2. Stop Downstate gerrymandering of Upstate political districts. In 2021, for the first time in Madison County's history, Cazenovia was carved out of the County to be included in an Assembly district that is mostly Onondaga County. In fact, Madison County, with a population that is less than half of the standard Assembly District of 133, 000 residents, was carved up into five (!) Assembly districts in 2022, and then the lines were redrawn for the 2024 election to divide it up into only four districts. This was all in defiance of the New York Constitution that still mandates county-based representation in both the Assembly and State Senate. This was a self-centered and corrupt act by Downstate politicians, calculated to reduce effective county-based opposition to the mandates they want to impose on local governments.
A. Deprive the Downstate machine of their current 2/3 supermajority in the State Assembly, which they used in 2020-2023 to draw outrageously gerrymandered districts that keep them in power in violation of the New York Constitution. Without this supermajority, the Legislature will have guardrails on how far they can deviate from recommendations from the Independent Redistricting Commission.
I
f you like my t-shirt design imprint, you can download the .jpg version of the image at left.
You are free to use all the Ukrainian text, which I personally created. The top line means "Comrade Putin:". The text on the Russian tank means "Captured and Repurposed." Contact me or your own Ukrainian friend if you want a translation of the rest.
I am not sure if my license for the silhouette of a Russian tank, which I paid the artist(s) for on Etsy.com, includes unlimited reprints. So if you plan to print up and sell large numbers of a shirt with this design, you should contact them.
I am most interested in competing for this office to bring political pressure on
an entrenched incumbent supported by a self-interested Downstate machine.
Policies that he has voted for are reducing the long-term economic viability of
Central New York, especially my town of Cazenovia.
1. Reduce statewide mandates that benefit mainly Downstate while
squeezing Upstate taxpayers. The most important are so-called climate mandates
promulgated by a Climate Council lacking upstate representation, and based on shoddy science. These have been rubber-stamped by
a Legislature, including our incumbent Democrat Assemblymember. Oppressive climate mandates were supposedly justified by the need
to reduce CO2 emissions from Upstate homes and cars. Meanwhile, the Climate Council's reports have made absolutely no
mention of the much greater CO2 emissions coming from the 500 annual cruise-ship departures from New York Harbor
(each carrying roughly 1 million gallons of hydrocarbon fuel) or the 100,000 private jet departures from New York State. Given this bizarre
interpretation of "climate justice", and the lack of transparency with which it was foisted on Upstate NY, it is difficult to believe in the
climate sincerity of these Downstate politicians, or their Upstate ally currently in the 127th Assembly seat.
A. Reverse the 2023-imposed ban, effective in 2026, on gas hookups to new homes under 4 stories.
Look how this size limit barely affects the number of new homes that can be built in New York City, because only multi-story
residences are being built there anyway. In the 127th District, however, it will crush the availability of affordable new homes. Does
anyone know someone in the middle class who will be able to build afford a single-family home in the 127th Assembly District (Towns
of Clay, Cicero, Manlius, Cazenovia) when any new all-electric home will need a huge ground-loop heat pump
in order to be heated in the winter? With a wood-stove backup? And why is a wood-stove backup for a heat pump more
environmentally sensible than a gas furnace, anyway?
B. Reverse the requirement for public school districts to replace their hydrocarbon-powered fuel buses by 2040. Buying
renewable-powered school buses will eventually be necessary. And I have no intrinsic opposition to electric buses where they
make sense. I purchased my EV (Tesla Model 3) five and a half years ago, and have put 150,000 miles on it. But I am in a fairly
unique situation, with a perfect-length daily commute and a house with electric circuits well suited for charging. Forcing our local
school districts to pay quickly for upgrades to garages (very heavy electric battery-packs on school buses mean that new lifts will be
required) and to electric-grid infrastructure is going to make these smaller districts economically unviable. Maybe this is the goal?
My Libertarian Platform for the 127th Assembly District
