Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pitch for a third four-year term goes something like this: I turned around the long-neglected Upstate New York economy with $44 billion in state aid, including renovations to our airport and state fairgrounds. Wages and employment are up. Income and business taxes are down. Property taxes are high, but they would be even higher without the 2-percent tax cap I passed. As for Albany corruption, it's a few bad apples spoiling the bunch. And don't forget about gay marriage and sensible gun control.



Cuomo is polished and forceful, a builder and a doer. He's in the conversation as a presidential contender. But under his leadership, New York's progress has been uneven.



A million New Yorkers have left the state since 2010. Upstate's economic recovery from the 2009 recession has lagged behind the nation's, and Central New York's recovery has lagged behind even more. Some of those billions the state spent on economic development went to poorly planned, corrupt or underperforming projects. While property taxes haven't gone up dramatically from year to year, they certainly haven't gone down, and New York's taxation ranking against other states has barely budged. Cuomo's fight for ethics reform has been half-hearted, at best, obstructionist, at worst. He's blind to corruption right under his nose.



If Cuomo really wanted it, New York already would have comprehensive ethics reform and real property tax relief. He won't take that on. So elect someone who will.



Voters have four alternatives: Republican Marc Molinaro, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, independent candidate Stephanie Miner and Libertarian Larry Sharpe. We endorse Molinaro to refocus state government's attention from the national stage - the Trump resistance, Puerto Rico hurricane relief -- to the places we live, work and go to school.



As the Dutchess County executive, Molinaro has had to balance a local budget with all the state-mandated costs and demands pressing down on him. As a child growing up on food stamps, he knows what it's like to be dependent on public assistance. As the father of a special-needs child, he's dealt with the bureaucracy and regulations that impede delivery of necessary services.



Molinaro's big idea to reduce property taxes is to gradually shift the local share of Medicaid from local taxpayers to the state. In Onondaga County, 70 percent of your tax bill goes to pay for Medicaid. Under Cuomo, the state agreed to cap the local share of Medicaid, and assume any growth in costs. Molinaro would shift the entire burden to the state gradually, over 15 years. We encourage him to find a solution that does it faster. Only drastic action will break the back of high property taxes, and Medicaid funding is the place to start.



Molinaro also would disband Cuomo's Regional Economic Development Councils, which dole out taxpayer dollars to developers and companies, and instead spend the money on roads, bridges, sidewalks, transit, broadband, water and sewer infrastructure. This shift is part of his anti-corruption agenda, which also includes term limits, closing the LLC loophole, independent redistricting and ethics policing, and more transparency in budgeting and executive branch operations. In other words, a 180-degree turn from the status quo.



Cuomo had his chance. In 2013, he appointed a Moreland Commission to investigate Albany's culture of corruption. He disbanded it in 2014, before it could finish its work. Out of Moreland's ashes came this year's corruption trials over the Buffalo Billion, the film hub and the LED lighting factory in DeWitt. The hard-charging governor demanded results; testimony revealed how far his staff would go to deliver. The end result was a series of ill-conceived projects in Central New York and an embarrassment for his administration.



We endorsed Cuomo in 2010 to clean up Albany, and again in 2014 despite his failure to do so. Not again. Not this time. Change in Albany starts at the top.



While Cuomo has been good for New York, many New Yorkers in Upstate aren't feeling it. New York can do better. Molinaro deserves a chance to try.





Why we endorse



The purpose of an editorial endorsement is to provide a thoughtful assessment of the choices voters face in an election. We offer editorial endorsements to stimulate the public conversation and promote civic engagement. Voting is a right and an obligation of citizenship. That part is up to you. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

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