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Good Tuesday Morning,
Yesterday was supposed to be hot and humid with hazy sunshine and temps topping out at 97. But in the end, though it was hot and the temps topped out at 92 here in beautiful Kent Cliffs, the Heart of the Hudson Highlands, it turned out to be a very nice day.
But I will tell you where it was too hot last night:
 In the cool-blue auditorium of the Putnam Valley high School before an audience of about 100 people, State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi brought the "Suozzi Commission" roadshow into town. The purpose of the dog and pony show was to explain and present the results of Mr. Suozzi's public investigation into ways of bringing property taxes under control in New York State. The Commission met with communities across New York, accepted hundreds of letters, emails and documents, and spent a pretty penny seeking input from New Yorkers of all kinds, stripes and backgrounds. In the end, the commission came up with the most politically palatable solution:
Maintain the status quo, make the politicians happy and keep the wealthy protected.
The Commission recommends a 4% cap on school spending increases and a variation of the Galef-Little circuit-breaker bill which amounts to a better targeted reworking of the STAR program. How those two things bring relief to property owners is unknown since we start at baseline (what you're paying now) and work upwards from there. They call this "relief"? Indeed they do and they're trying to make you believe it but the audience last night was not buying a word of it. From private citizens to school board members, speaker after speaker said, No! Only the business interests, a sponsor of last evening's circus sideshow, thought it a good idea.
There were other options with the most promising being that we move to statewide funding of education based on a graduated income tax. This, as my readers know, is in a bill currently supported by Kingston Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, a bill originally proposed by Republican Senator Lavalle of Long Island, Mr. Suozzi's home region. Anyone who reads News That Matters knows about this bill which, during my comments last evening I casually referred to as the Cahill Model. This brought a blank stare from Mr. Suozzi who asked, 'What is this Cahill model?' and the meeting fell apart...
How could a man and a commission charged with this particular task fail to have known about and included the Cahill model in their deliberations?
I'm standing there at the microphone when Mr. Suozzi asked his question and I'm speechless. I am struck dumb. My tongue clove to the roof of my mouth and I could not utter a word. I was astonished. The audience, half of whom said they were there to support the Cahill model of things went pale. It was a defining moment not only in the battle to fix this problem, lending credence to the belief that Albany has no intention of such a thing, but also in the political career of Mr. Suozzi, a man who desires to be the Governor of the Empire State. How could he not have known?
The answer is that it is not possible. The answer, once every other possibility is removed from consideration, is that the Commission purposefully neglected Cahill during its tenure. In other words, the Commission intentionally ignored the only sane solution to this problem in order to maintain the status quo. There were 8 or 9 references to 'the ability to pay' in Mr. Suozzi's presentation last evening so we must ask why was 'the ability to pay' not part of the Commission's findings and recommendations?
I know that citizen tax groups across the state and that both Vic Tiship and myself have personally written the commission suggesting Cahill as an option. I also know that Vic and I have raised the awareness of this issue to a degree which has made regional news. I know that the Putnam County legislature and the towns of Kent and Putnam Valley have all endorsed the Cahill model. I know other towns in New York state have done the same and I know Sandy Galef, who sits on an Assembly committee on property taxes is well aware of it. So again I must ask: How could the commission claim to not know?
In a taxpayer-funded newsletter sent to constituents in Sandy's district this past spring, she asked us which property tax relief solution we preferred. When referring to the Cahill model she posed the question in the most negative light stating that your taxes would have to be raised significantly, and still it came back as one of the top choices, something she grudgingly admitted to last night. Even when politicians slam Cahill, the voters still demand it. How could Mr. Suozzi not know? How could the Commission not even look into it?
On April 11th 2008, Victor, myself and Richard Lopez, met with Sandy at her office in Ossining where we talked about this very thing. At the beginning of the meeting she claimed she had not read the bill even after receiving reams of information about it and having included it on one of her polls. By the end of that meeting she admitted, finally, that she had read the bill but was concerned about her constituents in Briarcliff, i.e., the rich. It's not like this was new information to her, but it is more likely that the desire to pull the wool over our eyes is more important to the Albany Establishment than repairing genuine problems and fixing the inner machinations of State government.
In the end it all comes down to this harsh reality: you and I, the average Joe and Jane Voter, have no say in Albany and Albany cares not a whit about us. Unless you can afford campaign donations in the 4 figure range you simply do not exist. Unless you are the CEO of a Wall Street firm there are no ears in Albany awaiting your counsel. Unless you are part of the powers-that-be you are locked out of the process, dog and pony shows, bread and circuses notwithstanding.
The cost of education is not the problem. Finding funding for it is not the problem. But paying for it in an equitable and fair manner, one which would ensure every student in New York state is guaranteed a good education and one in which the distribution of that burden is equalized, is the problem and Albany, immune to public pressure and isolated in their gleaming, lofty towers rising from the plains of upstate New York, simply does not give a shit.
THAT'S the news that matters.
JmG
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