PERSEVERE

This week, on their third try, politicians succeeded in delaying people’s right to decide the size of government.  This delay will be brief.  And along with everything else they’ve done, it will only serve to make citizens more determined to demand change.

To the heroic residents of West Seneca who struggled mightily to have their say, every Western New Yorker is grateful for your barrier-breaking efforts.  I’m privileged to work with you.  And I commit all my energy and spirit to seeing a downsizing proposition on the ballot next March.

To all other Western New Yorkers, wondering when we’ll bring our petition effort to your town or village, as the old Sam and Dave song says, “Hold on, we’re coming.”

But to politicians who think they can forever defend the status quo, I give them no quarter, and offer them no hope.  Since 1990, seven economic resurgences have swept our nation, creating wealth in every American corner except ours.  Old areas renewed.  Cold regions prospered.  But Western New York languished.  And the reason is the millstone of local government that smothers investment and crushes growth.

As America now plunges into recession, and New York State melts down, the obligation to save our community binds us.  Together, we shall meet it.  As for me, I can tell you that I’m just warming to the task.

Restoring citizens’ right to decide their destiny, it turns out, is a long road.   This week, we learned that much of it is unpaved.  But the horizon is in sight.  And it beckons.