When I served as Erie County Comptroller, the “Taxpayers’ Watchdog,” I kept a dry-erase board in my office in a spot where I would be forced to see it and read it every day. I planned to change the daily quote I wrote on it for myself and my staff to reflect on.
That all changed during a drive to Albany with then–NYS Assemblyman Michael “Mickey” Kearns, when the two of us—both private-sector guys at heart—started criticizing typical politicians who put their personal and political interests above the people they were elected to serve.
Our conversation shifted to the decision-making processes inside government. I shared a piece of advice from my predecessor, Alfreda Slominski—the longest-serving Comptroller in Erie County history—who once told me:
“Good governance leads to good politics, not the other way around.”
Mickey added wisdom from his father that still resonates with me to this day:
“There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
As soon as I returned from Albany, I wrote that on my dry-erase board—and it stayed there for the remainder of my career in public service.
It was a daily reminder not only to put service over self but also to never let fickle political winds be my “North Star” when making decisions in government.
Unfortunately, the same guiding light is clearly not being followed by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, who previously served as Erie County Clerk in Buffalo.
As Clerk, Hochul refused to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Yet her very first Executive Order as Governor cemented New York as a sanctuary state. Now, under her watch, illegal immigrants are granted licenses.
When Hochul was a Congresswoman representing a deeply Republican district, she earned an “A” rating from the NRA. Today, she is determined to strip away the Constitutional rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment.
Her most recent example of what I call “Hochul Hypocrisy” is the federal government shutdown. Just over 200 days ago, back in March, Hochul praised Senator Chuck Schumer for working with Republicans to keep the government open.
Now, after bowing to Assemblyman Zohran “Commie” Mamdani and the radical progressives who have hijacked the Democratic Party, Hochul is blasting Republicans over the current shutdown. Keep in mind—it’s the Democrats who bear responsibility for this shutdown. Even worse, Hochul, Schumer, and Mamdani appear to support it as part of their mission to provide free health care to illegal immigrants. That is a fact.
Throughout my service to taxpayers, I held fast to this principle:
“There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
Maybe it’s time we send Hochul a dry erase board with that very message.
Sadly, I suspect she’d wipe it clean and replace it with that day’s polling numbers—to the dismay of taxpayers across New York State.