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CSEA Executive Statewide Officers President Danny Donohue in touch with Work Force ISSN 1522-1091 Official publication of CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 143 Washington Ave. Albany, NY 12210-2303 Danny Donohue, President STEPHEN A. MADARASZ The Communications Director & Publisher STANLEY HORNAK Deputy Director of Communications LOU HMIELESKI Executive Editor JANICE GAVIN Associate Editor Janice M. Kucskar Graphic Production Specialist Beth McIntyre Communications Assistant Vice President Mary E. Sullivan Secretary Denise Berkley Treasurer Joe McMullen CSEA Region Officers Long Island Region President Nick LaMorte Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo Capital Region President Kathy Garrison Central Region President Colleen Wheaton Western Region President Flo Tripi Communications Specialists Long Island Region: Rich Impagliazzo (631) 462-0030 Metropolitan Region: David Galarza (212) 406-2156 Southern Region: Jessica Ladlee (845) 831-1000 Capital Region: Therese Assalian (518) 785-4400 Central Region: Mark M.Kotzin (315) 433-0050 Western Region: Lynn Miller (716) 691-6555 Headquarters: Ed Molitor (518) 257-1272 Jill Asencio (518) 257-1276 UUE UnitedUnion Employees The Publications Committee Jerry Laricchiuta Janice Mason Robert Pazik Theresa Reagan Ed Russo Debi Sherk The Work Force (USPS 0445-010) is published monthly by The CSEA Publication Office: 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210. Periodical Mail Postage paid at Post Office, Albany, New York 12288, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: CSEA, Attn: Membership Department, 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210 Readers: Send any comments, complaints, suggestions or ideas to: Publisher, The Work Force 143 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12210-2303 CSEA online: The CSEA website can be accessed at: www.cseany.org The Work Force Stand strong and challenge Governor Cuomo’s bad ideas “A healthy democracy depends on ideas being challenged, especially bad ones.” Leave it to the Cuomo administration to add insult to injury to try to bully anyone who dares to criticize its bad ideas. There are serious reasons to question the flawed plans the governor has put forth for the mental health and developmental disabilities systems. The governor has proposed a vague plan to consolidate long-term inpatient treatment for people with mental illness, disrupt essential children’s care and place greater emphasis on community services, but the administration has offered little detail about meeting needs of people and communities. Under Cuomo’s developmental disabilities plan, developmental centers would be closed and individuals in need of care would be placed through a new managed care approach that would favor private, not-for-profit providers and exclude state services from pilot projects testing this new model. Cuomo has refused to support any future role for state developmental disabilities services and the dedicated employees who deliver them. Taking decent paying, middle-class jobs with benefits away from experienced, dedicated, and caring state employees and replacing them with private, notfor profit companies who fail to pay their direct care workers a decent wage hurts local economies and the quality of life for all New Yorkers, not just those receiving care. The at-risk communities where state employees currently provide vital services stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in decent paychecks that are spent in local communities, accelerating economic devastation and a race to the bottom. There are better approaches that make more sense. Start by detailing plans to fill service gaps and actually enhance community and long-term care. This should include using the experienced and capable state work force. No one wants the status quo — New Yorkers want better services delivered in a way that benefits everyone. Predictably, when the Cuomo administration has no valid counterargument, it simply lies and calls us names, which they’ve done repeatedly in the media in recent weeks. Too bad. A healthy democracy depends on ideas being challenged, especially bad ones. CSEA will not back down from speaking out and encouraging others to stand with us to challenge Governor Cuomo’s nonsense. 4 The Work Force October 2013


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