You may be the cure for Albany’s ills

A year ago, Long Island legislators dismissed Albany as the home of a government not of the people, but of “three men in a room.” And that wasn’t the first time that criticism was leveled; it’s been a perennial complaint. But now we’re lucky if we can get that many in a room, and even luckier if we know which three they are.

Who’s in charge in Albany? Fingers are routinely pointed at Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and any number of Democratic leaders, none of whom seem eager to shoulder the burden of leadership.

New York is in historically dire straits. Billions of dollars in a state budget gap is just the first of a litany of issues. Long Island is suffering from cripplingly high tax rates, a dwindling population of young people and now, in the wake of a powerful storm, the revelation that our infrastructure and emergency response systems may not be prepared for a natural disaster.

It’s at times like these that New York state has depended on the leadership of strong-willed men and women of principle to guide us into a brighter future — or at least toward a reasonable solution. Now? Most casual political observers are shocked that the state still has a governor.

This is not a new set of problems. When Eliot Spitzer ran for governor in 2006, he promised change in Albany. When Paterson took over for him, he promised a new era of cooperation. At this rate, how are the state’s 2010 gubernatorial candidates even supposed to campaign? To many, “change” in Albany just means getting busted for a different crime.

So what’s the solution? You. And people like you.

There is a wave of populism washing over the country right now, and it could mean great things, and real change, for New York state. Long Island is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of civic associations whose rosters are filled with men and women who are concerned about the roads they drive on, the schools in which their children are educated and what their hard-earned tax dollars pay for.