Clean house and toss them all out?
If that house sits in Albany, that could be throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
For all its dysfunction, delayed budgets and related debacles, the capital contains some decent denizens.
So says Edward I. Koch.
“I used to say, ”˜Throw the bums out, the good and the bad. The good aren”™t good enough and the bad are evil.”™ I think that kind of sums up what most people feel,” Koch said.
“But there are some good people up there ”¦ who have not had the support they need to stand up to their leadership. The leadership controls both houses and can threaten in a whole host of ways, one of which is to say that when we draw the (congressional and legislative district) lines we”™ll draw them in a way that you won”™t win.”™”
Koch is leading a movement called New York Uprising, a non-partisan, independent coalition that is advocating for statewide government reform.
In a recent interview at his office on the 37th floor at the Bryan Cave law firm in Manhattan, the former three-term New York City mayor and U.S. representative outlined the coalition”™s three-point pledge for “good-government positions,” which involves redistricting, budget procedures and ethics.
Koch spoke passionately about the pledge: “We can win.” About politics: “You suffer attacks. But I love it.” About the plight of Gov. David Paterson: “He should resign, but he won”™t.” And the Yankees: “The grandest team of all.”
The noted former judge of The People”™s Court is now bringing his passion to Westchester May 20 as the scheduled featured speaker at the Westchester County Association”™s “Call to Action” rally at the Hilton Rye Town.
Answering the call
Koch said he met with Alfred DelBello, chairman of the Westchester County Association, and Bill Mooney, president of the association, about the group”™s Call to Action campaign, a grassroots education and political lobbying initiative. Koch said he realized they had similar goals.
“We had lunch and they told me they were doing what we”™re doing, but up in Westchester ”¦ So there is in fact a movement comparable to what we”™re doing in upstate New York, on Long Island and at some point, along with the good-government organizations, of which there are about five ”“ the League of Women Voters, the Brennan (Center for Justice), a number of others ”“ we”™re hopefully going to get together. I”™m going to invite them.”
New York Uprising and Call to Action coincide with a number of movements locally and nationally to change politics as usual. With an anti-incumbent sentiment and many formerly “safe” seats up for grabs, elected officials are vulnerable this year.
Still ”“ the recent drubbing of three-term Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett notwithstanding ”“ history says many incumbents will coast back into office because of a dearth of solid challengers.
So, Koch says the strategy has shifted from cleaning house, so to speak, to reforming those in office. “We”™re going to turn them all into reformers if we can. And in a couple of weeks we”™ll be sending out pledges to the members of the Assembly, members of the state Senate, asking them to pledge that they will support these three good-government issues.”
The start of the Uprising
For the past 18 months, Koch said, whenever he”™s gone to lunches or dinners, the conversations revolved around one issue: the dysfunctional state Legislature.
“I expected somebody would say, ”˜Well, let”™s change things.”™ Nobody stood up.”
The inaction fueled him into action.
“I decided then that even though I”™m at the end of my political career ”¦ that I would make it my own last hurrah and so I called together a number of friends (including Dick Dadey of Citizens Union and former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern) and they agreed we should take action.”
That action, he said, was to ask legislators to sign a three-point pledge on “good-government positions.”
“Not substantive, controversial, hot-button issues like abortion or gay rights or gun control,” he said. “No. Good-government issues.”
He outlined the three points:
Redistricting in 2011 following the Census, and “doing it in a nonpartisan way with an independent commission.”
Changing procedures to require Albany lawmakers to create a GAAP-balanced budget ”“ generally accepted accounting principles ”“ which is what New York City has, “Very tough, but it gets rid of the gimmicks.”
Expanding the rules concerning ethics so “we know what the earned income of legislators is in addition to their salaries for being what should be full-time, currently part-time, legislators. And if you”™re lawyers, to list the clients that you”™re representing, particularly the speaker ”¦ to see if it has any impact on what does or doesn”™t take place in the Assembly.”
Now that they”™d determined what they wanted done, they needed to figure out how to get it done. First, Koch said, he talked with the gubernatorial-announced candidates Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Carl Paladino, and Andrew Cuomo ”“ “who is not announced but who is expected to be the Democratic candidate” ”“ and asked if they would pledge that, if elected governor, if the Legislature sent them plans to redraw district lines in the usual way instead of by an independent commission, they would veto it.
“And all four said, ”˜That”™s easy. We”™re all for having an independent commission, we always were.”™ So they signed pledges,” Koch said.
“Recently I went to Albany to testify in support of legislation that”™s been offered both in the Assembly and in the Senate ”“ the one I was testifying on relates to the Senate ”“ that would have an independent commission and it got sufficient votes to pass it on to the next stage. So that is now alive and well and ultimately I believe will become law.
“Obviously it ain”™t gonna be easy, you have to go through the Assembly, but I think we will win.”
As for the Call to Action rally, Koch”™s best-case scenario?
“Firstly, to have a lot of people there. Two, to get them to agree with what we”™re doing and to make suggestions on what we could learn from them. It”™s not easy. This is probably the best year to effectuate reform that I”™ve ever seen because people are enraged.”
A conversation with Ed Koch
Mr. Koch, when you were mayor you returned the city to fiscal integrity. What would you say to those in Albany, even about getting a budget in on time?
“The most important thing you can say and do that would impact on the legislators is to threaten their jobs, because for them getting reelected is more important than going to Heaven. And we”™re telling them that you”™re not going to get reelected, that we”™re going to denounce you. That we”™re going to get your constituents to know how bad you are that you wouldn”™t sign the pledges that would bring good government back to Albany. It”™s having an impact.”
Why are people so angry? Because of the economy?
“It”™s all of it ”“ the Wall Street debacle, the feeling that we”™ve been taken advantage of and that America has been severely injured. There are people who lost their savings, unable now to send their kids to college, lost their jobs, can”™t retire when they had hoped to ”“ all of that has contributed to this. Whereas before you would say, ”˜Ah, what can I do?”™ Now they know they can do something.”
You”™re very passionate about New York Uprising.
“Yes I am, because I believe we can win. When I started it, which is not very long ago, I thought to myself there”™s really less than a 50-50 chance that we can prevail because this fight comes up every 10 years and they”™ve always lost it ”“ that”™s when redistricting comes up ”“ and yet based on my looking at the letters I get, the reaction I got up in Albany, how far we”™ve come, I believe we”™re gonna win.”
Depending on the outcomes of the elections of course, what”™s next?
“Well, we get pledges. You can”™t sue on those pledges. You rely on integrity. But there will be people who won”™t carry out once they”™ve won. So we”™re going to go around and get the newspaper editorials to focus on them. And I sort of sum it up by saying what I”™m going to say is, ”˜Liar, liar pants on fire.”™”
What”™s next for you? At this stage in your career, you life?
“I”™ve had a wonderful run, as they say. I”™m 85 years old and let”™s say I have another two, three years of life. I”™ve enjoyed my life. I”™m not afraid of death, death is part of life. I”™m a partner in this law firm, Bryan Cave. I have a radio show, a television show. I write commentaries. So I”™ve got a lot on my plate. I don”™t intend to retire.”
