Hochul on the Hustings, Hudson Edition (Updated)

Multi-party candidate for lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul campaigned through the Hudson Valley Saturday, with a “Women’s Equality Party” bus tour stopping in Mt. Kisco, Poughkeepsie and Kingston.  At each stop Hochul announced her (and running mate Andrew Cuomo’s) endorsement of the local Democratic state senate candidate; Justin Wagner in Mt. Kisco, incumbent Terry Gipson in Poughkeepsie and incumbent Cecilia Tkaczyk in Kingston.

These races are highly competitive and are expected to play a central part in determining control of the state senate.  Wagner is seeking an open seat, currently held by Republican Greg Ball.  Tkaczyk faces former state senator George Amedore, who she defeated in 2012 by 18 votes and Gipson faces a strong challenge from Republican Sue Serino.  It’s notable that Cuomo is engaging in these races, although that engagement is tempered by the lack of appearing in person.

Hochul’s Poughkeepsie appearance at Marist College, spectacularly perched above the Hudson River, included Senator Gipson declaring “well that’s a surprise” immediately after Hochul announced the Cuomo/Hochul endorsement.  It may not have been an immediate surprise, seeing as this was a planned campaign stop, but it is a marked longer-term turn of events.  In 2012 Cuomo endorsed and campaigned for Republican and then-incumbent Senator Steve Saland against Gipson.  Saland was one of four Republican senators voting in favor of marriage equality in June 2011, and Cuomo publicly supported all four.

When I asked Hochul about the change from opposing to supporting Gipson, she offered that she and Cuomo “feel very strongly that Senator Gipson will be the vote we need to get the full Women’s Equality Agenda through the legislature.”

We also spoke with Hochul about the three propositions on the November ballot – her views are here.

Ballot Propositions – Hochul Edition

There are three ballot propositions on the November ballot. If approved by voters they will: 1) Create a redistricting commission to draw the new state legislative and House of Representatives’ district lines every 10 years, with the commission members appointed by the state legislative leaders, 2) amend the current constitutional requirement of distributing paper versions of proposed bills to state legislators to allow for electronic distribution and 3) authorize New York State to borrow up to $2 billion for school funding, with a stated purpose of “improving learning and opportunity for public and nonpublic school students”, including the purchase of equipment, expanding school broadband access, building classrooms for pre-K and replacing trailers and installing “high-tech security features.”

Kathy Hochul supports all three propositions.  She’s the first of the five statewide candidates we’ve spoken with to do so.  Her running mate, Governor Andrew Cuomo, supports the first and third propositions but stated that he has not taken a position on the second, which would allow the use of electronic bills in the legislature.  We spoke with Hochul at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, her second of three stops today on a “Women’s Equality Express” bus tour.

Gubernatorial candidates Cuomo and Astorino give their positions here.  Comptroller candidates DiNapoli and Antonacci give their positions here.

Jindal for Astorino

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joined New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino at a press conference this evening, denouncing President Obama’s and Governor Cuomo’s efforts at fighting the Ebola virus as weak and ineffective.  Although both are Democrats, Obama and Cuomo do not appear particularly close generally and they have not had a shared public presence to date in the fight against Ebola. They are, however, the respective political targets of Jindal and Astorino.

In their opening statements Astorino and Jindal also focused on a shared target – Common Core.  Astorino frequently criticizes Common Core and pledges to stop its implementation if elected.  Jindal, once a supporter, has significantly structured his putative presidential bid around his opposition.

Press questions were on two broad topics; Ebola and Chris Christie. I asked Astorino and Jindal about Governor Cuomo’s statement today that only the federal government can ban flights from West African countries, not the New York and New Jersey governors as Astorino and others have demanded, and Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye’s statement that no such direct flights arrive at Newark or JFK.  Astorino first called for such ban on October 7th.  As you can see (in the first question) those statements didn’t seem to alter Astorino or Jindal’s views or demands.  I also asked Jindal whether the Louisiana attorney general’s recent effort (supported by Jindal) to block the incinerated remains of possessions of Ebola victim Thomas Duncan from being disposed of in a Louisiana landfill was adding to growing hysteria.  Other questions included whether Jindal has spoken with Chris Christie, who heads the Republican Governors Association about his lack of support for Astorino, whether Jindal would, if he were still head of the RGA, use RGA resources to support Astorino, whether Jindal agrees with Senator Rand Paul that the federal government is being untruthful about the danger from Ebola and what Jindal thinks of Cuomo’s performance as governor.

