NEW YORK—Three of the five democratic candidates for attorney general participated in the first televised debate of the primary race on Tuesday night.
The event was hosted by WXXI Public Broadcasting in Rochester in conjunction with a partnership with Voice of the Voter 2010, a public citizen and engagement nonprofit.
Participating candidates were Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, 64, (D-Greenburgh), Westchester County, former state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, 47, of Manhattan, and former federal prosecutor and Navy officer Sean Coffey, 54, of Bronxville, Westchester County.
Candidates Eric Schneiderman, 55, a state senator from Manhattan, and Kathleen Rice, 45, the Nassau County district attorney, did not attend, citing previous commitments.
“I can’t win without upstate and I know it,” said Coffey, asserting that he is the upstate candidate based on having lived in Niagra Falls for two years as a kid and the fact that he visits Upstate counties on a weekly basis.
The event was sponsored by the Munro County Democratic Committee and moderated by WXXI-TV News Director Julie Philipp.
Panelists Bob Smith of WXXI, the Democrat and Chronicle’s Jill Terreri, and WHAM-TV’s Sean Carroll, fired questions at the candidates, giving one to two minutes for each response.
Mosque Debate
Terreri asked the democrats whether they would investigate the source of funding for the proposed mosque and cultural center near ground zero, citing a Quinnipiac University poll showing that 71 percent of serveyed New Yorkers want current Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to do so.
While all candidates agreed that proponents of the mosque have a legal right to build, both Coffey and Don said there must be sufficient evidence to initiate an investigation.
“You cannot just ask the attorney general’s office to investigate because something is emotionally difficult,” said Donello.
“There is a lot of heat, and more heat than light,” said Coffey.
“If I could snap my fingers and have that moved 10 blocks away for the benefit of the families, of course I would do it,” he added.
Brodsky, the eldest and most politically experienced candidate, said that people need to go beyond the narrow legal definition of whether they have a right to build and consider the “sensitivity and appropriateness of the location of the mosque” from the perspective of those for whom the area is a site of mass murder.
“There is a social fabric that is being torn by this,” he said, adding that the attorney general needs to provide political leadership.
Economic Recovery
Candidates were also asked how they would help to make the economy more business-friendly for upstate New Yorkers.
Donello said that if elected he would sort through the data available to him, find efficiencies for government and work with businesses to do positive deeds for the community in exchange for unpaid fines. He would also place an assistant attorney general in every county of the state in order to create a framework of enhanced representation and communication throughout the state.
Coffey argued that the best economic action he could take, based on the fact that 16 of the worst 25 counties for tax to home value ratios in America are in New York, would be to cap property tax.
“We need to stop the tax madness,” he said.
Brodsky indicated that he would address the issue of high energy bills. Existing powers afforded by the attorney general’s office would allow him to target nonprofits such as the Independent Systems Operator, which has been the industry-created authority for power pricing for 10 years. The group has been inflating electricity rates by fixing the all-day rate based on the highest price point on the market, he said.
“What families and businesses pay for energy and electricity in this state is unconscionably high,” Brodsky said.
Environmental Issues
Candidates were asked to comment on the environment, particularly water issues and the Clean Water Act.
Donello, giving the first response, stated that the Marcellus Shale, an area rich with natural gas reserves hidden deep in the ground, is the most important issue of concern around water.
New York state Senate voted 48-to-9 on Aug. 4 to issue a moratorium on a technology for releasing natural gas from rock that involves injecting a pressurized mixture of chemicals, sand, and water into rock beds thousands of feet under the earth’s surface.
The technology, called hydrofracking (or fracking), is suspected to cause irreparable damage to area watersheds, and policymakers are waiting for the results of an extensive study before moving forward with the extraction of natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale.
“It is probably such a dangerous and critical issue for the water table of the whole state, not just down state, that we need to stop and listen to the experts on this,” Donello said.
Brodsky, who was recently endorsed by folk singer Pete Seeger, known as the father of the environment, agreed with Donello’s characterization of the seriousness of the environmental consequences of fracking.
“If the experts are wrong on what fracking means in upstate and downstate, then what happened in the Gulf of Mexico will come to New York and we will be asking ourselves, ‘How could we make the same mistake twice?’” he said.
“We need to wait for the Environmental Protection Agency’s report,” suggested Coffey, adding, “I am very skeptical that it is ever going to satisfy my concerns about the water table.”
