Spirited debates between Republican Legislator Robert Farley and sitting Democrats have come to an end.
Farley announced in May he wouldn’t return as minority leader for the Grand Old Party in the Schenectady County Legislature. Upon joining the legislature in 1994, he was 31 years old and he ran believing he could contribute something to the community, but his family also played a role.
“I don’t think it was a coincidence I ran after my first daughter was born, because I took a look at her and said, ‘I want her to stay here,’” Farley said. “I think we have improved the economy, I think we have made Schenectady better. There may be opportunities now that didn’t exist back then.”
He added people view the county very differently than in years past. Previously, he said there was “a lot of despair” and the public didn’t believe they could change anything. Now, he believes there is a lot more hope across the community.
“I ran on a platform of trying to bring economic development to Schenectady,” said Farley. “Schenectady was a much different place … it was almost going through withdrawal syndrome.”
General Electric had drastically reduced its workforce and the surrounding community was negatively affected. The city’s lifeblood had been drained.
“GE was Schenectady,” Farley said. “They were very much of a community orientated organization … everybody got involved with GE.”
A community uprooted
Growing up in Niskayuna, he said it wasn’t uncommon for several fellow classmates to have parents or family members working at GE. Many people yearned for a return to the city’s electric age, according to Farley.
“In 1993, there was still, I want to say, a kind of a perception of what can we do to make GE come back and love us again?” he said. “It is almost like a kid whose parents had split up and the father has left the house … what can we do to make him come back again and love us?”
While Farley was in law school, he said he interned as a clerked for GE and he saw the counsel’s office “dramatically shrunk.” He recounted a memory of one employee having to change his life.
“The guy who had his office next to me was a 45-year-old man … his wife and his child had to be uprooted when he lost his job and he had a kid in college,” said Farley. “I looked at that and said, ‘Boy, this is really rough.’”
After being out of law school for six years, Farley made his first bid against then incumbent Democrat Christopher Gardner’s seat in District 3. Farley said his platform focused on reinvigorating the county’s economy “from the ground up,” because he didn’t believe GE would return to be the jobs engine for the area.
“Schenectady at that time had probably the finest workforce in the United States of America, because they were world class trained by GE,” he said. “It is still a community of wonderful people and I knew we could do some good things.”
Getting back to work
This led him to helping start the Economic Development Committee. He also chaired a committee on government access and another dealing with the county library.
He had a hand in creating the Economic Development Zone legislation, which is now known as the Empire Zone Program. The program previously held strict requirements, he said, because projects needed to target an economically disadvantaged population while having a significant amount of land available for development.
“There is not a lot of poor people where there is empty land, so we had to get creative on this,” he said. “Glenville had a lot of empty land and Schenectady had a lot of disadvantaged population.”
By bringing the Glenville supervisor and mayor of Schenectady together, Farley helped craft a joint application to the state for an economic development zone. The state accepted the application, which helped spur development.
“For the first time we had an economic development zone, which enabled an incredible amount of tax credits to come through the state for not only employment, but also for bricks and mortar construction,” he said.
Some projects completed through the zoning were the MVP building, Contech, the industrial park near downtown Schenectady and creating shovel-ready sites elsewhere.
In 1995, Farley left the legislature for two years because he accepted a position as deputy attorney general for the state. When he left his state position in 1996, he said he was asked to return to the legislature.
“I think I was out of the Attorney General’s Office for a week and a half and a received a phone call” about returning to county legislature, he said. He was then appointed to a vacancy and ran again in 1997.
He then ran again in 1999 for a full four-year term, which was followed by successful bids in 2003 and 2007.
“When I came back on the legislature in 1997, that’s when I rededicated myself to economic development,” he said. “It had improved, but it was only two years.”
Throughout 1997, he worked with fellow legislators on a resolution to create Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority; a proposal he said went through 72 drafts. Then the county had to wait for the state to approve creating the IDA and the legislation eventually passed.
“Since Metroplex took over we had a real resurgence,” said Farley. “Basically what we created was a funded IDA.”
Farley attributed much of the success he’s had to partnerships with others. Through various efforts, he said the community has been raised to a different level.
Lasting concerns
Farley’s primary concern with Schenectady County rests in its fiscal position.
“I think that this county continues to spend too much money,” he said. “I was very glad to see this year we came in under the two percent tax cap.”
He said during the last two years have been difficult sitting on the county legislature because Democrats hold all but two of the body’s 15 seats. Once next year starts, the divide will get larger and James Buhrmaster will be the sole Republican.
“I am a big believer that we need to have balance,” Farley said. “I do believe … the Republicans had a greater deal of participation with the minority than the Democrats have.”
He continues to contest the construction of a new Glendale Nursing Home, because he claims it is fiscally unsustainable. Also, he doesn’t believe the funding amount Democratic legislators are expecting from the state will surface, which would lead to a shortfall that would be shouldered by taxpayers.
“I am concerned that there is no state commitment with a state that’s had billions of dollars in deficit,” he said.
Farley said he doesn’t have regrets. While not citing anything specifically, he did admit he has made mistakes, though he said he always tried to hold the perspective of residents in mind when tackling the issues.
“To say there would be anything I regretted? Really no, because I always tried to look through the people’s eyes and I don’t believe they are wrong,” he said. “Where I failed is because I didn’t do that as much as I should have even though I may have tried. Where I made mistakes— we all do that—is because I didn’t have the clarity of vision to look through other people’s eyes as much as I wanted to.”
