State of state fails to thrill at local level

Gov. David Paterson’s state of the state speech last week has been run through the political ringer since its delivery on Tuesday, Jan 5, and it found few fans in Elmont and Franklin Square.

The governor, who has spent months trying to break up a stalemate in Albany, made his state of the state speech an appeal to the common decency of the legislature, and the common sense of New Yorkers.

Republicans are almost never willing to give quarter to an opposition party governor, and Paterson has been no different. GOP members have attacked Paterson for his threats to cut of state aid payments for schools — something even local administrators have thrown heat to Albany for — and for failing to get things moving in a firmly divided state Senate.

Franklin Square Interim Superintendent Anthony Pecorale sent a letter to the governor’s office late last year after Paterson made the decision to delay state aid payments to schools.

Pecorale said at the time that the decision represented a downright criminal act by the governor, despite Paterson’s insistence that it was necessary to keep the state from writing “bad checks.”

“There’s no question that it’s a violation of law,” Pecorale said. “There’s just no proceedure or action that I can take to let the governor understand that what he’s done has really caused problems in the school district[s].”

Assemblyman Tom Alfano (R-North Valley Stream) was not shy in criticizing Paterson for what he saw as a lack of attention to an area that could be a big money maker for the state.

“The governor talked about an economic plan in his State of the State Address but it fell short for Long Island,” Alfano said in a statement. “The governor said that he wants to create jobs and spur economic development. The fact is, he blew yet another chance to kick start economic development at Belmont.”

Many area residents are still upset about a budget slight from last year, when a provision to install video lottery terminals at Belmont Racetrack was stripped from the state budget at practically the last minute.

The decision to award VLT’s to nearby Aqueduct and not Belmont has apparently been a sore spot not just for Elmont residents, but also for NYRA, which is hoping for the revenue boost that local VLT’s could provide.

Paterson, however, did not mention Belmont Racetrack in his statements at the Albany statehouse, a decision some local leaders view as evidence that he’s not taking the possibility of a revitalization there seriously.

“The governor could have joined elected officials and announced his support for the Shinecock Tribe coming to Belmont. He didn’t. He could have outlined a major initiative to create jobs at Belmont. He didn’t” Alfano said. “The speech was long on talk, but that was about it.”

Town of Hempstead Councilman Ed Ambrosino said the speech overall felt “short on substance,” and lacked the strong call to action that New Yorker’s needed.

“I didn’t hear anything concrete as to how he’s going to energize the Long Island economy,” Ambrosino sad. “Although I am curious to see what the Excelsior program is going to do.”

The Excelsior program could end up being a sticking point for many Elmont residents — especially those concerned with the redevelopment of Hempstead Turnpike. The new program, being billed as a method of job creation with a focus on clean energy and information technology, will replace the Empire Zone program.

“Unfortunately, our Empire Zone program is no longer working,” Paterson said in his address. “So, as I said last year, we are going to put it where it belongs – in the past.”

The Hempstead Turnpike corridor in Elmont and Franklin Square, was one of the only designated Empire Zones in Long Island. Without its subsidies for job creating businesses, many locals are afraid entrepreneurs could look elsewhere.

Paterson’s speech, for the most part, stuck to broad goals for a state that is trying — seemingly in vain — to pull itself out of a financial tailspin.

Ambrosino said that local people are leery of Paterson’s calls of financial austerity, saying many see it as code to watch out for tax hikes.

“People are willing to tighten their belts,” he said. “But we will not stand for any further tax increases on the Town of Hempstead.”