Knickerbocker Blog

List of Candidates for State's Top Court Goes to Spitzer for an Early Decision (Joseph Goldstein/New York Sun)

Choosing among the list of candidates released yesterday for an opening on the state's highest court will require Governor-elect Spitzer to navigate political considerations that range from his relations with labor unions to the future of the death penalty in New York.

One of Mr. Spitzer's first acts as governor will be to nominate a judicial candidate to the Court of Appeals in Albany to replace Judge Albert Rosenblatt. Nominated to the court by Governor Pataki, Judge Rosenblatt must step down at the end of the year because at age 70 he will have reached the age of mandatory retirement.

Judge Rosenblatt's replacement will come from a list of seven candidates — a partner at a major law firm and six current judges — who have been approved by the state's Commission on Judicial Nomination.

Buffalo Niagara has two sites among five in the running for a contract to build a new state plant (David Robinson and Thomas Prohaska/Buffalo News)

In less than three weeks, Gov. George E. Pataki will announce where to build a billion-dollar power plant.

The project is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs for up to four years and about 140 permanent jobs. It's a titanic economic decision, and the good news for the Buffalo Niagara region is that two of the five sites being considered across the state are here.

With so much at stake, the competition between the local plants - NRG Energy's Huntley Station in the Town of Tonawanda and AES Corp.'s Somerset plant in Barker - has been fierce.

Misleading claims in county budget (Letter/Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)

It is misleading and incorrect for the county to claim in its budget executive summary, and for the newspaper to report, that there are no (property) tax increases in the 2007 Monroe County budget.

The only true measure of the impact of a governmental (be it county, town, or school district) budget on a community is the real estate tax levy, or total amount to be raised by property taxes.

The detailed 2007 Monroe County budget states that the real estate tax levy is "$15.9 million more than 2006," an increase to $321 million in 2007 from $305 million in 2006. This is a 5 percent tax increase.

No More 'Me, Too' (Joseph Mondello op-ed/New York Post)

In the weeks and months ahead we must renew our commitment to a party that presents a clear and consistent platform that attracts men and women from every walk of life, from every color, creed and ethnic background, because of its unwavering commitment to smaller government, lower taxes, less government regulation, robust private entrepreneurship and an unshakeable commitment to keeping our homeland safe and secure.

New York already has a party of big government and runaway wasteful spending - they're called Democrats.

As Republicans, we need to offer New Yorkers a clear choice by returning to our roots as the party that fights for the hard-working, middle-class taxpayers of our state who believe that all people are deserving of a good job, quality education, affordable health care, safe and secure communities and freedom from oppressive taxation.

Stick to it, governor; No raise for the Legislature should mean just that, no matter what deals are proposed (Editorial/Times Union)

No. And not an ordinary no, either. Make this one a halfway around the world no.

There was Governor Pataki, speaking to reporters at the state Capitol from Iraq, and in very little time the questions turned from an utterly ineffective government in Baghdad -- dysfunction that surpasses even the worst of Albany's horror shows -- to possible pay raises for New York legislators.

"I've opposed a pay raise," Mr. Pataki said. "I continue to do that."

That should settle things, then, right?

How can our legislators justify giving themselves a pay raise? Is it because they have done such a fantastic job of making us the highest-taxed state, or are they looking for credit for the droves of our educated people leaving for greener pastures in other states?

. . . .

The National Guard soldiers and airmen worked the recent storm disaster 10 to 14 hours per day for $125 per day. That's less than a state legislator gets for his hotel room in Albany. And these legislators want a pay raise. Earn it like the private sector has to and we'll pay it.

One Empire Zone official defends the benefits of the program in this letter to the editor in the Post-Standard.

When we met with The Post-Standard reporter about the Geneva Empire Zone project with Wilmorite, it was clear he wanted only to focus on the money and the "selling" of zone acreage. He preferred to totally ignore the nexus required for the project to be approved and its regional approach to assistance. Unfortunately, that skews what was a key development project for the city of Geneva, Ontario County and the Finger Lakes region.

. . . .

The key thing to remember when considering what some call "selling" of the zone and what we call regional development is that it becomes more difficult each year to keep property taxes reasonable. When there is an opportunity to offer incentives that will help the whole county and also receive funds and services for our own citizens and businesses, we'll go for it. Whether it's jobs and property taxes, or revenues in lieu of property taxes, all these revenues are used in the best interests of our citizens, and help to stabilize our tax rate.

The Spitzer Mystery (Editorial/New York Sun)

The big mystery in Albany is which Eliot Spitzer is going to show up in January to take over as governor. Is it going to be the hard-left Eliot Spitzer or the centrist Eliot Spitzer? The poser arises following a recent interview that Mr. Spitzer granted to his biographer, Brooke Masters, that was published in the Financial Times of London. In the first part of the interview, issued Monday, Mr. Spitzer was said by the newspaper to have "hit out at efforts by figures in the Bush administration and business to roll back corporate accountability reforms imposed in the wake of financial scandals such as Enron."

The FT reported that Mr. Spitzer "pronounced himself suspicious of the push to revamp the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability rules." That is the hard-left Mr. Spitzer — even Senator Smoot Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg wrote an oped in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month saying Sarbanes-Oxley "needs to be re-examined" as part of the effort to keep London from surpassing New York as the world's financial capital. In a second report on the interview, Mr. Spitzer is quoted as saying, "I'll work to make sure the financial companies stay here," adding, "We're going to look at the tax code to make sure we're not pushing capital elsewhere." That was the centrist Mr. Spitzer.

Albany opens the books; But lawmakers still reluctant to detail pork-barrel spending (Editorial/Buffalo News)

Everything you need to know about the state's blandly named "member item" system was revealed in the events leading up to this week's disclosure of how Assembly members spend some $85 million a year in unregulated taxpayer money. Those events can be summed up in two words: furious resistance.

Indeed, Assembly leaders revealed those details only at legal gunpoint, having lost a lawsuit brought by the Albany Times Union. And even then, they disclosed the figures in about as incomprehensible a way as they could manage. None of that is what anyone would call evidence of a guilt-free mind.

Then again, why should legislators' minds be guilt-free? Their member items, more derisively known as pork-barrel spending, allow them to distribute taxpayer dollars as though they were trinkets at Mardi Gras, with no restrictions.

Statues, cages, trips add up in state member items (Yancey Roy/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Where does the New York political pork go? Doll museums, tennis clubs, Main Street flower boxes, Irish fests, parades, little leagues and statues of clergy members, just to name a few creative uses.

Plane trips to Washington D.C. for vets. Marketing brochures for cemeteries. A cage for a mountain lion. Even a trip to Bangkok for a dance/theater group.

Those are just some of the $180 million worth of pet projects in the 2006-07 state budget the state Legislature began to disclose this week, following an order by a state judge. These items -- called "member items" by legislators and pork-barrel spending by critics -- are doled out at the discretion of the Senate and Assembly leaders with little public scrutiny.

Meier got $2.2 million for projects; $675,000 for UC the largest (Cara Matthews and Rocco LaDuca/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Republican Sen. Raymond Meier has doled out $2.2 million in grants, notably $675,000 for a new building at Utica College and $100,000 to send Oneida County World War II veterans to that war's monument in Washington, D.C.

The Senate posted a partial list of 2006-07 projects, known as member items, on its Web site this week. The rest will be posted soon, said a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

More: The OD lists all local pork in this story.

Bruno grants total over $12 million; University at Albany East Campus receives $4.8 million over two years (James Odato/Albany Times Union)

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno handed out a whopping $12 million in member item grants during a two-year period, including two huge checks to the East Campus of the University at Albany where his chief fiscal officer is landing in a newly created job.

Recently released records show the top recipient of the taxpayer money doled out by the Brunswick Republican was the SUNY Albany School of Public Health for the university's East Campus in East Greenbush.

The school got $3.4 million from Bruno in December 2004 and $1.4 million in February 2004 for "general operating assistance."

Records reveal state lawmakers' largess; Assembly Speaker Silver personally sponsored $15.2M in member items (James Odato/Times Union)

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver directed $23.6 million in member items to an assortment of pet projects during a two-year period, personally sponsoring $15.2 million for groups, including several represented by a close friend who is a lobbyist.

Silver, D-Manhattan, joined other Assembly Democrats for several projects sponsored in 2003-2004 and in 2004-2005. For instance, he partnered with Susan John of Rochester and Ron Canestrari of Cohoes to send $582,000 over the two years to Queens College for a labor training program.

Governor-elect Spitzer announced a series of executive actions he and Lieutenant Governor-elect Paterson will take "as first steps in implementing a broader reform agenda." In all the press coverage we've seen, there's little mention of this item:

Institute regular and rigorous evaluations of the Executive agencies, including requiring that agencies adopt performance measurements, establish goals, and track their performance over time.

Measuring performance is a routine practice in the business world, because business leaders know that you cannot improve the bottom line if you do not have established performance goals. The State government should adopt these same practices, so that we can make government more efficient and cost-effective, thereby reducing the need for additional taxpayer dollars.

The announcement from Governor-elect Spitzer is available here.

Eliot Pledges An Ethic$ Shake-up (Fred Dicker/New York Post)

Spitzer pledged to establish "numerically based measures" for government performance, modeled in part on those used by Mayor Bloomberg to gauge the effectiveness of city agencies.

Spitzer touts ethics reform package; Governor-elect says state executive branch to abide by tougher finance rules (Liz Benjamin/Times Union)

Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer sought to make good on his pledge to reform state government Thursday with sweeping new ethics rules that will apply to himself, the lieutenant governor and their top staff. He said he hoped the Legislature follows his lead.

The changes, some of which Spitzer said he will seek to make law, include campaign finance limits, a ban on all but nominal gifts and a pledge not to attend fundraisers in the Capital Region when the Legislature is in session.

Governor-elect starts with himself (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Plainville Farms President Mark Bitz, a frequent critic of state government who founded the freenys.org Web site, said Spitzer is "showing real leadership."

If the Legislature follows suit, it could begin reversing a harmful trend three decades in the making that has allowed organized special interests to become too powerful in New York, Bitz said.

"As that trend is reversed, the larger economy can thrive and businesses would thrive," he added.

Deb Warner, director of government relations for the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, called Spitzer's plan "impressive and refreshing."

"I think that any of these actions, suggestions, policies that reflect fairness, openness and balance are going to be welcomed by the business community and the state as a whole," she said.

Spitzer a breath of fresh air in Albany (Editorial/Daily Gazette)

In government, as in life, opportunities don’t come along all the time; when they do, they must be quickly seized before they pass. That’s just what Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer did yesterday when he announced sweeping reforms that will apply to himself, his lieutenant governor and executive branch employees he has control over. You name the reform issue, and Spitzer dealt with it.

Spitzer Will ‘Unilaterally Disarm' on Day One (Jacob Gershman/New York Sun)

It's not clear if other statewide candidates would follow Mr. Spitzer's approach. Attorney General-elect Andrew Cuomo said he was reviewing the plans and would release his own ethics package shortly.

Spitzer clamps down on executive branch (Tom Precious/Buffalo News)

"Today was like a breath of fresh air," said Blair Horner, a lobbyist with the New York Public Interest Research Group. "For the first time in a long time, the governor-elect is using the bully pulpit to advance the reform movement."

Spitzer announces unprecedented reform for governor's office (Mike Gormley/Associated Press)

Spitzer outlines reforms; He pledges action to begin changing ways of government (Cara Matthews/Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)

Spitzer said he would enact the measures by executive order, meaning they would not need legislative approval. They are the first step in a process to change government, he said, adding that he hopes they will spur lawmakers to take similar actions.

Spitzer to Cut Size of Gifts He Accepts (Michael Cooper/New York Times)

Yes, according to political activist and New York farmer Mark Bitz. The Post-Standard's Sean Kirst has more in this column.

Not for the first time, Mark Bitz was a few steps ahead of the news from Albany.

Bitz, president of Plainville Turkey Farms and an outspoken advocate for state reform, was supposed to give a speech to state Senate Democrats this weekend in Saratoga Springs. One of the points he intended to make was that closing some hospitals and nursing homes is necessary to help contain Medicaid costs. Bitz said the Democrats told him they were overbooked and canceled his speech.

Even so, the contention he planned to highlight in the speech is now, through sheer coincidence, the crux of statewide debate. Among many recommendations, a state hospital downsizing commission this week called for merging Crouse and University hospitals in Syracuse, eliminating the obstetrics unit at Auburn Memorial Hospital, and converting Fulton's A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital into an "urgent care" facility.

Each of those communities reacted with cries of shock and opposition. Yet Bitz prophesied about that reaction in the body of the speech he never gave.

"As much as the communities where hospitals are located will cry, some can be closed," Bitz wrote in a portion of the speech released Thursday. "Will it disrupt some lives? Yes, and this is extremely unfortunate. However, this must be weighed against the disruption of the lives of the million people who left New York between 2000 and 2004. . . . (It) must be weighed against making health care more affordable so a couple million more people can afford coverage."

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership takes a strong stance in support of rationalizing New York's (and Western New York's) health-care system, in an open letter from President/CEO Andrew Rudnick.

For more than 20 years, the local business community has called for reengineering the delivery of health care in our region. Our objective: to improve the quality of care, and reign in ever-increasing costs to patients, taxpayers and employers.

Efforts to achieve this through voluntary action have been unsuccessful. That is why I see great opportunity in the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, and the $2.5 billion in state and federal dollars allocated to support their implementation.

The Business Council of New York State estimates the commission's recommendations would reduce Medicaid costs by an estimated $249 million a year, with similar savings for employers and other private purchasers of health insurance. Hospitals and other service providers would reap an estimated $721 million annually that could be used to help pay restructuring and other costs.

The recommendations will yield challenges for local hospitals as they’re implemented. But our community will emerge in the near future with a health care delivery system that is stronger, better and more affordable. That’s why the Partnership’s position on this issue has been, and is, that the status quo doesn’t work, and isn’t an option.

It’s important to keep in mind these recommendations were not developed by people with no ties to health care or Buffalo Niagara, but by representatives from our region, and experts in the delivery of health care services. The commission was mandated to be sensitive to local needs throughout its deliberations, and was comprised of statewide and regional members (nine total from our region), and a regional advisory committee representing Bufalo Niagara that included representatives from local hospital systems.

Union won't fight hospital closing; 1199 holds fire for budget scrap (David Saltonstall/Daily News)

Union insiders told the Daily News that - while unhappy with the sweeping recommendations of the state's hospital-closing Berger Commission - they are inclined to save their firepower for other looming battles with Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer.

"Our fight is likely to be when we see the executive budget," one high-ranking Local 1199 source told The News, referring to Spitzer's first budget in January and the likelihood it will include further health care cuts.

While anything can happen, experts said the likely retreat by Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union - widely viewed as the most potent political player in Albany - would make stopping the proposed hospital closures all but impossible.

...

Union officials said their decision not to go to war over the closures was an acknowledgment that, while painful, the plan was at least done in a "rational way."

There is "money behind it to make sure that patients can get the care they need," and to assure "that members of our union are secure," said one union insider.

Union leaders also seemed to acknowledge that starting a very public battle with a popular new governor - who campaigned on promises to cut health care costs by up to $1 billion - could well hurt them later.

...

Yesterday, the state quickly put one $15 million contract for worker retraining out to bid, with "health worker unions" specifically mentioned as among the eligible recipients. Local 1199 officials indicated they'd be among the bidders.

Berger, Spitzer see more health care cuts coming (Jay Gallagher/Journal-News)

The plan to cut the state's health-care system proposed this week, while called harsh by some union leaders and hospital executives, represents merely a start on reductions that need to be made, the chairman of the commission that recommended the cuts said in an interview yesterday.

Later, Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer disclosed that the savings from the plan to state taxpayers from the proposed closings is likely to be minimal. He reiterated that the "bloated system" needs to be further cut.

The commission chairman, former state Social Services Commissioner Stephen Berger, said the panel didn't propose more cuts because they would be too hard for the health-care system to absorb.

"Our goal was to improve the system to give additional strength to what remains," he said. "We decided it was not desirable by going by where we should be in five or six years in one fell swoop."

...

The cuts recommended by the commission, while reducing spending by about $800 million overall, will save only about $250 million in Medicaid costs, Spitzer said, with the rest going to the federal government and private insurers. Medicaid is the health-insurance plan for poor people that the federal government pays half of. The state pays just over one-third and local governments about 16 percent.

So the state savings from the plan could be less than $100 million. That's a relative drop in the bucket for the $46 billion program, which is the most expensive of any state.

Spitzer has said that far more needs to be cut to help pay for other spending in the state budget, including more cash for schools and a tax cut.

The key to further savings, Berger said, is reducing the average length of stay in hospitals. He said it is now a little longer than six days in New York, compared to the national figure of 4.8 days.

"New York historically has been two days or so longer than the national average," he said. "It's the way we practice medicine, and it needs to change."

Pataki the Deregulator Now Sides With Firmer Control of Hospitals (Richard Perez-Pena/New York Times)

The way New York controlled hospitals in decades past would have been unthinkable in most states. The state decided whether hospitals could add wards or expensive machinery, it plotted the shape of the industry and forced it to shrink, and it set the price of every service, from stitching cuts to delivering babies.

Gov. George E. Pataki set out to change that when he took office 12 years ago, saying that competition and the free market, not regulators, should make such decisions. The state stopped setting rates, it stopped picking survivors and casualties among hospitals, and it blocked costly new projects less often.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Pataki, a Republican, embraced the report of a commission, appointed mostly by him, marking a partial return to the state control that his administration once shunned. The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century set out to determine in detail the right size and shape of the hospital and nursing home industries.

...

The hospital price-setting system the state imposed in 1983 essentially guaranteed every hospital a small but steady profit margin. But it also discouraged efficiency, and it is hard to find anyone today who advocates a return to it.

There's much more in the article, available here.

Hospital study’s recommendations should be embraced (Letter/Schenectady Daily Gazette, for subscribers)

Let us realize that this is an opportunity to enhance the care we provide, to improve the financial footing of our system for future decades and to pursue our communitywide mission of excellence.

Let us avoid the temptation to regard the changes ahead of us as "bad." Let us also hope that the cost savings sought by the commission are not lost on highpriced lawyers and consultants in endless financial and legal wrangling.

The state hospital downsizing commission rejected a recommendation from its New York City experts to shut down struggling Downtown Hospital - protecting the biggest medical center on the turf of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, The Post has learned. mmission flatly turned aside a closure recommendation in the city, and the move casts doubt on the panel's claims that there were no political "sacred cows."

Berger's Turkey, Cont'd. (Editorial/New York Post)

Well, no wonder so many key players are backing that long-awaited plan for a modest restructuring of New York's overbuilt, underused, ruinously expensive hospital system.

It seems that there's a whole lot of winking and nodding going on - and not much restructuring.

To help health care system, time to do nothing (Jim Klurfeld/Newsday)

At first blush, this should be a piece of cake for our representatives in Albany. All they have to do is do nothing. And, as we have come to learn over the years, the folks in Albany are very good at doing nothing. Usually, give them a choice between something and nothing and they'll choose nothing every time.

What I'm talking about here is the Berger Commission report to restructure the hospital and nursing home systems in New York State. The long-awaited report of the commission was issued Tuesday and, just as the commission wanted, it shook up the state's health care industry.

Hospital privatization not a good choice (Public Employees Federation letter/Post-Standard)

It's imperative that the taxpaying residents of Central New York react to the recommendations of the Healthcare Commission. It has proposed that Upstate and Crouse merge and be governed by an entity other that SUNY. This means privatization - not a good choice.

50 jobs coming to Brighton; Software company announces $1 million Canal View expansion (David Tyler/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Impact Technologies, a Brighton software and equipment company, said Friday that it will expand and create 50 jobs over the next five years.

The company will add 30,000 square feet in Brighton's Canal View office complex and spend $1 million on real estate and equipment.

Bechtel puts its move on hold; State, local officials hope to persuade company staying in Schenectady would pay off (Eric Anderson/Albany Times Union)

Bush Ind., Jamestown Container Strike Deal (Steven M. Sweeney/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Two local manufacturing giants are pinning their hopes for future growth on each other, savings jobs and boosting business in the process.

Bush Industries and Jamestown Container Corp. announced Friday they have signed exclusive supply contracts for packaging materials made at Jamestown Container's facilities in Falconer, Lockport and Cleveland for Bush's plants in Western New York, Erie and around the world.

Executives of the two corporations would not disclose details of the multi-year deal, but said it was mutually beneficial for both parties.

"Any time you're in a community like this, you try to do what works best for the entire community," said James L. Sherbert, Bush's chief executive officer. "What we've done is started concentrating on a smaller reservoir of suppliers. Jamestown does a very good job of managing cost."

Writer pens book on the upstate gravesites of notable Americans (Chris Carola/Associated Press)

Panel urges wider area for cheap hydropower (David Robinson/Buffalo News)

A state commission is recommending that low-cost hydropower currently limited to businesses within a 30-mile radius of the Niagara Power Project be made available to businesses in six Western New York counties.

The recommendation, released Friday by a commission led by Empire State Development Chairman Charles A. Gargano, would make low-cost expansion and replacement power available to companies in Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

Local housing market slows; But region avoids bursting price bubble seen elsewhere (Tory N. Parrish/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Wal-Mart plan for supercenter causes waves in Village of Angola (Elmer Ploetz/Buffalo News)

When Wal-Mart announced last week that it wants to put a supercenter just outside the Angola village line, it provoked a variety of responses ranging from fear to optimism - and doubt.

"My first reaction, as a business owner, is that it's my worst nightmare," said Phil Van Koughnet, the owner of Shultz & Co. hardware and appliance store in Angola. He said he didn't fall asleep until after 3 the following morning after finding out the big retailer was eyeing the site of a drive-in.

"If the drive-in was already failing, I'd rather see a business thrive that would bring people to the area," said Maria Carlson, owner of Whistlestop Bakery, which just opened on Main Street. "Having a Wal-Mart here will certainly do that."

Syracuse is crown jewel of New York state; City is too great to be cited as book's worst (Sean Kirst column/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Syracuse Post-Standard columnist Sean Kirst responds to a book that apparently has snide things to say about the quality of life in Syracuse.

Late Saturday night, my teenage son and I made a quick run to Wegmans for ice cream, firewood and other necessities of December life in Syracuse. We cut across Wolcott Avenue in the southwest corner of the city, where we enjoyed the Christmas lights on many houses, and I made a point to my kid as we headed to the store:

The greater neighborhood, year after year, somehow holds together.

Sixteen years ago, when my wife and I brought our infant daughter to Syracuse, we moved into a flat on Fellows Avenue, a very cool flat in an old brick building that offered as much floor space as a house. Later on, we got an apartment on Geddes Street, near the Woodland Reservoir, and we fell in love with that part of Syracuse.

Indeed, you can argue that the sledding hill at the reservoir--yes, the outlawed sledding hill used by everyone, from cops to clergy--is the reason that we settled in this region. We were at a transient point in our lives. Between college and our jobs, we had spent time in four different Upstate communities. We had no family and no real link to Syracuse.

But the reservoir was a wonderful place to walk the dog in the summer--years later, I would learn Sen. Joe Biden remembers it for the same reason--and an extraordinary place to take our toddlers sledding in the winter. I had grown up in a city that was absolutely flat, a city where we'd go searching as children for the tiniest embankment to use for sledding in the winter.

Compared with that, the reservoir was paradise. We often grabbed the kids for what we knew as "moonlight sledding," going up the Woodland hill at night beneath the stars, where you could see the glittering skyline as you shot down the slope. . . .

And I began to think I had found the best city in the world.

. . . .

I love Syracuse for its hills and for its views. I love it for the vista you can see from Schiller Park or from the stadium where Corcoran High School plays its football games. I love Syracuse because my kids are in the city schools, where they have gotten an education--strong, loving and continuing--in the qualities that matter most to me in life.

I love Syracuse because of the way it stubbornly defies the naysayers who keep predicting the demise of so many city neighborhoods. I love Syracuse because of the parks, especially Elmwood, a green and quiet refuge where I go to walk and think. I love Syracuse because it has a real downtown filled with architectural treasures, and because of the sheer number of people who care about whether downtown comes back.

I love Syracuse for the wildly different people thrown together every day by the bumper cars of life. I love Syracuse for the way it celebrates or grieves as a community. I love it for its self-demeaning, salty civic humor, perfect for a town whose first industry was brine, a sense of humor that revels in what Gilmartin sees as our defects.

I love Syracuse for the way I can leave my house and get to the heart of the city, or to a Christmas tree farm, in 10 minutes. I love Syracuse for the storms it brings in the winter, because every kid deserves the joy of sleeping in on a snow day. I love Syracuse for the fashion in which your cholesterol goes up just from breathing the aromatic fog above the New York State Fair.

Most of all, I love Syracuse for the latent, powerful, simmering potential that so many people of good will feel just beyond their fingertips--the whole idea that if we disciplined ourselves and listened to our better angels that something extraordinary might happen here. . . .

Which is enough, in and of itself, to make me stay.

One of the worst places in America? That's just a joke, worth a quick laugh.

Finding comfort, connections in 'small-town' Rochester (op-ed/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

This essay in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is by a former Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reporter who recently moved to a smaller paper in Manhattan--but not without some wistfulness for life in Rochester.

I am a traveler by nature. Since college I have lived in close to a dozen cities around the world, exploring each, liking some and always excited to move onto the next.

When I was younger, it was easy to pick up and move on, but in my late 20s I grew weary of living out of suitcases, and regretted that I hadn't gotten to know the cities or people better. I wanted deeper connections, but wasn't sure how to get them.

Then two Januarys ago I arrived in Rochester in the dead of winter for a job. And for the first time, I was in a city where I had no connections, not even a distant relative. I moved into a beautiful apartment but for at least several weeks did not see another soul. The sky was a perennial gray, and unlike all of the other cities where I'd lived, the rat race was seemingly nonexistent. Away from big-city hustle, I faced a foreign, frightening silence. It didn't help that locals asked me why I had come to Rochester. Why, indeed?

The city wasn't sexy, the economy was sleepy, the winters were infamously cold, and there seemed to be a dearth of singles. For comfort, I watched marathon rounds of Sex and the City and plotted an escape.

I also desperately sought connections. . . .

I joined all of these groups and felt more oddball than ever. "Maybe you're trying too hard," my sister suggested.

. . . . I started to look at the city as a treasure trove waiting to be discovered. I found joy in swimming with a group of people who shared a similar passion. I found an old-fashioned tea place, a Dutch market with to-die-for licorice. I became a Wegmans addict and discovered the beauty of wine country.

. . . .

Rochester has been trying to find its identity in the aftermath of mass layoffs by big companies, and the challenges of a global economy. Elected officials talk of making over the city with high-tech and the universities. However, one of the city's biggest sellers is already here: a sense of community. In this age of disconnect, it is a big sell.

So when the opportunity to return to the big city came, I surprised myself: I hesitated. Friends from the Big Apple thought that I had gone mad. They reminded me of my metropolitan roots, and the ambitious young woman I was.

On the cusp of my 31st birthday, here was my opportunity to live a Sex and the City lifestyle. "I don't know if I want to leave," I told a close friend. "I kind of like it here." There is little traffic, no long commute and the lifestyle is affordable. "It sounds like you're ready to retire," she quipped. It wasn't that, it was much more. Home is where connections exist, and happiness is found within those connections. It is a simple lesson but one that my younger self would have rolled her eyes at.

I reflected on the life that I had made over two years, and then I closed my eyes and imagined the chapter to come: the screaming sirens, the fast clip of rush hour, slipping into the anonymity of 8 million people.

I packed with a newfound sadness. Maybe it was a rite of passage from the tumultuous 20s to my more mature self. As I turned the ignition I knew that this would be one drive that would be bittersweet, but this time I had no regrets.

Every month, 20,000 people in WNY find a new job; Companies hire even during holidays (Michelle Kearns/Buffalo News)

Approximately 20,000 Western New Yorkers get new jobs each month as openings turn over and jobs shift from one employer to another. Yet, seasonal business surges can make finding a job easier now--an extra 10,000 new openings are created between August and December.

. . . .

The holidays, hectic with travel, family gatherings, office parties and shopping can leave employers eager to hire--because of extra business, or because openings languish while most people are too busy to apply.

"The economy is very dynamic. You have companies that are growing. And companies that are declining. The ones that are growing tend to be a lot quieter," said John Slenker, local analyst at the state Labor Department. "One of the best times in business in general is the build up to Christmas."

Factories in area report jump in new orders, output; More firms added workers in November (David Robinson/Buffalo News)

A burst in production at local factories, coupled with a flurry of new orders gave the Buffalo Niagara region's manufacturers something to be thankful for in November, a local purchasing managers group said Friday.

The November gain--the biggest one-month jump for the National Association of Purchasing Management--Buffalo's business activity index since July 2005--was the third straight month of faster growth among local manufacturers.

The index jumped by 5.1 points to a four-month high of 61.7 from 56.6 in October. "For Western New York manufacturers, business has improved," said William R. Ellis, the chairman of the group's business survey committee. "This change is surprising, because we usually experience a year-end slowdown."

Whenever the group's index tops 50, it indicates growth at local factories. Since the index has been above that since July 2003, the survey shows that the region's manufacturing sector has expanded for 41 straight months--the longest streak of consecutive improvement in more than nine years.

New York has assets to overcome its economic malaise (Brian McMahon/Buffalo News)

[A] survey of influential New Yorkers confirms the need for new policies and offers refreshing reminders about some strong assets New York can use to recover. The survey, by the New York State Economic Development Council, shows that New York's leaders in business, academia and government are pessimistic about the effects of high taxes and high job-creation costs - but notably cheerier about New York's strengths in other areas that are critical to growth.

Four of five respondents confirmed that New York's tax burden, especially income and property taxes, is a big problem. Seven of 10 expressed concern about two other key costs, workers' compensation and energy. And more than half said New York is at a disadvantage in trying to keep talented New Yorkers in New York.

But in other areas critical to development, respondents seemed downright sunny. For example:

*Two-thirds said employers' ability to find skilled workers with the right skills is either an advantage (17 percent) or competitive with other states (55 percent).

