Protestors Greet Paterson in Rochester

Reported by: Sean Carroll
Email: scarroll@13wham.com
Last Update: 1/26 7:56 pm

Rochester, N.Y. — Dozens of protestors confronted Governor David Paterson in Rochester Tuesday afternoon about budget cuts and mayoral control of city schools.

Paterson was at WXXI-TV fielding questions from six upstate newspaper editorial boards, but when he arrived, he had other questions to answer.

Protestors greeted the governor, many of them people with disabilities outraged at cuts in the governor’s proposed budget, cuts that they say threaten their care and could cost the state more in the long run.

“What they propose is that anybody who needs more than 12 hours of care per day, they would move them out of what’s called personal care – which is actually the cheapest model of care – and into more expensive models,” said Chris Hilderbrant of the Center for Disability Rights. “It doesn’t make sense to us. It interferes with people’s services. It’ll do damage to their health, and it’s going to cost the state more dollars.”

The governor stopped to talk with them, hear their concerns, and he heard how they believe they could save the state money without threatening care.

“If any one of you can prove to me that you can save me $200 million in this program, then clearly you don’t need to be protesting outside WXXI. You need to be in my budget office,” said Paterson.

Paterson invited the group to Albany to discuss their plans and initiatives further. All seemed to part ways with a mutual understanding and a commitment to work on this issue further during the budget process.