy.

Asked if he would make that same commitment to backing Pataki, D’Amato paused.

“Most likely,” he said.For his part, King has been making some appearances around

the state and beginning to fundraise, with a plan to make a fi nal decision about running by the end of the summer.

A few months ago, his intentions were much more certain. A huge critic of the idea of Gov. David Paterson’s (D) appointing Caroline Kennedy to the Senate, King said he had already prepared a statement of candidacy that he would have been “ready to fi le two seconds after Paterson appointed her.”

Among those who had encouraged him to do this while the Kennedy speculation was at full throttle, King noted, was Pataki himself.

Nevertheless, he said, he does not mind the recent speculation about the Senate seat centering on Pataki.

“If George wants to get his name out there, it’s fi ne,” King said. “I’m not going to begrudge anyone getting into the race, especially when I haven’t decided about running.”

While King lagged in the early March Marist poll, which found that Republicans preferred Pataki over him 56-32 percent, and that he was down against Gillibrand 49-28 while Pataki was much closer at 45-41, he said the internal polling he has seen makes him confi dent about his chances.

In addition to the support that his Republican record gives him upstate, King said, the data shows him ahead in the outer boroughs of New York City and the surrounding suburbs, crucial swing areas for a statewide election.

“I run stronger than any other Republican I’ve seen in polls in the suburbs,” he said.

In other words, King hinted, leave the Gillibrand challenge to him.

“George can run against Schumer,” he joked, referring to the other Senate seat, which will also be up next year.

If not, King said, he is prepared to take on Pataki in a primary.

“To me it would show that people are interested,” King said. “It shows that the seat is worth going for.”

—EIRD

catching him somewhat by surprise. “The idea of running for Senate a year

ago was not in the cards for him,” said his longtime friend, former chief of staff and

business partner John Cahill. In recent weeks, though, “he certainly has been giving it some thought, deeper thought than anyone would have imagined.”

He has taken many in the state party by surprise as well, though they now seem

ready to embrace another Pataki candidacy, past disputes regardless. There is a simple pragmatism involved: despite a weakened Democratic Party and an untested

governor, senator and comptroller, their bench is thin. Pataki does have the name recognition, and he might be able to put together the money, and having a man who has won statewide in the Senate slot would be a relief, even among a base he infuriated

during his strikingly non-conservative later years as governor.

“There’s no question about it: over the 12 years, but certainly in the last four years, I had many differences with him and was not happy,” said Conservative Party Chair Michael Long, while admitting that he was open to the idea of once again giving Pataki the crucial ballot line had for his three gubernatorial runs.

However, Long said, this would not come without some new commitments from the governor.

“Naturally, if he got serious about running for the U.S. Senate, we’d have to sit down and have a philosophical conversation,” he said.

Then there are the realities of what running for Senate next November would entail, none harsher than the $30 million he would likely need to raise to make a serious challenge. Pataki closed the PAC he had started to fuel his presidential prospects in February, and he has just $292.23 left in an account with the State Board of Elections that has not been active since January 2007. He would be starting from scratch, and in a tough economy.

He has yet to begin fundraising or any active outreach. He says this is both a statement of principle, objecting to the constant churn of elections in the media, and a refl ection of his confi dence that he has enough time. After all, he tells every reporter who asks him the inevitable question of whether he is running, in 1994, back when he was an unknown state senator, he did not announce his gubernatorial campaign until that January—and look what happened then. So he has time to decide on the Senate race, he insists. Eight months at least. Maybe 10. Maybe even a year.

The party leadership will probably not be that patient. Practically, they cannot afford to be, no matter how thin their bench is. Without a fundraising operation and more active presence underway, there is no way to oust an incumbent senator, even if she is unpopular and likely to draw several primary challengers.

Mondello says he wants to know who all his statewide candidates will be by the end of the summer. Others say Pataki’s public appearances and fundraising operation will have to pick up well if he

wants to signal his interest in the race. “The longer he waits, the more remote

it becomes,” said former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R), the man who engineered Pataki’s gubernatorial win 15 years ago.

Others in the party share this concern. Many may be eager to have Pataki run, but their version of what happened in 1994 makes them wonder how seriously the former governor is really weighing a return. He may have waited until that January to step in front of the cameras

and offi cially declare his candidacy, but he was involved in extensive conversations and preparations long before. And, they point out, by the time he did, there was a critical mass of party power brokers and operatives behind him. None of that

D’Amato, Once Pataki’s Kingmaker, Now Leans Toward King

Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato at the press confer-ence announcing the appointment of Kirsten Gil-librand to the Senate.

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“Jesus Christ. I mean, he could win,” said one former

operative, “but Jesus Christ.”


behind-the-scenes movement is going on now.And so, some senior Republicans suspect, 2010

will in the end be a rehash of an old Pataki pattern rather than the actual emergence of a new Pataki candidacy.

“It’s like his run for president,” said one when pressed. “Some people bullshit, and he’s one of the best.”

Pataki has never run in a race like the one against Gillibrand would be. Without the power of an offi ce to make deals on policy in exchange for

political support, Pataki and his inner circle would have to devise ways of building a winning coalition that are alien to them. Nor would he have the incumbency as an excuse for the kind of Rose Garden campaigns he ran in 1998 and 2002.

The GOP is counting on the likely (and likely bloody) Democratic primary battle to help, but that may be a stretch. In 1998, after all, Chuck Schumer emerged from a real bruiser with Geraldine Ferraro and Mark Green, and still ended up beating D’Amato by 10 points.

But the race against Gillibrand seems set to be even more intense. And the more candidates who

jump in, the more likely the winner will be someone without strong support from Democratic voters going into the election. That, along with the tailspin of state Democrats and the dissatisfaction with the economy could make the race too enticing for Pataki to skip.

Still, Pataki will not say anything about his intentions except that he is back.

He is writing a book, to be out next spring, which will detail his policy proposals for New York and the country. He is still working on a title.

But just being a party elder, he admitted, makes shaping the debate diffi cult.

“You probably can’t,” he said, “because people in elected offi ce are the ones that get the attention by virtue of their position.”

And so he stokes the speculation. Last year, Pataki was not even at the big state

Republican Party dinner held every year in midtown Manhattan. This year, he was promoted as a featured guest, given the speaking slot right after Newt Gingrich and introduced to the crowd by Mondello as one of the party’s favorite sons.

Pataki’s speech was shorter than Gingrich’s, which included a near-announcement of the Senate

candidacy on Pataki’s behalf, and even shorter than the introduction Gingrich got from Rudy Giuliani. But it was much more passionate. Picking up energy as he went, he reminded everyone of the good times, the low taxes, the energetic economy back when he was in charge. He cracked a joke about being approached by a man who scolded him for frequenting prostitutes, which Pataki used as an opportunity to absolve himself publicly of all the bad things that happened since he left.

“If there’s still any press, it wasn’t me,” he said. “I’m the former governor of New York who left voluntarily.”

Then he leaned into the podium on his left elbow, lumbering forcefully into an attack on all the Democrats who have come into power in his wake.

“Let me tell you something, to President Obama, the Democrats in Washington: this is a great country. We’re going through tough economic times. We’re going to get through it, we’re going to be stronger than we were before—not because of what you’re doing, but because of what the people are doing,” he said. “Stop claiming the sky is falling! If you would get out of the way, this country would come back stronger

than it has ever been before!”They cheered. They applauded. They banged

their forks on their glasses. Pataki shifted his weight, clearly enjoying the

response and the feeling of being back up in front of a crowd.

“The Democratic Party now asks you to depend on the government, and they will provide for you. They have lost their way! They are not the future! They are not right for America!” he said, the applause beginning to drown him out. “We need to work hard, get our act together, and we’re going to elect a governor, a senator, a Senate majority, a lot of new members of Congress in New York, and we’re going to see our country and our state better come 2011!”

And with the room still cheering, he walked off stage with a broad smile on his face.

“He’s been gone too long,” Mondello said, taking back the microphone. “We’ve got to bring him back!”

Mondello waved his arm in, keeping the applause going.

