Oringinally Posted on The Albany Project
I first met Paul Tonko outside the first candidate’s forum in late March, shortly before he announced his candidacy for Congress in New York’s 21st Congressional District. I was hanging out after the debate had ended, determined to not only get back on the blogs to cover the event unlike any mainstream media outlet, but also because I’d had a crazy idea: why not set up some extensive interviews with the candidates as well?
For a college student wearing long hair, a scruffy beard, and a Bob Marley tee-shirt, I can see where the candidates might have seen me as going out on a limb. After I asked Paul Tonko, a 20-plus-year veteran of the Assembly who’s name is synonymous with the politics of the Capital Region, I wondered myself just what I’d gotten myself into.
The rest of the Soundpolitic Interview with Paul Tonko is below the fold as it appeared originally on The Albany Project.
Three months later, I was on the lookout for Paul again, and were it not for his distinctive baldness in the August sun, I wouldn’t have seen him sitting at the sidewalk café at the Muddy Cup in Albany. As this series progress and the primary campaign in the 21st has developed, I find it’s really the candidates going on a limb, taking time out of a very busy, competitive schedule to meet with a lowly blogger.
Paul Tonko was no exception. Even though I am also a volunteer for one of his opponents, he still sat down with me to go into depth about his experience, his early life, and address some tougher questions below the fold. What Paul Tonko is doing right now is running for Congress, and I’m publishing a blog about it. His advice for what you are doing (reading it) is:
"Whatever you do, whether it’s fixing a sink or performing surgery, or as a volunteer or in a career endeavor, do it with passion."
--Paul Tonko, Democratic Candidate for Congress, NY-21
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I started off by asking Tonko about his early life, before becoming such a well-known politician.
"I often enjoy using the label of grandson of immigrants to describe me." Tonko answered. Life was centered around a small immigrant family living in one immediate community in his childhood. He called the atmosphere of being brought up close to immigrant roots "nuturing."
"For me, it was newly-entered hyphenated Americans, really with passion with county and for government. And that impacted me...as I get older I can feel what drives me and motivates me and inspires me."
Tonko’s family was also active in volunteering for local politics and passionate about politics in general that he says rubbed off on him. "When you’re knee-high to your grandparents, you have that special bond." Tonko added that his grandparents gave him perspective "from both sides of the pond," and taught him that "we get exactly what we deserve from government."
"There are many of us that come from those roots." Tonko said.
Paul grew up in Amsterdam and he described the city as a community where everyone knew one another, a good place to earn a living. The buzz of the local mills, he said, had a subliminal effect on him, inspiring him to seek out a similar career that reflected that work ethic.
But it was his strength in math that lead Tonko to choose engineering as a career path After Paul graduated with his engineering degree, he returned to Amsterdam and worked for both the DOT and PSC. In his free time, he continued to volunteer for local political campaigns, including former Congressman Sam Stratton.
Citing an early fear of standing on a stage, Tonko said he didn’t consider becoming a politician early on. He figured volunteering would be enough for him. "Somehow, that led to politics." Tonko said.
According to Tonko, he was recognized for his "higher than average and well-detected" volunteer work and people began to suggest to him he run for office himself. "I thought, you know, the local thing would be OK because you can give back to your community and it will help grow you as an individual," said Tonko "as well as feed the fire for politics." He smiled as he said he wouldn’t have to worry about making too many speeches.
In 1975, Tonko ran to represent his ward in the City of Amsterdam and at age 26 was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. Historically, this makes Paul Tonko the youngest person ever elected to that body.
Not only did he eventually teach his public speaking "butterflies" to all "fly in the same direction," but Tonko’s M.O. of constituent work lead to the rest of the Board to recognize his leadership. In 1981, he was elected to be the Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisor. "I was the CEO of Montgomery County," said Tonko, explaining that the County has no single elected chief executive system at the time.
Reminiscing on his early years in politics seemed to move Paul to reflect on the totality of his political experience. He spoke not only of himself, but of everyone in politics. "What drives you, what gives you your sense of conviction," he said, "Is your attachment to the issues and, more importantly, the people that are bringing them to your attention."
