Candidates in the race for New York’s 52nd Senate District outlined their plans for housing, energy and public safety during a live debate on WSKG on Thursday.
The district includes the cities of Binghamton, Ithaca, and Cortland and their surrounding areas. Incumbent Democratic state Sen. Lee Webb is seeking a second term in November, while Republican Tompkins County Councilman Mike Sigler is seeking to unseat her.
Housing and the high cost of living in the area came up first in the discussion.
As a senator, Webb said he has worked on programs to assist homeowners and renters and efforts to build infrastructure for affordable housing. She cited national programs to convert single- and duplex homes into affordable housing options and renovate aging buildings.
Sigler said New York should lower property taxes and build more single-family homes. To do that, he said, the state needs to encourage the construction of more housing and supporting infrastructure.
Both candidates were asked about their stance on New York’s just-cause eviction law, which provides statewide tenant protections that limit the grounds on which landlords can refuse to renew a tenant’s lease. The City of Ithaca recently agreed to this policy.
Sigler said he is not in favor of just cause evictions. He said this would make it more difficult for landlords to evict.
“Eviction courts are very difficult in New York State; [non-renewal] Perhaps that’s the way [landlords] If we can make it a little easier to evict tenants and make the building more livable for other people who live there, they have a right,” Sigler said. “Just cause eviction wipes out all of that. It’s a violation of property rights.”
Webb said the policy is only intended to protect tenants and still allows landlords to evict problem tenants.
“As the name suggests, you have to have a valid reason. It doesn’t mean you can’t evict someone,” Webb said. “This law is intended to protect tenants, not to punish small family landlords. It was designed to.”
During the hour-long debate, candidates discussed issues such as gun violence in the state, access to voting, and access to reproductive health care.
Webb said New York state should work to further protect access to reproductive health care and abortion after the Roe v. Wade reversal.
“Roe v. Wade continues to create negative ripple effects in our state and communities,” Webb said. “Communities like ours already have difficulty accessing specialists, whether they are obstetricians and gynecologists or other medical practitioners, but we need to do more, and I hope that the Senate I have done that as Chair of Women’s Issues.”
Sigler said that if elected, he would not introduce legislation to restrict abortion in New York state. But he said the country should reduce the need for abortion care.
“We do that through reproductive women’s health care,” Sigler said. “A pill, and maybe a copper IUD, and some of that should be funded by taxpayers. We want women to be in control of their bodies and decide when to get pregnant. So , we want abortions to be as rare as possible.”
The candidates also briefly touched on national politics. Mr. Webb said he would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president, while Mr. Sigler said he would not vote for either of the top candidates.
Watch the full discussion below.