*Four of five said New York's training programs are an advantage (20 percent) or competitive with other states (59 percent).

* Eight of 10 said New York's climate for collaboration with colleges and universities is an advantage (41 percent) or competitive (40 percent).

* Nearly eight of 10 respondents said New York's opportunities for outdoor recreation are an advantage.

The complete report on the survey is availabl (in PDF format) at www.nysedc.org/2006_Preparing_for_the_Next_NY.pdf.

Area's campuses fuel the economy; Research, jobs drive the engine providing an edge for the future (Matthew Daneman/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

As industry after industry shrinks locally, higher education is one of the few growth areas in an economy long dominated by the Big Three local high-tech giants--Eastman Kodak Co., Xerox Corp. and Bausch & Lomb Inc.

Many of the area's college campuses are booming--from the buildings sprouting at Rochester Institute of Technology and the spreading of the University of Rochester Medical Center campus, to the mushrooming enrollment at colleges such as St. John Fisher and Nazareth.

Together, the area's dozen major two- and four-year higher education institutions are increasingly major players in the local economy. They employ tens of thousands, and bring thousands of out-of-state students to the area. Their research births new companies. And their resources help bolster existing companies.

. . . .

As nonprofit entities, they are exempt from paying property taxes. They face the same issues that hamper for-profit companies across the state, such as high utility costs, said Matthew Maguire, director of communications for the Business Council of New York. "RIT also has to attract talent from the four corners of the globe and has to pay workers' comp costs, has to buy electricity to run that researcher's computers, and has to pay her enough money to deal with property taxes she is likely to find absolutely stunning."

Communities across the East and Midwest are looking to higher education to help boost sagging financial fortunes, said Claire Van Ummerson, vice president of the Center for Effective Leadership at the American Council on Education.

Meanwhile, university research doesn't always carry a financial payoff, she said: "There are some things that may not catch on. Some of the basic discoveries may never be translated into anything commercial."

And with the local economic shift away from manufacturing, "your communitywide standard of living in terms of economics probably drops somewhat," said Rochester Business Alliance President Sandy Parker. "You don't have the Kodak manufacturing workers, 60,000 of them, making $14, $15, $16 an hour like we did 20 years ago. Those kind of hourly rates are not being paid to the entry-level workers that exist in a university setting or a health care setting.

"That being said, those kinds of wages aren't being paid to manufacturing workers, either."

. . . .

Higher education provides a monetary shot in the Rochester area's arm in numerous ways:

Local colleges employ roughly 20,000 people, from faculty and administrators to groundskeepers and secretaries.

UR is the area's single largest employer and one of the state's largest employers, according to the state Labor Department. In the past five years, its full-time employment figures have risen nearly 15 percent, hitting 12,701 as of June. Much of UR's growth has been in health care, and the university is in the midst of a year-plus planning process that will look at employment size, said President Joel Seligman.

Seligman indicated that student and faculty numbers likely will grow.

Other local schools have also seen notable employment growth in the past five years, including Rochester Institute of Technology, among the area's 10 largest employers, with 2,725 full-time workers; Monroe Community College with 901; and St. John Fisher College with 433.

The story also looks beyond the direct effects of institutional employment to the real benefits that institutions of higher education bring to a region's economy: ideas for new businesses, technologies, innovations, and jobs.

The colleges draw massive amounts of government and industry money via grants and donations for research efforts, especially at UR and RIT. In the 2005-06 fiscal year, the latest year for which Internal Revenue Service figures are available, UR received $351 million in grants and contracts for sponsored research. RIT that year got $48.6 million in grants and allocations for research.

Area colleges translate research into inventions and companies. "Rochester is probably better able to meet some of the changes in the economy resulting from the loss of manufacturing ... because they have the research going on in these institutions in the biomedical area and in the technology areas," said Van Ummerson.

And UR's Medical Center attracts from afar numerous medical patients and their cash. About 8 percent of Strong Health Service's inpatients and 4 percent of its outpatients come from outside western New York, said Peter Robinson, vice president for UR's Medical Center and Strong Health. Those patients have increased nearly 50 percent since 2000, he said.

Consolidate N.Y.'s archaic school system (letter/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Consolidation efforts should include the archaic school systems of New York state. Broome County is divided into 12 school districts employing 12 school district superintendents, one deputy superintendent and 14 assorted assistant superintendents for the purpose of delivering education to fewer than 32,000 students. New York's school system is the nation's most costly to operate, ranks 44th in graduation rates and 43rd in SAT scores. This is a terrible report card at a very high cost.

I worked 40 years in central Florida and its school services are delivered via a county system. My school district there, educating nearly 60,000 students, is administered by one superintendent and staff. My taxes, both property and school, were collected by one tax collector and distributed to 19 unique taxing authorities within the county.

Sheriff applauds restored budget; Campbell says funds for jobs and a jail annex will help ensure public safety (Carol DeMare/Albany Times Union)

Sheriff James Campbell, angry that 13 jobs at the jail were scrapped in the 2007 county budget, has had the positions restored after taking his case to legislators.

The positions, as well as other items in the sheriff's budget that were to be axed, are back in, and the 39-member legislature is expected to pass the spending plan at a meeting tonight.

Lowered bond rating will bite Elmira; City will have to spend more for long-term borrowing (Ray Finger/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Long-term borrowing will cost Elmira more after the downgrading of the city's bond rating, making it that much harder for the city to chip away at its $2.1 million deficit.

Moody's Investors Service, a bond rating firm, recently downgraded its rating of Elmira bonds from BAA2 to BAA3. City Manager John Burin does not know yet how much the change will cost the city.

. . . .

Bond ratings reflect a bond issuer's probability of defaulting based on an analysis of the issuer's financial condition and profit potential, according to Investopedia.com.

County lawmakers may get raise; Chemung County legislators saw no raises in previous years (Ray Finger/Elmira Star-Gazette)

A raise for Chemung County legislators will be considered by the Legislature's Budget Committee when it meets Monday.

The 4 percent raise is about $500 and will bring legislators' annual pay to $12,165, said County Executive Tom Santulli, who recommended the increase in his 2007 budget proposal.

The increase is consistent with raises for other county employees and officials, said Cornelius Milliken, R-7th District, who is chairman of the Budget Committee and also of the full Legislature.

Means of cutting tax rise in doubt; Rensselaer County Republicans find ways to pare proposed 26% increase but critics say not all methods valid (Kate Perry/Albany Times Union)

County Republicans have pared back a proposed 26 percent tax increase to 9 percent, but their methods for trimming may not pan out in 2007.

In the two months since County Executive Kathleen Jimino proposed a $278 million spending plan for 2007 that required the tax increase, county legislators have been tossing around ideas on ways to cut it back.

On Monday, lawmakers will adopt the Republican majority's new version of the budget, which will lessen the projected burden on taxpayers.

With the proposed increase in place, a resident with a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $639.27, an increase of $131.06 over last year. With the 9 percent increase, said GOP majority spokesman Rich Crist, the increase would be only about $52.

But Republicans found 7 percent of their savings by including $3 million of revenue from a tobacco surcharge--which needs approval from the state Legislature that hasn't been granted.

Some officials, such as Democratic County Legislator Keith Hammond, say including that revenue without approval is a mistake. If the money doesn't come through, the county could be in the red at the end of 2007, raising taxes through the roof.

Commercial property boosts assessments; 'I view it as positive news. . . . Downtown is back.' (Brian Meyer and Sharon Linstedt/Buffalo News)

Strong home sales in some Buffalo neighborhoods and new investment downtown are expected to result in thousands of property owners paying larger tax bills next July.

More than 12,000 homeowners and nearly 800 businesses started receiving letters Friday, announcing that the city has increased their assessments. About 15 percent of all properties in the city would see increases, although owners have the right to challenge new assessments. Another 2 percent would see decreases.

The tentative changes would add $807.6 million to the value of properties in Buffalo, including a $561.4 million increase in the value of commercial properties.

Most of the increase in commercial value occurred downtown, said Bruna Michaux, Assessment and Taxation commissioner.

"I view it as positive news," she said. "It's obvious that investors are optimistic about downtown Buffalo. Downtown is back."

There's more.

Strike was expected to be resolved quickly (Fred Williams/Buffalo News)

It looked like a wall of blue-collar unity one day last month in Tonawanda, when autoworkers marched alongside striking Steelworkers outside the Goodyear-Dunlop tire plant.

But the solidarity on the picket line overlays a big gap in tactics.

The United Steelworkers of America, in the ninth week of a strike against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., have taken a hard line against cutbacks - a sharp contrast to other industrial unions that are going along with reductions in jobs and membership.

"It sure is unusual, compared to the rest of industry" said Bruce Belzowski, automotive research analyst at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute.

Facing global labor competition, unions have largely accepted a shrinking factory base in the U.S., in return for buyouts that provide a soft landing for today's workers. The strategy avoids a confrontation with their already-weak employers, but puts pensions and retiree benefits on a dwindling base of support.

. . . .

Goodyear has reported profits in two of the last three years, but its financial statement reveals bruises beneath that surface. The $343 million total profits it reaped in 2004 and '05 amount to less than half the $800 million loss it took during its restructuring of 2003. Despite that move, which invested in U.S. operations, Goodyear remains vulnerable to imports without further productivity steps, the company has said, calling this contract critical to its survival as passenger car tires from China and elsewhere take an increasing share of the U.S. market.

As contract talks began, Goodyear North American president Jonathan D. Rich said, "to win in North America we must see reality."

Pay hike for legislators? You decide (editorial/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

New York's legislators insist they have no plans to vote themselves a pay raise when they return to the Capitol Dec. 13 to consider other issues. But they haven't ruled one out, either.

Well, they should. If state legislators were held to the same standards as employees in the private sector, they'd be fretting over whether they even have a job, let alone getting more money.

A state legislator's current base salary is $79,500 annually, third after California ($110,000) and Michigan ($79,650). In addition, every member of the Senate, all 45 Republicans in the Assembly and about two-thirds of the 104 Democrats get "leadership" stipends ranging from $9,000 to $40,000, hiking the average pay to more than $90,000 a year. And don't forget the $152 a day every legislator gets for expenses while in Albany or elsewhere on state business.

Most businesses reward employees with raises following a commendable, or at least, satisfactory, performance review. Let's see how our "employees" have performed in their job:

•Economy. The state Business Council reported in October that job growth in New York has lagged far behind the national average for the last decade. Since 1995, jobs in New York grew 8.7 percent, compared to 14.1 percent nationally. Upstate, jobs grew by only 4.8 percent in that decade. Losses across the Mohawk Valley have been particularly devastating, beginning with the closing of Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome in the mid-90s to more recent losses at Oneida Ltd. in Sherrill, and the closing of Ethan Allen in Boonville, LaSalle Laboratories in Little Falls and Union Tools in Frankfort.

•State debt. Legislators have a dismal record when it comes to reducing what we owe. According to the Citizens Budget Commission, New York's debt will reach a record $49.7 billion this year, placing the state in the commission's "danger zone," based on the states' ability to afford it. Even when presented with an opportunity to trim some of that debt--a $1.1 billion surplus this year--legislators opted to hand out tax rebates, which arrived just in time to pay school taxes, which was, coincidentally, right around election time.

•Bureaucracy. Nothing has been done to trim government. In fact, we have more government jobs than ever. According to an analysis of federal and state labor statistics by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, the number of state and local government employees rose to 1.33 million in July, about 30,700 more since July 2000, the high point for state private-sector employment. During the same period, the number of private-sector jobs that pay for government services fell 40,300 to about 7.15 million. Said Empire Center Director E.J. McMahon: "Even in economic tough times, government is really the last place to cut back."

•Spending. Legislators have refused to trim spending. In fact, the $113.25 billion budget it passed this year created the second-biggest one-year spending increase in state history. The spending increase was nearly $7 billion more than last year.

So, Mr. and Ms. State Taxpayer, there's a quick summary of your employees' performance. Do you think they deserve a raise?

Legislators' lousy record doesn't merit a pay raise (Letter/Buffalo News)

Before they grant themselves more of our money, they need to answer a few simple questions. How many good, private-sector jobs have they created? Why are gasoline taxes so high? Why do our colleges do a fine job of educating our children for the benefit of employment in other states? Why wasn't this pay raise brought up before last month's election?

Legislative leaders seek 3% hike for operations (Marc Humbert/Associated Press)

The leaders of the state Legislature called Friday for a 3 percent increase in funding for their operations in the fiscal year that begins April 1, and state Chief Judge Judith Kaye renewed her plea for judicial pay raises.

The legislative request did not include any funding for pay raises for lawmakers, according to aides to state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican. The leaders have been under pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers seeking a pay raise. Their base annual salary of $79,500 was last raised in 1999.

Niagara presses for aid to boost power plant (Thomas Prohaska/Buffalo News)

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise won't officially endorse efforts to bring a "clean coal" power plant to Niagara County, but at least it could help out.

County Legislature Minority Leader Dennis F. Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, has placed a resolution espousing that view on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

His measure, which is expected to receive wide support, calls on Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, a Buffalo-based regional organization that promotes new businesses, "to assist Niagara County and Choose Niagara Now in using all their expertise to bring this clean coal plant and all of its jobs to Niagara County."

AES Corp. is bidding in a statewide competition to win the $1 billion plant for its property in Somerset. Choose Niagara Now, a special lobbying group boosting AES' bid, is headed by State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane.

AES' leading competitor in the contest appears to be NRG Energy, which wants the clean coal plant for its Huntley Station in the Town of Tonawanda. The State Power Authority is to select the site this month.

The Future at Indian Point (editorial/New York Times)

We confess we find this editorial in the New York Times on the future of New York's Indian Point power plant a bit murky. The piece notes that opponents of the plant have expressed safety fears (to which company officials have responded), and then notes that the case for keeping the plant is based on the significance of its contributions to New York's daily energy usage and the difficulty the state would have replacing that power.

The plant's case is basically one very big point: Indian Point is in place, and producing a large amount of much-needed energy. A recent National Research Council study found that the region's growing need for energy and the many obstacles to building new and relatively clean power sources would make replacing it very difficult.

Shutting Indian Point--which produces about 30 percent of the region's current energy demand--would make electricity more expensive. It would also put a heavy burden on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a groundbreaking agreement among Northeast and mid-Atlantic states to limit carbon emissions. And if Indian Point closed, spent nuclear fuel could sit for many years at the decommissioned plant, for lack of any other place to put it.

But then the editorial suggests that the federal agency considering the plant's future should consider only one side's (guess which one's!) arguments.

The most important question facing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, elected officials and area residents is whether it makes any sense to relicense a nuclear plant in a highly populated area from which swift evacuation is so problematic. The other critical issue is whether the age of the reactors, which date to the mid-1970s, should be a concern. As these reactors begin their fourth decade they may, like an old car, be more prone to breakdown. Faulty parts can be replaced, but it is worth asking whether the plant as a whole will remain safe through the end of its next licensing period.

The piece doesn't come right out and urge the decommissioning of the plant. But it's hard to be persuaded, one way or another, by a commentary that clearly lays out two sides of an argument and then seems to suggest that only one be considered.

GOP needs rethinking; State's not-so-Grand Old Party ought to retrench in principles (editorial/Buffalo News)

For years, now, New York Republicans have been largely indistinguishable from Democrats. Both love to spend taxpayers' money. Neither can so no to unions and others who seek to hold their leashes. Both love cramming unfunded mandates down the throats of local taxpayers. Both have voted to send the state's taxpayer-funded debt load into the stratosphere. What's the point of voting for Republicans if they don't stand for anything different?

It's possible to have a certain amount of sympathy for New York Republicans. They have to find their way in a left-leaning state and, to a large extent, they have been influenced by Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican whose governing philosophy has often seemed to be based more on pragmatic expedience than principal. That, no doubt, helps account for the behavior of Senate Republicans, whose concern for upstate taxpayers is spasmodic at best.

In that regard, the spanking they got last month may have been just the medicine they needed to relocate their principles. The next several years will be miserable for them, but if they can figure out how to consistently stand for conservative ideas in a Democrat-heavy state, they'll do better at influencing policy.

Newly-elected state party chairman Joseph N. Mondello of Nassau County's "dire straits" analysis was spot on, but his initial appeal-to-everyone speech misses the point--the party has to reset principles, not just seek to win by being "Democrat-lite." And Republicans have at their disposal a ready-made message and an audience primed to hear it. With the upstate economy in long-term decline, and with Albany's handprints all over the mess, a well crafted message of reform could resonate around the state. In any event, they could hardly help but do better than they did last month, when Democrats won every statewide office, and picked up seats in both houses of the Legislature.

We hope the victory of Democratic Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer will usher in an era of reform and accountability in government. There are strong signs it will. But even if it does, what about the next governor and the one after that? There's nothing like a party that has different ideas and the nerve to speak about them to keep the other one in line. Right now, New York doesn't have that.

Nassau County GOP leader takes state party's reins (Bob McCarthy/Buffalo News)

The new chairman of the New York State Republican Committee didn't avoid the obvious Thursday as he assessed the woeful condition of his party.

"We're in terrible shape; we're in dire straits," said Joseph N. Mondello, just after delegates from around the state unanimously elected the longtime Nassau County chairman as their party leader.

And then for good measure, he addressed the crucial question of finances.

"I'll be candid with you, there's just no money there," he added.

. . . .

Mondello said once he puts the party's finances in order, he will begin traveling the state to assist in local races, all the while operating out of Bruno's "nucleus" in the Senate. Still, while proclaiming, "I love Joe," he vowed he will call his own shots.

"Let's get it straight--I'm no toady--never was and never will be," he said.

New state GOP leader faces major rebuilding task (Marc Humbert/Associated Press)

Mondello, who has been Nassau County GOP chairman for 24 years, represents a shift for Republicans: The last two state chairmen, Minarik and Alexander Treadwell, were hand-picked by Gov. George Pataki. Pataki, who announced last year that he would not seek a fourth term, is eyeing a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination even though his approval ratings in New York have been dismal in recent years.

Pataki took complete control of the state party apparatus in early 2001 when he installed Treadwell as state chairman and got rid of William Powers, who had rebuilt the state GOP after the 1990 drubbing that saw Republican candidate for governor Pierre Rinfret collect just 22 percent of the vote. When he took control in 1991, Powers was a key aide to then-Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. Mondello was also a key ally of the Long Island-based D'Amato.

Pataki's ouster of Democratic governor Mario Cuomo in 1994 was in large part the work of the D'Amato-Powers-Mondello operation. In late 2004, when Pataki installed Minarik as state party chairman, Mondello was bumped from his seat on the Republican National Committee and replaced by Treadwell.

Mondello made it clear at his installation Thursday that he was no fan of Pataki and promised that the state party would become a bottom-up operation rather than top down.

Nonetheless, sitting off to the side and smiling broadly as Mondello spoke, was state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. With Pataki a lame-duck and Faso defeated, Bruno has become the most powerful Republican in state government and, as such, the titular head of the party. Bruno engineered Mondello's election. Sitting near Bruno at Thursday's meeting was his close friend, Powers.

More politics:

The PSC chair; There's still time for Gov. Pataki to do the right thing (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle))

It's disappointing that retiring Gov. Pataki chose to fill the chairmanship of the state's Public Service Commission just one month before he leaves office and the swearing-in of Eliot Spitzer.

True, there is still an opportunity for Spitzer to decide who will run the state's energy and telecommunications panel, but only if Pataki backs off.

The outgoing governor should not move to fill the new vacancy on the five-member panel created by his decision to move commissioner Patricia Acampora to the chairmanship. Pataki on Friday named Acampora, a member of the PSC since June 2005, to succeed William Flynn, who resigned last week to accept a lobbying job with the Pittsford-based law firm Harris Beach.

As the situation now stands, Acampora's appointment as chairwoman could be viewed as temporary, as it should be, if Pataki doesn't fill her seat. Doing so would allow Spitzer, who will be sworn in Jan. 1 as governor, the right to fill Acampora's seat and name that person as chairperson.

Spitzer deserves to appoint the next permanent commissioner because that person is likely to play a pivotal role in helping get New York's exorbitant energy costs under control. Electricity rates in this state, on average, are 63 percent above the national average.

As Spitzer pointed out during his successful campaign for governor, those costs are a huge impediment to economic growth. And that's particularly so here in upstate, where job losses are among the worst in the nation.

The chances of Spitzer's strategies for reducing energy costs and improving the state's economic outlook are clearly enhanced if he and the new PSC chairperson are on the same page.

Pataki's parting gifts to his pals; As the governor exits, loyalists receive protected--and prized--civil service jobs (Rick Karlin/Albany Times Union)

Gov. George Pataki has added more than 12,000 jobs to the state payroll over the last two years, wiping out half the cuts he once boasted of making to reduce the size of government.

As the governor prepares to leave office at year's end, Pataki also appears to be tucking scores of Republican loyalists into protected civil service jobs, dozens of which require no tests and, critics say, have only vague requirements.

While job shuffling to protect the party faithful is a time-honored feature of administration changes, some say the scale on which this is happening under Pataki sets a new standard for abusing the civil service system.

Even unions--which stand to benefit from having more people in the civil service ranks--question the necessity of some of the jobs being created in the waning days of Pataki's administration.

Pataki spokesman Michael Marr said without a precise comparison of job shifts 12 years ago when Pataki defeated Democrat Mario Cuomo, criticism by unions that the governor is stacking civil service is unfair.

Marr also noted that a big part of the recent job growth has been at the State and City Universities of New York, which, like state systems nationwide, have undergone an enrollment boom.

But Elizabeth Lynam, research director for the Citizens Budget Commission, a spending watchdog, notes that employment there grew faster than enrollment. The number of SUNY jobs alone, for example, has increased 21 percent over the last decade, while enrollment went up 8 percent.

"Does it fully explain the growth in the work force? The answer is no," Lynam said.

Pataki came into office with a pledge to trim government. At the time, New York had the equivalent of 243,625 full-time state employees, according to the state Comptrollers office. By December 2004, Pataki cut that to 219,208.

But between January 2005 and Oct. 1 of this year, the number soared to 231,851. The payroll rose by some $27.7 million a week.

Much has been written in recent months about how members of Pataki's inner circle, as well as their spouses and children, have netted high-profile positions on boards and authorities with terms that guarantee employment for at least the next several years.

There's much more.

Spitzer's leftover funds cover inaugural (Erik Kriss/Syracuse Post-Standard)

When it comes to his inaugural, Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer says he's trying to keep it clean.

"I will not raise money for the inauguration," Spitzer declared last week, mindful of the headaches his predecessor created by doing just that.

"We will pay for it from the funds left over in the campaign account, so there will be absolutely no fundraising for that," the Democrat said. "I just think it creates all the wrong messages and imagery."

Joe Bruno deserves his position of power (editorial/Troy Record)

The reason Bruno either runs unopposed for office or whomps out runaway victories is that he delivers.

It is a remarkable feat that Bruno was able to maintain the Senate majority in the face of this year's voter revolution, remarkable and a tribute to his tenacity.

And for that and a host of other reasons, we congratulate Sen. Bruno on the unanimous vote Thursday that gave him his seventh consecutive term as Senate majority leader. Other pretenders to the throne have made forays at the office, but Bruno is the kind of colleague who engenders loyalty and respect.

On a strictly self-serving level, it is a tremendous boon for the area to have the state's most powerful Republican living in the neighborhood. The senator is fierce in fighting for the region to get its fair share.

Aide to Pataki in mix for GOP post (Albany Times Union)

An aide to Gov. George Pataki is among the list of names circulating for executive director of the state Republican Party.

John Haggerty, who heads Pataki's legislative affairs office, is in the mix, according to GOP insiders. Haggerty, a Queens native who also worked for former Republican Attorney General Dennis Vacco, would come with political experience: his last big gig was in 2005 when he took a leave from his $99,425-a-year state job to work as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's deputy campaign manager.

State Depends On Coalition's Success (editorial/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Revitalizing our state's economy--especially the upstate economy--demands a major effort. If I am elected governor, we are going to begin immediately to implement an aggressive strategy to reduce the cost of doing business in New York and make New York the best place to do business in the world."

So said Eliot Spitzer when he was running for governor.

As part of that major effort, we note he promised in September that reforming our state's economically crippling workers' compensation system is near the top of his to-do list.

"As governor, I will immediately go to work to build the coalition we need to get this problem solved so that we can once and for all fix this enormous drag on the competitiveness of New York's business," he said at the state Business Council's annual meeting before the election.

We agree with Larry Gilroy, chair of the New York Workers' Compensation Action Network, who cites Spitzer's unequivocal support for reform while campaigning. The solid mandate voters across the state gave Spitzer should mean that as our next governor, he has it within his means to finally to solve this devastating problem, Gilroy says.

. . . .

¯ New York has the highest workers' comp cost system in the nation even though the state's maximum weekly benefit is one of the lowest.

¯ Average workers' comp premiums in New York are 15 percent above the national average, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

¯ The average workers' comp claim in New York state is 86 percent higher than the national average, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

¯ Permanent Partial Disability claims account for 13 percent of all workers' compensation claims, yet account for 79 percent of the total cost.

¯ Upstate New York continues to lose manufacturing jobs to states with cheaper comp costs, and established businesses are buckling under high comp costs.

Gilroy also points to an upstate business owner who defines his New York workers' compensation costs as a "penalty for doing business in New York." And what a penalty it is: His costs total $1 million dollars in New York. The business owner's costs in North Carolina for the same number of employees total $150,000--an $850,000 difference.

Spitzer should make upstate separate agenda item; Development council's report describes a state partitioned by economic health (editorial/Elmira Star-Gazette)

. . . what about the economy? Particularly upstate. There have been no news events to galvanize interest around an area that is vital to the future of New York. Yet a November report and survey by the New York Economic Development Council does make a good point about the two New York economies.

One of them is shaded in gray in the council's report. It starts in Albany, goes south along the Hudson River, includes New York City and extends to the tip of Long Island. That's the area in New York where respondents to a council survey were optimistic. Color the rest of the state, including western New York, pessimistic.

Spitzer needs to change that. Yes, the report echoes familiar themes, such as high local and state taxes, high costs of workers compensation, rising business expenses--including health insurance--and various other obstacles to growth. However, the council's report is not entirely a downer. It stresses the opportunity for innovation in New York and the attractiveness of a high quality of upstate life, including affordable housing, outdoor recreation opportunities and low crime levels.

The report depicts an economic scenario that is ripe for a Spitzer-focused effort to help upstate in greater proportions than other New York areas that are doing better. As the governor sketches out his first-year agenda, he should pay special attention to the New York that sits outside the gray-shaded area of the Hudson Valley and New York metro area.

Upstate--the governor-elect likened it to Appalachia--needs a separate economic initiative in Spitzer's first year in office. The council report was dead right. There are two New Yorks, and the new governor needs to fix that. His State of the State is the right place to pledge to do that.

Spitzer's Way; Gov.-elect leads the charge for reform by setting an example (editorial/Syracuse Post-Standard)

The refreshing list of reforms and changes in business-as-usual in Albany unveiled by Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer last week should come as no big surprise. The only surprise is that he waited three whole weeks after the election to announce them.

. . . .

On Thursday, Spitzer itemized a long list of unilateral, executive-branch reforms--from campaign contribution limits to gift bans, from rules to limit lobbying and fund-raisers to nonpartisan hiring and contracting.

More symbolically, Spitzer said he will shun the self-promoting spots on TV commercials indulged in by current Gov. George Pataki. Nor will he or Lt. Gov.-elect David Paterson accept honoraria for making speeches. Instead, Spitzer said he plans to meet regularly with the public and the press to promote vigorous debate on tough issues, maintain an open-door policy, and use the Internet to improve communication and increase constituent access.

Now that the governor has set the pace, he faces a tough challenge: persuading the Legislature to join the parade. "The hardest area for a governor to change, or to succeed, is in the internal workings of the Legislature," he conceded during the campaign.

Fellow Democrat Sheldon Silver, speaker of the state Assembly, applauded Spitzer's reform agenda. But Republican Joseph Bruno, majority leader of the state Senate, dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that lawmakers could be influenced by Albany fund-raisers.

Spitzer's reform package fulfills campaign promises (editorial/Troy Record)

Reform is easy to promise but can be hard to deliver. Newly elected people sometimes find the temptations of political life more enticing once inside the process, and in other cases, reform is impossible to achieve because of opposition from long-entrenched officials.

Bravos to Spitzer for not only keeping his promise to hit the ground running, but for insuring in advance that at least the Executive Branch is going to be swept by an armada of new brooms.

Thursday, he announced a raft of reforms that will begin Jan. 1 and, since they don't require legislative approval, are guaranteed to be instituted. And far from empty promises, these reforms have teeth and will have an immediate effect on public policy.

. . . .

By hitting himself in the campaign coffer, we believe that Spitzer is sending a clear signal that he means what he said when he was running for office, and he intends to have the Legislature listen and try to get them to follow his office's example.

Perhaps most invigorating of all, the $170 million in pork-barrel money doled out among the governor, Assembly and Senate will no longer be allowed to be secret. Spitzer would need legislation passed to eliminate it entirely, but starting Jan. 1, every penny passed out will have to be accounted for and publicly announced. That is a huge step in the direction of reform.

Mr. Spitzer's example; New rules for the governor's office should be just the beginning for reform of state government (editorial/Albany Times Union)

Now let's see the Legislature get into a similar spirit of reform. Politically speaking, what's most significant about Mr. Spitzer's stringent new policies is that they'll take effect upon his inauguration, without any protracted negotiations required with legislative leaders. But the example Mr. Spitzer has set should bring some pressure for even more reform..

The lower campaign contribution limits Mr. Spitzer is willing to abide by should be what the law demands. Not only is there no reason for the state Senate to continue to resist the tough campaign finance laws that the Assembly supports, there might yet be a political price to pay if its leadership doesn't come around.

"We are not going to play by the same old rules because they're corrosive and the public rightly has said, 'We want to see something fundamentally different,' " Mr. Spitzer says. "It is right to say to the Legislature we will lead by example."

