Politics on the Hudson

Jon Campbell of Gannett News Service covered a news conference held by Ed Cox today. This is his report:

   New York State Republican Committee Chairman hopeful Ed Cox received the backing of Albany County Republican chair John Graziano today, pushing the total number of counties in his corner to 42 out of a possible 62.

   Cox is battling Niagara County GOP chairman Henry Wojtaszek to replace Joseph Mondello, the current state chair, who announced he will step down next month at the end of his term.

   “I’m gratified to accept the support of Albany County GOP,” Cox said in a press conference. “I want to establish a party that is an institution and is going to go on in good times and bad times. Candidates come and go, but you need a structure in place.”

   Cox also announced the support of Herkimer County after heading to Albany from central New York earlier in the day.

   Wojtaszek received backing from former New York City Mayor and possible gubernatorial candidate Rudy Guliani last week, but Cox insisted there were no hard feelings.

   “This is not about personalities,” he said. “This is about the party – bout having a strong and independent Republican party who picks the best candidates and gets them out there. Rudy, I admire him a lot. He is going to be a great candidate for governor and a great governor, and I’ve always been a great supporter of his.”

   Asked whether or not he thought Guiliani was indeed going to run for governor, Cox said, “I sure hope so.”

   While Cox controls over sixty percent of the total county chairmen in the state, Wojtaszek has control of some of the bigger names. Aside from Guiliani, former governor George Pataki has also reportedly thrown his support to the Niagara County Republican.

   Local sales tax revenues in New York were down $640 million, or 8.9 percent, for the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to a new analysis from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

   The regions hit hardest are the Lower Hudson Valley and Long Island, where revenues dropped 10.1 percent. New York City was close behind with a 10-percent decline. The least affected area in the first seven months of 2009 was the Mohawk Valley, with a drop of 3.2 percent.

   Six counties had double-digit declines, including Putnam, Delaware, Westchester, Monroe, Suffolk and Saratoga counties. Four counties experienced growth in sales-tax revenues—Genesee, Tioga, Schuyler and Seneca counties. Most of the increases can be attributed to payment timing issues, the analysis found.

   The lag in revenues grew worse over the summer. For the first six months of the year, they were 7.6 percent below the same period in 2008. If the trend continues, counties may see their first annual decline in sales-tax revenues in 18 years, DiNapoli said.

   September is the most important sales-tax collection period outside of the holiday shopping season, so it’s a key month for local governments to watch, the comptroller said.

   “Local governments need to take a hard look at the September data. Just like the state, if local governments are not on track to meet their budgeted revenues for the year, they need to make adjustments in their spending now without placing a greater burden on local taxpayers,” DiNapoli said in a statement.

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, has met with the two candidates for state GOP chairman, but he said he’s not going to back a person and will stay out of the battle.

Some Republican insiders have suggested that because state committee members are selected by Assembly district, Kolb could have some sway with the people who will vote for the next chairman next month at the party’s convention, particularly in upstate districts.

But Kolb said the decision is best left with the party delegates. The seat is being sought by Niagara County GOP chairman Henry Wojtaszek and Ed Cox, a Manhattan attorney and son-in-law to late President Nixon.

“I’m definitely staying neutral,” Kolb said. “I’ve had very good conversations with both Henry and Ed. I like them both. I want them both to be in the party.”

“But to be perfectly frank with you, I think the decision on who our next chair should be should come from the rank-and-file committee people and the (county) chairs. They were the ones elected to do that.”

With the primary election fast approaching, the Mt. Zion Christian Baptist Church has sent us an announcement for an ask-the-candidates night to be held at 6:30 p.m. next Friday, Sept. 4.

“Mount Vernon is faced with a conundrum of issues and perplexing problems. We want to have a face to face meeting with those who seek our support,” the announcement reads. The church is located at 411 South Eighth Avenue.

   With Democrats taking control of the Senate from Republicans this year, at least for most of the session, there was a marked difference in the number of bills introduced and passed by the new majority.

   Democratic senators introduced an average of 114 bills and got 13 of them passed, or 11 percent, and Republicans introduced 80 and passed six, or 7.5 percent, according to a new report by the New York Public Interest Research Group.

   In the Assembly, where Democrats maintain a supermajority, Democrats sponsored an average of 66 bills and got 10 passed. Republicans introduced 41 bills on average and only were passed.

   Here are some other findings in the NYPIRG report:

  —The Assembly cast 1,275 votes on 1,242 bills and passed 785 resolutions this year. Members of the Assembly introduced 8,939 bills and 814 resolutions.

  —The Senate cast 645 votes and passed 640 bills this year. Senators sponsored 6,428 bills and 2,887 resolutions (of which 2,778 were adopted).

  —The number of bills that passed both houses dropped sharply compared to recent years because Senate business was on hold for weeks as Republicans and Democrats worked out a leadership fight. Both houses passed 554 bills, down from 811 in 2008, 847 in 2007 and 958 in 2006.

  —The Senate passed more than 75 percent of its bill unanimously, and the average Assembly bill had 132 “yes” votes, 9 “no” votes and 8 absences or abstentions.

  —Assembly Democrats voted along party lines 97.4 percent of the time, compared with 99.7 percent for Senate Democrats.

Voting Appendices 2

In a potential sign of Rudy Giuliani’s interest in running for governor next year, he started making calls to some county chairmen yesterday in hopes of building support for Niagara County GOP chairman Henry Wojtaszek’s bid for state chairman.

One of those who received a call was Monroe County GOP chairman Bill Reilich, who is also a state assemblyman. Reilich wouldn’t offer too much about the conversation, but said Giuliani wanted to call toexpress his support for Wojtaszek.

