BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Investigative Reporter
As many in the media have said with regards to this election cycle, on the federal as well as the state and local levels, this is a watershed election. The fate of the entire country is at stake. The poll numbers show that almost three-fourths of the people feel that we are not going in the right direction. The biggest issues are the cost of gas, groceries, housing, safety and illegal immigration.
On July 18, 2024, Senator Bill Weber held an event at Banchetto Feast in Nanuet by the Shops in Nanuet, where approximately 75 people attended the event. He explained how he is going to continue to advocate for the people in his district. A number of notable local officials were in attendance. Rockland County Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Garvey, Clarkstown Town Supervisor George Hoehmann, County Legislators Lon Hofstein, Ray Sheridan, Former Mayor of Suffern Ed Markunas, Candidate for NYS 97th Assembly District Ronny Diz.
Garvey opened the remarks by introducing all of the above-mentioned dignitaries as well as others from local unions. He then spoke a bit about Weber. “I’m going to say just a few words about Bill Weber as all you probably all heard me say this before, Bill and I have been together with this whole process for the past 10 years. You can’t find a more reasonable person, a more caring person and a person more devoted to what they’re doing. If anyone was ever born to be a New York State Senator, it’s, it’s Bill and I mean, that he takes his business very, very seriously.”
He goes everywhere as I’m sure his wife, Lee will tell you, I mean, everything they used to say about the Mayor of Providence that he would go to a letter opening if there’s a camera there. Bill will go to a letter opening if there’s a camera there. And that’s a dedication of love of that. That’s it. It’s a proof of his dedication to what he’s doing. With that I’m going to bring up Supervisor George Hoehmann
“Thank you. Good evening, everybody. I’m delighted to say a few words and introduce my good friend, Senator Bill Weber. I can tell you as Town Supervisor these past nine years, we had uneven representation and bad representation in Albany before Bill Weber took over as our State Senator. We had folks that voted on terrible things, voted on bail reform, sponsored bail reform from the State Senate. Thank God, we have someone like Bill Weber who represents our values, represents our police. The support from local labor is incredible. You know, we saw just recently with Sean O’Brien giving a shout out from the Teamsters to Mike Lawler.” Hoehmann stated.
He continued, “Bill Weber is the type of Republican representing us in Albany that listens to all concerns, and he works with everybody and he’s able to get support from areas where people don’t traditionally get support from. Republicans don’t always get great support from labor, but locally we do and thankfully, Bill, it’s a testament to his efforts up in Albany, we work closely together.”
He said that Bill has been an advocate for us on a number of issues. That he’s gotten several key pieces of legislation important to the Town of Clarkstown passed. “I know I was talking to just recently with the Legislator Hofstein and Bill has done a number of things to represent the county as well and has helped them as well.”
Hoehmann touted Weber’s advocacy for the people and spoke a little of his own advocacy, saying that Bill really is somebody whose heart is in the right place. He comes from an advocacy point of view, and I know having worn multiple hats in my career, having worked in the not-for-profit sector, I see people like Don Ehrenberg here who’s running a small local not for profit that helps people with disabilities. “I have experienced Bill’s advocacy since he’s been up in Albany, and I know that his heart is in the right place. He advocates on behalf of people with disabilities. He advocates on behalf of people that don’t have a voice in Albany and he carries our Republican values forward and to echo what we heard earlier, he’s somebody that’s reasonable person.”
Hoehmann concluded, “We never should have had a plethora of bills passed into law in Albany. Never under the former governor, under our current governor and under the progressive leadership in Albany, we never should have had a lot of these things passed and we’re all expecting a big Republican wave this year with our president. We believe that there’s going to be a lot of seats that are going to turn hands across the country, including here in New York and we know Bill is going to go back to Albany with more people, Republicans in the State Senate and he’s going to continue to be that reasonable voice, that strong voice for us. So, without further ado, it’s my pleasure to introduce my dear friend, Senator Bill Weber.”
There is a saying that politics makes for strange bedfellows. Politics is a very serious business. The people running for office are affecting the lives of tens of thousands of people in their care. A wrong decision or a vote on a bill that ultimately hurts the constituents is never a good thing. But as serious as this business is, Weber took a little time out in his speech to give the attendees some laughs.
One local businessperson said that Weber has been looking out for the constituents in his district. He is always out in public at events and even private ones and has made it his business to get to know the people in the communities. He always wants to know what we are thinking, wanting and needing to make our lives easier, better and safer.
“Thank you, George. I want to find out where that next letter opening will be because I’ll be there. I think George and Lawrence kind of put a point on it. You know, when Mike Lawler first ran for office and then when I ran and won in 2022, I think we both wanted to try and do something different to really redefine what a Congressman or Senator or as a Representative in Albany really means.
“That means being at every single event, be willing to meet with every single person, group, advocacy group, people that may not generally vote for, say a Republican. But the only way you’re going to be able to make new bonds and relationships is to go into every community, speak to every single person and find out what their concerns are and that’s something that I’ve been proud to do for the last two years.”
