Spitzer targets upstate economy Governor unveils ‘City by City Plans’ BY CAROLYN THOMPSON The Associated Press
BUFFALO — Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced Wednesday a tailored approach to revitalizing the upstate economy based on the strengths and geography of individual cities. “We often talk about the upstate economy as if upstate was some monolithic region, but quite the opposite is true,” Spitzer said in Buffalo, where he unveiled an ambitious agenda for western New York, a region particularly hard hit by population declines troubling all of upstate. “For the first time, a generation of upstate New Yorkers has had less economic opportunity than their parents — and many have been forced to leave for opportunity elsewhere,” Spitzer said. The cities-driven strategy will complement ongoing statewide initiatives focused on lowering the cost of doing business in New York and strengthening the state’s infrastructure, the governor said. “Going forward, we must not only continue to address the macrolevel issues on a statewide level,” he said, “we must also complement this strategy with a focused effort to revitalize each region.” New “regional blueprints” will have state and local business leaders, elected officials and economic development agencies working together to set economic development priorities. “City by City Plans,” meanwhile, will identify and provide state funding to specific projects seen as pivotal in each city. “While each of our cities is different, they do have one thing in common,” Spitzer said. “They have all been held back by too many competing priorities. Each city has a deep well of potential that has remained untapped because of key projects that have stalled and been mired in gridlock.” In Buffalo, the long-sought development of the waterfront — anchored by a Bass Pro store — and construction of a new international Peace Bridge to Canada were named priorities, along with redevelopment of a Niagara Falls tourist corridor and the transformation of a vacant, asbestos- and PCB-contaminated downtown Buffalo office building into a hotel-office-residential complex. Spitzer will roll out priorities for other cities over the next two weeks. “We will no longer be second fiddle to our downstate cousins,” said Dan Gundersen, who awaits state Senate confirmation as Spitzer’s upstate economic development chief. “What we want to do with City by City is instill confidence,” said Gundersen, who said the plan focuses on “strategic investments.” The office building project in Buffalo, for example, will receive $7 million in grants and up to $14.6 million in loans from the Empire State Development Corp., while private developers spend $56.6 million to redevelop it as a luxury hotel that will have condominium units and office space. The project had been in jeopardy after the private-sector partnership that acquired the building discovered cleanup costs would far exceed their projections. “We are now good to go,” said investor Carl Montante Sr. of Uniland Development.
Assembly GOP exploring possibility of recall A measure allowing the removal of a sitting governor would likely require a change in the constitution
By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau First published: Saturday, October 13, 2007
ALBANY -- In what may be the Republicans' most aggressive action so far in their increasingly bitter struggle with Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, lawyers for Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco are researching a proposal to create a way of allowing voters to unseat a sitting governor.
Such a recall mechanism would probably have to come through a constitutional amendment, which would entail approval by two consecutive legislatures and by voters.
And while it's highly unlikely the Democratic-dominated Assembly would pass the plan, the fact that Republicans are looking at it underscores how hard they are going after Spitzer.
"We're researching the possibility of a recall, similar to what California has," said Bill Sherman, Tedisco's chief of staff.
His remarks came a day after Tedisco tore into the governor during one of several press conferences during the past few weeks to decry the governor's policy that would allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses.
That plan comes with what the administration has said is tighter scrutiny of license applicants, but it has nonetheless drawn heavy protest from mostly Republican county clerks as well as Republicans in the Legislature.
"This is not only about illegal aliens, we think it's about illegal Eliot," said Tedisco, who contends the change should have been debated in the Legislature rather than imposed by executive order.
Spitzer's office had not seen the Republican plan and had no comment.
A prominent Democratic senator, Eric Schneiderman of Manhattan, dubbed the recall idea "absurd."
New Yorkers have voted on some 75 constitutional amendments over the last 40 years with about two-thirds passing, said Robert Ward, deputy director of the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government.
The vast majority of those amendments, though, concerned relatively minor or narrow issues, such as helping rebuild municipal water systems.
The last major constitutional change, Ward said, was in 1977 when voters eliminated elections for Court of Appeals judges, giving the governor appointment power.
