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The Albany Project Reform Agenda

by: NYBri

Thu Feb 08, 2007 at 12:59:15 PM EST


(Just wanted to keep this conversation going. There are some great suggestions here. Please add. I'll have a draft of TAPRA soon and we'll get cracking. - promoted by NYBri)

brokenalbany3

No need to keep this a secret.

There's a project that is in the works, and since this is a community (one that seems to be growing quickly), let me toss this out for your consideration and input. Also, in light of yesterday's appauling demonstration of cronyism, the timing seems to be right.

We are in the process of creating The Albany Project Relform Agenda (TAPRA). The agenda itself will be dedicated to returning New York State Government to its rightful owners, the people.We will do this through the advocacy of specific measures that would lead to  transparent and accountable government...you know, Democracy.

Once in place, we would then approach every legislator and ask them where they stand on the agenda and publish our findings.

Also, in the future, we will be looking for TAPRA candidates to support.

Our goal, of course, is to establish this agenda as a clear, specific package of issues that, when embraced by a majority of the members of the legislature, we can be assured that the rule of the Three Men In A Room will end.

Make the flip to find out what you can do...
NYBri :: The Albany Project Reform Agenda
How are we going to come up with the items? Well, first off, I'm going to ask you for your input. That is all important. We want our process to reflect the kind of transparency we hope to create.

I'm also going to be working with the good folks at Progressive States to help flesh it out and advise us on implementation.

We will also be reaching out to other blogs and issue organizations to join our effort.

If we want reform, we have to organize to make it happen. It's going to be a long hard battle, but one I feel is worth fighting for.

But, first thing's first. Give this some thought and let me know what measures you think should be included. I want to remind you that this is reform document and we want to focus on that process.

Also, if anyone wants to help write and implement this TAPRA, let me know and I'll include you.
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The Albany Project Reform Agenda | 53 comments
I'll begin... (4.00 / 1)
Clean Money, Clean Elections.

That would be one.

We've got some work ahead of us.

We're working hard on CMCE (4.00 / 1)
at Citizen Action right now.

but man, is that ever not enough. (Can you tell I'm reading "3 Men" now?)

[ Parent ]
You going to join us... (0.00 / 0)
...on Monday?

We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
Oh, just for starters (4.00 / 2)
...implement ALL the Brennan Center reforms

...Clean Money, Clean Elections

...I'm not a big fan of term limits, but in the case of this legislature, they're needed just to flush out the deadwood

...non-partisan redistricting

...a constitutional amendment to call a special election in the case of a vacancy in an office like, say, Comptroller

The Brennan Center is a good place to start.... (4.00 / 1)
Keep 'em coming...

Bouldin, you want to help craft this?

We've got some work ahead of us.

[ Parent ]
No need to sweet-talk (4.00 / 1)
Of course I'll help. This is what geeks do.

Heh.

[ Parent ]
Ditto that for me (4.00 / 1)
As I said earlier-- this is not just a job for a steamroller.  Demolition is apparently not something we need fear the gov will neglect to take action on....  but, rebuilding a worthy structure for policymaking in NYS?  Do you learn that working for the Sheriff of Wall St., or working as staff to Joe or Shelly?  Naw, those stafferrs are sharp and good folk, but not big on the holistic vision thing, and inured to the culture.  Best to just fill a policy-systems skunk-works with geeks who can't help themselves, 'cuz it is what they do.  NYBri, your tag line is just so right- we are sure enough going to have to think it through ourselves, and that would be work, and lots of it.  Your high-octane leadership there is most appreciated.
[ Parent ]
And, I'm looking for a good graphic for the project.... (4.00 / 1)
:>)

We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
Term limits/re-districting (4.00 / 1)
Totally agree on the need for both term limits and re-districting. If you accept the premise that getting elected once means a virtual life-time appointment to the legislature in our current environment, then term limits would be very welcome, maybe then the legislators would try to get something done in the short time they will have, instead of building their private empires.

Also, in order to ensure that the Congress of the future reflects the mainstream of the electorate--we need non-partisan redistricting.