People started to get convinced.“Going into the dinner, I wasn’t certain about

the bold assertions they were making,” said one Assembly Republican, refl ecting on the rumors he had heard of Pataki’s return and the level of emotion and nostalgia between the former governor and the crowd. “Listening to him speak, he sounded to me like a candidate for offi ce.”

At the end of the night, after posing for photos for the crowd and autographing a few tickets but before leaving for the night, Pataki found Mondello among the emptying tables. They hugged, and Mondello stayed gripping Pataki’s elbows as they spoke, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. They could have been posing for a wedding photo.

“Are you going to run for the Senate?” Mondello asked, trying for the straight answer which all the reporters Pataki had just escaped from failed to get.

Pataki smiled. He did not say yes. He did not say no. But he nodded his head as Mondello quietly encouraged him to take the idea seriously.

“It is so nice to be back,” Pataki said, a note of emotion swelling in his throat.

He turned to leave, shook his head, and turned back to Mondello to say it again.

“It is so nice to be back.” [email protected]

Conservative Party chair Michael Long said he would need to have a “philosophical conver-sation” before supporting Pataki again, but he is open to the idea.

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The New York Affordable Reliable ElectricityAlliance (New York AREA) is a diverse group

of business, labor, environmental, and commu-nity leaders working together for clean,

low-cost and reliable electricity solutions thatfoster prosperity and jobs for the Empire State.

S P E C I A L S P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

CompetitiveMarkets FosterEnergy Innovation

By Arthur (Jerry) Kremer

All New Yorkers know the benefits of competition in theireveryday lives. Upstaters know that the addition of airlines suchas Southwest and JetBlue have lowered airfares and increasedservice to more destinations. Downstaters know that competitionfor telephone and cable service has led to more choices andgreater value. New Yorkers continue to benefit from our state’scompetitive electricity markets, which have generated greaterreliability, system efficiencies and consumer empowerment. Thisis why proposals allegedly calling for an end to competition inour state’s electricity markets are so troubling.

In 1996 the state’s Public Service Commission implemented aprogram to foster competitive electricity rates, and the resultshave clearly shown that this system works for New Yorkers.Competition has encouraged the development of a diversifiedpower generation system, provided savings to consumers andhas led to increased generator availability and efficiency,resulting in a cleaner environment.

The current market rules have also spurred the entry of new,renewable electricity generation into the State’s power grid,and have led to incentives for consumers to reduce theirelectricity usage during times of peak demand; fostering morethan 2,100 megawatts of electricity in New York IndependentSystem Operator-led programs.

Competitive markets have been responsible for a decrease inwholesale electricity prices in New York. When adjusted forincreased fuel costs, wholesale power prices decreased by 11 percent over the past eight years resulting in a savings of$1.2 billion for consumers.

New Yorkers rightfully demand a transparent energy market; onein which no stone is left unturned on behalf of ratepayers,working families and small businesses. Legislative proposals toend New York’s successful competitive electricity markets is asure-fire way to add to the financial burden already endured byNew York’s hard-pressed working families and small businesses.

Supporting New York’s competitive electricity markets is animportant step towards fostering energy innovation, a cleanerenvironment and lower rates for consumers.

Arthur (Jerry) Kremer is Chairman of the New York AffordableReliable Electricity Alliance and co-author of the Article X PowerPlant Siting Law. He served in the State Assembly for 23 years,including 12 as Chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee

W W W . A R E A - A L L I A N C E . O R G

2020202020


BY DAN RIVOLI

These days, there are more greenbacks backing the green agenda in New

York. After more than 20 years

advocating for environmental causes, the League of Conservation Voters has pumped up its PAC to expand its political operation.

“It’s a sea change in how we see ourselves in an organization,” said Marcia Bystryn, the group’s executive director.

Originally charged with an educational mission, the League has evolved into an important seal of approval for politicians. But the group’s support was always a paper endorsement, often mentioned on a candidate’s website or campaign mailer among a long list of other endorsements.But to add value to the 2009 races, Bystryn said the PAC is aiming to raise at least $200,000—a huge jump from the $81,702 it had on hand at the beginning of the year.

“We need political money on the table,” Bystryn said. “We’re focusing some of our fundraising around just that.”

The League is also raising its profi le by expanding into everyday issues, like energy costs and subway fare hikes, that fall outside the scope of traditional environmentalism.

New League chair Robert Hallman said he hopes fundraising will be bolstered by the group expanding its message to include sustainability, energy and green technology.

“Our approach that will make us more effective is bringing together the economy and the environment,” Hallman said. “The more people see it, the more people will support the League and our PAC.”

And League members are hoping for more opportunities like last year’s upset State Senate race that put Brian Foley (D-Suffolk) ahead of 13-term incumbent Caesar Trunzo (R). That success was no coincidence: years earlier, the League had targeted municipal seats throughout the state, including Foley’s original Brookhaven town supervisor race. When Foley announced his State Senate campaign, the League was

already versed in the politics of the district and its environmental issues. That enabled it to quickly become a force in the race, pouring in $100,000 on Foley’s behalf to inundate the district with TV ads and mailers and robo-calls. Even actor Alec Baldwin cut a robo-call.

Foley’s victory was one of two races that handed Democrats control of the State Senate, though Bystryn contends that the goal was only to get Foley elected, without mind to the implications for changing the power structure of Albany. Nonetheless, she said, the League is making best of the

new leverage they gained because of participation in the Foley race.

“We’re using it to the extent that we can convince the new Democratic majority that the environment is an important issue that we ought to respond to,” Bystryn said.

Hallman called the Foley race a demonstration of how the League could fl ex its muscle in a political campaign to shape the debate.

“It showed that the environmental movement can play the political game,” Hallman explained, “just like any other interest group, like labor and business.”

[email protected]

League of Conservation Voters executive director Marcia Bystryn is helping pioneer the organization’s new, more po-litical approach.

League of Extraordinary EnvironmentalistsWith PAC in place, politics picks up

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New York AREA’s membership includes someof the state’s most vital business, labor and

community organizations including: ThePartnership for NY City, Business Council of

NY State, NY Building Congress, NYSRestaurant Association, the Teamsters,

Carpenters, IBEW and many more.


Nuclear EnergyVital forNew YorkBy Melvin Burruss

Historically, demand for electricity has always grown and willcontinue to do so, despite the implementation of newtechnologies and efficiency efforts. That demand is significantlyaffected by today’s growing dependence on a myriad of devicesthat need to be “plugged in.”

Currently, more than 50 percent of the nation’s electricity isproduced by coal-burning plants, resulting in billions of tons ofgreenhouse gas emissions annually. Imagine if that 50 percentwere changed to a mix of clean nuclear and renewable energysources. The environmental benefits to our communities wouldbe enormous.

In recent years New York State has forced many coal burningpower plants out of business to reduce our carbon footprint.However, what will we use to replace this energy load and thejobs lost as a result?

If the re-licensing of Indian Point Energy Center is not allowed,we would also lose about one third of the Downstate region’senergy supply and thousands would be added to theunemployment lines.

Nuclear facilities like Indian Point play an important role inmaintaining our energy supply and bolstering our economichealth. It offers opportunities for high paying jobs and is saferand cleaner than coal or natural gas. Nuclear energy also reducesour dependence on foreign sources of energy. Without it therewould be a significant increase in harmful airborne pollutantsand toxins that are especially detrimental to our children andelderly citizens.

The Journal of Natural Resources & Environmental Law hasshown that pollutants from fossil-fuel power plants are linked todiseases of both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems,which greatly affects New Yorkers living in poorer communities,many of which house a variety of greenhouse gas emittingfacilities.

If we really want to make progress in New York in cleaning upour environment and ensuring affordable electricity to meetdemand, while providing opportunities for our communities toprosper economically, then nuclear power must have asignificant role in downstate New York’s energy future.

Melvin Burruss is the President of the African American Men ofWestchester and a member of the New York Affordable ReliableElectricity Alliance.


For advertising information, please contact your account executive at 212-284-9735 or [email protected]

POLITICS • POLICY • PERSONALITIES


The Way to Reach Elected Officials

Look who’s readingThe Capitol...


