A NEW ERA IN ALBANY?
By Bob Confer

Here we are, January, 2007, welcoming a new year in New York State. Chances are, we may be welcoming more than just a new year, for this could be the dawning of a new era as well thanks to a much-welcomed change in leadership. George Pataki is no longer our governor after suffocating us with over a decade of Big Government. He and his administration spawned economic doldrums that forced businesses to die and people to move out of the Empire State while the rest of the national (and global) economy grew at sometimes stunning rates.

We now find ourselves led by Eliot Spitzer who has keenly positioned himself as the anti-Pataki and a harbinger of prosperity. One can’t help but feel optimistic, for he has brought with him an uplifting platform that touts the cutting of taxes, the resurrection of the upstate economy and the reformation of the very-broken political system in Albany. Pataki failed miserably on all such counts, but you are left feeling that Spitzer can do it. He’s a compelling figure who despite not having past executive experience has many people following him and believing in him as governor. If he brings along with this innate leadership ability as much vim, vitality, and success as he brought to his role as attorney-general then good things can and will happen. He has a proven track record of getting results and that is just what Albany needs.

But, for as much as I am optimistic, I am as equally pessimistic. While the chief executive of New York State changed, the rest of the mess remained the same. The incumbency rate for the state legislature exceeded 90% yet again in the 2006 election, guaranteeing the continued viability of the status quo we have known for far too long. Basically, the legislative branch that Spitzer will attempt to reform is the very same one Pataki captained for years. This legislature is so deeply entrenched in bad habits like cronyism and pork (and rewarded for it by the voters) that Spitzer may be fighting a losing battle.

Along those lines and probably much more detrimental to success, legislative heads Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver were once again anointed the "chosen ones" by their peers. It’s disconcerting that our elected officials would continue to empower them after they led the poorly-performing Senate and Assembly through every year of Pataki’s pitiful tenure and New York’s ultimate demise. The legislature will never operate properly – and New York will never improve – with these two in charge. They dictate how each and every member of their respective houses vote, whether or not it is in the best interest of various New York communities and people. In essence, legislative passages become the whim of Bruno and Silver and not the whim of the voters who empowered the legislature. In such "leadership" roles these two are quite like mafia dons…they strongly and dictatorially control the outcome of everything that happens under their rule by dictating the behaviors and practices of all.

This corrupt legislature and Bruno’s and Silver’s grip on it all pose one gigantic obstacle that Spitzer must overcome if he wants his platform to succeed and for his era to be a good if not great era. With such a scenario I am torn between pessimism and optimism. Do I believe he can make do on his promises? Or, do I just default to the belief that he will be unsuccessful battling such an oppressive force?

I would prefer to remain optimistic until I see otherwise. History has quite often shown that one man following a higher calling with incredible drive and determination – as well as complete indifference to those want to bring him down - can make a real difference. I am hopeful Spitzer is such a man. If he is, New York will once again be the "Empire" State. If many of us are wrong and he is not as advertised, then our home state will further sink into the grave.