Reilich said Giuliani told him he would decide after the November elections this year whether to run for governor in 2010, as to not overshadow local elections.

Reilich a week ago came out in support of Ed Cox for chairman when it appeared Wojtaszek was not going to run because current chairman Joseph Mondello had indicated he planned to run again.

But Reilich said while he’s still supporting Cox, it’s important that the next chairman not stand in the way of the party’s gubernatorial candidate, for example if Giuliani wants to run.

“The fact of the matter is once you get beyond electing a state chair, your very next order of business is selecting a gubernatorial candidate, and I have to make sure I have a chair that is supportive or at the veryleast allowing the committee to select a candidate,” Reilich said.

“And if I get the feeling that my candidate is anyway off the table, then I have to reassess or make that part of the equation.”

Despite not having Giuliani’s backing for state chairman and serving as the state chairman for the John McCain presidential campaign last year, Cox has spoken highly of Giuliani as the potential GOP nominee for governor, saying he would be “a great governor.”

In the ongoing battle over the next state GOP chairman, Putnam County Chairman Anthony Scannapieco says he’s dropping his support for Ed Cox and endorsing Niagara County GOP chairman Henry Wojtaszek.

Why?

Because Scannapieco said he was led to believe that Cox would be the only candidate. When current state GOP chairman Joe Mondello said he wouldn’t seek another term, Wojtaszek announced his candidacy and got the backing of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Scannapieco said he’s backing Wojtaszek because he has experience as a party chairman.

“I was led to believe that it was over and done and Cox was the only one,” Scannapieco said. “And when I found it wasn’t, I still think we need somebody who was a chairman and has experience as a chairman.”

He said the push by Giuliani’s aides to get Wojtaszek the job had nothing to do with his decision. And Scannapieco reiterated concerns today by some chairmen that Giuliani shouldn’t wait until November, as aides say, until he makes a decision on whether to run for governor in 2010.

“That’s always been my concern, waiting to long,” Scannapieco said. “We’ve seen that back when he ran for Senate (in 2000) and dropped out and Rick Lazio was really behind the 8-ball. And then with the presidency, he waited until Florida and it was over by the time it got to Florida.

Scannapieco confirmed, as Liz Benjamin reported earlier, that there was some talk last night among Hudson Valley chairmen about Scannapieco running for state chairman himself. But he said he hasn’t made any decision, and hadn’t even talked to his wife about it.

“There is some talk about that, but I haven’t committed to doing anything,” he said.

He said some of the county chairmen had talked about if Mondello were to leave that a county chairman from the region should run.

   Gov. David Paterson has vetoed legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, that would have established the New York State War of 1812 200th anniversary commemoration commission. The governor said the state’s ongoing fiscal problems—it currently has a $2.1 billion budget deficit— are the reason he vetoed the bill.

   Based on the cost of similar commissions in the past, the War of 1812 commission would have cost about $2.25 million over five years, the governor’s veto said. The 24-member panel would have been charged with organizing a series of War of 1812 reenactment tourism events and promoting War of 1812 educational studies in elementary and secondary schools.

   “Let it be understood that I fully support the objectives of this bill, and thank the sponsors for their efforts in drawing attention to this significant bicentenary. If we fail to recognize the sacrifices of those who fought to protect our freedom in the wars of the past, we dishonor not only those brave soldiers but also those who fight for the same ideals in the wars of the present … If we fail to teach our children the lessons of yesterday, we do not equip them to understand the world of today and to prepare for the world of tomorrow,” the governor wrote.

   “But we do a great disservice to the people of this State if we fail to consider how we can meet these important obligations without exacerbating the current fiscal crisis,” he wrote.

   New York’s War of 1812 historic sites already conduct educational programs and host reenactment events, Paterson said. Some are planning anniversary events, and more will no doubt do so as 2012 draws closer.  The governor said he has asked his staff to work with relevant state agencies to develop a framework for coordinating commemorative activities. (more…)

The Westchester/Putnam Central Labor Body AFL-CIO is supporting Janet DiFiore in her re-election bid as Westchester District Attorney.

Union President Paul Ryan Wednesday called DiFiore “a friend of labor who supports the working men and women of Westchester County.”

The union represents 100,000 working men and women and is affiliated with unions representing teachers, firefighters, communication workers, electrical workers, nurses, painters, Civil Service Employees and Service Employees.

The busy Democratic primary for Mount Vernon City Council is shaping up to be no primary at all. Yesterday, the state Court of Appeals refused to hear a case by council candidates Sam Rivers and Michelle Walker, who were ousted from the Democratic ballot last week. A judge had ruled last week that their petitions were invalid because neither indicated on the petition whether they were running for full terms or for a shorter, unexpired term that also was open. Click here for ruling.

That decision follows the ouster of four other candidates — Collie Edwers, Debra Stern, Eileen Justino and Jennifer “Anne” Sampson — from the Democratic ballot for City Council. The four had been nominated by the Democratic City Committee to run for City Council, but were kicked off because they didn’t note that one of them was running for a shorter, unexpired term.

Candidates Yuhanna Edwards, Roberta Apuzzo, Karen Watts and Diane Munro were not dropped from the ballot because one of those candidates, Munro, indicated she was running for the unexpired term on their petition. So in the end, they are the only candidates left standing on the Democratic ballot for City Council.

Rivers will appear on the Conservative and Independence lines, and Walker on the Independence line. Edwers, Stern, Justino and Sampson will run on a newly formed line called One Mt. Vernon.

Democratic primaries will still take place for city domptroller and city judge.