Redlich for Governor

I’m honored to be a part of this event. I should be on at 7:30 pm EST.

When looking at public sector pay in New York, schools stand out with some very highly paid staff. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, education administrator pay in NY is among the highest in the nation, with an annual mean wage of $101,590 (as of May 2008). See this chart in pdf: BLS – School Administrator Pay

Some argue that you have to pay that much to get quality administrators, otherwise they’d go elsewhere. Really?

For half the states, mean wage was less than $82K. Many of these states have arguably better education results, such as test scores as shown on psk12.com.

It is long past time to correct excessive pay in the public sector here in New York State. The arguments against such a move are looking weaker.

Governor candidate Warren Redlich says the Tea Party should have a Soda Party. If Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson get their way, it could happen soon.

The broad spread of the tax is also bothersome. “It’s on ’sugared drinks.’ That includes Gatorade, which is not only healthier than sodas, but also has fewer calories than fruit juice,” Redlich noted.

Warren Redlich is seeking the Republican and Libertarian nominations for governor.

Albany, NY -3/8/10:

Governor candidate Warren Redlich condemned the latest Atlantic Yards court decision. Justice Abraham Gerges upheld the seizure of homes and businesses so that developer Bruce Ratner can build apartments, office space and a sports arena in Brooklyn.

In Redlich’s view, Atlantic Yards is a symptom of the state’s problems: “Politicians reward and protect insiders, like we keep seeing in the Capitol. Eminent domain can be used, sparingly, when government takes private property for public purposes such as a road. But the Kelo decision and projects like Atlantic Yards grossly abuse eminent domain to benefit private developers connected with political leaders.”

While other states have acted to curb eminent domain abuse, New York’s legislators and governors have done nothing. New York taxpayers fund the violation of property rights in such cases as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and West Harlem in Manhattan, for the benefit of developers. Redlich would amend eminent domain laws to protect property owners.

Redlich also calls for abolishing the involved state agencies, including the Empire State Development Corporation and others. Eliminating “economic development” spending would save approximately $3 billion in the state budget.

ForestCityRatner has announced that it will begin groundbreaking on Thursday, March 11th. Public officials who have supported the project such as Governor Paterson, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz, and others are expected. There will be a protest rally and Libertarians will participate.

Warren Redlich, a Republican member of the Guilderland Town Board, is seeking the Republican and Libertarian nominations for Governor. His position statement on eminent domain can be found at: http://wredlich.com/ny/issues/eminent-domain/

-30-

Redlich for Governor 255 Washington Ave. Ext., Suite 108 Albany, NY 12205 www.wredlich.com/ny

Dan Lynch was kind enough to interview me today on his radio show on Talk 1300.

Below are links to the four segments of the interview. Throughout the interview spending was the biggest topic and it came up again and again. We also talked about Second Amendment and much more.

Redlich-Lynch 1 (10 1/2 minutes – Intro, Spending Cuts, Second Amendment)

Redlich-Lynch 2 (8 minutes – Spending Cuts, Pay/Pension Caps, Public Service)

Redlich-Lynch 3 (20 minutes – Political Philosophy, Drug War, Spending Cuts, Economic Development, Hard Choices, Education Spending, Gambling, Public Integrity, Election Law)

Redlich-Lynch 4 (2 1/2 minutes – Conclusion: The Bubble, Soda Tax, Insiders)

Here’s a typical gun case in Albany. I’m told this happens about once a week in Colonie Town Court and I have defended several of them:

John, a licensed pistol owner from another state, flies into Albany Airport on business. At his home airport he checks his pistol following FAA regulations. He arrives in Albany and picks up his pistol at baggage claim, and leaves to go to his conference. After a few days, he returns to the airport to fly home. He checks his pistol following FAA regulations.

At this moment, John no longer possesses the gun. Even under loose notions of possession, he does not have control over it any more because the airline personnel now have it.

The airline personnel notify the Sheriff’s office. A deputy sheriff comes over and arrests John for unlawful possession of a weapon under Penal Law § 265.01, an A misdemeanor – a crime.

While I don’t like this whole situation, I will give credit to the deputies for something. In all of the cases I’ve seen, they don’t hold the defendant. They detain John for a fairly brief period and give him a ticket to show up in Colonie Town Court. John makes his plane home.

I will also give credit to the prosecutors and judge. While these cases don’t get dismissed, I have been able to negotiate reductions to non-criminal violations without my clients having to come back to Court. And we usually are able to get the gun back, through licensed firearms dealers.

It may not be obvious, so I’ll be clear why this is stupid. The biggest reason is because John is leaving. It might make some sense if John was arrested at baggage claim when he arrives in Albany. The vague idea of NY’s gun laws is to protect residents from people carrying guns in our state. John is no longer carrying the gun, so this is idiotic. Even the anti-gun people I talk to think this is stupid.

