New York Secretary of State Cesar Perales visited Rockland Community College July 8 to give the business community an overview of Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s first six months in office.
“The governor did not make a long list of promises,” said Perales, who served under the governor”™s father, Mario Cuomo, and has been involved in state politics for four decades. “He had a short list and he wanted to accomplish it. And he did: He closed the budget gap without raising taxes;Â and he instituted performance-based budgeting; no automatic increases in future spending.”
Perales also lauded the 2 percent tax cap for municipalities and school districts.
“The governor is paying attention to what”™s happening here,” Perales said. “He knows we are the highest taxed state in the nation and that property taxes are sky high. New York has become a laughingstock to the nation because it has been ruled for decades by special-interest groups. Mr. Cuomo knows what he”™s walked into. He”™s promised change and I believe he is going to bring about that change.”
Another aspect of change is the new ethics reform legislation. “We need to clean up Albany,” Perales said. “The lack of disclosure, the years of scandal and unethical behavior has left our population skeptical of what their elected officials are doing. He believes, as I do, the ethics reform will help give citizens more confidence in their representatives.”
Perales also touched on rebuilding New York”™s economy, saying the state and its community college system are going to use their partnership to its fullest advantage. “The governor is looking at public and private partnerships and to take advantage of the intelligent people in private business. We do have a tremendous SUNY system that can be an economic driver and has been underutilized, and SUNY”™s ”˜2020 Program”™ is geared toward helping rebuild the economy and to help us create a more productive workforce.”
Perales was tasked with giving counties a six-month review of Cuomo”™s first six months in office. “Now, in the next six months, the focus will be on job creation. Our working partnership with SUNY is critical. The ten regional economic councils are being formed and we hope to announce them shortly. I expect there are people in this room that will be involved in them.”
Cuomo is also working with the state commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation on hydraulic fracking. “The DEC commissioner says there are ways for accessing gas safely, but we”™re not looking for the southern tier of the state to look like an industrial park.”
Ron Hicks, president/CEO of the Rockland Business Development Corp., told Perales the region needs to see a strategic plan. “Tourism is a vital factor in our economic development.” Perales replied that tourism is definitely part of the economic equation the regional economic councils will work on.
Business owners also peppered Perales with questions. Attorney Gary Lipton asked about the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Architect Michael Shilale asked if anything would be done to amend the Wicks Law. Others had questions, but Perales said he was there to collect their concerns, not to address the issues.
Al Samuels, Rockland Business Association president, thanked Perales for coming to Rockland, telling him the state needs to take a hard look at what it is paying for.
Can there truly be property tax relief without mandate relief? Perales told HV Biz there is a mandate relief team working on making changes to mandates, but had no further comment.  To read more about what Cuomo is proposing for mandate relief, visit  governor.ny.gov/press/01052011mandatesteam.
“We”™re hopeful it will be ready sooner than later,” said Susan Jaffe, director of Empire State Development for the mid-Hudson region. “We”™ve got our work cut out for us.”
