(bumped. Willa is running against Joe Robach. A lot of folks like Joe, but if you look at his record via vote-smart, he has become startlingly more conservative the longer he’s been in office. For example, his “grade” from the Conservative Party went from 41 to 50 to 72 % from 2003 to 2005. RochesterTurning’s litmus test for getting our country, and state out of the mess we’re in is this: are you more progressive than your opponent? Based on this, RT heartily endorses Willa. -btp)

I am Willa Powell, Democratic Party candidate for the New York State Senate in the 56^th District, which covers Brighton, Rochester, Greece and Parma. I want to thank RochesterTurning.com for the endorsement. Given the opportunity to speak directly to the progressives of this district, I could talk about how the 56^th District is pro-choice, pro-responsible gun control, pro-social justice, and pro-reform (and it is), and Sen. Joe Robach, currently representing this district, is not. But you really need to see his record for yourself. Go to vote-smart.org.

I’d like to take this opportunity to write about burning local issues that are the direct result of a failed state government: the Fast Ferry, the Water Authority scandal, library and school funding, excessive property taxes and flagging economy upstate.

As an elected member of the Rochester City School Board, I have some empathy for city government, which is being pilloried for lack of oversight of the Fast Ferry. Our State legislators could have required a more rigorous business plan and greater oversight when they approved the funding strategy called the Fast Ferry Authority. They call upon schools to do so in exchange for education grants all the time. The oversight didn’t happen because it wasn’t required, and for that, our state representatives share the blame.

Speaking of authorities, the Water Authority golden parachute scandal is another predictable outcome of an agency that is permitted to operate in secret. Who exempted quasi-governmental agencies such as the Water and Transit authorities from the Open Meetings laws? The New York State legislature did. If they had been required to comply, I am certain that some vigilant citizen would have sounded the alarm long ago.

Why is library funding on this list? In 2004 (an election year), Gov. Pataki vetoed over 100 line items in the budget, including library funding. Pataki was quoted as saying, “The revenue isn’t there.” Later, we learned that Pataki was pushing legislators to fund libraries through member items. Not only does his second position negate the first, but it violates basic purpose of government budgets. Either libraries are a priority in this state and deserve to have their budget allocations spelled out or they don’t.

Member item spending is not equally distributed among all members of the Assembly and the Senate, and there is no mechanism for accountability. We should be outraged that Robach would not break with his party bosses and demand a veto override.  Instead we thank him for “funding” our libraries with member items.  This is how the Republican Right has manipulated our progressive sensibilities so that we have become complicit in the destruction of good-government and the oppression of others.

Education funding follows much the same path. Districts that vote Republican, like Long Island, always get their fair share, and then some. Upstate cities that have a disturbing propensity to vote Democratic get no sympathy from a Republican controlled Senate. Former Senator Rick Dollinger (D) called our attention to this issue more than eight years ago. Senator Joe Robach (R) stated in December 2005 that he hadn’t even read the CFE Schools for New York’s Future proposal which would bring tens of millions of dollars to Greece, Hilton and Rochester. In the spring of 2006, he supported Gov. Pataki’s proposal to rebate “surplus revenues” instead of acknowledging that there was a funding equity issue to be paid for. What disturbs me most about this is that Robach embraced the Republican agenda to disinherit his own constituents, while claiming that he is personally and directly responsible for what funding increase the district did get.

Robach wouldn’t comment, in May, on a report that showed a twelve-year pattern of pushing the cost of government down to the local level, so that our leaders in Albany could lay claim to reducing state Income Taxes. The result, consistent across New York State, was a drop in the percentage of education funding coming from the state, and an increase in property tax levies. This is a cynical ploy, which did nothing to reduce government spending, which might have truly lowered taxes.

Property taxes and sales taxes are regressive. They also encourage business to relocate to states and counties that haven’t employed the above strategy. In states that fund education at a rate of 37% of total education spending (compared to New York’s 27%), businesses are thriving. Property taxes are a significant consideration for businesses location/relocation. That’s why the argument in support of the creation of IDAs and Empire Zones was so compelling at first. But the answer isn’t to provide an unfair playing field where some businesses ‘win’ concessions. The answer is to reverse this taxation pattern that leads to empty warehouses and strip malls.

I firmly believe that reform in Albany is needed to address all the burning local issues. Reform will not happen with the current balance of power, and a new governor cannot do it single-handedly. We need a Democratic majority in the Senate, with the 56^th District leading the reform charge. Everyone knows Albany is broken, but everyone likes their own representative and thinks he/she is the exception. It’s time to recognize that Joe Robach does not represent the values of this district, embraced the Pataki agenda, enjoys the perks of being in the majority, and has failed to show himself to be the reformer he claims to be. If we want reform in Albany, we must walk into the voting booth, pull the Democratic Party lever with a firm hand, and say, “sorry, Joe, but you ARE part of the problem”.