The Legislature should consider itself on notice, then. Failure to hand over the power of redistricting to nonpartisan interests, or to pass a gift ban similar to the one Mr. Spitzer has imposed, or to further open up legislative proceedings just as the new governor vows to bring transparency to the executive branch, will send a clear message to voters about how best to change the culture of state government.

Spitzer's challenge to Joe and Shelly (editorial/Daily News)

. . . . Albany smells better already, and Spitzer won't even take his chair as the new governor for another month yet.

The practices Spitzer is barring have been common in Albany for years--sending the message far and wide that the government is for sale. But the governor-elect made plain in his campaign that he won't stand for business as usual. And he has gotten a head start on the job of mucking out the stables and scrubbing the grime off the Capitol.

Self-imposed ethical restrictions? In the governor's office? What?

Now it would be good if the Assembly and Senate followed Spitzer's Mr. Clean lead--and the governor-elect intends to push legislation to make exactly that happen.

Taking charge; Spitzer takes steps to rid Albany of 'same old rules' (editorial/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

It was amusing to hear the gut response from one of Albany's three-men-in-a-room, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick. Bruno said he didn't understand Spitzer's plan, adding "People ought to have a right to support the people they support." Sen. Bruno, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Bravo, Mr. Spitzer. Bravo. By getting this message out now, you are letting the Legislature know that they must rid themselves of the notion of business as usual. Your state awaits further aggressive change that will return state government to working order.

This is the kind of tough talk your constituents have been yearning for.

New governor wants new Albany (editorial/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Good for the governor-elect. Eliot Spitzer already has the job of running New York state come January. So he doesn't need to make promises anymore, yet he outlined this week a number of reforms that ought to set the tone for the rest of Albany to follow.

Cloud blots Spitzer-Bruno honeymoon (Jay Gallagher/Gannett News Service)

The smiles are still there. So are the kind words, the talk about wanting to work together, the shared dedication to reform.

But the first crack has appeared in the so-far tight relationship between Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer on Thursday unveiled a series of steps he plans to take to promote reform at the Capitol.

Most of them sounded not only reasonable, but of the "duh" variety, as in, why weren't these done a long time ago?

. . . .

[Spitzer] also plans to end the practice of hosting or attending fundraisers near the Capitol when the Legislature is in session.

He said the appearance of lawmakers and other state officials taking cash from lobbyists in the evening and then taking a call from them the next morning tarnishes the process.

"We are not going to play by the same old rules because they're corrosive and the public rightly has said, 'We want to see something fundamentally different,' " Spitzer said.

Whoa, Bruno said.

Addressing Albany fundraisers, Bruno asked, "Is there something magic?" He pointed out that Spitzer--who still has millions left in his campaign account--could hold fundraisers near his New York City office.

"I don't quite understand the significance" of the idea, Bruno said. "People ought to have a right to support the people they support."

It's fine for Spitzer to talk about limiting campaign fundraising, Bruno seemed to be saying, when he doesn't really have to worry about raising money. He's not running again for four years, has millions in the bank and won by 40 percentage points. Besides, the real money is in Manhattan anyway.

. . . .

Of course, in a practical sense it doesn't make any difference what Bruno thinks of the steps Spitzer announced, since the new governor doesn't need legislative approval to do them.

But to get more sweeping changes enacted, such as campaign finance reform or putting an end to gerrymandering legislative districts, Spitzer needs Bruno as well as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat.

"I think that this will be an example for others in government to follow, not only in this state but in other states, so the public gets its money's worth out of the taxes that are paid presumably to enhance government," Lt. Gov.-elect David Paterson said about the potential impact of the changes he and Spitzer announced.

But it doesn't seem like Bruno is going to fall into line quite so easily.

An important step toward better health care (Bob Ward commentary/WAMC-Northeast Public Radio)

The report from the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century is one of the most important documents to hit Albany in recent memory. Health-care experts and state leaders have known for years that we've been spending billions of health-care dollars to preserve a decades-old system badly in need of modernization. The needed changes haven't happened for one primary reason: The political system maintains the status quo.

The blue-ribbon hospital commission said having too many hospital beds not only wastes money, but actually jeopardizes quality of care. How so? Well, modern medical practices are incredibly specialized. The more cases or procedures a given hospital or doctor handles, the better the quality of care, because more volume in a particular specialty leads to greater expertise. In fact, New York and other states require hospitals to have a certain minimum number of patients for some types of treatment if they're going to perform those treatments at all. You and I wouldn't want to have a heart bypass operation, for instance, performed by a doctor who only does the surgery a few times each year - we'd want someone well practiced in the specialty. Having more hospitals than we need makes it harder for each to develop that expertise. It also encourages needless tests and procedures. And given that there will always be a limited supply of health-care dollars, having too many hospitals creates financial pressures on weaker institutions, making it hard for them to serve individuals who have no health insurance or other resources.

There's more.

Medicaid Plan Prods Patients Toward Health (Erik Eckholm/New York Times)

HAMLIN, W.Va. — No question, John Johnson is a doctor’s nightmare.

Speaking from the easy chair where he spends his days in a small wooden house near this small Appalachian town, his left trouser leg folded by a safety pin where a limb was lost to diabetes, he lighted another cigarette.

Mr. Johnson, 61 and a former garbage collector, takes insulin and goes to a clinic once a month for diabetes checkups. Taxpayers foot the bill through Medicaid, the federal-state health coverage program for the poor.

But when doctors urged him to mind his diet, “I told them I eat what I want to eat and the hell with them.”

“I’ve been smoking for 50 years — why should I stop now?” he added for good measure. “This is supposed to be a free world.”

Ignoring doctors’ orders may now start exacting a new price among West Virginia’s Medicaid recipients. Under a reorganized schedule of aid, the state, hoping for savings over time, plans to reward “responsible” patients with significant extra benefits or — as critics describe it — punish those who do not join weight-loss or antismoking programs, or who miss too many appointments, by denying important services.

The incentive effort, the first of its kind, received quick approval last summer from the Bush administration, which is encouraging states to experiment with “personal responsibility” as a chief principle of their Medicaid programs. Idaho and Kentucky are also planning reward programs, though more modest ones, for healthful behavior.

In a pilot phase starting in three rural counties over the next few months, many West Virginia Medicaid patients will be asked to sign a pledge “to do my best to stay healthy,” to attend “health improvement programs as directed,” to have routine checkups and screenings, to keep appointments, to take medicine as prescribed and to go to emergency rooms only for real emergencies.

“We always talk about Medicaid members’ rights, but rarely about their responsibilities,” said Nancy Atkins, state commissioner of medical services.

Make hospital plan work; Closing facilities will cause pain, but restructured health care is needed (editorial/Buffalo News)

Finally, a start. The state commission charged with fixing hospital care in New York this week released a report that was clear-eyed and ambitious yet avoided the trap of overreaching.

The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century called for the outright closures of nine hospitals and seven nursing homes statewide, far fewer than it was expected to target. Two of those hospitals and three nursing homes are in Erie and Niagara counties--where, the commission found early in its review, about half of existing hospital beds stay empty and capacity utilization is twice as bad as an already-low state average.

In addition, the report endorsed mergers, conversions and downsizings for dozens more, including several hospitals in Erie and Niagara. In all, about a quarter of the state's hospitals are affected, and the outright closings cluster in the state's two largest cities--five in New York, two in Buffalo and one each in the Hudson Valley and Schenectady areas.

As difficult as a closing is, it is largely a self-contained process. Mergers can be much trickier, especially when Catholic and secular hospitals are directed to join. That is the prospect faced by Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, which previously tried and failed at consolidating.

But difficult is not impossible, and the array of changes proposed is, in the aggregate, the right medicine for health care in New York. This state has too many hospitals for its population and stays in them are longer than in other states.

. . . .

Because perfection is unattainable, critics can pick apart any plan ever created. And as advocates have pointed out, some criticism is little more than turf protection. But flaws in this plan aren't the main point; the main point is that hospital care in New York will collapse under its own weight unless changes like those proposed are undertaken.

. . . .

. . . [Courts must] reject the challenges that are already in the pipeline. The Catholic Health System, in full turf-protection mode, has already filed suit to prevent the closing of St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga.

That's a shame, but lawsuits were inevitable in a matter as consequential as this. Pain and resistance go together, but this pain is necessary if the region and state are going to get a grip on health care.

Governor, you're up.

Unfinished medical business; Panel wants ECMC, Kaleida to talk on equal basis in merger of Buffalo General (Henry Davis/Buffalo News)

The state hospital commission recommendations aimed at reordering health care in New York left a big piece of unfinished business: What to do with Erie County Medical Center and Kaleida Health.

The proposal by the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, unless rejected by the State Legislature, threatens to shut down ECMC or Kaleida's Buffalo General Hospital unless they merge.

But like a shotgun wedding between an unprepared couple, no one knows if the commission has sent them off on a path to happiness or disaster.

To Kaleida Health's surprise, the commission wants it and ECMC to negotiate their merger vows on an equal basis, even though Kaleida is a much larger business and not dependent on a taxpayer subsidy.

ECMC is about the same size as Buffalo General, but Kaleida Health also owns four other hospitals: Millard Fillmore, Millard Fillmore Suburban, DeGraff Memorial and Women and Children's.

By threatening to close Buffalo General, the commission also raised the possibility that an anchor of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus could be eliminated. Kaleida Health wanted and expected a commission proposal that endorsed consolidation of specialty services on the downtown medical campus.

Can the two work out their differences?

"The question now is how much bargaining power each side has, and it looks like the commission gave ECMC a little more," said Lewis Mandell, a UB professor of finance and managerial economics.

The stakes are high. Hanging in the balance are thousands of jobs, the location of the community's medical services, the training of doctors and the future of the medical campus some see as a cornerstone of Buffalo's future economy.

There's much more.

Population loss hits home for hospitals (David Robinson column/Buffalo News)

[A shrinking population] can be painful and expensive, leaving the region with an inefficient web of governments and school districts that now are costly reminders of what used to be.

Last week's report by a state commission that called for an overhaul in the region's bloated hospital system, including the shutdown of St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga and Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo, was a rare attempt to pare some of that excess.

Not surprisingly, the recommendations, which include a threat to close either Erie County Medical Center or Buffalo General Hospital if they don't agree to merge by the end of next year, set off a howl of criticism from the region's hospital operators and health care workers, among others.

To be sure, further job losses in a region where good-paying jobs already are a vanishing commodity could mean another blow to a local economy that already has taken more than its fair share of hits.

But while the consolidation would hurt, it would pay off in the long run.

The Business Council of New York State estimates that the commission's statewide recommendations will save $249 million a year in Medicaid costs and a similar amount for employers and others who buy private health insurance. Hospitals and other service providers would save $721 million a year. Think about that the next time you renew your health insurance and complain about how rates have shot up. Roughly $2.5 billion in federal and state money would help pay for the consolidation.

"The status quo doesn't work, and isn't an option," says Andrew J. Rudnick, the president of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, which has long been an advocate for reforming the health care delivery system in the region.

After all, almost half of the region's hospital beds are empty because of the area's declining population and changes in medical services that have reduced the length of hospital stays and spawned more outpatient treatments.

. . . .

Tarren Bragdon, an analyst for the conservative Empire Center for New York Policy, argues that the commission doesn't go nearly far enough, trimming 4,200 hospital beds when the state has 20,000 too many. "This is barely a flesh wound," he says.

Still, it's a step in the right direction, especially in a region where, despite the complaints about high taxes, there has been precious little done to cut back and consolidate our bloated maze of village, town, city and county governments. And if we're really serious about cutting costs, there are the more than two dozen Erie County school districts that are ripe for consolidation, too.

How much WNY hospital execs earn; CEO compensation is high, but lags national median (Jonathan Epstein/Buffalo News)

Top administrators at the region's largest nonprofit hospitals and hospital systems are earning huge salaries at a time when New York State is pushing hospital consolidation to control spiraling health care costs.

Seven local hospital executives--mostly at Kaleida Health--earned more than $500,000 in salary and benefits in 2005, including two who earned more than $1 million, according to the most recent state and federal regulatory filings available.

Another 11 made between $300,000 and $500,000 at seven hospitals, ranging in location from Lewiston to Buffalo to Olean.

Yet the pay range varies widely. More than two dozen senior administrators at the region's 17 hospitals and systems earned less than $200,000, including seven chief executive officers. Two CEOs barely broke the $100,000 mark.

In all, the median pay for local hospital CEOs was $248,266--more than four times the median family income in Erie County.

Hospital officials and directors insist the pay levels are appropriate and even necessary to attract and retain the talent to run highly complex health care organizations.

There's much more, including details on many executives' comp packages.

Hospital closure proposal is blasted (Jay Gallagher/Gannett News Service)

Rx for hospitals; A commission report on closings and mergers deserves support in the Legislature (editorial/Albany Times Union)

. . . Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer took the right approach by joining with Gov. Pataki in supporting the plan. Mr. Spitzer's position is hardly surprising. He is counting on overhauling the Medicaid system to produce big savings.

Now it will be up to the Legislature to either accept or reject the report without changes, much in the same way that Congress either adopts or rejects recommendations from a military commission on base closings. If it does not act by Dec. 31, the plan will become law.

There's no denying that the report by the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, headed by Stephen Berger, will cause pain in the communities that stand to lose services. For example, the commission proposes closing Bellevue Woman's Hospital in Niskayuna and merging two other hospitals, Ellis and St. Clare's, in neighboring Schenectady.

But the pain must be measured against the savings that would result in reducing excess beds. The commission estimates that savings to be hundreds of millions of dollars a year, although some observers say that much more must be saved to bring costs in line.

Hospital closing plan gains momentum; SEIU won't block proposal, leading some lawmakers to expect eventual OK (Jim Odato/Albany Times Union)

A major health care union skipped the first hearing on a proposed hospital closing plan on Friday, raising expectations in the Capitol that the Legislature will embrace the recommendations.

Legislative aides and several lawmakers privately say they think the plan will become law, especially since the influential 1199 SEIU health care workers' union has signaled the plan is palatable.

SEIU officials say the proposed closings, including Bellevue Woman's Hospital in Niskayuna, likely won't trigger the kind of protests the massive, politically influential union has reserved for budget cuts it objected to.

"With 1199 not opposed, that changes things," Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, said after the hearing when asked if a vote on the closing recommendations will be taken up by the Senate.

. . . .

The Legislature has until the end of the year to reject the plan, unveiled this week by the State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. It calls for the closure of nine hospitals around the state and the reconfiguration of 48 others, eliminating 4,200 beds in New York's health care system.

The Legislature has to adopt or reject the entire package. If the plan is accepted, it would become law and be implemented by the state health commissioner.

Lawmakers are returning to Albany for a session on Dec. 13. Both Gov. George Pataki and Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer support the plan.

NY hospital closure plan sends shock through medical communities (David B. Caruso/Associated Press)

All 16 facilities would be forced to close by mid-2008 in a bid to reduce a statewide glut of hospital beds. Dozens more would be required to merge, downsize or change the type of care they offer. Close to 7 percent of the state's hospital beds would be taken out of service. At least 6,400 people could be thrown out of work.

The plan is moving fast toward approval; it already has the support of both Gov. George Pataki and governor-elect Eliot Spitzer and will become law if the legislature doesn't vote to block it by the end of the month.

Supporters have hailed the plan as a tough, but necessary change for a state that has waited too long to downsize an oversized industry.

But it has terrified and angered doctors and staff at institutions on the closing list.

Hospital plan foes seek senators' help; Opposition grows to panel's recommendations for state's health care industry (Erik Kriss/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Labor unions and local hospital administrators asked state senators Friday to reject a state plan that would merge, downsize and close Central New York hospitals and nursing homes.

If state legislators don't reject the plan by the end of the month, it becomes law.

. . . .

State Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, D-Syracuse, said Friday she would vote to reject the report--if such a vote comes up.

"It's too detrimental to the hospitals here in Syracuse," said Christensen, adding she is "being inundated with calls."

State Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, said lawmakers should try to find a way to amend the report because of what he called nonsensical recommendations involving the Syracuse mergers.

The commission recommended merging Crouse Hospital with University Hospital, reducing the total number of beds and privatizing University.

There's more.

Six local facilities affected (Syracuse Post-Standard )

Merger talk rattles workers; Morale, job security among concerns at Crouse Hospital (Jim Mulder/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Hospital executives dig in against change: One hospital executives argues against the changes proposed for his institution in this piece in the Syracuse Post-Standard. Two others do so here. But there's a strong essay on the case for overhauling our hospital sector in this oped in the Syracuse Post-Standard

The parochial point of view: The Syracuse Post-Standard acknowledges that there must be changes in New York's health-care sector, but then, citing a number of changes that commission would make in the Syracuse region, the paper argues for slowing the process down.

Take a breath; Public needs time to react to health-care panel's recommendations (editorial/Syracuse Post-Standard)

No one doubts that the health-care system needs retooling. There are, indeed, far too many beds. Painful as it will be, many hospitals and nursing homes probably should be closed, downsized, consolidated or restructured.

Naturally, legislators and other politicians would be expected to resist cuts at facilities on their home turf. That's why the "right-sizing" commission, as it's sometimes called, was specifically designed to do its important and sensitive work independent of the narrow political considerations so common elsewhere in state government.

But automatically enacting changes of such magnitude with little time for public consideration is foolhardy. There are just too many unanswered questions.

How would these changes affect communities? How many jobs would be lost? The closures alone would throw nearly 7,400 people out of work. How many businesses that serve hospitals, nursing homes and their workers would suffer? What would the full cost be to retrain or relocate workers, and who would pay?

The effect of closures on jobs is an especially unconvincing argument for delaying hard choices. That's because this point fails to consider the effect of New York's highest-in-the-nation Medicaid spending in bloating New York's hospital sector and making New York's tax burden the nation's highest --which, in turn, has been driving people and private-sector jobs out of the state for decades.

For background: The Syracuse Post-Standard also provides a brief description of the case for downsizing New York's hospital sector here.

From the commission's leaders:

Hospital proposal looks at realities; State health care in need of drastic restructuring (op-ed by Stephen Berger and David Sandman/Schenectady Gazette)

New York state's health care system is broken and needs fundamental repairs. Bankruptcies and closures of hospitals have become common; more than 25 hospitals have shut in the past decade.

Our state's hospitals as a group have lost money for the past eight years in a row. Our nursing homes are also precarious. Meanwhile, our counties and taxpayers struggle to pay for a Medicaid program whose cost continues to increase. We spend an enormous sum on health care, but our residents are not healthier than those in states that spend far less.

Such turmoil does not serve the needs of patients, who deserve a stable, accessible and high-quality health care system. Our providers lack the financial resources needed to reinvest in their systems and to provide New Yorkers with the latest and best medical technologies and world-class care.

Our system is weakened by excess capacity. We have too many hospitals and beds. As many as one in three hospital beds in the state lie unoccupied on any given day; some hospitals are more than half empty. More and more care is being delivered in doctors' offices and other community settings but we have yet to adapt to these changes in medicine. Excess hospital capacity jeopardizes quality of care, fuels a medical arms race, promotes unnecessary tests and hospitalization and wastes money. OPPORTUNITY OPENS

. . . .

New York is doing more than just talking about reform. The state has already committed $1 billion to support system restructuring. The federal government has promised New York an additional $1.5 billion to help redesign our health care system so long as the commission's recommendations are implemented.

These sums are an unprecedented investment to modernize and strengthen our health care system for years to come.

Today's recommendations are one step in what must be a broader agenda for change. We must also fix reimbursement policy, expand health insurance coverage, promote primary care, address mental health issues, and invest in our health care work force to prepare them for increasing uses of technologies in their jobs. Our health care problems did not develop overnight nor will they be solved with a simple solution. Real reform will take constant effort.

All New Yorkers need to come together and make tough choices. It is time to come to grips with the vast changes in medicine that make some facilities obsolete.

By adapting our system and becoming less reliant on an outdated infrastructure, we can assure that New Yorkers' access to essential health care services is preserved and strengthened.

St. Joseph's leaders blast state hospital plan; Catholic hospital officials insist special commission calling for St. Joe's-Arnot cooperation got it wrong (Jeff Aaron/Elmira Star-Gazette)

It seems to us . . .; Albany's job champions, little losses, and a toast to a lucky aristocrat (editorial/Buffalo News)

Among the initial reactions to the "Berger Commission" hospital closing report, from state lawmakers who unanimously approved creating that commission, was one common theme: accusing the commission of putting high-paying jobs at risk.

That came from local legislators in both houses. It would sound a lot more convincing if the State Legislature, the home of taxes and mandates, weren't the number-one job threatening institution in the state.

Used to Big Losses, Schenectady Is Hit Hard by Plan for Hospitals (Paul Vitello/New York Times)

Nursing homes welcome mergers; Administrators agree with state panel's recommendations as role of facilities changes (Cathleen Crowley/Albany Times Union)

Putrid pork (editorial/Daily News)

Why did Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno fight so hard to keep the Legislature's rampant pork-barrel spending a deep, dark secret? That's now obvious, following the court-ordered release of reams of Albany records: Forced to detail how they've been doling out $170 million a year in discretionary grants, Silver and Bruno can no longer hide just how shamelessly they use tax dollars to keep getting themselves reelected again and again, showering bucks by the bucketload on the favorite projects of constituents and cronies--in effect, using the public treasury as a campaign slush fund.

Cozy with these two? Handsome rewards result. Silver has personally doled out a gargantuan $7.4 million this year, including $710,000 to Brooklyn's Ohel Children's Home, a worthy outfit that happens to be chaired by a Silver pal; $480,000 to the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty, directed by the husband of a top Silver aide; hundreds of thousands more to clients of former aide Pat Lynch, now a high-powered lobbyist. Over in the Senate, Bruno used his clout to deliver $180,000 to the politically powerful AFL-CIO, which happened to be sprucing up a historic property it owns in Bruno's upstate home base. He has also been generous with seemingly every volunteer fire department, VFW post and hunting club in Rensselaer County.

Pols buy friends with money like this. Which is why said money is also a key weapon Silver and Bruno use to enforce Albany's brutal pecking order: Legislators who cooperate with them get their own share of taxpayer dollars to hand out, while those who don't, don't. Bottom line: So long as Bruno and Silver control the spigot, no one has a realistic chance of booting them from office--since any district that elects a challenger is voting to send all this taxpayer-financed gravy somewhere else.

The whole greasy business is wrong from top to bottom. . . .

Silver's Grasp on 'Member Items' Surprises Other Lawmakers (Jacob Gershman/New York Sun)

When the state Assembly complied with a state judge's order and disclosed details of its pork barrel projects, the deepest gasps of surprise didn't come from budget watchdog groups and concerned citizens, but from lawmakers themselves.

Although no lawmaker was naïve enough to have assumed that the funds, which are known in Albany as "member items," were distributed equitably among members of the majority conference, few had an inkling of the magnitude of the share controlled by the Assembly's longtime speaker, Sheldon Silver.

Late last week it emerged that Mr. Silver has given out more than $7 million of the roughly $50 million in member item projects earmarked by the Assembly in this year's budget. Mr. Silver's share of the pie is in many cases 100 times larger than that of other Democratic lawmakers and dwarfs the portions of even the most veteran lawmakers in the conference.

For a number of Democratic lawmakers in the Assembly, the disclosure of the disparity between Mr. Silver's largesse and theirs has provided them with an awareness of their relative insignificance and a bitter lesson of how power is distributed in Albany.

Mindful of the consequences that could result by voicing disapproval, no one in the Assembly has yet to publicly complain about the size of Mr. Silver's slice. Privately, Democratic members of the Assembly are venting their unhappiness with the speaker.

"He's running around with millions," an assembly member who spoke to The New York Sun on condition of anonymity said. "It's pretty extraordinary. We didn't know what he got, we had no idea what everybody got."

There's much more.

Pork-barrel spending report turns into paper chase; Legislative records prevent public from easily sorting through hundreds of pages (David Kubissa column/Elmira Star-Gazette)

. . . how much do we get, where does it go and who is the one doing the getting? And how does that compare with other Senate and Assembly districts in the state? Are some legislators and regions getting more? The recently released information can tell us that.

But only if we can spend about a week or so poring through 2,500 to 3,000 pages of reports that are so user unfriendly you'd swear the Senate and Assembly deliberately made them cumbersome to analyze. In fact, that's what the Albany paper has asserted in its continuing fight to make sense of these documents.

I spent an hour last week combing through the Senate documents. They are organized alphabetically by the agency through which the money was distributed. Want to search for all the money coming to say Chemung County or obtained by Sen. George Winner Jr. or his predecessor John R. Kuhl Jr. and you're out of luck. The Senate's obfuscation is obvious, and Bruno bears the responsibility for this mess. It's an insult to the public. The Assembly records aren't much better, and Silver deserves the blame for that.

If Spitzer could, he ought to grab the two legislative leaders by the ear and take them to the woodshed for a lesson in open government.

Fortunately, various people, groups and media with far more resources than I are working on organizing the data. But that shouldn't be necessary. The Senate and Assembly should provide the information on downloadable data files, such as Excel, so that citizens, not just the media, can access and use the files.

In the late 1990s, I took an online computer-assisted reporting course with an editor from the St. Petersburg Times. One of her examples was a huge spreadsheet produced by the Florida Legislature listing its proposed--not even final but proposed--pork barrel items that the paper analyzed and explained to readers. It designated who was asking for what and where the big money was going.

Now that's open government, and the method would be easy for New York legislators to duplicate. If they care to.

Pork spending examined; Assembly list of pet project spending makes for good reading (Yancey Roy/Gannett News Service)

Where does the New York political pork go? Doll museums, tennis clubs, Main Street flower boxes, Irish fests, parades, little leagues and statues of clergy members, just to name a few creative uses.

Plane trips to Washington, D.C., for vets. Marketing brochures for cemeteries. A cage for a mountain lion. Even a trip to Bangkok for a dance/theater group.

Those are just some of the $180 million worth of pet projects in the 2006-07 state budget that the state Legislature began to disclose last week, following an order by a state judge. These items--called "member items" by legislators and pork-barrel spending by critics--are doled out at the discretion of the Senate and Assembly leaders with little public scrutiny.

They include thousands of individual projects (the Assembly list was nearly 2,700 pages long; the Senate hasn't made its full list available yet). . . .

. . . the process is secretive. And often, grants depend more on the seniority of the legislator and whether he/she is locked in a tight re-election battle rather than the merits of the program, some say.

. . . .

. . . Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, the state's top Democrat for the last 12 years, had control of about $7 million that he doled out, often in large chunks, to Jewish and Chinese groups in his Lower Manhattan district. That's a much larger amount than any single legislator, among the grants that have been disclosed at this point.

Or take Sen. Raymond Meier, R-Western, Oneida County. He wasn't even running for re-election--he was running for Congress in one of the most hotly contested battles in the country. The state Senate allotted Meier roughly $2.2 million this spring, months after he declared his congressional candidacy. Among the list of his projects, Meier gave $675,000 for a new building at Utica College, $17,000 for a new fire horn in the village of New York Mills, $50,000 to construct a town hall in Hopkinton (St. Lawrence County) and $100,000 for a group of local veterans to fly to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II memorial.

"My district has large number of very rural municipalities that don't have extensive tax bases or resources," said Meier, who lost his congressional bid.

Why they hide things (editorial/New York Times)

Finally last week, the Assembly released its list on orders from a State Supreme Court judge. At first, the data came out in Albany's special way: it was technically "public" but impossible for any normal computer user to decipher. After complaints from journalists and the possibility of a return to court, Assembly leaders finally released a version that could be read and searched in a normal way.

Why the effort? A scan of the data shows that most of the Assembly money goes for projects that are not downright terrible; we're pretty sure everyone could get behind repairing the mountain lion's cage in the Watertown zoo. But many items are certainly not high on the taxpayers' priority list. And since they are doled out according to loyalty to the leadership, the process destroys whatever faint impulse toward independence there is in the Capitol.

Nobody is more loyal to the Assembly leadership than the top Assembly leader, Sheldon Silver, who got $7 million of the $50 million earmarked so far this year in his chamber. Mr. Silver gave most of his very large share to community organizations in his district, which includes the Lower East Side and Chinatown. They are undoubtedly all grateful.

. . . . The State Senate continues to make it difficult to see the details of its use of this year's $85 million. The Senate's list is 3,200 pages long and requires a password to organize the data to determine who got what. Moreover, the Senate has forced reporters and the public to go around to state agencies to get the specific information on which senator got money for which softball field. At one agency, data costs 50 cents a page.

What have they been working so hard to hide? Maybe they are still embarrassed about earlier reports that the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, sent $50,000 to fix a roof of a private hunting club in his district and $100,000 to a private school in Saratoga. Maybe there's more.

Silver sends $1M to charity, affiliates run by aide's husband (Mike Gormley/Associated Press)

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver directed $1 million in public money to a charity--and its affiliates--whose chief executive is an old friend and the husband of Silver's chief of staff, according to records and interviews.

The grants are part of the legal and routine pork-barrel spending that annually totals $170 million between the Assembly and Senate and is based on closed-door decisions by lawmakers. Much of the money--more than 60 percent of the Assembly's share--goes to established social service nonprofit firms to carry out programs that aren't covered in the state budget.

But even when the money goes to a good cause, where it flows is often based on political power, not need.

. . . .

The records released last week show that six grants, most under Silver's name alone and all directed by the Assembly majority, went to the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty. The six grants requested by Silver included $200,000 for health and social services to the elderly, $125,000 to expand the food pantry, and $155,000 for programs for needy children--all regardless of the faith of the recipient.

Silver also directed grants to charities with the same business address and project director as the Jewish Poverty charity. Silver sent $115,000 to Machson Mobile for clothing and food for the poor, $91,000 to the Shorefront Council Housing Development Finance Corp., and $160,000 to the Council Management Corp. for social services. Council Management Corp. and Shorefront have the same project director, Herb Friedman, as the council, records showed. Silver sent another $42,000 to the Task Force for Families and Children at Risk, with the same address as the poverty council.