Excelsior

[ Parent ]
Where to start... (4.00 / 1)
CM/CE, nonpartisan redistricting, for the love of god can we figure out the voting machines??? thanx... Optical Scan looks the best from where I'm sitting, but I don't know all that much about it.

I'm not crazy about term limits... but maybe term limits on leadership positions?  That'd solve the whole Shelly/Uncle Joe problem without forcing any good ones out.

I don't know about leadership term limits (0.00 / 0)
It to me seems like a non-starter. The old leaders like Bruno and Shelly would still hold huge amounts of influence as the old leaders would most certainly support one of "their" guys and they still control the majority of the caucus. Until the "reform" caucus controls a majority or a very close minority it doesn't make sense to place term limits on the leadership.

Reality has a well known liberal Bias-Stephen Colbert
[ Parent ]
So Much To Do (4.00 / 1)
In addition to what's already been mentioned above:

* Better oversight of the state's myriad authorities;
* Judicial reform and streamlining of the court structure, and outright elimination of the town/village courts -- these may have made some sense 250 years ago, but no longer;
* The creation of a statewide ombudsman/public advocate, which would be an elected position.  (It might be better to have the term staggered vis-a-vis other statewide offices, with elections held in presidential years so as to promote greater independence from those offices.)

I'm sure there are plenty of others I could come up with given additional time.

On that note... (0.00 / 0)
how bout no more judicial elections for any judge- instead have senate ratification and a LIFETIME appointment.
[ Parent ]
About public authorities: (4.00 / 2)
*Establish a blue-ribbon commission to evaluate all of the state's public authorities and make recommendations for which ones to be disbanded or consolidated.

*Abolish all public authorities that are used solely as financing mechanisms to get around state debt limits. 

*Require comptroller approval for all contracts greater than $5,000 that any authority enters into and also mandate biannual audits of every authority by the Comptroller's office, with the aid of a new Deputy Comptroller created for this purpose. 

*Abolish the Public Authorities Control Board.

*Cap the maximum amount of compensation for any officer in a public authority at $100,000.

*Contractors with business or potential business with public authorities must be barred from making campaign contributions to any state official or any municipal official who has board appointees on an authority the contractor has potential business with. 

*Adopt the four-part authority classification scheme proposed by ex-Comptroller Hevesi's prposed public authority reform legislation. 

*Prohibit any member of an authority's board from serving as an executive officer on that authority. 

*Require competitive bidding for all authority contracts. 

[ Parent ]
The Public Authorities - the test for true reformers? (4.00 / 4)
Let's have that Blue ribbon committee start with public hearings immediately to get the public up to speed on what/how their government has been hijacked by this process. According to Sen. Lachman in Three Men in a Room (BTW: let's all meet at the book club Monday night! there is no definitive count of the number of actual authorities! Maybe that would have been a good question for the comptroller candidates: what is the number of NY State Authorities?

According to ex-comptroller Hevesi there are 740 authorities in the state. This from a good overview page at:
Reforming Public Authorities (Gotham Gazette. June 19, 2006). He gives examples of corruption in the authorities, and how much money this is costing us, i.e., "New York State is the second most indebted state in America. Our debt is going to kill us."

Obviously its been fun chasing member items, but it seems to me this is where the real problems are.

[ Parent ]
Damn, you're good, am... (4.00 / 1)
exactly.

We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
Creating a state Independent Budget Office (4.00 / 1)
and requiring the governor to submit a 4-year budget plan consistent with generally accepted accunting principles, like the NYC mayor is required to do. 
An Independent redistricting comission (4.00 / 1)
to draw legislative districts, and those for congress
And perhaps most importantly, (0.00 / 0)
MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATION!!!

*Abolish all fire, sewer, and library districts and give those duties to the counties they were in.

*May be politically hard, but morph school districts into county governments, like was done in NYC.

*Abolish all villiages, and incorporate them into the towns they are in. 

*Change town governments into what borough governments are in NYC- limited, ceremonial posts that can give input on local zoning issues. 

