FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2010
Contact: Robin Wolfgang
716-863-0806
mc@paladinoforthepeople.com


PALADINO BLASTS "MISMANAGED" MTA, PROPOSES COMMON-SENSE SOLUTION

(BUFFALO, NY) - Carl Paladino, Republican and Conservative candidate for Governor, today criticized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for its disastrous tenure running downstate New York's public transit systems.

"The MTA is horribly mismanaged, and it's a sinkhole of money," Paladino said. "It's among the least transparent entities in the world and was even found to have kept two separate sets of books. New Yorkers are paying more each year and getting less in service."

"Public authorities like the MTA are unaccountable to anyone. They are a government within a government. Their bizarre, illogical and often self serving decisions leave riders confused, bitter and frustrated," The Buffalo builder said.

Paladino laid blame for MTA's woes squarely on elected officials. "Elected officials appoint the Authority's members, but the board has ultimate authority when it comes to making decisions. This is exactly why these quasi-governmental agencies exist." Paladino said. "Mayors, Governors and Legislators want to be able to rail against the MTA, but they really want to be insulated against the decisions that they make so the voters can't blame them for increasing fares and service cuts."

Paladino proposed what he calls a "common-sense solution" that has been implemented in other areas of government.

"Just as the New York City Board of Education was unaccountable and bloated with bureaucratic waste, fraud and abuse, so is the MTA," Paladino said. "Mayor Bloomberg ran for Mayor in 2001 on a platform of Mayoral control of the school system. He told the voters if those test scores aren't up and schools aren't improved, don't vote for me."

"Why haven't the Governor and the state legislature taken control of this bloated, inefficient authority and make it a Department answerable to the Governor?" asked Paladino. "This could be done with legislation on a trial basis, as Bloomberg did with Mayoral control of schools, and the Legislature could revisit the question of Gubernatorial control of mass transit in five years."

"As Governor, I will review the qualifications and record of all senior officers of the MTA individually and direct my appointees to work to retain or remove leadership according to their performance," Paladino said.

"The bottom line is the MTA as we know it today, needs to be abolished so the voters can demand that someone can be held accountable for the rampant waste in the system and the taxes and riders fees that feed this bureaucratic beast," Paladino said.

ABOUT CARL PALADINO
Carl Paladino, a successful Buffalo builder and attorney, is a candidate for Governor of New York on the Republican Party, Conservative Party and Taxpayer Party lines. He is the CEO of a $500 million business and employs 450 people in Western New York. On September 14th, Paladino beat his Republican Primary opponent by a record 62 to 38 in one of the highest-turnout primaries in New York history.

For more information on where Carl Paladino stands on the issues, please visit www.PaladinoForThePeople.com.