Special Election Coverage: Q&A With Republican Robert Castelli

Robert Castelli  is the GOP candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 89th District. He is a former Lewisboro Councilman, a college professor, security consultant and Vietnam Veteran. After a career with the New York State Police, he earned his graduate degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He's the former chair of the Criminal Justice Department at Iona College and currently teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Patch: Why are you running for State Assembly?

Castelli: "I'm running to affect change. I ran back in '04 because we realized that Albany was dysfunctional and we needed to make some changes. I saw the disastrous conditions in Albany with the most disastrous legislation in the United States. High taxes, unfunded mandates, improper laws that have cost taxpayers a lot more money than if they had been corrected. Many of the issues I addressed then are still the same issues I want to fix today."

Patch: What are some things that you have learned in your previous elected office that you think could apply in Albany?

Castelli:"We can spend smarter and not harder. We are in the worst economic times since the Depression. We need to find ways to cuts costs, streamline government and create more efficient means of providing government services.

In order to do that we need transparency in our legislature and leadership more interested in the needs of the people than working to keep their own jobs.

Patch: What ideas do you have for tightening the state's belt? Do you believe that tax increases will be necessary, or can the state live within its means just with spending cuts?

Castelli: "Good legislation should not only look to pass meaningful and effective law but to repeal bad and unlikeable laws. Two of those laws I would work to repeal are the Triborough Amendment and the Wicks Law.

The Triborough Amendment is an amendment to the Taylor Law which prevents effective collaborative bargaining by preventing public employers from authorizing the previsions of a contract that has expired until a new one has been reached. It creates low incentive for the unions to give concession or engage in collective bargaining in good faith. We are the only state that has such a requirement for public employers and no similar provision for private employers.

The Wicks Law requires multiple bids on contracts on publicly funded contracts, both Public Works and school contracts. This results in extra expenses for the multiple bids packages, costly delays and expensive legal disputes and results in added costs of between 15 to 25 percent minimally on all public projects. Think about what would happen if every publicly funded project had a 25 percent reduction in cost. I mean, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. That's another law that I would work to repeal. Even though there is widespread dissatisfaction, the special interest groups have allowed only very minor reforms in that area."

Patch: Do you have any proposals for tackling with property taxes in Westchester?

Castelli: "When we look at the largest part of our tax burden for the Westchester tax payer, the school tax part is the largest. In most other counties around New York, the funding for those education programs is offset by as much as 40 or 50 percent by state dollars. In Westchester because of the leadership and the majority in the Assembly, they have created an environment where we as tax payers are funding 94.3 percent with our tax dollars. Since most of our taxes for schools are about 70 percent of your entire tax dollars for the year, if we funded it the way other counties do, that would result in about 35 percent less in taxes. As a result of which the stronghold that Paterson and his party has in Albany are affectively destroying the two party system and checks and balances, and he gets to control wherever money goes. As a result, New York City gets the gold mine and Westchester gets the shaft.

Patch: The League of Women Voters has recently been holding forums in Westchester on governmental consolidation. Given the increasing talk of it over the last one to two years, where do you stand on school district and municipal consolidation? Do you believe these options should be on the table in this economic climate?

Castelli: "Absolutely. Consolidation of services, public and private partnerships, outsourcing and shared services are effective means by which we can control the burgeoning taxes in this state and the cost of government."

Patch: Name what you feel is your best accomplishment in office?

Castelli: "In the four-year time I held on the Town Board in Lewisboro we were able to hold tax increases that were less than 1.7 percent for the entire four years I was in office, while at the same time delivering a higher level of service in a more timely fashion. We did this once again, by spending smarter, not harder."

Patch: Is there anything we haven't discussed that you think the public should know about you or you would like to share with the public?

Castelli:"Heathcare reform. Anyone who is not in favor of meaningful healthcare reform really has no heart, but anybody who is in favor of this healthcare reform proposed by Congress really has no brain. It is a disastrous plan calculated to increase the national debt by more than a trillion dollars, and I am vehemently opposed to that specific plan.

Other than that I support the concept of tax cap, town limits across the board, cuts in state spending by 10 percent and strong homeland security."