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Congressional Candidate Wants Government To Work For People

The Daily News
Batavia, NY
August 8, 2008

Alice Kryzan is a lifelong Democrat heading into the Sept. 9 Democratic primary for a seat in Congress. But when she sat down with The Daily News editorial board Thursday, she put partisanship before party, citing former Congressman Jack Kemp, a Republican, as a model for what the representative of the 26th District should be: Someone who knows and serves the people who make up the district.

"I believe government can work for people, and government should work for people," said Kryzan, an environmental attorney who traces her earliest interest in government to her father's service as mayor of Youngstown, Ohio.

An Amherst resident, Kryzan has lived in the district for nearly 30 years, active as a leader in many local and statewide professional and civic organizations. She had already decided to seek the 26th District Congressional seat before Thomas Reynolds announced in March that he would not seek re-election.

"I felt this district was not well served," Kryzan said. "I think some policies that are voted on in Washington are OK for some, but if they're not good for the people of the 26th (district), we shouldn't support those policies."

She entered the political field with a desire to take service to a higher level, concerned that issues were not being looked at substantively.

Now, she is facing a three-way contest with Jack Davis and Jon Powers for the Democratic line in November. Kryzan says her campaign relies on individual contributions, rather than personal wealth or the support of political action groups.

Kryzan believes she has a set of skills that is very much needed -- but also very lacking -- in Washington. She points to proven abilities to bring together people with divergent outlooks to help them find solutions to problems.

People of the Town of Batavia may be familiar with her work on their behalf -- she was the town's legal counsel negotiating a remediation plan for the former landfill on Kelsey Road. The site was on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list; Kryzan helped resolve issues, negotiating with the industries involved, to minimize the impact on taxpayers.

Kryzan believes the 26th Congressional District is well positioned to take advantage of what she sees as a new energy future. The nation needs to move from a reliance on foreign oil -- and oil in general -- to a new source of energy, she said. The movement toward that new energy must be undertaken with an eye to economic and national security issues, however, she said.

Buffalo, she noted, was the first electrified city in the nation, and the region has the universities for research and development, the manufacturing capability, and the land and other resources to put it "on the cusp of a new energy future."

That, she said, is an exciting prospect. "The one thing we need is someone to go to Congress so we can take advantage of these opportunities."

Kryzan would like to see a more regional approach to advance education, tourism -- including ecotourism -- and small business, which she said is the backbone of the 26th District. She is concerned about the lack of action, or even civil debate, in Washington while too many people are only a paycheck away from disaster. She said she is not looking for a career in politics, just the opportunity to serve at a higher level.

Kryzan, Davis and Powers are scheduled for a candidates' forum from 10:30 am to noon Aug. 31 on WBEN930's The Hardline with Kevin Hardwick, and a Sept. 2 debate at SUNY Geneseo.

Kryzan has also called for two additional debates, with citizen participation, in Erie and Monroe counties.