"It’s very passionate arena," Tonko added, and gave some general advice. "Whatever you do, whether it’s fixing a sink or performing surgery, or as a volunteer or in a career endeavor, do it with passion. Do it like you’re making a total difference and that you’re doing your utmost to put your signature on what was done." Tonko described the results of such an approach as "satisfying and very soulful."
During his tenure on the Board of Supervisors, Tonko was appointed by NYSAC as vice-chairman on a nursing home task force. It was his involvement in this organization, the New York Association of Counties, where Tonko decided "This was a good training ground to better understand the inter-relationships of government, but what I really wanted to change can best be changed in Albany, so why not do it directly?"
In 1983, Paul Tonko made the move from the county to the state level, winning a special election to the New York State Assembly. "I was a two-month-old Assemblymember when you were born," Paul told me. As such, Paul Tonko was one of my first representatives in the State Assembly. The first drawing of the 105th Assembly District included the Hilltowns of Albany County, where I still live.
This was the first of several redistricting constructs Paul Tonko would continue to represent in the Assembly for the next 23 years. Originally, the 105th included portions of Montgomery County, Schoharie County, the Hilltowns, and the western Townships of Schenectady County. Tonko explained how that transitioned to include all of Montgomery County, eventually losing Schoharie County and Hilltowns and including most of the City of Schenectady. "It went from more rural to more urban," said Tonko.
He explained that he experienced a graduated learning curve that went from rural to more urban. Tonko even seemed to indicate that cows themselves were important constituents early in his service. Eventually, he was moving to "urban core" issues of crumbling factories and diminishing tax bases. "It’s not like you can read about and develop the same drive that I believe I have to make a difference in all types of communities." Tonko said.
Paul explained that this gave him a unique advantage in the race not because of constituent service but because of "programmatic" expertise, similar to his earlier County experience. Tonko said he saw, "the logical extension is to start working that experience as the message in Albany." He made it clear that now, as then, he’s basing his campaign for future public office on his legislative and administrative experience of his past.
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The above reference to the cows is not without merit, and Paul Tonko will tell you as such. One of his first acts as Assemblyman was to shorten the length of time it took for dairy farmers to get paid. He again citied his immigrant roots regarding some of the earlier issues he tackled. "Half of my family were weavers in factories, the other half were dairy farmers," Tonko said.
Tonko explained this particular issue required crossing the aisle geographically. "It’s not necessarily party based," he explained, and indicated that it had more to do with resolutions and appeals to the Congressional delegation than actual legislation. "Part of the cleverness," Tonko added, "was trying to find partnerships between committees."
The big issue for Paul Tonko was, is, and always has been energy. In 1992 he became Chairman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Energy. Cutting energy costs particular for farmers was not only part of his agenda, but also possible because of his place on the Agricultural Committee. In addition, Tonko sat on the Education and Transportation Committees.
The Energy Chairmanship may have earned Assemblyman Tonko the ire of those critical of the energy industry deregulation that occurred during the Pataki administration. "We were de-regged as a state through an administrative fiat rather than a legislative fiat." Tonko explained. "Circumventing the Legislature meant that my role, as the Energy Chair was to shed light on some serious policy adjustments that were being made."
"Between flipping a switch and expecting the light to go on and fighting about paying your high energy bill are a lot of decisions. These decisions need to made based on physics, not politics." Paul Tonko said in describing the deregulation process and his role as Energy Chair in general.
In that capacity, Paul Tonko went through a list of legislation and programs passed during the deregulation period, what he called "consumer protection pieces for an unregulated market." He stressed his strong feeling that the statewide energy grid needed renewal, noting that the fifth anniversary of the Blackout had just passed. "We talk about weaknesses or terrorist activity...you know, a weakness in our energy grid is not something we should be comfortable with."
A possible solution, Tonko said, was being developed by SuperPower in Schenectady, that would allow more power to be deliver over the same distances through new high-electron capacity cables. Additionally, Tonko mentioned the Power for Jobs program that was meant to ease what he called "a looming crisis for consumers" during the deregulation process. This program gave local business lower energy bills to help create more jobs in small communities. "We kind of had our finger on the pulse of what was happening or not happening for consumers," Tonko said to summarize his tenure as Energy Chair.
