Tour Stop in Albany Profiles Corrupt Former Pols as Examples of Corrupt Culture in Albany
Albany, NY – 15 former corrupt politicians were profiled today in Albany as part of a two-day, nine-stop tour dubbed the “Caravan of Corruption: a Decade of Dirty Dealings” in an effort to highlight the need for publicly financed Fair Elections in New York.
The profiled politicians, presented as life-sized cutout caricatures, included former Senators Pedro Espada, Joe Bruno, Hiram Monserrate, Nick Spano, Carl Kruger, Vincent Leibell, and Efrain Gonzalez, and Guy Vellela; former Assemblymembers Anthony Seminerio, Diane Gordon, Brian McLaughlin, Roger Green, Clarence Norman, and Gloria Davis; as well as former Comptroller Alan Hevesi. These 15 represent a comprehensive list of former state-level elected officials who have been convicted on corruption-related charges in the past decade.
Attendees were greeted with a copy of “The Corruption Chronicle,” a special-edition tabloid that detailed each ex-politician’s story of corruption. Participants also filled out postcards to be mailed to their local legislators, encouraging passage of a publicly financed Fair Elections system.
New Yorkers are sick and tired of the current culture that exists in Albany, where money talks and the people are ignored. They demand a system that is responsive to all New Yorkers regardless of their capacity to cut fat checks,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “New York has two choices. We can either continue on with our current campaign finance system where a decade of dirty dealings becomes two then three decades and CEO campaign contributors buy our elections, or we can dramatically reform that system by passing publicly financed Fair Elections to put New Yorkers back in control of our democracy.”
“For years the environmental community has watched key legislative priorities die in Albany because the millions of dollars in industry lobbying and campaign contributions insulate decision makers from doing the right thing,” said Roger Downs Conservation Director for the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “In spite of unprecedented public outcry it is difficult to turn the tide against issues like fracking or climate change when there is an unfair advantage given to wealthy industries. If we want to protect the health, safety and prosperity of ALL New Yorkers, Fair Elections need to be a priority.”
“New Yorkers want lawmakers they can trust are working for them and not their big campaign donors,” said Nick Nyhart, President and CEO of Public Campaign. “Fair Elections would help create that trust and send a powerful signal to the rest of the country that it’s time to make our government truly of, by, and for the people.”
The Caravan of Corruption is a project of the Fair Elections for New York campaign (www.fairelectionsny.org). Research for the project was provided by the Center for Working Families (www.cwfny.org). The Caravan was coordinated by Citizen Action of New York (www.citizenactionny.org) and other Fair Elections campaign partners. More information on the Caravan of Corruption can be found at www.caravanofcorruption.org.
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