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Endorsements!

2009-10-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hmm, election's Tuesday and I'm out of town this weekend, so just the important endorsements.

1st District: Joe Coleman. From the Post-Standard: "Joseph Coleman is a retired schools superintendent with decades of experience in education... he stresses the need for better communications with constituents and more partnerships to make government work better... Coleman is a fine candidate who would bring leadership experience and a spirit of comity to the Legislature." Yet they endorse Lesniak. Boo to the PS for once again being too beneficial to incumbants. That said, a good example of Coleman's partnerships, the partnership he made when he was in Cortland between the school and social services. Because 20 % of 7th graders weren't making it to the end of 9th grade, Joe formed a partnership with social services. Families were referred to a hands on, but educational summer program, and not only did the kids make it to 9th, but the county reduced foster care costs.

Joe's post is long because I typed it in draft form first, and also because I've decided to help him out with canvassing, so I invested the time.

4th district: Dave Stott. Mr. Stott continues to vehemently argue for his citizens, and now I've seen it live on TV.

7th distict: Tom Buckel. Yeah, he's not running against anyone, so the endorsement seems less than necessary. But it's Tom, so there.

13th district: Not Bob Warner. Don't know quite enough about Scaramuzino for an endorsement, although by election day I'll have looked up more, and will probably vote for him. But Mr. Warner's way too casual dismissal of his constituents that happen to be county workers earns a vote in another direction. Always the write in possibility if nothing else.

THIS IS THE BIG ONE

That's a quote from an ad from an old movie. Bonus points if you name it. No more cookies for the bonus, I'm hoarding those. Anyway, without further ado
SYRACUSE MAYOR: Steve Kimatian. Ms. Miner, despite the fact I still find her kind of irritating, earned a close second. Otis Jennings was in the lead, then I saw articles where he started off by saying "Go Destiny," and saluting the project for creating $60000 a year jobs. Sorry Otis, those jobs were a publicity stunt, and they never had any intention of keeping those positions. That you were fooled by such a thing quickly rushes you from first to last in my support. I picked Steve for his business sense. Really, all three candidates have things that make me excited, and things that make me worry. Should be interesting. That's all for now folks, I'll be back on Monday in plenty of time to vote, don't worry.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE and for god's sakes use the internets and find out something about who you vote for. If you found this site you can find the info.

Endorsements, round 1

2009-10-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Lets start with those dramatic judge races! Judicial contests are supposed to be about experience and qualifications, and in fact candidates are not allowed to speak about issues, which makes for a weird race. Still, here we go:

Onondaga County Court: Tony Aloi. Judge Aloi is already in this position. Crisafulli has experience as a lawyer and as a hearing examiner for parking violations, but that in no way trumps Judge Aloi's 38 years working with Onondaga County Court (10 as judge and the rest as law assistant). Aloi hands down.

Supreme Court, 5th Judicial district: Walter Hafner Jr. and James McCarthy. This is a vote 2. Judge Hafner has worked 10 years as an Oswego County Judge, has worked as a ADA, law clerk to surrogate's court, and city attorney, proving he has the experience. Judge McCarthy has been an Oswego County Judge since 1993, an acting Supreme Court Justice for 10 years, and has presided over many courts. Perhaps most notable is the first sex offense court in NY. He's also been a city attorney and served in the army and army reserve. Judge Jim Tormey is the current chief administrative judge in Onondaga County, but I haven't always been impressed with his decisions, so Judges Hafner and McCarthy get the nod.

Soon I'll start with the legislature, and then mayor of Syracuse.

Democrats in Lysander? Hearings we can't attend

2009-10-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't get to the endorsements yet, but I just started a new job. I can tell you in advance the first district endorsement will probably go to Joe Coleman. Having lived in Lysander for much of my life (not currently), it is nice to see yard signs that don't say Lesniak for once. It be nice to have a democratic candidate for legislature in Lysander that can make their presence known, and even nicer to finally have one I think could handle the job. Previous candidates, not so much on either of those areas.

The state wants to cut lots of funding, most of which will then fall on the counties and hurt them even more. There's a meeting on it in the Onondaga County Legislative Chamber, 401 Montgomery St on Friday 10/23/09, but it's at 10 am. Way to make it so working taxpayers probably can't go and voice their opinion.

Onondaga County Budget Forum

2009-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

There was a lot more interest at the annual budget forum than last year, which apparently drew nine speakers. You can read about it here.

Highlights:
Joanie Mahoney did not have the decency to show up at the meeting. She thought it was more important to go to the museum than to listen to her constituents. She sent some lackeys in her place, including the deputy county exec, and the chief fiscal officer. Workers meanwhile commented that while she wanted to cut our pay she could pay thousands to redecorate her office with Stickley furniture.

Bernie Kraft's widow showed up to basically say to the legislators, hey, my late husband would be ashamed of you and this budget proposal. “This is unfair, and you and I both know it is unfair,I can say without hesitation that my husband would never have backed such a proposal.”

There were many good arguments against the furloughs and budget cuts, some particularly good ones coming from the probation department in regard to monitoring sex offenders. Some good ones were also made from social service employees in reference to child and adult protective issues.

Lots of people advocating for the Human rights Commission and the Student Assistance Program, the former being proposed to be dissolved and the other proposed to be cut down. SAP folks commented that most of the funds are paid by the schools, not the county, and therefore the county gets 8 full time positions for the $80000 a year it wants to chop out. Seems like school counseling for troubled kids is a great return on an investment that small.

That's my summation. I expect soon to start posting my endorsements for County Leg, County Court Judge, and Syracuse Mayor.

Updates on County budget

2009-10-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

The town hall with County Legislators about the budget in Onondaga County has been moved. Same date, this Thursday at 7 PM, but now in the Oncenter Ball room due to expected high attendance. Which of course would be good. Show up at 6 to sign up to talk, or just come and listen and show your legislator that you are paying attention.

While on the subject of Legislators, I hear from a former co-worker that she wrote Mr. Bob Warner of district 13 and his response was basically get your union to accept there won't be a raise next year. Which I would say OK to if we didn't already have it signed and in writing. If I decided I wasn't doing as well as previous and I didn't want to honor a previous contract, but I had $63 million in a rainy day fund, ain't no court in the land that's not going to tell me to pay up. Why should Onondaga County be any different?

Kudos Dave Stodt

2009-10-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

From the Tuesday Post Standard:
To the Editor:
One of the only good things to come out of the county executive's proposed budget is the increased level of interest expressed by taxpayers and county employees. I've received over 100 calls, e-mails and letters expressing concern about how this proposed budget will affect employees, their families, and those they serve. Let me shed light on one of the darkest proposed budgets in decades.
Onondaga County government and residents are experiencing the same financial crisis as nearly every other area. The proposed 2010 budget calls for a 2.9 percent property tax increase, $5 or $10 automobile fee, massive cuts in staffing and programs such as pregnancy care.
Regardless of the reasoning, these proposals are not reasonable. Some employees have been dubbed "non-essential," and they have expressed how that was just plain rude. It has resulted in a significant reduction in employee morale.
Increasing taxes, reducing services and moving 2,100 full-time employees to part-time while we maintain a more than $63 million "rainy day" fund is totally unreasonable. It is "pouring," and that rainy day fund is your tax dollars. We should use more of it to meet this horrible fiscal crisis.

David Stott
County Legislator, 4th District, Salina

Way to go Dave. Glad to finally hear someone proposing a solution other than violating already set up contracts. To those who declare that county employees must suffer like every one else, if there weren't a contract I'd say fine, but you can't just go back on a signed contract. Despite no obligation, the county workers have agreed to talk about possible solutions to the fiscal crisis, but Ms. Mahoney has refused to talk about anything other than pay cuts and layoffs. I haven't really had the opportunity to canvas this year, but Dave may have just earned some walking time.

Other news in brief: Regarding the recent taserings in city schools, without having been there, I will not comment on the individual incidents, but those who flat out rule out tasers in such cases clearly have not spent much time in a city high school or dealt with young offenders (both of which I have done). It is unfortunate that there are violent people who are so young, but there are, and therefore officers need to be able to defend themselves when appropriate. To have an option that can avoid death is a definite plus.

Also like to bring up that City Council president and Democrat Bea Gonzalez has refused to endorse Democratic candidate Stephanie Miner. Per the Post-Standard, Gonzalez said "I've seen how (Miner) behaves in public and in private and I'm concerned." The article also references Gonzalez stating that Miner does not always treat people with dignity and respect. Of course, it should also be noted that Gonzalez has expressed anger with the Democratic party for gearing up for a Miner run for mayor instead of a Gonzalez run for mayor. Perhaps a fair point since they both are term-limited out I believe, but Gonzalez holds the higher position on the city council.

Update, also 40 Below

2009-09-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

An update on the budget issues: First off, I hear there is a public forum on 10/8/09 at the old courthouse (Montgomery St., next to the civic Center) at 7 PM. Second, I additionally sent a copy of my email regarding child protective's role in the budget to Legislator Bill Meyer, as he is chairman of the legislature.

Also, last Friday I attended the 5th annual 40 below summit. I enjoyed it quite a bit and got to reunite with a lot of members of the Young Democrats. Congressman Maffei was there, as well as all three mayoral candidates. Shook each candidates hand, the Congressman was only there at a time when I was heading to an informative session. Lots of organizations came, offering ways to volunteer and help in the community. Of the three mayoral candidates, I think I still like Otis Jennings, although the fact that one of my friends works with Ms. Miner and finds he agrees with her on most things does reassure me. Here's hoping for an interesting race!

Where budget cuts should not come from

2009-09-25T09:34:00.001-07:00

I sent the following email to my county legislator, and a close variant to those legislators whose campaigns I worked on. I urge you to also contact your county legislator (mail, email, phone, whatever), whether it is this issue (child welfare) or whatever you feel is vital and needs protection in our County budget.

Dear Mr. Warner,

As one of your constituents, I am writing to you on an issue that is of importance to me and which I have some firsthand knowledge of. I was watching the news last night. The news of a conviction in the Erin Maxwell case was followed shortly by a story talking about how the budget cuts being made propose that child protective workers have their hours reduced.
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/CPS-caseworkers-may-see-reduction-in-hours/jUALCIoxlkC2vWPsROjYxg.cspx

As a former child protective worker and as someone who still knows most of the staff, this situation alarms me. As I understand it from the report, the workers doing the investigations, determining if there is indeed abuse or not, are exempt from this. This means it would apply to those workers dealing with the long term providing of services. In short, this means that those workers dealing with families where the investigators found there was an issue, and found that the family needs some help, would be the workers that are affected. Investigations often get priority, and to a certain degree this makes sense, as any report has to have a response within 24 hours according to state mandate, and as we quickly have to determine whether there is an issue or not, and in some cases this is a matter of life or death. However, the workers that will be affected by this cut in hours are the workers we have monitoring those families where we have already determined there are some issues. They have mandates from the state as well, with the state mandating the number of times per month or months when family members have to be seen in person. Additionally, the hour cut on these workers will end up impacting the investigators as well, as investigator caseloads will increase due to the additional time it will take to transfer the case on to the long term worker (caused by those workers increased work load in decreased time).

This comes at a time when, as the report mentions, caseloads are increasing due to high profile cases making the news. Additionally, what the report did not cover, was that the summer is typically a time of less reports. Reports rise after the school year has got underway (due to school teachers being able to see the children on a regular basis and notice the signs of possible abuse), and my friends in the department have told me that this increase in cases is most definitely starting up again. Please take this under consideration when determining the county's budget.

Primaries!!

2009-09-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to vote in Tuesday's primaries if you're a registered Dem or Rep. Particularly if you live in the city of Syracuse. Syracuse.com once again has a voter guide that can tell you if there are primaries for you to vote on. They've also got some nice bits on the mayoral race. Also, democracywise again has a list and short bios for all Onondaga County races this fall.

Something I found interesting, La Bella Pizza has signs up for Dave Stott's Republican oponant, Judy Tassone, in the November election for County Legislator of district 4. I know at one point Dave part owned La Bella. And Ms. Tassone also has her headquarters in the building Dave used during the last run. To say anything else would be speculation on my part, but it is curious.

Anyway, back to mayor, which I can't vote in, as I just moved out of the city of Syracuse (dang). Anyway, here are my endorsements:

Republican party: Otis Jennings. I like that he wants to spend a day a week in city schools and talk with staff and students to try to work on our terrible graduation rates. He's pledged to hold himself responsible if those rates don't improve. My criminal justice education also leads me to believe his views on reducing crime might be more viable then his opponent, Steve Kimatian. Kimation did mention having worked with Don Schaefer, former mayor of Baltimore, during it's revival, and I like that. Plus, Kimatian seems to have business experience that might prove useful. In the end though, I give Jennings the nod.

Democratic party: Joe Nicoletti. This was a tough choice for me. Number one it seemed harder to get information on concrete views in this race. Number two, it was particularly hard to get information at all on long shot candidates Carmen Harlow and Alfonso Davis. To their credit, I like that Harlow wants to start working with tenants and landowners before properties become vacant, and I like that Davis's views on community policing. In the end, I like Nicoletti's plan to re-establish an office solely to seek grants. There's plenty of aide money I'm sure we're missing out on. Also, Nicoletti wants to have monthly meetings with the mayor, school board and superintendant, and the common council. It's not quite going to the schools once a week, but it's another way of putting our schools near the top of the list. The other Democratic candidate, Ms. Miner, has the disadvantage that I've seen her in person. I have not been impressed and in fact was a little bit irritated. I can see how she could get a reputation for having a personality that might prove a hindrance to some negotiations. So Joe gets my nod.

2009-08-20T12:08:00.001-07:00

Sorry for not posting more. Has been a busy summer, even for someone between jobs. As such I'm late posting about this, but it's due: Tom Buckel is considering running for State Senate against Defrancisco next year, because Tom has no Republican opponent for his County Leg seat this year. Go for it Tom. The problems with the Senate this year have proven that it needs overhaul if we can get it.
Meanwhile, Tom also posted on facebook asking what constituents want to protect or get rid of in the county budget, due to the sudden large deficit. Mahoney's first answer was to ask employees to either take a bunch of unpaid time off or ask them to give back the raise they already negotiated. Yeah, there's a little thing called a contract. You're supposed to follow it once you agree to it. So if you've got any ideas about what to trim, feel free to post here and I'll send any good ones Tom's way.
Getting back to the state front, a recent poll of NY Democrats shows AG Cuomo would get 4 votes for every one of Governor Paterson's. I agree Paterson has done nothing and in spectacularly bad fashion, but I'm not yet convinced I want another Cuomo in the top spot.
Bill Magnarelli secured a $10000 grant for Onpoint for College. Good program, good news.
More commentary on the Mayoral race: Finally saw some evidence of Nicoletti running, in that I saw a TV ad for him. Nice little ad, actually covered a bit of issues while poking a little good fun at himself. Showed him trying to fix a table at home and having it fall apart, then said he worked on a much more successful renovation in clinton square. Still, both Joe and Ms. Miner seem far too quiet in the news. Meanwhile, Otis Jennings makes it in the paper for saying he'll spend a day a week in city schools if elected, so he can talk with students and staff and work with the commish to ensure money is being spent wisely, and to see what can be done about the poor graduation rate. Also, I've seen billboards up for him. Not sure how effective that is in a race where most of those driving on the highway are driving into the city and therefore can't vote in the election, but I'm still liking some of the things he's saying. And since I've yet to hear much from Nicoletti, and Ms. Miner isn't getting my support so she can stop sending things to my mailbox...

