Left to right: Colleen Jackson, Derrick Campbell, Detra McCullough and James Walker (Robert Lowrey)
“I’d like them to back up on the taxes for one thing. All of these ridiculous taxes they are making up, next thing you know they’ll be taxing you to breathe. And people can’t afford it. People don’t have jobs.”
(Colleen Jackson, 52, of Syracuse, disabled, Democrat)
“They tell us one thing about what they are going to give us on our grants. Then when it’s time to present the grants, we got half of what we was told.”
(Derrick Campbell, 45, of Syracuse, Onondaga Community College student, Democrat)
“They need to leave the Indians alone. They always want to take them to court on the count of cigarettes. If they want to sell their cigarettes on their reservation, that’s their problem not the state’s.”
(James Walker, 72, of Syracuse, retired, Republican)
“The school that my son goes to is just really unorganized. My main concern is the kid’s education. The bus is the biggest problem. He can’t win for losing. I would love to see that change. It’s been four years and they haven’t done anything to make it better.”
(Detra McCullough, 30, of Syracuse, home health aide, Democrat)
“I think our taxes are going up. In general, everything is being affected by what we buy and higher taxes. Property taxes are too high, especially in New York state. A lot of people are leaving the area because of property taxes.”
(Yvonne Klaister, 53, of Canastota, paralegal, Republican)
(Robert Lowrey is a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism.)
-30-
