Published: September 07, 2008 10:19 pm      

ELECTION: Grisanti, Thompson vie for Democratic line Tuesday.

Ask him to describe himself and Mark Grisanti will tell you that he’s a family man, a lawyer and a proud resident of Western New York.

What he won’t call himself is a politician.

The man who has rather quietly mounted a challenge against incumbent Antoine Thompson in the state Senate’s 60th District says he doesn’t ever want anyone labeling him as a politician, or worse, a career politician.

He believes one of the main problems in Western New York and New York in general is that there are far too many of them already.

“The only people I am beholden to are the taxpayers,” he said. “My whole goal is people first, government second.”

Grisanti has taken his message door-to-door throughout the Senate district, which includes parts of Buffalo and all of Niagara Falls. He is attempting to defeat Thompson, a first-term senator who believes he’s already proven that he’s lived up to the goal his opponent has outlined as part of his campaign.

Thompson, who is a co-chairman of a committee of Senate Democrats that is working overtime in an effort to wrest control of the Senate away from Republicans this year, is running on his record of accomplishment during his first two years in Albany.

“I have invested a lot of time in Niagara Falls in the last year and a half because I believe in the Falls, I believe there is tremendous opportunity there,” he said.

Tuesday’s Democratic primary between Grisanti and Thompson will likely be a winner-take-all affair. Thompson is guaranteed a spot on the general election ballot by virtue of his endorsement from the Working Families Party. There are no candidates on the Republican, Conservative or Independence lines.

The 38-year-old Thompson, who got his start in politics as the Masten District representative to the Buffalo Common Council, said he’s pleased, but not satisfied, with his performance in the Senate to date. He pointed to a number of initiatives that he believes will lead to the creation of jobs in his district, including his support for brownfields legislation reform which could clear the way for the construction of an ethanol plant in Niagara Falls and his involvement in plans put forth by Globe Specialty Metals to revamp an old factory in the city’s North End to make way for a manufacturing facility that could create 500 new jobs.

Thompson said he considers environmental cleanup a top priority in Niagara Falls and has worked with the Department of Environmental Conservation to clear the way for a large brownfields cleanup effort off Highland Avenue in the city’s north end, Thompson said more projects of that nature are needed to provide shovel-ready sites for developers who may be considering investment in the city.

“Niagara Falls will not be able to move forward unless we cleanup more of these brownfields,” he said.

Grisanti, an attorney with 15 years of law experience who works for Grisanti & Grisanti, a Buffalo firm founded by his grandfather, would like to see an even greater share of state resources returned to Western New York, but doesn’t believe intensely political representatives are the right people for the job. Too often, Grisanti said, elected leaders forget that they are in office to serve the people as opposed to serving themselves. The results, he said, have been a continued decline in the region’s economy. Grisanti also believes that political in-fighting and partisan politics often rule over common sense and sound judgment. If elected, he said, he won’t be afraid to cross party lines if he feels support from the other side is needed to get something accomplished back home.

“I’m not promising jobs here, nobody can do that,” he said. “But, by getting our fair share of resources returned to our area, we can have the opportunity to create jobs.”

Thompson believes education and jobs go hand in hand which is why he said he has worked hard to make sure Buffalo and Niagara Falls receive adequate amounts of education funding from the state and why he continues to works closely with area school districts to offer job fairs and entrepreneurial programs for local graduates.

Moving forward, Thompson said he intends to work on developing stronger working relationships among various entities involved in the continued redevelopment of Niagara Falls, including the state-run USA Niagara Development Corp., Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce, New York State Bridge Commission, Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. and the Seneca Gaming Corp.

“There is just not enough coordination,” Thompson said. “We should have something more to show for having millions and millions of international visitors coming to Niagara Falls year after year.”

Grisanti said he supports regular meetings involving elected leaders from Western New York at all levels of government and believes bringing together area officials on a regular basis would create more unity and lead to a more powerful voice in Albany. He also is supportive of an effort by local developer Carl Paladino to hold a constitutional convention to review the current rules governing state operations.

“It just gets more people involved in their government,” Grisanti said.

Thompson believes the best may be yet to come for his district should be re-elected, especially if Senate Democrats are successful in toppling the Republican majority. If Democrats do secure control of the Senate, Thompson notes that returning him to office could mean better positioning for the 60th Senate District when it comes to securing funds and resources from Albany.

“When that happens it is going to be a tremendous benefit for Niagara Falls,” he said.

Another potential benefit for Niagara Falls would be the development of Niagara Falls International Airport as a cargo hub, according to Grisanti who promised to push for turning the facility into a destination for truck commerce if elected. In addition, Grisanti said he would work to address issues surrounding local authorities like the ones that derive revenue from tolls on local thruways and from rates paid on electricity generated at the Robert Moses Power Project.

“It wasn’t too long ago in this area that we did things around here,” he said. “But, you can’t do it alone. You need to have people say ‘I’m going to vote for someone different.’ ”