By:Karenlyn Barone
Several months ago, Torres, a self-described "political hobbyist," called the Democratic Committee to see who was running against U.S. Rep. Peter King (D-Seaford), with the intention of volunteering for that campaign. "The woman on the phone said I should run for office myself," said Torres. "I was sure politics was in my future, but I didn't think I was ready yet."
Torres, an engineer from Baldwin Harbor, had subsequent conversations with Democratic Financial Director Sal DiMaggio and Executive Director Ryan Cronin and soon found himself considering throwing his hat in the ring. "They said they had this office [Assembly] with no one to take it, and it was mine if I wanted it," said Torres. "I looked at the New York state Legislature, looked at some issues and at my opponent, and decided it was worth a try." He said that at the very least, he feels committed to try and push some issues.
In an interview with the Herald, Torres said that although Barra has written more than 100 pieces of legislation, most of which he agrees with, he contends that his opponent has been "relatively ineffective." In fact, Torres's campaign flier asks voters, "Do you really think it's fair that our legislators keep getting re-hired every two years as if they were automatically entitled to their positions after failing to do what they were hired to do?"
Torres does not put all the blame in Barra's lap. "In part it's because of a broken system, and in part because I feel that the system discourages people from standing up to the system," he explained. "The legislative body leader has full control over each member's staff budget, and they actually use this to reward or punish either loyalty or disloyalty. This discourages people from standing up and saying, 'We need a rules change.'"
Barra said his record indicates he has been very effective in Albany. "I've gotten every local bill passed," said the two-term assemblyman. "For the first few years as a Republican assemblyman I passed more chapters and got more bills signed into law than most people in recent memory. You have to work with the system, and I have been able to"
Torres contends that "Albany is, in fact, broken. The main problem is a dysfunctional legislature where most of the decisions are made by rather strong leadership," he said, explaining that he feels no one is willing to oppose the leadership in Albany. "I decided I would go there and not be afraid of losing a given budget, or to necessarily protect my job." In fact, he said, unlike the incumbent, he is not a career politician, and would honestly fare better in the private sector. Torres said he would go to Albany with the sole purpose of trying to effect rules changes.
One of Barra's local issues continues to be gang violence. He said that he hopes to return to office so that he can continue the work he has started in reducing it. "The gang bill, which had a lot of preventive medicine in it, had so many sponsors on both sides on the aisle - it had 32 sponsors and 26 were Democrats - and yet the staffers in Albany knocked that one out," he said. The bill calls for stronger penalties and punishment for those who commit, or are affiliated with, gang-related crimes. It also focuses on the patterns of criminal gang activity and the nature of street gangs, and seeks to curb the development of new gang-related criminal acts. Early intervention is also stressed in the legislation.
"It's going right back in, and there is no pride in authorship," said Barra. "They can rip my name off it ... even take it in pieces, but let's get something done." He said he also wants to address education, health care and other quality-of-life issues as well. "We need to see what we can do to help first respondents and balance that up against people's taxes," Barra said. "You want to provide services, but you don't want to tax people out of the area. It's a tough dichotomy."
Torres accuses Barra of "going along with party leadership," which he blames for "a broken legislative process, late budgets 20 years in a row, off-balance financing, the highest debt load and the highest local income taxes in the country." Torres said these are problems that could easily be fixed with a few legislative and budget-process rules changes that move accountability back to the state.
Barra disagrees with Torres's assessment of Albany's "dysfunction." "I think the dysfunction is based on the budget process," Barra said. "I co-sponsored legislation that passed budget reform. There is dysfunction because there is no finite date that anyone cares about or adheres to." The bill Barra helped sponsor sets a budget date of May 1, and if that date is not adhered to, the budget from the year before becomes the budget again. "If and when this goes through, it will pass overwhelmingly," said Barra. "It will end a lot of acrimony, and then I think everything else will fall into place."
The challenger said that one of his primary issues is education funding, but he feels that nothing can be done about it until Medicaid is fixed. Although Torres proposes solutions that include allowing private participation in the public program and eventually working toward universal health care, he recognizes that as an assemblyman, his role in addressing such a federal issue would be limited to lobbying his senators.
Barra would like to see the formula for education aid simplified. "I cannot accept my district getting a 1 percent increase per year while someone else gets 15 percent," said Barra, a lifelong Lynbrook resident and the father of two. " I am willing to help the city, but not with a Robin Hood approach - not at the expense of our kids."
Torres describes himself as a citizen who "sees problems and is looking to solve them. I don't really fear retribution, nor do I have a long-term political career or long-term political agenda to protect, like my opponent does," he said. "I'm going to Albany as a citizen, and I say to the voters, if I am there for two terms, and I am not able to get anything done, and I have the gall to run for re-election, then shame on you if you vote for me again." He said that he understands that the first term as an assemblyman may be about "feeling his way around," but by the second term "you should have accomplished something."
Barra said that his legislative tenure has been very successful due to his ability to work with all factions of the Legislature. "You have to work well within the system," he said. "It's my ability to work with people from all over the state and from the other side of the aisle. Some guys go up and like to bash the speaker - I don't. I get along with the speaker, and if I ask him to be on something, I usually get an OK from him. That, in turn, helps people in my district."
On a local level, Torres, the father of a toddler, is focusing on highway safety. He notes too much reckless and aggressive driving on local highways, which he feels is preventable with awareness and enforcement. He concedes that his solution would mean investing more money in law enforcement. His other issue of concern is the environment. Torres would like to promote solar power and energy independence. He is a proponent of making cars run on cleaner-burning vegetable oil. "We would no longer be dependent on fossil fuel sources or foreign oil," said Torres. "We could grow our own fuel."
Torres and Barra are scheduled to meet for a head-to-head discussion of the issues on Oct. 25, when the League of Women Voters holds an election forum at the Hewlett Woodmere Library, 1125 Broadway in Hewlett, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Comments about this story? KBarone@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