Here is the full Q&A:

Ballot Propositions – Comptroller Candidate Views

There are three ballot propositions on the November ballot. If approved by voters they will: 1) Create a redistricting commission to draw the new state legislative and House of Representatives’ district lines every 10 years, with the commission members appointed by the state legislative leaders, 2) amend the current constitutional requirement of distributing paper versions of proposed bills to state legislators to allow for electronic distribution and 3) authorize New York State to borrow up to $2 billion for school funding, with a stated purpose of “improving learning and opportunity for public and nonpublic school students”, including the purchase of equipment, expanding school broadband access, building classrooms for pre-K and replacing trailers and installing “high-tech security features.”

I’ve asked comptroller candidates Tom DiNapoli and Bob Antonacci for their positions on each of the propositions.  DiNapoli opposes the first proposition, supports the second and  refrains from offering a view on the third citing his office’s role should that proposition be approved.  Antonacci opposes the first and third propositions, the redistricting commission and school bond issue, but supports the second proposition allowing electronic bills in place of paper bills in the state legislature.

I spoke with DiNapoli on October 8th, as he was endorsed by a large group of Bronx Democratic elected officials, and I spoke with Antonacci immediately after their televised debate Wednesday night.

N.B.  Gubernatorial candidate views on the ballot propositions are here.

Cuomo Discusses Cuomo

Governor Andrew Cuomo ventured into personal territory Wednesday, albeit in his own unemotional manner.  He attended a book signing for his newly published memoir at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, autographing copies for approximately 100-150 people.

He spoke for about 5 minutes before sitting and signing, describing the “three basic stories” covered in his book.  First among them was the “very personal … story of the darkest, most difficult time” of his life around his 2002 electoral defeat and subsequent divorce.  Additionally, by his telling, the book covers the story of “what we did in government” and the story of his father, former governor Mario Cuomo, and how he came into politics.

Here are his full remarks:

de Blasio Returns to Far Rockaway

Mayor Bill de Blasio returned to Far Rockaway Wednesday, unveiling two jobs initiatives while visiting a Sandy recovery/jobs fair.  He announced a “Build it Back Local Hiring Initiative,” requiring Build it Back contractors to post job opportunities and give residents of Sandy-impacted neighborhoods first priority to register for job opportunities, and a “Rockaways (sic) Economic Advancement Initiative” providing expanded services to job seekers.  The jobs fair was the product of a July promise by Amy Peterson, Director of the Office of Housing Recovery.

de Blasio has spoken in very broad terms of the opportunity that the Sandy recovery effort provides “to not just right the wrongs of Sandy, but start righting some greater wrongs“, and he continued that theme Wednesday.  Pledging to put forth a “holistic development plan” and to “undo a lot of what done wrong in the past” on Rockaway’s economic development, de Blasio said that he will make “some more announcements in the coming months … that are specific and then thereafter you’re going to see a much bigger plan.”

Topics during the Q&A portion of his press conference included the looming discontinuance of the Rockaway ferry, a broad consideration of his earlier statement about “righting greater wrongs,” what happened to government funding for a ferry obtained by Anthony Weiner and Joe Addabbo, whether there is any City effort to “track down scammers” in the Build it Back program, how satisfied de Blasio is with the pace of Build it Back, whether an updated evacuation plan is contemplated in conjunction with increasing the housing supply in Rockaway and a government memo reported by The Wave which stated that more money was available from FEMA than publicly acknowledged and that such additional funding could be a political liability.  Here is the full Q&A:

Dueling Speeches – Comptroller Candidates at the Business Council

Comptroller candidates Tom DiNapoli and Bob Antonacci’s closest encounter ahead of a scheduled October 15th debate was their back to back speeches at the New York State Business Council annual meeting.

