State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk. (Photo by Dan Barton)
That statement, I would add, is most self-revealing.
Stay tuned.
Going forward
In a scene that looked like the waiting room at a birthing center, 16 of 23 county legislators mingled and mumbled for over two hours last week while the fate of the 1 percent sales-tax extension was being determined behind closed doors.
Since I had opted for root-canal surgery and a proctology exam that night — providers weren’t sure which end was which — I chose not to attend what was a thoroughly predictable process. At least, it should have been.
On the table for final county legislature approval that night was a sales-tax extension law that had been vetted by both houses of the state legislature, the state Department of Taxation and Finance, and signed, sealed and delivered by the governor.
And yet, the county executive declared that he and staff needed to closely examine the document for “deficiencies” that might cause problems down the road. They found none.
After an hour, and only minutes short of a drop-dead deadline of 7 p.m., legislature Chairman John Parete walked down the hall to the executive suite and pulled the trigger. “I told them we were going into session right now and voting on this legislation,” he told me. Hein signed the legislation immediately after its unanimous passage.
The legislation requires the county to formally finalize Safety Net takeover from the city and the towns in its 2015 budget by Nov. 1. Legislators groused that their budget process runs through the first week in December. Failure to meet the state’s deadlines could again result in the county losing almost $2 million a month in revenues.
Here, history is instructive. Last year, “for the convenience of the public,’ Hein moved his budget presentation up by two weeks. Look for history to repeat next fall, with final budget approval (coincidentally?) coming just before Cahill faces the voters on Nov. 4.
Meanwhile, the “Cahill 7 percent sales tax” will be replaced on Saturday by the “Hein 8 percent sales tax.” It’s not clear who should get bragging rights on that one.
Park Point
Assuaging the worst fears of New Paltz officials, it would appear the county’s Industrial Development Agency board has an open mind on the controversial Park Point student housing project just south of the village.
“Public input is important to us, but we hope they stick to the merits of the Pilot [payment in lieu of taxes] proposal that is the subject of our public hearing,” board Chairman Mike Horodyski said on the morning of the hearing at NewPaltzHigh School this Tuesday.
Horodyski, a bank president who took over the IDA chairmanship from resort owner Dave O’Halloran last year, allowed that the Park Point process hasn’t been very smooth. “I’d say their initial presentation [about a year ago] was probably not their shining moment,” he conceded.
Despite the uproar in New Paltz over granting what critics consider excessive tax breaks for developers, the IDA will continue to offer Pilots, the chairman said, “because the use of Pilots makes us competitive with other counties.” He said the Pilot being considered for Park Point is similar to others previously granted.
An independent agency appointed by the legislature, the IDA is not bound by home-rule considerations, but has frequently stated in the past that it would not approve such deals with significant local opposition. Hello, New Paltz.
In any event, a final decision by the IDA looks at least a month away. Developers, no doubt, would like to get shovels in the ground next spring. Some opponents, local student-housing landlords prominently among them, would just as soon bury the whole project, absent a sweeter deal for the local tax base.
Office politics
State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk’s Uptown Kingston office at 42 Crown St., a long time coming, has been downsized from part-time regular staffer to “just call.” That may not be the best strategy for holding Ulster for the Democrats in this fall’s election.
Tkaczyk, a freshman Democrat from Duanesburg, wasn’t officially elected until mid-January of last year, and then by only 18 votes. It took the state Senate bureaucracy another four months or so to set her up with a district office in Kingston. City Alderwoman Elisa Ball manned the office until she left for a job at Ulster County Community College last November. Tkaczyk district rep Alanna Henneberry, who covers Ulster and Greene counties for the senator, will be available for appointments at the office (331-3810).
Despite downsizing in the county that provided her election margin, the good news for Tkaczyk as February approaches is that she as yet does nor have an announced opponent. By contrast, freshman Democrat Terry Gipson in Dutchess has the hounds of the GOP chasing him, with no less than three prominent east-bank Republicans gunning for the right to oppose him. The difference? Tkaczyk’s district is considered “Democratic-safe” by the backroom operatives who pull the strings in Albany, despite the barest of majorities in 2012. Gipson, in a three-way race that year, polled less than 44 percent of the overall vote. For pols on the prowl, that’s a target district.
Hugh, Hugh….I went to Sen. Tgaczyk’s office three times last year, and two out of the three times the office was “womanned”–or should I say “personed”—by Alanna Henneberry. Your facts are thus incorrect. One time I walked in Ms. Henneberry was there and then later Ms. Ball entered. Get it right, partner….or are you trying to say those two are like Hein and Cahill? LOL
Welcome back! MR R. You were missed.
Hugh’s column is in print every week, btw. – Dan, the editor.