Molinaro says NY needs to be more affordable for families, businesses

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2018 at 10:21 am

State Sen. Ortt endorses GOP candidate for governor

Photos by Tom Rivers: Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, speaks in Batavia last Thursday during a forum about better embracing people with disabilities.

BATAVIA – Marc Molinaro, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, says the state’s high costs are pushing out residents and businesses, making New York the top out-migration state in the nation.

Residents and businesses are moving out for better job prospects and less onerous taxes, Molinaro said. They do so despite the pull of family roots in New York.

“I know the way government is supposed to function,” he said. “Government in New York is too big, too bloated and too arrogant.”

Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, was in Batavia last Thursday to discuss the “ThinkDIFFERENTLY” initiative he started as Dutchess County executive three years ago. About 100 communities have now embraced the program, working to better accommodate people with disabilities.

Molinaro spoke at the Genesee Orleans Arc to promote Think Differently, which pushes to make public facilities – buildings, parks, crosswalks, fairgrounds, businesses – more accessible to people with disabilities. That includes having specific times at movie theaters and the midway at the fair where the noise isn’t so loud and there aren’t pulsating lights. That helps some people who feel overloaded with sensory stimulation.

The initiative has been wide-spread and expanding, including training police officers on how to best respond to people in crisis who have autism.

Molinaro, 42, was first elected as a trustee at age 18 for the Town of Tivoli, which has about 1,000 people near the Catskill Mountains. He was elected mayor at 19 and was re-elected five times to the position. He went on to serve in the Dutchess County Legislature, the State Assembly and then was elected county executive in 2011 when he was 36.

Molinaro speaks with reporters before the session at the Genesee Orleans Arc. He was joined by State Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

Molinaro said he has experience making government work for the people. He said Andrew Cuomo’s state government has “a culture of corruption,” including the economic development programs.

“I believe in the people of the State of New York,” he told reporters last week. “We need to make New York affordable again and address culture of corruption that has paralyzed state government and effects all aspects of what we do.”

Priorities need to be reducing taxes, and other costs – insurance and energy – so the state is more affordable, he said.

“The governor has made it more expensive to live in New York State,” Molinaro said about Cuomo.

State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, issued a statement on Monday, endorsing Molinaro for governor.

“I got to know Marc through his tireless work on behalf of New Yorkers with disabilities. Marc’s ThinkDIFFERENTLY initiative is transforming the way that government, non-profits, and businesses serve our most vulnerable individuals and families,” Ortt said. “Marc is an accomplished reformer. He restructured the manner in which Dutchess County delivers services efficiently and effectively for all its citizens – an innovative approach we desperately need at the state level. While it may be comical to watch Marc’s Democrat opponents engage in progressive back-and-forth to see who can bankrupt our state first, the stakes are real – and they’re very high across our entire state. We’re at a crossroads and Marc is the only candidate discussing job creation and cutting taxes. He will work with and fight for all New Yorkers – not just his Manhattanite donors or radical progressive extremists – and he will make a great Governor.”

Return to top