DiGiovanni Speech at CCPR Forum
Good evening. I am Paul DiGiovanni, a physician and County Legislator from the City's First Ward, and the Majority Leader. I am married to Angela, a pediatrician, and we live with our four kids at 5 Ridgeview Avenue. Next week, on Thursday, the 27th, we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. So, First Ward voters, as you see me out on the trail next week, please remind me that my anniversary is on Thursday - don't let me forget!
Thanks to the Cortland Citizens for Progressive Reform for hosting this forum. This is the democratic process in action, and I hope that it will serve to educate and inform voters. I am confident that if my record, and the record of this legislature, is the basis on which citizens cast their votes, that I will be representing the First Ward again for the next two years.
"Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan". It seems that the challenge this campaign season is not to run away from a record of failure. On the contrary, the competition this year seems to be to determine who deserves the credit. And that's because there is so much credit to go around. When you consider the sad state of the county in the fall of 2003, when our local paper characterized our future as "bleak", I think it is hard to overstate the success of the past term.
I part company with those who believe the Administrator deserves all the credit. Yes, the Administrator deserves considerable credit, but so do we. And to clarify, by "we" I mean the current legislators - on both sides of the aisle. We are a collection of varied talents who have complemented one another quite well. I will be happy personally, and for the people of the County, to welcome back such superb legislators as Carol Tytler and Dan Tagliente. Carol herself spoke of the bipartisan approach that has led to many, many infrastructure improvements and how the legislature has worked with department heads and others to accomplish many good things.
But this is a campaign, and deserving legislators who have earned reelection but who are faced with contested races in November - myself included - owe it to the voters to clarify the role we have played in the success. This I shall try to do.
The proper role of the Administrator is to put policies into operation. The proper role of the legislature is to set those policies. There are policies that we individually and as a group have introduced, independent of the Administrator, that have contributed to this successful term. I have helped to achieve positive reform in several areas. As Chairman of the Health Committee, I have helped to clarifiy the proper role of the Board of Health and improved its working relationship with the Health Committee. I have pushed for and helped to facilitate the introduction of a new provider of pre-school services; this provider is on track to open in January. I am happy to report that the Home Health Care agency has not only addressed all deficiencies, several of which had been repeat findings on state surveys, but has gone from costing taxpayers over $200,000 a year to likely turning a small profit. I was the Chairman of the committee that investigated the Treasurer's Office and the prior legislature's failure of oversight. The independent auditor noted that operations were "much, much improved". Oversight of departments by the legislature across the board has been strengthened. I have pushed for interdepartmental cooperation, and I am pleased by the model developed by Health and Human Services.
I am an active legislator with a restless mind, always seeking a better way. There are many things I see that still need to be done, and that I will work hard to get done, given the chance. Thank you.
Thanks to the Cortland Citizens for Progressive Reform for hosting this forum. This is the democratic process in action, and I hope that it will serve to educate and inform voters. I am confident that if my record, and the record of this legislature, is the basis on which citizens cast their votes, that I will be representing the First Ward again for the next two years.
"Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan". It seems that the challenge this campaign season is not to run away from a record of failure. On the contrary, the competition this year seems to be to determine who deserves the credit. And that's because there is so much credit to go around. When you consider the sad state of the county in the fall of 2003, when our local paper characterized our future as "bleak", I think it is hard to overstate the success of the past term.
I part company with those who believe the Administrator deserves all the credit. Yes, the Administrator deserves considerable credit, but so do we. And to clarify, by "we" I mean the current legislators - on both sides of the aisle. We are a collection of varied talents who have complemented one another quite well. I will be happy personally, and for the people of the County, to welcome back such superb legislators as Carol Tytler and Dan Tagliente. Carol herself spoke of the bipartisan approach that has led to many, many infrastructure improvements and how the legislature has worked with department heads and others to accomplish many good things.
But this is a campaign, and deserving legislators who have earned reelection but who are faced with contested races in November - myself included - owe it to the voters to clarify the role we have played in the success. This I shall try to do.
The proper role of the Administrator is to put policies into operation. The proper role of the legislature is to set those policies. There are policies that we individually and as a group have introduced, independent of the Administrator, that have contributed to this successful term. I have helped to achieve positive reform in several areas. As Chairman of the Health Committee, I have helped to clarifiy the proper role of the Board of Health and improved its working relationship with the Health Committee. I have pushed for and helped to facilitate the introduction of a new provider of pre-school services; this provider is on track to open in January. I am happy to report that the Home Health Care agency has not only addressed all deficiencies, several of which had been repeat findings on state surveys, but has gone from costing taxpayers over $200,000 a year to likely turning a small profit. I was the Chairman of the committee that investigated the Treasurer's Office and the prior legislature's failure of oversight. The independent auditor noted that operations were "much, much improved". Oversight of departments by the legislature across the board has been strengthened. I have pushed for interdepartmental cooperation, and I am pleased by the model developed by Health and Human Services.
I am an active legislator with a restless mind, always seeking a better way. There are many things I see that still need to be done, and that I will work hard to get done, given the chance. Thank you.
posted by Doc Paul @ 9:54 AM
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