Senator Aubertine To Open Oswego Office

OSWEGO (July 30, 2008)—Today, state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine (D-Cape Vincent) completed the final paperwork and took possession of the key at the site of his Oswego County satellite office. The office is located in Rich Hall on the campus of SUNY Oswego, in space donated by the college for constituent service and community outreach.

"I have said since my first day in office that the people of Oswego County deserved to have a Senate office in their community," said Sen. Aubertine. "Now, they will have direct access to the services and resources of this senate office, and a full-time staff person dedicated solely to the needs of this county."

The Senator dedicated himself to opening a space in Oswego County earlier in the year. However, his written requests for an official satellite office in Oswego were repeatedly denied by the Senate Majority leadership. This despite the fact that many Upstate majority Senators maintain official satellite offices paid for by state taxpayers, including the neighboring Senator in the 47th Senate District, who operates three separate offices in his district. Senator Aubertine’s Oswego office will open without any costs to taxpayers.

"To get to this point we had to cut through Albany red tape and overcome political obstacles," said Sen. Aubertine. "But, I committed to opening this office, and I am not one to back away from commitments."

The senate majority’s decision is another example of putting partisanship ahead of the needs of Central and Northern New York. To end this practice, the Senator is sponsoring legislation to take politics out of the distribution of resources in Senate offices as part of a four bill package that also includes legislation to open sponsorship of bills to all Senators regardless of party; to create automatic conference committees on similar bills that have passed both houses; and to make sure home rule bills get at least a committee vote in the Senate.

Aubertine concluded, "By equalizing resources, encouraging bipartisan cooperation, making conference committees mandatory and requiring action on home rule requests, we will address the partisan dysfunction in the daily operation of the State Senate and give all people the constituent service they deserve."