By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

It has been nearly four months since personal injury attorney Mark Grisanti did what many said couldn't be done: unseat incumbent state Sen. Antoine Thompson in a heavily democratic 60th District to earn a seat in Albany.

The third-generation lawyer and first-time politician wasted no time mixing it up with Albany veterans on such issues as the budget and the resurrection of UB 2020. The latter was a lightning rod for former Sen. William Stachowski, who once threatened to withhold his vote on the budget if it didn't include funding for UB 2020.

With his feet sufficiently wet, Grisanti sat down in his Senate office in downtown Buffalo to discuss life on the other side of the fence, the challenges of juggling a law practice and Senate seat and thoughts about his political future.

The following is an edited version of that conversation.

BLJ: What has been the biggest challenge?

MG: I'm probably about the only one that has come from the private sector sitting on the Senate, at least that I can see. It's pretty rare when you've got someone from the private sector sitting as a senator for the first time. I look at it as having to let a lot of things roll off my back - things like the attacks from the unions saying that I don't like kids, (former) Mayor Ed Koch putting attacks out there. Those things don't bother me. And I think it's because I've become hardened that way because of my background practicing law.

I've always had the mentality that if you can control a situation, you do it. But if it's a lost cause, you can't keep sweating about it. I see a lot of egos in Albany and some individuals who don't want to listen to what other people have to say. They are more interested in hearing themselves talk without actually listening and being reasonable and negotiate. An example would be with UB 2020.

I was talking with (New York Assembly Member) Deborah Glick and trying to explain to her how important UB 2020 would be for the region. I just think people that have been in politics that long and serving on certain committees, they think they are the decision-makers for everybody else across the state. I'm not sure if she has ever been to Western New York, but UB 2020 has no effect on where she is downstate. So it is situations like that that can be challenging.

What I've found so far is that coming from the private sector and being an attorney, I'm bringing some reality to their lives - you may think it's this way, but it's really not.

BLJ: Has it been difficult to battle entrenched politicians? Or did you expect that coming into the job?

MG: It certainly has been, even though I was expecting it. Some of them just have blinders on and they don't want to see what is really happening in the state. The challenge is, I'm not sure if they have their blinders on because they are really against a certain point or issue, or if that's what the lobbyists they have been dealing with forever have instilled in them. It's like: Are you doing this on your own? Or are you doing this because of what has been given to you in the past by the lobbyists?

BLJ: Those are strong words for a freshman senator with less than four months on the job. Have words or actions made you any enemies in Albany yet?

MG: In my practice, I never really had any enemies because in that world, if you have respect for the other person you are dealing with, you are going to get that respect back. I try to carry that same idea to Albany, and I would say the majority of the time you get that respect back. But there is that small percentage that won't listen and you can tell it is just a political game for them.

I've made some enemies, I'm sure. Some of the groups don't care for my stance on the issues, like not putting in the "millionaire's tax," which wasn't even a millionaire's tax; it was a tax on people making $200,000 and businesses. What's funny is they act like my vote was the deciding vote and I can change the whole world, and that's not the case at all. When you take an issue like the millionaire's tax - I explained this on TV  that Gov. Cuomo was not going to sign into law an extension on that so-called millionaire's tax. So that's one of those things that you have no control over..

BLJ: You mentioned the unions and the stance they have taken against you. They ran a highly critical radio ad questioning your support of children. As a husband and father, was it tough to hear that?

MG: I don't think my wife even heard the commercial, and I heard it once driving back from Albany. My family members and people that truly know me know that I'm not like that. I absolutely love kids and I fight for education. So does it bother me? No, it really doesn't. It's one of those instances where it just rolls off my back.

Things like that ad are just tools that are used to try to get you to sway a certain way and act a certain way. They have an agenda to attack me, and as far as my family, yeah, it's tough. It can be difficult for me and my wife, Maria, to go out and have a dinner or something like that without people coming up to express their views.

For the most part here in Western New York, it's been positive. I tell people it's not like I created this dysfunction and this mess in Albany in the 100 days that I've been there.

BLJ: Taxpayers are disgusted, in large part, with the antics of Albany politicians. For many years, New York has been a national laughingstock for its inept state government. Were you concerned going in that you might sacrifice your solid reputation in the legal community?

MG: I think I have been trying to keep it separate pretty well. For example, during my campaign, I had stated that if UB 2020 was not in the budget, then I wasn't going to vote for the budget. But by being able to negotiate, and then talking to Gov. Cuomo himself and having him tell me, "Hey, Mark, it isn't going to be in the budget, but we are going to do a summit and we are going to make this a priority."

I take people at their word. If he gives me a commitment that this is going to happen, then I have no problem voting for a budget that didn't include UB 2020. So right there, the political aspect of it would have been to show a stance: "'It's not in there, so I'm not going to vote for it." But where the bill UB 2020 has gone in such a short time and the commitments you got from the senate and (Cuomo) show that you are thinking outside the box and you are able to step away from what you said in your campaign. But you are also able to justify it. My vote was not going to hold up the budget like it was with Sen. Stachowski. Just to not vote for the budget to make a political point ... I'm not political, so I wasn't going to do that.

BLJ: Let's talk about Niagara Falls. It's  one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world, yet just a few blocks away are boarded-up buildings and rows of empty storefronts. People have talked for a long time about what needs to be done to revitalize that area. As an outsider, what do you think can be done?

MG: One of the things we have done already is to ask USA Niagara, which controls some funding for the downtown area, for assistance. What's odd is that their area doesn't include the aquarium. It actually stops a block short. We want them to include the aquarium in their radius because (it) wants to expand and wants to do more, and that is one part of revitalizing that area.

If there is funding available for small businesses and small business starts growing, then you will see those storefronts fill up. You see success stories like the Rapids Theater, where the owner spent a lot of his own funds to restore that building, so it can happen. The problem that you have is some unrealistic property owners that are looking to sell some of their buildings for either way more than they bought them for at a tax auction or whatever, and it is inhibiting growth. Slowly, I think things are happening, but it takes time.

BLJ: You're four months into a two-year term. Do you see yourself returning to your law practice in two years, or is this the beginning of a long political career?

MG: That's a tough question in the sense that I do feel like I'm making some headway in these areas, but you have this internal struggle. Coming from the private sector, I had never really been apart from my wife, now I'm traveling to Albany and it is difficult. It can be difficult because now you are in the public eye. I was a quiet, private person in my life and I've lost that now. I haven't really thought about the next election because, frankly, the last one was so long. But if I'm not here in two years in the Senate, I want to focus as much in these two years on getting as much done as possible.