Today, I post part one of my interview with Huletts Assemblyman, Tony Jordan.
Thank you Assemblyman Jordan for agreeing to be interviewed by the Huletts Current. You are the Assemblyman for Huletts Landing and the Town of Dresden. While you are a relatively new Assemblyman, you have strong roots in the Adirondacks. Could you tell our readers about yourself?
I grew up in North Creek in the heart of the Adirondacks and graduated from Johnsburg High School in 1982. I received my Bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in finance from the University of Notre Dame in 1986. After working for eight years in Glens Falls as a corporate lender, I went to law school receiving my Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of law, graduating in 1995 Magna Cum Laude.
I now live in the Town of Jackson in Washington County with my wife Wendy and our four children: Gabrielle, Tricia, Luke and Eliza. In addition to being the Assemblyman for the 112th Assembly District, I am a Partner in the Law firm Jordan & Kelly located in the Village of Greenwich.
Right now you are pushing for some broad ethics reforms that are much needed. Could you tell us what you’re hoping to accomplish?
Ethics Reform has been a much discussed topic in Albany and necessarily so. Whether it is the Joe Bruno trial, Governor Patterson’s current distractions, including charges of ethical violations, or a litany of prior legislators who are under investigation or have been removed for inappropriate conduct, it is important that we pass strong and effective ethics reform to begin restoring confidence in New Yorkers in their elected officials. To me personally, the most important element is to look at the causes for ethical violation and how best to address the conduct.
One would hope that a person’s own moral compass would guide them properly. For the vast majority of the legislators in Albany that is the case. Unfortunately, the few who lack a solid moral compass have caused a black eye for the whole.
One of the primary contributing factors to the recent instances of apparent ethical violations all seem to stem from power and money. In the Albany political system currently, the leaders of the respective houses of government control all of the power both in terms of allocation of monetary resources and staffing allocation. Additionally, the majority also control what Bills are advanced through committees and make it to the floor for vote. With this disproportionate control and power comes great opportunity for abuse and attempted influence by special interest groups. One way to address this problem is to allocate resources, including both monetary, staffing and movement of Bills, equally rather than based on ones membership in a particular party.
Another issue being addressed is outside employment. Many suggest we should go to full-time legislators banning outside employment. Our founding fathers never intended our legislators to be full-time. In fact it is the proliferation of full-time professional legislators that has contributed to our ever-growing government. If we were to restrict the length of legislative session to perhaps two months, as many other states do and have done successfully, reduce the pay to legislators correspondingly and then require all legislators to disclose not only their outside income but also the amount of time they commit on a monthly basis to that outside employment, we could go a long way toward reducing influences of Special Interest groups through employment opportunities. At the same time by reducing the legislative season, we reduce the number of Bills that become law that frustrate and limit business opportunities in the State.
In April of 2009 the Assembly passed an Ethics Reform bill that introduced many important new safeguards. Regrettably, neither the Senate nor Governor acted on that legislation. Earlier this session both the Senate and the Assembly passed an Ethics Reform bill that was not as strong as it could have been but was widely regarded by watch dog groups as a vast improvement over current law. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed the Bill. I imagine because of the Governor’s current personal crisis and the fact that we are in the budget negotiation season the Ethics Reform Bill has not received the attention it should. It is my hope that once we move through the budget season that we are able again to pick up this important piece of legislation to find an appropriate compromise to insure its passage.
Presently, the Huletts Volunteer fire department is trying to obtain approval for a cell phone tower that would cover a major part of the northern basin of Lake George. The public would benefit and the volunteer fire department would also receive much needed income. You must hear many comments about the slow approval process for cell phone towers in the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Park Agency has moved from protecting the environment to actually working against Adirondack communities. Is there anything that can be done to encourage high tech investment in Adirondack communities and make the APA accountable for nonsensical delays?
Expanded agency control and regulation is one of the biggest issues facing our state right now. Many State agencies have run wild and wandered far from their original purpose and intent. The APA is a prime example. Instead of focusing on protecting and/or enhancing the natural beauty of the Adirondacks, the APA has created a bureaucratic machine that has stifled any meaningful economic development in the park since the late 1970’s. Much of what the Park Agency does is important and well intended. Cell phone towers and the current wind project at Barton Mines are examples where the Agency has lost its way. Projects that should be completed in 6-10 months take years. As an example, cell tower projects outside the park are generally subject to 2-5 photo simulations as a part of the balloon tests. In the Park, they have to perform up to 50 photo simulations which can more than triple the cost of the application to the company.
The State Legislature and Governor must reign in these out of control agencies and get them back to working toward their primary goals. In addition, a modicum of common sense needs to be exercised by these agencies rather than an endless pursuit to render business and manufacturing opportunities in New York extinct.
…. to be continued. I will post part two of my interview with Assemblyman Jordan on Saturday.