Since announcing his candidacy for governor, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has endured coordinated and sustained attacks from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's political team — often using Westchester Democratic politicians as frontmen.
The latest in these attacks comes from a former Westchester County legislator, John Nonna, in his May 14 op-ed in the Times Union, "Astorino can't deny his past." John is a former legislator because I defeated him 2011. In 2003, Rob also defeated John in the race for the same county legislative seat. When I was younger, when someone based their complaints on spurious and twisted facts because they lost, we called them a "sore-loser."
I hold no personal animosity towards John, but it is quite evident that he is still very bitter at me and at Rob for his defeats. I believe this helps explain the false attacks that made their way into his op-ed. People in the Capital Region should know that it's not hard to find bitter and frustrated Democratic politicians in Westchester who have felt defeat at the hands of Rob Astorino.
Astorino has befuddled the Democratic machine in recent years, twice winning races for county executive by landslide margins despite there being twice as many registered Democrats in Westchester as Republicans.
Astorino has repeatedly defied the odds and won widespread support, including from many Democrats, because he is a good, honest and decent man who had delivered on his promises: cutting the tax levy, reducing wasteful spending and overseeing the creation of 30,000 new private sector jobs.
Cuomo knows this and is using his Westchester friends to pursue the political maxim: "If you can't beat him, vilify him."
In John Nonna's op-ed, he wildly states that, "Astorino has never actually cut taxes." That's news to most of us here in Westchester. The official accounting of the state comptroller's office shows that no county in the state has reduced its property tax levy more than Westchester has under Astorino's leadership.
Nonna asserts that Onondaga County reduced its levy more, but perhaps the comptroller's office doesn't recognize it due to a sales tax conversion Onondaga did that allowed the county to take a higher share of sales tax revenue from local towns. After all, is it really a cut when all it does is shift the tax burden from one taxing entity to the other?
Nonna also states that Astorino vetoed a 2 percent tax levy cut in his first year. Astorino's budget called for a 1 percent cut and Democrats in the Legislature did increase the cut to 2 percent. But they also added $43 million in spending, to be paid for by tapping the reserve fund. That was the reason for Astorino's veto. But again, either way, to say that Astorino "never cut taxes" is simply untrue. Rob's four budgets either cut the levy or kept it flat.
Voters should not be confused by such distortions and inaccuracies. Astorino has a great record of accomplishment and unique people skills that appeal to everyday New Yorkers.
Cuomo knows this. He lives in Westchester and has seen Astorino up close and in action. While understandably nervous, the decision to trot out bitter, "sore-loser" Westchester Democrats to attack Astorino doesn't sound like a winning strategy. It sounds like a losing one.
The writer is a Westchester County legislator.