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.
November 28, 2007
November 25, 2007
this just in... actually checking to see we get what we asked for
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.
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.
November 18, 2007
New and improved?
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.
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.
November 14, 2007
Development, lack there of, Stepping in it
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.
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.
November 11, 2007
Making news
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.
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.
November 7, 2007
My concession speach...
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.
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.
November 5, 2007
Tomorrow's the big day!
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
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
November 1, 2007
I don't toot my own horn cuz I don't have to!
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.
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.
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