Get ready, New York State. You are about to meet Buffalo's Carl Paladino.

The outspoken attorney and developer's opinions on everything from parking lots to Thruway

tolls to Buffalo schools are well known to Western New Yorkers. Some agreed, some opposed, and

some cringed as he railed against school superintendents and politicians, reporters and

"liberal elites."

Just about everybody around Buffalo heard him.

Now Paladino takes his message to a bigger stage. On Monday evening, about 1,000 people are

expected to crowd the atrium of his Ellicott Square office building in downtown Buffalo to

hear the millionaire son of Italian immigrants announce he is a candidate for governor,

seeking the Republican line on the ballot.

Related: Paladino gave cash to variety of politicians

Photo gallery: Another look at Carl Paladino

The new candidate has come a long way from the streets of East Lovejoy. He also has

transcended his passive political phase, when his involvement in the process was mainly

financial — delivering at least $452,000 since the late 1990s to office seekers.

But backed by his perception of a "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"

political climate — as well as his pledge to spend up to $10 million of his own money

— Paladino is gambling that he can ride a tsunami of voter discontent all the way to the

Governor's Mansion.

"I bring values, resiliency, a thick skin and I'm not afraid to be confrontational,"

Paladino said Thursday during a sometimes emotional interview that spanned three hours. "I

don't remember anyone ever before bringing that to the table."

The Empire State will meet a man of contradictions.

He rails against state spending, but holds about $85 million in leases as New York State's

biggest landlord in Buffalo.

He decries Albany policies that he says hinder economic development, but has financially

benefited for years from Empire Zone and other state tax incentives.

He rails against liberal politicians but he has donated thousands of dollars to the

campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Al Gore.

And while he touts the values of hard work and common sense he wants to bring to Albany, he

freely acknowledges personal flaws — and the 10-year-old daughter from a relationship

with a former employee who is not his wife.

All of this spawns an intensity of emotion among others. He is revered by his admirers and

loathed by his detractors, a "love him or hate him" type of guy.

J.B. Walsh, a Buffalo attorney and lobbyist who once practiced law with Paladino in

Ellicott Square, views Paladino "kind of like a son." He calls him honest, fair, committed and

passionate about his convictions.

"Carl has put his money where his mouth is, investing in Buffalo when nobody else would,"

Walsh said.

Paladino has emerged as downtown Buffalo's most extensive landlord, assembling an empire of

office buildings, a new waterfront condominium, a string of Rite Aid plazas, and hotels in

Ellicottville and Niagara Falls. Some have been built with the help of tax incentives. For

instance, when he built his waterfront condominiums selling for upward of $600,000, the

project was in an Empire Development Zone, which gave new condo owners a 10-year break on

their property taxes.

People who know him point to his quiet support for friends in need, his charitable

contributions and affection for the institutions that molded him — like his alma mater

— St. Bonaventure University.

But it is his outspokenness on issues before the Buffalo Board of Education, his disdain

for Mayor Byron W. Brown and Rep. Brian Higgins — who is married to his wife's cousin

— and his support for a string of mayoral candidates and other politicians that make him

best known.

"Hello, it's me again" is how he often introduces his radio ads blasting politicians and

school officials. His raspy voice is well recognized.

His attacks, not surprisingly, spawn intense contempt among his opponents. His most bitter

adversary may have been former Common Council President James W. Pitts, a former mayoral

candidate who tangled with Paladino for years.

"You sit on top of the City of Buffalo like a vulture on dry bones," Pitts once told

Paladino during a session in Council Chambers.

Wake-up call

But new and unforeseen forces seem to guide Paladino following the death of his 29-year-old

son, Patrick, in an automobile accident just a year ago. If possible, he says, his views on

his core values may have intensified even more.

"All of a sudden, you get a slap in the face that sort of wakes you up," he said. "I

recognized that I was running in my own little world and my own little rut. It changed my life

and it changed my thinking."

Friends described Paladino as deeply altered by the tragedy.

In addition, Paladino acknowledged last week he chose the time of their son's death to

reveal to his wife, Cathy, the birth of his other daughter nine years earlier. He said he had

to face up to the responsibility of the pregnancy and birth, and is glad he did.

"I asked myself, 'What would my dad do?'" he said. "And I thought he would be accountable

for himself. She is now the most precious thing in my life."