*Make counties the primary form of municipal govenrment outside NYC and give them greater independence on taxing issues.  The reason property taxes are so damn high is that property taxes are the only type of taxes counties can raise without approval from the legislature.  It counties could raise sales taxes or create progressive income taxes instead of killing the middle class with property taxes, it would do everyone a world of good. 

Uh, sorry, but - (4.00 / 1)
I think these may be issues worth discussing once we have a state government that's actually responsive to voters, but I don't think these are anywhere near the root of the problems with state government.

Personally, I'd push for easier village creation rather than harder, and a clear path for villages to become cities.  (The requirement for cities to be chartered by the legislature is currently a huge barrier.)

I don't find the thought of strengthening county government a good idea or even a democratic one.

So please, keep these off the general 'Reform Albany' agenda.

[ Parent ]
I disagree (0.00 / 0)
All these little political feifdoms do drive up property taxes and create loads of waste.  And villiages are essentially a tool for wealthy communities to seperate themselves from the tax base of their less fortunate neighbors, perpetuating extreme inequality in municipal services. 

Spitzer himself said 4,200 seperate taxing entities are too much for one state.  It makes no sense to have local government that can have jurisdiction over as little as 500 people (the minimum requirement for a villiage). 

[ Parent ]
please look at how NY municipal government works (0.00 / 0)
Do you actually live in one of those places?  From your comment, I doubt you do, unless you never read your tax bills.

Villages aren't actually separate from towns - village residents pay taxes _on top of_ town taxes.  In theory towns can't tax village residents for services provided exclusively outside the villages (like roads), but in practice, because of the way sales tax is applied, the village residents just pay taxes on top.

Cities are separate from towns, but come with a whole new set of responsibilities (and residents still pay county taxes).  As a means of separating themselves from their neighbors, villages and even cities are a pretty lousy option.

4200 taxing entities isn't that crazy for a state of 19 million people spread over 47,213 square miles.

Please keep this out of the main Albany reform agenda.  It's a complicated issue, but it has little to do with the transparency of state government or its responsiveness to citizens.

[ Parent ]
I know how municipal government works, thanks (4.00 / 1)
It is true that villiages are taxed in addition to town taxes.  But guess what that does?  It destroys any political will to make town services better.  Residents of villages pay extra to have good services, so they elect town politicians who want lower town taxes because they dont benefit as much from town services.  And what does that leave?  Towns that have terrible services where there are no villages incorporated, i.e., where the poor people live.

It's the same problem with private schools.  Private schools destroy political will to improve the public education system because the people with political clout get to ensure their kids get good educations in private schools and therefore they dont care how the public schools are.  Without the most powerful people in a sciety caring, the public schools go to shit.  It's the same thing with towns and villiages. 

And I also don't appreciate you telling me that this discussion is not appropriate here.  The structure of municipal governments is created by the state, and our mess at the municipal level is a direct result of the dysfunction in Albany.  All the laws that create these governments are state laws.  In addition, the current municipal structure creates entrenched political feifdoms that only worsens the culture of inept incumbency that our state government is so paralized by. 

[ Parent ]
I guess I could invite you to visit (4.00 / 1)
Dryden, but you seem pretty uninterested in considering that the world might be different from what you expect.

Strangely, we have a Village of Dryden with municipal services, and a Town of Dryden with services.  The sewer and water in the Town even cover a lot of the poorer folks, and not just in the areas adjacent to the Village.

The Villages of Dryden and Freeville do share a police force, while the Town relies on the County Sheriff and State Police, but I haven't heard much suggestion that the Town should increase its services.

The Villages also share their fire departments with the Town, in a complicated 4-company district.

The Town of Dryden and Village of Dryden share a combined justice system run by the Town.

Is it perfect?  No.  There are times when it takes negotiation to get things done, more than might be necessary if it was just one government.  At the same time, though, I don't see any movement toward disincorporating the villages or combining the town into the county.  Working together jointly, certainly.  Abolishing the lines?  Definitely not.