DiNapoli:

Democrat Tom DiNapoli is the seven year incumbent, appointed by the legislature in early 2007 to fill virtually all of Alan Hevesi’s term, and elected to his current four year term in 2010.  A member of the assembly for 20 years immediately prior to becoming comptroller, he has well-developed political skills.  DiNapoli has a low profile for a statewide office holder, little known to the public, but is well liked in the political world.  Importantly, he enjoys broad labor support.

DiNapoli barely mentioned his campaign in his speech, saying only that “I certainly hope and I expect to be the New York State Comptroller for the next four years.”  He instead focused on his accomplishments in office, presenting a lengthy list of programs and initiatives coupled with a broader claim to have “restored confidence to an organization that had been dragged into scandal.”

Antonacci:

Republican Bob Antonacci is the seven year incumbent Onondaga County Comptroller.  An attorney and certified public accountant, he has a base of professional expertise well-suited for the office.  He faces steep odds in his race against DiNapoli, however, with a recent Quinnipiac University poll putting him behind DiNapoli 56%-28%.  He has little money, struggling to meet the thresholds under the new public financing regime and thereby receive state matching funds.  He’s received minimal public attention, partly because the office itself receives little and partly because it’s widely viewed as a non-competitive race.  As noted above, DiNapoli is well-liked, particularly by labor, and voters need a good reason to consider drumming him out of office.  While Antonacci has argued that he’ll do a better job and discussed some specific things he would do differently, he hasn’t offered a clear argument to voters for drumming DiNapoli out of office.  Finally, there’s a general similarity between the two in personality and physical appearance that further muffles any strong sense of contrast.

In his speech Antonacci addresses items that he contends “we need to fix New York State”, but it’s aimed more broadly at Albany and state government than directly at DiNapoli.

Our coverage of the gubernatorial candidates at the Business Council includes Astorino’s speech and a Cuomo/Astorino encounter.

Astorino at Asphalt Green

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino came to Manhattan’s Upper East Side Tuesday to protest the waste transfer station being built behind Asphalt Green, a popular sports and arts facility.  The waste transfer station has been a neighborhood flashpoint for the past few years, sparking litigation, protests and an ongoing effort to stop it.  Today Astorino called for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to not renew  state-issued permits necessary for the project to continue.

The transfer station is part of the City’s Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan, a large, complex plan which is more than a decade in the making. The SWMP grew out of the Giuliani-era closing of the Fresh Kills landfill, previously the destination for the City’s garbage, as the City has tried to develop a long term plan for waste transfer.

The 91st Street marine transfer station was a topic of discussion during the 2013 mayoral race, with candidates split on what they would do about it. For some background, here is a discussion from a Bronx mayoral forum in June and an appearance at Asphalt Green by Joe Lhota during the general election. It’s an issue that inflames many outside of Manhattan, who see it as an effort by a wealthy, well-connected neighborhood to avoid the same burdens that they face.

Here’s the full Q&A portion of Astorino’s press conference.  On topic questions included whether canceling the project would result in Manhattan not bearing it’s “fair share” of the burdens of waste removal, whether the plan is “too far in motion” to realistically cancel or pull back, his reaction to learning that Mario Cuomo opposes the project and  what effects a major storm might have on the site.  Other topics included whether he plans to read Andrew Cuomo’s book, released today, his view of Cuomo’s national media tour, Cuomo’s reported use of campaign funds to buy holiday gifts for state troopers protecting him and what Astorino plans for the three weeks until election day.

Ballot Propositions – Gubernatorial Candidate Views

There are three ballot propositions on the November ballot.  If approved by voters they will: 1) Create a redistricting commission to draw the new state legislative and House of Representatives’ district lines every 10 years, with the commission members appointed by the state legislative leaders, 2) amend the current constitutional requirement of distributing paper versions of proposed bills to state legislators to allow for electronic distribution and 3) authorize New York State to borrow up to $2 billion for school funding, with a stated purpose of “improving learning and opportunity for public and nonpublic school students”, including the purchase of equipment, expanding school broadband access, building classrooms for pre-K and replacing trailers and installing “high-tech security features.”