The latest plus I weigh in on the mayoral race in Syracuse

2009-07-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

Rep. Dan Maffei held a town hall meeting on health care, and a good time was had by all. No, actually what happened is the people from both extreme sides came out and tried to shout over the other, with one fellow being escorted out early on by Syracuse Police. Apparently whenever someone tried to speak that advocated for expanding the government's role in health care, that person was often booed by those advocating for no government role in health care. So, to those of you who didn't go because you thought it sounded kind of dull...

NY state is reinstating empire zone benefits to 96 businesses. Without looking into each one I can't really tell if this is good or not, but at least they're looking at it closer. As opposed to previously when they were basing it entirely on whether the companies answered a single complex question yes or no (really. Sadly, this was in the Post-Standard. And no, they didn't check to see if the yes or no was accurate) (FYI, yes was the bad answer).

State assemblyman Will Barclay states he won't run for John McHugh's soon to be open Congressional spot. Good. Having lived in Barclay's district a good portion of my life, I've yet to see tremendous progress due to him, and mostly seen him winning his seat back year after year due to the fact that the "big city" in his district is Fulton. Yeah, lots of Dems in that territory. Please, no emails, no disrespect meant to Fulton.

I feel I should weigh in on the mayoral race. Early yet, don't know much about too many of the candidates, but I am not a Miner fan. Saw her speak at a Magnarelli rally and she spoke longer than the candidate (which was slightly annoying) but didn't manage to impress me at all. She's managed to continue this trend of not impressing me. Don't know much about Nicoletti, but I think he needs to pick it up a bit if he wants to win a primary. Jennings is for accepting city construction bids without making sure the company pays the prevailing wage, which I'm against, but is for increasing participation by minority owned businesses in city contracts, and for creating an economic development office focused on small businesses, both of which I'm for. Nicoletti's and Kimatian's websites don't say much concrete on their views. Jennings website seems informative and allows you to ask him questions. Be interesting to see how the primaries turn out.

Fairly Random

2009-07-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Both Destiny USA and the NY State Senate seem to have stalled. I am not really surprised at either. If I had to pick, the senate surprised me just a little more, which is slightly more than not at all.

Onondaga County bans texting while driving. I may be in trouble.

On a humorous note, Democrats in the stalled Senate claimed to have a quorom (majority of members there so they could vote, to save some of you the trip to www.m-w.com), when one of the Republicans cut through the Senate Chambers to get a across because Democrats had blocked the other path for a press conference they never held. Sure. Whatever works in New York State.

Somehow I have ended up on Fred Thompson's email list. Didn't realize he still had one. I am looking for a job. Maybe I should count this as contact and ask if he'll add me to his linked in network if he has one.

My two legislature faves, Tom Buckel and Dave Stott, picked up endorsements from the working families party, as did Monica Williams, whom I also helped last time around a bit.

That seems enough chatter for now.

Hey, look, I do post!

2009-06-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

But because I need a job. Although I do plan to post maybe a few things now and then, to force myself to keep in the loop on the local scene. But yeah, I'm looking for work right now, which also leaves me open to do volunteer work (either for a campaign or not). So if you got something interesting, let me know.

How to explain the lack of posts during the past year? I kind of fell out of it after the local elections finished two elections ago. National elections were fun as heck to follow, but harder to feel like I was playing a large role in. New local ones coming up though, lets see how they go.

Hadn't booted up the blogger in a while. 81 posts prior to this. Wow, I was more prolific than I thought.

Well, it's cold up there anyway...

2008-05-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

Congressman Jim Walsh has reversed his position and now favors drilling in the Artic Wildlife Refuge. Dale Sweetland and David Gay agree with his new decision. Dan Maffei is against. With apologies to Mr. Gay, I'm most definitely siding with Dan on this one. First of all I'm not sure I'd in anyway agree that having wildlife refuges would be against the bill of rights. Seems to me wildlife refuges have been a good idea. But basically I've yet to see how drilling in pristine wilderness is going to help with more than a few pennies at the pump. As our own gas tax cap showed, there's never a guarantee of any savings when it comes to dealing with oil companies. Not to mention that whatever amount of oil we get out of there is going to be like nothing compared to the amount we depend on every day from the Middle East. If we could throw some sort of guarantee in there, I might consider it but still feel dirty afterwards. And the destruction of our environment will create all kinds of havoc in the long run.

If we really want to do something about the gas price, lets get the corn the hell out of there. Corn-based ethanol doesn't work people, because it produces like almost no energy. It works great in Brazil because they use sugar cane and can actually run their country entirely on cane-based ethanol, but all the corn is doing is putting a high demand on corn, thus making our gas cost even more.

Reading the newspaper so you don't have to

2008-05-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Sunday... The Post-standard had a few interesting news items. A non-profit group called Home HeadQuarters is buying up a lot of land around Blodgett School. The theory is that they'll make improvements and try to revamp the neighborhood. The potential problem is they've spent so much of their money on property that they can't revamp all the houses right now. Apparently they look to look for more money and also market the houses as is or with some improvements. Let's hope it works, cause at least 2.25 mill came from Rep. James Walsh's Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative.

And then from the opinion page. The paper is angry at judges for letting the lack of a pay raise interfere with their duties. Some of the judges are refusing to hear cases involving law firms that involve state legislators, citing conflict of interest since there is now a suit involving judge's pay. So the paper wants judges to get back to work and I agree with that. But the paper also declares that "Judges certainly deserve a raise," and here is where I will piss off my lawyer friends. The argument used is that the sharpest legal minds will leave because they can make so much more in private practice. This is roughly akin to saying we should start paying college basketball players because they can make so more in the pros. The fact that some lawyers make insane amounts of money is not the taxpayers' fault. Well, it probably is the fault of some of the taxpayers, but not all of them.

Additionally, the paper complains that Democrats haven't come up with a candidate to run against Defrancisco or Barclay, and again I agree with the first part. Then it says this is not to disparage the great works of either. Ok, he's got some things to work on, but I'll grant you DeFran, but Barclay? Really?

Finally, school board elections. Once again, budgets are increasing by millions, and I don't know about your district, but in Bville not one candidate said anything to the Post-Standard about trying to keep this in check. At the very least they should look at administration costs, because I know Baker High has like 82 vice principles (this is called hyperbole, do not send emails correcting me). Everyone complains about property taxes, so I urge you to start doing something more than complaining. Write to your school board urging them to keep up education while still keeping taxes in check, it can be done! And stop voting in every incumbent and voting yes on every budget without seeing what's up first.

I suppose I should post...

2008-05-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Forgive me, I've been on vacation.

First of all, the sewage plant in Armory Square is completely nixed, and thank goodness.

Venturing to the things to be less thankful for, except maybe for humor value, the Post-standard reports that our man Dale is "on a roll." Assemblyman Bob Oaks withdrew from the race for Walsh's congressional seat. And Walsh endorsed Sweetland, which of course makes me like him even less. Walsh then asked David Gay and Mark-Paul Serafin to drop out, and they told him to suck it (I may be paraphrasing). David Gay, by the way, seems to have posted a response to this site. That, or someone posing as him. Either way, I'm happy. Dave, if you'd like to do a short post summing up your reasons for running, so that my reader(s) may know a thing or two about you, that would be alright. As for Sweetland, well, a Miss Carrie James, speaking for the Maffei campaign, seems to have summed it up nicely, calling Sweetland "a status quo politition (who) sat idly by and watched 20000 Central New Yorkers leave the region." Plus he really doesn't know how to campaign. So naturally he should run for Congress.

In an effort to get more readers, I did contact syracuse.com to try to get in their upstate blogs list. I was told they'd try and get me up in a week or so. This was more than a week ago.

Go, go,go

2008-04-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

I seem to be handing out kudos to people. Weird for me.

Of course the first one for the day is no surprise. Kudos to Tom Buckel for asking AG Cuomo to look into the fact that we trimmed our gas taxes and gas prices, relative to other areas, stayed exactly the same. Who could have predicted that would happen (hint: ME)? On a related note, a letter to the editor seems to complain about County Executive Mahoney for allowing the gas tax cap to expire and the legislature shifting this to a property tax rebate. The argument of the letter seems to be that leasers will not pass the savings on to leasees. So the writer doesn't trust leasers to pass on savings, but does trust big oil. Hmm. Yeah.

Second, kudos to Congressman Walsh. Wait, what? Yeah, you heard me. Kudos to him for standing up to China and their numerous human rights violations by supporting a bill banning President Bush from Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing. As someone of Asian descent, I state firmly that the problem has been we've let China have too much of their own way.

Well, I do have to admit...

2008-04-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

Two things this county has done that I did not think were good ideas are the cap on the gas taxes (no guarantee that we get any savings) and the plan to put a sewage treatment plan in Armory Square (just dumb). Well, she may not have gotten my vote at the time, but County Executive Joanie Mahoney has indeed taken a stand on these two issues, and its the same stand I had.

With regard to the gas tax, one county legislator that was opposed actually had the nerve to state that there was no evidence the gas cap had not saved people money. Let's go over that again. There is NO evidence it's NOT saved money. How about evidence it actually has saved anyone money dangit! Also there is evidence. One of the news channels looked at our price of gas vs Rochester. Before gas cap, few pennies less here. After gas cap, few pennies less here.

Regarding the plan to put a sewage plant in Armory Square, Mahoney has stated "I think we can do better." Not only that, her plan to is to see if we can relieve the need for such a plant by using green technology. All I can say is thank goodness.

Jumping to things I am really not so thankful for, Mr. Sweetland has formally announced his campaign for the 25th Congressional. I can't wait to see his 852 point plan for the country.

40 Below is looking for people to tout the Syracuse area. Apparently there are prizes involved.

Ask and you shall receive...

2008-03-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well it seems I have some sort of effect on Republicans, because the day after I post for people to go for Walsh's spot, several of them do. Including this blog's old friend Dale Sweetland. Because there's nothing that prepares you for running for Congress like losing a primary for a County Executive spot. Maybe we can get those wonderful "architectural windmills" all across the country. I also like the Post-Standard's description of another contender: "A 26-year-old punk rocker, David Gay, of Syracuse, who was the local coordinator of Ron Paul's presidential campaign, declared he also will run as a Republican." Gay is apparently a Medicare claims entry clerk who plans to primary for the spot if it isn't handed to him (when it isn't, perhaps). I admire the cojones, but there is also something to be said for the old start small and work your way up approach.

Nancy Lorraine Hoffman isn't running. She basically says the party leadership told her not to. A pity. I'd actually have to consider voting for her. I'm not saying I would, but I'd look into what she was saying.

Apparently some sort of free tuition program for Syracuse City school grads stalled in the state assembly. Some people would say, why just the city, and there is some validity to that question, but clearly something has to be done to fix inner city schools and since several colleges were already signed on board by Ms. Nancy Cantor, then I think it sounds like a good idea on it's face.

Interesting poll results in today's opinion section. When asked their opinion of Gov. Paterson, 51% said they didn't have enough info to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion. But when asked if he'd do an effective job, 75% said he'd govern effectively. So, does that mean like at least 26% didn't have enough info to form an opinion, but think he'll do a bang up job? And the more important question, how many of those people vote? As to my opinion of our new Gov? The only concern I've got so far has to do with a prior bill he proposed that advocated cops should shoot to wound. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of guns or law enforcement should be aware that would be totally unfeasible and would cost lives (certainly on the cop side if not on both sides).

Finally, I was going to end this post with "And in case you didn't dislike him enough already," and link to an article on how Walsh is considering becoming a lobbyist in retirement, but I couldn't locate the article online. But it was in the hard copy of the Post Standard. So that's that.

Well, if you're not doing anything this fall...

2008-03-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

It appears Peter Capucilli will not be running for Jim Walsh's current congressional office. Believe he cited illness. And Randy Wolken has stated he will not change his previous decision to withdraw. Which means the Republican side of this race is completely open. It takes an election cycle to switch parties (as I found out), so that means both I and Tim Green wouldn't be able to switch in time (not that I for one would do such a thing), so if you're Republican and have plenty of time available this fall, I suggest you see what needs to be done to get you in this race. But if not and Dan Maffei just takes the spot I'm okay with that.

Travels...

2008-03-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm out of town for a week for training, no access to a computer, but what really could go on in the CNY and related politics scene, except for ELLIOT SPITZER RESIGNING due to his involvement with a high class prostitute service!! Quick, someone get me internet access!

Seriously though, I was just talking the weekend before, with one of my friends who is a conservative (yes, I can be friends with conservatives) and we both stated we don't really like Governor Spitzer. And I think we both voted for him. Although the friend more to move Spitzer out of the AG's office, but still. For me though, it wasn't "Troopergate" that made me dislike Spitzer, as that didn't really surprise me. It wasn't the giving illegal immigrants licenses, as I saw that mainly as helping ID people and encouraging them to pay insurance, just poorly timed. It was Spitzer continuing Pataki's trend and NY's trend of slipping taxes and fees onto everything we buy. NY's taxes are among the highest in the nation anyway, and to slip in little fees on things that don't count as taxes but still chip away at our income is to continually doom the NY state economy.

So who exactly is David Paterson? I had no idea. So I did the obvious. I googled him. And I still have not much of an idea. But here's what I got. Before he was Lt. Governor, Paterson was a State Senator from Harlem. He was Senate Minority leader, which meant he had to be willing to negotiate with Joe Bruno in order to get anything accomplished. Yeah, Bruno isn't the guy I'd most like to negotiate with, but doing son in NY state is currently a prerequisite to moving things along, and Spitzer had already pissed Bruno off to no end, so this could be a positive for Paterson. Patersonfornewyork.com, which I'm assuming is an old campaign website (but don't quote me) lists that "Paterson has already ready made great strides in the area of Minority and Women Owned Enterprises, Stem Cell Research, Renewable Energy, and Economic Development." All things I'm generally for, although I'm not 100% sure on the stem cell research. Here is his Wikipedia page. I encourage you to look him up yourself and see if you can find more, although as always, pay attention to the source and make sure it's legit.

I also, will not seek my party's nomination...

2008-03-02T16:51:00.002-08:00

Bob Andrews has told the Post-Standard he will not run for the 25th Congressional district spot opened by the retiring of Walsh. I'd just like to state that I will not either. Bob is supporting Peter Cappuccilli. As important as I think fried onions and other fair food is, I'm still leaning toward Dan Maffei at this point.

Apparently there is some sort of delay, and County Exec Joanie Mahoney may be able to rethink her predecessor's plan of putting a sewage treatment plant in our most vibrant area of Syracuse. Good.

State Senator DeFrancisco sent some sort of survey to my house. I'm going to go online and fill one out, because it never hurts to voice your opinion, and because there have been a couple of things I've meant to voice my opinion on and never gotten around to contacting politicians about.

Word

2008-02-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

The post-standard ran a piece stating that NY state is in fact planning to crack down on empire zone abuse. Good. That's all I got to say about that.

On the local Republican news front, Randy Wolken has officially put his name into the mix for the race for Jim Walsh's spot. For those who don't know who he is, the post-standard states he is "a Central New York business and civic leader." More specifically he is the president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, which seems a better qualifier than a certain other Republican candidate's credentials.

We had another Young Democrats meeting last night. Big plans in the mix, including a potential Democratic candidate symposium thingy in the summer, which we hope could lure some big names and not just locally, the posibility of doing some community service stuff as a group, maybe even doing some joint stuff with young Republicans. Sounds like good things to me, I'll try and do a better job of keeping everyone posted on all events (IE telling you about the meeting before I go to it instead of after.)Also there was a candidate for Surrogate Judge. I'll consider coming back to this topic if I can form more of an opinion of him and also read up on exactly what Surrogate court does.