WXXI’s weekly news and public affairs program “Need to Know Rochester” will present a recap of the debate with analysis at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. The debate will also be featured on “New York Now,” which will air on WXXI-TV at 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
The democratic primary election will be held in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
The event was hosted by WXXI Public Broadcasting in Rochester in conjunction with a partnership with Voice of the Voter 2010, a public citizen and engagement nonprofit.
Participating candidates were Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, 64, (D-Greenburgh), Westchester County, former state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, 47, of Manhattan, and former federal prosecutor and Navy officer Sean Coffey, 54, of Bronxville, Westchester County.
Candidates Eric Schneiderman, 55, a state senator from Manhattan, and Kathleen Rice, 45, the Nassau County district attorney, did not attend, citing previous commitments.
“I can’t win without upstate and I know it,” said Coffey, asserting that he is the upstate candidate based on having lived in Niagra Falls for two years as a kid and the fact that he visits Upstate counties on a weekly basis.
The event was sponsored by the Munro County Democratic Committee and moderated by WXXI-TV News Director Julie Philipp.
Panelists Bob Smith of WXXI, the Democrat and Chronicle’s Jill Terreri, and WHAM-TV’s Sean Carroll, fired questions at the candidates, giving one to two minutes for each response.
Mosque Debate
Terreri asked the democrats whether they would investigate the source of funding for the proposed mosque and cultural center near ground zero, citing a Quinnipiac University poll showing that 71 percent of serveyed New Yorkers want current Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to do so.
While all candidates agreed that proponents of the mosque have a legal right to build, both Coffey and Don said there must be sufficient evidence to initiate an investigation.
“You cannot just ask the attorney general’s office to investigate because something is emotionally difficult,” said Donello.
“There is a lot of heat, and more heat than light,” said Coffey.
“If I could snap my fingers and have that moved 10 blocks away for the benefit of the families, of course I would do it,” he added.
Brodsky, the eldest and most politically experienced candidate, said that people need to go beyond the narrow legal definition of whether they have a right to build and consider the “sensitivity and appropriateness of the location of the mosque” from the perspective of those for whom the area is a site of mass murder.
“There is a social fabric that is being torn by this,” he said, adding that the attorney general needs to provide political leadership.
Economic Recovery
Candidates were also asked how they would help to make the economy more business-friendly for upstate New Yorkers.
Donello said that if elected he would sort through the data available to him, find efficiencies for government and work with businesses to do positive deeds for the community in exchange for unpaid fines. He would also place an assistant attorney general in every county of the state in order to create a framework of enhanced representation and communication throughout the state.
Coffey argued that the best economic action he could take, based on the fact that 16 of the worst 25 counties for tax to home value ratios in America are in New York, would be to cap property tax.
“We need to stop the tax madness,” he said.
Brodsky indicated that he would address the issue of high energy bills. Existing powers afforded by the attorney general’s office would allow him to target nonprofits such as the Independent Systems Operator, which has been the industry-created authority for power pricing for 10 years. The group has been inflating electricity rates by fixing the all-day rate based on the highest price point on the market, he said.
“What families and businesses pay for energy and electricity in this state is unconscionably high,” Brodsky said.
Environmental Issues
Candidates were asked to comment on the environment, particularly water issues and the Clean Water Act.
Donello, giving the first response, stated that the Marcellus Shale, an area rich with natural gas reserves hidden deep in the ground, is the most important issue of concern around water.
New York state Senate voted 48-to-9 on Aug. 4 to issue a moratorium on a technology for releasing natural gas from rock that involves injecting a pressurized mixture of chemicals, sand, and water into rock beds thousands of feet under the earth’s surface.
The technology, called hydrofracking (or fracking), is suspected to cause irreparable damage to area watersheds, and policymakers are waiting for the results of an extensive study before moving forward with the extraction of natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale.
“It is probably such a dangerous and critical issue for the water table of the whole state, not just down state, that we need to stop and listen to the experts on this,” Donello said.
Brodsky, who was recently endorsed by folk singer Pete Seeger, known as the father of the environment, agreed with Donello’s characterization of the seriousness of the environmental consequences of fracking.
“If the experts are wrong on what fracking means in upstate and downstate, then what happened in the Gulf of Mexico will come to New York and we will be asking ourselves, ‘How could we make the same mistake twice?’” he said.
“We need to wait for the Environmental Protection Agency’s report,” suggested Coffey, adding, “I am very skeptical that it is ever going to satisfy my concerns about the water table.”
WXXI’s weekly news and public affairs program “Need to Know Rochester” will present a recap of the debate with analysis at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. The debate will also be featured on “New York Now,” which will air on WXXI-TV at 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
The democratic primary election will be held in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