Even though it's a long shot in New York, talk of a recall is at least likely to get the attention of the Spitzer camp when one considers what happened in California in 2003 -- when Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was recalled following a number of controversial moves including his plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
..... but it has nonetheless drawn heavy protest from mostly Republican county clerks as well as Republicans in the Legislature.
This is not correct. There are tons of dems and other party members who are absolutely against Mr. Spitzer and his proposed policies and the Troopergate scandal. He is not highly regarded within all parties.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
..... but it has nonetheless drawn heavy protest from mostly Republican county clerks as well as Republicans in the Legislature.
This is not correct. There are tons of dems and other party members who are absolutely against Mr. Spitzer and his proposed policies and the Troopergate scandal. He is not highly regarded within all parties.
Just remember, this is what you get from the left slanted media. The governor is ou to get the Head Republican in the Senate, he's just doing what he's supposed to do. The Republicans decide that there may be some things that are being done Unconstitutionally (both federal and state) and are law-breaking issues and they look into removng the person who is telling everyone to break the lawand now they're just supposed to not say a word and sit back and take it?
Carl Strock THE VIEW FROM HERE Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com. Help! State legislators are back in town
As for my feelings about our state Legislature returning to session, they are best reflected in the words of a Surrogate Court judge back in 1866: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” I would say “is safe,” not “are safe,” but otherwise, that’s it in a nutshell. What will our senators and assemblymen do back in Albany for a few days if they can possibly stop fighting over “Troopergate,” which they can’t? Pass a bill, in the Senate, to block Gov. Spitzer from giving drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants, just for show, since the Assembly won’t buy it. Introduce the same bill in the Assembly — that is, the Republicans will — for the same purpose and with the aforementioned result. Expedite the alleged rebate of property taxes to senior citizens (also known as old people), for the simple reason that senior citizens (old people) vote, even though the Legislature does not control property taxes and does not have access to them. Approve pay raises for state correctional officers and PBA members, at a cost of $39 million, to be paid, of course, out of taxes. Approve and pass every other bill handed to them by public employee unions and construction trade unions, including, most urgently, a bill to allow school districts out from under the onerous Wicks Law if only they will pledge all their construction work to the trade unions and not allow any non-union shops to compete. Make it a felony to “etch, paint, draw, place or display a noose with intent to threaten, intimidate or harass,” which is one of the major issues facing the state — the nooseetching issue. GOVERNOR AMOK As for Gov. Spitzer blocking Assemblyman Jim Tedisco’s socalled member items, meaning state grants for various community undertakings like a free health clinic for uninsured people, all I can wonder is, What the devil was he thinking? Was he thinking this would be a good way to punish Tedisco for grandstanding on the issue of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants? If so, he obviously doesn’t know this assemblyman. Now he’ll really see some grandstanding. He could see disabled patients put on parade down State Street, and he could see bake sales to raise money for them like he never imagined. In all of which he will be the villain and Tedisco will be the hero. I liked Eliot Spitzer, and I cheered for him when he became governor, but I don’t know if I have ever seen such political ineptitude before. Drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants when no one is clamoring for them, and now depriving poor people of medical care as a way of exacting political revenge. Oh, saints preserve us! ONOMASTICS CORNER I see that the head of the alcohol research team at the Centers for Disease Control is Dr. Robert Brewer. Also, there is a funeral director in Brooklyn by the name of Doris V. Amen. The New Hampshire legislator who sponsored a bill to legalize marijuana was Charles Weed. And a scout brings to my attention that a resident of that state was recently charged in Saratoga County with stealing a bicycle. His name was Wayne Hasnohorse, and if you can think of any jokes about someone named Hasnohorse, in Saratoga, stealing a bicycle, please keep them to yourself. Then there was Bob Doom, a Baptist preacher in Asheville, N.C., and Amen to that.
Make it a felony to “etch, paint, draw, place or display a noose with intent to threaten, intimidate or harass,” which is one of the major issues facing the state — the nooseetching issue.
