A Letter to Secretary Patience

February 4, 2013

Mr. Francis W. Patience

Secretary of the Senate

321 Capitol

Albany, NY 12247

Dear Secretary Patience:

According to information given to my office by Ms. Tracy Starr, you are demanding that the landlord in my Senate District Office, after four years, decrease the monthly rent from $4,601.00 to $3,330.00, a net loss of $1,268.00 per month.

It is important for you to know that in these struggling economic times for property owners and small businesses especially in minority communities, you are imposing a heavy financial burden on these businesses by decreasing the monthly rent, when we all know that every year rent goes up, not down.

It is also imperative for you to know that I am not the only State Senator paying a monthly rent above the limit that you are demanding, but it seems that Senator Liz Krueger and I are the only two being persecuted out of twenty Senators who pay more than the limit of $3,330.00.

Enclosed please find, according to the New York State Senate Expenditure Report from October 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, the list of Senators paying above the maximum allowable rent of $3,333.00, that you are imposing upon me.

I hope this information is helpful to you in deciding how many property owners and small businesses you will be hurting by forcing them to decrease their rent to $3,333.00 per month, unless your intention is only to impose this requirement on Senator Liz Krueger and myself.

Respectfully Yours,

State Senator Rubén Díaz, SD32