It seems perhaps 2 guys are running for a State Senate seat in the 48th. I don't know a lot about either, but Will Barclay has been my assemblyman, and of what I know, I am not a fan. Either way though, if you live in the 48th, make sure to vote Tuesday.

Spitzer says he won't put state tax on the federal rebates that should be coming, which is the kind of good common sense thing you can usually expect NY not to do.

edits and editorials (further editorials of course)

2008-02-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

Seems I was incorrect in stating Capucilli was running for Walsh's spot, he's only announced interest. This makes Dan Maffei still the only one to have officially announced. Everyone else is letting the suspense linger. I personally have decided I'm definitely maybe going to consider thinking about a run.

Elliot Spitzer has been proposing alternate taxes lately. First he wanted to tax fruity alcoholic drinks like liquor, raising the tax on a 6 pack of Smirnoff from 6 cents to over a dollar. Now he wants to tax things we buy on the internets. Taxes seem to be high enough already in New York State. Also with the economy the way things are, I think the idea right now is we're supposed to encourage people to start buying things, not stop.

An engineering firm has suggested that because not enough people are using the garages, the city should up the price of parking. Uh, yeah. As a former engineering major I am not surprised that it's a group of engineers that came up with this. This won't make people use the garages, it'll make people go somewhere else! Which is already the problem.

Anyway, I have to go ponder a congressional run.

Big goings on

2008-02-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Although mostly nationally.

I meant to put a post telling all registered Dems and Republicans to vote on Super Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to come online until like 8, which seemed a bit late.

Bill Fitzpatrick has decided not to run for Congressman Walsh's seat, which means I can't vote against him this year. Peter Capucilli is the first Republican to announce a run for Walsh's spot, because running the State Fair is a good proving ground for helping run the country. If only he could run against Dan O'Hara.

State Senator DeFrancisco's office sent me info on the school bill he proposed. I've yet to have time to decipher it. Once I do I'll post again.

Now to venture into national news for a moment, and give some reasons why Barack Obama will be better against McCain than Hillary: 1)Momentum: Barack's is up, Hillary's is down, and it's because most people have already formed an opinion of the Clintons, while Barack is conatantly bringing new folk to his crowd. 2)Reaching across divides: It's the strength of both McCain and Obama, but Barack can do it better because McCain had to sacrifice his party's base. Might some conservatives vote for Clinton? Probably not. Obama? More likely. At the very least, McCain might have some conservatives who just don't vote if they don't feel a true conservative choice is available, but Obama manages to reach across the aisle while still appealing to his base. Anyway, that's what I got. Go make your own informed decision.

First, the good news...

2008-01-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

10 term congressman James Walsh has announced he will not run for reelection. (insert trumpets)

Of course that makes the race a bit more wide open on both sides of the aisle. Dale Sweetland has been mentioned (windmills for America?). I don't think he would win, but the mere mention still scares me. On the Democratic (technically) side, Tim Green was mentioned, and that scared me until he said no.

What about those who might actually be the candidate? On the Republican side, Bill Fitzpatrick is the most notable name. Yes, after having been DA forever he's managed to get a lot of people who hate him and not just the criminals, but he's also got lots of money having never really had a well funded opponent. In fact he's been so over funded he apparently can buy really nice dinners. Add him to the list of people who's names being mentioned scared me.

Among Democrats, Dan Maffei is the only name on either side to say that he's in, having said that quite a while ago and amassed quite a warchest after his last run for the office pulled up just short. Our term limited Mayor hasn't said if he'll run for the congressional district, rating his odds at 50-50. Either one would have good odds at the seat going into the race.

An additional positive, apparently Governor Spitzer vowed to take away Empire Zone benefits from places that haven't created jobs. About time. Somehow I missed the article in the paper and only now noticed it online while looking for something else.

That something else is the bad news. Spitzer has apparently agreed with Bruno to include a pay raise for judges in the budget of 24% and an undisclosed % pay raise for legislators (Bruno asked for 21%). The judges tend to make in the $90k to $140k range, plus they get to be called your Honor and throw people in jail for disrespecting them, but apparently this is too little to get by on. Legislators, essentially a part time job, as many of them are also members of law firms, earn a starting salary of $79k, with more if they are on committees or hold other positions. I'm sorry, but on my current salary I just do not feel their pain. This is an outrage, and I fully intend to formulate a plan to tell my legislators what I think of this. Stay tuned for details. Offers of assistance appreciated.

Is our children learning?

2008-01-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I'm missing plenty of political news while I'm off in Rochester for job training every other week. If I miss anything vital, I'd like to ask my reader to notify me.

One thing I did catch is that Senator Defrancisco came up with a new school funding plan. If a democrat had put up such a plan, I would comment, so I'll play fair. School funding in New York state is definitely something that needs to be looked at, but it's hard for me to grasp what this bill means without some more raw numbers. So I emailed his office asking what the difference would be in state money for Syracuse city schools, New York City schools, and the total difference statewide. I'll post any response I happen to get.

The last young dems' event got some good coverage, with a nice newspaper article before and after, and some TV coverage even. More great things to come.

Quick update...

2008-01-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

New job, new training, less time for posting. Sorry. Also local politics has been largely overshadowed by national politics as of late, but the one major event is the YOUNG DEMS FUNDRAISER TOMORROW. Again, Palace Theater, 6-9:30. $35 for food, carving station and open bar. The mayor's going to be there, we got some news stations (without even contacting them ourselves, work smarter, not harder... or just get lucky), got around 90 yes RSVP's. Should be a good event. Come on down.

There's been some news about new jobs local, and more news about less jobs local. I noticed Nancy Cantor in the picture regarding the new jobs, apparently she attended the announcement. Again, SU's one of the best things we got going.

Speaking of opening jobs, State Supreme Court Judge Robert Julian's spot is now open. Apparently he's quiting because his $136,700 plus salary needed a raise. My favorite quote is "On a personal level I am unwilling to further deplete my savings and reduce my lifestyle to continue in this office." The man's a supreme court justice and therefore should be addressed as your Honor, and therefore I will not say what I think of his lack of a raise. I'd gladly take his job, but they'd probably want me to have like a law degree or something.

On the humorous front, I seem to be getting emails from some NY state assembly Republicans committee. I know I said I'm open to the idea of supporting a progressive Republican, but in general I think these will not be productive emails for those assembly members.

That's all I got. See some of you folks tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

Venturing into national discussion for just a bit, I find myself excited that it's Iowa Caucus Eve. Yeah, it's that whole political geek thing again. Go Obama!

The Post-standard reports the city is not backing up its Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today program. An audit by city Auditor Phil LaTessa found that the full slate of representatives that should be at the meetings, 1 from each city department, was only at 16% of the meetings. Apparently the law states that they should have the full slate at all the meetings. So the good news is we're only 84% illegal.

The audit also showed that the plans the groups formed were often outdated and incomplete, the city was slow to implement those plans that were submitted, and staff members were being overpaid. So this sounds like another thing that needs some managing.

A new year brings a new County Exec, and I for one am looking at my job with a fresh perspective. Or at least I got an email asking me to do so. Really.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to all. My own gifts received included the books "Life's a Campaign" by Chris Mathews and "How to Win a Local Election" by Judge Grey. Yeah, I'm a political geek.

The post-standard features an article on how a Manlius contractor has classified his new houses as condominiums and saved his buyers plenty in property tax for what is essentially still a house. Personally if I were doing this I wouldn't be talking about it to the Post-Standard, but it seems to me like this is something that should be looked at for possible fixing.

I am once again trying to get coverage for a Young Dems event, this one a beginning of the year kickoff party at the Palace Theater on Saturday 1/12. We're inviting Democratic candidates and community motivated folks of all types. $30 to the Young Dems if you RSVP by the 9th includes a carving station, food, and open bar. $35 at the door. Anyone interested in going or any media contacts please contact me.

How not to run a job creation program...

2007-12-19T16:47:00.000-08:00

First off, young Dems meeting tomorrow. 7 pm, 248 E Water St. We've switched to the 2nd Thursday of every other month, in the hopes less committment to meetings will make things easier on current and future members. And now for something completely different...

The Post Standard reports that two good-government groups are lashing out against empire zones. Join the club. The PS reports that the program, which gives tax benefits with few promises of new jobs, has swelled from a $30 million project in 2000 to a projected $558 million fiasco this year. Meanwhile, the state can't say how many jobs have been created, and a 2004 audit by the comptroller found that 23 percent of Empire Zone businesses cut jobs rather than create new ones. Yeah, okay, somebody should fix that. Once again I implore people to sign my online petition. The only reason it asks for email is so that I can try and have some guarantee that it's different people signing the petition, one per email. I'm not going to give the emails out or anything.

Additionally, Sean Kirst hypothesizes on what might happen if we took down route 81, which currently forms a nice ugly dividing line through the middle of Syracuse. Part of the difficulty is that it's already there and has already been built around. If we were to do it, I'm not sure how long and complicated it would be to mend the wound if you will. However, I'm willing to consider it, but an alternative has to be built before the dismantling. 690 being under construction for the next two years is enough traffic problems for one city.

A former coworker of our county exec's has been named our new county attorney. Gordon Cuffy has moved from the District Attorney's office to the mostly civil law County Attorney's office. I'm not sure I'm completely opposed to this change of pace, but I do question how reassuring it is that both Joanie and Gordy stated that he will inherit a staff of experienced and competent lawyers. If he's going to lead them, should he also be describing himself as experienced and competent?

Finally, I get a huge kick out of the fact that google reports at least one person found my site and clicked on it after doing a search for Emerald 5 ShowTel.

(raspberry noise)

Toll hike, other news

2007-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Assemblyman Al Stirpe is urging people to talk to Thruway authority board members and voice their opinions on the proposed toll hike, and I am completely with him on that. Of course, unfortunately in New York State we can add it to the list of taxes and fees that people should complain about, but that doesn't make this one any less important. Visit www.nysthruway.gov or call 518-436-2700. The problem with this state is that we keep raising fees or taxes to solve our problems when we should be looking at how we've spent the money we do have. The original plan called for the thruway to make itself eventually toll free, but clearly that was a pipe dream. Last time the problem was too many people were using the thruway so it needed repair, and now the problem is supposed to be not enough people using the road? Lets take another look. I'm headed to the site.

Meanwhile our Salina justice race heads to the appellate court.

Congressman Walsh voted against a ban on waterboarding. Boo, hiss. These United States should be above those kind of actions, and just how reliable is an answer given after waterboarding anyway?

That's all I got. Please discuss.

I return to the digital age...

2007-12-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

My internet had problems earlier in the week, but that seems to be ok because most of the local political news seems to have appeared on the weekend.

Note that I do say most. The Salina Town Justice race has now become as close as possible without a tie. A judge has now allowed 3 more ballots to be counted, all of them for Judge Alessio, putting him up by one. Paul Carey plans to appeal.

The front page of todays local section (sorry, can't find link, go buy a paper) announces all the development projects going on in Syracuse. Development is of course good news, but I can't help but notice that almost all the projects require parking, and a good number elminate parking spaces, while very few actually build any spaces. We need to start getting new development plans to include parking for their facilities. Still, it's mostly positive. In particular, I'm happy for the use of Central Tech as a vocational school, even if it means some of my fellow county employees may lose their parking spots. Job and skills training is one of the biggest things we need in this area to jump start our economy.

Governor Spitzer says "The Upstate economy... is perhaps the most important issue confronting me as governor." To which I say, good.

The convention center is now officially named for Nick Pirro. Speaking of names, the Destiny hotel has a name. And that name is the "Emerald 5 ShowTel." If anyone can tell me what the F that means, or what exactly Emeralds 1-4 were already reserved for, please, please send me an email or comment.

Well it actually happened...

2007-11-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

Do not be alarmed, but there is actually something where I'm on the side of Bob Congel. Our wonderful WSTM news aired a story that the FBI was looking into Bob Congel and his relationship with Alaskan Congressman Don Young. Problem is, that was based on a story by McClatchy newspapers reporter Greg Gordon, and Gordon states that is not what he said and he has no evidence to support that. Yet WSTM's Jim Kenyon states he will not retract the story, stating if there was any error it was not his. Okay, I try and avoid coming to the defense of Bob Congel whenever possible, but if Gordon states he has no evidence I think you have to retract it. Maybe if Mr. Kenyon would do some real investigation of his own we wouldn't have this problem. Again, I apologize for being on the side of Congel, I promise to do my best to see that it never happens again.

Joanie Mahoney has finished naming the rest of her transition team. It appears I am not on it.

There are some nice tales of open government in Syracuse, although the paper's timing is a bit late as usual. The state is holding open budget hearings where you can talk about what programs are important to you, the idea being that legislators have to trim and hopefully they'll do that from what people do not state is most important at these hearings. Those wishing to offer testimony should register in advance. Syracuse.com posted this at 7 am on Tuesday (yes, yesterday), with the hearing apparently being at 1 pm on Tuesday (yes, yesterday), so good luck with that registering in advance thing. You can still go to hearings in Brooklyn (Thursday) and Long Island (Friday). And Congressman James Walsh will answer questions tomorrow at 7 pm at C Grant Grimshaw School. They've seen fit to post this on Syracuse.com with slightly over 24 hours notice, so that's a 400% increase in hours notice. Still seems a bit late.

this just in... actually checking to see we get what we asked for

2007-11-25T14:06:00.001-08:00

The tax deal for the Jefferson Clinton Commons (the one that promised parking, but had a net gain of 28 spots) was actually voted down. I view this as something we definitely don't do enough of in New York State, and CNY in particular, making sure we get what we ask for when we hand out a tax break.

Lots of other political news. Congressman Walsh has more cash on hand than his oponent Dan Maffei, but Maffei has more than he did than at any point during the previous election, and that was close, so... Oh and one district over, Michael Arcuri (D) is beating them both and has no declared opponent yet.

Cayuga county doesn't think it's getting enough out of it's cap on the gas tax. As stated previously, our county exec to be doesn't think we are either. I never have and would be okay with seeing the cap go. It's another one of those things where it's hard to get a guarantee that they won't just raise the price. Might as well put those dollars toward the county instead of toward oil companies. Hey look, I involved a CNY county other than Onondaga!

Finally, we have a very close town justice race in Salina. Paul Carey is beating George Alessio by 2 votes. But Alessio has put in a bid to count the absentee ballots that had stray marks and the affidavit ballots that were in an extra envelope. They opened everything up and did the count. With the absentee ballots only, Alessio by 1, with the affidavits only, Carey by 3, which means with both we have a tie! Only not really, because then the town board picks and they're Republicans, so that will pretty much hand it to Carey. It's all up to a judge now.

New and improved?

2007-11-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

Our congressman Walsh voted with the Democrats on a resolution urging an eventual halt to the Iraq War. From the Post-Standard article, it doesn't sound like the resolution was all that strong in itself, but that's on the Democrats in Congress not being as powerful as they should. We really need organization. New Walsh is more palatable to me then old Walsh, but I wonder what we have to do exactly to keep Walsh from downgrading to version 1.0 to put it in computer terms. To the couple who wrote a letter to the editor declaring that Walsh should become a Democrat, I'm usually for everyone becoming a Democrat, but seriously, one issue does not make him a different party.

Michael Bragman wrote an article in the Post-Standard suggesting we give OnTrack another chance. I do think it's a good idea, but it wasn't marketed at all (the only evidence I had that it existed, until it didn't, was the presence of a train station at Carousel that occasionally had trains), and it needs to run through the city more. Be more of a light rail as opposed to running only to a few key areas. Still, with a decent marketing campaign, I'd be willing to give it another try.

Not as many blurbs on local politics in the Post-Standard recently. Probably waiting for Mahoney's new regime to take over. Lots of big races next year too, so we'll start seeing things put forward in efforts to secure races next year. I don't think Defrancisco's fitness thing counts as much in that regard.

