Thompson stops in Grand Island on ‘listening tour’

by Karen Keefe
Grand Island Dispatch, December 15, 2006

Grand Island residents Peg Price, left, and Pat Akinbami talk to state Sen.-Elect Antoine M. Thompson, D-60 h District, on Monday at the Grand Island Memorial Library.

Sen.-Elect Antoine M. Thompson, D-60th District, came to the Grand Island Memorial Library Monday as part of his “Listening Tour” stops around the district he will represent starting in January.

Thompson, currently is Masten District Councilman in Buffalo. He will succeed Democrat Marc Coppola, who won a special election in February but failed to retain his seat in the November election.

“One of the pillars of my campaign and benchmarks of my time on the Buffalo Common Council was citizen participation,” Thompson said. “This listening tour represents the first of many opportunities that the residents of Western New York will have to come out and talk to me about what concerns (them),” he said.

A small but vocal group came out to talk to Thompson at the library’s community room. Among those in attendance were Town Supervisor Peter McMahon and Deputy Supervisor Richard Crawford.

McMahon explained the current push to end Grand Island bridge tolls and said why he thought bridge tolls should fall, just as they did last month at the Black Rock and Ogden Street barriers along the Niagara Section of the Thruway.

“The state has created an issue they need to address,” he said. “We have two bridges at capacity and no funds for a third bridge.” He said there are two issues at stake, one being that of fairness. He said tolls were dropped for Buffalo commuters who had alternate routes to get where they were going, but now, there is no promise that the same can happen for Grand Islanders, who have no alternative but to take the bridges to get to and from their homes.

The other issue for McMahon is the business impact. He explained that, for one example, most prospective customers of Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore can get there without paying a toll, while those coming to Fuccillo Chevrolet on Grand Island are not afforded the same opportunity by the state of New York. The same is true for any of the Island retailers, he said.

Crawford agreed. “We know tolls are a barrier,” he said. “The money adds up over time.

Resident Lee Tetkowski told Thompson she would like to see a state cap on new charter schools because of the financial impact she said they have on public school funding. “There ought to be more funding for pre-K throughout the state,” she added.

Retired librarian Pat Akinbami said the state should scrap its authorities, such as the Thruway and the Power authorities. She also had questions for Thompson about the impending Buffalo casino.

Resident Peg Price expressed concern that some area physicians who do not participate in HMOs are finding it very difficult to stay in business.

Other issues brought up included merit pay for teachers; new voting machines for New York state; making greater public use of Beaver Island State Park, and exploring the possibility of free admission to the park for Grand Island residents.

Thompson handed out surveys at the beginning of Monday’s session, and asked those in the audience to complete them to let him know about their concerns.

Thompson listened and asked audience members follow-up questions and offered some of his own views after they spoke.

“This is what the people have asked me to come here and do,” he said after listening. “These are good public policy issues … You sent me to Albany to be your advocate, and I intend to do that very well.”

Some of Thompson’s own priorities include education and creation of jobs to keep young people in the area once they graduate from college or training schools. He said he intends to initiate a survey of college students to find out what jobs they would like to see created, so they would stay in the area.

In order to empower his constituents in a movement for change, he encouraged residents of his district, which also includes parts of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, to complete surveys and turn them in to his office.

A survey printed here can be clipped out and sent to: Antoine M. Thompson, Masten District Councilmember, 1316-A City Hall, Buffalo, NY 14202.