SD-56: Meet Robin Wilt

by: Roatti

Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 15:41:49 PM EDT

As mentioned last week, here is my interview with the excellent challenger to Joe Robach, Robin Wilt.  Enjoy!

Why are you running for the State Senate? How do you think you could represent the 56th district better than Joe Robach?

My candidacy for State Senate is a natural extension of the experiences I have accrued over the past several years as a small business owner, a parent, and a community activist advocating for policy that will help working families. Between his tenures in the State Assembly and Senate, my opponent has represented Monroe County residents in Albany for almost 18 years. However, in that time frame, our region has experienced a loss of 32% of its manufacturing base, a decline in population, and a steady increase in its tax burden. As someone who has experienced first-hand the travails of a stagnant economy, I will bring a perspective to Albany that will guide my policy-making in a way that my opponent cannot appreciate as a career politician. Unlike my opponent, I will not displace blame for the lack of progress in our region on other law makers, rather I will take responsibility for ensuring that policy is implemented that helps constituents in the greater Rochester area.

You are for a more progressive income tax. Can you elaborate on what rates on what brackets you would like to see?

According to the nonpartisan government finance watchdog group, New York Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the highest earners in our state (those making at least $633,000 annually) pay a disproportionately smaller percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the poorest and middle income earners in New York (7.2% vs. 9.2% and 11.6%, respectively). We have seen through growing budget deficits and related economic strife that this taxation model is not only unfair to the citizens of New York, but it does not work to balance our state's budget. In this climate of economic crisis, I would be a proponent of continued shared sacrifice, meaning I would oppose a sunset on the temporary surcharge that increased the top state tax rate for individual New Yorkers with taxable income greater than $200,000 and $500,000 to 7.85 percent and 8.97 percent, respectively.

While I think that progressive taxation is key to a fiscally responsible budget model, I do not think that it is the only reform necessary to achieving a sustainable financial future for New York. However, in the economic climate that the state currently faces, we must be careful not to make cuts in spending that hurt families and reduce necessary services, thereby exacerbating New York's economic woes because families and businesses have less to spend. According to public policy experts at the Center on Budget Policy Priorities, "*c+uts to state services not only harm vulnerable residents, but also worsen the recession - and dampen the recovery - by reducing overall economic activity. When states cut spending, they lay off employees, cancel contracts with vendors, reduce payments to businesses and nonprofits that provide services, and cut benefit payments to individuals. All of these steps remove demand from the economy." Once the economy is in a less fragile state, I would more readily consider
targeted cuts, but more so cuts aimed at improving government efficiency (i.e., consolidation), as opposed to simply limiting services.

You are on the record supporting marriage equality for all New Yorkers. Would you co-sponsor a marriage equality bill in the next session if elected?

If elected, I would not only co-sponsor, but I would champion marriage equality legislation in the next session.

You have a nuanced position on mayoral control of public schools. Can you elaborate?

First of all, I want to emphasize that I am a proponent of education reform. The future of our community is sitting in the classrooms of today, and we cannot continue to fail our children. I think that we have lost sight of the children in this whole debate, and they should be at the core of any policy measure. One of the reasons I am running for office is because I believe in implementing common sense policy that gets at the core of problems that people are facing, with the goal of improving their circumstances. The problem that we are trying to address with mayoral control is that we have underperforming schools: low graduation rates and lack of academic achievement on standardized tests abound in the Rochester City School District. The question is whether governance of the school is at the core of the problems that the City School District is facing. While the proposed legislation has provisions that we hope will increase parental involvement (and I support increased parental involvement in the schools), it does not have provisions to address some of the most basic problems that impact student achievement. I understand why some people would be sympathetic to mayoral control given the lack of performance under the current system, but we have to make sure that the policy fix will achieve the goals we want. Based on the available evidence, I am not convinced that governance of the schools is at the core of the problems the district faces. What I am suggesting is that before we try to make the Rochester City School infrastructure, which is four times larger than City Hall, into a subcategory of the city governance (thereby automatically adding a layer of bureaucracy to the schools), let's instead try to address the issues at the basis for low graduation rates. I see many social factors weighing in to create the circumstances we now see with the city schools, so let's address some of those social factors.

You believe that the Rochester area can experience economic revitalization through a green economy and investments in infrastructure and education- can you describe your vision with specifics?