Development, lack there of, Stepping in it

2007-11-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

The Post Standard today is filled with stories of development in Syracuse. The Syracuse Industrial Development agency is buying up 3 vacant properties on Warren St. No word yet on what they’re going to do, but it has to be an improvement over the eyesore there now. OCC is planning to expand. And there’s an article about SU professors hoping to revitalize the Near West side.

There’s also an article again showing we’ve got to track how the money’s being spent, not just hand tax breaks out. The “Jefferson Clinton Commons” was given 1 mill in breaks because , among other things, it was supposed to create parking. It does in fact, have 180 spots. But it builds over 152 (28 net, for those who didn’t major in math). The good news here is the article implies the money is not guaranteed (a surprise in itself in New York state), so let’s see what the final product looks like before we render a verdict. (This just in, apparently some city councilors agree with me)

And in case you missed it, apparently when Spitzer ran under the slogan “Day one, everything changes,” he was in fact referring to his approval rating. It’s plummeted, since his proposal to let licenses be given without a social security card (which he has now dropped). Again, I personally think letting people have ID and knowing, to some degree, who the heck you’re dealing with is a good idea, but clearly most of NY disagrees with me on this.

Speaking of things NY probably disagrees with me on, let me, for a moment step into dangerous territory by talking about the proposed Salina Domestic Partner’s law. For those who missed it (it did come and go in like 24 hours), outgoing Salina supervisor Chuck Iavarone had proposed letting domestic partners (both heterosexual and homosexual, as opposed to only spouses) collect health benefits and be guaranteed civil rights such as visiting rights in hospitals and nursing homes. Then he changed it to just the civil rights thing. It still got voted down 3-2. Let me just say, that I am for everyone’s civil rights everywhere. To Mark Nicotra, who voted against it on the grounds that it was a state and federal issue, I say maybe it is to some degree, but that’s also passing the buck. Also, I’m going to assume you may have been misquoted, but who is “they” in your response. Seems Iavarone started this thing on his own near as I can tell. To County Leg elect Dave Stott, who’s campaign I supported and would still support, your answer that basically there were more vital and immediate needs to work on was also passing the buck. This site is about nothing if not about keeping our officials honest, even the ones we like.

Making news

2007-11-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

So I seem to have finally attracted the attention of the NY state Democratic Party's outreach program, specifically the part that keeps tabs on blogs. This puts me on the list for Democratic party news. Hence I got this link, which features a blurb on Onondaga County, which even features Tom.

The front section of the Post Standard has an article on how $400,000 of taxpayer money went to OnTrack, Syracuse's passenger rail service. I'm sure it was news to most readers that we even had a passenger rail service, let alone that it was in trouble. The service was supposed to expand to the regional transportation center and Alliance Bank Stadium. Instead it shut down in July. The company still gets the tax breaks. Yeah, they're running freight on the lines, but this is still an example of how we need to put monitoring in place on our tax breaks before we just hand them out. In general, the rail service seems like a workable idea. When I saw the Post-Standard talk about one county leg candidate proposing a light rail system, I thought it sounded good, and had no idea a rail of sorts was already in place. I think this is part of the problem. No one had any idea about those trains. Also, they do run to Carousel, Armory Square, and SU, but they don't really hit any other areas downtown according to the map. I think this was a feasible idea handled by the wrong people.

Speaking of Carousel, there's also an interesting article on the president of the green building council, who turns out to be from CNY. Yet another reason we should be latching on to this environmental businesses thing. All our politicians talk about it, yet it's yet to take off. Clearly, something's missing and someone needs to find out what and fix it. You'll have to read the article yourself, I can't find the link on syracuse.com. So here's an article on where campaign contributions went.

I've modified the about me to reflect that I'm looking to run a campaign next year. I've actually already had one contact, meeting set for Monday, but I haven't committed to anything yet.

My concession speach...

2007-11-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

As imagined from the podium in the empire room:

I would like to start by truly thanking everyone who worked so hard during this campaign. I owe, we all owe, so much to you. That I did not win, is not a reflection on you, but rather a reflection on the fact that I did not run for any office. This in no way diminishes the importance of all your hard work.

I congratulate my esteemed opponent. I hope that all promises of ending the bickering between the county and the city are remembered. I hope that we can truly work together, as a group, using what unites us, to do what is truly best for Onondaga County. That and maybe we can get a opportunity agenda or whatnot.

In conclusion, I would like to say, as I look out over this crowd, that Lisa Spitz and Carrie Lazarus are just as attractive in person. Thank you all once again. Some candidate needs to buy me a drink.

Random thoughts on the election and related politics:

Perhaps this is not the most genius post right after asking if anyone wanted me as their campaign manager.

Overall, we did exactly as I expected, although county-wide races we got trounced. I'm OK with Joanie winning because I expected that, and with Bob Antonacci winning because I still think he's a good candidate even with the lawsuit. I'm sorry for Marc Waldauer, I think he was truly more qualified, and what's worse he really didn't see this coming to this degree. I'm not at all OK with Fitzpatrick's win, but then I expected that one too.

In other races, we gained some strength. The most important one is that Farrell and Diblasi are out, because if there were 2 candidates I thought should be out, it's them, and if there are 2 candidates I thought should be in, it's their opponents. Plus we broke the super majority, so the legislature needs some Democratic votes to pass some things (not everything, but some things). I am somewhat disappointed that it was at the expense of Deb Moynihan. I think most of us were surprised at how well Victoria Lightfoot did in Dale's old district. She lost, but she can be proud, and the Republican that won seems one of the more progressive ones anyway.

I think we gained a few in the town positions, but the most important things are we lost by a lot less in the ones we lost, and I, in Lysander, had some actual Democrats to vote for. I'm disappointed I can't congratulate my neighbor on unseating Judge Rutherford.

The best thing to come out of the Mahoney administration thus far is this cartoon.

Final Stats
Winning percentage (for the 4 county wide races and any endorsed county leg races)
Post-Standard endorsements: 15/21 71% My endorsements: 8/18 44%
But... Campaigns I gave money to: 60%, an even 2/3 if you consider all the Pizza and Ziti I bought at Pavone's.

Tomorrow's the big day!

2007-11-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

If you don't know which day, please make sure you are reading the right blog.

Google has told me that my site has come up recently in searches for windmills, and in one instance for "architectural windmills." Seems someone let Dale play with the Internet again. Whatever keeps him happy.

Every time I hear the phrase "opportunity agenda (which thanks to Joanie is ALOT)," I throw myself ever more firmly into Bill's court. I also do a rather spitty laugh. I posted on Syracuse.com that it reminded me of a Dilbert cartoon where they played buzzword bingo, and a Joanie supporter posted that it was funnier than Dilbert (which is true, except it's real).

Tomorrow at 8:30 pm, Democrats will be gathering at the fairgrounds, at the Empire Room to celebrate. I'm sure the Republicans will be looming somewhere also, but their going's on will not have a slightly inebriated version of me, so clearly the Dems' party is better.

The Post-standard had an article about how Syracuse is a blogging capital, and they failed to mention yours truly. I feel I'm being discriminated against due to my outspoken views. Or something like that.

Some last minute endorsements: Comptroller: I've decided to endorse Brickwedde. He may not be Bob Antonacci in terms of personality, but he does have a plus over Bob in that he's not getting sued for lying in a law deal. Yes, yes, innocent until proven guilty, but we don't really have that option when we're talking about the overseer of county money. Plus, Brickwedde wants to do "environmental audits" to see where we can make things greener, which is an interesting idea.

Races where I picked write in: I had hoped to pick a certain friend's dad (a wise man indeed) to run in the 1st district county leg, but he declined on the grounds he might win. He offered up his dog as a substitute, and while the dog is a resident, I prefer candidates with opposable thumbs. As such, I'm now nominating Jeff Kramer of the post-standard wherever I picked write in. Sure, he can't possibly live in both of those districts, but a vote for him sends a message to the candidates. That message is: both of you suck.

By the way, I do plan to keep tabs on the politics of CNY even after the election. And next year I want to run a campaign, so if you're a Democrat or a progressive thinking Republican looking at a run, feel free to drop me a line. Serious requests only please.

RECAP OF ENDORSEMENTS:
County Executive: Bill Magnarelli
Family Court Judge: Marc Waldauer
County Comptroller: Richard Brickwedde
District Attorney: Tina Bennet
1st district: write in
2nd: Don MacLaughlin
3rd: Brad Ward
4th: Dave Stott
5th: Undecided
6th: James Rhinehart
7th: Tom Buckel
8th: Mark English
9th: Mark Stanczyk
10th: write in
11th: Kristen Zimmer-Meile
12th: Robert Demore
13th: no opponent
14th: Gary Morris
15th: no opponent
16th: Sam Laguzza
17th: Marty Masterpole
18th: Monica Williams
19th: Deb Moynihan

I don't toot my own horn cuz I don't have to!

2007-11-01T17:29:00.001-07:00

I gotta admit, the title's got a nice ring to it. It's no longer among my top searches I came up in, but it's still an interesting search.

The post-standard was fair, and ran an equally scary picture of Joanie the next day. They seriously need to look at hiring new photographers.

Speaking of the post-standard, here are some more endorsements! (weak segue)

Family Court Judge: Marc Waldauer. I've worked with Marc some, he's a good guy and well qualified, with his many years of family court experience. Pirro-Bailey has some time as a ADA and as a family court clerk, but it's not quite the same as being a lawyer that's working in family court. Marc's also stated that he wants to treat addiction as more of a disease than a crime, which is probably good at the family court level. Yet he stated in the New Times that repeat offenders do need to have consequences, something which tends to not happen enough in family court.

District Attorney: Tina Bennett. A former boss of mine once described the DA's office as "arrogance personified." Having worked with them, this about sums up my feelings too, not there aren't some good ADAs (at least one of whom is also kind of arrogant). The point is that Bill Fitzpatrick is arrogant to the point of being condescending to like the entire rest of the world. Also, while not truly relevant to an election, he looks kind of evil. While it is true that Tina doesn't have the experience that Bill has, she does bring some interesting ideas to the table. Most noteworthy is that she wants to make it so people can earn GED's or reach other educational goals to have their punishments lessenned. We already do this with drug treatment, why not education? Anything that lessens recidivism should be considered.

Comptroller: Probably Bob Antonacci. Um, yeah. I've met both these men, although my convesation with Dick Brickwedde consisted of him shaking my hand, saying "I'm Dick Brickwedde, I'm running for comptroller," and moving on to the next person. Absolutely Bob is the more impressive in person. He also has more accounting experience, and some innovative ideas. He wants to put on a class for all the local comptrollers to help train them. He wants to take an active role in economic development. He looks at the schools as area where there's been some wasteful spending that could stand to be trimmed (how many vice principles does your school have?). But he's also getting sued. For allegedly lying as part of his law practice. So an endorsement is kind of tough here. Just for the record though, Bob's the Republican, so I was leaning toward the other party here.

Well, if you're going to do something...

2007-10-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Dive in headfirst, I always say. (Alternate title, This is the most expensive piece of cardboard I've ever rented). I stopped by Magnarelli Headquarters today. Signed up to volunteer, made a donation, got my yard sign (hence alternate title, although of course the donation was optional). As for the volunteering, Bill's campaign's organizing a rally and literature drop this Saturday 10/3/07 at 150 Midler Park Drive, the plumbers and steamfitters local. Also apparently the phone to sign up for election day is 477-0500. Both sides have the opportunity to use this as a forum, if anyone knows what Joanie's up to this weekend, feel free to post it in comments or send me an email and I'll post it.

With regard to yesterday's post, I don't think we'll have a problem with anyone reading it that way, but just in case I in no way meant that you can't be both skilled and smart.

Today our paper starts a "Closer Look" at the candidates for county exec. Bill gets first, and unfortunately for him it may be too close a look, the particular choice of picture is sorta scary. One can only hope they play fair and give Joanie the same too close, black and white, no background shot when hers runs tomorrow.

Today I also saw an election guide in the new times, although it only posted one question per candidate and a lot of candidates didn't respond (including Ms. Mahoney). The main things I noticed were that they reversed the pictures of Dick Brickwedde and Bob Antonacci, and that Howie Hawkin's picture appears to be from like the 80's.

Our gov went to Portugal for a global warming summit, with what the Post-standard calls "International lawmakers." I'm pretty sure NY doesn't make international law. Used to be, this kind of thing, some folks would say this is just the kind of move someone does to run for president, and well, well I'd guess they're right. I still like Spitzer and most of what he's done, but he is surely a political animal.

We seem to now have a prescription drug discount program in the county. All drug stores in the county will start stocking the cards, good for 10 to 20 % on name brands and 20 to 40 on generics. Can't use it with another plan, but good if you don't have one or have a poor one.

Blogging leads to the most interesting conversations. I seem to be having one about the hotties of local politics. I'm just going to say that I met Karen Hanford at an Obama event and didn't have quite the same reaction, but to each his own.

I've been having a lot of fun with google webtracker tools. It appears a lot of people finding me on google are in fact looking for democracywise, a search where I rank #5. The link's to the right folks. I also came up in searches for candidates Deb Moynihan, George Alessio, and Tom Buckel, and in a search for "candidates cny politics." Interestingly, I also came up in a search for "I don't toot my own horn cuz I don't have to." I am apparently # 1 on a search for "debbie moynihan republican for county leg." I'm #7 and 8 on "onondaga county young democrats," by the way. Anyone looking for info on them, I do have it.

More Magnarelli

2007-10-28T16:49:00.001-07:00

I couldn't think of a title and liked the alliteration.

Those short on time looking for convincing toward Magnarelli should skip to my next to last paragraph, I feel it's some of my finer work.

First, a column I think we should all read. It's like 10 years old, but it still rings true today because no one's been listening to it.

There was more today about both Joanie and Bill, this time with the candidates discussing jobs. Read one side, read the other, I'm not noticing much difference. Except focus. Joanie's main issue seems to be trimming things down into one-stop shopping for businesses trying to find information on our area, Bill's seems to be job training. Both give passing glances at the other's main topic. Bill also does a decent job of stating some areas where he's had experience in this before. Bill also mentions a website that's supposed to be in the vein of one-stop shopping. I found it, www.creativecoreny.com. It's certainly a beginning to this. I think it might be hampered somewhat by the fact it's trying to encompass all of CNY. In fact, I think the two most useful things are links to the case center and to grow syracuse. Still, it is experience in an area that both candidates are talking about.

I've been asked to convince a Democrat to vote for Magnarelli. It's a tough race to decide, to be sure. All I can do, I guess, is state my personal reasons for choosing Bill. I've read up on them both as much as I can, I've listened to them both in person. Bill, both in person and in print, talks much about job training and working with local universities. Of course, Joanie talks about working with local universities too, but by being in office, Bill already has the experience of working with Nancy Cantor. The money for the connective corridor is the most recent example. And I truly think Nancy has been the most constructive force in CNY in recent years. But I don't think it should all be on her. I get the sense, from most of Joanie's speaches, that Joanie wants to "make use of local private agencies". In other words, I don't hear too much about what the County is going to do, except maybe provide a little coordination. Maybe it's just the Democrat in me, but I feel the private sector needs more of an assist than that.

Second, on the issue of job training, my current job delves much into social work. I've seen people get frustrated and give up on the job hunting process, and I think lack of training has a lot to do with it. I've seen the programs that public assistance and other agencies send them to for help, and I've seen that those programs aren't much help. Are they a slight help to those with no skills or job hunting expertise, yes, but do they do what is really needed to get a quality job, are they helpful for those who have been in the workforce before? Not even close. Clearly, Bill's job development and job training emphasis cover an area where we are surely lacking. We have SU, ESF, and Lemoyne, we've got Cornell and RIT nearby. We aren't suffering from a lack of intelligent workers. We need some skilled workers to back them up. To work on the projects those engineers and scientists design.