Your taxes at work: a book, boats, trash bins (Marnie Eisenstadt and John O'Brien/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Here's how the money is being spent across New York:

Garbage as art

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, decided to spend $5,000 in tax money for spin bins, described as "artistic garbage bins with features that enable easy emptying." The Grant-Ferry Association, which is revitalizing that part of Buffalo, said in its newsletter the bins replace old oil drums used for trash.

Rationale: The neighborhood group is trying to clean up that area by getting rid of litter.

Sandminers memorial

$1,000 toward a $250,000 monument to the sandminers of Port Washington from Assembly Thomas DiNapoli, D-Nassau, for the second year in a row. For 100 years, Port Washington, on Long Island, produced almost all the sand used in construction on the East Coast.

Rationale: The mines are closed, covered over with golf courses and new homes. The old-timers want to make sure their town's industry isn't forgotten, said Robert Klugman, attorney for the organizers.

Hot dogs for veterans

The Central New York Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America is getting $5,000 for a trailer for their hot-dog cart, via Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, D-Syracuse.

Rationale: Gordon Lane, president of the group, said it bought the cart last year and has been selling hot dogs in front of the Syracuse Public Safety Building. The cart employs two vets. "If you're in the veterans business, you better know what a member item is," Lane said.

No more dodge ball

William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, sent $10,000 in tax money to Corcoran High School for netting to separate two fields.

Rationale: The netting allows lacrosse players to practice at the same time as runners circle the track. Without the netting, a runner could be hit with a lacrosse ball. The money wasn't included in the original cost of the stadium three years ago because the district ran out of money.

There's more.

How 439 politicians cost us effective government; And why paying them $32 million a year costs us our future (op-ed/Buffalo News) )

This compelling essay is by a Buffalo-area government-reform advocate.

The last straw came when we learned that Erie County had lost 30 percent of its young people.

A recent U.S. Census Bureau report showed that in the past decade, the number of 25- to 34-year-old residents leaving Western New York was the highest of any area in the nation. Anyone reading the survey knew that these young adults left not out of desire but out of necessity. In a region with more factory layoffs than company start-ups, they had no choice.

This latest proof of our failed local economy came this past spring in the bleak context of what we already knew. Since 1990, on average, one person moves out of Western New York every one hour and forty minutes. Local per capita income levels and housing stock values are down. Twenty thousand private-sector jobs have vanished. The only census category that's risen in our recent past is the number of free school lunches, a measure of impoverishment.

And the final indignity? With politicians' refusal to accept reform, Buffalo and Erie County became America's first city and region with not one but two outside control boards. Local government has lost its ability to collectively provide that which individuals cannot provide for themselves. Public libraries, beaches, parks and pools--all closed for lack of resources--eroded both our sense of community and sense of self. And as new ideas died, public projects languished and waterfront land lay fallow, citizens all but concluded that we'll never change.

But change must become our new status quo. And local government downsizing should lead the way--not only to save money but also to restore decisive leadership.

Because all our recent setbacks took place against the backdrop of three economic resurgences that have swept America since 1990, ever lifting the stock market to more record highs but never touching the lives of local citizens.

During this same period, it was generally agreed that the size and cost of local government impair economic growth in the Buffalo region; that the burden of an expensive, overlapping system, worsened by state government dysfunction, robs our future. So citizens launched an effort to make local government more efficient and fair. But by the time we learned about the accelerating loss of young citizens last spring, that effort had failed.

. . . .

Including village, town, city, county, state and federal government levels, Erie County has 439 elected politicians (including 98 judges). That's more than the 435 elected officials who represent the entire nation in the U.S. House of Representatives. At last count, the U.S. population was over 300 million, and Erie County's was 941,293.

The two-county region known as Greater Baltimore, population 1,670,119, has 33 local elected politicians. Erie County has 341. When you add in local judges, state and federal officials, Greater Baltimore has 95 elected officials, compared to our 439. (See the accompanying chart.)

Charlotte, N.C., the destination for many Western New York "ex-pats," has 752,366 residents and 60 elected politicians. Both Charlotte and Baltimore enjoyed substantial growth in the past decade. And New York City, with its over 8 million citizens, broad diversity and complex social challenges, gets by with just 64 elected politicians.

Lost in the noise of 439 public servants' voices is any clear sense of direction for our community. In a system where seemingly everyone stakes claim to power, no one is in charge. Not one of these 439 individuals can negotiate aggressively on our behalf in Albany or Washington. And when you factor in their 439 individual views, powers and purposes, it's easy to see why decisive, accountable leadership has eluded us.

The cost of this political class, expressed in lost opportunities for development and change, is immeasurable. But the path to future change begins with an understanding of the present price of our current system.

. . . .

Separate and apart from the expense of government services--i.e., public safety, law enforcement, education, human services, transportation and culture--our report discloses how much we spend on politicians. In so doing, it questions whether the cost of 439 elected officials impairs our ability to finance public projects and essential services. And whether funds used to pay politicians would be better spent on government employees who actually provide those services.

Over a five-month period, we visited each of the 25 town halls, 16 village halls, three city halls and one county hall throughout Erie County, reviewed their annual budgets and official minutes, filed 23 Freedom of Information Act requests, and interviewed scores of public officials and employees. We found that:

• The total annual cost to Erie County taxpayers for 439 politicians is $32,140,386.

• In the past decade, we paid our elected officials and their immediate staffs over a quarter of a billion dollars--a brutal bill for their presiding over this period of decline.

• Erie County has as many as 10 times the number of politicians as comparably sized regions in America.

• By reallocating just one-half of what we spent on elected officials in the past decade, we could have: dismantled the Skyway; reopened public beaches; saved libraries; hired 100 more Buffalo school teachers; repaired the Martin Luther King Park fountain; and cleaned the Black Rock Channel.

• Our excessive cost of politicians derives from the system as a whole, not from any individual jurisdiction or salary.

• The concentration of politicians is highest in the suburbs. If the City of Buffalo had the same ratio of citizens to legislators as its suburbs, there would be 100 Common Council members.

. . . .

The inability to change is an illness afflicting the Western New York body politic. As such, every private citizen and public servant shares a responsibility to cure it.

If there ever existed a people who deserve the best local government possible, it's Western New Yorkers. With endless challenges over which we exercise no control--climate and geographic location among them--we should insist on affecting that which we can, producing a government structure that meets its first obligation of serving people.

I came of age in a time when citizens changed America. From spiritual leaders of the 1960s who stopped discrimination, to young mothers of the 1970s who halted an unjust Vietnam War, citizens shaped our nation and its future. And if any of those community leaders were here today, surveying the landscape of life in Western New York in 2006, this would be their struggle: demanding reform of a political system that has lost its direction and purpose.

For more than money, our politicians have cost us time. Time we can never recover. And the hope that always seems to slip away with time is a loss that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

Sprawl, no growth 'not sustainable' (Greg Munno/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Ken Bowers--a member of the Sustainable Design Assessment Team examining Syracuse this week--summed up the region's problem this way: "You have sprawl without growth."

That was the impression Bowers came away with after his first day in Syracuse, spent touring the city and in the first of many small-group work sessions.

The assistant planning director of Raleigh, N.C., Bowers noted that Syracuse's population has been declining since the 1950s and that Onondaga County's population has been stagnant since the 1970s. Yet development in the suburbs continues, eating up natural resources and fueling middle-class flight from the city.

"This is not sustainable," Bowers told a crowd of about 100 at an open forum Monday at the Oncenter.

It's Bowers' job--and that of the four other volunteer members of the team and two staffers from the American Institute of Architects--to help the region chart a course toward a more sustainable future. That means development that creates jobs and brings new people and dollars to the area, and yet preserves green space and revitalizes already developed urban centers.

Mayor urging more charters (Joe Mahoney/Daily News)

With state lawmakers slated to meet only once more this year, Mayor Bloomberg is pressing hard for an additional 50 charter schools.

"This is the mayor's highest priority for the upcoming special session of the Legislature," said Farrell Sklerov, a member of Bloomberg's lobbying team.

The GOP-led Senate has been sympathetic to the call for more charter schools, passing legislation that would raise the statewide cap on charters to 250 from 100.

But resistance has come from the Democratic-controlled Assembly that enjoys the backing of powerful teachers unions, which oppose charter schools.

Meanwhile, the statewide waiting list of children seeking to get into charters reached 25,000.

"The fact there's such a long waiting list shows this is something people want," Sklerov said.

Niagara gets good news; Federal project for saved air base is a dividend for hard-earned victory (editorial/Buffalo News)

Good news builds on good news. After avoiding the closure that threatened the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station last year, the base is now set to expand.

The Army and Air Force plan to consolidate operations in Niagara Falls, investing $32 million and moving 800 soldiers to the base. That's a victory-and-a-half.

Niagara Falls needs this shot, and its supporters, in and out of politics, have worked hard to make it happen. It makes sense for the Army and Air Force, which will be able to coordinate and expand their training programs; it makes sense for taxpayers, who value the efficient use of their tax dollars; and it makes sense for the regional economy, which will benefit from the $32 million construction of an Army Reserve Center and from the infusion of new soldiers.

No one could have imagined this just two years ago, when the likely scenario was closure of the base and another nail in Niagara's coffin. Through a Herculean effort by local residents, elected officials and others, the base closing commission was convinced that shutting down this facility was counterproductive. This truly was dodging a bullet; you could hear it shrieking as it passed.

Now, a city that desperately needs more than a hermetically sealed casino to get back on its feet has a building block, assuming the plan shows up in the 2008 federal budget, as announced by Undersecretary of the Army Pete Geren. That expansion will aid nearby businesses and, perhaps, cause others to appear.

Working together best for everyone; Glens Falls needs to be open to more active role in regional promotion (editorial/Glens Falls Post-Star)

Glens Falls is not an island. Yet public officials seem to have difficulty understanding that in deciding how the city fits in with regional tourism promotion efforts.

There's a lot for visitors to enjoy in Glens Falls. The city has museums and concert halls, parks and plays, major sporting events and a regional library, bars and restaurants, and a bunch of cool little stores. It's not Lake George and it's not Saratoga. But all of the city's attributes add to the special and unique experience that makes up this region.

So it simply doesn't make sense--from an economic standpoint or a taxpayers' standpoint--for Glens Falls Mayor Roy Akins to separate the city from Warren County's tourism promotion efforts and go out on his own. And it's equally as foolish for Warren County to exclude the city from its efforts to draw people to the region.

County and city officials should put their heads together and look for ways in which they both could involve the city in promotional efforts to the benefit of both.

For no good reason, we missed the following story, and several others, in Monday's New York Post. We offer it today with apologies to our readers and to our friends at the Post.

Late to the party (editorial/New York Post)

So now he tells us.

Immediately after being chosen Thursday as chairman of the state GOP, Joseph Mondello gave an acceptance speech that could have been titled, "George, We'll Hardly Miss Ye."

Though he never mentioned Pataki by name, Mondello pledged that the New York Republican Party's future won't be charted by a "small, consultant-dominated group devoted to the candidacy or career of one elected official for their own private gain."

Moreover, he promised that his leadership will be one that "seeks and encourages input from [the] grassroots level."

That's precisely what the party needs after 12 years of Team Pataki, which culminated in this year's drubbing at the polls. The GOP lost all four statewide races--including to one Democrat, Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who's on the verge of being booted from office.

All of which makes us wonder: Where have "grassroots" Republicans been all these years?

. . . the results [of November's elections] showed what inevitably happens when a statewide organization, acting under the control of "one individual," ignores its grassroots for years at a time and fails to develop a farm system of credible, serious and competitive candidates.

Simply put, New York's state Republican Party is broken. If it's to provide a genuine alternative to the voters, rather than just token opposition, it has to be rebuilt--from the bottom up.

Also missed yesterday:

New GOP boss stirs 1st storm (Fred Dicker of the New York Post)

Newly elected state GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello has been in office for less than a week--but he's already being accused of breaking his word to party leaders, Republican insiders charged yesterday.

Mondello, the longtime Nassau County GOP chairman, vowed last week to take the badly damaged state Republican Party out of the hands of Gov. Pataki's widely despised political operatives, who are blamed for last month's worst-ever-in-modern-times showing at the polls.

But the insiders charge that Mondello is ready to name John Haggerty--a longtime Pataki gofer and political "mechanic" who has angered numerous party activists, including influential GOP Sen. Serphin Maltese of Queens--to the key post of party executive director.

"Haggerty is one of the reasons we keep losing races. He's a disaster, and his appointment will be deeply resented by Republicans who want to win elections," a longtime senior GOP strategist bitterly told The Post.

"A lot of party people are up in arms over this and believe Mondello would be sending the absolute wrong signal if he goes ahead with this."

More politics:

No more PSC cronies; Next agency head must have expertise (editorial/Newsday)

Gov. George Pataki is just one appointment away from completing his job of transforming the state Public Service Commission from a watchdog to a lapdog.

The lame-duck governor last week elevated Patricia Acampora of Mattituck to be chair of the agency, which regulates energy, water and telecommunication services. The politically well-connected Acampora would not make the top of any list, or even get on the list, of those with superior expertise in these fields. Yet, of four sitting commissioners, she has been there the longest, enough to know where the washrooms are and recognize the staffers who actually run the bloated bureaucracy. Her three colleagues are cronies Pataki packed on the PSC in June, so the governor's lobbyist pals would continue to have buddies on the inside until 2012.

Acampora's appointment should be short-lived. The chair serves at the governor's pleasure, which means the incoming one, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, can appoint a new PSC head. But that can only happen if the fifth commissioner's seat--vacant after the former chair, William Flynn, resigned last month--remains empty for the few days remaining until Spitzer takes his oath. That appointment should be Spitzer's prerogative, and he should fill it with someone who has the experience to monitor the state's utilities and the ability to advise the governor on the critical energy issues the state faces.

Chartock: Change begins on Day 1 (Alan Chartock column/Troy Record)

There is a sense among the electorate that Albany is a cesspool and that the IPP (Incumbent Protection Plan, whereby people who want something from government, "pay to play") is alive and well in the state capital. Under the old system, in order to get what you want, you grease someone's palms by giving them a huge "campaign donation" or some money to "give a speech." Some call this legal bribery.

. . . .

Naturally, in this act of unilateral disarmament, he is challenging the other constitutional officers and the Legislature to do likewise. Their reactions will tell us a great deal about what the future will hold as the great Albany ethics drama unfolds. My bet is that we are in for a no-holds-barred fight.

It's pretty predictable. The Republican Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno pooh-poohed the whole thing. His position: to do all of this because of a bad perception of Albany politics was just, well, "nonsense." Bruno certainly knows that if he cooperates and passes such a law, he will have turned off the spigot of free money that his troops spend to stay in power. Unlike the wealthy Spitzer, they have to rely on this tawdry method of bringing in dollars whatever way they can.

. . . .

. . . . Incoming Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was conspicuous in his absence at Spitzer's press conference. Cuomo has said that he would be Spitzer's partner in making changes. Maybe, but there is a sense in Albany that Cuomo has been challenging Spitzer for prominence in the ethics reform area. This move puts Spitzer way out front on the issue. The only thing left for Cuomo to do is to try to out-ethics Spitzer and that will not be easy. Spitzer won by 70 percentage points. Cuomo's results at the poll weren't even within shouting distance of Spitzer's.

Brown's fundraising lead didn't lead to victory; He took in more than 50 percent more but failed to unseat state Sen. Valesky (Alaina Potrikus/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Spitzer adviser worries officials; Environmentalist on panel that may shape new governor's policy (Maury Thompson/Glens Falls Post-Star)

An environmental group leader who has frequently clashed with local government officials in the Adirondack Park is serving on a panel advising Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer's transition team on energy and environmental issues.

Local government officials say they are concerned about the level of influence Peter Bauer, executive director of the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, an environmental group, could have on Spitzer.

"As far as we know, Peter Bauer is the only adviser from the Adirondacks," said Chester Supervisor Frederick Monroe, a regional director of the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages.

The association issued a press release stating local government officials are "concerned about recommendations" Bauer has made to Spitzer, including placing a temporary freeze on land-use management decisions associated with developing an Adirondack Park snowmobile trail plan.

Court decision may impact N.Y. Indian gaming (Associated Press)

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider the case of the Oneida Indian Nation, whose gaming compact with New York was invalidated by state courts.

A group of New York residents, the Upstate Citizens for Equality, has challenged the compact and said Monday's decision "calls into immediate question" operation of the tribe's Turning Stone Resort and Casino, which attracts over 4 million visitors a year.

State courts concluded New York's governor exceeded his authority under state law in 1993 by entering into the gaming compact with the tribe without legislative approval.

The Oneidas say the state court rulings conflict with the tribe's federally protected sovereign immunity. The New York courts ruled that even though the Oneidas cannot be made a party in the lawsuit the citizens' group brought against the state, the courts could go ahead and litigate the tribe's interests because the tribe can waive its sovereign immunity and enter the case if it chooses.

The tribe asked the Supreme Court to consider the state courts' rulings in the context of federally protected sovereign immunity for Indian tribes and the federal interest in tribal economic development.

"Indian gaming is the business of the federal government, and it is not for a state court to interfere with it," the Oneidas said Monday in a statement maintaining the legality of their compact under federal law.

. . . .

An attorney for the citizens group challenging the compact urged state officials to act quickly, saying the high court's refusal to hear the Oneidas' case "calls into immediate question the continued validity of the operation of the Turning Stone Casino."

"Let's see if they've got the guts to enforce the law," Albany attorney Cornelius Murray said.

The Oneidas called attempts to shut down the casino, which employs more than 3,500 people, "reprehensible."

"That's not a victory and they shouldn't be celebrating," the tribe's statement said. "If we follow the UCE's lead there would be no economic development in upstate New York."

What's next for Turning Stone? (Glenn Coin/Syracuse Post-Standard )

The court battle to prove that Turning Stone is operating illegally ended Monday, and the citizens group that won the case says it's time for the state to shut down the Verona casino.

But it's unclear when or if state officials would take such action. It's also possible the state could negotiate a new, legal agreement for the casino to operate.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a state judge's ruling in 2004 that the casino is operating without a legally valid agreement. New York appeals courts had upheld that decision.

"This is the end of it," said David Vickers, president of Upstate Citizens for Equality, the group that brought the lawsuit. "There are no more appeals."

The casino is owned by the Oneida Indian Nation. Officials at the nation said Monday the agreement, formally called a compact, that allowed Turning Stone to open 13 years ago is still legal.

"The Oneida's compact is and remains valid under federal law," said nation spokesman Mark Emery, in a statement. "Indian gaming is the business of the federal government, and it is not for a state court to interfere with it."

Vickers and UCE's lawyer say the state has authority to shut down Turning Stone because a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year said Oneida nation land is not sovereign. They plan to urge the governor's office to shut down the casino.

"It's illegal, period. It is unconstitutional," said Cornelius Murray, UCE's lawyer.

Vickers said he would write letters to outgoing Gov. George Pataki and Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer asking them to shut down Turning Stone's casino. Neither Pataki's office nor Spitzer's transition office returned phone calls.

State Assemblyman David Townsend, R-Kirkland, doesn't think Turning Stone will be closed.

"To say you're going to send in the state police or the National Guard or whoever and shut this thing down is not realistic and it's not going to happen," said Townsend, whose district includes the resort. "I think what this means is that the Oneidas are going to have to sit down with the governor and negotiate a compact that's fair and equitable."

This stone is still left unturned (Fred LeBrun column/Albany Times Union)

In effect, Turning Stone has no legal standing at the moment. It may as well be a $20 craps game in a back alley. An application pending with the federal government for trust status that could give the Oneidas a backdoor way into a casino is years away, by most estimates. Even then, with 17,000 acres in federal trust, as a separate court ruling requires, the Oneidas would need a legislatively approved compact to run a casino.

With three weeks remaining in Gov. Pataki's term, the reaction from his office was appropriate--brief and to the point. This reaffirms the invalidity of the compact, it said in a statement, and the governor again is calling on the federal government to resolve the issue.

As much as Gov.-elect Spitzer has tried to dodge taking dramatic action in the matter as attorney general, it is more and more likely something big is going to have to happen here. Like shutting the place down.

How can the state continue to tolerate an illegal casino?

The reason logic and law will be tortured over this is jobs, the thousands of jobs the casino brings to the region. Turning Stone is the largest employer by far in economically challenged Oneida County. So, institutionally, the state of New York is practicing hypocrisy on a grand scale to protect those jobs.

If Turning Stone was a small church running a Bingo operation that didn't pass court muster, the attorney general would be all over it and shut it down. But in this case, Eliot Spitzer is both attorney general and governor-elect, and he's hemming and hawing.

No matter what the future is with the Oneidas' trust status, the law is supposed to operate in the here and now, and equally. We're not seeing that happen.

At some point, Eliot the Reformer will have to leap into this. Assemblyman Bill Magee, a Democrat from Nelson in Oneida County, has maintained right along that while he's not in favor of closing the casino, he does want the state to negotiate a tough compact that would include substantial revenue sharing. At the moment, can you believe, Turning Stone is raking in multiple millions, and the state doesn't see a dime. Which makes our monumental hypocrisy also monumental stupidity. Why in the world should we extend ourselves for the Oneidas when they are not paying their way?

High court rejects Oneida appeal; Tribe sought to contest state rulings that it lacked a valid compact for Turning Stone (Jim Odato/Albany Times Union)

On another front:

Fulton St. transfer foes lose in court; Appellate Division denies injunction (Matt Gryta/Buffalo News)

A state appellate court has denied efforts by Buffalo's anti-gambling forces to get a preliminary injunction to hold up the formal transfer of a portion of Fulton Street to the Seneca Gaming Corp. for its proposed $125 million downtown gambling project, court officials confirmed Monday.

The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester also dismissed as premature efforts by the anti-gambling forces to get an expedited appeal schedule on their appeal of State Supreme Court Justice Joseph G. Makowski's Nov. 9 ruling rejecting their bid for the injunction.

Rochester court officials confirmed that the intermediate-level appellate tribunal, which is expected to conduct a courtroom hearing in the case sometime next year, ruled on the motions. The anti-gambling forces also have launched a federal court suit to try to block the casino.

. . . .

In a 45-page decision, Makowski stressed that his "extensive analysis" of all factors in the dispute convinced him "the balance of equities" favored the city's sale of the land for the Senecas' proposed nine-acre casino site.

The Albany Times Union describes a budget plan in Rensselaer County that would increase taxes by about three times the projected inflation rate. That's down from an earlier budget plan from the Republican county executive that would have increased taxes by 26 percent, which is more like 10 times the projected rate of inflation.

It's bad enough to see taxes go up by thrice the rate of inflation; it's worse still to see that touted as a success because it could have been worse. But it's especially disheartening to see the many hints--which the Albany Times Union does a good job reporting--that legislators relied heavily on smoke and mirrors in developing this budget plan and its could-have-been-worse-and-may-yet-be tax increase.

Revised budget holds 9% tax hike; Legislators also seek to explore reinstalling board of supervisors (Anne Miller and Kate Perry/Albany Times Union)

County legislators approved a budget with a 9 percent tax increase Monday night during a heated meeting at which two legislators--agreeing with citizens who spoke--said they wanted to examine the possibility of dissolving the county legislature and installing a board of supervisors, as it was decades ago.

Democrat Kevin Harrington called for a return to the days when the supervisors ran the county, and Republican Richard Salisbury echoed that call.

Meanwhile, a parade of residents took the microphone to condemn the tax hikes as well as the budget proposals from both parties.

"I'm a working-class person," said Donald Slovak, a farmer. "I don't know how working-class people can afford to keep our property.

"All we're going to be is a bedroom community to New York City. All the farmers are going to go," he said.

County Executive Kathleen Jimino presented a proposed budget with a 26 percent increase in late September. Legislators from both sides of the aisle discussed ideas for paring back the increase for two months before the Republican majority presented a revised budget on Friday.

It included none of the changes suggested by Democrats and drew criticism from both Democrats and Jimino, a Republican, for claiming revenue estimates that were what she called a "fantasy."

Republicans maintain that they took the necessary steps to reduce a tax increase that residents couldn't shoulder.

Critics were unhappy with the Republicans' decision to boost revenue estimates--such as adding $1.4 million to anticipated sales taxes--and reduce estimates on certain expenditures.

Republicans also revised the budget to include $3 million in revenue they hope to gain from a tobacco surcharge. However, the surcharge--which accounts for almost half the 16 percent legislators cut from Jimino's proposed tax increase--still needs approval by the state legislature.

Jimino said Friday that the budget promises services and property tax relief, but doesn't provide the funding to meet either.

Essex County cuts taxes (Lohr McKinstry/Plattsburgh Press-Republican)

Essex County leaders decided Monday that having no tax increase next year didn't go far enough.

At the last minute, the County Board of Supervisors pushed through a 1-percent decrease in the amount to be raised by taxes in the 2007 budget.

The tentative budget had maintained a $13.5 million tax levy, the same as this year.

But by taking an extra $350,000 from the county's fund balance, that levy was dropped to $13.3 million.

That means most property owners should see a 1-percent reduction in their county taxes.

"It's a good move in the right direction," Supervisor George Canon (R-Newcomb) said. "It's pretty unheard of in this age."

The county has had no tax-levy increase the last two years, he said, and will now get a decrease.

Regional Assessing Takes Step Forward (Steven M. Sweeney/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Jamestown may soon be officially uniting with the town of Busti, at least where assessing is concerned.

City Council members heard from Randall Holcomb, assessor for both the city and the town, on the details of formally sharing one official.

"If Jamestown joins with Busti, Jamestown will receive a one-time payment of $12 per parcel, or $165,600. They would share the same assessor and the same equalization rate," Holcomb said. "It has to be done by local law. Busti has already passed a resolution saying they're interested if Jamestown is interested."

According to Mayor Sam Teresi, the 10-year contract with the state and Busti would merely formalize what is already happening with Busti, Jamestown and a host of other towns pooling their resources for a common assessing office. The $165,600 would come in addition to the $69,825 Jamestown is expected to receive every year into the foreseeable future, so long as it keeps its assessment between 95 and 100 percent of full valuation.

Joe Bellitto, city comptroller, said the city will likely use the money to pay more off a five-year bond used to pay GAR Associates of Amherst to reassess the city in 2005 and 2006.

Fuel costs, pay hike boost Lloyd spending; Board approves $9.58 million (Alice Hunt/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Increasing fuel prices, a pay raise for the supervisor and new geographical information system programming add up to an 8.51 percent spending increase for Lloyd in 2007.

The overall budget is $9.58 million. The tax rates will increase by 4.95 percent for those living inside the water and sewer district, and 5.47 percent for those living outside it.

The budget was approved by the town board 5-0.

Escalating costs for materials have driven the Lloyd highway budget up 22 percent for 2007, Highway Superintendent Frank Lombardi said.

"The materials took a big jump," he said, "Fuel went up, pipes went up, sand went up--just about everything we use."

Oneida budget approval likely; Van driver, recreation coordinator's positions may be covered for next year (Aaron Gifford/Syracuse Post-Standard )

The Oneida Common Council is expected to approve Mayor Leo Matzke's 2007 budget tonight despite strong public opposition to proposed cuts in the Recreation Department.

"We're still holding our stance on the Recreation Department," said Bruce Coe, Ward 6 councilor and chairman of the council's Ways and Means Committee. "We're ready to vote on it."

More than 40 people packed the council chambers during a Nov. 21 hearing, opposing Matzke's plan to eliminate the recreation department's maintenance supervisor position and the part-time teen center coordinator job; city officials say the two cuts would save Oneida more than $50,000.

The second senior van driver, a position that was eliminated in August, is not restored in the mayor's budget. Last week, however, Matzke, councilors and Recreation Director Patti McGee said there's a good chance they can get state money to pay for a second driver.

Steam Station's taxable value dips; Tentative 2007 assessment shows $100M decrease, say Oswego officials (Douglass Dowty/Syracuse Post-Standard )

A year after the taxable value of Oswego's Steam Station skyrocketed to $278 million, its tentative assessment for 2007 is expected to decrease by $100 million, according to the city assessor's office.

In 2004, the station was valued at $84 million before jumping to $107 million in 2005 and to $278 million the following year, according to city records. In 2007, the station will be tentatively valued at $177 million, said Assessor Susan Gentile-Deary.

Overall, the assessed value of the whole city is projected to shrink by roughly $80 million--or 6 percent--in 2007, due "largely to the steam station" devaluation, Gentile-Deary said.

Some of the loss--about $20 million--was recouped by increased assessments on vacant land and other properties throughout the city, she said.

This year, the station's parent company is on the hook to pay roughly $2.5 million in taxes, but NRG Energy filed a grievance against the 2006 assessment that's still being debated in court.

If the assessment is upheld, the city could lose nearly $1 million from the projected steam station assessment in 2007.

The city, school district and county hired a private appraiser--George E. Sansoucy, of New Hampshire--to recommend a value for the steam station this year, Gentile-Deary said. The state Office of Real Property Services also provides an assessment to cities, since most don't have the expertise to value utilities.

The state's suggested assessment was $158,738,000 for 2007.

Shed more light on pork barrel spending (editorial/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Just when New York state legislative leaders begin doing the right thing--albeit after a judge ordered them to--they go ahead and prove again why they've earned the label as the nation's most dysfunctional legislature.

The Senate and Assembly recently started disclosing the names of the sponsors of some $180 million-worth of discretionary grants, included in the 2006-07 state budget. Digital images of the hundreds of documents detailing how much each allocation was, who received them and the names of legislators who requested them, were made available for downloading on the Internet.

But the data was in a format that required the public to read through the hundreds of pages in hopes of locating grants requested by their local lawmakers. The Assembly quickly corrected the problem and made the files fully searchable, but the Senate has yet to relent. It should do so without delay.

Unfortunately, such chicanery has almost come to be expected. This is just the latest sign that, despite modest improvements in recent years, the state Legislature is still desperately in need of reform.

The information contained in the documents produced few surprises, while confirming what many expected--a large portion of the grants appear to go to worthwhile projects and endeavors, such as $10,000 to the Red Cross of Dutchess County for a disaster trailer. But critics, who derisively refer to the practice as "pork-barrel" spending, found plenty of what may look like questionable spending items.

