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"Candidates Meet In Saranac Lake"- Plattsburgh
Press-Republican, June 9, 2006
By Ned Rauch, Staff Writer
(SARANAC LAKE) The primary elections are months away,
but the election season is dawning.
Five aspiring elected officials, three Assembly hopefuls, one aiming
for State Senate and the other eyeing a seat in Congress, gathered
at a church hall in Saranac Lake Thursday night to answer questions
about property taxes, health-care costs, the Adirondack Park Agency,
job growth and the high price of fuel.
The event was sponsored by the group Voters For Change and attended
by about 45 people.
Among those not there were the two incumbents: Sen. Betty Little
(R-Queensbury) and U.S. Rep John McHugh (R-Pierrepont) did not
attend.
That left Democrats Tim Merrick, a chiropractor from Plattsburgh
running against Little, and Dr. Bob Johnson, a Sackets Harbor
surgeon hoping to unseat McHugh, free to answer questions without
challenge from their opponents.
Merrick said Little's strength is that she brings money to the
district and that will end when Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general
who is running for governor, succeeds Pataki.
Turning to the vexing problem of property taxes, Merrick said the
area's primary homeowners should be given a tax credit to offset the
impact expensive second homes have on local assessments.
Johnson, the one candidate vying for a seat in federal government,
spent much of his time at the podium bashing his opponent and
decrying the Bush administration. A veteran himself, he called the
war in Iraq a "colossal blunder" and said the president's
warrantless eavesdropping program ought to be investigated.
He also called for the creation of a national health care system
"where everybody pays and everybody's covered."
The other three candidates, Andrew Brockway, a Plattsburgh Democrat,
Janet Duprey, a Republican and the Clinton County treasurer, and
Democrat Kevin Nichols, a lawyer from Malone, are hoping to replace
the outgoing Chris Ortloff and represent the 114th District in the
Assembly.
In answering nearly a dozen questions from the moderator, press and
audience, the three candidates didn't try to distinguish themselves
from each other as much as introduce themselves to the audience.
Very few answers began with the words, "Unlike my opponent!"
All three agreed, for example that property taxes are too high and
all three dismissed the idea of establishing different tax rates for
full-time residents and second-homeowners.
Brockway, the youngest of the bunch, repeatedly stressed the need
for the state to take on Medicaid costs and relieve local
governments and property owners.
"In order to have affordable housing, we need to reduce the tax
burden on our property owners," he said.
Nichols called for an end to unfunded mandates from the state
(others would make the same call in answering other questions) and
said a restructuring of school funding could help local taxpayers.
Duprey described the entire real property tax system as "broken."
Asked how they would spur job growth, the candidates talked about
improving the region's high-tech infrastructure, bringing broadband
Internet service to the area. Duprey said the Northway ought to have
continuous cell-phone coverage and that the region must be better at
"selling our people" as a viable workforce.
Nichols emphasized the need to educate the area's youth to be able
to compete in the world market.
A question about the Adirondack Park Agency elicited a variety of
two-sided answers.
Brockway said the agency should continue to fight homes that block
scenic vistas (he cited the Spiegel home in Lake Placid as an
example). He also said the APA should allow the creation of a trail
system for ATV riders.
Nichols said while the APA does a lot to protect the area's natural
resources, it also hinders development.
He said Tupper Lake should not have had to tangle with the agency as
it sought to bring a new power line to the village.
Duprey said the agency isn't "user-friendly" and has stifled
business growth in Hamilton County. She also said the park's
communities can't go back to "the days of freedom zoning."
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