September 8, 2012 — Even politically-savvy New Yorkers have forgotten the role Assemblywoman Sandy Galef played in a foiled coup to remove Sheldon Silver from leadership back in 2000. Kim Izzarelli, Galef’s Republican challenger for the 95th Assembly District seat, reminds voters why Galef’s previous actions are important now.
“Sandy Galef was stripped of her stature in the subsequent 2001 Assembly by Speaker Silver and never regained the same level of prestige or power after that demotion. She has spent the last decade as the Speaker’s impotent Second Lieutenant and her constituents in the Lower Hudson Valley have suffered. She has a chance to change that now.” Izzarelli said.
Last week, calls were heard from both sides of the aisle to remove Assemblyman Vito Lopez and Speaker Sheldon Silver following allegations of sexual misconduct by Lopez, and admitted approval by Silver of a cash settlement payment and confidentiality agreement that circumvented the Assembly’s Ethics Committee. Galef has kept a low profile, showing no impulse to repeat the past.
“The most valuable contribution Mrs. Galef could make to New York at this time is to finish the job she started back in 2000 and demand the removal of Silver. If I can sum it in five words: ‘Dear Sandy, finish the coup.’ Return the legislature to the people and get good government back to Albany.”
“If she could achieve this one task, I believe it would be Galef’s defining moment; it would redeem her as a strong leader and effectively brand her legacy as the courageous legislator that saved us. Her most selfless act of governance would be to seek removal of Sheldon Silver and save New York,” said Izzarelli. “It remains to be seen if she has the guts to come through for her constituents.”
Kim Izzarelli is a single mother of two who spent fifteen years in the private financial sector.