So no nooses for politicians????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
It is becoming painfully obvious that Gov. Spitzer is out of step with the public, and is simply not the right person to lead New York state. The recent state Senate and Assembly hearings and Siena poll provide the latest evidence of broad agreement among the public, elected officials, and homeland security, immigration and transportation experts in opposition to the governor’s plan to provide driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Coupled with the public’s continued mistrust of Gov. Spitzer’s involvement in the “Troopergate” scandal and cover-up, the governor’s approval rating has plummeted to its lowest point ever. Gov. Spitzer’s misplaced focus on forcing his heavy-handed political agenda against the will of the people demonstrates a stunning lack of statesmanship — one that people simply will not tolerate. Gov. Spitzer has never has changed his prosecutorial and dictatorial attitude from his days as attorney general, and his approach goes against the basic principles of our constitution. If he continues to focus on unethical and potentially illegal political dirty tricks against Sen. Bruno, he should resign or face impeachment. The people of the Capital Region and the entire state are calling for real solutions to the critical issues they face, not a dictatorial governor who skirts the law to push his personal political agenda to make this a one-party state under his rule. The governor needs to remember that he works for the people, not the other way around. JOHN F. NOLAN Saratoga Springs The writer is chairman of the Saratoga County Republican Committee.
Spitzer taps big, powerful for funds First published: Monday, November 19, 2007
Gov. Eliot Spitzer is gathering campaign cash at $1,000 a head, and he's getting it with help from major developers, lobbyists and lawmakers.
A Dec. 3 fundraiser at Manhattan's Metropolitan Pavilion for the governor's campaign committee is being billed as a "winter gala celebrating New York's history of groundbreaking innovation." The first major historical event listed as worthy of celebrating: the creation of the New York Stock Exchange in 1792.
Last year, Spitzer dipped into his campaign account to battle an estimated $10 million lobbying effort by health care powerhouses fighting his proposed Medicaid cuts.
The cash raised at next month's reception and dinner may give him a cushion for a second round of trouble with the same health care advocates as he puts his second budget together and warns of more cuts.
Indeed, concerns about declining Wall Street revenue hurting the state's bottom line could lead Spitzer to propose a budget that is far more conservative than his first.
Those helping him raise cash include several developers, including mall builder and Pyramid Cos. owner Robert Congel and lobbyist Patricia Lynch and her associate, former Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz. Others lobbying in Albany on the long list of people raising funds for the gala include Steve Sanders, David Weinraub and Steve Weingarten. Lawmakers pitching in include Assembly members RoAnn Destito, Joseph Morelle, Sam Hoyt and former Assemblyman Ryan Karben.
If you insist ...
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith was in no rush last week to explain how he got to Washington, D.C., when Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced the end of his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Asked how he and his boss got to the Spitzer event, Smith's press officer, Curtis Taylor, was reluctant to provide information, and quickly ended a call from a reporter about the matter. But later he said Smith purchased a commercial ticket with his campaign funds. Taylor said he flew on a commercial flight and paid his own way.
The purpose of Smith's appearance in Washington was to attend a national legislator's association meeting. Since he was in town, he also sat down with the New York congressional delegation to listen to Spitzer's presentation, Taylor said.
Spitzer took a state airplane to make his announcement on the national stage.
The plane was pretty full: Michael Balboni, Christine Anderson, Danny Kanner and Marty Mack were among those aboard. Errol Cockfield Jr. traveled separately on a commercial aircraft.
The trip was official business and required no reimbursement to taxpayers, said Anderson, Spitzer's director of communications.
Capitol Confidential was reported and compiled by Capitol Bureau reporter James M. Odato, jodato@timesunion.com; 518-454-5083.
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith was in no rush last week to explain how he got to Washington, D.C., when Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced the end of his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Dont worry they are looking for another 'door' and we will open it and walk through.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Now, Mr. Spitzer First published: Friday, November 30, 2007
It's time -- past time, really -- for Gov. Spitzer to show that he means it when he says judges in New York state deserve a pay raise. He has to provide the leadership to make that happen. He will have an opportunity to do just that next month, when the Legislature is scheduled to return to Albany. Mr. Spitzer is on record as supporting a raise, and on Tuesday, in a meeting with Assembly Democrats at the Brooklyn Marriott, he said, once again, that judges are deserving. But hours later, the governor's office was reminding everyone that a pay raise for judges must be part of a larger legislative package, including property tax relief, economic development and campaign finance reform. It's more than possible that some sort of agreement could be worked out on tax cuts and economic projects, but the campaign finance reform hurdle seems insurmountable, a least for now. So unless the governor's changes his strategy, judges won't be getting a raise again this year.