Searching for Results in Combating GoogleRescuecom Corp. v. GoogleDecided by: Second Circuit Federal Appeals Court, April 3

What if you searched Google for Apple Computers but Microsoft’s website appeared instead? Google’s selling of company names for its Ad-Words advertisements makes situations like this occur every day for every type of company. When it happened to the Rescuecom Corporation, a national computer-repair chain, the company decided to take a stand against the Internet search giant. Googling “Rescuecom” turned up not only Rescuecom’s website but a number of advertisements (on the right side of the screen) for the repair shop’s competitors. Because Google had sold the “Rescuecom” name publicly, the competitors could use the Rescuecom name to advertise themselves.

Dissatisfi ed with what it viewed as illegal uses of its trademarked name, Rescuecom sued Google in federal court for violations of the Lanham Act, the federal trademark law. The act protects brand integrity and tries to prevent consumer confusion—imagine the dilemma if every box of circular oat-based cereal had “Cheerios” on it.

The federal district court in Albany dismissed Rescuecom’s lawsuit, holding that Google’s use of the Rescuecom name was not “in commerce,” one of the requirements for a trademark infringement claim. But the federal appeals court in Manhattan reversed the decision and pushed the case toward trial. Three federal judges reasoned the selling of a business name online had to constitute an activity “in commerce.” Moreover, the court described many circumstances where search engines could violate trademark, depending on how the Internet company structured its algorithms. The court hinted at the reasonableness of Rescuecom’s suit, although it withheld a formal comment on the merits. It likened Google’s acts to deceptive product placement of generic foods in grocery stores, and explained that if a consumer was misled by the way a store organized its products, that store could be liable for trademark infringement.

At trial, a victory for Rescuecom could mean a complete reworking of how Google and other Internet companies advertise online.

Municipalities Dabble in Mortgages10 East Realty LLC v. Village of Valley StreamDecided by: Court of Appeals, March 31

In 2002, the Village of Valley Stream, which is located fi ve miles northeast of Kennedy Airport, sold $275,000 of land to Lincoln Realty Company. Rather than take cash at the time of sale, the Village took a 15-year mortgage interest in the property at 5 percent per year. A group of villagers and a civic organization, angered by the transaction, sued the town to void the sale as a violation of the New York Constitution. Specifi cally, the residents alleged that the Gift or Loan Clause prohibits the execution of purchase-money mortgages by a town. The clause reads, “No county, city, town, village or school district shall give or loan any money or property to or in aid of any individual, or private corporation or association, or private undertaking.”

Although the Appellate Division agreed with the residents, New York’s highest court reversed and dismissed the lawsuit. The Court of Appeals held that the deferred payment plan did not constitute a loan. The judges gave few clues into their thinking, with the decision presenting the opaque logic that just because a transaction involves an interest rate and a term of payment, it is not necessarily “an unconstitutional loan.” Understandably, the court did not want to tie the hands of municipalities in the face of an economic crisis, but the decision is a signifi cant expansion in the power of municipalities to structure “loan-like” transactions. Since the judges drew no boundaries in their decision and submitted no substantive defi nition of a loan, the Legislature may need to clarify the meaning of “loan” in New York.

Suing Makes Cities Less Able To Protect?McLean v. City of New YorkDecided by: Court of Appeals, March 31

When three-month-old Briana

fell from a bed at Patricia Theroulde’s day-care center in New York City and suffered a brain injury, her mother, Charlene McLean, wanted answers. McLean discovered that Briana was not the fi rst child neglected by Theroulde: twice

before, the Department of Social Services had received complaints; in the previous two years, Theroulde’s husband had allegedly dipped a child’s hand into a bowl of hot oatmeal and another child was left alone for 90 minutes in a store. Both complaints were confi rmed by child services. Although either complaint should have prevented Theroulde from renewing her registration as a day-care provider, the City of New York approved her renewal. Less than a year later, Briana fell.

McLean sued the City for negligence, citing the registration renewal as the cause of Briana’s injury. While two lower courts said the City could be liable, the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed. The high court renewed its longstanding rule that lawsuits against municipalities for negligence are permissible only in the rarest instances, such as when a duty to protect is specifi cally created by statute. The court reasoned that exposing cities to litigation “would be likely to render them less, not more, effective in protecting their citizens.”

Bench Threats Could Bench SentencePeople v. FlinnDecided by: Appellate Division, Fourth Department, March 20

Last year, as Gunther Flinn appeared in court to enter his plea for a second-degree murder charge, Jefferson County Judge Kim Martusewicz told Flinn that he would treat him “very differently as far as the sentence is concerned” if Flinn decided to exercise his constitutional right to a trial. The judge promised a post-trial sentence would be “nothing like that Flinn would get if he stood up and accepted his responsibility.” Seeing few choices, Flinn pled guilty and appealed, claiming his plea was coerced.

The Fourth Department agreed, fi nding that threatening someone with a longer sentence for exercising his Sixth Amendment right to a trial is unconstitutional. Flinn should get another chance later this year.

—James McDonald

To learn more about New York AREA advocacy,educational programs, events, membership or

sponsorship opportunities, contact us at 212-683-1203, [email protected] or visit us at www.area-alliance.org


InfrastructureUpgrades Vital toLocal Economy

By Larry Davis

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our nation’s real

unemployment rate is now surpassing 15.6 percent. The Capital

District Regional Planning Commission is also reporting as

much as 13 percent unemployment upstate. In this staggering

economy, it is crucial that New York’s elected officials take the

necessary steps to get New Yorkers working again.

Recently, the state was allocated $31 million for energy

efficiency and conservation from Washington, DC through the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but Upstate

New York alone needs much more than that. And while energy

efficiency and conservation will create some green jobs, this is

alone will not help us weather this severe economic storm.

One sure-fire way to bolster the economy and help stabilize

electricity delivery and costs is rebuild New York’s aging energy

infrastructure. This means replacing or upgrading the numerous

old power plants throughout the state. It also means investing in

non-polluting renewable energy like hydro-power, and

promoting more nuclear energy projects that yield low-cost and

clean energy, as well as a multitude of high-paying jobs.

New York needs these infrastructure investments to bolster our

workforce. A renewed Article X power plant siting law, a new

reactor at Nine Mile Point and the construction of new

electricity transmission infrastructure will prepare our state for

future growth while putting thousands of hard-working men and

women to work. For Upstate’s working families, this is a true

jobs plan.

The over 100 thousand families of the 15 trades represented by

the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council

have earned their bread and butter by building and maintaining

New York’s infrastructure for over a century. For the sake of

these families, elected officials need to prime the pump to begin

getting New Yorkers back to work.

Larry Davis is an International Representative for the IBEW and servesas the Secretary-Treasurer for the New York State Building andConstruction Trades Council.



Joel Klein puts his experiment and himself on the line in the battle for city schools

In Michael Bloomberg’s world, the debate about who should be in charge of the education of more than one million New York City school children would center less around the who and more

around the education. In our world, mayoral control of schools has always

been about this mayor, the one who ran on it and rammed it through the Legislature, and the man he hired to manage it, Joel Klein.

Klein knows full well that people hate him, and that he is far from the most popular man among many parents and legislators.

But he wishes that they would just get over it. “I would assume it not be about me at all,” shrugged

Klein. “I would like it to be about the policies.” Klein has become indistinguishable from the policies.

The chancellor’s critics say he runs the city’s school system like a business, ignoring customer complaints (read: parents), shuttering franchises (schools) and openly defying the wishes of his shareholders (state legislators).

In other words, they say, Klein and his methods have become a liability for him and for the mayor.

That explains the rumor that surfaced in February that UFT President Randi Weingarten had worked out a deal with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) to renew mayoral control, provided Klein was fi red. Weingarten denies the rumor and Bloomberg has since reaffi rmed his total confi dence in the chancellor.

Polls show that while no one is giving Bloomberg straight A’s for handling the schools, a majority would like him (or his successor) to keep trying. And as the debate heats up, Bloomberg and Klein (or as one critical education blogger called them, “Kleinberg”) will come increasingly under the microscope.

At this point, though, everyone pretty much agrees that mayoral control should and will be renewed. But no one seems to know how to separate the policies from the personalities.