Finally, we really do need to end the county vs city attitude. Pirro was a huge source of that attitude, why else put a sewer plant in Armory Square? Joanie's commercials tout that it's time for a change, but electing yet another Republican County Executive isn't my idea of change. That's all I got for now. It was enough for me, hope it sways a few others. Otherwise, take a fresh look at both candidates on Syracuse.com. Browse their answers to the Post-Standard, browse their campaign releases, (don't bother checking the websites, those are both pretty useless), and see what conclusions you come to. Let me know, if you've got a minute.

Last legislature endorsements, other notes...

2007-10-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

First, some interesting political notes. The Gov, Elliot Spitzer, was here in Syracuse to talk about the $30 million the state is putting into Syracuse to build our Connective Corridor. Good news for this area.

2nd, the Post-standard is has a headline about DA Fitzgerald not itemizing items properly in reports on how campaign funds are being spent. The main reason I find this noteworthy is that our DA's name is Fitzpatrick. To their credit, the only place they made this error was in the headline. I suppose it is somewhat noteworthy, since we would expect a DA to know about the law, even if it is election law and not criminal law. On to the rest of the legislature:

16th district: Sam Laguzza. See the other day's note about Stanczyk, Ryan, and Laguzza being the lone vocal opposition when the Republicans ram through whatever Pirro decrees.

17th district: Marty Masterpole. Marty's opponent, Larry Corso, admits he would need guidance from colleagues if elected. Yeah, um, I'll go with the other guy.

18th district: Monica Williams. I could talk about Monica's wanting to improve job training and develop OCC, but I'll make it simple. Lots of candidates came to Young Democrat meetings with speeches. Monica came with a notepad and paper.

19th district: Deb Moynihan. What's that? I picked a Republican over a sitting Democrat when the current leg can pass a bill without a single Democratic vote? Absolutely. Deb's very energetic, she does her research, and most importantly, she's clearly made getting jobs in Central New York her main objective. Her opponent, Lovie Winslow, has one of the worst attendence records in the legislature. What good's a Democratic vote against if she doesn't show up?

Preview: My eventual choice of Magnarelli led Syracuse Scholar to post a request that I try and convince a fellow Dem to pick Bill. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to see what I can do.

Additional note, today I managed to agree with the Post Standard on all their picks, which I see as a sign that they're finally getting their act together.

Final score, out of 17 districts endorsed, 14 possible incumbents.
Post Standard: 10 incumbents, 10 Republicans, 7 Democrats
Me: 3 incumbents, 3 Republicans, 11 Democrats (2 write in, 1 no decision)

More endorsements

2007-10-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

7th district: Tom Buckel. Anyone who's been reading this site is probably saying "duh." I've helped out on his campaign a lot, and there's good reason for it. Tom's been very active in the community, while his opponent seems to disappear until a few months before election time.

8th district: Mark English. This is another case of me meeting a politician and being impressed by his drive to be a positive force for change. If I can fit some time for door to door in amongst my many other campaigns, I'd be glad to go drum up support for this man.

9th district: Mark Stanczyk. Here's a case of me agreeing with the Post-standard. Most times when the Republican supermajority simply passes whatever Nick Pirro felt like proposing that day, Mark, Sam Laguzza, and Ed Ryan are the 3 vocal votes of opposition providing some actual discussion to our democratic process.

10 district: Write in again. I've met Democrat Geri Feldman. Nice lady, but not impressive as a legislative candidate. But even the Post's endorsement states Republican Holmquist needs to moderate his "patronizing attitude" toward the city of Syracuse. The city's the county's lifeblood and the county needs to realize this.

11th district: Kristen Zimmer-Meile. Patrick Kilmartin's answers, even his jobs one, are all about cutting taxes. Yes, we need to get taxes down, but there's a little more to it then that. Zimmer-Meile wants to give preference to local businesses for county contracts, and wants to crack down on businesses that didn't provide the jobs they promised when they were given tax breaks. I guess I'm Zimmering.

12th district: Robert Demore. Tough one. I've met Democrat Victoria Lightfoot, and she was decently impressive. Also I like that she wants to provide incentives to young folk who stay here. But I don't think bribing the young folk is the only answer. Demore is one of the few Republicans I've seen talk to the Post Standard about job training. He also wants to work more closely with local private job development agencies, and wants to get a state grant for a 1-stop shopping website for businesses looking to expand or relocate in Syracuse. Quite innovative for a party that seems to mainly be advocating cutting things this year.

14th: Gary Morris. Hmm, neither really said anything in the Post-standard questions that stuck out as being good, bad, or even saying much concrete on an issue. But the PS endorsed a democrat against an incumbent Republican? He must be doing something right.

Note to those who noticed things missing: there is no mention of the 13th because there is only one candidate. There is no mention of Conservative Lee Stemmer in the 12th because he has an anti-city attitude, but I couldn't find a way to effectively fit this in amongst the other info on the 12th so I'm putting it here.

Overall scores so far(13 total districts, 12 possible incumbents (no incumbent in the 12th, that was Dale's)):
Post standard: 9 incumbents, 3 challengers, 9 Republicans, 4 Democrats
Me: 2 incumbents, 7 challengers, 2 Republicans, 8 Democrats, 2 Write-Ins, 1 No Decision

I call em as I see em...

2007-10-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

First a few things. One, there's another meet the candidates opportunity coming up, this one at SU Thursday, Room 132 Lyman Hall (google map college pl, Syracuse NY, and you should just about be pointing at Lyman)

Next, saw a Joanie commercial today. I know what it's supposed to do is stay on her campaign message of Bill's been around forever, and it does a good job of sticking to message. She also, manages in person to slip in little shots when talking on any subject, and any good candidate should stick to message. But the commercial states we have the opportunity ("for the first time in a while") to vote for real change in this county. By voting in another Republican when there's never been a Democrat? I know what she means, but this kind of wording made more sense against Dale then it does against Bill.

Speaking of voting for change, let's talk about the Post-Standard endorsements. Trying to be as polite as I can, they are endorsing way too many incumbents. 5 out of 6 so far. If this community was doing all sorts of vibrant and exciting things, if our economy were 10 shades of wonderful, if our property taxes were a nice low percentage of income, if the consolidation everyone talks about was well on its way, then yes, by all means endorse the incumbents. But since that isn't the case, here's my counter list of endorsements:

1st district: Write-in. Yes that's right, and I live in the 1st district. Neither incumbent Richard Lesniak nor challenger Jim Borchik get my vote. The incumbent's answers to the post-standard questions suffer from a case of being too happy with the status quo. Jim Borchik on the other hand, started off his answer on the job question (in my opinion the most important one) with "I don't have the answer to that yet." Then he said he was going to ask the elderly. When this community is losing young folk left and right, don't you think maybe we should be asking the young people and find out why they're leaving? If you live in this district and want my support as a write in, feel free to answer the post standard questions (or my own that were previously answered by Tom Buckel and Deb Moynihan) and send them to me.

2nd district: Don MacLaughlin. Post-standard got this one right. Bernie Kraft has been the floor leader for the majority for 12 years now. A majority which doesn't need a minority vote to pass anything. Have you felt us moving in the right direction?

3rd district: Brad Ward. This was a close one. I almost didn't even pick. Meyer certainly has impressive qualifications, and his answers were quite good. However, the Post-Standard writes "Ward's top issues are jobs and investment in the county." Me too. What does Meyer list for top issues? His website has a section entitled political issues, but apparently he forgot to post more than one. Everything is about cutting taxes, which I agree is important, but I think it's a little more complex then that. Also, he starts off with calling for NYS to give back any surplus taxes, which I believe at the county level was already called for by one Ed Ryan.

4th district: Dave Stott. One of Dave's main supporters is a registered Republican who feels Jim Ferrell didn't go to bat for her when Bloody Creek was overflowing. Also, Dave is one of those candidates I've personally met and worked with, and I can see that he'll fight hard for the rights of his constituents.

5th district: Still deciding. Phil Drury's answers at the Standard are kind of short, but I've talked with him a bit and we seem to agree on things. Rapp gives a good jobs answer, particularly where she starts off talking about how her kids ended up moving out of the area, so she's in the same boat as the rest of us. However, with regard to the part of the jobs answer where she states her daughter's friend told her we have everything Boston has but so much easier... what exactly was your daughter's friend smoking? I mean I like CNY, but just look at the sheer number of young people in Boston. There's a reason they're there and not here. We can (and hopefully will) get there, but we ain't yet.

6th district: James Rhinehart. Whaha! I finally found an incumbent I think I can endorse. And a Republican at that. Karen Hanford has some interesting ideas regarding trying to keep our college students here, but I wonder about effectiveness vs. cost. Jim was mayor and village trustee in Skaneateles and they're one community in this area that's doing quite well. He voted no to a legislator's pay raise, is for term limits, worked on bills for tax credits for emergency service volunteers and increased allowances for indigent burials, and because of his membership on environmental boards, is for "going green" and working with ESF.

More to come as the Post Standard lists theirs. Feel free to list your own arguments.

Supporting Magnarelli

2007-10-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

The Post-standard ran the headline "Ed Ryan Reluctantly Supports Magnarelli." I got a major kick out of this headline, but I am also announcing that I've made a decision, and I am supporting Bill. And not reluctantly, but rather with careful decision making.

As any regular readers of the blog may know, I did not start off in Bill's corner, but I have ended up there. I have listened to both the candidates, I have read what both of them have said, and I am finding that I agree with Bill. For one thing, although Joanie is definitely the more charismatic of the two, and although there are some posters on Syracuse.com who would disagree with me, Bill seems to state things more clearly on the issues. Most issues. For instance, I point out again that on the issue of arts, Bill specifically stated he would spend more money, while Joanie only talked about how adjusting how we'd spend it. In general, Joanie seems to be taking a "we should take advantage of private organizations that already do these things," sort of attitude on many issues. I would say we already seem to have that sort of attitude, as evidenced by the fact that Nancy Cantor has been the main source of substantial change in this area. I personally think it's time the government got Nancy's back and did some of this stuff on our own.

Additionally, I recently went to a 40 Below meet the candidates thing at Ambrosia. Since the group was 40 below, the 1st question they asked was about how young people would play a role in each's administration. Joanie, to her credit,put together a good reply, stating she wouldn't look at young or old, Democrat or Republican, but at qualifications, but Bill got major points by bringing his campaign staff to the forum, as well as one young woman that was both on his campaign staff and his legislative staff, and they were all young people. Since a major problem right now is that young people are fleeing the area, wouldn't it be a good idea to make sure there are some young people around that we're going to ask?

So it's almost election time, and I, like most of the young democrats, have committed to more campaigns then I should have, but I'm adding Bill to the list of campaigns I will get out for before election day.

One last note, back to the Post-Standard, their online guide to the election has expanded nicely to cover almost all the local races. Check it out, you've got no reason to say you don't know anything about the Lysander town council candidates. I do wish they'd asked a specific question about how they're going to keep young people in Syracuse, but it's still a mighty resource.

links to political info, i toot my own horn, spitzer + and -

2007-10-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

First off, a press release done by yours truly resulted in a post-standard mention of the Young Dems' happy hour. We're the 2nd section of the article. As you can see, the one thing I was not aware of was that the $25 entry for young dems also includes membership fees. Good, I get to pay $25 less than I thought. I edited my post below, so you don't go looking for the old info.

The post-standard has gone and made it easy for us to read blurbs about all our Onondaga County legislature candidates. Some of their answers are less than informative, and I wish they'd list emails like democracywise but it's still a help. Now with my links to the Post-standard feature and Democracywise, you've got links to websites, answers to questions, email... you cannot tell me you don't know anything about the candidates. Let's test and see if Deb's still reading the blog. Deb, as I expected I love the answer on jobs. The property taxes answer is also good, but that first sentence is a little too honest and really should have been taken out. Also the end bit has totally nothing to do with property taxes, but is nicely on focus with the message of your campaign.

A candidate for judge came to my home in the rain (Charles Mantione). Turns out he's a neighbor. He dropped off lit about him and 3 other democratic candidates in Lysander. I found it uplifting just to realize there were 4 other Democrats besides me in Lysander.

I also had a good long chat with Dave Stott's dad. Turns out he's a vet and former County Legislator. We talked about how to get young offenders working instead of committing more crimes, a subject I deal with every day at work. The man had some interesting ideas and asked Dave to talk with him about it when we weren't using time that could be spent canvassing. So his dad is another point in Dave's favor in my book.

Now to give our fine governor a point and then take it away. Because I'm like that. First, you can read his defense to his policy of letting people get licenses without a social security number. In particular, he mentions that unlicensed drivers contribute to 5 times as many accidents as licensed drivers. Of course, some of that, you have to factor in those with DWI's, but in general, it shows that people are going to drive so we might as well give them a road test. And I continue to agree that the policy will be an important aid to law enforcement, making it more likely they'll know who they're dealing with.

The point taken away? He called Bill Magnarelli a puppet last year, but is coming to Syracuse to endorse the man this year. I'm not saying anything one way or the other about Bill, but how are we to trust the governor's words when he acts contrary within the year?

And yes I do realize my capitalization is horrible in parts of this article, but I don't care.

Oh, also, I'd previously posted that the Deputy Sheriff's association was endorsing George Alessio over Paul Carey, but their ads this week show the reverse. I swear I'm not crazy, so they must have switched allegiances or something.

important items 1st, then discussion

2007-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

First, some important things:
1) The deadline to register to vote for this election is this Friday. If you still need to register, get to the board of elections at the Civic Center, pick up a card and turn it in. Then vote Nov 6th.
2) The Onondaga County Young Dems are having a fundraising happy hour at the Empire Brewery (120 Walton St, Syracuse) next Wednesday, from 5-8. Unfortunately, the key word there is fundraiser, so there is a charge of $35 for guests, $25 for Young Dems and it includes membership dues. Already paid your dues? Then you're covered, but you also already knew about this. On the plus side you get food and drink and lots of local Democrats to talk to. Some big wigs even, Dem Committee members, candidates, right on up to County Exec Candidate Bill Magnarelli. We're already expecting a good turnout, but hey, the more the merrier. If you need more info or would like to RSVP, you can email me if you like, I'll make sure the word gets around to the Young Dems president. Both of us are fanatics about checking our email. Or if you got the card in the mail, just respond to that.

Speaking of Bill Magnarelli, lets move on to the political discussion (ooh, segue). Both major exec candidates (sorry there Ed) have gotten their names in the papers a bit. Both of them talked about merging services in Sunday's paper and about arts funding in Monday's paper. I like Bill's use of the County Crime lab as an example of how he's done this before. I also like that Bill committed to more money for the arts in the 2nd article, where as Joanie just talked about deciding how to spend the money we're already spending.

Also, Magnarelli today announced his 26 point development plan. I still disagree with the use of all these "points," but I do like some things: encouraging commercialization of local university ideas, converting contaminated properties back to business use, the county working with the city on parking issues, setting up a public authority to run Hancock to try and lower airline prices. Oh, and another advantage? No mention of windmills.

So, I'm honestly still deciding. I'm leaning toward Bill, but neither one's convinced me yet. Next I plan to browse their websites and see if I get any actual info from them.

