Farley ends his County Legislature tenure Economic development a key focus of lawmaker’s legacy By John Purcell As of Friday, December 23, 2011
#Spirited debates between Republican Legislator Robert Farley and sitting Democrats have come to an end.
#Farley announced in May he wouldn’t return as minority leader for the Grand Old Party in the Schenectady County Legislature. Upon joining the legislature in 1994, he was 31 years old and he ran believing he could contribute something to the community, but his family also played a role.
#“I don’t think it was a coincidence I ran after my first daughter was born, because I took a look at her and said, ‘I want her to stay here,’” Farley said. “I think we have improved the economy, I think we have made Schenectady better. There may be opportunities now that didn’t exist back then.”
#He added people view the county very differently than in years past. Previously, he said there was “a lot of despair” and the public didn’t believe they could change anything. Now, he believes there is a lot more hope across the community.
#“I ran on a platform of trying to bring economic development to Schenectady,” said Farley. “Schenectady was a much different place … it was almost going through withdrawal syndrome.”
#General Electric had drastically reduced its workforce and the surrounding community was negatively affected. The city’s lifeblood had been drained.
#“GE was Schenectady,” Farley said. “They were very much of a community orientated organization … everybody got involved with GE.”
A community uprooted #Growing up in Niskayuna, he said it wasn’t uncommon for several fellow classmates to have parents or family members working at GE. Many people yearned for a return to the city’s electric age, according to Farley.
#“In 1993, there was still, I want to say, a kind of a perception of what can we do to make GE come back and love us again?” he said. “It is almost like a kid whose parents had split up and the father has left the house … what can we do to make him come back again and love us?”
#While Farley was in law school, he said he interned as a clerked for GE and he saw the counsel’s office “dramatically shrunk.” He recounted a memory of one employee having to change his life.
#“The guy who had his office next to me was a 45-year-old man … his wife and his child had to be uprooted when he lost his job and he had a kid in college,” said Farley. “I looked at that and said, ‘Boy, this is really rough.’”
#After being out of law school for six years, Farley made his first bid against then incumbent Democrat Christopher Gardner’s seat in District 3. Farley said his platform focused on reinvigorating the county’s economy “from the ground up,” because he didn’t believe GE would return to be the jobs engine for the area.
#“Schenectady at that time had probably the finest workforce in the United States of America, because they were world class trained by GE,” he said. “It is still a community of wonderful people and I knew we could do some good things.” ......................>>>>..........................>>>>......................http://www.schenectadyspotlight.com/news/2011/dec/24/farley-ends-his-county-legislature-tenure/
That article was the biggest pile of bull sh*t written since Hugh Farley's campaign literature came out in 2010.
“And yet our opponents tell us not to interfere with abortion. They tell us not to impose our morality on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth. Yet no one calls it imposing morality to prohibit the taking of life after a child is born. We’re told about a woman’s right to control her own body. But doesn’t the unborn child have a higher right, and that is to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” – Ronald Reagan
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