“It shouldn’t be a referendum on the mayor, it shouldn’t be a referendum on Joel Klein,” Weingarten said, though admitting, “in effect, it does become a referendum on them, and that has made the debate far more complicated, particularly in terms of the chancellor.”

Bloomberg’s decision to run for a third term did not help the effort to divorce the policy from him and his chancellor. With Bloomberg the heavy favorite in this year’s election, legislators must confront the reality that extending mayoral control may well mean extending Klein’s control. That has produced another rumor: that the Legislature will punt on reauthorization, passing a one-year extension and then taking up the issue after voters either re-elect Bloomberg or choose someone else.

Bloomberg has said there will be “rioting in the streets” if mayoral control is not renewed. Klein says he welcomes the debate as an opportunity to discuss how to improve.

“I mean, this is education, man!” Klein says with a knowing smirk. “This is controversial!”

Mayoral control in New York is nothing new. During the city’s fi rst experiment with centralized school governance between

1873 and 1969, the mayor appointed each member of the central Board of Education, then would step aside and allow the schools to operate independently from the municipal government. Angry protests about racial integration in the late ’60s, however, spurred the Legislature to decentralize the school system, eliminating most of the mayor’s role and putting policymaking power in the hands of the board.

Then, in response to the petty corruption, patronage and incompetence of the independent Board of Education—and Bloomberg’s intensive lobbying—the Legislature handed the power back to the mayor in 2003.

Now the dilemma is how to integrate elements of the old system, like responsive and engaged district superintendents, less boosterism and more transparency from the Department of Education, into the new system without diluting the mayor’s control of the schools.

That may include giving parents more of a voice. In late March, for example, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the teachers union sued the DOE for closing struggling schools in Harlem and Brooklyn without notifying the local Community Education Council. (In the past, the DOE has defended its right to open and close schools as a way to better serve families in those

communities. There is arguably nothing that typifi es mayoral control of schools more than the DOE’s power to unilaterally close schools.)

Ultimately, the DOE backed off, keeping the schools open,

and the suit was dropped. Nonetheless, several key lawmakers have said they intend to change the law to increase responsiveness to parents. As with all the changes being proposed, Klein is nervous that they go too far. The more lawmakers tweak the structure of mayoral control, he says, the less power he will have to make the type of top-down reforms DOE has been bragging about in its push to reauthorize the law.

“We don’t have a vote on every policy and every issue,” Klein says. “If we did, we’d have stalemate.”

At stake are the types of “big changes” Klein regularly brings up in testimony and in meetings with legislators: an end to social promotion, the creation of a report card system for schools, an increase in teacher salaries, cash incentives to encourage better student performance, merit pay for teachers, the dismantling of community districts and an explosion of new charter schools.

“Even critics of mayoral control will argue that in New York it’s been more possible to institute changes,” said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of public policy and education at Columbia’s Teachers College. “There have been fewer veto points, fewer groups able to block ideas.”

There is no consensus on how effective many of these changes have been. Critics point to the school bus re-route fi asco of 2007 and the cell phone ban as examples of the kind of bad changes that result when there is no input from parents and the community. Some say social promotion still exists, given that a majority of eighth graders struggle to meet state standards in reading and math even though they usually move on to the next grade anyway.

The multiple reorganizations of DOE bureaucracy, changing everything from budget planning to monitoring

medical vaccinations, have caused constant griping as well. For all of Klein’s insistences that he is striving to work

together, those who work with him say that is hardly the case.

“The people involved on a day-to-day basis, whether it’s parents or teachers, don’t feel soft and fuzzy about Joel,” said Weingarten. “They feel he doesn’t listen and that it’s his way or the highway.”

Klein has a mostly thankless job. Education stirs up passions more than any other subject, more than transportation, taxes, term limits or rent.

No matter how well Klein performs, there will always be those who demand he be dismissed.

There is also his persona as an uncaring technocrat, accurate or not, that complicates things.

But he does not always use that persona. Speaking at a PTA breakfast in Coney Island, for example, Klein forgoes the microphone, walking between the tables of middle-aged women, taking every question (though evading some answers).

“If there are ways you think we can do things better,” he says above the big hairdos and clinking coffee cups. “I want to hear from you.”

This Klein is not the one who gets tagged for being indifferent to parental needs and concerns.

In front of an East New York middle school auditorium full of starry-eyed charter school teachers, Klein adopts another persona as he preaches his message to the faithful.

“There are political forces that will fi ght against a lot of what you do,” he says to the hundreds of young teachers, some with tattoos and brightly colored hair, that fi ll the room. “You have got to become soldiers in this battle.”

They cheer him. For a moment, he is less the bald, slightly nebbishy schools administrator and more Bruce Springsteen.

By Andrew J. Hawkins

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THE CAPITOL APRIL 2009 25www.nycapitolnews.comAt an event in mid-March to promote charter schools,

the persona shifts again: Enthusiastic and emboldened, Klein is also chastising to the mostly supportive 6,000 parents and children mobbing the Harlem Armory.

“I want to take a second, I know so far it’s been noisy, but let’s hold the noise for just a second,” he pleaded, sounding like a principal wearily attempting to quiet an assembly of noisy sixth graders.

“Every charter school student stand up!” he yelled, trying to rouse the crowd.

Most ignored the request. Klein proceeded as if they had not. “This is our future,” he said. PTAs and other parent groups, which are some of

Klein’s most vocal critics, are fearful of what they see as an attempt by charter schools to bulldoze their way into what would otherwise be public-school space. Charter proponents bristle at the suggestion that they are “creaming” the best students from public schools, countering that what they really offer is more choice. Plus, they say, President Barack Obama himself has expressed support for charters, holding up their proliferation in New York as a model for other cities. Many are as skeptical of charter schools as they are of mayoral control.

Klein often fi nds himself defending charter schools to those parents who are still wary of these new schools. At the same time, he tries to sell them on the successes of mayoral control.

“There is a shift and there’s no question about it,” Klein said, discussing parents’ changing attitudes to education. “And I think one group is much more into the politics.”

One-on-one, Klein loses a lot of his public bravado. When asked about the praise heaped on him by charter school advocates and others, he mumbles self-deprecatingly and tries to change the subject.

“If you focus on the individuals,” he says, “you get distracted.”

Before being named chancellor, Klein served at the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce in New York, where he spearheaded the antitrust case against Microsoft. His appointment in 2002 was hailed as an attempt to allow an outsider to reform the ailing school system.

Seven years later, Klein is candid about where he has gone wrong during his career.

“There are times when I have not effectively engaged communities, I haven’t given people the opportunity to be heard,” Klein says. “I’m mindful of that.”

Klein is also mindful of his dismal polls numbers, which have been dropping steadily since 2003. He is not Ray Kelly, the only other member of the Bloomberg administration to routinely be the subject of polls, and who has scored consistently high.

Klein’s numbers have dipped since February, from 44 percent to 37 percent approval, but are still slightly better than his lowest numbers in mid-2007.

But Klein insists that things have improved. “In the last year, my approval ratings have gone up

signifi cantly. They could always be better,” he said. “One hundred percent would be good, 110 percent would be better.”

Of course, low poll numbers do not mean mayoral control is a failure, Klein says. And besides, the numbers that do matter—graduation rate, test scores and the achievement gap between whites and minority students—prove mayoral control to be a success.

Those numbers, however, can be more complicated than they appear.

After his pep talk to charter school teachers in East New York, Klein cued up a data-heavy slideshow to back his claims about improving test scores and a shrinking racial achievement gap.

Laser-pointer tracing along the upward sloping lines,

Klein walked the teachers through a short history of New York’s successes in improving many of the indicators by which he hopes mayoral control will be judged.

Test scores are up, Klein tells the teachers, in a similar pitch to the one he has been making to legislators. The achievement gap is narrowing, minority students are performing better than they were six years ago, class sizes are shrinking and the graduation rate—the “Holy Grail” of indicators—has improved signifi cantly.

The public relations blitz began last summer. In June, the department announced across-the-board gains in reading and math for elementary and middle-school students. In July, the department released a survey showing that more than 90 percent of parents were satisfi ed with their children’s education. And in August, they announced that high school graduation rates had hit a new high: 55.8 percent in 2007. The rate had been below 50 percent for decades.