Finally, they want to name the Oncenter convention center after Nick Pirro. Yes, he did champion it, and do much to encourage its use (even using the war memorial for a horse show so the county could get the funds, although the war memorial is no place for a horse). In fact, I might have no problem with naming it after him if someone else did it. But during his last year, right before the numbers might change and the county leg might not be able to pass things without a single Democratic vote? Supposedly the oncenter board asked to do this, but the timing seems suspicious. And of course, I must agree with the post on syracuse.com, from ohtypcalsy: big deal.....who gives a crap

Well, so far he's got my vote...

2007-10-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

Jeff Kramer announces his campaign for county exec. It's funny cause it's sadly true. Scratch that, it's fricking hilarious because it's sadly true.

As you may have seen, I did not spend my weekend posting. I have an excuse though, it was a rather politically charged weekend. Thursday- meeting for Tom Buckel, causing me to miss the county exec debate. But I read Jeff Kramer's article, and I feel I was there. Friday- Young Dems Bowling event, my highest game ever at 197. Saturday- alright Saturday I spent doing some reading and a few other things I needed to get done. Sunday- Canvassing for Tom and not attending the Magnarelli fundraiser. Mind you, I intended to go to the fundraiser, but it was moved from one King David's to another and I didn't figure this out until I was at the wrong one and the building was closed. So I went to Smokey Bones. It was fun, but less politically charged.

Also I seem to have taken on some responsibilities. I'm trying to get some press coverage for the Young Dems Happy Hour at the Empire Brew Factory on October 17th. I'm in action, but if anyone has names or any other helpful information to forward, I don't turn down help.

19th district: Deb Moynihan

2007-09-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

1) Choose the issue you find most important, crime, education or jobs. State what your priorities are in that area.

I believe the most important issue facing our county is the need to create more jobs. Shifting our area’s image from one of economic decline to one of economic prosperity is the catalyst needed to positively impact.

Traditionally supported by a strong manufacturing sector which allowed financial and job security for employees, the entire CNY region has suffered with the decline of this industry. These jobs are not coming back; it is imperative that we redefine our area into one that will attract new business, and high-paying, sustainable jobs.

Additionally, we need to focus on creating jobs for traditionally under-employed residents.

In my district, there is a stretch on Erie Blvd. of empty, industrially-zoned sites. With property tax and training incentives, these shops would be revived creating successful walk-to-work zones. The trades industry could target minority entrepreneurs, pairing potential owners with grant, training and mentoring opportunities.

Such a focus will have a positive impact on the community as a whole and I believe we would see a dramatic reduction in crime in these forgotten areas.

2) What will you do to get young people to come to Syracuse and stay there?

Bringing and retaining young people to and in our area is vital to having a vibrant and progressive community.

The “Come Home to Syracuse” program has been very successful in attracting young professionals with ties to our area. But, two factors are important in capitalizing on this program’s success:

We need the jobs to attract the candidates. Local engineering companies have made Syracuse their home. Other sectors can do it, too.

Our audience has to be expanded to target people with connections to our core industries. Target them aggressively, support employers with recruitment and provide these individuals with real reasons to make Syracuse their home.

Jobs will be the reason new recruits come to Syracuse. A high quality of life is the reason they’ll stay. What they’re looking for is:

Affordable housing options. From trendy, downtown loft space to family-friendly suburban neighborhoods, we have it all.
Vibrant art and cultural centers.
Extensive and accessible green space and improved downtown parks.
Great schools and communities for children.
Ease of work-life balance with close proximity of jobs and housing.

I came home to Syracuse from New York City. This is a great place to live and

raise a family. My story is not unique.

3) The county seems to have had a city government will take care of the city kind of attitude, but if we are to lure young folk and businesses to come to CNY, I think they'll think of it as coming to Syracuse. In my opinion, if we are to really boost CNY, we have to have the county work with the city, because as Syracuse goes, so too does Onondaga County. What do you think of this? What will you do (or have you done for incumbents) to change this attitude.

Syracuse is the heart of Onondaga County. Without a healthy and vibrant downtown environment and economy, the rest of the county suffers. County leadership must partner with the city if we are going to revitalize our area.

My husband and I are raising our family in the city. We love our neighborhood and its diversity and we enjoy the close proximity to downtown. We are vested in making the city as great as we know it can be.

Losing Excellus is a serious blow to the city’s economy. City and county leaders need to work together to make certain it doesn’t happen again. Real estate needs renovation, area parking needs improvement and new tenants need to be found. Tax incentives will be necessary to fill that space to protect the downtown area and keep the local storefronts from going out of business.

What it will take to renovate our city is government and business owners sharing the same vision. When the owner of Pastabilities moved into the once-decrepit Armory Square, it was a courageous step from someone who saw a bright future. Today, Armory Square is home to top-notch restaurants, art galleries, shops and residences that, together, make for an animated and thriving neighborhood.

As a County Legislator, I will do everything in my power to return the City of Syracuse to greatness.

more responses, primary results, spitzer

2007-09-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

I have received another response to the survey, this one from Deb Moynihan. A few of the answers are just a bit over the word limit I'd intended, and so I'm hoping she can trim it just a bit. I take fault for this, I don't think I put enough emphasis on the limit in the email, because Tom didn't notice it at first either. So now I get to feel like a jerk telling people thank you so much for the response but if you could just do this again... But I have to be fair and stick to the limit. I'll then post it without the whole "mighty" thing, which I at least stole partially (maybe even wholly, I can't remember) from Stephen Colbert. Also I'll put links to the candidate answers in a bar to the right until after the election. For easy reference.

If you're reading this, you probably already are paying close attention to the primary results, which are in fact, very very close. Not close enough for Ed Ryan though, he's conceded the Democratic primary, but has yet to throw his support to Magnarelli as Ed promised in an on air debate before the vote. On the one hand, I like Ed, and I like his willingness to stick to his guns. On the other hand, there's something to be said for party unity come November, and there's definitely something to be said for doing what you said you'd do on the air. As for the Republican primary, that is a 24 vote nail-biter, particularly because it's the one I really wanted one candidate to win, but it appears my pick, Ms. Mahoney is going to pull it off. They allowed a week already for more mail ins, and got 3, so I don't think the next week will produce a dramatic number of military ballots, and after that it's all done.

Spitzer is expected to announce a new program making it so illegal immigrants can get driver's licenses, making the immigration debate local in scope. This is one of those issues where I can see the point of view of people who say illegal immigrants don't pay taxes, they're here illegally, why should they get benefits, but the logical part of me says even if you think that way, it's a lot better to have some sort of record of who people are. Please don't write me angry emails saying I'm associating crime with immigration. I'm just saying, from a law enforcement perspective, if you're dealing with someone who does happen to be a criminal, it'd be good to know who they are, and a legitimate ID would do that. And I work with law enforcement and the courts, so I feel quasi-qualified to have an opinion on that. You disagree? Good for you, tell people about it. That's what forums are for.

The mighty 7th: Tom Buckel

2007-09-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

1) Choose the issue you find most important, crime, education or jobs. State what your priorities are in that area.

These issues are inter-related.

The main goal for our region must be to foster innovation and adaptation in all infrastructures and in all institutions- public and private.

I propose that the County create a Department of Science and Technology, and appoint a nationally recognized scientist to lead its efforts to identify sectors of our economy that have strong growth potential in high wage jobs.

I want the County to spearhead a public-private venture capital partnership, with at least $125 million in capital, to fund emerging technological businesses which do not meet the narrower lending criteria of banks and traditional venture capitalists.

I advocate regional planning and funding of secondary education, and hope over time to extend the infrastructure of Onondaga County College to all schools in our region.

I support County crime fighting ordinances: seize property involved in drug buys and prostitution solicitation; use eminent domain to seize and either rehabilitate or demolish abandoned structures; employ modern technology to quickly spot new crime patterns and target and respond to gun shots fired; put any substandard house or building run by an absentee landlord into receivership; and sensible zoning of zone adult entertainment facilities away from local businesses, neighborhoods and churches.

2) What will you do to get young people to come to Syracuse and stay there?

Onondaga County is a much better place than the image would suggest. It has powerful colleges and universities. Remarkable intellectual and technology resources. Strong arts. Dynamic recreation. Loyalty. Extraordinary architecture. Abundant natural resources.

Despite these attributes, the magnitude of the population loss among the young is unprecedented in our history. The time for “business as usual” has passed.

I believe in aspiration goals: increasing city population to 200,000 people, county population to 600,000 people, by 2025.

Every public and private sector action that we take must do what is necessary to provide the capital and support for creative people with ideas.

This begins with modernizing county and local government and then tackling, on the local level, the intractable problems of taxes, public sector employment growth, energy and Medicaid which hamper our prosperity.

I intend to lead efforts to reinvent our outdated, overly expensive county and local governments and to promote growth inward again. Specifically, I support the following actions:

• Merge Syracuse City and Onondaga County into one government.

• Encourage mergers among towns, villages.

• Centralize key local government functions (e.g. economic development, land use planning, transportation, creation of regional wireless and broadband internet access).

3) The county seems to have had a city government will take care of the city kind of attitude, but if we are to lure young folk and businesses to come to CNY, I think they'll think of it as coming to Syracuse. In my opinion, if we are to really boost CNY, we have to have the county work with the city, because as Syracuse goes, so too does Onondaga County. What do you think of this? What will you do (or have you done for incumbents) to change this attitude.

I see in Syracuse the microcosm of the unfinished, evolving American dream.

For our County to be great again, we all must see each other as brothers and sisters. This means supporting the City.

There are natural constraints on continuing sprawls away from our city. Prime agricultural land shouldn’t be covered with cement. Extended commute times have a negative impact on children and families.

Reversing this run to the suburbs requires better schools, safer streets, a new village-like ambience, and new thinking from Central New Yorkers about where and how they should live.

New urban development does many good things- it’s good for the environment, good for the vitality of the region and it protects agricultural land. By putting people in face-to-face contact with each other in city neighborhoods, you create the basis for real democracy which is conversation and interconnectedness among people: hopefully planting the seeds for further growth.

We have the strength and character to affect all those aspects of life in our county and city that are within our grasp. Given the riches of our community, there should be no excuses, and under new leadership which I intend to offer, there will be no excuses.

The Result Are In!

2007-09-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been over 2 weeks since I sent out my survey questions to our county leg candidates, (and county exec primary candidates) and I am now ready to print the response. Literally. One response. From Tom Buckel. Also I got a email back from Karen Hanford saying she'd try and get back to me with a response, and an email from someone on Dale Sweetland's behalf saying to please not use that email for campaign business and that they'd forwarded it onward.

Clearly this blog is not being taken as seriously as it should. Even though my endorsements for the primary all seem to have won (according to results before recounts and mail in ballots) (if we count my last sentence under the Democratic section as leaning toward Magnarelli, even though I personally was somewhat leaning toward Ryan, and if we don't count my knock against Paul Carey who won 3 out of 4 lines vs his opponent George Alessio for Salina Town Justice, George carrying only the Working Family line by a vote of 4 to 3)! Clearly, I'm a force to be reckoned with.

So here is Tom's response, posted with the title I said it would have.

So, what are you doing tonight? Oh, just busy not voting...

2007-09-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Alternate title: "Help, help, I'm being disenfranchised."

I tried to vote. I wanted to vote. Apparently, because I "switched parties" (from the "no party" to the "a party") I am made to sit out a year before I can vote in a primary in NY State. The theory is, it's to prevent one party from having members register with the other party just to influence a primary. Except I didn't have a party. Who am I supposed to spy for with no party? The Board of Elections told me I "should have been told this" when I filed the change. Even though I registered the change in April back before anyone had any idea who was running. Even though I didn't have a party before.

The irony is if I just hadn't bothered to register to vote before I believe I would have been fine. Someone can correct me if they wish, but it sounded that way. Oh well. Now I can just gripe about whoever gets picked. And wait until the presidential primary when I should be able to vote. This seems to me to be a law that needs fixing.

Primary endorsements!

2007-09-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

The primary is tomorrow! If you're a registered Republican or Democrat, get out there and vote!
I wish some more people had responded to my survey. I could be more sure of my endorsements, but I'll just have to choose without em.

Republican county exec: Joanie Mahoney. Yeah, I can't vote in this one, but that's not going to stop me from endorsing. Joanie states that with her, the county vs the city attitude is going to stop, and with her ties to the city from running for mayor last year, I believe her. Dale meanwhile, has been christened heir by Pirro, the big champion of the county vs city attitude. In truth, as a Democrat, I fear the Mahoney political machine and I'm not sure we have anything to counter it, but I don't care. In other words, I think Dale is the weaker candidate, but would so prefer not to get him in the office that I'd rather we take on the stronger candidate. For those who question my philosophy I have one word: windmills.

Democratic county exec: Toss-up. That's right, I registered so I could vote in the primaries and I have no idea who I'm going to pick in the first primary I get to vote on. I like what both of them are saying, although both have been in office a long time and Syracuse hasn't exactly been thriving during that reign (see also Dale). Yes, they had strong Republican opposition (for Magnarelli I'm talking the Senate), and in that regard Magnarelli has done more to increase the voice of the Democratic party as far as I can tell.

Democratic counselor, district 4: Tom Seals. Again, I don't vote in this one because I don't live in district 4, but Charles Pierce came out strongly against the use of the RICO laws against gang members. I understand the debate over whether this is retrying gang members for old crimes (although I don't agree with that argument), but the basic thing for me is that if we are to turn the war on drugs into even a semi-effective fight, we need to consider using the tools we have in innovative new ways, and that is what the use of the RICO statutes does.

some thoughts

2007-09-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

The ads for Salina town justice were interesting, in that I noticed Paul Carey's says he was a former detective for Onondaga County Sheriff's, but his opponent George Alessio is the one who's ad claims endorsement by the deputy sheriff's association. Hmmm.

Oh, and I almost hesitate to say this, but I seem to be kind of idle this month compared to last. If you're reading this and looking for volunteers for a campaign, send me an email or a comment and I'll see what I can do.

info aplenty

2007-09-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

I suddenly find myself with more county exec info then I know what to do with.

First off, the TV, Channel 3 was advertising they'd have the candidates on at 9 both Saturday and Sunday. In an interesting split, Dale and Ed are on Saturday, and Joanie and Bill are on Sunday.

Also the post standard ran articles on all 4 candidates yesterday. I haven't had the opportunity to read all 4 yet, but I have had the time to read about all 4 in the Syracuse New Times ("Four on the Floor, the 8/29-9/5 issue).

Some thoughts on the New Times articles. I'll comment in the order they appeared in the New Times.
Joanie: I like that she comes off as a family woman. I think the fact that the New Times spent so much of her article talking about family, and barely mentioning if the men even have families or not says something negative about the reporting at the New Times, but being a family woman is still a positive. I also am glad to hear her assertion that the "City vs. County attitude will stop." This has been a huge problem in our county.

Dale: I actually do like that Dale mentions his family did share the experience of downsizing at times, it brings him down to earth to me as a candidate. Also like that he and his family stayed here. Dislike his assertion that he fears downtown development may be swinging too far in one direction. The city is the reason people come or don't come to this county and we need to build it up.

Bill: Love that he says he'll follow Nancy Cantor. Yes, I think the woman seemed a little weird at first, but she seems to be one of the few people who knows what she's doing when it comes to Syracuse. Now if only she could get the same knowledge about our sports programs. I also like his thoughts on merging county and city resources. Everyone is talking about it, but Bill's comments seem to make sense.

Ed: I like that Ed won't answer the "tell me a joke" question because it'd be a dirty one. I also like that he's willing to use tax credits to create jobs, but opposed to empire zones, which implies he'd put checks and balances on it. And I like his desire to expand the eco-friendly business in CNY. Other candidates have talked about it, but Ed's made it a forefront issue, and it seems like an area where our county can take the lead.