As for the discussion being appropriate - it's appropriate to discuss, but I'd fight like hell to keep it out of a formal agenda for state reform.  Reform the state first, make it responsive to voters, and then let that state government figure out what it wants to do with municipal law.

[ Parent ]
That's fair (0.00 / 0)
Just 2 things: 1) Municipal governments are the farm team for the state government.  If we allow all these tiny entities that are just asking for corruption, it produces a state government filled with people who are not responsie to the people.  For every Dryden, there is also a Rosilyn.  2) I'm sure Dryden is a nice place, as are probably many villages.  But your account of Dryden is anecdotal evidence.  We should seriously compile a empirical study of the costs vs benefits of having this type of overlapping system.  That is what Spitzer proposes, and I agree.  Let's get the facts first.  I do know however, that Connecticut has significantly lower property taxes than NY and they only have one level of municipal government- the town.  Counties in CT are basically ceremonial entities.  While I support strengthening counties in NY, I would find the CT alternative acceptable because is adheres to the same principle- onle level of municipal government only.  It works in NYC, and NYC has far lower property taxes than its suburban neighbors. 
[ Parent ]
anecdotes (0.00 / 0)
NYC has far lower property taxes, but it also has a vastly different tax and government structure overall.  I don't think it makes for a clean comparison.

I also suspect a study might find differences across the state.  What works or doesn't work on Long Island is probably different from what works or doesn't work in the Adirondacks or suburban Rochester.  When you get down to details, it's all anecdotal.  New York is too big and too diverse for one size fits all.

As for the farm team argument, it sounds to me like you're hoping to abolish most of the positions that build that farm team in the first place.  I'm not sure that obliterating most of the elected positions available for that farm team is a good idea, nor do I think that consolidation into larger units improves the quality of government.  Among other things, representatives get more remote as they represent more people.

[ Parent ]
And (0.00 / 0)
because rich and poor all share the same services in NYC, there is political will to make them better for everybody. 
[ Parent ]
upstate (0.00 / 0)
won't like the thought of a government model that has much to do with NYC... you might want to reconsider how you market that.
[ Parent ]
Agreed... (0.00 / 0)
Just because something can work in NYC or even might work on the island, things operate incredibly differently upstate.
[ Parent ]
Fair enough (0.00 / 0)
Just use Connecticut instead.  Or look at David Rusk's excellent report on upstate New York (he's a former mayor from the west and is a guru on municipal consolidation- I highly recommend reading his work). 

YOu can read it here:  http://www.gamaliel....

[ Parent ]
Cities (0.00 / 0)
probably should be able to annex more aggressively that they do now, and consolidation encouraged on a case-by-case basis.

However, I'd remind you that the report focused on cities and their immediate environs, not the more rural areas.

[ Parent ]
Amen Roatti (0.00 / 0)
We've had some of this discussion before...

http://thealbanyproj...

I can appreciate some of Simon's Dryden anecdotes, especially since many of my ancestors are buried in Willow Glen Cemetery.  However, it's also worth noting that Tompkins County is something of an upstate anomoly.

IMHO, the local government structure issues in NYS are huge.  Unfortunately this 18th century structure is ensconced in the Constitution and thus not easily remedied.  The fact that these are Constitutional issues places them squarely on the NYS reform plate.

Today's Cortland Standard has an article indicating that the Town and Village of Homer are commencing to contemplate merger.  The City of Cortland and Town of Cortlandville should be talking along these lines too.  There needs to be many more such discussions across this State, and I believe that this forum should be helping to make that happen.

[ Parent ]
Structures need flexibility, not demolition (0.00 / 0)
The structures work pretty well in the rural environment they were designed to manage.  I grew up in Steuben County, which frequently seems like an anarchist-Republican collective, and didn't find a lot of sign that too many towns or villages were a problem. 

They work pretty well in Tompkins County, though the value of a Town of Ithaca separate from the City of Ithaca  seems to me to be dwindling.

They don't work so well around cities, and there are cases where governments can work together to save money.  Fine - address those.

