Vote Suozzi in Democratic Primary to End Albany’s Dysfunction
by Mark Bitz

In the upcoming September 12th Democratic primary, I encourage registered Democrats to vote for Tom Suozzi. Though Eliot Spitzer is talented and able and may well be our next governor, a better than expected showing for Tom Suozzi signals to Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver that we are fed up with their cozy relationships with public sector unions and overall dysfunction.

Spitzer, like Pataki, is likely to tinker around the edges of reform. He will not offend the hand that feeds him and would fund a run for President. Conversely, Tom Suozzi is not supported by these powerful interests. If he is elected, his base will be people like you and me, people whose interests Albany has ignored for 30 years.

With regard to Eliot Spitzer, I have two concerns. First, he has yet to explain why during his term as attorney general he has directed most of his time and resources to Wall Street rather than Albany. Our dysfunctional state government is far more of an impediment to our futures than the low hanging fruit on Wall Street that Spitzer pursued. Had he directed more of his time and resources to Medicaid fraud, legislator conflicts of interest, and other aspects of Albany’s dysfunction, he would have demonstrated a greater interest in improving life in New York than advancing his political career.

Second, upon accepting endorsements and millions of dollars from New York’s largest vested interests - the Democratic party leaders, the public sector unions, and the trial lawyers - how effectively can he ignite an economic renaissance?

The following exchange between an Associated Press reporter and the two candidates for governor make this clear. When asked whether unions have too much power in Albany? Tom Suozzi responded, “Yes. Along with corporate and lobbying interests, unions are among the many special interests that have too much power in Albany. Ironically, the only interest underrepresented in Albany is the voter.” This is an accurate and truthful response.

Eliot Spitzer responded, “The problem is not that any one group has too much power, it is that the governor has not shown the leadership necessary to bring all sides of an argument to the table to agree on how we can work together to accomplish real reform.” This is a mealy mouth response that smacks of an unwillingness to be truthful and confront his powerful supporters.

We need to remember New York State will not prosper until the cost of the public sector relative to the private sector gross product is more similar to that of other states. We cannot have 1 out of 8 workers in the state unionized and employed by government, while the ratio is 1 out of 19 in the rest of the country. Only words, policies, and mandates that address this reality will cause the state to prosper. Elected officials who ignore this reality will be no more able to create a prosperous New York State than make water flow uphill.

Tom Suozzi, unlike Spitzer, has a history of successfully confronting the powerful interests and Albany’s abysmal leadership. In 2004, frustrated with the state’s unfunded Medicaid mandate, he started a “Fix Albany” campaign. The Medicaid mandate consumed roughly half of most counties’ budgets and all of their revenue growth. Tom asked county executives across the state to help defeat one state Republican Senator and one Democratic Assembly Member in each county, as years of requests to Albany to fully fund the mandate, or relinquish control of it, fell on deaf ears. Tom’s efforts tightened races and defeated a few targeted legislators. After the defeats, as President of New York’s County Executive Association, Tom and the other county executives pressured the Legislature to cap the annual growth of county Medicaid costs to roughly 3%.

Prior to Tom becoming Nassau’s County Executive, the Maxwell School of Public Affairs rated the county as the “worst run” in the nation. Three years later, the New York Times writes, “Mr. Suozzi laid out a clear path to restoring Nassau’s solvency and self-respect. He said he would raise, then freeze, property taxes; practice budgetary self-control; and make government smaller and smarter. He has largely kept those promises.”

Tom fired ‘do nothing’ employees, eliminated wasteful contracts, cut the work force to the smallest in 30 years, initiated reforms that saved $100 million, achieved historic labor concessions, dramatically reduced borrowing, and crafted three consecutive no-tax increase balanced budgets. Under Tom’s leadership, Nassau County’s bond rating improved 11 times in less than three years. Smith Ratings and Research Review, an independent investor watchdog group, referred to Nassau’s transformation as “one of the top three turnaround stories in the nation.” Nassau County, with a population over 1.3 million, is larger than seven states and has over 8500 employees.

As Nassau County Executive, Tom consolidated 8 government agencies with his “No Wrong Door” initiative. The consolidation resulted in the improved delivery of health and human services to citizens at substantially lower costs. In 2005, Governing magazine honored Tom as its, “2005 Public Official of the Year.”

Given Tom Suozzi’s unusual effective record at making government “smaller and smarter,” and Spitzer’s tight relationships with the Democratic party leaders, trial lawyers and public sector unions, a vote for Tom Suozzi in the upcoming Democratic primary is the surest vote to register your desire to end Albany’s dysfunction and create a prosperous New York State.

Mark Bitz is President of Plainville Farms and FreeNYS.org. He is author of Creating a Prosperous New York State: Making Elected Officials Accountable for New York State’s Performance Relative to Other States, which is available from Amazon.com. He received his B.S. from Purdue University in Economic Development and M.S. from Cornell University in Public Policy Analysis. He has traveled to 47 states and 36 countries. He taught English in Poland when the Poles stood up to their government and helped unravel the U.S.S.R. He regularly addresses groups, editorial boards, and radio audiences throughout New York State.