Paladino said other candidates have dealt with such personal issues on the campaign trail,

adding he is willing to confront this one as part of who he is.

'Tea party' persuasion

So at 63, Paladino launches an effort that never entered his mind until he was approached a

month ago by Rus Thompson and David DiPietro, two leaders of the local "tea party" movement.

Within an hour of their conversation, they persuaded him to launch a candidacy that is already

running afoul of Republican and Conservative leaders but is designed to win grass-roots

support.

A suite of Ellicott Square offices is now devoted to the campaign, radio commercials are on

the air, an extensive Internet campaign is planned, and a staff with experience in

presidential and gubernatorial campaigns around the nation is assembled.

Paladino is convinced he can win the Republican and Conservative nominations and says he

can't wait to take on presumptive Democratic nominee Andrew M. Cuomo, the attorney general.

After making his formal announcement in Buffalo on Monday, Paladino will cross the state this

week to promise action that seems bold even by his tea party movement standards.

He plans to reduce the state's education budget "significantly," but without cutting

teachers or class sizes. He promises to immediately freeze wages and benefits and cut state

spending by 10 percent, while "closing the borders" to anyone moving to New York to collect

welfare.

"The moment I take my hand off the Bible, I will enact emergency powers because of the

financial exigency of the State of New York," he said. "I plan on assuming those powers and

stretching them as far as I possibly can. In other matters, I'll use traditional ways."

Paladino once told The Buffalo News that a "benevolent dictator" might prove the best way

to achieve change. He insists the state constitution provides the governor with powers to

unilaterally cut spending and bypass the Legislature in some matters. And though he has

already encountered criticism for predicting the new federal health care law will result in

more deaths than in the terrorist attacks of 2001, he promises he will submit to no muzzle of

political correctness.

"When people say to me that I have no experience in government, I say that's my greatest

asset," he said.

"I'm successful, I know how to manage, I know how to negotiate," he added. "I'm not a great

compromiser but I understand the art of compromise to get the job done."

One person he does not want to negotiate with is Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Paladino accuses Silver of a "terrible, terrible conflict of interest" by blocking reforms

that would prevent him from collecting fees from his private legal practice. Paladino said he

will not "play in that sandbox."

"I'm going to turn him upside down and shake out every dollar he's stolen," Paladino said

of Silver. "I'm going to put him on a bus — hopefully to Attica — and if not, far,

far away. We're going to bring back democracy that hasn't been co-opted by the sandbox."

Good business

But Paladino sees no conflict in his own business dealings with the state, noting that his

son, Bill, is already directing company affairs and that all his holdings will be put in

trust. The record of his dealings with the state are bound to become part of the upcoming

debate.

That's because as Paladino regularly made contributions to politicians, New York State

regularly made payments to Paladino and his real estate companies — nearly all of it in

the form of rent payments for state offices in Buffalo, Orchard Park and Elmira.

State comptroller records show Paladino holds $85.3 million in what he said are 27 current

contracts with the State of New York. The amount does not include any contracts Paladino might

have with federal or local agencies. The contracts, mostly for leases in buildings Paladino

owns, include state agencies dealing with education, parole, children and family services,

motor vehicles, labor, the Thruway, SUNY, and the Assembly. The open contracts date to 1999,

and some do not expire until 2021.

The largest is a $22 million contract with the Department of Transportation signed in June

2006 for its regional offices in Buffalo, for which the state pays one of Paladino's companies

— Seneca Street Properties — $94,000 monthly. The Department of Environmental

Conservation has a $19 million contract with a Paladino company dating to 1990.

Paladino said he won the contracts through a fair-and-square process that included

competitive bidding. "I worked hard and I achieved those tenancies," he said. "I'm not ashamed

of it; I'm proud of it. It shows I know how to manage."

Paladino says none of his political contributions — totaling at least $452,000

— had anything to do with the millions of dollars in state leases he has won over the

years.

"I defy you to find a politician who helped me get a state lease. Not ever. Never," he

said. "Don't connect donations to good government for leases. We bid. We win some. We lose

some."

Following Paladino's announcement Monday evening, he heads to Albany, New York and Syracuse

to make it official in those cities. He says he feels energized, believes average citizens

will be receptive to his message.

He is not running to "make a statement," he said. He is running to win.

"I'm going to be the same Carl I have always been," he said. "I'm not going out of my way

to be blunt or politically correct or anything. I'm going to be me."