. . . .

The information released starkly details the disparity in how the funding is doled out among members in favor of the majority parties in each house of the Legislature. Silver alone directed more than $7 million often to Jewish and Chinese groups in his Lower Manhattan district.

The fact this money is approved without any opportunity for public review is even more troubling. Lawmakers still have a ways to go before this process will truly be open.

Speakers list city's woes at Assembly hearing (Nancy Dooling/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Binghamton's economic woes mirror those of other upstate cities, local officials told members of the state Assembly in town Monday to listen to a litany of the city's problems:

* Exploding pension costs.

* Eroding property tax bases due to population losses.

* An exodus of manufacturing jobs to more hospitable states.

* Aging streets and sewer systems, and empty businesses and houses.

. . . .

Binghamton shares other upstate cities' woes: pension costs exploded from $230,000 in 2001 to about $4 million in 2006, said Beverly Palmer, the city's comptroller.

"It's unacceptable to taxpayers," said

. . . .

Executives of local businesses criticized New York's costly workers' compensation system and the high costs of doing business in the state.

Unionized, taxpayer-supported workers whose jobs would be affected by proposed mergers and closings in New York's bloated health-care sector have dusted off the familiar rhetoric of apocalypse to try to avoid changes to New York's health-care sector.

For example, here's a letter to the Middletown Times Herald-Record from a union rep.

The report has a huge, devastating impact statewide, including huge cuts and privatization proposals for New York's public nursing homes, which for years have been a safety net for our elderly. Only our public facilities have been there as facilities of last resort for our elderly and indigent.

For years, Pataki has been trying to cut public health care in his budget, but our legislators have largely been able to stop him. The recommendations in the report reflect a purely political, last-ditch effort by Pataki to accomplish what he could not before, his mistaken goal of making widespread cuts to New York's public health-care system. True reform would mean a more efficient delivery of services to a greater number of New Yorkers, not simply telling taxpayers to handle their long-term care issues on their own.

Now, that last sentence is telling: an explicit argument that the government, not individual New Yorkers, should be "handling" New Yorkers' long-term care issues.

More:

Van Duyn employees to work phones today (John Mariani/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Van Duyn Home & Hospital employees plan to stage a phone-in today to send two messages to Onondaga County's state legislators:

Bring the recommendations of the State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century to a vote, and when you do, vote against them.

The workers, members of Civil Service Employees Association Local 834, are protesting the commission's report last week, which among other things recommended that neighboring Community General Hospital absorb Onondaga County-owned Van Duyn.

And:

Schenectady to pursue nursing home; Legislators won't alter plan for 280- bed facility despite recent report (Mike Goodwin/Albany Times Union)

Schenectady County legislators said they won't scale back their proposal to build a new 280-bed nursing home despite a state commission's recommendation that the county's current Glendale Nursing Home be downsized to just 168 beds.

At a special meeting Monday night, legislators were unanimous in denouncing the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century's recent recommendation to shrink the nursing home and close the Bellevue Woman's Hospital in Niskayuna. They also passed a resolution calling on the state Legislature to reject the commission's report, which calls for closing eight other hospitals and realigning dozens of others.

"It's a dagger in the heart of medical care in Schenectady, not just Bellevue, but the Glendale Nursing Homes," said Vince DiCerbo, D-Schenectady.

Republican Minority Leader Robert Farley called the report's recommendations "dumb" and claimed the commissioners made their suggestions without visiting either the hospital or the nursing home. Money-saving rather than quality medical care was on the minds of commissioners, he said.

How about closing some governments? (Carl Strock column/Schenectady Gazette)

How about closing some governments?

I have been working my longsuffering way through the report just issued by the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, the one that recommends closing certain hospitals and merging others, and I am struck by a suggestion that comes from a reader, to wit, that another commission be created to study local governments in the same way--let's say, a Commission on Local Government Facilities in the 21st Century.

The reader thinks the arguments might be similar, which goes to show what perspicacious readers this column enjoys.

What did the real commission find, the one that was created by the governor and the Legislature? It found "widespread and unnecessary duplication of services" in the health-care field, which I suppose is what got the reader to thinking the way he did.

Duplication of services? Widespread and unnecessary?

Let's take a look at Schenectady County, one of the smallest counties in New York, with a population of just 149,000, and ask, how many local governments ought it take to administer a civic entity of that size? How many police departments ? How many zoning boards? How many assessors? How many public works departments?

Well, first we have the county government, with a chief executive officer, a legislature, a finance commissioner, a public works department, and so on. A full governmental apparatus, occupying a six-story office building and more besides.

Then we have the Schenectady city government, with its own legislative body, its own chief executive, its own law department, its own director of finance, and so forth and so on, occupying a majestic city hall just a few blocks from the county office building.

Then we have the town of Niskayuna, also with its chief executive, its legislative body, its building inspector, its water superintendent, its assessor, occupying a fine new town hall.

And the town of Rotterdam, much the same.

And the town of Glenville, much the same again, except that Glenville includes the village of Scotia, which is yet another entity, with its own mayor, its own legislative body, its own planning board, its own building inspector, and so forth, the two municipalities nesting inside each other like Russian dolls.

And then Duanesburg, another town, which includes the village of Delanson, and those two also have their own separate, nesting governments.

And finally Princetown, with its own complement of legislators and administrators.

That makes nine local governments to run the affairs of the number of people who live in about one square block of Hong Kong and to collect taxes from them, and I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

There's more.

Manufacturing touted for site; Owner says plastic cups among products; mayor is skeptical of plan (Leigh Hornbeck/Albany Times Union)

Philmet Capital Group LLC has targeted the former International Paper Co. mill for a manufacturing plant.

Plastic cups and plates would be produced at the factory, said David Steinmetz, a lawyer for Philmet. He declined to name the manufacturer. The project would result in 75 to 140 jobs initially, with the potential for up to 300, he said.

A statement released by Steinmetz Monday night Sam Meth, one of the principals in Philmet, as saying the project is expected "to be widely successful. We have already pre-sold the first production run."

The property is located in both the town and village of Corinth. A landfill once owned by International Paper is in the town, but Steinmetz said the project will not involve the landfill.

At least one of Philmet's principals is expected to discuss details of the project in a private meeting with members of the village and town boards on Tuesday, said.

Philmet also announced plans to refurbish the existing power plant at the mill to provide electricity for the new business. Meth said both operations would be "clean and environmentally friendly" and involve no trash-burning.

Mayor Brad Winslow was skeptical.

A plastics factory has already been discussed, he said, but no business plan was ever presented.

Setting standards for Syracuse's 'sustainability' (Sean Kirst column/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Leaders see economic potential; Brooks, Duffy urge business sector to spread word about region's assets (Mary Chao/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Rochesterians need to become ambassadors for the region to overcome a stagnant economy.

That was the message Tuesday from Mayor Robert Duffy and County Executive Maggie Brooks at Rochester Downtown Development Corp.'s "Repositioning Rochester" luncheon series.

The region has much to offer, such as a trained work force, an entrepreneurial streak and a pool of small businesses that are growing, the officials said.

"We see the glass as half empty, but it's really half full," Brooks said.

She pointed to county efforts in the past three years to create and retain jobs through tax incentives and other means, saying the economy has 6,500 new jobs and 27,000 that still exist because of such efforts. She cited examples such as CareGuide, a health management company, and Cryovac, a maker of plastic food packaging, which have invested $11 million and $16 million, respectively, in new or expanded facilities.

"I'm amazed at the number of companies under the radar," Brooks said.

December 6 is traditionally honored as the feast of St. Nicholas in many Christian denominations. While most celebrate him for his generosity and good will which gave birth to the traditions of Santa Claus and Father Christmas, he is also well remembered for his opposition to high taxes that burdened the people in Myra.

The people of Myra were suffering under the burden of heavy taxes. They begged Bishop Nicholas to ask the emperor to relieve them of the high taxes which caused such hardship. Nicholas went to Constantine to plead the cause of his people. The emperor heard Nicholas' pleas and granted a large cut. Nicholas received a written copy of the order. He immediately took the copy and went down to the sea where he threw the parchment out into the water. Soon afterwards it was fished out of the water near Myra and taken to the proper authorities. It was put into immediate effect and taxes were lowered substantially.

So happy St. Nicholas Day. And remember, good fiscal policy can get you canonized!

Spitzer needs more voices; More Adirondack viewpoints needed on governor's advisory group (editorial/Glens Falls Post-Star)

The Adirondacks are too diverse, the population too divided over too many issues, for the new governor to rely on a single voice to advise his transition team on policy regarding the Adirondack Park.

That's why Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer needs to expand the Adirondack representation on his transition advisory panel to include representatives of business, government and industry.

Right now, the governor's committee on Energy and the Environment includes 30 members representing various interests and viewpoints from around the state, including labor, business and the environment. General Electric Co. and Riverkeepers, for example--which are on opposite sides of the Hudson River dredging issue--each has a seat on Mr. Spitzer's advisory panel.

But the Adirondacks are only represented by one viewpoint--that of Peter Bauer, executive director of the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks. The RCPA is a private environmental organization that often takes very strong anti-development positions. It also stands against efforts to expand recreational access to the Adirondacks, particularly for snowmobiles. And the group strongly supports efforts by the state to purchase private land and conservation easements for open space preservation.

Mr. Bauer, the group's aggressive leader, is seen by some as a vigilant champion of the environment and Adirondack preservation, and by others as an extreme and polarizing force whose goal is to stymie economic growth in the Park.

We have no quarrel with Mr. Bauer and his organization having a voice on the new governor's advisory panel. He represents many in the Adirondacks. But his shouldn't be the only voice. There are many others in the Adirondacks with differing viewpoints on development, recreation and public ownership of private lands, and the governor should hear their voices, too.

It was candidate Spitzer who toured the Adirondacks in March and commented on the region's "yawning gap in population loss, a continuing spiral of decline," comparing the struggling economy to the poverty-stricken Appalachian region. As someone who so strongly campaigned on a position of improving the upstate economy, why would our new governor want the only transition adviser from the Adirondacks to represent a strictly pro-environment, anti-growth position?

The governor should receive input from government officials in the Adirondack Park, who are struggling with high taxes, loss of private land to public preservation, Adirondack Park Agency regulations and lack of economic growth. A member of the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages might be able to fill that advocacy role.

Industry also should be represented on the panel. A representative from International Paper Co., Finch, Pruyn & Co. or Barton Mines might be among those who could effectively advise the new governor on both industrial development and land management in the park--key environmental issues.

Small businesses could give the governor input into the difficulties of meeting state regulations, finding employees and customers and gaining access to new technology. Any of a number of chambers of commerce in the Adirondacks could fulfill that representative role.

There's more.

More politics:

Upstater chosen by Spitzer to head party (Erik Kriss/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer looked way Upstate to find a new leader for his party, and St. Lawrence County's June O'Neill is in line to become the new chairwoman of the State Democratic Committee.

O'Neill, 60, who has chaired her county committee twice and has worked for former Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Comptroller H. Carl McCall and Comptroller Alan Hevesi, is expected to be chosen by state committee members Dec. 14 in New York City to replace Herman "Denny" Farrell Jr., an assemblyman from Manhattan.

There would still be a strong New York City presence in the party's leadership under the arrangement Spitzer engineered, with the Big Apple's David Pollak, 42, assuming the new post of committee co-chairman.

But "Eliot made it clear there won't be two co-chairs," O'Neill said.

"This was an intentional decision to make sure that the party's Upstate focus expands," said Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson. "Downstate has been very good about lining up candidates and having a strong bench. Upstate, we want to do better."

N.Y. at the forefront; Empire State's moderates are blazing new path in politics (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

In the world of politics, at least, New York is making a comeback.

True, this page pointed that out after the general election, when the Democrats regained control of Congress. The political capital of New Yorkers such as Rep. Louise Slaughter and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton is now at an all-time high.

But there's more. It seems that New York leaders may well become a model for political moderation on the national scale.

Look at what's happening. First, Clinton has morphed into a moderate Democrat, for the most part, after six years as New York's junior senator. So much so that even hard-core conservatives admit she successfully slipped out of the blue-state albatross they tried to tie around her neck.

Just ask the upstate Republicans who supported Clinton's landslide re-election campaign. Their support is one reason Clinton is considered a viable candidate for president.

But even among Republicans, moderate New Yorkers are shaping up to be the favored variety.

Manhattan: Spitzer Welcomes Cuomo to New Office (Jonathan P. Hicks/New York Times)

Unshackle Upstate organizer calls on Albany business community to join agenda (Joel Stashenko/Albany Business Review)

An organizer of the Unshackle Upstate initiative says he's hoping for something more than sympathy from the business leaders in the Albany, N.Y., area toward his group.

Brian Hickey, executive vice president of the M&T Bank Corp. in Rochester, said Monday that Albany has remained reluctant to throw its support behind the Unshackle Upstate movement.

The coalition is seeking to line companies, local political leaders and economic development groups behind its agenda for reviving upstate New York's economy. The group's top priorities include lowering property taxes, cutting state spending in general and Medicaid spending in particular and reducing workers' compensation costs.

While business leaders in Albany say they support Unshackle Upstate's agenda, other groups that may receive some funding for programs from the state are reluctant to do more than "quietly sympathize" with Unshackle Upstate, Hickey told reporters and editors at the Business Review.

'07 budget a collection of gaffes (Bill Dowd column/Albany Times Union)

The only thing that has been missing from the circus that is the Rensselaer County budget process is the little car full of clowns.

Then again, maybe the County Legislature's Monday night performance provided a legitimate substitute.

. . . .

[Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino's ludicrous 2007 budget proposal] called for a $278 million spending plan, supported by an unconscionable 25.9 percent tax increase. Her plan was the fiscal equivalent of a misfired Hail Mary pass in football that effectively ceded budget creation to the legislature.

So, the legislators performed some origami on that bloated package, but instead of creating a graceful eagle wound up with an ugly duckling.

Their back-patting stance, that their efforts would trim the increase to 9 percent, is as preposterous on the other end of the scale as Jimino's document. Their budget is based on completely phantom numbers.

Examples? A projected $3 million from a tobacco surcharge, a "user fee" the county has no authority to institute, that does not even exist. An extra $1.4 million in sales tax revenue, based on nothing more than a guess and a hope in a county that has eliminated the sales tax on most items of clothing. In just those two items we already have a $4.4 million problem.

The embattled Sheriff's Department road patrol that Majority Leader Bobby Mirch originally suggested might be abolished to save money lost its proposed $175,000 overtime budget in the new spending document although the sheriff's jail staff still has a $1.1 million OT appropriation. On the face of it, the cut should save money. However, unless deputies wish to appear in traffic court on their own time to help prosecute tickets they write, such alleged trespasses will be dismissed and with that the projected revenue from fines.

Of course, no one should shed many tears for the sheriff's office. We got a look at how things work there when, back in September 2003, the department wasn't covering its normal patrols because of unfilled vacancies. Rather than fill those vacancies, seven command staff officers at the county jail were handed pay raises ranging from 11 to 26 percent. Four of them got 18 percent. The logic put forth by veteran observers at that time was that the raises would be covered by letting some unfilled jobs stay that way. Curious, since unfilled vacancies were cited as creating the need for higher salaries for the officers who otherwise would be working extra hours for no overtime pay.

. . . .

Finding a responsible way through this whole mess may be too much to expect from a body that spent its time, funded by your hard-earned tax dollars, passing such pressing resolutions at its November meeting as approving purchase of a "skid steer loader with attachments" and "a used 2006 Gradall hydraulic excavator" for the Highway Department. For this we need an entire legislature of 19 members plus staff?

Although, to be fair, the same bunch did spend its time on broader issues. Like approving a laundry list of resolutions congratulating several people for retiring from the Troy Fire Department, someone else for retiring from a local baseball league and, best of all, another person for winning a newspaper trivia contest.

The Founding Fathers would have been proud.

Oneida city budget OK'd; property tax rates fall (Syracuse Post-Standard )

The Oneida Common Council Tuesday unanimously approved the 2007 city budget, which reduces property tax rates 5 percent to $7.91 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for inside district residents next year and $3.99 per $1,000 for outside district residents.

. . . .

All full-time employees will get pay increases, though the Recreation Department's full-time maintenance supervisor position and part-time teen center coordinator position were cut.

Two Groups Won’t Fight Health Plan (Richard Perez-Pena/New York Times)

Two of New York's most powerful interest groups, the largest health care workers' union in the state and a major hospital association, have decided not to oppose a wide-ranging state plan to shrink the hospital industry, leaders of the groups said yesterday.

The Greater New York Hospital Association and the union, 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East, had stood as the biggest potential obstacles to the plan, and many members of the State Legislature have declined to state their own positions before seeing what the groups will do. Their decision will make it easier for lawmakers to allow the plan to take effect, resisting pressure from hospitals, nursing homes and employees.

Leaders of the two groups said yesterday that they would not take sides. But much of what they said sounded like a grudging, tacit endorsement of the plan, and they acknowledged that it would be taken as such in Albany.

The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century last week recommended reducing the number of hospitals by about 20, shrinking dozens of others and forcing some competitors to merge; it also proposed smaller cuts in nursing homes. Gov. George E. Pataki and Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer have embraced the report, and unless both houses of the Legislature vote it down this month, it will become law.

Dennis Rivera, president of 1199, and Kenneth E. Raske, president of the hospital association, said the conclusion was difficult and painful, adding that they disagreed with some recommendations, though they would not say which ones. But as a whole, they said, the report amounts to an attempt at managing the inevitable.

. . . .

Hospitals are in worse economic condition in New York than in any other state; dozens have gone out of business in recent years, and many are on the brink. State officials formed the commission in part because they believed that closing some hospitals would mean more business for the rest.

The hospital association and the union contended that the plan would cut health care costs by $19 billion over 10 years, more than twice the $8 billion in savings estimated by the commission.

Mr. Rivera and Mr. Raske said the savings should stave off Medicaid cuts to hospitals in next year's state budget--a warning shot at Mr. Spitzer, who has said he intends to cut Medicaid spending.

The Greater New York Hospital Association and 1199 often act together on major issues and jointly control a healthy political action fund. Their clout makes them formidable forces that Republicans and Democrats are loath to cross.

Rivera, Raske urge Spitzer not to cut Medicaid during health care downsizing (Business Review of Albany)

Two dominant forces in New York health care are warning new Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the state Legislature that they must not reduce Medicaid funding while downsizing the state's hospital and nursing home system.

Dennis Rivera, president of Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, and Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth Raske said Wednesday they want to work with Albany and the health care system to implement the downsizing recommended by the state Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century.

Their willingness to work to implement the recommended cuts is seen as a crucial factor in the commission's plan going forward. The two groups represent most of the hospitals and the blue-collar health care workers in the metropolitan New York area.

But Rivera and Raske warned that it is imperative that Medicaid not be cut during the transition period.

"There is simply no need for further cuts," they said in a joint statement. "Not only is there no need, there is an affirmative obligation to oppose them. Make no mistake: Medicaid budget cuts would doom the commission's recommendations to failure."

Ellis, St. Clare's hospital officials to meet to discuss consolidation (Business Review of Albany)

The two Schenectady hospitals called upon to consolidate their operations said they accept the state' panels recommendation and would move toward a deal.

In a report issued Nov. 28, New York's Commission of Health Facilities in the 21st Century said St. Clare's Hospital and Ellis Hospital should "be joined under a single unified governance structure." It said that if the institutions did not comply, one should be closed and the other expanded.

Both hospitals have struggled financially and have laid off workers in the past year. Ellis managed to finish the year with a net gain of $3.7 million, but St. Clare's lost $3.4 million. This is largely because of St. Clare's patient mix, which includes a large percentage of Medicaid recipients and uninsured people.

Brooks Memorial Set To Benefit From Downsizing (Patrick L. Fanelli/Jamestown Post-Journal)

The commission charged with restructuring the state's costly health care system brought bad news for Westfield Memorial Hospital and the Lake Shore Health Care Center in Irving, but it brought good news for northern Chautauqua County's other major medical facility.

According to Richard Ketcham, Brooks Memorial Hospital president and chief executive officer, the facility stands to gain additional federal money, a new influx of patients and the opportunity to expand. Ketcham doesn't see it as a victory for Dunkirk and a defeat for Westfield and Irving, but simply part of a necessary statewide effort to restrain health care costs that are spiraling out of control.

"We cannot continue to do things the way we always did," Ketcham said Tuesday. "This isn't an athletic contest. There aren't winners or losers."

Hospital Downsizing Could Have Major Impact On Local Economies (Patrick L. Fanelli/Jamestown Post-Journal)

New 'clean coal' power plant proposed for Syracuse area (Tim Knauss/Syracuse Post-Standard )

Fifteen years ago, Brooklyn entrepreneur Adam Victor and his partners came to Syracuse to build Project Orange, a power plant on the near South Side that burns natural gas.

At the time, natural gas was the clean-burning alternative to coal. Everybody built gas-fired power plants.

Now, Victor is back with a new project. He wants to build a $1 billion facility just outside Syracuse that would convert coal into a clean-burning gas to replace natural gas at Project Orange and other power plants.

Victor's new company, Empire Synfuel, LLC, is one of four companies vying for a lucrative state contract that will be awarded this month under Gov. George Pataki's "clean coal" power plant initiative.

The winning bidder or bidders will gain millions of dollars in economic incentives to generate electricity using coal-to-gas technology. Tightening supplies of natural gas--and resulting price spikes--are spurring nationwide interest in clean coal.

Victor declined to discuss his planned coal gasification facility in depth, because some details are still being completed. But he said the concept makes so much sense that he might pursue it whether he wins the state contract or not.

The project would cost more than $1 billion to build and would employ about 2,000 people during construction and more than 100 permanently, he said.

Rather than burning coal, gasification uses heat, pressure and controlled amounts of oxygen to break coal down into its components.

Buffalo Resident Threatens Lawsuit Over BPU Coal Plant Construction (Steven M. Sweeney/Jamestown Post-Journal)

A Buffalo resident is threatening to sue in hopes the city Board of Public Utilities will drop its plans for an electric plant.

Walter Simpson, a Buffalo-area environmental activist, says lawsuits and court costs are the ultimate way to stop the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities from building a new power plant in Jamestown.

Simpson, a member of the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, laid out the group's opposition plan during a meeting Tuesday to prepare city residents for Thursday's Draft Environmental Impact Statement public hearing. It was attended by about 50 Jamestown residents opposed to any coal-plant construction in the city, though environmental issues weren't the main topic of discussion.

"It has the ability to be a community circus if you want it to be, you can cheer and shout. Hopefully, Buffalo media will be there so what you say will have a broader reach," Simpson told the audience Tuesday. "What we're doing there is building the stuff of a legal case. You will sue, groups like the Sierra Club will sue and point out the failings in this document. What they're doing is keeping (the BPU and Jamestown) in court as long as they can until they say 'uncle.' And that's how this thing works."

He said he couldn't guarantee the Sierra Club's participation, but he said he will ask for the group's support.

"One of the strategies is to take them to court. We didn't say this openly tonight--'Here's six ways to stop the power plant'--but that's what we're doing," Simpson said via telephone after the meeting. "Ultimately, one hopes the City Council comes to its senses and abandons the project."

Why N.Y. needs Indian Point (op-ed/New York Post)

Entergy, the owner of the Indian Point Energy Center in upper Westchester County, recently announced its intent to seek renewal of its license to operate two of the state's six nuclear-power plants.

This provides an excellent chance for policymakers and business and political leaders to examine the best route for building New York's economy, improving our environment and our quality of life in the future.

New York faces a major challenge: Our demand for electric power rises every year. But, with some aging plants scheduled to go offline, our power-generating capacity will face a deficit in the next few years. That's the consensus view of independent experts, including the New York Independent System Operator, which manages the power grid throughout the state.

How important is reliable supply and distribution of electricity? Just ask small business owners and residents in northwest Queens left in the dark by last year's days-long blackout.

In other words, it's vital that New York expand its power supply--with clean, affordable and reliable electricity--in the immediate future. Yet some want to shrink the supply--as some anti-nuclear activists would have us do by denying license renewal for Indian Point.

The loss of Indian Point's power would be a devastating blow to New York, a detriment to our economic vitality and growth. And, because alternate power sources are less clean, it would harm air quality across the region, too.

. . . .

Anti-nuclear activists will tell you that the power from Indian Point can be easily replaced with renewable sources of energy like solar, hydro and bio-fuels. While "renewables" are valuable, the "easily replaceable" claim is highly deceptive--and a decision based on it could bring catastrophe.

Patrick Moore--a scientist as well as a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace--puts it this way: "Nuclear energy is the only non- greenhouse-gas-emitting power source capable of effectively replacing fossil fuels and satisfying growing demand.

"Hydroelectric is largely built to capacity. Other key renewables, such as wind and solar, will play a growing role. But renewables are unreliable and intermittent, and simply can't provide base-load electricity."

That's why Moore supports Indian Point license renewal.

Power plants balk at rules; Energy providers say plan to cap greenhouse gases in Northeast could raise cost of producing electricity (Larry Rulison/Albany Times Union)

Power plant owners said a statewide plan unveiled Tuesday by the Department of Environmental Conservation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could raise the cost of electricity.

DEC unveiled a preliminary draft set of rules for a so-called "cap-and-trade" program that would cap carbon dioxide emissions in the state at 121 million tons a year beginning in 2009.

The program, which is being adopted by some Northeastern states, including New York, is called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. It was originally proposed by Gov. George Pataki.

. . . .

The Independent Power Producers of New York, an Albany-based trade group that speaks for power generators, is particularly upset that the plan would require power plant owners to buy all of their emissions credits at auction.

The proposal could have included a mix of selling the credits and giving them to generators for free under a model rule approved in August by the group of states implementing RGGI (pronounced "reggie.")

IPPNY called on the DEC to study the issue more carefully to understand how it will drive up production costs. IPPNY sees a potential supply threat if generators are forced to reduce capacity because they can't buy enough credits on the open market.

"Cost and reliability impacts on electricity supply are not something DEC should be gambling with," IPPNY chief executive Gavin Donohue said in a statement.

The state plans to use proceeds from selling credits to pay for energy efficiency and clean-energy technology investments.

Environmental and consumer advocacy groups support the auction plan. They argue that keeping the environment clean is a cost of doing business and that the cost of the credits will be realized in wholesale electric prices whether they are bought or given away.

State proposes new system to curb `greenhouse gas' effect (Associated Press)

The state on Tuesday proposed the first step toward a new system that would reduce smokestack emissions that contribute to air pollution and acid rain.

The system, now open for public comment, would reduce emissions contributing to the greenhouse gas effect that many say causes global warming, state officials said.

The program would cap emissions at some power plants, but allow others flexibility to gradually reduce emissions at existing utilities through improved technology and other means. State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Denise Sheehan says the program would be the first in the nation.

The new system would begin in 2009 and cap carbon dioxide emissions at current levels until 2015. New York and other states who join the program would then have another four years to cut emissions by 10 percent.

. . . .

The state's "myopic pre-proposal neglects the impacts that it will have on the cost and availability of power to New York's residents and businesses and is the epitome of putting the cart before the horse," said Gavin Donohue, president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York.

We've been raising concerns about the implications of RGGI for some time. See, for example, this.

Shelly the pork prince (editorial/New York Post)

[Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver], who has absolute control of an $85-million legislative slush fund meant to buy favor with the folks back home, spent an astonishing $7 million on himself this year alone.

Or, rather, on individuals or groups in his Lower East Side district--in effect purchasing political loyalty come Election Day.

The technical term for such thinly veiled graft is member item.

Silver controls the list (as does Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in the state Senate), and the result is absolute member loyalty to the speaker.

That said, Silver snatches much of the cash for himself--to bestow on his own personal friends.

Corrupt?

In spades.

But it's perfectly legal--the Legislature writes the laws, after all.

Until now, though, no one knew just exactly how corrupt it is--that is, how much taxpayer dough Silver's been glomming.

Because the speaker kept it a secret. (Just as state Bruno has with his $85 million pot of pork.)

. . . .

Silver has long sought to out-do Boss Tweed for twisting the rules to enrich and empower himself and his friends at the public's expense:

* He consistently blocks tort reform, while collecting a huge fee (believed to be well more than $1 million a year, though Silver keeps that a secret, too) from a top New York tort-law firm.

* He stopped two big projects in the city (the Jets stadium and the Moynihan train station) at the behest of Madison Square Garden's owners--even as the owners, Jim and Charles Dolan, hired Silver's former aide, Pat Lynch, and his pregnant daughter.

. . . .

Let's face it: There's no legitimate reason for letting lawmakers individually hand out taxpayer dollars at their discretion--or, more precisely, Silver's.

The system's sole purpose is to shore up lawmakers' political support--and Silver's power.

It doesn't foster corruption.

It is corrupt.

It subverts democracy.

And if it is still standard operating procedure after Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer's first budget is in place, then all his talk of reform will have been just that.

Talk.

Day One approaches.

We enjoyed reading this letter in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, in part because we so few letters that undertaken to defend New York's tax burden and give thanks that it's heavier than in other states.

However, the arguments aren't all that persuasive. The defenses of New York's extra spending on various social services spending don't make note of the undisputed effect that resultant high taxes have on the flight from New York of jobs and people.

But we were especially struck by the writer's regret that Virginia spends so much less than New York State on snow-plowing. She writes:

While our taxes were considerably lower in Virginia, we didn't get our streets plowed when it snowed; we waited for the snow to melt, which could be a week or longer.

But even in the mountains in the western part of the state—the coldest and snowiest part of Virginia by far-- the average annual snowfall is less than two feet. Isn't that what Rochester refers to as "a mist?"

Governor-elect Spitzer’s announcement that he will institute numerous ethical and operational reforms, even without action by the Legislature, drew well-deserved attention and applause last week. But, we note in an Empire Page guest editorial,

...the development that may be of most lasting importance attracted little notice.

That’s the promise to “institute regular and rigorous evaluations of the Executive agencies, including requiring that agencies adopt performance measurements, establish goals, and track their performance over time.”

Why is that so important?