But please don't make claims like Roatti's that most of local government needs to be erased as a key part of reforming state government.  Removing Towns and Villages entirely is not a minor decision.

[ Parent ]
I know this type of reform isnt a minor decision (0.00 / 0)
But I think it's necessary if we are to ever remedy the economic woes of upstate.  I read the Times article abotu Spitzer's plans to consolidate the prison system that was published last week, and in that article it said that 2/3 of the jobs created upstate since 1990 wer epublic sector jos.  I don't think that's a sustainable trend.  Obviously a lot more than municipal consolidation needs to be done upstate, but I think it's a start. 
[ Parent ]
Function over Form (4.00 / 1)
It seems to me that the focus needs to be on better organizing the functions that need to be performed in a way that gets rid of the excessive administrative overhead associated with all of these fragmented jurisdictions. 

For example, why does every highway department, school district, police department, and fire district need to have its own arrangements for maintaining its fleet of vehicles?  Couldn't a more regionalized garage handle all of the various vehicles?  Why do each of the 4,200 autonomous taxing jurisdictions need to have individual lawyers, accountants, clerks, etc., when some sort of more centralized support staff could likely serve multiple jurisdictions with much less expense and variability in performance?

The myriad boundary lines w/in NY's borders seem to be getting in the way of a more rational model of local government service delivery, and the costs associated with all that overhead are driving folks away.

[ Parent ]
Agreed, Teaparty2 (0.00 / 0)
I saw that when it came out.  I think this site is having a lot more traffic now than it did when that diary was published, so I think we should have this discussion again.  Merging is the new thing for regions of the coutry that care about remaining competitive in the global market, and I think that NYS needs to move it or lose it. 
[ Parent ]
write a diary... (4.00 / 1)
...let's flesh this out...

We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
I have to do some research first (0.00 / 0)
but i'll try to write something tomorrow
[ Parent ]
Municipal form and shared services (4.00 / 3)
...can definitely be addressed in a separate forum, and should be.  I live just across the lake from Dryden, but I am much more in agreement with teaparty2 and Roatti than my Dryden neighbor.  Spitzer has a plan here, too, I think-- Marty Mack (from Cortland!) wrote a report on this while still working in the AG office.  I've spoken to him about it since he became the Deputy for Intergovernmental Affairs... he certainly still seems to think some local governmental expenditure shrinkage is in order.  I know that at my Town Hall, a staff member feeds a Town Hall Cat on my tax dollars; I could see that homey piece of Americana slip into the past.  We also have trouble recruiting enough good people to run for Town and Village Board seats in our rural areas-- just working on that last night, in fact.
[ Parent ]
Lakewood Plan (4.00 / 2)
Los Angeles County is highly urbanized and the most populous county in the U.S., so perhaps its lessons aren't transferable to upstate New York.  But it has a unique intergovernmental system unlike other counties in California.  Municipalities can voluntarily contract selected services out to the county.  This helps keep taxes down, but maintains local control.  Perhaps this approach would have applicability in rural areas as well.

This approach is called the "Lakewood Plan" after the city that orginiated it.  More information is available here:
http://www.lakewoodc...

[ Parent ]
Makes sense to me. (4.00 / 1)
I know of at least one large suburban town in the Capital District that uses this approach by contracting w/ County Sheriff and State Police to meet its needs.  Much to my chagrin, my town has instead gone way overboard in having a large police force of its own at great expense (in addition to the ongoing presence of Sheriff and NYSP forces). 

I guess the point is you don't necessarily need to have total consolidation, as long as real functional consolidation can somehow be achieved.  The stalemate between the traditional all or nothing arguments has done  much to maintain the sorry status quo, so I'm all for taking a fresh look at how others have left the 18th century models behind.

[ Parent ]
More Electoral Competition . . . (0.00 / 0)
Take down the signature wall Mr. Spitzer !

Let individuals run for office, not parties.
One hundred dollar filing fee, any state office.

Big, quick reform would follow.
NON-partisan elections, IRV or Range voting.

The big money will still win, for a while.

Accepting the legitimacy of government force for your conception of the polity is to be admonished.

