Having carefully researched her entire voting record, I support Tedra Cobb.

The first resolution Tedra co-sponsored was “Opposing the Patriot Act,” because it unconstitutionally “dilutes, weakens, or denies” the “guaranteed rights of the citizen,” is “void from its inception,” and is “unenforceable in our jurisdiction.” The resolution passed on a bipartisan vote.

When the Supreme Court ruled that government can use the power of eminent domain to take private property for private use rather than public use, the Legislature urged that the practice be outlawed in New York State. The resolution passed unanimously.

Adirondack lands: Voted not to allow the State to avoid payment of property taxes on Forest Preserve lands, and to protect the hunting camp leases on conservation easements acquired by the State.

Agriculture: Voted to limit changes in tax assessments of farmland, and not to allow BION Technologies to establish an industrial feedlot.

Environmental Protection: Voted to allow feeding of wild deer during winter, to require returnable containers for non-carbonated beverages, to remove leaking underground storage tanks from Willow Island, to remove invasive species from Adirondack waters and Black Lake, to restore funding for three DEC foresters, to establish a solid waste recycling program, and to establish a biomass boiler at the Newton Falls Paper Mill.

Ethics: Drafted and passed a new Ethics Law for the county, the first update in eighteen years.

Housing: Voted to allocate block grants for home ownership assistance and housing rehabilitation in Brasher, Canton, Edwards, Morristown, Russell, Stockholm, and Waddington.

Infrastructure: Voted to reconstruct or replace seventeen bridges in St. Lawrence County

Public Transportation: Voted six times to provide funding for bus transportation.

Senior Citizens: Voted to increase funding for Senior Community Service Employment Program, to allow low-income senior citizens a 50% property tax exemption, to provide transportation to medical facilities for senior citizens living at home, to provide kitchen improvements at the Morristown Nutrition Site, and to support the Nutrition Program for the Elderly

Sex Offenders: Voted to pay for electronic monitoring and supervision of level three sex offenders, to prohibit them from residing near schools or day care facilities, and to urge the State to fund a program to teach children in public schools how to recognize and resist sexual abuse.

Snowmobile Use: Voted to pay for the development of 500 miles of snowmobile trails outside the Adirondack Park, to pay for snowmobile trail grooming and maintenance, and to oppose the Governor’s proposal to raid the snowmobile trail fund for other purposes.

Substance Abuse: Voted eight times to appropriate funds to combat alcohol and/or drug addiction, and voted to create three new positions for chemical dependency counselors.

Unfunded Mandates: Consistently opposed programs mandated by the state that counties must pay for.

Youth: Consistently supported dozens of youth organizations and programs for youth at risk, voted to create an additional caseworker for Child Protective Services, to donate surplus kitchen equipment from the old St. Lawrence County Jail to 4-H Camp Overlook, and voted twenty-three times to fund the Youth Conservation Corps.

Richard Hayes Phillips

Canton