Michelle is following in her father’s footsteps

To the Editor:

I grew up in Ithaca and Elmira. Of all the assemblymen and congressmen, Maurice Hinchey was always spoken of in the most enthusiastic and respectful terms. He was “a legend in his own time.” When Michelle Hinchey announced that she was running for a State Senate seat representing the 46th District in which I live, I was confident that, as the daughter of Maurice Hinchey, our district and New York State would be well served.

To refresh my memory, I did an extensive internet search of Maurice Hinchey’s political accomplishments, and contributions, nicely summarized at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Hinchey.

As chair of the New York State Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, he took the lead in bringing environmental issues to the fore.

Hinchey also served on the Ways and Means, Rules, Banks, Health, Higher Education, Labor, Energy, and Agriculture committees.

Hinchey “began” as a labor organizer.

Hinchey promoted the support of the Job Corps

Hinchey introduced the Hinchey–Rohrabacher amendment in 2001, to prohibit the Justice Department from taking actions to interfere with the implementation of state medical cannabis laws

Hinchey appeared in the 2010 documentary “Gasland,” discussing the FRAC [Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals] Act, which he co-sponsored

Hinchey began a petition to ask Barack Obama to delay Shell from beginning exploratory drilling near Alaska to avoid another Exon Valdez oil spill. 

He helped sponsor the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011.

He was a member of the National Conference of State Legislators, of the board of directors of the Ulster-Greene Association of Retarded Citizens, of the Eastern Regional Conference of the Council of State Governments and chaired its Environment Committee.

He also was on the New York State Council of Governments and the National Guard and Reserve Components Congressional Members Organization.

My thesis for this letter to the editor was confirmed Sunday afternoon at a neighborhood meeting in support of Michelle. Congressman Paul Tonko, whose district also includes large portions of Senate District 46, was also in attendance.

He spoke to having served side by side with Maurice Hinchey, and many of the common issues they had worked on together and the personal relationship he has had with the Hinchey family and Michelle. He said he was impressed with how interested Michelle was in the public service issues her father dealt with.

Senate District 46 also overlaps much of Congressman Antonio Delgado’s district. Michelle had worked on Congressman Delgado’s campaigns prior to deciding to run for the Senate herself. It is important to note that Congressman Delgato and Congressman Tonko have issue platforms very similar to Michelle’s.

It’s clear to me that Michelle, through the contacts in New York State agencies and the legislature associated with her father’s career and her collaboration with congressmen Tonko and Delgato, is in a much better position to provide constituent services than her opponents. She is also better able to implement state laws as a Democrat in support of her platform than either of her opponents.

As a graduate of Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations she will be well prepared to help create jobs and support productive labor-management initiatives as well as legislation to help the unemployed regain employment.

Charles Klaer

Guilderland

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