New York’s government is big and powerful. In virtually every area of modern life – education, transportation, health, the environment, public protection, care for the helpless and others – state agencies control resources and exert influence on an enormous scale. As elected officials and interest groups tell us continually, the use of those resources is vitally important to real people. Sometimes, it’s literally a matter of life and death.

Yet, once the budget is adopted, leaders in government typically pay all too little attention to how well those resources are used, and what benefits New Yorkers get as a result.

The impact of New York's school report cards shows the powerful role performance measurement can play in focusing attention on results, instead of on how many dollars are spent.

The list of potential gains from this smart-government reform is as long as Albany’s agenda is broad. For starters, New York can do much better with its $45 billion Medicaid program. Health-policy analyst John Rodat and others have pointed out there’s enormous variation in the cost of Medicaid and health results around the state. Using consistent benchmarks in every region – the proportion of poor mothers who receive appropriate prenatal care and the likelihood of hospitalization for asthma, to name just two – could make our Medicaid program much more cost-effective.

...

As the saying goes, any job worth doing is worth doing well. That’s true of government services, which are especially important to the poor and helpless among us. In New York, the level of concern for any issue – helping the needy, improving our kids’ schools, protecting the environment – has traditionally been judged simply by the number of taxpayer dollars involved. It’s heartening to see the incoming Governor set a higher standard.

The full editorial is available here.

Group Seeks Benefit Raise for the Jobless (Ken Belson/New York Times)

With New York's insurance fund out of the red for the first time in several years, a pro-labor organization called on Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer yesterday to raise unemployment benefits to levels offered in neighboring states.

As the cost of living in New York rose, the Pataki administration resisted efforts to permanently raise contributions from employers in order to increase the size of the fund or benefits, according to the group, the National Employment Law Project.

Heavy duty; N.Y.C.'s trans fat heave-ho doesn't pass the taste test (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

In dealing with unhealthy food choices — and modern America seems overrun with them — three courses of action ordinarily apply: The food industry agrees to stop selling them. The public decides to stop consuming them. Or the government slaps on a prohibition.

Ideally, the first two come into play before the third — government action — does. If government is perceived by the public as a meddlesome scold telling people what to eat and how much to weigh, then restaurants may feel free to locate and employ loopholes. The best course of action is a cooperative one: government and business working together on ways to remove health risks from certain kinds of food and, through community education campaigns, bringing the public along as a partner.

That ideal course wasn't followed in New York City's blanket ban on using artificial trans fats — hydrogen added to vegetable oil to give it a longer shelf life — in such things as french fries, crackers, potato chips and other products. The city took proper notice of the very real dangers of trans fats. They contribute to obesity and heart disease and their use is avoidable. Stores and restaurants use trans fats largely because they're good for the bottom line.

. . . .

Trans fats are bad news. But the best way to get them out of the food supply is to bring government, providers and consumers together on the need to do so, and ways to do it.

'A terrible resolve' (editorial/New York Post)

This date in infamy; Time, age challenge efforts to keep Pearl Harbor memory alive (editorial/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Remember sacrifices made at Pearl Harbor (editorial/Troy Record)

Area veterans remember fear, devastation (Bryon Ackerman/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Initial hope for peace quickly turned to war (op-ed/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Remember lessons of Pearl Harbor (editorial/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Act of infamy; Pearl Harbor response has parallels today (editorial/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

'I remember the planes coming'; Veteran recalls waking up in morgue (William Moyer/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

65 years later, Pearl Harbor vets remember (Greg Livadas/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

'A Day That Will Live In Infamy' (editorial/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Interesting variations: This editorial in the Daily News recalls the Pearl Harbor atrocity and argues that the nation must do more to help those who responded to the nation's most recent similar atrocity in Manhattan.

And Newsday marks the occasion by remembering the nation's decision to inter Japanese-Americans and comparing that policy decision to some current Bush administration policies.

Albany: Retirement Bills Rejected (Michael Cooper/New York Times)

Gov. George E. Pataki vetoed two bills yesterday that would have increased retirement and pension payments for New York City's police officers and firefighters. The bills were opposed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who said they would cost the city $24.6 million a year. The bills would have allowed retirees to take lump-sum payments for terminal leave instead of letting them stay on the payroll for an extra month or two. Many retiring police officers and firefighters are reluctant to stay on the payroll because it keeps them from earning overtime in their final months, which they can use to increase pensions based on their final year's salary.

Jimino, GOP lawmakers deal on budget (Kate Perry/Albany Times Union)

County Executive Kathleen Jimino vetoed the Legislature's county spending plan Wednesday and reached a deal with lawmakers to set a 15 percent property tax increase next year.

Jimino, not pleased with proposed changes county lawmakers made to her budget, persuaded the Republican majority to rescind some of them in a closed door session Wednesday. Susan Steele, spokeswoman for the County Legislature's Democratic minority, said its six members were not allowed into the meeting.

The Republican executive vetoed the budget for the fourth time in her tenure—but it was the first time county legislators agreed to let the veto stand. With the property tax increase in place, a resident whose property is assessed at $100,000 will pay about $583 in county property taxes in 2007, according to Jimino's spokesman, Chris Meyer. That's about $75 more than the same taxpayer forked over this year.

"The pressure we face as a county exerted on us by state and federal mandates leaves us very little ability to continue to provide mandated services and local services without raising taxes," Jimino said.

Well, mandates sure are a problem for counties, municipalities, and school districts in New York State. Our Bob Ward documented the problem in his 1999 book, The $163 Lightbulb, which estimated that sweeping mandate reform in New York State could save local taxpayers more than $5 billion a year. (Imagine what the figure would be now.)

But those mandates apply to all counties in New York State, and few or none of them has witness a budget circus like that in Rensselaer County. And few or none of them is prepared to saddle taxpayers with this kind of tax increase.

To its credit, however, the county's Republican leadership did apparently trim spending a bit. But they are also adding another tax increase to the mix.

Wednesday's changes trimmed $4 million from the budget. The 2007 budget will be $274 million.

Legislators and Jimino also agreed to reinstate the county sales tax on clothing and shoes, which is estimated to bring in about $1.4 million in revenue in 2007. Jimino led the charge to lift the sales tax this March to encourage shoppers to spend money in Rensselaer County.

Jimino unveiled a budget with a 26 percent tax increase in September. County legislators trimmed the increase to 9 percent and passed its version of the budget Monday.

As soon as Jimino announced her planned increase, residents ripped it. Taxes climbed in towns and cities across the county this year, they said at several hearings, and shouldering another increase would be difficult or even impossible.

This story – it's a real good one, rich with detail – includes some historical context on the current county executive's history of proposing tax increases.

Jimino has proposed tax increases every year since 2002, when she recommended a 35 percent increase. The only year she didn't propose an increase during her tenure was 2001, the year she first ran for the county executive seat. She was appointed to the county executive's seat in May 2001 after fellow Republican Henry Zwack resigned.

Designs on a better Syracuse; Team begins suggesting what area can do to improve quality of life, economy (Greg Munno/Syracuse Post-Standard)

The structure of government in New York—more than 50 entities have the power to tax in Onondaga County alone—stinks. But the 200-year-old system won't change anytime soon.

That was one conclusion reached by a team of experts that delivered its preliminary findings Wednesday.

The Sustainable Design Assessment Team, which embarked on a study of Onondaga County earlier this week, is to help the area develop a unified, sustainable development policy. Such a policy is not easily achieved in a county with 16 mayors, 19 town supervisors, 18 school superintendents and a splintered approach to planning and economic development.

But the design team—made up of four volunteer planning and architectural experts and two staffers from the American Institute of Architects—said the area had to try.

. . . .

The team recommended the establishment of a task force that includes the county executive, the mayor and heads of planning for both the city and county. They would meet regularly and develop a shared list of priorities. It also recommended a form of "de-consolidation," suggesting that the city planning department have its own zoning staff, a function that was turned over to the county in a 1968 consolidation.

The team also recommended a focus on improving the city, specifically the city center. The team found that the best way to discourage sprawl was not stricter zoning in the suburbs but a city more attractive to residents and businesses.

Now, that's a refreshing ideas: Encourage inner-city development with inner-city carrots as opposed to suburban sticks. Too many smart-growth advocates place too much emphasis on simply punishing (or discouraging) those who have chosen to leave (or are considering leaving) cities and their problems with crime and schools.

Norwich tax-rate hike cut to 5.8% (Jim Wright/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

City of Norwich property owners may pay more taxes in 2007 than they did this year, but the amount of the increase is considerably less than initially proposed.

Budget and Finance Director William J. Roberts said the tentative spending plan adopted by the Common Council Tuesday calls for general fund spending of $6.6 million, an actual spending decrease from the current year.

The proposed tax rate of $16.11 per $1,000 of assessed property value represents an increase of 89 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

"Based on a $55,000 average assessed value home in the city, the total amount of increase in the taxes for 2007 will be $48.95," Roberts said,

. . . .

The initial draft of the budget called for a 38 percent tax rate increase. It then was cut to 6.44 percent, and the final tentative adoption represents a 5.85 percent increase.

The budget contains no new positions, Roberts said. The mayor currently receives $16,250, and each of the six aldermen receives $4,000.

The city's total proposed spending for 2007 is set at $10,091,435. This includes the $1,105,740 water budget, an amount that represents a 3.74 percent increase; $834,242 in wastewater expenditures; $645,167 in special grant money; and $898,205 in debt service.

City budget mess needs some serious attention (editorial/Plattsburgh Press-Republican)

We know the City of Plattsburgh's financial situation is a mess, but after witnessing the recent budget hearings, it's worse than we imagined. Some of the hearings between the Common Council and department heads have been startling.

Some department heads can't answer questions about their own budgets, councilors are sometimes bereft of information and Chamberlain Cynthia Lasher-Graham is trying to play catchup after years away from the job.

The recent hearing on the Fire Department budget was a perfect example.

When it was noted that the department's overtime budget was going to far exceed budgeted projections this year, councilors were stunned to find out that no city department ever got a budget update this year until June.

. . . .

City department heads need to be held accountable for all expenditures to the penny every day. You would think that would normally be the case, and especially with the city facing its second straight 35-percent tax increase. But some lax practices have obviously created huge problems.

Herkimer Co. considers raising sales tax; Webb supervisor upset over possible revenue decrease (Bryon Ackerman/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Herkimer County legislators Wednesday said they will consider increasing the county's total sales tax rate from 4 percent to 4.25 percent as they reapply with the state in January.

Some of the extra revenue would be redistributed to the municipalities, and some would be kept by the county to help with costs for building a new county jail, Legislator Patrick Russell, R-Webb, said.

Legislators, mayors and supervisors discussed the current distribution formula generated by a 3 percent sales tax.

The county keeps revenue from the other percentage point to deal with Medicaid costs.

Right now, sales tax revenue goes to municipalities based on a 50-50 formula based on total assessment and population.

Mayor Issues Budget Vetoes (Steven M. Sweeney/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Mayor Sam Teresi is adding $500,000 back into the city budget by vetoing three line items from the budget approved by the City Council.

The vetoes reject the council's cuts of $50,000 in the contingency fund, $150,000 from the Hospital Insurance-Health Care Fund and use of $300,000 from the fund balance in an attempt to cut taxes in the city's 2007 budget.

"My approach is clear, simple and has been consistent. If we want to cut taxes, we have to cut services and spending. We cannot do it through gimmicks, one shots and borrowing," Teresi said. "Then I would refer you to the section under the fund balance. You can see my analogies."

Teresi's executive budget originally proposed a $29.951 million budget and a $13,317,000 million tax levy. The council cut the budget by $600,000, cutting the tax levy to $12,717,000. If Teresi's vetoes stand, the budget will total $29.825 million with a projected tax levy of about $13.1 million — a $900,000 increase in taxes taken in from the 2006 budget.

City Council members have until Friday, Dec. 15 to override Teresi's vetoes. The council needs seven votes to override the vetoes. If the vetoes aren't overridden, Teresi's changes will become the official budget for 2007. John Calamunci, I-Ward 4 and City council president, said he will schedule a special voting session this morning to deal with Teresi's vetoes.

Today's Hearing Is Not A Circus (editorial/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Today's hearing on the environmental effect expected from the proposed new power plant in Jamestown is supposed to be a chance for citizens to comment on a draft of the report.

Instead, an out-of-towner is encouraging people to turn it into a circus, telling them they can cheer and shout during the hearing.

It has been clear for some time that Walter Simpson of Buffalo has an agenda that simply does not include what is best for the residents of the greater Jamestown area and, because of the effect on the local economy, all of southern Chautauqua County.

Simpson has also become open about the fact that he intends to use whatever tactics he can to force his will on the people of Jamestown.

While everyone should have an opportunity in a civil and deliberative atmosphere today to express their opinions, for example, Simpson told a group this week the hearing "has the ability to be a community circus if you want it to be. You can cheer and shout."

He also had earlier revealed his "to heck with Jamestown" attitude when he said people who heat their homes with cheap electricity in the BPU service area should instead use more expensive natural gas so that the Jamestown utility is denied revenue.

. . . .

Debate on the power plant is vital, and most certainly all of the issues and opinions from all sides should be aired — which is why we have published opinion pieces from folks opposed to the plant, including from Mr. Simpson.

But we note that certain elements in the local opposition camp have used despicable tactics — smearing reputations of those who support the project, for example.

Their willingness to stoop so low does more to show they simply cannot state a good argument against the new power plant than it does to further their cause.

Bruno gave "pork'' to firm connected to businessman in probe (Mark Johnson/Associated Press)

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno directed $500,000 in state funding to a private company connected to a businessman being investigated for providing Bruno with free air travel, state records show.

The Empire State Development Corp. grant to Evident Technologies Inc., a private nanotechnology company based in Bruno's district, received the "pork-barrel" spending at Bruno's request. Initial funding for Evident came from an investment firm run by Jared Abbruzzese, according to a news report posted on the company's Web site.

Abbruzzese is currently under investigation by the state Lobbying Commission into whether he provided Bruno with an illegal gift when he flew him between New York City and Albany. The businessman was formerly part of Empire Racing Associates, one of several groups seeking the lucrative state franchise to operate thoroughbred racing in New York. Hugh Carey took over for Abbruzzese in October.

Bruno, an avid horseman, has a say in which group will run racing in the state.

There are other connections between Bruno and Evident. One of the company's board members is Wayne Barr Jr., also a founding member of Abbruzzese's TechOne Capital Group, according to Evident's Web site. Bruno appointed Barr to the New York Racing Association's board, which currently has the state racing franchise. Barr resigned in May.

Bruno spokesman Mark Hansen said the grant was meant to help spur job growth in Bruno's district and had no connection to Abbruzzese.

"The senator has supported economic development and job growth efforts throughout his district and the entire state and will continue to do so," he said.

There's more.

For-profit company gets aid; Firm with ties to Senate Majority Leader Bruno received unusual grants (Jim Odato/Albany Times Union)

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno provided a pair of highly unusual state grants to a for-profit company in his district whose directors and investors have links to the Brunswick Republican.

The company, Evident Technologies Inc., has received two $250,000 grants at Bruno's direction since the 2001 fiscal year. The $500,000 in grants from a pork barrel fund Bruno controls are remarkable because for-profit companies almost never receive these member items, as such earmarks are called.

The money was listed as "operating assistance" for Evident.

The small but growing nanotechnology company was one of just two for-profit businesses among thousands of member item recipients reviewed by the Times Union.

Bruno's spokesman, Mark Hansen, said Bruno does not have personal ties to Evident. He said the senator provided member item money to Evident because he is committed to promoting job creation. The money was directed through Empire State Development Corp., the state's economic development arm.

Bruno has ties to two Evident principals—Jared Abbruzzese and Wayne Barr—both of whom share the senator's keen interest in horse racing.

Abbruzzese is a Loudonville resident under investigation by the state lobbying commission for providing his aircraft to Bruno for several trips, including a fund-raiser and tour of horse farms in Kentucky last year that Barr set up for Bruno. He is described by one associate as a close friend of Bruno.

Abbruzzese's wife, Sherrie, was among the buyers of land sold by First Grafton Corp., a firm in which Bruno was a 25 percent owner. She bought 12 waterfront acres in 2004 for $90,000, according to Rensselaer County records.

Barr, Abbruzzese's business partner in various ventures, was an appointee of Bruno's on the New York Racing Association Board of Trustees until earlier this year.

Member Items Pork Projects Called ‘Tip of the Iceberg' (Jacob Gershman/New York Sun)

Of the $52 million the Assembly has doled out this year from its declassified Community Projects Fund, Assemblyman Paul Tonko can take credit for but a modest slice, $130,000, which he has fed in morsels to fire departments, school districts, a cemetery association, and other groups in his Schenectady district.

Mr. Tonko's gifts to his district didn't end there, however. In late September, the Capital District YMCA boasted that Mr. Tonko, a Democrat, had secured a $1 million grant to help pay for a new building. Although the grant was more than seven times the size of Mr. Tonko's share of the Community Projects Fund, even the most sharp-eyed fiscal analyst would be hard-pressed to spot it in the budget.

Buried among dozens of other capital projects totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, it's listed on page 226 of a mammoth "clean-up" budget bill that lawmakers passed before heading home in late June. Despite being the sponsor of the grant, Mr. Tonko isn't mentioned in the line item; neither is the recipient, the YMCA. The bill simply lists $2 million for "Schenectady Metroplex Redevelopment," referring to the agency that handled the grant.

"Since it's his project, folks know Paul asked for this," a spokesman for the assemblyman, Tom Lynch, said. "He went to Ways and Means staff and the speaker to let them know it was important to him."

The YMCA project is just one small example of pork barrel legislative spending that isn't laid out in the budget but appropriated in lump sums that are locked away by the two men who control the Legislature, the Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, and the Democratic Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver. They have steered a fraction of the money to their members for district grants and are sitting on untold millions, possibly more than $1 billion.

One pot of money, the $200 million Community Projects Fund, most of which is split between the Assembly and the Senate as "member items," has been the focus of much attention since a state judge ordered the two houses to release details on the sponsors and recipients of the tax-funded payouts.

Long hidden from view, the member items, which pay for equipment, grants, contracts, and services for a host of advocacy groups, clubs, universities, and other civic organizations, symbolized a lack of accountability and transparency in the annual budget process.

Their disclosure last week has offered insight into the clubby world of the Legislature and confirmed the dominance of Mr. Silver, who granted himself more money from the Assembly's share than the combined amount doled out by the next eight biggest Assembly givers.

The released member item lists also showed how some Democratic allies of Mr. Silver, such as Deborah Glick, Ron Canestrari, and Peter Rivera, have seen their loyalty rewarded with meatier slices of the member item pie. (The Republican-led Senate has yet to release all of the data on its $85 million share of spending projects this year.)

There's much more.

Spitzer taps Francis to be budget director (Mike Gormley/Associated Press)

Former PriceLine.com CFO Paul Francis, who crafted Eliot Spitzer's detailed policy positions, will be named the Democratic governor-elect's budget director on Thursday, a person close to Spitzer said.

Francis held a top _ if secluded post _ in Spitzer's campaign, but would take a public role as budget director for the Democrat. The director crafts the governor's executive budget, due Feb. 1, which is the basis of the budget eventually adopted by the Legislature.

. . . .

Crain's New York first reported the appointment Wednesday afternoon.

Spitzer has called for $6 billion in aid to cut local property taxes as well as $11 billion in spending cuts, policies Francis helped craft and detail throughout the campaign.

Francis, of Westchester County, is currently the policy director for Spitzer's transition team.

A Spitzer Adviser Is Set to Become Budget Director (Michael Cooper/New York Times)

The budget director's post will be one of the most crucial in the new administration: state budgets are not just ledgers, but policy documents that lay out the state's plans for everything from education to health care to transportation.

As budget director, Mr. Francis will find himself charged with translating the campaign's promises and proposals into workable programs, making sure the numbers add up after the Legislature negotiates changes, and trying to keep on top of an accurate forecast as to how much money will be available for the state to spend each year.

Mr. Francis will have to hit the ground running: Mr. Spitzer's first budget proposal is due on Feb. 1, and during the last two years lawmakers have actually passed budgets by the April 1 deadline, after 20 consecutive years of late budgets.

Although Mr. Francis has been immersing himself in the arcana of the state's government and tax policy for nearly two years now, his background is in business. Before joining the Spitzer campaign, he was the managing partner of the Cedar Street Group, a venture capital firm he founded in 2001.

A report of another key appointment:

Head of United Way of LI likely will be tapped to lead the Empire State Development Corp. (Errol Cockfield/Newsday)

Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer is close to naming Patrick Foye, president and chief executive of United Way of Long Island, as chairman of the state's powerful development agency, the Empire State Development Corp., sources close to Spitzer said yesterday.

The governor-elect, during a news conference in the state capital today, also is expected to name Paul Francis, a campaign policy adviser, as budget director. Francis is a former chief financial officer for Ann Taylor Stores and Priceline, and a former investment banker at Merrill Lynch.

More politics:

Pataki Said to Consider Post for a Defeated Senator (Danny Hakim/New York Times)

Gov. George E. Pataki is considering nominating State Senator Nicholas A. Spano, a Republican, to the Public Service Commission over the objections of Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, people with knowledge of the process say.

Mr. Spitzer and his staff have become increasingly concerned as Mr. Pataki has put forward more than 400 appointments to the boards of state and local authorities, councils, commissions and similar entities, moves that will leave Republicans and allies of Mr. Pataki running critical state functions for years.

While governors often name large numbers of appointees in their waning days in office, for the first time in decades a departing New York governor is in the same party as the majority party in the State Senate, which approves appointments. That gives Mr. Pataki far more leeway than his predecessor, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, possessed. The Legislature is returning for a special session next Wednesday to address a number of issues, including appointments, though they have already approved many of Mr. Pataki's choices.

The appointment of Mr. Spano, who lost his seat in the election last month, would leave the public service commission, a critical body that oversees utilities, squarely in the hands of Republicans. Mr. Pataki is also considering an appointment of some kind for State Senator Raymond A. Meier, a Utica Republican who is leaving the State Senate after an unsuccessful Congressional bid.

Democrats’ Challenge: Keeping the Egos in Harmony (Patrick Healy/New York Times)

Everyone gets along splendidly in public, and the private rivalries — Chuck vs. Hillary, Chuck vs. Eliot, Eliot vs. Andrew — have evolved and in some cases softened with time. But with all of them ascending to new heights — two as leaders in Albany, the other three as movers and shakers in Congress, including one as a possible presidential candidate — those relationships will be tested.

This constellation of New York power coalesced in one place on Wednesday: Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer came to Washington as the humble outsider seeking aid from Senator Charles E. Schumer, the new Democratic kingmaker. No slouch himself, Representative Charles B. Rangel, the dean of the state Congressional delegation, arranged last-minute face time between Mr. Spitzer and the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. And members of the New York delegation jockeyed for bragging rights about who had heard personally from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton about her 2008 plans.

A back-slapping 8 a.m. meeting of Mr. Spitzer, Mr. Schumer and other members of the Democratic delegation reflected, in bits and pieces, this complicated coexistence.

Mr. Schumer and Mr. Spitzer have a younger brother-older brother sort of rivalry. Mr. Spitzer sometimes remarks that he was still in high school when Mr. Schumer was an assemblyman. (Zing!) Mr. Schumer arrived at the meeting and instantly teased Mr. Rangel for not serving a lavish breakfast. Then he needled Mr. Spitzer, saying that power is nothing without a fancy spread of food.

"I should've asked you — where are the bacon and eggs?" Mr. Schumer bellowed at Mr. Spitzer, who cracked up.

Mr. Spitzer, whose ego Mr. Rangel used to deflate by mockingly calling him "the world's smartest man," said that he is well aware of the egos at play, including his own. But he said common goals were overriding factors. "I've said to Chuck, 'I'd like to do nothing more than heap glory on you as you bring things back to New York,' " Mr. Spitzer said. "It's O.K. if I don't hold the press conferences."

In spite of the Democratic gains on Election Day, the challenges are just beginning for these politicians.

Mr. Spitzer faces a billion-dollar budget deficit and hopes to "organize the delegation," he said, to get more funds from Washington for Medicaid and transportation projects like the Second Avenue subway, among other priorities. Mr. Schumer and Mr. Rangel want to convert their political capital into major power brokering and build legacies. And Mrs. Clinton is eyeing the biggest prize of all.

Gov.-Elect Spitzer backs two to lead state Democratic Party (Associated Press)

June O'Neill, a two-time St. Lawrence County Democratic Party chairwoman, and Manhattan banker David Pollak have been picked by Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer to lead the state Democratic Party, a spokeswoman for Spitzer said Wednesday.

O'Neill, 60, has worked for former Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Comptroller H. Carl McCall and Comptroller Alan Hevesi. She will assume the title of chairwoman, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said.

Pollak, 42, will be the party's co-chairman, a new position created to give leadership roles to officials from both upstate and downstate New York, Anderson said.

Eliot swears he'll take it outside (Ken Lovett/New York Post)

Gov.-elect Spitzer is planning to brave the Albany cold for an outdoor New Year's Day inauguration in front of the historic Capitol building, The Post has learned.

Weather permitting, the public event—Spitzer will be sworn in privately at midnight—is scheduled to take place in a park between the Capitol and the neighboring Alfred E. Smith state office building.

Cure N.Y. hospitals' sickening greed (Bill Hammond column/Daily News)

The good news is that the two most powerful health-care lobbyists in the state—Kenneth Raske, who heads the Greater New York Hospital Association, and labor leader Dennis Rivera of Local 1199—aren't fighting the hospital closures and consolidations recommended by the independent Berger Commission.

These two men have so much clout in Albany that they probably could have convinced the Legislature to veto the report. Instead, they're accepting its reforms in the long-term best interests of the industry they represent, which has grown way too fat for its own health. Good for them.

The bad news is that Raske and Rivera's insatiable hunger for government money hasn't diminished one bit. Even as they acknowledged yesterday that closing unneeded hospitals and nursing homes would strengthen the ones that stay open, they immediately claimed dibs on every tax dollar that isn't nailed down—all to ease the "pain" and "volatility" of the crash diet.

Playing the role of victim to the hilt, they demand immunity from any Medicaid cuts, a $1 billion "contribution" from insurance company profits (translation: HMO tax) and a multibillion-dollar increase in aid from Washington. Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute.

Hospitals and nursing homes have been butting to the front of the budget line far too long. They've claimed the lion's share of Medicaid money even as medical advances reduced the need for patients to be institutionalized. That's why we have half again as many hospital beds as we need. And it's one reason why New York spends more on Medicaid than Texas and Florida combined, yet just dropped from 26th to 29th in a national report card of health indicators.

Now that state officials are finally chipping away at the waste, it makes no sense to pump the modest savings back into a still-bloated system. That money should go to other priorities that have been taking a backseat.

. . . .

Don't shed a tear for the hospitals and nursing homes. They're already promised plenty of help for their shrinking pains, including $700 million a year in revenue diverted from competitors going out of business and $2.5 billion in aid to pay off debts and retrain displaced workers.

Momentum builds for hospital closure plan; 2 key opponents drop out of fight (Jay Gallagher/Gannett News Service)

With two of the major potential opponents of planned hospital closings and mergers deciding to sit out the fight, other foes acknowledged Wednesday the chances of preventing the health-care downsizing are slim.

The Assembly and Senate are due back at the Capitol Wednesday to consider whether to block implementation of a state report that recommends closing nine hospitals and merging or reconfiguring 47 more. Overall, about 4,200 hospital beds would close, along with 3,100 nursing-home beds. The plan would save about $800 million a year.

Unlike most actions that lawmakers consider, they have to act to reject the report if they don't want it to go into effect, rather than voting for it to become law. And they can't make changes to it.

Wednesday, the largest hospital-workers' union, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, and the Greater New York Hospital Association announced they're staying on the sidelines in the fight.

"It's obviously disquieting," said Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, D-Cheektowaga, Erie County, a leader of the forces trying to block the cuts. Now, he said, "it will be difficult to convince my downstate colleagues" to oppose the cuts.

There's more, including quotes from a couple of unions that aren't ready to give up their grasp on taxpayer dollars that go to unionized hospitals.

And: Jeff Aaron of the Elmira Star-Gazette adds some regional information to Gallagher's story here.

Medicaid budget cuts a concern SEIU: We won't oppose hospital downsizing; Union says state's financially ailing health-care industry needs to be restructured. (Jim Mulder/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Hospital merger jeopardizes the public mission (op-ed by a union leader/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Accord a boost to closings report; SEIU, hospital group won't fight it, but warn they won't support additional cuts to health care system (Liz Benjamin/Albany Times Union)

Merger poses clash of values; Abortion issue splits Catholic St. Clare's, secular Ellis (Cathleen Crowley/Albany Times Union)

This story argues that two hospitals in Schenectady will face great challenges merging, and quotes a doctor saying the merger won't work– but neglects to even mention that the two institutions have announced that they plan to accept the Berger Commission's recommendation and merge. That seems to be a curious and unjustified omission. Perhaps the paper doesn't approve of the idea of merging.

Westfield Seeks Letter-Writing Campaign (Julie Spears/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Westfield Trying To Fight Cuts To Hospital On Downsizing (Patrick Fanelli/Jamestown Post-Journal)

Fair-trade practice gathers support from unions; State Labor Religion Coalition is spreading concept that ensures workers will earn living wage (Alan Wechsler/Albany Times Union)

Visitors to the New York State United Teachers building in Latham earlier this week were greeted in the lobby by what may have looked like a snack bar.

But the table of chocolate, coffee and tea in fact represented something less tangible than dessert. The woman behind it--Maureen Casey of the New York State Labor Religion Coalition--was selling an idea.

The coalition, created 26 years ago, is promoting the concept of fair trade--a business philosophy that ensures Third World workers earn a living wage for the products they make for Western consumption. And the group hopes to bring this message to classrooms around the state.

Its connection with one of New York's most powerful unions may help in that regard. Hence the table earlier at the NYSUT building, which grossed $1,350 in donations (it was a fundraiser) over two days. The coalition is hoping to get the word out, one candy bar at a time.

"Fair trade says there are other priorities than profit," said Casey, program coordinator at the coalition. "There's human dignity."