Also over the summer, a handful of charter school proponents, religious leaders and Bloomberg allies got together to form Learn NY, a pro-mayoral control non-profi t. With $3 million in private donations, the group has been lobbying lawmakers in Albany to renew mayoral control without weakening the system.

Learn NY has proven to be an adept ally for the mayor, fi lling Assembly hearings and other education events around the city with parents and supporters of mayoral control. But despite what some suspect, the group says it has only received tacit approval from City Hall and zero donations from the mayor.

Peter Hatch, executive director of Learn NY, said the challenge has been to highlight the positive aspects of mayoral control, while acknowledging how the system should be changed.

“We’re seeing so much progress in the schools,” Hatch said. “If there are parents who don’t have confi dence in that, we have to address that.” That is not the only number in doubt as the push to renew begins in force. Klein and Bloomberg say standardized test scores have improved, for example, but Assembly Member James Brennan (D-Brooklyn), a frequent critic of mayoral control, released a report saying test scores actually began rising four years before Bloomberg took offi ce. Other indicators used by the DOE have also been questioned. Eighth graders, for instance, have made no signifi cant progress when compared to national test scores since Bloomberg took over the schools. National scores also show little gains in narrowing the achievement gap between white and minority students.

But when Klein is deep in his educational champion persona, all that controversy fades away.

“People can always challenge the information,” he says. “They also pick and choose the numbers.”

Klein dismisses the comparison of city scores to national ones, saying that DOE does not factor national numbers into its “accountability metric.” Compared to the state average, he says, the city outperforms almost every other school district.

The graduation rate, which has hovered barely above 50 percent during Klein’s tenure, is also a source of controversy. Klein has stopped counting discharges—students removed from the rolls but not considered dropouts—but does count failing students who earn credit by turning in independent projects. According to the original parameters, critics say, the graduation rate has increased only 6 percent since Bloomberg took over the schools. That is about half the increase Klein regularly advertises.

A fi nal vote on mayoral control, whatever is negotiated, is not expected until June, and perhaps not until the very end of June, when

the Legislature embarks on its traditional end-of-session cram before the summer recess. But the early outlines of the deal are already beginning to come into focus.

To get to the bottom over the allegations that Klein gins up the numbers, an independent audit of DOE data may be in the works, perhaps by the Independent Budget Offi ce or some other outside group. The Panel of Education Policy, a 13-member vestige of the old Board of Education that serves as an advisory board, also may be reworked under a revised law. (Several unions are divided on how to restructure the PEP. The UFT wants to take away the mayor’s power to appoint the majority of the panel’s members. But the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators argues that without a plurality of the appointments, as well as the power to appoint the chancellor, the mayor would not have the control over the schools he needs.)

Almost everyone wants more checks on the chancellor’s control, more transparency, more parental involvement—but few can seem to agree on what that would look like. Suggestions include an elevated role for the district superintendents, as well as new provisions to ensure Klein keeps in the loop the Community Education Councils, advisory panels made up of parents and teachers that represent each of the 32 school districts.

During a recent Assembly hearing, Comptroller William Thompson (D), a former president of the Board of Education and a current candidate for mayor, issued a series of recommendations intended to bring greater accountability to mayoral control. He proposed splitting the responsibility of appointing members to the Panel between the mayor and the borough presidents. Education Chair Cathy Nolan (D-Queens) bubbled over with praise, effusing that “no one has come up with recommendations this well thought-out.”

But several sources close to the negotiations see things differently, panning Thompson’s recommendations as “stupid” and little more than a political posture for his bid to unseat Bloomberg.

In the end, both sides of the debate need to save face. With all the grandstanding and anger surrounding mayoral control, a conclusion that satisfi es every parent, teacher, union member, lawmaker and DOE employee, and that leaves Klein with enough authority to mold policy, is hard to imagine.

Two things need to happen for mayoral control to be renewed. The hardcore supporters of mayoral control—the editorial boards, Bloomberg and the various groups supporting him—have to accept that there will be signifi cant changes, but the Legislature needs to make sure these do not eviscerate what Bloomberg and Klein have created.

“If either of these two things don’t happen,” said one source close to the negotiations, “if either the Legislature passes a bill that’s mayoral control in name only, or the folks on the other side can’t take a good deal, then we’re going to be screwed.”

Although Bloomberg has reaffi rmed his total confi dence in Klein, rumors continue to circulate about his inevitable dismissal. Whether he will be sacrifi ced by Albany in order for mayoral control to go on remains to be seen.

Klein, for one, would like to remain chancellor so he can continue his effort to improve education in New York.

“I don’t want to overstate where we are in the process,” he said, leaning back in the light-fi lled conference room with heavy oak doors and shutters that people in Tweed refer to as the Bat Cave. “I don’t want to sit here and say we’ve done everything perfectly or everything about the current situation is right.”

But mayoral control has stirred the pot. The experiment deserves a chance to continue. And he deserves a chance to continue as well, he said. There are bigger things at stake.

“The core principles about mayoral responsibility and authority, I think, has enabled the mayor to do some controversial things,” Klein said, “and controversy is necessary if we’re going to change public education.” C

[email protected]


BY CLARK MERREFIELD

There are 95 Assembly members and 36 state senators who represent areas of the state

outside of New York City. Yet these 121 men and women will determine the fate of the city’s one million school children and its $21 billion budget when they decide whether or not to renew mayoral control of the city’s schools later this year.

Not a single upstate member, though, attended the public hearings the Assembly held this winter on mayoral control.

But that does not mean they are unable to make informed judgments.

“I can’t say I’ve read every page, but I’ve read the substantive arguments on both sides,” said Assembly Member Marc Molinaro (R-Dutchess/Columbia), a member of the Education Committee.

Molinaro, 33, spent his early years near New York City, and almost had the chance to see fi rsthand what city schools were like in the gritty 1980s.

“I was born in Yonkers,” he said. “My family’s decision to move upstate

was based on my mother’s concern that she not have kids go through the public education system in the city.”

Molinaro said he would listen to his colleagues from the city, adding that he has “not been intimately involved in the

New York City school system.”Assembly Member Bob Reilly (D-

Albany/Saratoga) could not remember when he had last been in a New York City public school, but had an idea of what they were like.

“My quick image, my fi rst impression,

is antiquated buildings that look more like jails than schools, and that have a very offensive smell to them,” he said.

He said schools over 60 years old should be rebuilt and class sizes limited to 14.

The State Senate, meanwhile, has held a total of nine public hearings on mayoral control, which were also sparsely attended by non-city legislators.

“I cannot say that people from Syracuse, Buffalo—no, they’re not

Non-City Legislators Weigh Decision on City Schools

BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

Most people do not keep copies of the mayoral control law in their offi ces.

Steve Sanders does. “I wrote the law, so I know what’s in

the law,” said Sanders, who chaired the Assembly Education Committee from 1995 to 2005, jabbing a fi nger at the leather-bound book containing the text.

Keeping a copy nearby is handy as Sanders levels his criticisms at how Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has been interpreting the law.

“There are a number of things he is doing, in my opinion as the author of the law, that are not authorized,” he said. “He was freelancing, he was doing things beyond the scope that exceeded the authority we gave him.”

Now an Albany-based lobbyist, Sanders fi nds himself back in the middle of the highly charged debate around renewing the law he helped shepherd through, which is set to expire June 30.

Sitting in his offi ce at Crane, Vacco & Sanders, LLC, Sanders said he could have stayed on the sidelines and watched as his successor, Assembly Education Chair Catherine Nolan (D-Queens), did her best to manage all the competing interests involved. But instead, Sanders became one of those competing interests.

Late last year, Sanders was hired to lobby for the New York State School Board Association (NYSSBA), which represents over 700 school boards across the state. The New York City school board, the Panel of Education Policy, was once a member, until Klein ended that affi liation last year. NYSSBA was incensed at Klein’s decision to drop membership, especially since this fed into the group’s notion that that the chancellor was marginalizing the Panel from other state school boards.

