Of the five primaries for County Legislature seats — two
Democratic, one Republican, two Independence Party — we selected the two we
found most interesting and most highly contested, one city, one suburban, both
Democratic. In both, the current legislators are retiring due to term limits.

In the 14th district, which covers most of Brighton and a small part of Henrietta, three candidates
are seeking the seat currently held by Democrat Linda Garner Goldstein: Travis
Heider, Mary Ellen Blanchard, and Nelson Lopatin. All three are liberal
Democrats who know their district well. All would be strong advocates for their
district. All three understand the challenges facing the county — and the
difficulty of being a Democrat in the Republican-dominated legislature.

Our choice: Travis
Heider. Senior marketing director for the local American Diabetes
Association, Heider is only 29, but he gained significant political experience
as deputy chief of staff to former State Senator Rick Dollinger, a Democrat who
found ways to be effective in the Republican-controlled Senate. That
experience, plus Heider’s clear understanding of county issues, earns our
endorsement. Among Heider’s top concerns: the county budget; the need to
strengthen development in biotech, fuel-cell technology, and infotonics areas;
and the need to develop and use renewable energy.

Mary Ellen Blanchard is an English teacher at Pittsford Mendon High School who has been endorsed by
the Working Families Party. She has made a particular issue of opposing
privatization of Monroe Community Hospital and the need to provide strong
oversight of the county administration. She wants county government to be more
active in reducing lead poisoning and believes the county’s industrial
development agency has been mismanaged.

Nelson Lopatin is
the owner of an internet development company and has a background in
accounting. His campaign has focused on the county budget, particularly the
need for a multi-year approach to budgeting; stopping the flight of college
graduates from the region; and Renaissance Square. He is concerned about where
the county will find private investment for Renaissance Square and who will
finance operating costs. He criticizes the county’s industrial development
agency for subsidizing the movement of businesses to the suburbs, and he wants
government to provide help for landlords in lead-paint abatement.

In the city: too close to call

The Democratic
primary in the 21st district is an interesting race in an interesting
geographic area, one that, as candidate George Moses says, reflects the
diversity of the city. The district includes poor neighborhoods, working-class
neighborhoods, and expensive East Avenue homes. Moses and labor activist Carrie
Andrews are seeking the seat being vacated by Democrat-turned-Republican Chris
Wilmot.

Both are good candidates with their own strengths. Moses,
community relations director of the North East Area Development organization,
has less breadth and depth than Andrews but has been active in the district’s
poor and middle-income neighborhoods and has a clear understanding and deep
concern about the needs of the city’s poor and working poor. As county
officials try to deal with budget challenges, he says, they’re beginning to pit
one part of the community against another: the poor. In his campaign, he
focuses on the needs of families. He wants the poverty level for day care
changed so that more families are eligible. And day care, he says, is both a
service and an economic engine, providing income for providers.

Andrews, a labor-relations specialist for New York State
United Teachers, has a strong understanding of county issues. Like Moses, she
is concerned about the county’s human-services budget cuts. She says she’s
concerned that the Brooks administration is continuing the Doyle
administration’s hostility toward the city, citing funding cuts for school
nurses, library funding, and the problems in the Department of Human and Health
Services. She says the county’s incentive programs aren’t doing what they were
intended to do: foster industrial development. And she wants more
accountability for those tax breaks, to insure that promised job growth is
delivered.

Balancing Moses’ familiarity with his district and Andrews’
familiarity with the issues, we were unable to make a clear choice for an
endorsement in this race.

This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2005.