No one doubts the need for campaign finance reform, or that it should be a priority for the Legislature. New York's campaign finance laws are so lax that they make the porous federal laws look strict by comparison. Reform is long overdue. But it is also a major issue that cannot be realistically resolved in a short year-end session. An agreement that would have addressed all three issues fell apart earlier this year. The chances of resurrecting it in a short session are slim to nil. And that means judges will be shortchanged for yet another year, for no defensible reason.
By tradition, salaries for New York's 1,300 state judges have been linked to raises for legislators -- a linkage that is maintained for the purely political purpose of shielding lawmakers from voter wrath whenever they give themselves a raise. As a result, the last time judges got a raise was eight years ago, when legislators approved a base pay of $79,000 for themselves. In the meantime, salaries for New York state judges have slipped to the second lowest in the nation, behind only Oregon and Hawaii.
There was a time when salaries for New York state judges equaled those of federal district judges. But eight years later, the federal judges are earning $165,200 a year, while state judges continue to receive $136,700 a year. And all the while, their caseloads are increasing. Meanwhile, the low pay scales are discouraging the best and brightest lawyers to run for the bench -- at a cost to New York's judicial system that can't be measured in dollars.
Chief Judge Judith Kaye has proposed worthy legislation that would establish a salary commission to make separate recommendations on pay for judges, legislators and others. The Senate has passed a bill that would give lawmakers the same percentage pay raises as judges. In others words, there's a framework for agreement. All that's needed now is for Mr. Spitzer to come forward and make good on his word.
THE ISSUE: State judges might not get a pay raise again this year.
THE STAKES: The judicial system will suffer if fewer qualified candidates run for the bench.
http://www.dailygazette.com Carl Strock THE VIEW FROM HERE Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com.
Spitzer vs. Legislature: Look again
I note that our governor has been getting some high-level press lately specifically a long profile in the Dec 10 issue of the New Yorker, under the title “The Humbling of Eliot Spitzer,” and another long piece in the (premature) January issue of Vanity Fair, under the title “The Year of Governing Dangerously.” Neither is especially flattering. Rather they seek to explain how a man as smart as Spitzer could have gone so egregiously astray in his first year in office, after promising that everything would change commencing on Day One and of course change for the better. What happened? How did the Sheriff of Wall Street become the Bungler of Albany? Well, it’s odd, that’s for sure: the great reformer supposedly spying on Sen. Bruno and offering drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. But allow me a couple of caveats. First, as I’ve said before, exposing Sen. Bruno’s use of state aircraft for political fundraising trips was an excellent thing to do even if Spitzer (or his staff) went about it in a devious way, and it’s nothing short of fantastic that Sen. Bruno was able to turn the expose around and make himself appear the victim. Second, the idea of Gov. Spitzer as a zealous reformer (“Zealiot,” in Vanity Fair) who is just too stubborn for his own good is a bit of a simplification: the out-thrust jaw, the bulging veins, the dinner-table training in a competitive family, the unwillingness to horse-trade, all of it suggesting uncompromising high-mindedness vs. the backroom dealmaking of Albany. It’s a caricature, ladies and gentlemen, which ignores Spitzer’s own pandering to the construction trade unions through 1) his phony Wicks reform legislation, and 2) his stopping of recognition of new apprentice programs for non-union contractors, which don’t get mentioned in the magazine pieces. It’s as if the governor is all righteous reform and the Legislature is all special-interest subservience. The Legislature may be all special-interest subservience, but the governor is partially that too, offering to let schools out from under the onerous requirements of the state’s contracting requirements if they will pledge their construction work to the trade unions, and stopping the certification of new apprentice programs that were allowing some non-union contractors to compete for public works. Those measures, one of which he was able to impose administratively and the other of which stalled in the Senate, were the same sort of crude giveaways to special interests that the Legislature is famous for. So Gov. Spitzer is a little more complicated than just a zealous reformer, though zealous reformer makes for a better story line. One other thing, if I may: In bucking the Legislature he is still essentially right, as far as I’m concerned. The Legislature is indeed a secretive, undemocratic and unproductive body, in thrall to the biggest spenders, good at passing one-house bills for show and little else. It deserves the contempt that Spitzer directs at it, even he is no purist himself.
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