To the Editor:New Yorkers are rightly sick and tired of the corruption across the state, especially in Albany. Now the corruption is hitting too close to home with the recently announced deal between Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration, Broome
New Yorkers are rightly sick and tired of the corruption across the state, especially in Albany. Now the corruption is hitting too close to home with the recently announced deal between Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration, Broome County and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Company.
In a deal announced this week, the state plans to give Dick’s (which left New York for Pennsylvania over two decades ago) $12 million in taxpayer cash. Additionally, Broome County is promising a sweetheart deal on local property tax relief that will be worth millions more, at the expense of honest local taxpayers. As a cherry on top of this bribery sundae, the New York State Electric & Gas Corp is pledging another $540,000 in free infrastructure improvements to lure the Pittsburgh-based company to set up a facility in the economically depressed Southern Tier town of Conklin.
This type of economic bribery has not worked so far with StartUp NY proving an expensive, miserable failure and taxpayer boondoggle. Of course, the Governor’s same bureaucrats at the Empire State Development Corporation are leading the effort on Dick’s Sporting Goods.
What’s even more outrageous is what Broome County is doing – sitting county legislator, Kim Myers, has direct personal, political, and family financial interests in the so-called jobs-generation that will come with the state cash infusion if Dick’s follows through with the plan. Kim Myers, an elected official, owns hundreds of thousands of dollars in shares in Dick’s, her husband is a senior executive and her father serves as founder and CEO of the company. That’s pure corruption and nepotism to boot.
Not only should Myers recuse herself from any planning and decision-making role in the move by Dick’s and any settlement of tax assessments by the county, Myers should withdraw from the race for Congress where she will surely try to gain political capital (in addition to financial capital) from the promised jobs gains in Conklin.
Next, state comptroller Tom DiNapoli and the state ethics agencies should launch an investigation into the state and county over the deal since conflicts of interests are so apparent.
Myers should not be able to profit politically or financially from the deal with the state, county, and Dick’s. It’s deeply wrong that elected officials and candidates for office would so brazenly try to bribe voters with their own money through these crooked agreements.
Sadly, this is not the first time Myers has been caught using taxpayer money inappropriately. In 2014, DiNapoli found that the Myers-led local school board in Vestal, New York had lied to taxpayers and raised taxes inappropriately and then misspent the same funds they wrongly took from taxpayers.
The media needs to be more vigilant in its role as a watchdog over corruption in New York State from Albany down to the county, city, and even village level.
New Yorkers deserve better from their leaders and their media if the corruption endemic to the state will ever be uprooted.
Sean D. Kennedy is the Executive Director of Tenacious Truth PAC which is committed to exposing corruption in politics in New York State and everywhere.
For someone that Republicans say missed over 350 votes in the Assembly last year, it’s hard to imagine moving Claudia Tenney to DC as a member of the NY delegation to Congress.
Headed to Congress, she will do what all Republicans in Congress do: nothing. That is, unless you count obstruction as doing something.
Kim Myers is a good person, a force and strong leader in our community, she takes her job as County Legislator seriously and deserves your vote in the upcoming election.
Don’t listen to the Republican distortion machine. Kim Myers will work for our District,
Vote Kim Myers for Congress.
The media will NEVER flush out corruption in New York state politics. If they wanted to they would have done so. New York needs to have the feds come in and just clean house. Also the voters need to take a large responsibility in this mess because we continue to send the same people back.
Look for someone that’s not currently in politics, someone with a new party concept. We have a very unique chance to try to change the failed economy that New York political leadership has been providing us for over 50 years. A new plan, a new party, is in town! Consider a vote for Martin Babinec. I’m VERY confident you will not be disappointed; very smart and an all-around great person.
It should be noted that the author of this letter is a Tenney supporter. According to his group’s website, he “has known Claudia Tenney for nearly a decade and served as an informal advisor on her previous campaigns.”
Read more: http://tenacioustruth.org/about/
Claudia Tenney is a Constitutional candidate. She has been pointing out and criticizing corruption in Albany since being first elected to the NY State Assembly in 2011.
As a voting member of the NY State Legislature and as a Congressional candidate Claudia Tenney speaks of Constitutionally limited government.
Smaller government and fiscally responsible government is the campaign promise of Claudia Tenney.
Republicans who are sure Trump can t win should read history of Truman s 1948 campaign. Pollsters were off by 9 to 19 percent.