I’ve asked gubernatorial candidates Andrew Cuomo and Rob Astorino for their positions on each of the propositions.  Cuomo supports the first and third propositions, the redistricting commission and school bond issue.  On allowing electronic bills in place of paper bills in the state legislature, Cuomo said “I haven’t taken a position yet.”  Astorino opposes the first and third propositions, the redistricting commission and school bond issue.  In our discussion he did not state a position on the second proposition, to allow electronic bills in place of paper bills in the state legislature.

I spoke with Cuomo today, just before the Columbus Day Parade, and with Astorino on September 26th following an appearance in Farmingdale.

Here’s NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on the ballot propositions.

Update:  On October 23rd Cuomo revised his position, stating that he supports proposition #2.

Columbus Day Parade

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio were among the many elected officials and candidates marching in today’s Columbus Day Parade.  Marching separately, they each held a press gaggle, Cuomo just before marching and de Blasio as he concluded.

Cuomo:

Accompanied by his daughter Michaela, Cuomo made an opening statement lauding Columbus Day, the parade and Italian-American contributions to New York.  Question topics included his contemplated trip to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, his favorite italian food, his position on the three propositions appearing on the November ballot, whether he’s optimistic about his reelection, Italian-American contributions to New York and Mitt Romney’s recent fundraising email in support of Rob Astorino.

de Blasio:

Joined by OEM Commissioner Joe Esposito de Blasio answered questions on the City’s readiness to deal with ebola, whether his reaction to Rachel Noerdlinger’s issues represents a “double standard” and changes in the levying of fines by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Cuomo and a Justice Agenda (Updated)

Governor Andrew Cuomo continued his recent spate of campaign appearances, speaking to the United Missionary Baptist Association this evening.  While he touted accomplishments and statistics that he uses in virtually all of his speeches, such as the state budget and finances and the number of new jobs created during his term and now existing in the state, he added many other topics revolving around the notion of “government as a vehicle for justice”, saying that “I want to develop the justice agenda” for his second term.  Such a justice agenda would operate on the principle that “government has an obligation to affirmatively attack the injustice” that exists.

Cuomo described New York’s education system as reflecting the reality that it’s “not a just society,” with a tale of “two education systems .. it’s a rich school system and a poor school system.”  Praising predecessor David Paterson’s efforts on expanding state contracting directed to M/WBE businesses, Cuomo touted his meeting and expanding on Paterson’s goals.  Proposals for a second term included a “minority job voucher program” and a “faith based office in the state government … to provide resources” to ” faith based organizations.”

Here is his full speech:

Bronx Love for DiNapoli

Bronx Democratic elected officials today endorsed New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for reelection.  More than a dozen elected officials participated, including County Chair and Assembly Member Carl Heastie, Rep. Eliot Engel, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, State Senators Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Gustavo Rivera and Jose Serrano, Assembly members Marcos Crespo, Carmen Arroyo, Victor Pichardo, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Mike Benedetto and Jose Rivera and Council Members Andy Cohen and Vanessa Gibson.

DiNapoli’s race against Republican candidate Bob Antonacci does not appear to be competitive, with DiNapoli favored by a 56% to 28% margin in a Quinnipiac University poll released today.  In 2010, however, DiNapoli’s race was by far the closest statewide race, with 115,000 of his 200,000 vote margin coming from the Bronx.

State Senate:

I asked DiNapoli about his own plans for campaigning for Democratic state senate candidates and whether he thinks Governor Cuomo’s actions, or lack thereof, in campaigning for Democratic state senate candidates are sufficient.

Ballot Propositions:

There are three ballot propositions on the November ballot: 1) Creation of a redistricting commission to draw the new state legislative and House of Representatives’ district lines every 10 years, with the commission members appointed by the state legislative leaders, 2) amend the current constitutional requirement of distributing paper versions of proposed bills to state legislators to allow for electronic distribution and 3) authorize New York State to borrow up to $2 billion for school funding, with a stated purpose of “improving learning and opportunity for public and nonpublic school students”, including the purchase of equipment, expanding school broadband access, building classrooms for pre-K and replacing trailers and installing “high-tech security features.”

We asked DiNapoli for his position on each of the three propositions:

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