As I See It- Constituents Lose in Senate Power Struggle
Wednesday, June 17 2009
In all the many years I’ve covered government, I have naively,
apparently, clung to the idea that the first obligation public
officials have is to their constituents.
I suppose the past week of antics in the state Senate further
re-inforces my naiveté. The resolution of important issues has taken a
backseat to petty politics and the seemingly never-ending power grab in
Albany.
A judge got it right on Monday when he ordered the Democratic
Conference – which can’t even decide among itself who’s in charge – to
sit down with the new coalition of Republicans and now one Democratic
senator and work out their differences and get on with the business of
government.
But, from the looks of it, it’s not likely. Brooklyn Senator John
Sampson is claiming leadership of the Senate Democratic conference, but
Manhattan Senator Malcolm Smith says he remains majority leader. The
Republicans, meanwhile, maintain the vote taken last Monday on the
Senate floor, making Senator Pedro Espada president pro tempore and
Senator Dean Skelos majority leader and vice president pro temp, holds.
A court finding was expected June 16, but given what’s been going on,
whatever ruling handed down is likely to be appealed, providing no
resolution to the chaos that has brought New York’s already slow-moving
government to a grinding halt.
As is often true with government, the veracity of what is said does not
jibe with what actually happens. Here’s a quote from Sampson: “People
are not concerned about who is majority leader or president pro temp.
They are concerned about getting work done and that’s what we are
concerned about.”
But yet, Sampson and his fellow Democrats didn’t show up on Monday,
when the Republican coalition’s 31 members held session. There are 62
senators, and with half of them out of the chamber – no legislation
could be passed. Although it’s not really progress, at least they were
able to get in the chamber on Monday, after being locked out last week
when the Democrats refused to relinquish the keys.
Not only did the Democrats not attend the session, but they are filing
a contempt order against Espada for acting as president pro temp,
accusing him of violating a temporary restraining order a judge made
Friday. Espada counters the order only says he can’t act as president
pro temp if something happened to Gov. David Paterson and he was no
longer able to perform his duties.
Who’s right doesn’t matter at this point; all this petty argument does is further stall the process.
Sampson is correct that rank and file New Yorkers are more concerned
with the actual legislation that affects their lives than who is
sitting in what chair in the Senate chamber. But he and his
counterparts – on both sides of the aisle and in between – can’t seem
to get over their own self-interest and get down to the business of
creating meaningful reform.
Democratic and Republican coalitions, or whatever conglomeration or
consortium of lawmakers that come together, don’t elect
representatives; their constituents do. If there were elections in
November, one has to wonder if this all would be going on right now.
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