December 16th, 2009

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) — Three legislators pushing to reform state government have gotten a taste of the cynicism and pain felt by some New Yorkers, one of whom says he’s ready, in his words, to leave “this stinkin’ state.”

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward (R,I-Willsboro), Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C-Canandaigua) and Assemblyman Tony Jordan (R,C-Jackson) called the session to discuss their support for a “People’s Convention to Reform New York.”

The anger that surfaced during the first townhall-like meeting about a proposed “people’s constitutional convention” surprised even the three Republican Assembly members who organized the event.

The hearing attracted nearly 100 people to a firehouse in rural Warren County Wednesday morning.

Joe Culver, who’s 61 and semi-retired in the resort town of Lake George, calls himself a member of a silent majority and if he can stand up to call for change, he’s speaking for thousands of others.

The meeting 60 miles north of Albany is the first of several scheduled statewide.