He added that this is something that he’ll continue to do for as long as he decides to want or for as long as his wife will let him be involved in political office. “But I think it’s important to really focus on that because that’s ultimately why we get involved and we want to make a difference in, in our district and in our community and I think we’ve, we’ve done that.”
He explained about the legislative wins they have had locally as George mentioned and, and as Lon can attest to, we’ve had some great wins with labor. Great bills came out of this legislative session, and we’ll get to, we’ll get to some more improvements. Some of the stuff that we spoke about earlier, we’ll try and improve with apprenticeship programs and some other interests of labor that will hopefully get to the next legislative cycle as well.
He conveyed the importance of family in our lives by stating that he I can’t do this job without his lovely wife, Lee, who’s here, who is the backbone of their family and, “I think any guy that doesn’t, doesn’t admit it, who is the backbone of their family is, is lying.”
“So many events that, that I and other politicians miss, but we miss, we miss them and, you know, my wife takes care of the family when I’m not there and I appreciate everything that she does.:
We have so many other people that just make this job fun and it is fun.”
He had some advice for people, “Listen, if you don’t like what you do every day, you shouldn’t be doing it. That’s no matter what field of study you’re in or whatever work you’re in. If you don’t like what you’re doing, my advice to you is that you find something else to do that you do love, and I love doing this and I have great staff and I’m going to probably forget names.”
He introduced the members of his staff and said, “This is a great team. I have a great team here that helps me every day, make, make us and make this district proud. They’re responsive, they’re out in the community, they represent and they, they represent all facets of this community.”
“It’s important that I have people on my staff that look like and know how to talk to every single community group within this district and I’m proud to, I think, be someone that recognizes that. It’s not a matter of Democrat or Republican in my office and in this district, we reach out to every single party, and we’ve been successful doing that.”
He went on to talk about the campaign itself. “We have a lot of great things to talk about from now until the end of the campaign. We have the successes in Albany. We’ve, we’ve done great on our fundraising. We’ve done great on our polling. I think it’s going to be a great year for us locally. I know that I’ve seen Congressman Lawler’s numbers. I’ve seen our numbers. I’ve seen some other internal polling numbers in the state.”
Many times, candidates lose elections because they become complacent because they are in the lead, and they don’t push hard to keep it. Weber is not going to do this. “It’s going to be a great year for us, but we’re not going to take it for granted. I’m running like on 10 points down and I think as Sean will testify, testify to it and as anyone and Zima will testify as well, we go to every event and I know that because there are the same events I’m at, we’re going to run like we’re 10 points down because we want to run through the finish line and really make the statement this, this, this year.”
He continued, “We want to make a statement that says it’s our seat to keep. We’ve done the work, the body of work that’s necessary to deserve re-election and we’re going to do a lot of the unfinished business that we have left to do because this district has a lot of needs and I’ll go, we can go through a bail reform, we can go through high crime, we can go through affordability.”
Weber said that there’s a million different things that we need to get done and the government spends billions of dollars a year in Albany, and they don’t have their priorities straight.
He also said that there needs to be a lot of things done in terms of foundation aid we’ll, we’ll be talking about that soon to get our schools the money they deserve and to get a lot of other of these items passed this year.
In a statement put out by Senator Bill Weber he:
Urges Community Participation on Foundation Aid Formula Rockland, NY:
The SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government is leading a comprehensive study
of New York State's Foundation Aid Formula, which determines the financial
support provided to school districts across the state.
The Foundation Aid Formula, established in 2007, is a crucial factor in the
allocation of state funds to schools. Recognizing the need for an evaluation, the
New York State Legislature has officially mandated a comprehensive study of the
formula. This study will be accompanied by five public hearings, organized by the
Rockefeller Institute, to gather input from communities statewide. The findings will
be compiled into a report scheduled for release by December 2024.
The public hearings will be held at various locations across the state, featuring
speakers from the education sector and a public commenting period. Interested
individuals must register in advance to speak at these hearings. Complete information
and registration details can be found at https://rockinst.org/foundation-aid-study/
Additionally, Senator Bill Weber, a leading advocate for updating the funding formula,
will host a bipartisan discussion and testimony session at the Cultural Arts Theater of
Rockland Community College on Monday, July 29th, from 6-8 pm. Senator Weber
underscores the urgency of speaking up, particularly in light of the significant shortfall
in foundation aid that Rockland schools have experienced, collectively amounting to tens
of millions of dollars annually.“We finally have an opportunity to address the inequities in the Foundation Aid Formula,” Senator Weber stated. “I strongly encourage every Rockland resident to make their voice heard and participate in this process, which will have a major impact for years to come.”
He concluded, “I want to thank everyone for coming because I couldn’t do it without you, not only your financial support but your support that I get every day from say George Hoehmann, you know, who has been a great advocate of me since day one. You know, you get calls from people like Svi. People like Chiam Rose and just people from all around the community that give me pointers each day to tell me, hey, you’re doing a great job. Hey, did you ever consider doing this thing in this way or that way? It’s important pointers like that, that really reinforce and have me relook at things because you can’t go into government thinking, you know, every single issue, every single day. It’s good to keep an open mind on things of importance and I’ll continue to do that all the time. Thank you everyone for coming. We’re going to win in November.”