Rochester has an aging infrastructure that is not as environmentally-sensitive as it needs to be for our evolving energy reality. Proactive initiatives to implement more energy-efficient building technologies have the dual benefit of saving money on utility expenditures, while being homegrown. Jobs greening our infrastructure cannot be shipped overseas, and by becoming leaders in the development and implementation of these technologies, Rochester-based contractors can become a resource to other communities. Rochester is blessed with a highly-educated population that historically has been very entrepreneurial. With targeted development funds, Rochester could become a center for green-based technologies, and we could create opportunities in educating a work force trained in implementing those technologies.

You cut your teeth in politics be founding the Genesee Valley chapter of Progressive Democrats of America- what did you learn from that experience?

One of the reasons I co-founded the Progressive Democrats of Genesee Valley chapter is because I did not feel that the entire spectrum of beliefs held within the Democratic Party was being represented in the priorities of the party or the selection of candidates for the Party. We had a lot of issues-based entities in Rochester that felt that the Democratic Party was no longer a platform for their beliefs or ideas. The Democratic Party is the big tent party, and one of the most significant lessons I learned is that we, as Democrats, need to remain committed to the ideals upon which we are elected to serve. If anything, my experience with the Progressive Democrats has convinced me even more that we need campaign finance reform at all jurisdictional levels.

You support the so-called "circuit breaker" to ensure that property taxes don't eat up more than a certain percentage of a homeowner's income. What percentage do you have in mind?

According to the nonpartisan educational organization, Tax Foundation, New York is home to all 10 of the top 10 counties with the highest property taxes as a percent of home values. Monroe County ranks fourth, overall. Nationally, the highest, middle and lowest wage earners, respectively, pay 0.7 percent, 2.7 percent and 3.6 percent of their income, on average, in property taxes. Only in the case of the highest wage earners are New York's property taxes commensurate with the national average (indeed they are a bit lower as a percentage of income for our wealthiest New Yorkers). I would seek to bring New York property tax burden as a percentage of household income more in line with national averages.

What are your thoughts about municipal consolidation to decrease the tax burden throughout the state? The New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act is a good start, but would you support a stronger bill that categorically consolidates certain types of taxing districts, like sewer and fire districts, into county governments?

I think that we have to be careful about one-size-fits-all solutions to municipal governance, but I do support the New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act. I would also support investigating the impact of additional measures to consolidate government. There are obviously efficiencies to be gained in that area.

If elected, what plans do you have to increase ethics oversight and transparency in Albany? Would you support an ethics enforcement agency that is fully independent from the legislature?

As a result of the Open Government Act of 2007, that is precisely what we have at the federal level, and if elected, I would support something similar for New York State. While we have the internal entity in the House Ethics Committee at the federal level, in addition to that, we also have the Office of Congressional Ethics that is quasi-independent, and has been fulfilling its mission to keep the public better informed and root out corruption. In the interest of shedding sunlight on the habits of our lawmakers and creating accountability, I see no reason not to emulate that model at the state level.

Would you vote for redistricting plan that is not written by an entity independent of the legislature?

While there is no provision for that currently, I would certainly support its creation. I think it clearly represents a conflict of interest for lawmakers to draw their own districts.

Do you support campaign finance reform such as Clean Money, Clean Elections?

I unequivocally support clean money, clean elections reform. I have been a longtime proponent of public financing of elections, and I would champion such reform if in the Senate.

Would you vote for Pedro Espada as majority leader at the start of the next session, assuming he is not in jail and has won re-election?

I would not support Pedro Espada as majority leader next session.

If the Farmworkers Bill of Rights comes up in the next session, how would you vote on it?

I supported the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, and I would support a Farmworkers Bill of Rights.

What is your position on hydraulic fracturing or "hydrofracking" in natural gas deposits in New York?

In a world where access to fresh water is increasingly becoming fraught with conflict, it is vitally important to the future of our region that we be vigilant stewards of some of the globe's largest fresh water reserves. Hydro-fracking could have grave impacts on the potability of our region's water supply, and thereby, represents a threat to our region's economic well-being. Monroe County relies on watersheds in the Finger Lakes, so this is an issue that impacts our entire community. Moreover, as a licensed real estate agent, I understand the lending and title implications that arise from gas leases.

Before the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grants permits to the oil and natural gas industry to begin the initial stages of the hydro-fracking process, the public should have the benefit of reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) comprehensive study into the hazards linked to hydro-fracking. That is why I wholeheartedly supported the moratorium on hydro-fracking as proposed in the recently-passed Englebright-Addabo bill.

With the future of our community at stake, we need to study the effects of hydro-fracking on our drinking water, on public health, and on the environment before we allow it in our state.