Casey will join nine other coalition members and volunteers on a daylong trip today Equal Exchange, a supplier of fair-trade products based outside Boston.

The trip was organized so coalition members could learn more about the company that makes the products the coalition sells. NYSUT has attached a link on its Web site encouraging teachers to buy from Equal Exchange.

L-3's Link unit receives $32M Navy contract (Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

L-3 Communications announced Thursday that its Link Simulation and Training division has been awarded a $32 million contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center in Orlando, Fla., and The Boeing Co. to build a flight training system that helps aircrews hone their skills.

Link will provide four F/A-18E/F Tactical Operational Flight Trainers, instructor operator stations, brief and debrief systems, training and on-site technical services.

Purchase has Rochester Precision eyeing growth (David Tyler/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

In a growth move by a company in one of the region's promising industries, Rochester Precision Optics has acquired a Gates machine shop, Tricon Machine LLC.

Tricon's four employees and the company's equipment will move to Rochester Precision's location at 850 John St. in Henrietta.

That will bring Rochester Precision's employment to about 60, said company owner Bill Hurley. He has said the company could employ 75 by next year.

Olympic team to use Kodak technology; Company will provide $1.1 million in digital X-ray equipment, training (Ben Rand/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Eastman Kodak Co. is putting new state-of-art digital X-ray equipment into the hands of doctors at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The company said Thursday it was providing the equipment, installation, training and services worth an estimated $1.1 million to the team's sports medicine clinic.

The new equipment will allow doctors to capture X-rays directly in a form that can be read on a computer, without film. The system replaces a 15-year-old traditional film X-ray machine used by the U.S. Olympic Committee's sports medicine division. Doctors would use the machine to assess injuries and prescribe treatments.

Kodak is a top sponsor of the worldwide Olympic movement through the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The company has not yet announced whether it will continue the sponsorship. The equipment is being provided in connection with the sponsorship.

Navy signs $9M contract with Lockheed (Charley Hannagan/Syracuse Post-Standard)

The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin's Undersea and Security Systems business unit a contract to make the next generation of towed array sensors for submarines.

If all goes well, the contract could bring jobs to the Salina campus.

The Navy awarded an initial $9 million contract for five TB-34 Next Generation Towed Array acoustic sensors. The contract's potential value can grow to $47 million if the Navy exercises production options for74 TB-34s and 52 array interface hardware units.

. . . .

The company has enough workers on its Salina campus to build the initial contract, said Rumana Ali, speaking for Lockheed Martin. It might hire workers if the Navy opts for more units, she said.

Lockheed employs 2,350 on its Salina campus. Most of the workers are in the company's MS2 division, which designs and makes radar systems. About 160 people work in the Undersea and Security Systems business unit, Ali said.

Empire Zone status means Pyramid could recover the $1M payments; Mayor: "We're committed to seeing this happen." New deadline is March 15. (Rick Moriarty/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Holiday shoppers at the Carousel Center won't get to see steel turned into jobs this month.

The long-delayed start of the mall's expansion has been put off . . . again.

Under a 30-year property tax exemption with the city and Onondaga County, developer Robert Congel was obligated to start construction on the first phase of the expansion by the end of the year. The deadline also applied to his request for the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency to issue about $220 million in bonds to help finance the expansion.

But Thursday, the agency said Congel's Pyramid Co. of Onondaga is entitled to an extension, to March 15.

The delay will cost the developer money, though. Starting Jan. 1, he'll have to pay $1 million a month in property taxes until the bonds are sold.

"This extension is not a matter of grace, this is a matter of right," Mayor Matt Driscoll said. "We have come this far in seeing this project through to fruition and we are committed to seeing that happen.

"In addition, this extension provides additional tax revenues to the taxpayers of the city and county."

Bid to force tax collection on tribal sales fails; Judge says convenience store group can't press case to force gasoline, tobacco payments (Mark Johnson/Associated Press)

A suit filed by convenience store operators trying to compel Gov. George Pataki to enforce tax collections on tobacco products and gasoline sold to Indian businesses was thrown out by a state judge last month.

The New York Association of Convenience Stores and two convenience store chains contended Pataki's failure to collect taxes on the goods before they reach Indian reservations costs taxpayers $450 million a year and businesses $1 billion a year.

But Ulster County Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanaugh said in a Nov. 17 decision that the law was intended only to generate state revenue, not to even the business playing field for convenience stores located near the reservations. He ruled the association did not have standing to bring a suit.

NYACS President James Calvin said his group hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision.

However, "NYACS will never abandon our quest for tax fairness for licensed convenience stores," he said.

Casino still in Spitzer's court; Governor-elect huddles with Cuomo after Supreme Court refuses to hear Oneidas' appeal (Jim Odato/Albany Times Union)

On Day One of the Spitzer administration, the new governor expects he'll still be grappling with whether the Oneida Indian Nation is operating a legal casino in Verona.

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who will become governor Jan. 1, met Thursday with Attorney General-elect Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol, and neither could say what to do now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the Oneidas' appeal of state court rulings that the tribe has no valid gaming compact.

"Negotiations have been handled historically with the tribes by the governor's office," Spitzer said. "Obviously January 1st it will be squarely in my lap."

Cuomo remained mum on the issue.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the land on which Turning Stone Casino sits is taxable, non-sovereign territory and the gaming compact lacks the necessary legislative approval. Spitzer, however, declined to call the casino illegal.

"I'm of the opinion that casino has a rather tortured legal status," he said.

But, he said, the "legal context" of the casino changes "the nature of the negotiation" between the state and the tribe in attempts to settle a land claim by the Oneida.

Spitzer has been concerned about the Oneida and other tribes not collecting or charging taxes on cigarettes and motor fuel. He said those problems and land claims and casino matters form "a tangled knot."

Once again, we've found a letter to the editor saying socialized medicine is the answer to all the health problems in the U.S. This letter is from the Buffalo News, which surprises us. You'd think the readers of that paper would have ample evidence of the failings of socialized medicine since the paper has several reports of Canadian citizens traveling to Buffalo to get care for fairly routine things, like the birth of twins.

This writer remains unconvinced:

Canada and the United Kingdom have national health systems, and Germany and Japan have a combination of workplace and government insurance. Even though those countries have flaws in their health care systems, the statistics tell a compelling success story. Moreover, having lived for several years in England, I've seen the difference it makes in people's lives not to have the perpetual fear that they will wind up penniless as a result of a health crisis.

This expert disagrees.

Providing poor value for money is a key characteristic of the Canadian Medicare program. While Canadians are paying for one of the most expensive universal access health care programs in the developed world, they receive relatively poor access to physicians and technology and endure some of the longest waiting times for treatment in the developed world.

And if the UK's system is so great, then why are people like Tony Blair talking about privatization of the system?

We are reminded of a line we heard on the Simpsons: Socialized health care may work in theory, but then, so did communism.

The Comptroller's Glass House (editorial/New York Times)

For over three years Mr. Hevesi was unlawfully allowing the state to pay in full for a car and driver for his ailing wife. He has apologized, repeatedly, and is now in the process of paying back the state for the misuse of taxpayer money. Despite all this, he was re-elected, and his supporters say he should thus be allowed to serve another term.

But an election cannot overcome the possibility that Mr. Hevesi violated state law, as charged by the State Ethics Commission. Moreover, as each new release of the details about Mrs. Hevesi's chauffeur and car has become available, it has become clear that Mr. Hevesi's behavior was at odds with the way a comptroller, or any other state official, should do business.

. . . .

Those investigations will take time and drain resources, while it is already clear that Mr. Hevesi's record in this matter is not up to the standards of his job. His own words should remind him of what is at stake. When a former Oswego mayor was questioned about $3,500 in spending on dining and travel, Mr. Hevesi said, "We take a zero-tolerance approach to local officials who abuse their position and use public money for their own benefit."

That is exactly why Mr. Hevesi should resign instead of expecting to be sworn in for a new term. The Legislature and Mr. Spitzer, the incoming governor, should pick a replacement -- not a political crony but a person who can criticize others from a position of strength and rectitude.

Hevesi Is Said to Want to Fight for His Job (Michael Cooper/New York Times)

Erie County's budget does some good, but doesn't deliver promised cuts (Editorial/Buffalo News)

The budget approved by the County Legislature adds 10 new jobs to the dozens already proposed by County Executive Joel A. Giambra. It cuts only 16 jobs, all of them currently unfilled and accounting for less than 10 percent of some 200-300 unfilled positions.

With a year having passed since the last county elections, Giambra and county lawmakers had plenty of time to scrutinize the budget and come up with a detailed plan that seriously addresses taxpayers' interest in delivering the most efficient government possible. They didn't.

The Legislature's budget, it should be said, is an improvement over previous years' budgets. It rules out fee increases and keeps the property tax rate stable (though the levy would rise because of changing assessments). The budget now goes to the control board and to Giambra, who could veto the changes legislators made.

Yet, as the head of the county control board asked, why is the county adding jobs now given Giambra's pledge to cut 15 percent of personnel costs down the road? Giambra has only one more year in office, assuming he is serious about not running again. If the pledge were serious, surely he would have to start cutting now.

Worker skills a worry; Chamber of Commerce study suggests deficiencies in math and science education (Charley Hannagan/Syracuse Post-Standard)

About half of local businesses say they'll have to look elsewhere for workers if Central New York doesn't increase its homegrown math and science talent, a survey by the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce found.

That's just one of the statistics chamber President Darlene Kerr used to hammer home the need for workers with greater math and science skills to business, education and community leaders at Thursday's community conversation on the work force.

About 180 people attended the forum on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics sponsored by the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

The online survey last week found employers think there is a need for workers who are better educated in math and science.

"This is very serious, given the fact that our whole future depends on technology," Kerr said.

. . . .

The Chamber's survey measured what companies have been telling work force developers: They need workers with better math and science skills.

Most of the companies, 82 percent, said they require at least a two-year college degree; 64 percent said the use of technology is expanding at work.

Most local businesses, 68 percent, said they were concerned or extremely concerned about the effectiveness of the science, math and technology education in the K-12 system.

Ninety-six percent of those surveyed said middle and high schools do not provide all the technical and math skills required in the workplace.

Sixty-three percent said workers from Central New York have a skills gap; 72 percent said they fill that gap with training in house or by paying for employees to attend college courses.

Related thoughts: Earlier this week, we took note of a new effort to help ease this problem in the long term: a new Web page with information on workshops, camps, games, and internships throughout the state on activities designed to nurture young New Yorkers' interests in studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. See the full story here.

Can Kingston keep both its hospitals open? (editorial/Middletown Times Herald-Record)

A merger of Kingston and Benedictine hospitals has been talked about for several years, with both facilities feeling the financial pinch of competing for patients in a limited market. Too many beds and not enough patients to go around make it difficult for hospitals to maintain and improve the level of care they provide.

When they're in the same city, it makes sense to talk about merging. Such talks in Kingston have gotten to serious stages from time to time, only to ultimately fail over the same reason -- a serious difference of opinion over women's reproductive services. Kingston, a nonsectarian not-for-profit hospital, offers the full range of reproductive services guaranteed under law, including abortions. Benedictine, which operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church, does not.

Despite that major stumbling block and previous failures to overcome it, both hospitals have continued to search for a way to combine their operations. Last week, they got a major incentive to get serious again. A state commission created last year to review all health-care facilities in the state and recommend steps to eliminate situations like Kingston's -- too many empty beds to keep two hospitals in the black and allow them to maintain a high level of care. The commission has recommended the merger of Kingston and Benedictine hospitals.

But this is not a recommendation that can be ignored just because the parties involved find some of its effects unacceptable. This one has teeth. If the hospitals cannot agree on a merger plan by Dec. 31, 2007, the law gives the state health commissioner the power to decide which facility closes and how the services will be combined.

Reproductive care a worry under state hospital plan (Cara Matthews/Gannett News Service)

Is This Hospital Really Needed? Perhaps Not, but It Is Loved (Lisa Foderaro/New York Times)

St. Joe's sues state over report; Elmira hospital challenges fairness of closed-door sessions (Jennifer Kingsley/Elmira Star-Gazette)

On a related issue:

Medicaid miscreants; New governor must maintain progress against abusers (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer should put continuing the antifraud work of state and county officials high on his growing list of priorities.

Find and throw the book at Medicaid abusers.

Next election should be about the region's future (op-ed/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Given the 60-year lag in Upstate's economy and population, we must think seriously about whether there is a way to restructure our governments to reduce some of the inherent disadvantages that are smothering its economy and driving young people to other regions.

The crazy quilt structure in Onondaga County where 19 towns, 15 villages, one city, one county and 18 school districts spend over $2 billion each year for a population of just 470,000 people not only results in high taxes, but it imposes excessively slow, cumbersome and combative layers of local government for every activity, from schools to law enforcement to economic development.

Witness the spectacle of local governments fighting each other over airport revenues and a share of Onondaga Lake cleanup funds, and the wildly inconsistent way our city and towns assess their properties for taxes.

. . . .

. . . Look at the experience of large consolidated governments in the United States in the lower Midwest and upper South, such as Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va.; Lexington, Ky.--communities which debated and approved government restructuring; communities where jobs and educational performance far surpass our region.

There's much more.

Hyde Park school board stresses upgrades won't affect taxes; Borrowing needed to fund district renovations (John Davis/Poughkeepsie Journal)

The school district is taking nothing for granted in asking voters Tuesday to approve $3.26 million in building upgrades, even though the state is slated to fully reimburse it.

"I don't consider it a slam dunk," Hyde Park school district Superintendent Carole Pickering said.

District administrators and school board members have been trying to make it clear that, unlike the annual spring budget votes, approving the proposition will have no effect on property taxes.

There's much more.

It's difficult to trust Hyde Park school panel (letter/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

This past spring, the Hyde Park school board assured the community it would not raise the superintendent's salary. The school board also assured the community the tax levy would be "only" 8.76 percent.

Based on these assurances, the community barely passed the budget on the second ballot. The school board then increased the superintendent's annual salary by $20,000, to $160,000. The board followed this slap in the face with a hard right by raising the tax levy to 11.34 percent.

It is hardly surprising the community is skeptical about the assurance from the board that Hyde Park is in line for $3.2 million of "free money" from the state. We are constantly admonished about con men offering anything for free. The Hyde Park school board has embraced the big lie in to promote its EXCEL proposal.

The truth is the upcoming vote is to borrow money over and above the EXCEL grant from the state. And there will be interest owed on the borrowed money which must be raised from a tax levy.

Budget OK'd with 15 percent hike; Rensselaer County Republicans trim increase as Democrats protest the process (Kate Perry/Albany Times Union)

The [Rensselaer] County Legislature adopted a 2007 budget Thursday that carries a 15 percent property tax increase--a lower hike than originally proposed, though Democrats said the budget process was so flawed they couldn't support the plan.

The $274 million budget's increase is down from the 26 percent hike County Executive Kathleen Jimino proposed in September. That didn't keep all six of the Democratic minority members from voting against the budget Thursday night.

Last month, legislators cut back Jimino's original budget and adopted their own version with a 9 percent increase on Monday, but Jimino vetoed portions of it.

At a closed-door meeting Wednesday she persuaded the Republican majority to rescind some of the changes it made to her original budget. The end result was the 15 percent tax increase and a budget trimmed back $4 million from Jimino's original.

But the County Legislature's Democratic minority members--none of whom were at the meeting--said the legislature had no authority to change the already adopted budget as they did Thursday night.

There's more.

Budget compromise produces mixed bag (editorial/Troy Record)

For Rensselaer County taxpayers, the 11th-hour budget conference Wednesday night produced some good news, some bad news and some no news.

GOOD NEWS: Your property taxes for 2007 are NOT increasing by 26 percent.

BAD NEWS: Taxes are going up by 15 percent.

NO NEWS: Most of the county legislators are keeping the $5,000 pay raises they voted themselves in the dark-of-night Give back the money.

. . . .

The 15 percent tax increase is greater than the politically pleasing 9 percent hike the Legislature countered Jimino's 26 percent with. But that budget was unsound, relying on hopeful revenue projections that were either undocumented or simply unavailable.

One casualty of the compromise is the necessary decision to rescind the county's initiative to waive the sales tax on clothing and footwear. It was promoted as a way of not only giving comsumer/taxpaypers a break at the register, but also generating increased retail activity in the county. There may still be periodic tax-free holidays.

The recovery of $1.4 million in clothing sales approximately equals the uncertain increase in overall sales tax the Republicans initially included in their budget version.

Gone also from the final budget is the $3 million the legislators wistfully thought they could reap from a tobacco surcharge. Trouble was, the county would need state permission for such a new tax and there was no certainty about what it would cost in a new bureaucracy to manage the new unit.

We are assured that only a handful of the 1,200 county jobs will be eliminated under the adopted budget, and that most of those will be through attrition or retirement.

It would be a shame if even one highway department laborer or one rookie jail guard or one social worker were laid off under this more austere budget. It wouldn't have to happen if the legislators gave back the $110,000 in total pay raises they voted themselves last year AFTER they stood for election.

A budget plan that increases spending by more than five times inflation is "austere?" We doubt it.

Most mum on $1B budget; Four attend hearing on Monroe proposal, due for Tuesday vote (Greg Livadas/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

The only public hearing scheduled for next year's $1.02 billion budget for Monroe County brought four people with comments.

The budget, proposed Nov. 14 by County Executive Maggie Brooks, called for no increase in the property tax rate, but some "one-shot" deals to help close an expected $45 million gap next year. The amount to be raised by taxes would be just over $321 million.

The county could sell tax liens, power generated from landfill gas at the Mill Seat Landfill in Riga and space in a fiber optics network it would rent from the Water Authority. Those 10- to 20-year agreements could net $35 million for the county.

At the legislature's Ways and Means Committee meeting Thursday, county Budget Director William C. Carpenter outlined that nearly 80 percent of the budget is spent on mandated programs.

Mechanicville taxes rise in 2007 plan; Preliminary budget also would boost water rates; state aid could ease pain (Dennis Yusko/Albany Times Union)

City residents face up to an 18 percent general fund tax rate increase and a 15 percent water tax hike under a preliminary 2007 budget proposed this week.

Also, residents who own multiple housing units will be asked to pay more in sewer taxes.

"I'm very concerned for our taxpayers," said Commissioner of Finance Donna Tuttle, who outlined the budget to the council Wednesday.

The preliminary budget proposal consists of a $4.5 million preliminary general fund, a $1 million water fund and a $665,000 sewer fund, Deputy Commissioner of Finance James DeVito said.

Each still could change if additional revenue is found or cuts are made at two yet-to-be-scheduled workshops before Dec. 27, when the council must adopt the spending plan after a public hearing is held, Tuttle said.

Under the current budget proposal, the city's general fund tax rate would increase to $13.27 per $1,000 of assessed value from $11.23, DeVito said. The rate hike is blamed on increases in health and retirement costs and on $440,740 in proposed new expenses.

Duprey leaves county in good fiscal standing (editorial/Plattsburgh Press-Republican)

When Clinton County Treasurer Janet Duprey leaves office at the end of this year to become the area's new State Assembly representative, she will do so knowing she left the county in good fiscal shape.

Duprey, a Republican who has served as the treasurer since 1986, was elected to the Assembly last month.

. . . .

It was Duprey who was instrumental in seeing that Finance Committee (back then it was known as Ways and Means) meetings were held on a regular basis and that legislators were kept informed and up to date on all of the county's finances.

. . . .

Another sound move was to choose to take money from the famous tobacco settlement in annual payments. By taking the funding incrementally each year, the county will realize far more than it would have if it had taken the money in a lump sum. It also allowed every county road to be repaved without putting an undue burden on taxpayers. Duprey strongly warned legislators not to ever use tobacco-settlement funding for general-fund purposes.

As she leaves office, the county's fund balance sits at around 8 to 10 percent of the total budget. Independent auditors recommend a fund balance as high as 15 percent, but Duprey has maintained that that figure may be too high for a county the size of Clinton.

She balanced the need for a useful fund balance with the charge of not taxing citizens unnecessarily just to put more money away. On that, she has been right on the mark.

Evidence that tax increases aren't always as modest as elected officials promise:

Reassessment = tax increase (Letter/Buffalo News)

It was so nice to hear that tax levels are not going to rise in Buffalo. But then I opened my mail to find that my property taxes on my former home, which I have not been able to sell for what I still owe on it, are going up. My reassessment rose 61 percent in one year. One year!

More evidence that tax increases aren't always as modest as elected officials promise:

Past mistakes result in future tax increases (letter/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Town of East Fishkill property taxes will increase in 2007 and likely for several years into the future.

On Nov. 9, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported a 4.23 percent projected increase for the East Fishkill's 2007 tax rate. However, the numbers reported in the Journal did not give a true picture of the actual tax increase.

The town conducted a budget hearing Nov. 9, and it was revealed the town's portion of our 2007 tax bills will increase around 12 percent. The major reason is the irresponsible use of the reserve fund by the previous supervisor and town board members.

Ulster budget results in 25 layoffs; Legislature OKs 7.52% tax rise (Alice Hunt/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Next year will bring Ulster County residents a 7.52 percent tax increase and 25 fewer county employees.

The Legislature passed the final 2007 budget 20-11 Wednesday night after a long debate over the 25 layoffs.

[Dutchess] County budget OK'd in party line vote; Democrats oppose; tax levy to rise 15% (David Paulsen/Poughkeepsie Journal)

It was a long night in the sixth-floor legislative chambers at 22 Market St. in Poughkeepsie, but by 1:55 a.m. Thursday, Dutchess County had a budget for 2007.

The marathon session of the Dutchess Legislature followed a month of debate between Republicans and Democrats that both sides described as productive and cordial.

At issue was the $387.5 million spending plan proposed by County Executive William Steinhaus. In the end, the Republican majority voted to accept much of what Steinhaus proposed, including a 15 percent increase in the county's property tax levy.

Steinhaus has about a week to veto changes to his proposal, and the Legislature is scheduled to meet again Dec. 18 to consider overriding any vetoes.

"This has been a productive process, and open, and I'm very grateful for that," Legislator Marc Molinaro, R-Tivoli, said before the vote.

All 13 Republican legislators voted for the budget, and the 12 Democrats voted against it.

Town tax will hit Pawling village homeowners hard (Michael Woyton/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Spitzer proposals offer reform hope; Our view: Governor-elect leading by example on ethics changes (editorial/Glens Falls Post-Star)

. . .whenever someone suggests that another group of politicians make improvements, the critiqued party digs in its heels and does whatever it was going to do anyway. And nothing improves.

So when Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer came out with a list of ethics reforms late last week, he may have stumbled upon a new and unusual approach that could result in actual change in Albany.

It's called "leading by example."

During his campaign, Mr. Spitzer pledged to limit the influence on government of unions, limited-liability companies, political action committees and other organizations. So what does he propose? A $10,000 cap on campaign contributions--but only for himself and Lt. Gov.-elect David Paterson. No mention of the Legislature.

Spitzer also said he wasn't satisfied with the degree in which lobbyists try to buy influence by showering government officials with fancy dinners and expensive gifts. So he and the lieutenant governor and all policymaking administration employees under executive control will no longer be able to take gifts any more expensive than a cup of coffee. Again, no mention of the Legislature.

Lawmakers annually blame the late budget on the governor's office not fully disclosing budget figures. (Revenue projections are a particularly sticky point.)

So Spitzer vowed that his office will share more data. And if he and the Legislature can't agree on revenue figures, his office will voluntarily defer to the independently elected state comptroller.

The governor thinks there are too many fundraisers going in Albany that allow influence peddlers special access to top officials. So he and Paterson won't hold any fundraisers in Albany during the legislative session.

Legislative leaders aren't so clueless as not to see the basic pop psychology being imparted on them, and Spitzer knows they know it.

But the new governor would have been foolish to use the bullying tactics he's famous for by trying to shove reforms down the Legislature's throat.

So he's letting human nature take care of itself, counting on the fact that the only thing a politician likes less than being bullied is letting an adversary gain the political high ground.

It's going to be very difficult for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno to resist coming out with their own set of reforms to one-up the new chief executive--or very difficult to explain to voters why they didn't.

. . . .

. . . someone needed to start somewhere, and this is a good beginning. By introducing a set of modest, tangible, achievable ethics reform proposals in a very public fashion and applying them to himself first, the new governor is doing what any parent or teacher or coach does every single day--showing others by example how it can be done.

Spitzer and secrecy; The new governor must fight for the public's right to know (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

The state Legislature this year, chastened somewhat by demands for internal reforms, passed legislation that makes it easier for winning plaintiffs to be awarded attorney's fees in FOI cases and allowed FOI requests to be filed and responded to via e-mail.

The latter change eases the process and should energize the public to hold their governments responsible. But state lawmakers missed yet another chance to amend the FOI law so all its provisions apply as much to them as to other governmental bodies. Both the Senate and Assembly used that exemption to try, unsuccessfully, to keep details about pork-barrel spending secret.

The Legislature is a nest of backroom deals and special-interest lawmaking. That it exempted itself from a law meant to combat government secrecy is a travesty Spitzer should waste no time striving to correct.

The governor-elect rose to power in part on his fight against entrenched interests. Secrecy is entrenched in government in this state. Spitzer should take it on.

Spitzer acknowledges hard work ahead on state budget (Mark Johnson/Associated Press)

Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer conceded Thursday that his new budget director will face a tough task trying to balance state spending in the years to come.

Spitzer, a Democrat, campaigned on a platform that included cutting local property taxes by $6 billion, cutting state spending by $11 billion, providing $4 billion to $6 billion more each year to New York City schools, expanding health care while closing surplus hospitals and clinics, and transforming the upstate economy.

He'll face those challenges as outgoing Gov. George Pataki's budget office estimates there will be a $2.4 billion revenue shortfall in the 2007-2008 fiscal year and a $4.5 billion shortfall in 2008-2009.

"There are shortfalls, they are significant," Spitzer said. "They are structural, they grow in the out-years."

While the state is expected to have a $1.1 billion surplus on March 31, the end of the current fiscal year, Spitzer said that should not encourage the Legislature to add even more spending.

"Nobody should confuse a surplus in the current fiscal year with resolution of long-term structural deficits," he said. "There are real gaps that have to be confronted."

Spitzer also said "one-shot" deals in past budgets have been used "very effectively" to make up for budget shortfalls, but provided no long-term solutions to pay for ongoing programs.

Andrew Cuomo's first case (editorial/Daily News)

Given absolute discretion over taxpayer money, and allowed to operate in secret, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno funneled $500,000 in state funds to a private, profit-making business run by friends--without the slightest good reason.

New Yorkers are surely owed a refund, from either Bruno or his pals at Evident Technologies, a firm in his upstate district. And the official to pursue the issue of repayment should be Attorney General-elect Andrew Cuomo, to whom we recommend reading the state Constitution's bar on making gifts of tax dollars to private concerns.

Bruno directed the money to Evident in the orgy of pork barrel "member item" spending forced into the open by a recent court decision. We now know lawmakers dip annually into a $180 million slush fund to shower supporters with state money. Beneficiaries range from Little Leagues to politically powerful unions, with Bruno and Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver throwing around the biggest bucks.

Most of the grants go to crowd-pleasing causes. But it's a fair bet that a good number of them run afoul of the state Constitution, even as generously interpreted by the courts. And Cuomo should look at each and every one of them--starting with Bruno's gift to Evident.

Find new way to pay for projects (editorial/Utica Observer-Dispatch)

Albany's system for distributing taxpayer money for local projects is blatantly unfair, relying more on politics than principle as it showers millions of dollars on some districts and very little on others.

With the election of Eliot Spitzer as governor, it's time the "member-item" system be reformed to focus on need, merit and geographic equity.

. . . .

While projects funded by so-called pork-barrel handouts keep local folks happy, the process for funding them is flawed. Critics say the handouts are nothing more than giveaways that help incumbents get re-elected, and while that might not be true in all cases, it doesn't hurt their campaigns.

Gov.-elect Spitzer has taken a small step forward by proposing that member items be detailed in the budget before it's voted on. But what's really needed is a major overhaul of how this taxpayer money is awarded.

. . . .

Spitzer seems intent on government reform, and apparently he has pork-barrel spending in his sights. He needs to convince legislators that a mechanism is needed to weigh project proposals and then distribute grants based on need and merit. It's the right thing to do.

Bruno's aid to friends raises flag (Fred LeBrun column/Albany Times Union)

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is allowed to have a few friends.

And no one can deny that Bruno, as this region's number one promoter of new technologies and the industries emerging from them, should be able to steer member-item state taxpayer dollars to the start-up technologies and industries that he thinks will do us the most good. With appropriate accountability, of course.

In a few circumstances, there might even be a perfectly appropriate intersection of Joe's friends and public money going to their businesses.

But that combination of friends and public funds sure does raise a giant, crimson flag, or it should. Remember whose money this is.

. . . .

The ethics commission should be all over this as well--and maybe it is--because public confidence in government is at stake here and the potential ethical breach is significant, right up there in the Hevesi league and beyond.

Evident, indeed; State records show Senate Majority Leader Bruno steering money to a for-profit company (editorial/Albany Times Union)

Political pork has been exposed at a new level. It's all but unheard of for the money controlled by legislative leaders and the governor to be given to for-profit businesses.

Mr. Bruno has outdone, then, Mr. Silver, who saw to it that $1 million went to a charity--and its affiliates--run by a friend and husband of his chief of staff.

The explanation from Mr. Bruno's office is that the money for Evident Technologies, listed as "operating assistance," reflected the senator's commitment to creating jobs. Only that, in turn, raises more questions.

Why wouldn't such funds be a prominent item in the state budget for all to see? Why aren't job creation endeavors financed as a matter of state policy, rather than the pet interest of one very powerful legislator?

Why does job creation, especially in a region such as upstate New York, have to be such a surreptitious cause, revealed only upon the court-ordered release of the extensive list of member item projects? And how does the public keep track of the results of Mr. Bruno's $500,000 investment in job creation by Evident Technologies?

. . . .

New Yorkers are free to make what they will of Mr. Bruno coming to the aid of a local business, now that they know about it. It's their money, after all.