Finally, in other county exec news, Bill was quoted in 4 on the Floor as saying "I don't even know why Ed's running." Ed responded with a letter to the editor in which he quoted Elliot Spitzer, calling Bill a puppet of the Silver administration. Kudos to Ed for saying what he feels even at the expense of another party member, but also wish there wasn't such infighting.

Quick post for the day

2007-09-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

These links seemed appropriate to post today:
Arlington National Cemetery
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

I wasn't going to post politics today, but it seems there's news that applies to tomorrow, so I'll be quick. The post-standard reports that the Democrats and the Republicans running for County Exec had a debate against their opponent in the primary. They were recorded yesterday afternoon, and the Republican debate aired last night (thanks for the timely news on that one!). The Democrats air tomorrow at 7, and both debates will be shown again Sunday, starting with the Republicans at 7, all on news 10 now. I missed the Republicans yesterday due to not knowing about the debate, and I'll miss tomorrows due to another young dems meeting (7 pm, 248 E Water St, Syracuse NY), so it looks like I'll have to wait till Sunday.

Aforementioned vetoes

2007-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Looking closer, I guess my knock on most of the vetoes is that a lot of these bills have potential but need some fixing. Granting peace officer status to dogcatchers and fire investigators would allow them to make arrests and issue tickets when they see violations, same thing with marine patrol officers, but the Gov objects to the lower level of training for "peace" officer vs. "police" officer. He wants more training before he'll extend the power. Similarly, the veto on the Schroepel tax refund needs a fix because Schroepel now says the original numbers are not accurate. So the legislature should up the training for peace officers and fix the Schroepel tax numbers if they want to get the bills to pass, polish up kinds of things. In other words, the vetoes are usually for wording problems, which the governor can't just reach out and fix, so he has to veto.

Too bad though, as some of this stuff was good. One idea was to require businesses to use different ID #'s instead of SS #'s. It was shot down for being too broad, and also for complicating communication with states that still use SS #'s. I disagree with the 2nd part though. If we use that logic, no one will ever switch to a safer system.

Meanwhile the governor has managed to work himself into a little more trouble by telling a reporter to "get a life." Really. He got upset because the reporter was asking him questions about the investigation into Majority Leader Bruno that used taxpayer dollars, and the scandal that had caused. I do think the questions were somewhat inappropriate, as this took place at a school, so the questions clearly should have been about education. But you got to watch the temper, guv.

Next I plan to comment on the "4 on the Floor" article from the Syracuse New Times about the big County Exec race. Hey, a news source for me other than the post standard!

The Rulez

2007-09-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I'm finally set to start emailing legislator type persons with the intent of asking some key questions. Each district will have their postings start with the words "The mighty," followed by the district # and the candidate. Only districts where I could email both sides (and the green or conservative candidate if one is listed on democracywise) are to be emailed. Wish I'd gotten this off sooner, but I'll give 2 weeks in which I'll wait for both (or all) sides and then posts are going up as I get responses. Oh, and I'll email the exec candidates too. For size reasons, answers going above 200 words may be trimmed, I'll do my best not to alter meaning but candidates have been warned. Without further ado, here are the questions:

1) The teeball: Choose the issue you find most important, crime, education or jobs. State what your priorities are in that area.
2) The softball: What will you do to get young people to come to Syracuse and stay there?
3) The hardball: The county seems to have had a city government will take care of the city kind of attitude, but if we are to lure young folk and businesses to come to CNY, I think they'll think of it as coming to Syracuse. In my opinion, if we are to really boost CNY, we have to have the county work with the city, because as Syracuse goes, so too does Onondaga County. What do you think of this? What will you do (or have you done for incumbents) to change this attitude.

So that's a preview for the next couple of weeks, and sometime in the next few days I plan to comment on the article on Spitzer's vetoes. So you know what to look forward to.

Plans, plans, plans, and windmills

2007-08-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Joanie Mahoney posted her economic plan. To sum up, it lists 91 agencies in CNY that work with economic development issues. She wants to appoint a "point person" that would make sure the groups all work together. Basically she wants to make it so a small business owner can call in and get referred to all the appropriate agencies. Dale claims plagiarism. Bill Magnarelli says this is good but wants to do it through the existing county Economic Development Office. Ed Ryan's comments are mysteriously absent from the post-standard article. My take? As someone who often refers people to services in my job, I think the one thing that's often missing is an office that truly understands what everyone does and the many services that are available. I'm sure there are many helpful services I'm missing, so I'm quite sure most small business owners aren't aware of all 91 agencies, or what they all do, so this sounds like a good idea. And no I don't think she stole it from Dale. As for Bill, other than the words economic development office I'm not sure of the difference on this issue, but I'm for the plan so that's not really bad.

Meanwhile Ed Ryan wants us to go green. He wants to switch all county vehicles to biodiesel and encourage other local governments to do the same and enjoy the tax breaks. He also proposed working with ESF to reduce energy consumption and developing an environmental business council. Responses? Basically everyone agrees that we should take the lead in environmental businesses. Bill touted his own sizable list of accomplishments in this field. Joanie, like Ed, also mentioned working with ESF and taking the lead, but kind of simply stated her leadership would be better without too many specifics mentioned. Dale wants us to put "architectural" windmills on county buildings. Really. Alright, he said some more, in fact he beat Ryan's 6 point plan with his own 13 point plan, in his continual race to have the most number of points, but one of the things that was mentioned was the windmills. I work in a county building, and really have no desire to see windmills all over it. I'm betting companies and people considering moving to the area might have disagreements with this too.

Well, yeah, I'm behind in blogs

2007-08-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

So it took some finagling of schedules, but I finally managed to meet with Deb Moynihan. Two days ago in fact. Yeah, read the title of the post. But it was a good meeting. We had an interesting conversation about the assigned council program, a topic which I deal with daily, as I work with the courts. I was uncertain on this issue before, as I've had the opportunity to see that there are some lawyers out there who take those assigned cases and defend the heck out of them, but sadly mostly what I see are lawyers that don't return phone calls. On the other hand, a public defenders office is typically expensive and overworked and I'm not sure if it solves any problems.

Deb pointed out that in most public defenders' offices, anyone any good either leaves for more money, or tries to get promoted, in which case they don't end up handling the large number of cases. Also, she cited statistics in Maryland, a state she viewed as similar to NY due to it also having one large city with several smaller cities around it. There they found that places with a public defender typically had longer sentences for defendants. She started college as a math major folks. I have no doubt she'll study the issues and look particularly at the numbers before making decisions.

So anyway, she convinced me, although I was leaning slightly in that direction anyway, even though there are a few assigned council I'd like to slap around (metaphorically of course). And she said if I had any questions I could email her. Which got me thinking. What if I emailed her opponent as well. And other candidates and their opponents. We could have an email debate. Not a real debate where the candidates actually get to ask questions of each other and have true back and forth, but that kind of thing hasn't really been done since prehistoric times, when it would often end with one side clubbing the other unconscious. It would make this blog a forum. Now if I could just get some decent time online. I'm out of town this weekend, maybe after that.

Words of wisdom are found everywhere...sorta

2007-08-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Written on the men's room stall at Barnes and Nobles: "Kucinich/Gravel '08." I don't know which is stranger, that someone who would write on a bathroom stall pays enough attention to things to know why this would form such an unlikely campaign duo, or the fact that I'm glad to see this person paying some attention.

More interesting stuff out of our new Gov lately. I voted for the man, but sometimes he's just a pure politician to be sure. First, the strange one, while talking about about the recent trooper investigation into Bruno for which he's taking flak, he commented that mixing politics and law enforcement is like mixing politics and religion or some such. This only makes any sense if he means that in both you're not supposed to do it but everyone does it anyway. As a criminal justice major and professional, I'd say all law enforcement groups are political, and I'd ask if the governor had ever worked in such a field except of course that he was attorney general just last year. Also, I didn't like that his "apology" started, "we made mistakes." Maybe "we" did, but do what's right and say "I" made a mistake.

The second issue comes from today's post-standard. They had a ask the governor feature, and the first question started off asking when he was going to address the issue of the death penalty for cop killers (since NY's death penalty law needs a fixing, being as it was ruled unconstitutional). The reader then went on to state the governor opposed the death penalty, and Mr Spitzer responded by saying that he wanted to correct that, that in certain cases such as terrorists acts and cop killings, he was for it. Only he never answered the question in the first sentence, just corrected the man and stated he was for cops getting all the protection they need or something. I may have to email the governor and ask for a further response. Or get someone else to do so and give me the response..., hmmm.

posts to return soon

2007-08-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

Had lasik done. Typing this without glasses, yay!

some thoughts

2007-07-26T19:23:00.001-07:00

I've been allowing my renting Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's to subtract time from the blog. Of course, the Post-Standard did go a few days without much politics, but they did post a few things.

Number 1, I've been meaning to comment about the article "Bruno cleared, Spitzer spanked." First off, good alliteration. Second, I guess I've got to give kudos to Cuomo for saying the Governor took things too far. Mind you, I'm for anything that moves Bruno out of there, as he seems to be doing a good job of holding up the whole process, but all this did was create a lot of anxious newscasters. Also, Cuomo shouldn't be afraid to speak up to Spitzer (see, I can do alliteration too), but part of me wonders if this isn't just so he looks good to take over as Gov when Spitzer runs for Prez. It's always about moving up, can't we just do our jobs people. By the way, if anyone wants to offer me a job...

Number 2 is Mahoney. She's calling for fair play in these county exec campaigns, but I didn't really get a chance to read that article, so that's all I've got. I hope for fair play too. She also put out a tax plan (or some details) that called for a cap on senior citizens property taxes. I can understand this, since they're on a fixed income, but on the other hand property tax is a struggle for everyone in this state. As a young'un with retired parents, I can see both sides. Also, someone logged on Syracuse.com and posted that this has to do with assessments which aren't really a county thing. I'm undecided, please discuss.

Oh yeah, duh...

2007-07-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Tom Buckel (County legislator candidate, 7th district, north side of Syracuse) wants me to get him some volunteers. So if anyone wants to help elect a county legislator, and can give about 2 hrs about 6 times between now and end of August to walk a target district, drop me a line. Heck even if you want to pick some other candidate, I've spoken to quite a few of the Democrats, and am still trying to set things up to speak to a Republican named Moynihan, so drop me a line or check out the democracywise link to the right to find out info on any local county race. The advantage of county races are that you get to meet the candidate and find out what they're really about.

This conversation may be monitored to improve your service

2007-07-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

So one of the things I hadn't thought about is that certain groups monitor the blogs, so that simply by mentioning DELAVAN ART GALLERY, for example, or DAN MAFFEI, I merit some attention. Of course, they're looking for positive attention, so I doubt the words Walsh or Sweetland will get me repeat viewers.

Speaking of Sweetland, I think he's stalking me. I've seen him twice just this week. Oh, wait, I work at the civic center, never mind. But the first time he was buying a hot dog, and I'm pretty sure he parked his car in Judge Tormey's spot.

The post-standard recently reported that the governor is sending out a lot of angry letters about empire zones, apparently to yell at companies that got the benefits and hired little or no people. The article doesn't say for sure what the next step is (hopefully something more than another angry letter). It's a good first step, but I say we mail out one big angry letter to all our state representatives in the form of a signed petition.

The Barack Obama fundraiser at the Delavan was a good little event. I didn't get the phone call from Tom Buckel I expected but I did get called by a friend about some goings on this weekend, and unfortunately the crowd was between me and the door, so I had to go hide behind some art and take the call. Sorry to anyone if I seemed like the guy from that bit on Trigger Happy TV who would yell into the giant plastic cell phone (they actually did have one skit that began "I'm in an art gallery!")

Maffei.

Oh no! They've called my bluff!

2007-07-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Just kidding, it wasn't a bluff. But I'm being called out on my "I will vote for a Republican if they can convince me," statement. Deborah Moynihan, running for leg in the 19th, wants to convince me. She states that, while I state I'm not married to the Democrats, I seem to think the future of our community is in their hands. To this I'd comment that right now it seems to be in Republican hands, and it ain't looking so hot. But she does bring up the point that there is deadwood on both sides of the aisle, which is not only true, but the reason the remaining Democrats have been so powerless (sorry Mr Ryan, some of that's on you). An additional reason for my leaning toward Democrats: I'm a liberal son of a bitch. You'll have to keep that in mind Ms Moynihan. Note that I didn't back down and call myself progressive. I'll email Ms Moynihan back and report the details.

In other news, money. Walsh has raised $299,000 to Maffei's $211,000 in next year's repeat of last year's contest for the 25th Congressional. Both parties are saying the majority of the other's money is coming from outside sources and doesn't indicate CNY enthusiasm, and I'm afraid they may both be very right on that.

Meanwhile, the local County Executive race shows that Sweetland raised the most but has spent a lot of it on dumb commercials. Magnarelli has the most on hand by far, although $70, 500 of that is leftovers from his assembly campaign. The stats in thousands Sweetland $141 raised, $67 remaining, Mahoney $62 raised/$17 left, Magnarelli $136/$115, Ryan $49/$27. Once again, everyone is shouting reasons why their amount means more than other peoples', so take the numbers for what you will.

well, it is politics, and it is local...

2007-07-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's just not local politics. Syracuse for Obama is having a fundraiser/ get together at the Delavan Art Gallery, 501 W Fayette, Syracuse, at 5:30 pm this Wednesday 7/18/07. I haven't decided yet if I'll stop by or not.

The post-standard reported on the opening of Joanie Mahoney's HQ. I walked by it today at lunch time. I was going to pick up a brochure, I'm not locked into the democratic party, I just usually vote that way. I was going to give her a chance to convince me, heck, I liked her better than Driscoll last year but I'm not in the city. No one was inside though, so I couldn't get any info. Side note, it's just down the street from Dem HQ, I felt like I had to sneak around.

As for what I've been doing lately (instead of posting, sorry) I went to a Neighborhood watch BBQ with Tom Buckel (running for leg in the 7th, north side) and went to Candidate training as his guest. That training was cool, even though it was the same as what I'd done before. I got to meet a lot of the candidates. Tina Bennett definitely looks less evil and seems less pure ego then her opponent Bill Fitzpatrick. Bill Magnarelli gave the intro, and did a good job, which, when added to his prior support of the empire zone reform bill, is making me lean more toward him. We'll see.

Political goings on

2007-07-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

CSEA, the union, had a picnic to protest the Berger commision's suggestion to take Van Dyne out of county hands. The picnic had only hot dogs, no Burgers, haha, those union guys crack me up. No, not really. But Nick Pirro cooked some of the dogs (really, look at the photo in your paper), so that's mildly humorous. Speaking of county execs, the dems and republicans had their candidates at the picnic, except Ed Ryan, who had a scheduling conflict. Ed, I don't know what you had, but that's because I didn't read a news article about it, so politically I think you lost out on that one.

Another Young Dems meeting tomorrow, at Democratic Headquarters, 248 E Water st, not Warren, where I tried to go last time but Warren doesn't have that number. 7pm.

Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today Picnic at Washington Square Park on Thursday, 6 pm. County Legislator Candidate Tom Buckel to speak.

And Saturday, candidate training for democrats. I'll be going to everything from the Young Dems on down, so I'll be keeping busy. What will you be up to?

random things (as opposed to the usual format)

2007-07-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ed Ryan opens his campaign headquarters, and promptly vows not to return. Really, read the blurb in today's paper. He'll be out in the field. It makes sense campaign wise for him to stick to the field, but I'm not sure about announcing it. I would post the contact info for the new HQ but I can't find the info for other HQs and I want to play fair. It's in the article anyway, look in the paper or search syracuse.com.

