This weekend on In Focus, we’re taking a closer look at the special election for New York’s 115th Assembly District. The district encompasses all of Clinton County, Franklin County and a few towns in Essex County. The seat is vacant after the resignation of nine-year Assemblyman Democrat Billy Jones, who said he wanted to spend more time with his 12-year-old daughter.
JoDee Kenney sat down with the Democratic candidate Michael Cashman to get his views on some of the issues affecting the district. Cashman comes from a working-class family and was first generation college student. He came to Plattsburgh as a student and fell in love with his wife and the area. Cashman says his grandfather used to say where you chose to live is a value statement within itself. He’s been the town supervisor for nine years.
When Billy Jones decided to step down, Cashman says he was the first-person Jones reached out to. Cashman says one of the first things he did was a listening tour of the district. He says he has worked on a number of issues in a bipartisan fashion with the Republican-led county legislature, as well as with colleagues on the New York Association of Towns.
When asked about the HALT Act, Cashman says he would not have voted for it. He says we need to protect the protectors and would vote to repeal it. If elected, Cashman says he would work to educate his colleagues by inviting them to the prison so they can see the standards and the situations the correction officers are dealing with. Cashman says we also need to eradicate the chemicals that are getting into these facilities.
You can watch the full interview above. And be sure to tune in for a look inside the biggest issues impacting upstate New York, on In Focus with JoDee Kenney — every Sunday on Spectrum News 1.