Although they will deny it to the hilt, I think this is and has been an issue for all to long. Our voice is very weak and does not seem to be getting any stronger. We are slaves to Albany with little or no representation.
Upstate short in power spectrum
But impact of N.Y.C. dominance in top-level officials is debatable
(September 24, 2006) — Here’s some political trivia: Who was the last governor from outside the New York City area?
Nathan Miller, a Cortland native, in 1921 and 1922.
How about elected to the U.S. Senate? The Rochester area’s own Kenneth Keating, from 1959 to 1965.
A generation has passed since the top statewide seats in New York have been filled by an elected official from west of Albany, and there’s no indication that the pattern is going to change.
So with upstate’s economic woes and its fight to gain attention in Albany, some officials question whether the problems are indicative of a simple fact: Upstate politicians don’t have enough power or influence.
In this year’s statewide elections, only two candidates come from outside the New York City area: Republican gubernatorial candidate John Faso, who is from Kinderhook, Columbia County, outside Albany, and GOP comptroller candidate J. Christopher Callaghan, who lives in Saratoga County, north of Albany. Both are big underdogs.
“There is a potential that if someone isn’t from upstate at the statewide level they may really not understand upstate’s concerns,” said Kent Gardner, head of the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research.
But some officials say the lack of representation isn’t a reason for upstate’s struggles. Statewide candidates, some officials said, recognize upstate’s needs.
Both Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and Faso have made the upstate economy and property taxes critical pieces of their platforms.
And even though upstate’s population has declined — to about one-third overall in New York — it remains important ground for any statewide political hopeful. Outside New York City, which is overwhelmingly Democratic, there’s about an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, making it a political battleground. Republicans especially need strong support upstate, which traditionally votes their way.
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Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackUpstate gets the shaft. True. However we’ve had a Republican-controlled Senate for decades, and a Republican Governor in his third term.
Put another way, two of the three men in a room are Republicans.
Its folly to blame Democrats, as a party, for upstate neglect. I blame upstate voters for electing ineffective representatives…. over, and over, and over again. Look at the incumbency rates and ask why things don’t change?! Term limits and publicly-financed elections are for another post…but, regardless of your party, those are solid steps to reform.
Give Spitzer a shot. Like it or not, we’re headed to a Democratic State Senate by 2008. I’m hopeful there Democratic control will lead to accountability.
Everybody knows the issues: property taxes killing families and detering investment; poor infrastructure- getting worse- deters employers; energy costs are out of contro- despite an an upstate Republican chairing the Senate Energy committee; the brain drain of our kids makes upstate even less desirable for employers (and I’m not talking prisons or call centers; I’m talking businesses that pay a living wage with good benefits, that make our communities better).
Spitzer’s saying some promising things, and he’s not afraid to offend Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno (they don’t get along). I’m hopeful that he’ll be as aggressive against Medicaid fraud, public authority reform, stopping unfunded mandates, and bringing spending in line as he was fighting crooked deals on Wall Street.
If he can cut government waste, the State can start to pick up its tab; if we cut Medicare/aid waste, the county’s share will be lower, and property taxes might… .just might… be cut.
Republican or Democrat, that’s the only scenario in which upstate stands a chance.
Give Eliot a shot– no more than two terms and I don’t want him to be President, but I think he’ll serve us well and start to kick our glutton of a state government into shape. He ego will allow him to do nothing less.
End rant.
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