This kind of work continued as he moved from the Assembly in 2007 to become President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, appointed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer. "My work...was to really push hard for a demand-side of activity. Everything in Washington was focused on supply, I believe. We want to see a balance of supply-side and demand-side solutions."
Tonko added, "We cannot continue to be gluttonous in our use of energy, or unwise in our use." Saving energy was one of the strategies Tonko used continuously in the Legislature, he said, returning again to dairy farming. By working as Energy Chair as President of NYSERDA with various agencies like the Farm Bureau and Cornell Cooperative Extension, New York dairy farmers were able to increase the amount of production per animal. "A content cow gives you more milk," Tonko concluded.
Paul Tonko Energy Committee Chairmanship tends to overshadow his long tenure on the Transportation Committee in the Assembly. He asked to be on the Committee in 1984, right after witnessing a major bridge collapse in Schoharie County. "I could hear the boom when the bridge collapsed and I knew there was going to need to be a lot of work there." Tonko said. "I wanted to be part of the policy reforms that were going to deal with bridges."
"The thought never leaves your mind when you know the consequences of neglect in human terms." said Paul Tonko of going to the bridge collapse scene. He again mentioned that several similar experiences added to his passion for government.
Tonko said he worked extensively and implemented his knowledge of engineering on what he called "maintenance standards" for bridges. He agreed that this collapse and the recent collapse in Minneapolis was a tragedy and said "Our role as a government is to avoid a tragedy from re-occurring."
He continued in relating his transportation experiences to his energy expertise as well. Some of his ideas for the future included implementing state-of-the-art braking systems for subways the possibility of high-speed rail going from Albany to Buffalo, Boston, New York City, and Montreal. "Talk about an investment in Upstate New York!" he exclaimed, and noted that the factory to manufacture the subway cars would be located in Scotia, a Schenectady County village in the 21st Congressional District.
"Again," said Tonko, "knowing these issues from a state perspective and knowing the desires to do things with limited resources, you can then go to Washington." There was an air of excitement that indicated he truly hoped to do so as he concluded his experience-based case: "You can take all that debate on the floor that you heard time and time again; arguments you made in committee; arguments you heard in committee. That’s an investment in my growth that I think I can now share."
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The experience Paul Tonko talked so extensively about was also one of the main reasons Tonko believes he was recognized so early on in the media as a possible replacement for Rep. Mike McNulty. His announcement that he would retire and end his 20 years in Congress is what initially set off the open primary we have today, yet it was his pledge to not endorse any potential successor that seems to have left it open. Indeed, when former Congressman Sam Stratton retired, Paul Tonko’s name was floated alongside McNulty’s to serve back in 1988.
As it stands, Tonko spent the time that McNulty spent in Congress building his resume, and when McNulty himself announced retirement, Tonko said "I think everyone was looking at logical choices." He said the factors included in looking at potential candidates included years of service and what areas of the district had been represented. In that respect, Paul Tonko certainly has more years of government service than any of his opponents and has also represented by far the largest portion of NY-21.
Tonko said that early coverage of the possibility of his candidacy before his late entry was fair not only because of this, but because of the issue of energy being very high in voters minds this year. Upon his announcement to run in June, however, the media that had published several stories about his potential candidacy began publishing articles about his campaigns seeming unprepared. I noted to Tonko that to this day I hear rumors about disorganization, and wanted to give Paul the opportunity to address this.
"Remember: people were in the campaign mode for months before we announced in May. They had been doing things in January, if not sooner." Tonko explained. "With us way behind, I think it was easy for people to say you’re not organized and not suggest that they’d had months ahead of us to do that." Paul said he moved quickly once he made the late announcement, which he did because of federal election laws prohibiting him from running while he was still President of NYSERDA.
Tonko cited that his campaign had the same Internet and media based resources as the rest of the campaigns and that "it had tossed a challenge our way. And I think we’ve more than met it." He added that his paid staff was very small and "We haven’t gone to fancy Washington firms." He recognized his Communications Director, Beau Duffy, beside me at the table as a veteran in the local communications, and many campaign volunteers.