Important (4.00 / 1)
I second that.

Non-partisan municipal elections is a key reform that has already been implemented in most major U.S. cities (I believe).  Bloomberg advocated it in NYC, and was shot down by both major parties.  But it was an important idea, and we should push for it.

As for statewide politics, NY's bizarre system allowing the cross-endorsement of candidates is also very damaging.  It allows "parties" that consist of a few self-appointed individuals to control a disproportionate amount of political power.  It should be replaced with a system that allows easy ballot access to third parties, but requires them to nominate their own candidates.

[ Parent ]
Comptroller (0.00 / 0)
As a researcher on public finance and public policy, I generally find the reports issued by the New York State Comptroller's office next-to-useless.

Compare them with my previous home state of California, where the State Controller's Office publishes extremely detailed, transparent and useful annual reports on the finances of every unit of government in the state:
http://www.sco.ca.go...

Legislation requiring reporting on the California model would be a tremendous step forward.

Here's one: Close Tax Loopholes (4.00 / 1)
In particular, there's a tax loophole that lets companies pay themselves rent and then deduct that "rent" from their taxes.

Governor Spitzer, with support from UNITE HERE and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, has proposed closing that loophole as part of his budget.  Closing this one loophole would save the state $83 million each year.  But companies that take advantage of the loophole are claiming that closing the loophole is, no surprise, a new tax.

More here

Take a Stand on Stem Cells - (0.00 / 0)
Make sure every elected's and candidate's websites show clearly whether or not they support funding for stem cell research.

Too often not clear!

Focus on Stellar Senior Health (0.00 / 0)
Make sure our seniors are not overlooked and overwhelmed by the healthcare process and healthcare industry. Make it easiest for them, when ill, to get the best of healthcare.

To be fleshed out - open for your suggestions.

The whole package... (0.00 / 0)
Well folks, that's good for next week... then after that? 

For me, the reforms mentioned that actually affect the legislative process and how vacancies in statewide positions are filled must be top priority!

I'd also like to see unfettered initiative and referendum to give citizens a say as we know what kind of results we get when we let the Legislature do things themselves.  The Lege in the past has had supporters for limited I & R with the Lege having final say.  That's not good enough.

Call me naive but if we reform the legislative process, making rank and file legislators actually do their jobs instead of following marching orders with a citizen "check" in I and R a lot of the other things mentioned that aren't truly Albany problems can be taken care of with the fixed process.

I'd love to participate as a CBGNY member if you all will have me.

John

Nemo me impune lacessit - Who the heck is Nemo and why is he speaking Latin?

You bet... (0.00 / 0)


We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
One thing I don't understand . . . (0.00 / 0)
In simplistic terms, any business can deduct costs to operate its business from its tax return.  A business has to pay for real estate it uses in a given location.  If this payment is in the form of rent or depreciation / taxes, etc, in and of itself, that would be a legitimate tax deduction.

I get the impression this topic is much more complicated.  I'm assuming the tax deductions in question are not considerable reasonable cost of operations but, rather, transfer of earnings to non NY organizations, disguised as tax deductions.

One other question - if the rent is a deduction in NY, some organization, somewhere, is getting income, which is presumably taxable.  Where does that go?

oops, wrong string (0.00 / 0)
this belongs in the tax loophole string
[ Parent ]
'sokay... (0.00 / 0)
...it's all ending up in the same place.

We've got some work ahead of us.
[ Parent ]
Check the Wall St. Journal/Real Estate Journal article... (4.00 / 1)
... that I posted in the other string.  It explains pretty clearly how this particular tax scam works, and why it is legal in about 25 states.  While your logic is impeccable, our tax system is illogical. 
This is one of my favorite geeky topics, but, rather than bore the readership to tears, let me just suggest that anyone who has the ovaries (or cahones) for it can read more about tax policy at:
http://www.ctj.org/..... and, true tax policy wonks can even get the Citizens for Tax Justice newsletter delivered to their in-box!
[ Parent ]
The Albany Project Reform Agenda | 53 comments
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