Grand Island tolls

I want to see this supposed “HIT PIECE”
Request after request has been sent to the thruway authority asking them not to vote on a toll increase until the audit is done yet they still plan on meeting and voting the 19th.

I am personally tired of hearing that because they are “Pataki appointees” the Governor is powerless. Powerless? Hardly, or is he? If he is then we have a serious Constitutional issue here. “Taxation without representation” is the first thing that comes to mind. The Governor is the CEO, CFO and the Top Dog in state government. He is supposed to have the final word unless overridden by the legislature or the courts.

So what is it? If it takes a hit piece to educate the people as to the issues we have here then so be it. Someone has got to wake the people of this state up. And anyone that knows me knows I have not been a defender of Volker in the past. As a matter of fact Len Roberto ran against him and we founded Primary Challenge.

Seems to me the Democrats are defending the unelected, unaccountable Authorities. Gee, ya think they have a lot of political patronage jobs hidden within these beauracracies …..

Democrats Target Volker in Toll Debate

The issue over potential toll increases continues to heat-up. Now, one elected leader is being taken on by the state democratic party.

“Senator Volker is wasting taxpayer dollars using taxpayer money to send an inappropriate political mailing,” said Jonathan Rosen, a spokesman for the New York State Democratic Committee.

The New York State Democratic Committee says State Senator Dale Volker is playing politics when it comes to the thruway authority’s proposal to increase tolls.

“Every state senator in New York is given taxpayer dollars to send mail to educate their constituents about things that are happening in the legislature,” said Rosen. “That money is not given to state senators to send attack mail.”

The mailing shows a picture of the governor and urges him to stop any toll hike.

“We believe if Senator Volker is serious about really defeating the thruway toll, he’ll quit playing politics and sit down and work with Governor Spitzer,” Rosen told 2 On Your Side.

A spokesman for the governor told 2 On Your Side; “The governor has been clear from the beginning. The thruway authority needs to answer several questions before any toll hike takes place. The thruway authority said they will do that and will get back to the governor soon.”

But last month, Governor Spitzer had something different to say when we asked him about the toll hike.

“I’m not in a position to mandate one way or the other what the thruway authority does,” he told 2 On Your Side in November.

State democrats say it’s republican appointees who sit on the authority; people Volker approved for the job. “It’s his own appointees, who he voted for, that were appointed by George Pataki who control the thruway authority,” Rosen said.

2 On Your Side left several messages for Senator Volker Monday night. He hasn’t returned our calls yet. But in a statement last month, Volker said, “I am urging the governor to use his influence and finally take a public stand on the toll hikes that would squeeze more money from our residents and harm our region’s fragile economic climate.”

The thruway authority is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. The state comptroller is conducting an audit of the thruway authority. That should be complete sometime next month.

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