Inside Politics: Dan McCoy says he led fight against Albany nursing home privatization

McCoy hit back, accusing foot-dragging lawmakers of costing taxpayers $1 million each month they did nothing.

All that's history now — prologue to what happened recently when McCoy's camp unspooled a different take on those events in a bid to win the support of the Public Employees Federation, which represents thousands of state workers and about 80 staffers in the county probation department.

There is no real ability for oversight to maintain quality services because the buck no longer stops at the County but with a private enterprise that is not beholden to transparency and quality.

Had he not held the privatization hammer over their heads, he argues, lawmakers who had fumbled to find a solution for years would not finally have gotten serious and the unions at the facility would not have accepted concessions necessary to rein in costs.

If nothing else, it may offer a window on politicians' desire to be all things — the hero to the taxpayer and the friend to the public sector unions that bless their electoral aspirations.

PEF Vice President and former Region 8 Coordinator Nikki Brate said the union is "proud to endorse Dan McCoy" on the recommendation of the local that represents county workers and with the blessing of the statewide political action committee — even though McCoy's primary opponent, Dan Egan, is a PEF member.