Townsend pledges support for shared parenting legislation - Utica, NY - T... http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1885906058/Townsend-pledges-support-...

Townsend pledges support for shared parenting legislation

By COURTNEY POTTS
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jul 21, 2009 @ 09:34 PM

UTICA — Assemblyman David Townsend, R-Sylvan Beach, promised his support for a piece of parental rights legislation
Tuesday, should he ever have the opportunity to vote for it.

Townsend, who was addressing a meeting of the National League of Fathers at the Hotel Utica, said he would vote in favor of
Assembly bill 3181 if it came before the Codes Committee, of which he is a member, or was put to a vote on the Assembly floor.

However, the bill, which would create a presumption of shared parenting in custody cases where there was not a clear detriment
to the child, has been tabled by the Children and Families Committee every year since 1995, he said.

About 25 men and women attended the meeting for the locally based nonprofit that advocates for even-time shared parenting
over traditional custodial arrangements and supports the rights of noncustodial parents of both genders.

Before introducing Townsend as the evening’s speaker, league Director John Kalil described the group’s efforts as “an ongoing
process, a commitment that we’re making to try to bring about some change for future generations.”

Townsend’s promise to support the bill, which he co-sponsors, came after an audience member challenged him for speaking
only about what others could do to help.

“What can you, or what will you, do personally – man to man – to push this bill?” asked Randy Dickinson, a leader of the
Albany-based Coalition of Fathers and Families NY.

Dickinson also spoke extensively at the meeting, railing against party politics in Albany and repeatedly questioning why the
Assembly was willing to support “deviant sexual behavior” by passing a same-sex marriage bill, but refused to let that piece of
parental rights’ legislation out of committee.

Townsend spoke briefly on the political process in general and told those gathered that strategic efforts to promote the bill
would be more effective than emotional outbursts. He pointed out that only nine votes are needed to clear the 16-member
Children and Families Committee.

“You don’t have to worry about the other ones,” he said. “You concentrate on what it takes. … You don’t spin your wheels and
run around and try to attack 212 legislators.”

Townsend also suggested that group members put pressure on local Democrats and on Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver,
D-Manhattan, to move forward with the legislation.

One Democratic Assemblyman he mentioned, however, Assemblyman William Magee, D-Nelson, is already a co-sponsor of the
bill.

Copyright 2009 The Observer-Dispatch. Some rights reserved

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