As of now, the Panel is mainly a rubber stamp for Klein’s will. Sanders is lobbying his former colleagues to strengthen the Panel when reauthorizing the law, granting it the power to approve construction contracts, union contracts and certain regulations that have an impact on citywide issues, which he said was the original intent as written in the law.

Seeing well-funded groups like Learn NY, a pro-mayoral control lobbying organization, pushing its message on Albany lawmakers, the NYSSBA retained Sanders to lobby on its behalf. Having Sanders on its side “evens the playing fi eld,” said Timothy Kremer, the group’s executive director.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” said Kremer of Learn NY’s reported $20 million budget. “But it is good to know that I have somebody who is aware of

Lobbying To Change His Own Law, Sanders Wades Back into Mayoral Control Former Assembly education chair, Klein foe, charges chancellor with “freelancing”

Steve Sanders helped write the mayoral control law. Now he is lobbying on behalf of the New York State School Board Association to make changes.

what the legislative intent was, who has contacts with those that will be making decisions in Albany, and who has contact with people in New York City.”

From the beginning, Sanders said he suspected something was off about mayoral control. When Klein moved to replace the 32 local school districts with six regional support centers, Sanders joined a lawsuit against the Department of Education to keep them and convened hearings about what he called a subversion of the intent of mayoral control.

Looking at the negotiations over renewal, Sanders said he agrees with increasing transparency and

accountability, and more opportunities for parents to have their voices heard. He is also aware that the law’s many ambiguities have allowed Klein to bypass

parents. “One of the mistakes I made was that

there wasn’t enough specifi city,” Sanders said. “There wasn’t enough specifi c language diagramming what we meant.”

He did take credit for the sunset provision that is now forcing the debate about mistakes made in the fi rst round.

But while Sanders lobbied for Sunshine Development School, Metschools Inc. and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators in addition to NYSSBA, education is not the only thing on his mind. Duane Reade and the East River Science Park Corporation (which would be within his old Assembly district on Manhattan’s

East Side) are also among his clients. While he does not have the same role

he used to, he admits, he still expects his colleagues’ respect in the mayoral control negotiations.

“I see myself as a young elder statesman,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I can opine, I can refl ect, and I do. Sometimes ad nauseum.” C

[email protected]

continued on page 29

Assembly Member Bob Reilly could not remember when he had last been in a New York City public school, but

had an idea of what they were like. “My quick image, my first impression, is antiquated buildings that look more like jails than schools, and that have a very offensive smell to them,” he said.

BA

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LOA

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Thousands of supporters are working tirelessly – speaking out in public meetings, attending rallies and contacting their legislators – to voice their support for accountability in our schools.

COALITION MEMBERS: Abyssinian Baptist Church, Achievement First, ASPIRA, Audubon Partnership, Beginning with Children Foundation, Bronx Clergy Task Force, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, Center for Educational Innovation – Public Education Association (CEI-PEA), Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, Children for Children, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, City Year New York, Civic Build-ers, Common Good, Community Association of Progressive Dominicans (ACDP), Computers for Youth, Council of Afri-can Imams, Crown Heights Youth Collective, East Harlem Tutorial Program, Explore Charter Schools, Fordham Univer-sity, Ghetto Film School, Good Shepherd Services, Groundwork Inc., Harlem Children's Zone, Harlem RBI, “I Have A Dream” Foundation/“I Have A Dream” Foundation – NY Metro, IMPACT Coalition, Islamic Circle of North America, Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation, Learning Leaders, Lincoln Center Institute, Malcolm Shabaz Mosque, MOUSE, Muslim Center of New York, My Time Inc., National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, NYC Charter School Center, Or-thodox Union, Outward Bound of New York, Padres Abogando Por Los Ninos, Partnership for After School Education (PASE), Partnership with Children, Pastor Demetrius Carolina, Publicolor, Ridgewood Bushwick Youth Center, Turkish American Multicultural Educational Foundation, Turnaround, Uncommon Schools, United African Congress, Urban As-sembly, Woodhaven Residents Block Association, YMCA of Greater New York and Young Women's Leadership Net-work. PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS: Hispanic Federation, Asian American Federation, Black Equity Alliance

JOIN PARENTS FROM ACROSS THE CITY AS WE WORK TO RENEW MAYORAL CONTROL.FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 212.674.7770 OR VISIT US ONLINE AT LEARN-NY.ORG.

LEARN NY BOARD: Geoffrey Canada (President and CEO, Harlem Children's Zone), Rossana Rosado (Publisher and CEO, El Diario/La Prensa), Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III (Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church and President, SUNY College at Old Westbury),Sister Paulette LoMonaco (Executive Director, Good Shepherd Services).

PARENTS SUPPORT MAYORAL CONTROL

LEARN NY’S GRASSROOTS COALITION OF MORE THAN 55 SCHOOL-BASED EDUCATION PROGRAMS, COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, AND FAITH-BASED GROUPS –REPRESENTING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PARENTS WHO ARE IN FAVOR OF MAYORAL CONTROL – IS DEDICATED TO CONTINUING THE PROGRESS MADE UNDER

MAYORAL CONTROL. TOGETHER, WE THANK THE LEGISLATURE FOR HEARING OUR VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE AND LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE DISCUSSION ABOUT

HOW WE CAN ENSURE THAT ALL OF NYC’S CHILDREN GET THE QUALITY EDUCATION THEY DESERVE.

www.nycapitolnews.com28 April 2009 THE CAPITOL

Director, DYcD Youth Programs at NYcha ceNtersThe DeparTmenT of YouTh anD CommuniTY DevelopmenT

SALARY: $50,610 to $135,240The Department of Youth and Community Development is seeking to hire a Director for its newly created NYCHA Center Program Unit. DYCD will contract with community-based, non-profit organizations to offer children, youth and families a wide range of educational enrichment, recreation, cultural arts and community assistance programs during the after-school, evening, weekend hours, and during the summer. The programs will be located at selected NYCHA Community Centers throughout New York City, and offer activities that create opportunities for empowerment and skill building; development of sound character and positive social norms; and integration of family, school and community supports - all in an environment supervised by caring adult role models.

Under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner for Beacon and Work Readi-ness Programs, the Director will be re-sponsible for providing direct oversight to ensure implementation of programmatic goals to a staff engaged in effective pro-gram management of all programmatic components. Some specific duties of the Director include:

* Advise the Assistant Commissioner in the development and implementation of all policies, including outcome tracking sys-tems and attendance. * Provide overall supervision to assigned staff engaged in program management/negotiation and monitoring. * Implement senior-level decisions re-garding the management processes for contracts. * Serve as a liaison to partnering City Agencies, community-based organizations and other program stakeholders. * Represent the agency at conferences and other forums. * Design and coordinate technical as-sistance for providers and staff. * Perform related work.

TO VIEW THE ENTIRE POSTING AND LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR AGENCY VISIT www.nyc.gov/dycd

sPecial assistaNt to the DePutY Borough PresiDeNt aND seNior aDvisor to the BPoffiCe of manhaTTan BorouGh preSiDenT, SCoTT m. STrinGer Responsibilities:Assist the DBP/Senior Advisor on special proj-ects and initiatives; Manage the DBP/Senior Advisor’s calendar of events; Handle incoming calls, place calls and communicate on behalf of the DBP/Senior Advisor; Maintain current directories of internal and external contacts; Prepare and disseminate correspondence, reports, and other documentation; Prepare check requests, expense reports, purchase orders and other internal and external forms; Perform other tasks as necessary or required.

Qualifications:Extensive experience as an Executive As-sistant, or related job; Bachelor’s degree preferred;Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills;High level of commitment to promote Bor-ough President’s mission;Ability and enthusiasm for working with staff at all levels of the organization;Individual initiative and strong motivation to complete projects and day-to-day tasks. Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF to [email protected]. NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

assistaNt to the Director of exterNal affairsoffiCe of manhaTTan BorouGh preSi-DenT, SCoTT m. STrinGer

Responsibilities:Provide administrative support to the Di-rector of External Affairs and the unit;Disseminate correspondences, policy re-ports, and other documentation to external partners and stakeholders;Assist in the administrative maintenance of all Borough President’s appointments to various boards and commissions;Maintain office-wide database;Assist in all aspects of executing large scale events, including mailing invitations and other outreach, coordinating vendors, tracking and processing RSVPs, and as-sisting with day-of event needs;Assist with special projects as identified by the Director.

