The three-way race for the 138th state Assembly seat heated up last week as incumbent Francine Del Monte used Thomas Pryce, a Niagara Falls Bridge Commissioner, to lodge challenges against the nominating petitions of her two opponents.
|
|
Pryce, who was appointed to the commission in 2008 on Del Monte's recommendation to Gov. David Paterson, lives in Youngstown. A longtime union official, he currently serves as business manager and financial secretary of Iron Workers Local 9 here. Previously he spent 12 years on the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education.
Most observers dismissed Pryce's objections as the work of a political hack kowtowing to the whim of his patron.
Specifically, his challenge centered on 218 signatures John Ceretto gathered on the Independence Party line, and 81 signatures John Accardo filed on the Conservative Party line. Del Monte is mindful of last year's election for Lewiston supervisor, in which her close political ally, incumbent Fred Newlin, went down to defeat after his opponent in the Democratic Party primary, Kathryn Mazierski, secured the Independence line and split the Democratic vote in the general election.
Newlin lost to Republican Steve Reiter after a punishing campaign in which he was under attack from all sides.
Ceretto has been the point man for the Niagara County Legislature's lawsuit against the Bridge Commission, which maintains that it is not subject to open meeting or "Sunshine" laws that affect virtually every other governmental organization in the United States. Because some of its members are Canadian, the Bridge Commission contends it is not bound by the laws of New York state or the United States when it comes to sharing information regarding salaries, pensions or revenue with the public.
The case is now in federal court.
Del Monte has long used the commission as a dumping ground for political hacks who have supported her in the past. Commission Chairwoman Norma Higgs, who has thrown Del Monte the support of the city's block clubs -- despite the fact that the group's charter specifically bans political activity -- is one example, and Pryce, who has secured the backing of the Iron Workers, is another.
"Tom Pryce was appointed to the Bridge Commission based on the recommendation of Francine Del Monte," said Ceretto. "Now, quite conveniently, he issues a challenge of my petitions in the midst of my campaign to unseat her. Maybe instead of taking orders from his political matriarch, Pryce should spend some time reviewing the failed policies of the organization he supposedly represents."
Ceretto said the secretive nature of the commission's business dealings is a slap in the face to state taxpayers, and that Del Monte's support of the system -- which the state Committee on Open Government has found to be in violation of the law -- demonstrates contempt for the people she was elected to represent.
"Del Monte talks about being an advocate for transparency in government, but at no point has she demanded the commission turn over the documents we are seeking," Ceretto said.
Since the commission was created by an act of the U.S. Congress and federal funds have been used and administered by it, some have wondered whether Pryce's intervention might constitute a violation of the federal Hatch Act, which forbids political activity on the part of federally funded workers.
Any prosecution could hinge on whether or not Pryce receives a stipend for being a commissioner, sources said.
For their part, Accardo and Ceretto continued their assault on Del Monte's decade-old record of failure in Albany.
Specifically, Ceretto addressed the fact that the bulk of Del Monte's campaign contributions come from outside the 138th District, while Accardo hammered the out-of-control increases in Medicaid spending supported by the incumbent.
Within Del Monte's July campaign finance filing, Ceretto found 49 separate campaign contributions totaling $21,185. Of the 49 itemized contributions, only one was received from within Del Monte's district, with the vast majority coming from Albany and New York City-area based organizations. The one contribution from within her district was received from a company that subsequently went out of business.
Additionally, 28 of the contributions were from political action committees (PACs), faceless organizations representing special interests in Albany and Washington. Political action committees are often very influential in advancing or blocking legislation in Albany.
"It's clear that she is not representing the interests of her home district," said Ceretto. "Even in the excruciating dysfunction of New York state government, Francine Del Monte's numbers stand out. She has never advocated for campaign finance reforms, and now we know why -- she is bought and paid for by special interests."
Ceretto vowed to sponsor substantive campaign finance reform legislation if elected.
"I won't cater to special interests, I won't be swayed by lobbyists, and I will not allow the interests of the people of this community to be secondary to those in Albany and New York City, as Francine Del Monte has allowed during her decade in office," said Ceretto. "What I will do is advocate for the kind of campaign finance reform that is so desperately needed in New York state."
Accardo described the oversight involved in collecting his Conservative Party line signatures as "very tight," and said that he isn't worried that Pryce's objections will have any effect on the campaign.
Skyrocketing Medicaid costs, he said, is an issue he wants to talk about, though Del Monte dodges the subject whenever it comes up.
"The taxpayers cannot continue to subsidize the most lavish Medicaid program in the United States," Accardo said. "While just 7 percent of the country's population lives in New York, we consume 14 percent of all the Medicaid dollars spent in the United States."
Laying the blame directly at the feet of Albany representatives, Accardo describes $49 billion in annual Medicaid budget spending as reckless.
"We have nobody to fault but ourselves for allowing Medicaid expenditures to run wild. Think about it, the average Medicaid payment per enrollee in New York state is $7,927. That amount per enrollee is more than the cost would be if you combined the enrollee expenditures in Texas and California."
These costs fall directly onto the backs of taxpayers in Niagara and every other county in the state, he added.
"Remember, half of the non-federal cost of Medicaid programs falls directly on the backs of taxpayers throughout the counties," he said. "New York is the only state in this country where any of the state's Medicaid costs is passed down to the counties. And these costs can only be defrayed by higher property and sales taxes or a reduction in local services."
Specifically, significant cost reductions can be found in changing the regulations regarding the distribution of prescription drugs to Medicaid recipients, Accardo said.
"Unlike so many of us with private insurance, enrollees are prescribed name-brand drugs. Unbelievably, if Medicaid enrollees were simply required to use generic drugs, the savings in Niagara County alone could reach $2 million annually," Accardo said. "Statewide the savings could top $200 million. I am committed to introducing legislation that will make generic prescriptions the rule rather than the exception for New York State Medicaid participants."
With Accardo and Ceretto offering such specific reform proposals, it isn't likely that Del Monte can continue playing her tired old political games for much longer in this election season.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 27, 2010 |