There are other problems. John is a licensed gun owner in another state. He followed FAA regulations by checking the gun. He is, generally, a law-abiding citizen. He didn’t cause any problems while in NY. John is not a danger.

Also, as discussed on my Second Amendment page, it is essentially impossible for an out-of-state resident to get a pistol license in New York. This is unconstitutionall.

No one told John he can’t bring his gun into New York. “Well, he should have checked first,” you might say. Do you check whether your drivers license is valid when you travel to other states? One simple step for NY, and something I would do as Governor, is direct our police to respect firearms licenses from other states.

I talk to every client about fighting the case, but so far all of them just want to get it over with and move on with their lives. One of these days …

There was an opinion piece in Sunday’s Times Union, The risk we face …

I just sent in a letter – see below:

To the Editor:

Robert Ward writes about the state budget problems and says: “The potential solutions are all bad.” He’s wrong.

In my campaign for Governor I have proposed good solutions.

We can save billions by eliminating “economic development” spending. It’s really corporate welfare, or as some call it, crony capitalism.

We can also end excessive compensation in the public sector. The head of the New York Public Library makes $688,000 a year. The U Albany President pulls down a $280K salary, a $261K pension, and $100K more consulting for another state agency.

By capping public sector pay at $100,000 a year, and public sector pensions at $75K, we will save billions now and even more in the future.

Our leaders suggest taxing soda, closing parks, and laying off teachers. We need other options.

The national media sees only two candidates. Rick Lazio is bought and paid for by Wall Street, Andrew Cuomo by the real estate industry. Lazio pushed for easier mortgage lending while he was in Congress. Cuomo did the same while heading HUD. Together they helped crash the world economy. Neither offers concrete answers to the budget.

Each has spent the last 20 or more years in the same bubble, far removed from the lives of regular people.

Think outside the bubble.

Warren Redlich

– After I sent the letter I noticed that the article’s author, Robert Ward, works for the State. According to seethroughny.net, his salary in 2008 was $141K. He might not like my solutions.

I just had a great meeting with a group in Rochester — It’s called We Surround Rochester, and it’s affiliated with Glenn Beck’s 912 Project.

We conducted the meeting via Skype. I’m sitting here in the “office’ in our house (also known as the guest bedroom and formerly the nursery). They had a computer where they are and connected it to a big-screen TV and some speakers. My laptop has a built-in camera and, through Skype, they could see me on the screen and hear me talking on the speakers. I was also able to hear them. I gave a brief introduction to my campaign and then answered a lot of questions.

I thought it went really well. Of course I forgot to hit the “record” button. I meant to post the audio here. But there were great questions and it was a great way to carry the Stop Wasting Money message to other places.

One of the difficult things about running for statewide office is, well, it’s a wide state. Traveling to Rochester to meet with 50 people isn’t a very good use of a candidate’s time.** But doing it from home via Skype is much more efficient.

I have another Skype meeting coming up next week, and we’re working on yet another one. If you have a group that would like to meet with me and you can set up a Skype session on your end, that would be a great way for members of your group to find out more about me and the Stop Wasting Money campaign.

** People don’t like hearing that but it’s a practical reality. If a candidate manages to meet 100 people a day for 200 days, that’s 20,000 people. There are 660,000 in each congressional district and there are 29 congressional districts. A candidate who travels to meet 100 people a day is not going to do very well.

Gov Paterson’s withdrawal is an important first step in cleaning up Albany. The next step is electing someone who isn’t a product of the “Albany bubble.” My candidacy alone stands for a new way of doing business that will truly cut spending.

The lesson from Paterson, Spitzer and Hevesi is that self-indulgent leaders harm New York. We have to focus on policies that help regular people rather than rewarding and protecting insiders.

Warren Redlich
wredlich.com/ny

Albany – An online poll on a conservative organization’s website gives candidate Warren Redlich a significant lead in the race for Governor.

The poll is running on the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF) website.

As of 1 am on February 26th, Redlich lead the poll with over 51%, nearly double the number supporting former congressman Rick Lazio. NYCF has been conducting the poll on its website since February 6th.

The poll results, through 1 am, were:

Warren Redlich: 51.8%
Rick Lazio: 26.3%
Undecided: 13.9%
Andrew Cuomo: 5.1%
David Paterson: 2.2%
Steve Levy: 0.7%

Redlich was both encouraged and realistic about the results: “It’s early, small numbers, and online polls aren’t always reliable, but the news is certainly encouraging. I have more support than conventional wisdom might suggest.”

“I am the most conservative candidate in the race. No one else supports the 2nd Amendment, and I’m the only one who will really cut spending,” Redlich said.

According to its website, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms is “a statewide, issues-oriented, political lobbying organization,” with a focus on “religious liberties and moral values in New York State.” It is headed by Rev. Jason McGuire and Rev. Duane Motley.

The poll web page is: http://www.nycf.info/component/poll/20-if-the-election-were-being-held-today-my-pick-for-new-yorks-next-governor-would-be