St. Lawrence County Clerk Patty Ritchie got a cordial reception as she delivered boxloads of petitions to the Watertown offices of State Senator Darrel Aubertine and Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell.
The petition signatures were gathered online in opposition to the state's plan to make all motor vehicle owners get new license plates starting in April.
Click the video link to see Ritchie's exchange with Drew Mangione, Aubertine's spokesman.
Ritchie was accompanied by Oswego County Clerk George Williams as they held a press conference in the State Office Building lobby.
Williams, however, didn't participate as Ritchie and her staff delivered the petitions to the Aubertine and Russell offices.
Staff members greeted Ritchie in both offices, as Aubertine and Russell were in session in Albany.
Mangione, who has covered Ms. Ritchie as a newspaperman, greeted her with a warm hug.
He said Senator Aubertine has pledged his support to reverse the new license plate requirement.
"This is one thing that we wanted to get out of the budget and we appreciate the effort you've made to partner with us to do this. So thank you," Mangione said.
At the Assemblywoman's office, Ritchie was greeted by Russell staffer Ezra Ford. He said the Assemblywoman had been looking forward to receiving the petitions.
"Because as we've said before, she's really going to enjoy walking into the majority conference with those petitions," Ford said.
Ritchie has been critical of both Aubertine and Russell for voting for the state budget that contained the license plate proposal.