Qualifications:Bachelor’s degree required; at least one (1) year of related experience with govern-ment, civic, policy/research or similar or-ganizations; demonstrated commitment to public service with excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills; Individual initiative and strong motivation to complete projects and day-to-day tasks;Flexibility with working long work hours. Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF to [email protected]. NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

maNager - leaD orgaNizerSCreen aCTorS GuilD

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:• Develop and implement internal/external

organizing campaigns• Conduct outreach to potential employers• Conduct assigned research projects• Work with and provide support to ap-

propriate committee(s) to develop and facilitate organizing efforts

• Manage volunteers• Performs other duties as assigned

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:• Experienced organizer familiar with ba-

sic labor law as it relates to organizing• Experience working on strategic cam-

paigns. Knowledge of traditional and non-traditional organizing methods

• Research experience• Excellent bi-lingual skills• Knowledge of entertainment industry and

SAG contracts a plus • Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite• Excellent leadership skills • Detail oriented with excellent analytical

and problem-solving skills• Able to organize, prioritize and coordinate

multiple tasks under daily deadlines

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:Undergraduate degree in Labor Studies or related field, and/or equivalent work experi-ence in union organizing and/or campaign driven work of at least 2-5 years.

Certificates, licenses, and/or registrations:Must have a current driver’s license with no infractions. Please email cover letter with salary requirements and resume to [email protected]

In Printand OnlineAd Copy: ($30/30 words, $.65 per additional word)

Payment:Check:Credit Card:Name on Card:Expiration Date

Category:q Help Wanted q Employment Wanted q Real Estate q Business Opportunity

Dates to Run:

Mail: Steve Blank/Classified Advertising Manhattan Media 79 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor NY, NY 10016

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Deadline is Friday at 5 pm.

CLASSIFIED ORDER FORMClassifieds


BY JULIE SOBEL

A staggering 30,000 New York City students now sit on a waiting list to get into charter

schools.The waiting list, created

when 30,000 students applied for 8,500 slots, is by far the largest ever in New York City and is expected to grow to at least 50,000 by next year. But state money for charter schools was just frozen at last year’s level in the budget, leaving many school operators with the diffi cult job of managing the explosion in popularity without an increase in state dollars.

“While politicians continue to argue,” about the merits of charter schools, said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, “the customers of the public education in New York State have made up their minds.”

Merriman is hoping the state will adjust regulations to permit more than

one school per charter, allowing the most successful schools to form networks. These networks would essentially then become small charter districts but without the red tape of having to start a new corporation and new board every

time a school opened.A single charter

can now operate an elementary school, middle school and high school, but cannot, for example,

operate three middle schools that funnel into a more economically effective large high school.

“Each time you did it, it would count against the cap,” Merriman added. “This wasn’t tricky.”

Charter schools are governed by a charter that sets certain accountability measures the school must reach. While they receive public funding, charter schools operate free from some of the rules imposed on public schools.

The state budget resulted in what

Charters Schools Push for Ease on LimitsOvercrowding, cuts make changes necessary, backers say

coming down to these hearings, no,” said Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Westchester), chair of the Senate Education Committee.

The Senate vote from outside the city will be informed by a conglomeration of testimony from those hearings and from at least 10 public interest groups, Oppenheimer said. Oppenheimer herself made a site visit last week to P.S. 41 in Manhattan, where her granddaughter is a kindergartener, and will visit public and charter schools in Harlem in May.

“We’re really just at the beginning of the process,” she said.

A month ago, upstate Assembly members had the chance to meet with New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, but only a few attended. Assembly Member Jane Corwin (R-Erie/Niagara) and Reilly were two who did. They said the questions to Klein came exclusively from city legislators.

“What I heard at the meeting with the chancellor is dissatisfaction with the amount of parent involvement,” Reilly said.

Reilly, a former educator who worked six months in the early 1960s at Holy Cross High School in Queens, said that, like Molinaro’s and Corwin’s, his decision would give great weight to the concerns of city legislators. He cautioned, though, that he wants to make sure that if parents are given more power they are capable and ready for the responsibility.

Then there are those from the city who wish their colleagues from elsewhere in the state would leave them be. State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens), for example, said she does not believe giving non-city legislators a say in how city schools are run is fair.

But that, she admitted, is not likely to change anytime soon.

“That would take massive constitutional changes, passed by separate sessions of different legislatures,” she said.

Direct letters to the editor to

[email protected]

continued from page 26

Charter schools

Merriman calls a “double cut” to funding. Charter funding is determined by a formula based on the district’s expenditures. Because the formula depends on knowing all the district revenues and expenditures, it uses the numbers from two years prior. Two years ago, district funding saw a major increase, and charters were supposed to benefi t from that this year. But due to the economic downturn, the governor and legislature agreed to freeze charter

funding and prevent that increase from happening.

The powerful New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) union lobbied for a charter school funding cut proportionate to the cut in state aid that the district received. The double cut comes because it is cut based on current funding as well

as on the one two years ago.“We believe at a time when state aid is

going up,” said Merriman, “and charters are going to be frozen, that if this were to actually happen, it is singling out charters.”

And while the city can make up for any gap in state education aid by raising property taxes, charter schools lack that option.

Many people who think the budget freeze is unfortunate see the hand of lobbyists from the United Federation of

Teachers (UFT), pushing the state to regulate charter schools more than it has previously.

“It’s not a great deal of money. The debate on this has been clouded by people who are very hostile toward the union,” said Sol Stern, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who

specializes in education.Stern added that people should not

be surprised that the UFT lobbyists are taking on an active role in going after the charter school funding.

“I’m shocked,” he deadpanned. “There’s gambling in Casablanca.”

[email protected]

The publication for and aboutNew York State Government


City Hall’s “On/Off the Record”A BREAKFAST WITH

CONGRESSMANANTHONY WEINER

Moderated by Edward-Isaac Dovere, Editor of City Hall

You are invited to a special breakfast on May 18th, featuring Con-gressman Anthony Weiner who will join City Hall for an On/Off the Record discussion. The event will feature a half hour on the record interview and a half hour off the record Q&A with the audience. Space is limited, so reserve your place now by contacting [email protected] or 212-268-0441.

Note: This event is closed to representatives of other media.

MONDAY, MAY 18TH, 8:00 - 9:30 amBreakfast will be served

TD Bank, 317 Madison Avenue and 42nd Street

Please RSVP to [email protected] or 212.268.0441

Space is limited. Please RSVP by May 15.

WWW.CITYHALLNEWS.COM

Charter advocates are hoping the state will adjust regulations to permit more

than one school per charter, allowing the most successful

schools to form networks


States across the country are rushing to demonstrate their ability to quickly get stimulus money into the economy, especially since further federal stimulus money could become available.

In raw numbers, New York has fared well, coming in seventh for most funding for high-way and bridge projects out of all the states. When that funding is taken as a proportion of the overall allocation the state received for those projects, however, it lags in the middle of the pack, at 29th.

Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Ohio and Virginia have not lined up any funding. Okla-homa, meanwhile, has lined the highest pro-portion of its transportation infrastructure fund-ing, at 66.2 percent, followed by Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire.

Here are the 10 states that have lined up the most dollars for highway and bridge projects so far and the overall amount of transportation infrastructure money they received:

StimulusTop Scorers

Sources: ProPublica.org and the Senate Democratic Policy Committee

TexasSecured: $533,700,000Allocated: $2,300,000,000

OklahomaSecured: $307,700,000Allocated: $464,700,000

TennesseeSecured: $291,700,000Allocated: $572,700,000

New JerseySecured: $282,100,000Allocated: $651,800,000

PennsylvaniaSecured: $279,100,000Allocated: $1,000,000,000

New YorkSecured: $265,800,000Allocated: $1,100,000,000

CaliforniaSecured: $261,400,000Allocated: $2,600,000,000

IowaSecured: $220,400,000Allocated: $358,200,000

MarylandSecured: $219,600,000Allocated: $431,000,000

IllinoisSecured: $606,300,000Allocated: $935,600,000


State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-Bronx) recently had reason to celebrate, as his son Ruben Diaz, Jr., was elected Bronx bor-

ough president. Still, it is the recently introduced gay marriage bill that is on the forefront of the senator’s mind these days. During an interview at his Bronx offi ce, Diaz, Sr. spoke about his son’s victory, gave a counterintuitive inter-pretation of the political motives behind Paterson’s gay marriage bill, refl ected on the alleged secret pact the governor made with the Gang of Three and laid out the policy he is pushing as chair of the Aging Committee.

