No New Plates
By Nancy Muldoon
I was
thrilled when I heard that New York State
dropped the mandate for motorists to purchase new license plates. It should be
no surprise that the battle cry and the petitions against this inane idea was
spearheaded by Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione.
Now
normally, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the people who are employed
there aren’t exactly warmly embraced by the general public. No one enjoys
having to go to DMV for anything. But I also believe if anyone can change the
public’s perception of the DMV and County
Clerks in general it would be Ms.
Marchione. She is somewhat of an anomaly. She is obviously passionate about the
work that she does. People in government, especially at the county level aren’t
exactly known for being passionate. Ms. Marchione isn’t your run of the mill
county clerk that’s for sure.
I do agree
with Marchione’s assessment that the idea behind the license plate change was
nothing more than an ill-conceived cash grab by our state government. Most
decisions that our state government makes could be very well considered an
ill-conceived cash grab don’t you think?
First it
was mandated flu vaccines and then the mandated new license plates; it makes
you wonder how Governor Paterson comes up with these ideas in the first place.
Both mandates were dropped after public outcry which
restores my faith in humanity and lets all of us know that there is still hope
for the future of New York after
all.
What added
insult to injury is when Governor Paterson told New Yorkers last week that he
would drop the license plate mandate if someone could figure out how to raise
$129,000,000 for the State of New York.
It was my understanding that figuring
out how to run New York State was in fact the Governor’s job but I will be more
than happy to give my two cents.
Well, for
starters, the Governor could give his salary back to the State of New
York, I mean if we are that hard up for cash then the
Governor himself should have to sacrifice something and his salary would be a
good start. How about turning the Governors
Mansion into a museum and charging
$20 per person, he could charge more if he gives the tours himself. Rent the Governors
Mansion out for weddings and
charity events. Those are just the remedies that I can think of off the top of
my head, I’m sure that as the days go by, I could think of more ways for New
York State to
generate money as I am sure that you the reader could think of quite a few gems
yourself.
The
shenanigans that go on in Albany
are exactly the reason why small villages and towns like Ballston Spa and Malta
care so much about our quality of life and have made sure that “growth” and
urban sprawl are limited so where we live doesn’t become like Albany
or Schenectady. Albany
and Schenectady are merely lessons
and examples of what happens when the community doesn’t pay attention to what
goes on in town meetings and when we allow others to make the decisions for us
and the community we live in.
Governor
Paterson is in a tricky spot, and its obvious by the way he is allowing the
legislature to call the shots that his leadership skills are sorely lacking. In
times of crisis leadership is ultimately worth more than money. He should be at
the helm of a mighty ship called New York.
Instead he is drifting out to sea while every county in New
York State is
reduced to running for a life boat.
Now, if we
can just get Kathy Marchione to run for Governor we might be okay.