Name: Bob Friedrich
Age: 56
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Occupation: Accountant
Decision To Run? To end the culture of corruption and dysfunction that permeates Albany. Many candidates say that, but I’m the only one running who is not a politician and has never worked for one.
Major Issues: The first is middle-class taxpayers being squeezed by:
• The largest property tax increase ever imposed on New York City residents, sponsored by David Weprin.
• Weprin’s recent vote to impose sales tax on shoes and clothing, which hurts families and businesses.
• Weprin’s failure to stop five consecutive years of double-digit water rate increases.
The second is to force the MTA to think “outside-the-box.” Instead of eliminating vital bus service for seniors, utilize smaller and more economical “Access-A-Ride” type buses on low ridership routes. Merge adjacent bus lines into circular routes and allow passengers to hop on or off in any direction and still reach their destination. Bridge and tunnel toll increases now approach $15 roundtrip – this is a failure of elected officials, who are pushing out the middle class.
Top Priority:
• Call for the removal of Sheldon Silver as Assembly Speaker by having the independence and guts to speak out. Expose the shameful partisan bickering that stops anything from being accomplished in Albany. Both parties share the blame for this and, unlike others, I have no blind loyalty to any party boss.
• Prohibit double-dipping politicians from earning employment income other than their legislative salaries. Just work one job, full-time.
• End our addiction to spending through shared sacrifice spending cuts.
• End Pension Padding: Require state pensions be based on regular pay not overtime pay.
• Combat the corrupting complacency of career politicians by fighting for term limits.
Name: David I. Weprin
Age: 54
Party Affiliation: Democrat, also running on Independent and Working Families Party lines
Occupation: New York State Assemblymember; former Chair New York City Council Committee on Finance; attorney, investment banker
Decision To Run: I seek re-election to a full term as the voters overwhelmingly found merit in my candidacy in the special election this past midwinter. I always stood for a fiscally responsible government; I continue to follow that standard I established as Chair of the Council’s Finance Committee, as a tireless advocate for responsible public spending and partner with those in and out of government to strengthen fiscal responsibility
Major Issues: While much of the outside focus on Albany revolved around the budget, that impasse did not prevent the passage of important legislation that helped people weather the economic storm too many of us face. The Assembly passed legislation including my efforts to halt annual double digit increases in water bills, keep more seniors in their homes, maintain free MetroCards for our students and expand health insurance policies to protect those with autism. Our schools and transportation remain keys areas that we need to strengthen and reverse some recent setbacks that I fought against.
Top Priority: The impasse in Albany that affected us all was derived not just from the state of the economy, but from the state of politics, which played a role as it impacted the ability of two institutions (the State Senate and the Executive Branch) to focus full-time on governing. In the Assembly, I am proud that we remained able to consistently forge coalitions to deliver the votes needed to pass the budget and, before that, difficult budget extenders. If re-elected, I plan to focus on structural reforms.
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