Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s eight years as governor paint a confusing picture as voters decide Nov. 6 whether or not to give the governor four more years at New York’s helm.

Cuomo has played Capt. Steubing from The Love Boat when it comes to steering money toward Western New York in the past eight years, implementing the Buffalo Billion, shepherding the Athenex plant to Dunkirk, temporarily increasing state aid to Jamestown so the city can balance its budget and creating the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program that resulted in $10 million in state funding for Jamestown to try to redevelop its downtown. Chautauqua Lake has been included in the state’s Harmful Algal Bloom program, something that brought new eyes to the lake’s problems and could open the door to increased funding. One can disagree with the governor’s politics and policies, but it’s impossible to argue that Cuomo hasn’t opened funding streams to Western New York in ways no previous governors have.

On matters of local concern, Cuomo has written a lot of checks that have helped a lot of local projects.

As the captain of the good ship New York state, however, Cuomo has looked more like the Titanic’s Captain John Smith, coming perilously close to sinking the ship.

The Buffalo Billion has been wrought with enough obvious corruption that four people will serve prison time. In 2013, the governor created a Moreland Commission to investigate violations of state laws regulating elections, campaigns and political fundraising; disbanding it several months later after he and the state Legislature came to agreement on ethics reform that didn’t change anyone’s behavior, particularly those acting on behalf of the governor. Cuomo likes to tout New York’s low corporate tax rates, but New York still remains one of the highest taxed and most business unfriendly states in the United States because the state continues to levy regulation after regulation onto businesses both large and small. Cuomo continues to tout statewide job growth, but his love of those statistics ignores the issues rural New York has with job losses and population losses. Then he turns around and spends millions of dollars on an advertising campaign that touts how “New York is open for business.”

Cuomo has four challengers: Republican Marc Molinaro, libertarian Larry Sharpe, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and former Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner of the SAM Party. For as much ink as we use to criticize Cuomo, he’s still the best of an inexperienced, underfinanced crowd. Rather than endorse for partisan reasons, we ask Cuomo to do more for rural New York than write big checks. Businesses are crying out for relief from heavy-handed state regulations. Taxpayers are crying out for the state’s help to lower property tax burdens that make it too expensive to keep their homes. People are crying out for common sense ethics reform that ensures their hard-earned money isn’t thrown away in bid-rigging schemes as we have seen in the Buffalo Billion.

There is a good governor inside Andrew Cuomo capable of governing both progressives and conservatives. We know there is. Perhaps we’ll see that governor someday. We urge you, the taxpayer, to do your homework and decide for yourself on Nov. 6 who you feel is the best candidate to move New York state in a positive direction and who will have a positive impact on your household.