Not long ago, there was a period of intense optimism in New York State. We had a crusader, and he had a mandate to reform Albany, steamrolling corruption to deliver better services with fewer tax dollars and promising to shame our legislature into greater transparency.

Before errors of hubris felled our hero, before the Emperor's Club, before Troopergate, there were at least six months of opportunity to realize part of that promise. While his degree of willingness can be debated, Spitzer had at least a public friend in Sheldon Silver. However, what I remember most vividly from this period were almost weekly news reports of Spitzer initiatives stalled in the Senate. While Joseph Bruno has stepped down, many of his chief enablers want New Yorkers to forget about this period when Spitzer still held moral authority.

Joe Robach doesn't represent us. His idea of property-tax relief is a cap for those who might have to settle for parking a Ford Explorer next to their Mercedes rather than a Land Rover. Ninety percent of New Yorkers should want a plan that will leave them with more money in their pocket, which should help our economy rather than exacerbate the disgusting disparity of wealth at the root of our financial crisis.

Rick Dollinger deserves our support for New York State Senate.

EVAN KASTNER, ROCHESTER