Arquiett will run for Grow's seat on Legislature

WINTHROP — Democrat Anthony J. Arquiett says his experience working with people and his love of the north country make him an ideal candidate for the St. Lawrence County Legislature.

Mr. Arquiett, former president of United Auto Workers Local 465, Massena, on Saturday will announce plans to run for the District 13 seat held by Republican Thomas R. Grow. The district covers the towns of Massena, Brasher and Law-rence.

"The experience I had in organized labor gave me the ability to hear what's on people's minds and ultimately be a voice for their concerns," Mr. Arquiett said Wednesday.

Mr. Arquiett, a former General Motors employee who now works for the New York Power Authority, said he sympathizes with workers who have been forced to look for work outside the county. He said that after being hired at GM in 1985, he had to leave the north country in the late 1980s for 10 years to work at another plant when the automaker slowed production in Massena. As union president, he said, he spent a year and a half in Detroit trying to convince GM officials to revive the Massena operation.

"I have personally seen the devastation that comes along with uprooting families to pursue livelihoods that can only be found outside our region," he said.

Mr. Arquiett said that if elected, he wants to focus on economic development and job creation. Part of that effort, he said, is continuing the push for a four-lane interstate between Watertown and Plattsburgh.

He said that St. Lawrence County faces a long road to economic recovery and some tough financial choices ahead, but that he is not sure how he feels about continued calls by some lawmakers to raise the county's 3 percent sales tax.

"I'll be doing a great deal of research on that subject. I'll have to see how my constituents feel about it," Mr. Arquiett said.

He is a 1983 graduate of St. Lawrence Central School, Brasher Falls, and attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., before returning to the north country. He said he wishes a speedy recovery for Mr. Grow, who suffered a stroke Feb. 3.

"Tom's a good guy," Mr. Arquiett said. "I very much wish him good health."

Mr. Arquiett will formally announce his candidacy at 1 p.m. Saturday at Erin's Isle Restaurant and Irish Pub, Brasher Falls.