From left to right: Lynn Cahill Hoy, James Lewis, Jason Armstrong, LaJaune Brown and Lisa Miles (Ana Yanni)
“More so in the New York area I guess wish they would lower the taxes. I mean it’s ridiculous. Especially the tobacco taxes they have. I lived down south for a little while. Cigarette prices are way lower down there. Lower taxes on certain things. It’s a ridiculous tax.”
(LaJaune Brown, 21, of Syracuse, Subway server, no party affiliation)
“I think people are moving out of the state of New York. In my village there where I live in town there’s 20 to 30 houses for sale, out of a hundred. I think the population in Oneida county is less now than what it was 10 years ago… Generations of welfare. I don’t want to be cruel or nothing but cut them off.”
(James Lewis, identified self as 40-plus, of Camden, Upstate University hospital worker, Democrat)
“More opportunities for people that need them, such as myself. I think if you have felonies they should still give you a chance so you should be able to get financial aid without a problem. It seems like they would want to help you get an education. Lower taxes. For rich people too, because that’s why a lot of people move their companies overseas because it’s so much cheaper and when they do that it takes away jobs from people here in America. Give them some sort of incentive to keep their companies here and create jobs for us.”
(Jason Armstrong, 28, of Syracuse, works at YTB Travel Agency, Democrat)
“Healthcare is huge for me right now. It’s going to affect my job. The changes will affect my job, how the hospital is able to bill and collect on services. I have an uninsured 20-year-old son. Uninsured because he’s not in college and unable to afford insurance through New York state. And probably Social Security. I’m going have to use my Social Security to pay back student loans, so I want to make sure it’s there.”
(Lisa Miles, 45, of Pompey, manager of physical therapy Crouse Hospital, declined to give a party)
“We’ve got to watch out for our deficit. We have to create jobs. We have to really focus on our economy. We’ve got to get people back working and get everybody back living a good life. And I think we have to worry about people who have never had that as well, and it’s kind of hard to do both…I had heard something was going to come to Syracuse soon at Lockheed Martin that’s going to be involving nanotechnology. If it does come to fruition, it’s going to have 250 jobs. I would like to see that kind of stuff come to Syracuse.”
( Lynn Cahill-Hoy, 52, of Syracuse, nurse practitioner, Democrat)
(Ana Yanni is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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