Attorney and developer Carl Paladino ran as a Republican in the New York State Gubernatorial race in 2010. While losing to Democrat Andrew Cuomo, Mr. Paladino swept Western New York including Niagara County where he attracted 66.46% of all voters. Mr. Paladino earlier defeated Rick Lazio in the Republican primary. Mr. Paladino attracted 93.24% of Republican voters in Niagara County in the primary. In an interview with the Niagara Falls Reporter, Mr. Paladino, who is supporting Johnny Destino in his primary race against State Senator George Maziarz, gave his views on both candidates.

CARL PALADINO: George Maziarz is a ‘poster child’ for term limits. He has been around for a long time and his only accomplishments have been in serving special interests that in turn support his friends and family club.
King George, like his namesake, is more about power brokering than dealing with issues vital to his constituents and Western New York.

George was a quiet observer and in fact voted, without objection, for the budget bill that swept $500 million dollars of NYPA (Power Authority) monies into the State’s General Fund. Those funds should have been designated to Western New York job development and job retention.

He joined with the Senate Republican Caucus last year in selling out to Cuomo by voting for Cuomo’s “Tax Reform” Bill that was in fact a “Tax Increase” bill that imposed the burdens of the corrupt downstate Metropolitan Transit Authority onto the backs of Western New York taxpayers. He couldn’t even
secure a nickel for the NFTA which was threatening to shut down bus routes.

He threw his constituents under the bus when he failed to argue for upstate New York to get a fair hearing on Hydro-Fracking, playing the Albany game of waiting for Mr. Green to arrive.

For years he has been complicit with the Albany establishment using the “illusion” of a “budget deficit” to distract the people from the legislature’s failure to address issues meaningful to the taxpayers i.e.) lowering of the cost of State government and in turn lowering taxes. George never told his people that the 2011 “$10 billion budget deficit” never existed.

He conspired with Dean Skelos and the (Alphonse) D’Amato to get four of our Republican State Senators to compromise their integrity and abrogate the promises they made to their constituents by voting for the gay marriage Issue. The issue had nothing to do with gay marriage. It was about Cuomo pounding his chest and saying that he was so powerful that he could compel the republican “opposition” to give up their integrity. Now King George seeks to protect Sen. Mark Grisanti for going along with the sellout.

George has lost the respect of his people. As long as the Democrats have no viable opposition in Albany, the cesspool of criminality with the likes of (Pedro) Espada, (Hiram) Monserrate, (John) Sampson and (Malcolm) Smith will continue to fester in the Albany petri dish. The Albany establishment is out of control and George is very much a part of that establishment. He has done nothing to advocate for change in the status quo.

Niagara Falls Reporter: Will Destino offer something different for the people of Niagara?

CP: Absolutely. John Destino is a bright, young lawyer. He illustrated his sincerity and ability in the recent election for Mayor of Niagara Falls. He understands the issues in depth and is willing to be a single voice, if that is what is necessary, to change the status quo in Albany. He is a talented lawyer with a young spirit who has not been infected by the Albany establishment.

NFR: Do you think Mr. Destino supports the doctrines you publically espouse of smaller government, less government intrusion into our lives? Is that one of the reasons you support him?

CP: Absolutely.

NFR: He is kind of a “small government, freedom principles” guy.

CP: He’s a small government, anti-status quo type of guy, yes.

NFR: How will electing Mr. Destino help Niagara County?

CP: George was too busy securing jobs for his family members when Google came knocking at the door with an opportunity for hundreds of jobs for his constituents. John Destino will bring a laser focus to secure such development. The Google people, who by the way were not seeking any tax benefits, only sought an allocation of electric power but were insultingly and for no obvious reason shut out by George.

Niagara Falls, New York continues to slide into the abyss while Niagara Falls, Ontario thrives. The obvious reason is that we have historically entrusted the futures of our families to lightweight political hacks like George who, in exchange for huge political donations, gave the Seneca Nation the exclusive rights to control the entire hospitality industry in Niagara Falls. He endowed them with 50 prime acres in the heart of the city. Now the people of Niagara Falls have all the burdens of providing services to the Casino but don’t get their fair share of Casino revenues. We have not heard one compliant from George because he has been bought and paid for by the Senecas.

If we keep doing things the same way we have been doing them in the past but expecting a different result, we are going to continue to fail. We can’t keep George Maziarz and his cohorts and expect the economy of Upstate and Western New York to get any better. We must be the masters of our own fate, the captains of our own souls.

NFR: What is the finest thing you can say about John Destino, as you know him personally, and you are endorsing him? Other than the reasons you stated about why not to vote for Mr. Maziarz, what is the single most pro-active reason to vote for Destino?

CP: He’s a man. That’s a big word. He may be a young man, but he is a MAN. He is not a phony. He is not a charlatan, not a chameleon, not a squeaky deal kind of guy. He stands up and does what is right, whether it be in his personal, civic or business life.