Part of catching up and running any Congressional campaign is, of course, money. Campaign finance reform has been an issue that has come up across the country this cycle, and at a recent debate, Tonko’s opponent Phil Steck pointed to campaign donations received by both Paul Tonko and their other opponent Tracey Brooks from industries, lobbyists, and PACs. Rather than ask who he’d taken contributions from and how much, I just wondered why that type of money was involved in politics in the first place and what he would say to voters who are skeptical of candidates who are connected to that money.
"It’s a very fair question," Tonko said. "My answer is that the telling portion of the resume is the track record." He added "I can show you countless memoranda of opposition that were issued on legislation that I proposed and promoted through the Legislature that defies the logic that there was a special interest give and receive."
"In fact," he added, "It’s almost the antithesis of this. It’s almost the opposite." Tonko again related to his fight against the health care lobby for Timothy’s Law, his most often cited legislative accomplishment to provide mental health coverage parity. As such, he’s outlined the steps and general idea of this legislative "battle" before, but went a little deeper at the café:
"When I picked up the mantle, I assumed there was a learning curve that would be required," he said. "I didn’t precalculate and determine the emotional investment that would be extracted from me." Tonko was in contact with proponents of the law who needed its benefits for eight years, as well as with the powerful lobbies against it.
"Do I like the rules? I’d like to see campaign finance reform." said Tonko. "Until that system is revamped, you’re at risk. And all the good work that you choose to do, that develops a partnership with your constituency would be sacrificed." He again related the story of a back-door manner in which money from South Dakota was funneled through a national campaign for Senate in an attempt to defeat him in an Assembly campaign during the fight for Timothy’s Law.
Tonko added that many of the programs he had spoken about earlier were implemented "against the better wishes of the special interests." Paul Tonko strongly maintained that "My record is replete with countless examples of how I did what I believe was fair and just for the people who place thier trust in me."
Given the issues of the race and Tonko’s position on them, I pointed out to him that four of the five Democratic candidates for Congress – himself, Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, and Phil Steck – were all basically in agreement on most of the issues, from ending the war in Iraq, to implementing universal single payer health care, protecting women’s rights, and investing in alternative energy. So I asked Paul what he thought would be the deciding factor in such a tight and contested race?
"Who’s had the experience and expertise." said Paul Tonko instantly. "In tough times, you resort to the experience factor." Specifically, Tonko said of health care that he had sponsored the first universal health care bill in the Assembly, and again made extensive mention of his energy experience.
"You can embrace it as a dynamic registering in a poll," said Tonko. "But when you’ve been battling for sixteen years for fairer outcomes, fighting the forces of administratively imposed change, fighting two-thirds of the pie, being the other side of the political fence, and seeing first-hand at NYSERDA what could be done – and that’s a practical awareness – of action or inaction at the federal level. All of that is experience, expertise, and knowledge-based that is not short-lived or registering in a poll and you just respond in a concerned way. Rather it is deeply rooted, broadly based experience. And in tough times, experience seems to be a very strong determinant."
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Soundpolitic Blogger’s Note
This interview marks the fourth in a series of interviews posted on The Albany Project and DailyKos, the purpose of which was to give these candidates a greater extent and depth of coverage than what is offered in the traditional media. I maintain and remain outspoken that this is a historic primary, the first time it’s been truly contested in a half century, with a wealth of talented candidates in a competitive campaign that warrants greater coverage.
So I decided that I’d try to offset the lack of traditional media coverage here, as a volunteer in general to my fellow voters. Some of my blogs are citizen advocacy pieces, as I am a Steck for Congress volunteer, but do not receive any blogging assignments from the campaign. It’s all my own stuff on my own time, and some of it is obvious support of my candidate. Yet I strive to maintain factual balance in news wrap-ups and reports.
And I have to say, I do it with passion. So Paul Tonko spoke to me in a way I have to honestly recognize even as I advocate for a different candidate. And he spoke to everyone volunteering and working for the candidates, and for all the candidates themselves and everyone in the district below; I thank the candidates once again for letting me be the one to quote stuff like this here on TAP and DailyKos:
"Whatever you do, whether it’s fixing a sink or performing surgery, or as a volunteer or in a career endeavor, do it with passion."
--Paul Tonko, Democratic Candidate for Congress, NY-21
For more information about Paul Tonko, go to www.paultonkoforcongress2008.com.