The big politics article today is about judges being appointed "acting" judges of a higher level, usually with a bump in pay. As someone who works in the court system, let me ride both sides of this issue. First off, 2 of the big examples cited are Judge Merrill in drug court and Judge Rossi in Integrated Domestic Violence court. Let me say that these two positions need to stay. Without being an acting count court judge, Judge Merrill could not run drug court, and we need a drug court. Some would argue that treatment is letting defendants off the hook, but these people have not been before Judge Merrill. Trust me, if someone screws up drug court, they're paying for it. As for IDV, domestic violence often involves custody desputes and divorces, felonies, misdeanors, and violations (harassment is a violation). Giving a family court judge like Rossi extra authority so he can handle the whole case allows him to be familiar with all the issues. Similarly, Aloi gets his acting position so he can handle anything from Rossi that has to go to trial, since Rossi doesn't handle trials.

That being said, the "acting" judge system does give power to people who weren't elected by the people to have that power, the power instead being handed out by Administrative Judge Tormey. For family court judge Walsh Hood to have no family court cases and instead handle matrimonial issues seems to be giving her a higher post than she was elected to.

Finally, some words on Syracuse.com's forums. Posting there has taught me several things: 1)Lawrence Moten had better stats then I remembered at SU 2)There seems to be a lot of discussion about running Tina Bennett for DA 3) People do not read posts completely before they respond to them (here I'm thinking conservatives responding to my posts, maybe we need a special reading class for them). Despite that, I'll continue to post because my new counter tells me the majority of my tiny number of hits come from there.

Oh and I got added to the blogroll (that sounds like a terrible type of bread) at the Brennan Center! They waited a while to make sure I'd keep posting. So some people are reading.

That is absolutely nothing like a plan another candidate just put up

2007-07-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sweetland has put forth his 9 point plan to save the county. If you actually click the link, you should note that the 2nd point should say "show" fiscal impact, and not "slow" fiscal impact as Syracuse.com was good enough to type.

A lot of it has to do with setting limits on spending. And then there's the interesting stuff. Webcasting budget hearings, online satisfaction surveys. These would be good for open government, which is a plus, but I'm not sure how many would tune in. Applying surplus over the 10% county policy to tax relief. Hmm, I thought I heard something like that before... (coughs the words "Ed Ryan"). But didn't Pirro himself call such a thing reckless?

And of course there's the proposal that all non-mandated (by the state) programs expire after 4 years and have to be renewed. According to the post-standard, Ed Ryan, and Sweetland's own party member Joanie Mahoney, "non-mandated" includes a hell of a lot of services, including the Sheriff's office. Call me crazy, but I think we should be able to agree we need a Sheriff's office.

Kudo's to Joanie by the way, for asking where exactly this plan has been all the time Dale's been in county government. Ed Ryan for his part called the plan non-specific, while Bill Magnarelli again said that property tax relief is important but we need to spend on job creation. Someone needs to give Bill's record a nudge, he seems to be stuck.

Finally, I would like to point out that Dale wants all legislation to show fiscal impact, but when asked did not put a dollar figure to the "potential savings" of his plan.

Much as I hate to admit it...

2007-06-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today's paper has a big article on a CNY technology center that's going to be built with money JP Morgan is giving to SU. This will create a new curriculum, but SU plans to go further than that, investing some of the money in local high schools to make them more high tech, and hopefully creating bunches of high tech jobs. Will someone please explain to me why it is that Nancy Cantor is doing more for the Syracuse area than Nick Pirro or Matt Driscoll?

Personally, I find the woman a little weird. There's something about that voice, her mannerisims, her overall appearance, that I can't watch her for 2 minutes without cracking up. That being said, maybe she should be running for county executive. She'd certainly get things done. I'd just have to avoid watching her speaches. Probably wouldn't want to give up her power though, and certainly not the money.

where exactly is he looking?

2007-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Syracuse city schools have announced how they're going to make the cuts needed to balance their budget. Teachers will be leaving, long term substitutes and teacher assistants first, and programs will be cut. This was "the only way" that the city could meet its budget. I heard no mention of any cuts to administrators or their salaries.

There's been some chatter on the Syracuse.com political forum about the Dale Sweetland commercial, and having studied the issue further, I'd have to agree with the consensus. That really is a bad commercial. I have like 6 hrs of campaign training and I wouldn't run that ad. He doesn't seem to be looking at the camera or the crowd (he isn't shown at the same time as them, but since he's addressing the crowd we'd assume he'd be above them not the other way around), the crowd doesn't have any apparent reason for being there, nor are they particularly enthusiastic, and his "theme" doesn't say anything at all. "Common sense, uncommon leadership?" Tell us why you have common sense, not just that you have common sense.

Finally, there are going to be meetings on what to do with the money Syracuse got for it's soul by allowing the county to build sewer treatment plants in the city, including in Armory Square. What to do with the 6 million dollars? I suggest giant air fresheners.

Can they make biodiesel with my soy sauce?

2007-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

One last short blurb before I go. If you're short on time skip to the next post down, it's more important.

Post-Standard article on how Destiny USA is now using 100% biodiesel. Two brief points.
1) This is a good thing, assuming biodiesel isn't like corn based ethanol where it uses so much corn to produce so little ethanol that we're running out of corn and driving up the cost of gas (it's true, to some degree you can blame corn for the high cost of gas, we need to start growing sugar cane for ethanol, which maybe we can do if global warming continues, so once again it all works out) (no angry posts, the global warming thing was a joke)
2) Are the bulldozers at Destiny using anything right now? I think they have to be moving first. Some see steel, I see rust.

They do exist...

2007-06-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts for a little while, had a busy father's day weekend and spent the past 2 nights going to training on how to run a campaign. All I had to be was a union member and it was free and they provided food. Yeah, I'm there. Plus, the training was really good, so I feel much better equipped to help a campaign this season. Sad to say another lapse is coming for this weekend, I'll be out of town doing some touristing. It's my blog, I get to declare that a word. In fairness, Syracuse.com hasn't posted much of local political interest the past couple of days except for further shouting on Ed Ryan's plan to return the surplus. Which brings up the following
IMPORTANT NOTE ON ED RYAN'S PLAN TO RETURN THE SURPLUS: County policy already dictates we keep 10% of revenue on hand for an emergency. I'd already noticed that from the original article. What I didn't notice until today is that 10% = about SIXTY MILLION DOLLARS (raises pinky to mouth). Pair that up with Ryan's "surplus" (doesn't the 10% count as surplus too? isn't this surplus surplus if you will?) and we get a grand total of about $76 million. This means, even if we give the entire $16 mill back to the taxpayers, that's only about 21% of the total extra we've got. Seems like we should at least be able to give say $10 million to Ed's tax cut or to Bill's suggested job development.

Additional note, if you like the blog, tell a friend, if not tell us (wow, I'm borrowing from everyone today, that's the Entenmann's slogan). Seriously, spread the word (and the joy) about the blog and the online petition at right. If there's a topic of discussion, post a comment and discuss. That's what this blog is for, to generate discussion.

Total of 3 steals in this post (that I know of). First is the title, borrowed from an M and M's commercial. I explained the 3rd to you. If you're the first to post the middle one (with explanation) in comments, receive a virtual chocholate chip cookie.

up and running

2007-06-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I still have to do some things as far as the setup, but I've got the petition for empire zone reform up and running. Email all your friends. Empire zones are a statewide program, so anyone in NY state should consider voicing their opinion.

Meanwhile, County Exec candidate Ed Ryan spoke up about our property tax surplus. Seems we have $16 million over the proposed reserve revenue level, so Ed says we should give it back to property owners. The other County Exec candidates? Magnarelli says it would be better to have a balance between the need for property tax cuts and job development programs. Mahoney says she'll consider any proposal that returns money to the taxpayers. Sweetland accuses Ryan of reiterating the policy that he and Ryan cosponsored in 1999, and states he is working on a plan. He further states that he worries about what to do in the long term if the surplus is given back, in other words, what if we come up short next year.

They've all got points. Certainly, coming up short is something to worry about, but taxes throughout NY state are way too high and upstate is paying for it. Job development is certainly beneficial, but property taxes are driving people out of the area. As for myself, I think some of it should be given back, and I think job development is something we need to work on whether or not we've got a surplus, but we do need to keep some in case of future shortfall.

actual action being acted

2007-06-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

I went to my first young democrats meeting tonight. There was a candidate for county legislator, a fellow criminal justice major, who I think I'll contact and help out. There was also the campaign manager for Magnarelli, so I know how to help him if I and or democrats decide to go that route. In short, I'm well on my way to practicing what I preach for this year. For this year, I mean I did help the Maffei Campaign a little last year, and I always vote, so there's that.

empire zones... Grrr

2007-06-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

The empire zone system of tax breaks has been shown to have loopholes the size of Aunt Rita's fanny, yet the Post-standard now reports that some lawmakers want more empire zone type benefits(note to readers, I do not actually have an Aunt Rita, behold I call this, metaphor). To do so without reforming the corrupt empire zone system is to throw more money at companies with little or no promise of anything in return.

I'm not historically a huge Magnarelli fan, but here I'm throwing my hat in with his hat in the ring (or something, hey I had one working metaphor, dammit). In answer to the Post-Standard he stated "There is no way to defend the Empire Zone program as it is today." Further, he's a cosponsor (thank you fantasy congress for my vocabulary) of the bill by Richard Brodsky calling for empire zone reform. The 2 most important parts of the bill, it caps the limit of tax cuts at $10000 per hire and has recapture provisions so the state can get back $ from those who don't live up to promises. In other words, if you don't create jobs, we tell you where you can stick your tax break request. I've also heard rumor mill of an audit being proposed of current empire zone recipients. Definitely another good idea. Of course, with regard to the per hire limit, I would consider making it related to the salary of the employee, but unfortunately I'm not in the state senate. $10000 for fry cooks and for engineers doesn't seem equal.

I know I previously said something about an online petition, but this is important enough that I really mean it. Consider it my Friday night project. Who needs going out on the town anyway?

Long overdue reforms

2007-06-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

First an article on empire zone overhaul. Why are we just getting around to this now? There needs to be more of a guarantee that the tax benefits will equal jobs. Even those investigative reporters at the Post Standard were talking about this months ago, so clearly it must be an obvious problem.

The second article is actually from May, but I'll comment on it now. The "Upstate Now" plan "is not simply the best plan to revitalize the Upstate economy, it is the only plan for Upstate to be advanced in Albany this year," Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said. Well, I would tend to dislike that statement. I don't think the fact that it's the only plan we put together in any way implys that this is the best plan. However, I do have some positive comments on the plan proposed in the State Senate.

1) tax rebates and credits for small businesses and companies using alternative energy. Both good ideas if we can pay for it. The alternative energy benefit seems particulary time relevant as my price to fill up keeps rising.
2)Update infrastructure: Negative comments here. The bill proposes high speed trains connecting cities, and modernizing roads, bridges, and sewers. Not sure how many people use the train anymore, particularly to get to, for example, Utica. Sounds neat but in a "high speed ferry" sort of fashion. As for modernizing roads, wtf have all those construction crews been doing? I can never go anywhere without running into construction and we're proposing more?
3)A new business hotline at 511, offering advice 7 days a week. Do we really want to turn to NY state for advice on running a business?
4)"Strengthen the work force:" this section proposes more online learning and high tech high schools. This sounds like the type of training we need to attract businesses to the area. Let's ditch that business hotline and spend more on the education part of the bill.

That's it, that's all I got for now.

grrr, sewage, also, Mr Ryan appears... 2 weeks ago

2007-06-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the first problem is that the plan to put a sewage treatment plant in armory square passed the last hurdle yesterday afternoon. Only in CNY would we profess that our economy needs saving and then put a sewage plant in our most attractive area. The so-called improvements to the areas around the plant do not make up for the plant itself, and I can only hope this doesn't cause the economic decay I think it will.

The last hurdle was the county legislature. If anyone knows how the 2 county exec candidates (Sweetland, and Ryan for those unaware) voted, that info would be appreciated. I would have linked you to the emails of all the legislators, but the info on the vote didn't come to my attention until it was too late to get posted in time. However, if you wish to tell them this was a bad idea after the fact, I encourage you to do so. Maybe they'll think about us more in the future. As many as have email, and all addresses, can be found online at http://www.ongov.net/Legislature/members.html

Secondly, it seems Mr. Ryan did appear at the Dunbar Center, much like his opponent Bill Magnarelli is scheduled to tomorrow. Unfortunately Ed appeared there 2 weeks ago in a large wave of no publicity. I would have liked to have gone.

The incredible disappearing Ryan

2007-06-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

It seems to me we were supposed to have a race for County Executive this year. I remember when Stephanie Minor and our wonderful mayor were all over the news, then once they dropped out it seems like I haven't seen any faces lately on either side, including the ones that dropped out. Except when the former ones appear in anti-snitch videos. There's evidence the real candidates still out there. The endorsed candidates have the advantage, with Magnarelli appearing 6/7/07 at 7 at the Dunbar Association, 1453 S State St. for a meet and greet, and Sweetland among other endorsed candidates tomorrow night at 5 p.m. at the Corinthian Club located at 930 James Street in Syracuse. Apparently you have to make reservations for Sweetland and crew by calling Carole Marsh at 471-2020. And there are websites for Sweetland, Mahoney, and Magnarelli's state assembly site touting his accomplishments. But why aren't they in the news, and where, oh where, is my man Ed Ryan? I'd email him but he doesn't have one listed on the county website. The guy's a county legislator, shouldn't the county give us an email to talk to him through? I suppose someone could write to his address.

you can't complain if you don't sign up

2007-06-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

The post-standard's political notebook lists due dates for registering to vote, I've posted a weblink to the right, so you've got no excuse not to do it:
8/24/07 for new voters to register for the primary
8/29/07 for change of address
9/18/07 primary day
11/6/07 election day
There's also some dates for those wishing to be candidates. Can someone please tell me why it's too late for someone to switch parties in time for the primary but if you want to register a whole new person for the primary you've got till almost the end of August? I'd like to firmly state I don't actually want anyone to tell me, I'm being rhetorical.

YOUNG DEMOCRATS MEETING at Onon. County Dem HQ 6/13/07 at 7 pm, 248 Warren St. Ages 16-36. I'm somewhere in that age group.

Vive le Revolution

2007-06-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well I'd fully expected to start this blog off on the correct foot (the left one) by either suggesting we write letters suggesting some politician get off his duff and do something, or by just verbally bitch slapping some politician I wasn't happy with, but I guess that fun will have to wail till later, cause you got to give someone their props when they're due. Read the sub-standard news article "City Lets Nonprofits Buy House for $1"

For those of you too lazy to click the linkey, basically there's a new city program that lets non-profits buy unused tax-delinquent housing for a a buck. In return the non-profit has to spruce the place up by 2 years, and they put the assessed value of the house in escrow as a guarantee. It's cheaper for the non-profit, a vacant building that was probably a target for burglars and drug use gets used for good, and the city can start collecting taxes on the property again. Good for everyone. The sale has to be approved by the common council. I urge you to write to common councilors and tell them they need to not only approve this sale but encourage new sales. When I have some time I'll try and make an online petition for people to sign. "But I don't live in the city." Who cares, it's still your community, write or email them anyway.

Finally, more important news: RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE. Again I reference the sub-standard. They'd probably appreciate this if I was calling them by their actual name. "Parties Look to Fill Holes in Fall Ballots." There are open spots where there is no candidate. All you have to do is live in the area and get interviewed and you can run. It is my firm belief that voters should ALWAYS have a choice. No one should run unopposed, so if your eligible, look into this.