Walker Proposal Gets Run Over By A Bike!

Last night I was thinking on how I could write a story about the continuing saga on the Walker/Andreychuk proposal without getting into the Recreation Advisory Board meeting this last Thursday. I am absolutely barred from discussing what happened in that meeting, by law, because the Supervisor called it as an Executive Session. Actually, I’m not sure that he can call it as an Executive Session but I’m really not in the mood to quibble about it.

So the only way to write this story is by talking around the RAB meeting. So, here goes a shot at it. Regardless of what happened in the RAB meeting the Town Council is not bound to follow any decision of the RAB. The RAB is an advisory board only. With that said it’s my feeling that Supervisor Walters will be pushing the Walker proposal forward. In order for the town to move forward, regardless of the approval or disapproval of the RAB, the town must garner support from the NYS Legislature to get a Home Rule Exemption to lease manage the facility.

That was reported in one of my last two articles about this proposal. So how does that happen? Well, Steve Walters must first get approval of the majority of the Town Council to go forth to Albany. I believe that is a lock at this point. Next he will have to get a State Assemblyman or State Senator to put their name on the request for a Home Rule Exemption. Most likely is Senator Volker or Assemblyman Quinn. Their isn’t a Democrat out there who will touch this issue right now. I’ll explain that comment in a moment.

If and when the request is brought up to the Senate or Assembly floor then a majority vote will be needed to allow this to go forward. Until all that happens this project goes no-where. Now here is the part that I think is very interesting. I believe town politics will kill this project altogether until Steven Walters gets himself re-elected and here is why.

Can anyone say BIKE PATH? When Steve Walters and the Conservative members of the town board killed the bike path they killed Walkers proposal. Here are the politics as I see it.

Joan Kesner is probably the most influential member in state affairs that our Town Council has. She has been Chief of Staff for State Senator Stachowski for something like 20+ years and she knows Albany inside-out. If she’s not the most influential then it would Kathy Hochul, who just happens to be Joan Kesner’s best friend. So either way Steve Walters is screwed.

When Steve Walters nixed the Bike Path he alienated Kesner and Hochul. They will not help him get a Home Rule Exemption pushed through the Assembly until after he gets re-elected. I just don’t see it happening. Both Kesner and Hochul would be needed in this endeavor because the Democrats control the State Assembly. In order for the majority to give Walters the OK in the Assembly it would mean some local Democrats crossing the isle and giving the OK, that will not happen now that Joan’s five year Bike Path project is gone. Sorry hockey parents, you will have wait two more years for this project to get done and then hope their is still interest from Walker and his financial team.

Never-the-less, I expect Steven Walters, Tom Best and Kevin Smardz to push this forward and try to make an issue of this. If they do it right they could turn it around on the Democrats as an election issue next year.