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for larger version       With Friends Like These… What’s with our local reps, Audrey Pheffer, Ada Smith (Broad Channel) and Pauline Cummings? We thought we elected them to fight for city concerns on the state level. Their recent vote to approve the repeal of the commuter tax will cost the city $360 million. Let’s hope they’re going to wrangle something big in return because they’ve just done a great disservice to the city. And how about their comments defending their vote. State Senator Ada Smith (she represents Broad Channel) said "This doesn't affect my constituents. We're not getting services anyway." So Ada, who’s to blame for "not getting services anyway"? Aren’t you elected to make sure your constituents get services? Perhaps voters will put someone in your place who will fight to get them services. And then she said, "If I call a commissioner, the commissioner can't call me back because he doesn't have permission from the mayor." Seems like her vote was full of spite---which does "nothing" for her constituents. If they get "nothing" now---just wait, it could get worse. And what about Pauline Cummings? The Assemblywoman ran a vigorous campaign with an emphasis on helping her immediate constituents---who had been underrepresented for so long. Guess what she had to say: "I took the oath for the state, not just the city." Pauline, the state has elected officials from other areas---you represent your constituents on the state level. Let the Assemblyperson from Peekskill or Podunk worry about his or constituents. And Pauline, allowing for your statewide concern, please tell us how the city will recoup $360 million? We called Audrey Pheffer on Thursday morning but did not receive back a call by press time. Maybe Audrey’s got a sensible explanation for a nonsensical vote. Another quote worth repeating comes from a lobbyist: This encapsulates everything that is dysfunctional about Albany politics. They can go five months without progress on anything at all, and then with lightning speed, because of the parochial needs of two state Senate candidates from Rockland County, pass a radical change in a 30-year-old policy that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year." We’re glad we still have a reasonable rep in State Senator Al Waldon. Appreciating the sudden $360 million hole in the budget such a repeal would cause, our senator voted to keep the tax where it belongs. He called to say, "In my opinion, there’s now way a judicious or thoughtful legislator would vote any other way than the way I voted." He said the budget question has to first be answered and feared the precedent such a hasty repeal would set. And what about the commuter tax we suffer, Audrey and Pauline? There’s a tax on the Gil Hodges bridge which we, city residents, have to pay if we commute to Manhattan or Brooklyn by car. Glad to see you’re working to help the working stiffs in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester. We’re sure they appreciate your efforts.
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