Mike Sigler is the Republican and Local 607 candidate for the New York State Senate’s 52nd district. A former reporter at WTVH and WENY, he has served as a Tompkins County legislator for 14 years. Questionnaire responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
What motivated you to run for this position?
I initially ran for public office in 2002 after the World Trade towers fell. I wanted to get more involved in my government after the terrorist attack. Before that I had been a journalist for about 10 years. After I lost that race, I ran for County Legislature and was elected. I feel I’ve been effective in that job in representing the people of Lansing, and now I want to do that on a larger scale for everyone in the 52nd district.
I initially considered running when the state scooped out $1.61 million from our county budget. It’s called FMAP, Federal Medicaid Assistance Program money. It was $2 million Cortland $5 million in Broome Counties. This money was supposed to flow from the federal government through Albany to the counties to offset Medicaid costs. We’re the only state that has counties paying Medicaid with property taxes. Albany decided to pocket that money. Medicaid is our largest mandate, and it left an enormous hole in counties budget that should be going to county functions like mental health, opioid addiction treatment, homelessness [and] the sheriff’s department. Medicaid should be a born completely by the state.
How does your background and previous experience make you a strong candidate for this position?
I was a journalist for 10 years. I went to Northeastern University and Columbia for journalism. I’m a curious person, and I want to get to know the people in my district. I listen to their concerns and figure out a course of action. I’ve served on the County Legislature in Tompkins for 14 years. I’ve been effective in getting money for our county parks, my local food bank and for fund county operations, but also in representing the people of Lansing. I’ve never voted for a tax rate increase and we’ve been able to balance the budget without one for 14 years.
Right now we are talking about building an almost hundred-bed homeless shelter, a mental health stabilization unit and reopening of our detox center. These are critical for the county, but they don’t come without political risk when it comes to funding. Taxes have risen so dramatically it’s a political risk, but it is one we need to take.
Why are you an ideal candidate for young voters and students?
I have four daughters ranging in age from 20 years old to 22 months old. I’m invested in our public schools. I understand the cost of college with one daughter now at a SUNY school. I understand their concerns because I talk with them, their friends and because I’ve gone to thousands of doors in the district. Two areas of concern for both older folks and students is crime and the cost-of-living increasing. It’s interesting because older folks seem to worry more about food, whereas the younger folks seem to worry about more the cost of insurance and the price of going out and both worry about utility costs.
When it comes to crime, the younger people I’ve spoken with are worried about leaving work, for example, at a restaurant with money in their pocket and they don’t see any police around. For younger people, mental health seems to be a more pressing issues than it does for older people. They’ve seen their friends and maybe themselves struggle with us over the past few years and in many cases are looking for help and cannot find any.
Polling has indicated that cost of living is a big concern, especially for young voters. What are your plans to address this?
One of the drivers have increased cost is energy. Not just gas, but electricity. This state has decided to outsource its electrical generation and natural gas production to Pennsylvania. Despite efforts to curb natural gas use, we use more natural gas today than we did five years ago. We’ve closed one nuclear plant in New York which produced 2000 MW of carbon free power. The plans my opponent has for New York state raise costs. My opponent has no plans to boost power production in this state other than wind and solar, to non-base load power sources that will not work well from November to April, while at the same time pushing for electrification of everything.
A good example of the disconnect here is the state school bus mandate forcing them all to be electric in the next few years. It has almost no impact on the climate and yet will cost billions, will come mostly from already high property taxes and will not effectively get our to students to and from school and sports events. This can be easily seen and yet, the state pushes forward.
If you are low income, the state will have a program for you and if you’re rich, you’re rich you have the money to soften these cost spikes, but if you’re in the middle class, we see many people voting with their feet and leaving the state. I want to bring more opportunity to upstate New York, so you students will stay here, start your business here, start your families here by increasing economic growth. By doing that, you will see costs go down.
How would you vote on Proposal No. 1 on the New York State ballot?
Prop 1 is a Trojan Horse. It literally doesn’t substantively change anything in New York State law since the right to an abortion has been codified in New York state for half a century up to 24 weeks. This ballot measure is simply a political move to try to boost turnout among certain swaths of voters by using fear tactics around reproductive rights. It strikes at the heart of Title IX which so many worked so hard for and puts rights to hormonal and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria for minors into the constitution, which can mean of future of sterility and the lack of ability to have an orgasm. I believe that New Yorkers are smart enough to see through this ploy.
What should be prioritized in the state budget?
Bringing down costs should be the No. 1 priority and that includes bringing down property taxes. The state should takes over Medicaid costs. It should have a plan to generate energy, not just intermittent like solar and wind, but base load, 24/7 power. It should allow interstate insurance to lower insurance costs. It should abandon plans like the school bus mandate. We should be sending more money to the counties and to the municipalities though AIM funding to be used how those communities feel best. The government closest to the people has a better handle on the community needs than Albany does.