10 Republicans Dominate Senate's Pet Projects, With Bruno's $6.4 Million Topping List (Danny Hakim/New York Times)

The Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, and nine other Republican senators have spent nearly a third of the roughly $150 million the Republican-controlled State Senate has set aside for pet projects in the last two years, according to records released Thursday.

That leaves many of the other 62 senators scrapping for leftovers in the pork barrel, highlighting the inequity in how such funds are distributed around the state and particularly to districts represented by Democrats. But civic groups have criticized both parties because the Democrats, who control the State Assembly, have dominated spending on local initiatives in that chamber.

. . . .

In the Senate, Mr. Bruno, as expected, led the pork pack, accounting for $5.7 million last year alone and $6.4 million over the last two years. Mr. Bruno and other senators, however, still have millions of dollars left to spend in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2007.

Mr. Bruno spread taxpayer dollars to all corners of his Albany-area district. He gave $250,000 to the Center for Economic Growth, a regional economic development organization on whose board Mr. Bruno sits. He gave $190,000 to Troy for a mechanical street sweeper and $5,000 to a local Elks Lodge to pay for a defibrillator and the training to use it.

He provided $100,000 to the New York State Theater Institute, which already receives more annual state operating aid than any other theater in New York State -- and whose office is named for Mr. Bruno. He sent financing to 10 Little League or baseball clubs, as well as seven softball, Pop Warner football and hockey teams, including $50,000 to provide lighting for several ball fields in Saratoga County. A post for Italian American war veterans received $32,000 for work on their kitchen.

State spending: The political pork unveiled (editorial/Ithaca Journal)

More politics:

Pataki's parting nominations trouble Spitzer (Michael Cooper/New York Times)

As Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer announced the appointments of several top aides in his administration on Thursday, he expressed concern that Gov. George E. Pataki might name more people to posts that will extend long into his term.

Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, said he respected "the one-governor rule -- there is only one governor until Dec. 31 at midnight," but indicated that he was troubled by some of the 400-odd appointments that Mr. Pataki, a Republican, has made or is thinking of making to posts on boards and at authorities that will last for years.

"I think wise policy would dictate against putting in place individuals in agencies where their term of office would extend deeply into my term," Mr. Spitzer said, noting that he had been elected on a promise to change the direction of government.

Spitzer Warns Pataki About Appointments (Jacob Gershman/New York Sun)

In one of his last acts as governor, Mr. Pataki is likely to move ahead with hundreds of appointments, some minor and others that carry significance when it comes to state policy and regulatory and budgetary matters, including two seats on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, two seats on the board of City University of New York, and spots on the Public Service Commission and the Public Employment Relations Board. Those particular vacancies carry terms ranging from two years to more than six years, lasting well into Mr. Spitzer's first term and even a second.

The Senate has at least one more opportunity to approve Pataki appointments when it returns to Albany for a special session on Wednesday.

"He's going to act pursuant to his prerogative as governor," a spokesman for Mr. Pataki, David Catalfamo, said. The governor said he has no plans to nominate either Raymond Meier or Nicholas Spano, both of whom are state senators leaving office, for a spot on the Public Service Commission. The New York Times reported that both politicians were under consideration.

Final acts draw fire; Spitzer calls late flurry of Pataki appointments an unwise policy (Liz Benjamin/Albany Times Union)

Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer took a swipe Thursday at Gov. George Pataki for appointing hundreds of loyalists to public posts in his final months in office, saying the practice, although legal, is "not in the spirit of good governance."

Some of the slots the outgoing Republican governor has already filled or is eyeing as landing places for a favored few carry salaries of more than $100,000, and at least one has a term that would outlast Spitzer's first four years in office.

Pataki appoints hundreds to serve during Spitzer administration (Mike Gormley/Associated Press)

For example, former Pataki Communications Director Lisa Dewald Stoll was appointed in September to the Long Island State Park Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission. Her term ends in 2013.

Some appointees were shifted or traded to other slots to extend their terms.

. . . .

Most of the roles to advisory boards and commissions pay nothing more than expenses. But some appointments, such as to the Parole Board, Worker's Compensation Board and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, come with power, influence and high salaries.

. . . .

Among Pataki's final appointments is Lore B. Koppel, named to the Advisory Committee to the state Office for the Aging until July 2009. She chairs the Montgomery County Republican Committee and has contributed $6,000 to Republicans in Albany, including $2,250 to Pataki, since 2000, according to state Board of Elections records.

"I think it's a very normal thing to do," said Koppel of Fort Plain. This fall was her third appointment to the board and her daughter, Dr. Barbara Koppel, has been appointed by Pataki to two medical boards.

She said the appointees often have experience in the topic. For example, she has worked with the county Office for the Aging for years and with a seniors group. And, she said, board members do the public's business once on the board.

"I get mileage and lunch twice a year," she said with a laugh.

Spitzer announces inauguration plans, high-level appointments (Mark Johnson/Associated Press)

Spitzer plans modest celebration for inauguration; Endwell native among personnel appointments (Yancey Roy/Gannett News Service)

Spitzer to Hold Outdoor Inaugural (Karen DeWitt/New York Public Radio)

Spitzer won't be having a ball; Governor-elect decides against glitzy celebration in favor of 'people's inauguration' instead (Errol Cockfield/Newsday)

Union opposes Tops sale to Price Chopper; Labor group fears purchase Rotterdam-based company would lead to loss of representation (Alan Wechsler/Albany Times Union)

A spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1 in Oriskany said he hoped Price Chopper didn't take over any Tops stores.

. . . .

Gorea said the unions were especially concerned because of the way Price Chopper had dealt with the purchase of six other Tops it purchased in 2005.

Gorea says when Price Chopper came in last year the company re-hired only a minority of unionized Tops workers. If a majority of unionized members had been rehired, the markets would have continued to be unionized, he said.

"Price Chopper knew that and deliberately kept it under," he said.

Price Chopper spokeswoman Mona Golub disagreed.

"Every Tops employee who applied for a job was interviewed and had the opportunity to be hired," she said. "And most of them were."

Division over payment for pollution credits; Power plants want them for free, but consumers object (Brian Nearing/Albany Times Union)

Who is going to pay for Reggie? That's a quarter-billion dollar question with an answer that could cost anyone in the state who flips on a light switch.

Reggie is shorthand for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an effort started in 2003 by Gov. George Pataki to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide--a primary greenhouse gas emitted by power plants.

Proposed rules for the program released last week by the state Department of Environmental Conservation have sparked disagreement over who will pay for it, with power plant owners and environmentalists and consumer groups squaring off.

At the center of the debate is the DEC's proposal that the state sell yearly credits needed to emit CO2. Plant owners want the credits for free or at a cut rate, and warn that paying for them will raise electric bills.

Kodak Park in transition: New digitally driven plant holds promise; Thermal media site rides a growth wave, preserves jobs, for now (Ben Rand/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

The new facility, which went into full production in July, comes against the backdrop of sweeping contraction at Kodak Park. The company is the process of demolishing more than 50 obsolete buildings, sheds and other structures as part of a plan to cope with declining demand for photographic film. By the end of next year, Kodak expects to have reduced its manufacturing assets worldwide by two-thirds, or about $2 billion.

Kodak picked Rochester for the new production line over a competing site in Colorado and other potential locations worldwide. In doing so, the company has given a fresh start to [. . .] about 170 other workers who might otherwise be on the unemployment line.

Welcome growth; BU buildings make room for expanding programs (editorial/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Binghamton University is growing again. This week, it announced plans for two new buildings, one to expand its Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science and the other to increase its science research capabilities.

. . . .

What do these expansions mean to the taxpayer? They provide the opportunity for BU to build upon its growing reputation as a center for innovation and advanced technology. That matters to everyone in the Tier because that reputation can attract business and industry as well as new residents linked to the university. With the current entrepreneurial programs on site, such expansion will encourage more homegrown industry and businesses as well.

Power for Jobs clients seem happy (op-ed/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Of the Power for Jobs customers eligible for extensions under a new state law, 95.6 percent requested and received approval for extensions from the New York Power Authority this past week. Such numbers clearly contradict Assemblyman Paul Tonko's latest allegation (The Post-Standard, Nov. 26) that customers are fleeing the program.

Among the 545 customers in the program, 521 sought and were approved for the six-month extensions authorized by new state law. Of that total, 347 chose to continue to be served by contracts supplied with power purchased by NYPA.

A total of 174 will be served by "rebates." Of that group, 13 were manufacturers who switched from power contracts to the rebate option, as authorized by the new state law. There were 18 customers who chose to leave the program, and six did not respond to the notice. Among those leaving the program are companies that seek longer-term power commitments than the six-month extension.

High drug costs are the price of research (Jay Ambrose column/Schenectady Gazette)

Pfizer is rich, rich, rich. Its prescription drug prices are high, high, high. And so it is that Washington politicians--chiefl y liberal Democrats--want to encircle it and other rich pharmaceutical companies with one form or another of price controls. It might not hurt if these would-be killers would read the news occasionally.

There, they would find that although Pfizer made $8 billion in profits last year, it is in very deep, job-cutting, stock-plummeting, future-threatening trouble, the consequence mostly of a drug that is not going to succeed despite a promised investment in it of something on the order of $800 million, according to The Economist.

The hope was that this drug, torcetrapib, would be a godsend to the 50 million Americans whose cardiovascular health could have been vastly improved by its ability to form so-called good cholesterol. In clinical trials, however, a high percentage of users died. The risks outweighed the benefits. The bet was called off.

Other drug companies run up against this same issue repeatedly--because hugely expensive research is never an absolutely sure thing and their best-laid plans sometimes go astray. And this is why high drug prices are necessitated: If the prices aren't sufficient to cover losses during the period that patents hold, there won't be enough funds to pursue further research and development of drugs with the potential of saving not just a few lives, but millions of them. The companies could face ruin. Investors do read the news, and the story about torcetrapib caused a stock drop of $25 billion.

Leading a nation against a state; New Seneca president vows to resist efforts to tax gas or cigarette sales to non-Indians (Michael Beebe and Dan Herbeck/Buffalo News)

Eliot Spitzer promises to take on the biggest and most powerful interests in state government when he takes office on New Year's Day.

But an unlikely leader on a reservation south of Buffalo may prove to be Spitzer's biggest political foe.

Residents should still be boiling over agency failure to meet a risk (Editorial/Buffalo News)

Public authorities are valuable assets to the state, assuming they are focused on their mission, transparent in their operations and accountable to the public they are meant to serve. Too often, though, their quasi-private status and lack of oversight leads them into trouble. Such is the case with the Erie County Water Authority, which identified a critical need three years ago and then failed to meet it. That October's surprise blizzard didn't exact a stiffer penalty than it did was, in good part, a matter of luck.

The problem, as detailed in a Buffalo News story last week, is that when the Oct. 12 storm hit, the Water Authority had no backup generator at the Sturgeon Point treatment plant in Evans. The risk to public health was high, as hundreds of thousands of residents were told to boil water and firefighters worried about a loss of water pressure.

But authority leaders had ample warning after the massive power failure that hit much of the Eastern United States and Ontario in August 2003. Indeed, the authority noted the possibility for a "catastrophic" result if power failed at one of the two treatment plants or a major distribution facility for an extended period.

Nothing of substance was done. Although the board is sitting on a $25 million reserve, it limited its action to directing a high-paid lobbyist to try to wheedle $6 million out of the federal government. It didn't work.

Control board wants Giambra to veto pay hikes (Phil Fairbanks/Buffalo News)

Control board members say Christmas came early to the Erie County Legislature Thursday.

The Legislature's approval of pay raises for about 25 of its district staff members prompted a board request that County Executive Joel A. Giambra veto the increases.

The raises, which passed by a 9-5 vote, come as the county is eliminating jobs and raising taxes and is still in what many view as a fiscal crisis.

. . . .

Anthony Baynes, chairman of the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority, said the cost-of-living raises benefit the Legislature's patronage hires while thousands of other county employees go without raises.

He also suggested many of the Legislature's nine new members have gone back on their promises of reform, and he called on Giambra to reject the last-minute raises.

"It's his duty to veto this," said Baynes. "We had a lot of legislators who ran as reformers. Obviously, they don't believe in it any more."

And: Region has too many government employees(Letter/Buffalo News)

Also, the vast number of government employees makes for a critical mass that is in direct opposition to private industry and the taxpayers and those who are not dependent on government pensions. Basically, there is only one money pie to go around, and the government is getting more than its fair share of it. That's why many of our young people are moving out. The sooner we face up to this reality, the sooner we will be able to turn this area around.

Election victory possible defense for comptroller; Hevesi could claim the voters knew of his chauffeur misuse prior to returning him to office (Mark Johnson/Associated Press)

Comptroller Alan Hevesi, embroiled in a scandal that threatens to end his political career, could rely on his November election victory to fend off efforts to remove him from office, a state senator said.

A New York magazine article to appear Monday cites a 1987 article on impeachment and removal proceedings written by Republican state Sen. Michael Balboni for the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

Balboni, then a young lawyer, wrote that courts have held that if the public has received "full disclosure" of misconduct and re-elects an official anyway, the election "is viewed as an exoneration." Hevesi captured 57 percent of the vote to defeat Republican challenger J. Christopher Callaghan.

That means Hevesi, who is battling charges that he used a state employee as a chauffeur for his wife, could turn to the courts to try to block possible removal, a process that could take years.

Alan's mirror image (editorial/New York Post)

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi ap pears set on fighting to the bitter end to hang on to his job, despite ethical lapses that would have prompted a lesser ego to retire in shame.

It's hard to understand why.

. . . .

Certainly, we're having a tough time understanding how his circumstances differ appreciably from those of another state official, one Johanna Hall.

Until August, when she was fired, Hall served as special deputy superintendent at the New York Liquidation Bureau. The post came with a $130,000 salary--handsome, but apparently not handsome enough for Hall.

Last Thursday, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau indicted Hall for using a state worker to watch her kids.

Morgenthau also charged Hall and her husband, James, with steering an overpriced state contract to a firm that agreed to kick back 60 percent of the fee.

Obviously, Hevesi hasn't gone that far.

But Hall's use of a staffer from her agency for babysitting services--on the public dime--seems remarkably close to Hevesi's malfeasance in having a state employee chauffeur his wife.

After all, the comptroller's wife, who suffers from a number of apparently serious medical problems, clearly needed a driver and a companion--just as Hall's kids, no doubt, needed supervision.

. . . .

It is only a matter of time before Johanna Hall, or someone in similar circumstances, stands up in open court and asks: "If Alan Hevesi can get away with it, why can't I?"

Hevesi knows he needs to resign.

He should just do it.

Can't drive Alan out ; Fightin' Hevesi won't quit in chauffeur flap (Jonathan Lemire/Daily News)

Embattled state Controller Alan Hevesi would rather fight than quit over his chauffeur scandal.

"If I'm indicted, I'm already smeared," Hevesi told New York magazine in this week's issue. "I might as well fight. I've been fighting all my life. What's my option?"

Hevesi's coffers funded lawyers; Records show comptroller used $750,000 from campaign fund to pay defense (Associated Press)

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has used at least $750,000 from his campaign fund to pay defense lawyers as he faces investigations into his use of a state employee to drive for his ailing wife, state Board of Elections records show.

Hevesi, a Queens Democrat, paid $450,000 to the law firm Strook & Strook & Lavan in late October and early November, according to his latest campaign finance filing. He paid another $300,000 from the campaign to defense lawyer Stephen Kaufman.

He also spent millions on television and radio ads to fend off Republican challenger J. Christopher Callaghan, the filing shows. Hevesi, who had $4.6 million in his campaign account as of Oct. 23, was left with about $119,000 as of Dec. 4.

Hevesi was wrong; voters were worse (letter/Albany Times Union)

It was hard to tell which was funnier (or more pathetic): the pace with which everyone ran away from Alan Hevesi before Election Day, or the dancing done after the election by Gov. Pataki and our new governor-elect, Eliot Spitzer.

Mr. Spitzer rescinded his support for Hevesi before the election and then took the stance that he could never start proceedings before moving into his new position as governor. That would be overstepping his boundaries. Gov. Pataki stalled for as much time as he could before Election Day, and has since said he would have to let his special counsel take a week or two to finish its investigation before deciding whether there was good reason to proceed against Mr. Hevesi. This coming after he has now repaid approximately $170,000 to the people of New York.

Adding to this sad scenario is the painful hypocrisy of Mr. Hevesi's announcement regarding former Voorheesville Superintendent of Schools Alan McCartney.

"A blatant abuse of taxpayer dollars," was his statement at the news conference he convened.

Finally, and most pitiful of all, is the re-election of this scoundrel. If a vote for Hevesi was a vote for the Democrat line only, will you now make a stand and demand that he be replaced? After all, he would surely be replaced with another Democrat, thus satisfying the main motive behind your vote.

Panel to review Dutchess tax policies; Residents can give input at hearings (David Paulsen/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Mary Hendricks' expertise is in landscape design, not tax policy, but she knows firsthand what rising property taxes are doing to the cost of living in Dutchess County.

"Once my husband and I retire, at the rate we're going we will have to sell our house. And we're pretty frugal," said Hendricks, a 58-year-old Fishkill resident who works as a landscape designer.

Hendricks wants to be part of the solution. She is one of seven members of a new committee formed by the Dutchess Legislature to study the county's tax policies and report back next year ways to improve the system.

. . . .

School taxes typically make up the largest chunk of taxpayers' burdens, but local taxes are increasing at all levels.

"Basically, everybody has a concern about taxes," Davis said. "The thing is that outside of the people who are actively involved in it, it seems to be a kind of mystery."

. . . .

Hendricks said she and her husband, Jay Anderson, a patent attorney, pay several thousand dollars a year in property taxes. Her concern is with taxes at all levels, not just school taxes.

More collaboration; County executive and GOP lawmakers can do much better (editorial/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and fellow Republicans who control the county Legislature must not assume that her proposed $1.02 billion budget is out of the woods.

After all, they could easily develop a false sense of security after only four people showed up for a public hearing on the spending plan last week. Actually, there is much public concern about this year's first billion-dollar-plus budget and projections for huge deficits in the foreseeable future.

This untenable situation is all the more reason why Brooks, who rode into office on a theme of collaboration three years ago, and majority Republicans in the Legislature must start working more with minority Democrats.

Just as Brooks seems to work well with Rochester's Democratic Mayor Robert Duffy, there should be no reason why she can't also reach out to county legislative Democrats. Carla Palumbo, who leads the Democrats, insists Brooks and Republican legislators hardly give them the time of day.

. . . .

At a time when Brooks needs Democrats more than ever to get Albany approval of her proposed sales tax increase, they're still essentially relegated to the sidelines.

Tax break for pipeline receives criticism; Broome IDA asked to reconsider deal (Debbie Swartz/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Five Broome County residents Friday asked the Broome County Industrial Development Agency to rescind a $14.9 million tax break for Millennium Pipeline.

"It is my claim that this is corporate welfare," Windsor resident Scott B. Clarke said.

Clarke and Maine resident Peter Supa, both of whom addressed the board, asked the IDA to rethink its Nov. 6 decision and are considering filing an injunction if the IDA fails to act.

IDA Executive Director Richard D'Attilio said the agency already rethought the decision once when it was reintroduced in October and will not revisit it. The IDA initially approved the 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal in May with the caveat that all counties must agree to the same deal, but in June the Tioga County IDA rejected the application. That decision made Broome County's agreement null and void. Millennium officials then came back to Broome County and asked for the same PILOT--this time without Tioga County--and the agency said "yes" again.

The tax break would require Millennium to pay 25 percent of its taxes for the first five years, 50 percent the next five and 75 percent the last five years.

. . . .

Millennium officials have said the tax breaks are necessary to make the project economically feasible, but have stopped short of saying the project will stop without the financial aid.

Other natural gas companies give money to local municipalities to offset the damage and disruption caused by pipeline construction, Supa said. Iroquois Gas Transmission, which has a pipeline in northern New York state, developed community enhancement projects worth $10 million in the 1980s, Supa said. The projects, according to documents, ranged from the construction of community parks, development of trails for hikers and bikers and purchases of land to set aside as open space.

Broome in '07: Focus on consolidation, economic development (op-ed by the chairman of the Broome County legislature/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Broome County will face many challenges in 2007. Areas like being better prepared for unexpected flooding are certainly important. However, the two most important issues facing Broome County are local government consolidation and economic development. Both issues are the vehicle to lower taxes.

Consolidation has been discussed across the state for many years. Recently, New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi issued a report pointing out that local governments should reconfigure themselves to do business in the 21st century vs. an 18th century way of doing business we still have today.

Broome County along with local governments have had some successes over the years consolidating services such as emergency dispatching (911), tax collection, assessor services, equipment sharing, etc. However, more needs to be done. In the words of Emeril Lagasse, we've got to "kick it up a notch" (BAM !).

There has been discussion recently about the process of dissolving villages. While this is an approach brought on by residents themselves, it still begs the question: How much will I (the taxpayer) save? The county needs to show more leadership than simply publishing the process for dissolution on a Web site. That process can be found on many state Web sites already available. The county should take the steps necessary to be able to answer the ultimate question: How much will I save?

I suggest the county open an office of Centralization and Consolidation of Local Governments that reports to the county executive. It's that important. I'm not suggesting adding people to the county payroll; I'm suggesting reorganizing at the top in order to establish this office without adding more people.

. . . .

Broome County is a community of 200,000 people. We have 25 governments totaling over 4,000 employees. The total appropriation for these 25 governments is more than $500 million each year. Unless efficiencies are developed and soon, that number will only get bigger.

Regarding economic development, our county faces the same challenges as many other upstate New York counties. As Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer begins his term this January, we can only hope the state focuses on the major issues driving business out of New York state. Medicaid, utility costs and worker's compensation are the three biggest reasons businesses do not choose New York as a place to do business.

Broome in '07: It's time to be positive, drop the negative mindset (op-ed by the Broome County executive/Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Broome County is on the verge of some great things, but we really have to alter our mindset about how we are structured as a community and how we respond to change.

The world around us is progressing at a rapid pace and communities that don't keep up and that are not progressive are going to be left behind. I am determined to make sure that Broome County is not one of those communities sitting on the sidelines watching other communities achieve success.

In just the last two years as county executive, I have already noticed a great deal of cooperation taking place and a major change in attitudes. Many are realizing that we cannot simply continue with business as usual and we must work together to solve our problems.

Our relationships with our municipal leaders has been a cooperative one as we have tackled issues like shared services, consolidation, sales tax revenues and the flood, together. We don't always agree, but I believe we have found that working together and sharing information has been a lot more productive than the alternative.

Our economic development agencies and the business community are also finding common ground and working on initiatives together instead of separately. Again, they don't always agree, but they are meeting and they are talking and they all agree that they must come together to promote Greater Binghamton.

My goals for 2007:

* Finalize a one-stop economic development center where all the various agencies involved in building up local businesses or attracting new businesses to the area would work under one roof providing every service imaginable to a new and emerging business or provide assistance to local established businesses looking to expand.

* Continue to build on the spirit of cooperation among municipal leaders and our business leaders.

* Find sustainable funding to market and promote Greater Binghamton.

* Improve the services provided by Broome County while maintaining fiscal stability.

. . . .

* I also plan to work with our new governor, Eliot Spitzer, and his administration to make sure the upstate economy gets the necessary attention and resources to compete with downstate and other states as well as international markets.

We have our work cut out for us, but we also have a lot of positive developments that can help bolster our community's self-image and make people think that we can be competitive, we can stop the population drain and we can begin to grow again.

I refuse to let people with negative mindsets, who refuse to embrace change, dominate the public dialogue. There are too many positive people in this community working toward positive change to be distracted by those who aren't.

Hydropower victory may not stand (David Robinson column/Buffalo News)

Western New York won a key battle in the fight to make sure the region's cheap hydropower goes to help businesses here.

But with a new governor taking over in Albany next month, there's no guarantee that victory will do much to protect the spoils from our greatest natural resource.

The victory came Dec. 1 from a commission appointed by outgoing Gov. Pataki to review the state's programs that use low-cost hydropower as an economic development tool.

The panel's recommendations protected most of the region's historic claims on its share of the Niagara Power Project's cheap electricity and backed changes that local business leaders have sought to broaden and modernize the eligibility criteria for that power.

. . . .

. . . . With a new Democratic governor taking office on Jan. 1, the recommendations of a commission from the outgoing Republican governor won't land at the top of Eliot Spitzer's priority list.

"I don't think there's anything assured about this," says Mark E. Hamister, the chairman of the Hamister Group in Amherst and the other Western New Yorker on the commission.

It also doesn't help that the commission's recommendations are just that. Changes in the way cheap hydropower is parceled out must be approved by the state Legislature and new governor.

"We're looking at it right now," says Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Spitzer's transition team. "Economic development is going to be one of the things that we're going to be looking at a lot in the coming weeks."

One other cloud hangs over the report: One influential panel member, the chairman of the Assembly's energy committee, Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, wrote a long dissenting opinion on it.

A loss for the bad-faith bunch (editorial/New York Post)

Whenever one of New York's public-employee unions finds itself locked in a seemingly endless contract negotiation, union bigs invariably accuse state or city reps of "bargaining in bad faith."

Unions charge--sometimes, even, accurately--that the government, by drawing out labor talks, intentionally prolongs the existing, less-expensive status quo in order to save money.

But whatever sympathy this wins from the public quickly dissipates once the union itself acts in "bad faith."

Two bills vetoed last week by Gov. Pataki are manifestations of just that--unions exploiting New York's flawed labor-relations climate.

During the latest round of contract talks, police and firefighter unions tried to win new retirement benefits from the city.

Cops and firefighters are already eligible for "termination pay"--a grant of three extra days' pay for each year the retiring worker has been on the city payroll.

Plus, their pensions are calculated on the basis of the final salary year (rather than the last three, as for other city workers). Officers and firemen game that system by working as much overtime as possible in that last year. Some even forgo termination pay because it disqualifies overtime pay from the pension calculations.

The bills Pataki vetoed would have ended that disqualification--letting workers collect termination pay in a lump sum prior to retirement, so that they could exploit both benefits to the max.

. . . .

Bloomberg pointed to the bills' price-tag--$24.6 million a year--as grounds enough for the veto. And certainly tight-budgeting is important.

But a more important principle behind Pataki's veto is one unions ought to recall: Bad-faith bargaining is unworthy of reward.

The governor got this one right.

Regionalism is best way to ensure area's survival (Letter/Buffalo News)

I was shocked and outraged by the information brought to light in the Viewpoints article, "How 439 politicians cost us effective government."

. . . .

I was born and raised in Buffalo and its suburbs. I moved to Florida for work in the late '70s and have been back in Western New York since the early '80s. I'm a small business owner and have experienced firsthand the hidden costs of mismanagement by our elected officials. If I was not connected here by my business and friends, I would probably move like so many others already have.

I strongly believe that the only hope for Western New York is to embrace the concept of regionalism. Unfortunately, because our politicians are only interested in protecting their little fiefdoms, I'm not hopeful for our future.

Businessman Bob Confer believes there is something inherently wrong with the Berger Commission (Tonawanda News):

Last week was an emotionally charged one across Western New York. Thousands of people — health care workers, patients, and average citizens — waited with bated breath for the announcement from the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century (a.k.a “the hospital closing commission”). The commission’s announcement regarding what to close and what to combine proved to be just as controversial as expected and leaves one to wonder, “Where does the distinction between private enterprise and government begin and end?”

A commission culled by the state and empowered by the state should only be able to impact state interests. Had the commission focused solely upon government owned-and-operated health care facilities then the group would have been in the right. But they did not. Therefore the commission and the anticipated executive and legislative follow-up in Albany are in direct contrast to good governance and, basically, illegal. In all their pomposity they have ignored the basic tenet that our government was created to facilitate capitalism, not squash it.

The errant logic behind such actions can best be described as follows: Imagine a group of political cronies thrown together to travel across the state telling specific restaurants to close because, quite frankly, there are too many restaurants and they cost consumers far too much money.

Local hospitals must collaborate

The state Legislature has until Dec. 31 to either reject the proposal, in its entirety, or let it go forward. Outgoing Gov. George Pataki and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer have each publicly backed the plan. Lawmakers will no doubt face pressure from special interests to block it. But they should not stand in the way of these needed changes.

A perfect example of the duplication of services the commission is hoping to eliminate is in Kingston. There, two hospitals--each struggling financially with excess beds--sit just blocks apart from each other. Kingston and Benedictine hospitals have, in the past, attempted to find ways to merge or share services, with no success. Such efforts fizzled over disagreements involving several reproductive procedures, including abortion. Benedictine, a Catholic hospital, doesn't allow the procedures, and Kingston, a non-sectarian hospital, does.

But the commission, formed by Pataki and the Legislature last year, addressed that hurdle by calling for the hospitals to join under a unified administration while still operating independently. The report said Kingston should continue to provide its reproductive services in a location close to the hospital.

There's also a greater incentive this time around. If the two don't finalize an agreement by the end of 2007, the commission said the state should close one of the facilities and expand the other to handle the additional patients.

Overall, the commission took a balanced and well-reasoned approach to identifying which facilities were in need of "right-sizing." While these proposals can help, the commission's report didn't address how insurance and pharmaceutical companies' drive for profit also contributes to the high cost of care in New York. The panel relied on advisory committees covering different regions of the state. Those regional groups issued recommendations to the full commission, which followed many and rejected others.

Medical middle ground; If St. Joe's, Arnot are forced back into partnership talks, they will need a clean slate (editorial/Elmira Star-Gazette)

The commission's report used the words "medical arms race" to describe competition between the two Elmira hospitals. It was a clever if not hyperbolic turn of a phrase. But if these two hospitals are ever to end up as allies, the conflict they will have to overcome is more like a clash of cultures.

Health Crisis; Hospital closure report panders to special interests (op-ed/Syracuse Post-Standard)

A breathless op-ed by a physician in Oswego County bemoans the fact that physicians didn't determine the future of New York's hospital sector. So when blasts the Berger Commission report for "pandering to special