SD-48: Aubertine Receives Committee Assignments; Left Off Agriculture Committee

Valesky (4.00 / 1)

I don't know why they're singling out "David Valesky from outside of Syracuse."  A great deal of Valesky's district is rural farm country, which he has to hold in order to keep his seat.  In fact, it's probably politically more important for Valesky to be on the agricultural committee than Aubertine, because he's in the difficult position of having a half-urban, half-rural district, and he's got to keep those rural voters happy (despite the fact that Valesky is, in fact, a "local boy" from Oneida; he is not a city-boy from Syracuse).

It's not exactly about qualifications; all this stuff is being done for political reasons as well.

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by: NYCO @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 12:35:18 PM UTC

Valesky is a good ag advocate, too (0.00 / 0)

He is there and active, and attending to business in the ag world.  Valesky's district (the rural part) is much more dependent on farming than Aubertine's, which has a much greater emphasis on tourism and recreation (and resource-dependent industries) than on farming.  It's the North Country, folks!  Cape Vincent is near the lake, and so the climate is moderated... but, much of the area is not suitable for crops, due to a thin mountain soil and cold average temps.

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by: robinia @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 12:49:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agriculture and identity politics (4.00 / 1)

A lot of my work focuses on agriculture in NYS.  I was not the least bit surprised that Aubertine asked for/was assigned to committees that have a big impact on his district-- like every rural area of the state, his district includes farms, of course.  But, it is not one of the parts of the state where agriculture is a real driver of the economy.  On the other hand, bordering Canada throughout the district, homeland security is surely a big issue there, and there are both a lot of active service members and a lot of veterans in the district, too.

To answer the "what are they thinking" question, well, they are thinking more clearly and with greater nuance than some of the press, apparently.  Running a dairy farm is similar to running any small business, and it is valuable experience for a legislator.  It is not at all axiomatic that somebody who has that experience also has the economic training to understand food and agriculture systems and policy-- anymore than somebody who had run a manufacturing firm would automatically have the skills to sit on an economic development committee.

Committee assignments should both maximize the use of the legsilators skills, and allow them to make a difference for important constituencies in their district.  Malcolm Smith is showing resspect for agriculture here, actually-- not doing the identity-politics thing and sorting committee members based on superficial characteristics.

I was just lobbying Starchowski on farm and food issues this week-- his command of the subject is good, and his skills in finance are very useful in understanding the issues facing agriculture in the US and NYS.  I believe his district does, by the way, include some of the best farmland in the state, along the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Erie, where competition from Chinese grape growers has had such a bad effect on concord grape growers that they are eligible for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance to train for new agricultural or non-agricultural lines of work.

It's easy to Monday morning quarterback, but, sometimes we don't really see all the factors.  I'm giving kudos to Malcolm Smith for thinking deeply about these things.

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by: robinia @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 12:43:56 PM UTC

Now Aubertine is on Ag Committee (0.00 / 0)

Craig Johnson, of Suffolk County (highest total dollar value for ag product in the state, even still) will go off the Ag Committee and let Aubertine take his place (http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=6714).  I guess they have to bow to the shallow and stereotypical thinking of the masses of the voters on this one.  Hope it works out.

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by: robinia @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 13:12:11 PM UTC

I think this is more about... (0.00 / 0)

Sen. Aubertine being a dairy farmer than the type of farm land (or lack thereof) that exists in SD-48. Aubertine knows the business, which is important if you're going to sit on the committee. I would think he's in the best spot to understand what kind of problems farmers are experiencing, whether it's a dairy farm, you're growing corn for the ethanol plant down the road, etc. Dairy farmers are farmers too and they, probably more than a lot of farmers, are going through tough times right now.

My assemblyman is on the Assembly Ag Committee, and I'm in a rural district with lots of farms and farm land. My girlfriend's yard actually borders with Roberts Farms, one of the biggest farms in Orleans County. The ethanol plant is only a few miles down the road from me.

My assemblyman (Steve Hawley) used to have a farm and grew up in the business. So he knows the business and the importance of the business to NY. Sen. Maziarz, however, is not on the Senate Ag Committee (he's my state senator). And Maziarz's district includes Orleans County, as well as the western part of Monroe County which is fairly rural and Niagara County, which has quite a bit of farm land.  

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by: robert.harding @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 20:17:24 PM UTC

I am very proud of Johnson and all of Aubertines committee assignments (0.00 / 0)

make sense.  It was very apparent from our visit to SD 48 that job creation and job protection were drop dead huge issues.  The jobs at the fort and at those prisons are vital to that district and its voters.  robinia impressed the hell out of me with her indepth knowledge of the Ag committee! Perhaps Darrel did not need it as badly as some in the media seemed to think but perception is everything in politics and reality, well we all have seen who our president has been these past eight years!  Now, thanks to Craig, Aubertine has it all, a tremendous resume to seek a full term with.  Craig knows that his densely populated northwest Nassau County district will not hold Ag against him.  I just hope Suffolk will elect a Democratic state senator because we need a seat on that committe with some 30,000 acres under some 300 years of agriculture we are to this day one of the larger agricultural counties in the state!

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by: politics64 @ Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 20:27:19 PM UTC