What follows is an edited transcript.

Q: What are you doing this year as chair of the Senate Aging Committee?A: We are pushing for the State of New York to purchase prescription drugs from Canada. And the state would save $800 million by doing that, buying the same prescription drugs that they buy here. And our seniors would purchase drugs at the cheapest price. Because now our seniors have to decide if they eat, if they pay rent, or if they buy medicine. So this is a good way to do it. The county of Schenectady is already doing it.

Q: Do you think it has the chance of passing this year?A: That’s the question. Where are those Democrats and Republicans that talk so much about protecting our seniors, but where is the government in all of this? Why doesn’t the governor use the same energy that he’s using for gay marriage to pursue this possibility now?

Q: As a father, what are your feelings about your son winning the Bronx borough presidency?A: I’d like to keep my son out of this. [Laughs.] My stances, my beliefs are different from my son’s. Sometimes my beliefs hurt my son, but I have to go with my beliefs, but sometimes they hurt my son. People tend to take it out on my son. People have to understand he’s my son, he’s his own person, he has his own beliefs, he has his own philosophy, and he has his own agenda. What father doesn’t want the best for their children? But there are issues where we disagree. Gay marriage. Abortion. Stem cells.

Q: What is going on with the Gang of Three these days? Or is it the Three Amigos?A: We are the Three Amigos! You call it the Gang of Three. We don’t call ourselves the Gang of Three, we call ourselves the Three Amigos. We have jackets.

Q: Do you have a secret handshake?A: No secret handshake. We have a secret handshake with the governor. I’m going to tell you something that I haven’t told anyone. ... This thing of getting together at the beginning and trying to stop Malcolm Smith, that was the governor’s idea. And I’m telling you right now here, the governor was part of it. He doesn’t want Malcolm Smith to be there either, and he knows that.

Q: What did the governor do?A: We met with the guy, he said, “I don’t want Malcolm Smith.” But he had a problem with [Dean] Skelos. We said, “We could get somebody that would not be Skelos,

like [Tom] Libous.” But Skelos didn’t want to step down. We had a handshake with the governor. And he said, “Ok, go ahead and keep doing what you’re doing.” In public, I’m going to keep pushing Malcolm Smith. But you do what you are doing. I can tell you that the only way gay marriage will be done in the state is when we have a Democratic majority. We need 32 votes, it cannot be done with 31. Not one Republican will vote for it because they’re waiting for us to bring that issue, so they could take out those senators from upstate. We got there last year because of the Obama tsunami. That was it. It was an anti-Bush thing.

Q: So you believe Paterson is still trying to hurt Malcolm Smith with the gay marriage bill?A: I believe that’s the only thing he’s doing now. That’s the only thing he’s achieving and he’s going to bring down some Democrats from upstate.

Q: Do you believe Sen. Tom Duane’s assertion that a number of Republicans have told him privately they’d vote for the gay marriage bill?A: I’m saying he should release those names. If you give me a commitment, you have to be man or woman enough to stand with that commitment. Or you’re not giving me a commitment. Either you give me a commitment or you don’t. But if you give me a commitment and say, “Don’t release my name,” then you are cheating. Then you should not be an elected offi cial. Especially on a sensitive issue like this. Either you are for it or you are against it.

Q: How do you feel about being the de facto spokesperson against gay marriage?A: I don’t mind. That has nothing to do with being homophobic. You might not believe in my religious beliefs. That’s okay. Somebody asked me, “But what about the people that are not your religion? What about the people that voted for you, that gave you money for the election, and now you vote against this?” So I say,

“What about the people that voted for me, that gave me money, that supported me, and in the budget I didn’t vote for something that they wanted, I voted against it.” So you know, what can you do? You go there, you got elected, and you got to go with your conscience.

Q: What did you think of the MTA compromise recently put forth by Richard Ravitch?A: Another gimmick. They say there’s going to be a rebate. They call it a rebate, it’s a gimmick. Give me tolls, we give you a rebate. Once you give them tolls, I assure you that after a year or two they are going to say they can no longer afford a rebate so they’re going to take it out. It’s a gimmick.

Q: What is your solution?A: The MTA has two problems. One is the immediate problem that we’ll call operations. And the other is a long-term problem that we’ll call capital. So they have an operational problem which is immediate and they have a capital problem which is long-term. We are telling them, “We are going to solve your immediate problem, the operational problem. We are going to give you the money and you will not have one single layoff. We’ve solved your problem now.” And then you have a long-term capital problem. Nobody knows what the plan is. They’re saying, “We have a problem, we need money for capital, we have to buy things, we have to do things, give me the money.” So we say, okay, fi ne. Give me the plan. The plan was

supposed to be submitted in October. So you want us to give you money now for something you didn’t submit in October? No. No. Because you have a history of mismanagement, of waste. So this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to solve your problem now. Meanwhile, we will have the opportunity to send an independent auditor into your books. The auditor will take a look at your books and we’ll see how many real properties you have. How many of those properties we could lease to families. How many we could sell to families. How many

we could rent to families. How much your secretaries are making. How many bonuses you’re getting.

Q: What has it been like being at the center of so much controversy?A: I am responsible for my actions. I know what I am doing and I’m being responsible. I’m being very responsible. People don’t understand that, I’m not seeing where the wind blows and going with it. I’m being a serious, responsible senator, responsible to my constituents, responsible to my obligations. And I know my obligations. So who is the one who is out there fi ghting for the community, protecting our community and trying to expose what they are doing to our community? That’s what I’m doing. That’s why I’ve been called. C

—Chris Bragg

[email protected]

: Outspoken Amigo

Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. has been at the center of recent controversies over Senate leadership, the MTA bailout and gay marriage, and is eager for more.

AN

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SC

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“This thing of getting together at the beginning

and trying to stop Malcolm Smith, that was the governor’s

idea. And I’m telling you right now here,

the governor was part of it. He doesn’t want Malcolm Smith

to be there either, and he knows that.”

A message from the New York State Trial Lawyers Association Nicholas Papain, President132 Nassau Street New York, NY 10038 Tel: 212-349-5890 www.nystla.org © 2009 NYSTLA

NEW YORK STATE TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION

Protecting New Yorkers Since 1953

New York’s statute of limitations governing medical malpractice is one of the most unjust in the country: 2½ years from the date of the negligent act. Only a handful of states have a shorter time period in which a victim of medical negligence is allowed to bring a claim against the negligent practitioner.

Under current law, the victims of a misread test—such as a mammogram, PAP smear or prostate test—or a botched surgical procedure often face fatal consequences. Uncaught or misdiagnosed, a curable disease becomes a symptom-free killer. Treatment is foregone. When the symptoms do appear, the disease may be so advanced that treatment is futile. The law, however, says no one can be held responsible and victims lose their access to justice.

Only a handful of states (AR, ID, ME, SD) are like New York — lacking some rule that says that the clock starts running when the wrongful action is discovered, either specifically to medical negligence or generally to all cases.

It’s been 11 years since Justice Seidell called New York’s backwards statute-of-limitations rule “unjust, illogical, and cruel.”

Please support the Date of Discovery Law (S.1729/A. 4627).

It’s Time for a Change.

Too Wrong for Too Long “[This case] should be included as a class of cases subject to the discovery rule.... It is the function of the legislature to right [the] unjust, illogical, and cruel result of the effects.”

Helgans v. Plurad, Supreme Court, Suffolk County, October 22, 1997 (Justice Seidell)

Documents

The April 1,2009 Issue of The Capitol