Published: September 12, 2008 09:57 am            

CHRISTY: The good, the bad and the ugly

I know, it’s a cheap Clint Eastwood reference, but it’s not just to grab your attention. Eastwood was so discouraged by government that he ran for mayor of his hometown and won. It’s something we beg people to do — get involved. What did Eastwood find? He was so disgusted at how government and politics are played that he served one term and refused to run for re-election.

Back to the primary election results of 2008.

First, the good stuff. Longtime incumbents had primary challenges. That is very rare in New York state. Hopefully the worst-performing state legislature in the nation — which is also one of the highest paid state legislatures in the nation with one of the highest staffing rates and staff pay of any legislature in the nation — will continue to be a focus of the public.

A 30-year state senator from Brooklyn, Marty Connor, was defeated, as were two downstate Assembly incumbents. Those were Democratic primaries and of little relevance in the makeup of either house. But the people who notice the most are the people who really control state government — the lobbyists. Anytime you lose a 30-year incumbent, you lose those connections, and who knows what the “new guy” is going to be like? Lobbyists always prefer the incumbent because they like to know who they’re dealing with. Lobbyists do not like change.

Locally, Republicans threw out one of their own, sending one-term incumbent Assemblyman Mike Cole to sleep on whatever floor he wants to now that he’ll be a private citizen. He came in replacing Sandra Lee Wirth, who died in office, talking about her unquestioned character, hoping to live up to her legacy. He fell far short.

While Republican primary voters didn’t “throw out” incumbent state Sen. George Maziarz, there was a primary election against him, which is an extremely rare thing. We often call people “losers” or “winners,” which is completely unfair. If you run for office — any office — you are a winner. More than anything, our state needs competition, and although Niagara County Deputy Sheriff Brian Grear didn’t show well in the primary, he deserves kudos for stepping up to the plate and speaking his mind. He’ll also be on the ballot in the November election, which guarantees we’ll be able to talk about state government’s poor performance record a bit more closely than if there were no election.

Now for the bad. Sam Hoyt and Barbara Kavanaugh ran one of the nastiest campaigns in local history. No news there. The bad part is that Sam Hoyt didn’t just run against his opponent, Kavanaugh, he had to run against Tom Golisano and Steve Pigeon and their effort to “swift boat” campaigns locally. They’ve set up not just one, but at least two separate campaign organizations to completely skirt state spending rules. Candidates are restricted in what money they can accept. No problem, according to Golisano. We’ll spend the money ourselves on the candidates’ behalf. Big business doesn’t even have to officially give cash to a candidate now. It simply buys advertising directly. It’s a dream come true for dirty politics.

You should know of this tactic in Niagara County since Golisano and Pigeon have endorsed the previously mentioned Maziarz and Republican Assembly candidate Paula Banks-Dahlke, who is running against Francine DelMonte. In Erie County, people should pay attention because Joe Mesi’s campaign was managed by the same people and tens of thousands of Golisano money was put into that campaign as well.

If there’s a silver lining to this horrible new wrinkle in local politics, it’s that Hoyt is claiming to put his full effort into investigating whether these new campaign tactics are illegal and if so, bringing the violators to justice. An entire career could be made going to Albany and reforming New York’s election rules. Maybe this election will be a rebirth for Hoyt’s legislative agenda.

Finally, the ugly. Thirty-year incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Seminario, who bragged for years that he was “John Gotti’s Assemblyman,” presumably because he represented the district Gotti lived in, was arrested Wednesday for taking bribes to introduce people to players in the halls of Albany government. For a fee, he’d recommend you to anyone. He set up a private business in 2000 and funneled his bribe money through the company. How deep is the rot in Albany when a Democrat in the Assembly would run a private business that violates state laws? Oh, please. The state Senate Republican majority leader quit last year, two days before the end of session, and is under FBI investigation for operating a private business out of his home and funneling state grants to friends.

Assemblyman Seminario had no opponent on primary day. What’s the value of someone stepping up to the plate and running for office, no matter how difficult the challenge?

Tom Christy is the founder of FAIR Government, a non-political and non-editorial educational foundation dealing with local government issues. The Web site is www.fair-government.org. He encourages communication and can be reached via e-mail at aim1986@mac.com.

        

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