Reform was in the air as the candidates for statewide office gathered at the Citizens Budget Commission’s conference last weekend. The Citizens Budget Commission is a nonpartisan, New York City-based think tank funded by businesses that focuses on fiscal matters.
The first up were the Democratic candidates for attorney general. Richard Brodsky, an Assemblyman from Westchester, Mark Green, former New York City mayoral hopeful, Sean Patrick Maloney, a corporate attorney and former Clinton staffer, Denise O’Donnell, former US Attorney from Buffalo, and Andrew Cuomo, former candidate for Governor, detailed their rationale for running for Attorney General and the reforms issues that they supported. The leading Republican candidate, Jeanine Pirro was invited, but did not attend.
A common theme was that the candidates pledged, if elected, to devote time and resources to prosecuting political crimes. They detailed their unflattering views of the way Albany operates and claimed an interest in using the office of Attorney General as a sort of “ethics cop” to investigate and punish state officials who violated ethics, lobbying or campaign finance laws. Their messages were surprising and a sad commentary on the state of politics in New York.
It says a lot that the crime fighting focus for these Attorney General hopefuls was on Albany’s politics, not on street or corporate crimes.
The candidates for Governor had a broader view. Unlike the candidates for Attorney General, the gubernatorial candidates focused their attention of the fiscal woes of the state – the issue that most stimulates members of the Citizens Budget Commission.
The broad theme among these candidates, Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi for the Democrats, and John Faso and Bill Weld for the Republicans, was that New York’s fiscal house is in disorder and through reforms and limits on spending, they pledged to clean things up. While it is not surprising that fiscal reforms were the focus of the candidates given the audience – businesspeople – it was interesting that there was a consensus that New York State is suffering from a deadly combination of high taxation, debt and pork.
The one person unhappiest with these analyses must be Governor Pataki. The Governor has been the leader of the state for nearly 12 years and it has been under his watch that the defects pointed out by the candidates – corruption, incompetence and inefficiency – were the focus of the day.
It cannot be comfortable for the Governor to receive these negative reviews of his legacy. Of course time will tell if these views become history, but he can’t feel good about the first drafts being offered by these candidates.
But from New Yorkers’ perspective, it should be music to the ears. For decades, New York State has suffered from lackluster fiscal management and a political culture that stifles real electoral competition. It has gotten worse under Governor Pataki, but many of the problems precede him.
Unfortunately, the Governor did too little to tackle those problems.
The early rhetoric of the candidates is encouraging. If the statewide candidates are to believed, the status quo in Albany will be challenged in a manner that has not been seen in a generation.
Yet, candidates for office have been known to suffer from selective amnesia once elected. Voters must demand that candidates offer specific remedies for the problems plagued the state. The vaguer the promise before the election, the more likely it will not be fulfilled after the election.
The rhetoric is comforting, but as the election gets closer every voter should demand specifics. If they get it, maybe Albany will open up.
That’s all for now. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Capitol and will talk to you again next week.
By Blair Horner on April 11, 2006, 2:06 pm
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