Technical woes mar candidates’ web forum

The candidates in New York’s 42nd and 46th Senate Districts were able to get in a few campaign points during an online forum Wednesday morning before a livestream failure left Facebook viewers with unanswered questions.

The forum was presented by the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce, but the technical problems made live viewing of the entire event impossible. Chamber President Ward Todd said later Wednesday that various segments of the forum were posted on Facebook (facebook.com/Ulster.Chamber) for public viewing and also would be edited into a single video.

The event featured 42nd District Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale, and her opponent, Mike Martucci, R-Westtown; and 46th District candidates Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, and Rich Amedure, R-Rensselaerville. (The incumbent in the 46th Senate District, Rotterdam Republican George Amedore, is not seeking re-election.)

Before the streaming problem,

each candidate was to give an opening statement and respond to a question about helping businesses recover from COVID-19 shutdowns before, and discuss the impact of COVID-relates losses in tax revenue and government aid.

Metzger said businesses have not gotten enough support to stay viable and that economic development efforts need to increase.

“We really need to be focused on retaining our local businesses, helping them get through, and expanding,” she said.

Metzger pointed to the revitalization of Rosendale’s business district during the past decade as an example of how municipalities can have thriving economies.

“We’ve had huge success there, and I really feel like we need to follow the exact same strategy for Ulster County,” said Metzger, a former member of the Rosendale Town Board. “We have an incredible wealth of innovative people, resources ... and we just have to focus on those assets and invest wisely. We have the right ingredients.”

Martucci said state officials have not provided enough guidance for small businesses to plan for the future. He said more assistance has gone to “corporate welfare” than helping businesses that are struggling to keep employees.

“I would support things like a re- employment tax credit that would allow small businesses to bring more of their employees back to work,” the Republican said.

“One of the biggest obstructions,” he said, “... [is] dealing with the state’s very broken workers’ comp system. I think some of these problems that have existed for many, many years have ... not changed, and there are things that the state can and should be doing to help our small businesses right now.”

Hinchey said that, because of the pandemic, “we need to give our businesses real tangible guidance and the tools to be successful in this moment.”

“Especially as the weather begins to change, [and with] outdoor dining, we need to make sure that people can stay open,” she said. “We need to make sure there’s proper PPE (personal protective equipment) available for our businesses, we need to make sure we have heat lamps and other things to extend that season, and make sure people have the resources to stay open.”

Hinchey said she also would like the state tax code to change in a way that would help small businesses.

“How are we incentivizing them to open and to stay here?” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of empty storefronts just here in Kingston, and we’re seeing people buying them and they’re remaining vacant.”

Amedure said the state response to the pandemic suggests to him that Gov. Andrew Cuomo wields too much authority.

“The initial reaction by the [state] Senate was to give the governor extreme power ... so that he could make the decisions that needed to be made, which was the right decision at the time,” Amedure said. “[But] we’re six months into the crisis now. We need to reevaluate that executive authority he has now.”

Amedure predicts 60 percent of the state’s restaurants will be closed by 2021 if the policy doesn’t change.

“Business owners need to be allowed to open their business,” he said. “The government should provide those guidelines, and then they should help enforce those guidelines. But if we don’t get our small businesses open soon and get the regulation off their backs, we’re not going to have small businesses to worry about.”