The Greater Rochester Weblog

Here it comes

2009-01-23T12:32:00.001-05:00

I feel like I should be saying something here. I think I just might.

Soon...

The Spitzer Budget and the Upstate Economy

2008-01-26T23:07:00.001-05:00

Governor Spitzer's 2008-09 budget has faced a great deal of criticism from both upstate and downstate since he unveiled it Tuesday. The Governor's talent to tweak people isn't limited to just geography though, as The New York Sun captures the reception of the budget on the political spectrum:

The Business Council of New York State, a group that represents business interests, and the Working Families Party, a liberal grassroots operation financed by labor unions, took shots yesterday at the governor's $126.5 billion 2008-09 spending plan, which the administration unveiled on Tuesday. Until yesterday, both groups had been generally supportive of the governor and his policies. While their displeasure is shared, their specific grievances are not.
The Working Families Party, which cross-endorsed Mr. Spitzer in 2006 and delivered to him 155,000 vote on its ballot line, claims the governor turned his back on middle-class New Yorkers by not raising income tax rates of wealthy residents.

The Business Council is criticizing Mr. Spitzer for lifting state spending by 5% despite the turmoil in the economy.

So either Spitzer is splitting the middle and displeasing both these groups on the far edge in some act of political feng shui, or he's so far off the target that he can't even please a single side of the political spectrum. The reality is a little more difficult to determine. It shouldn't come as any surprise that The Business Council bristles with the 5% increase in the budget in addition to the fee hike that is proposed. However, this still is far below the 7.1% increase in Governor Pataki's final submitted budget. The Working Families Party takes issue with the budget in that it doesn't raise taxes on incomes over $300,000. Such an increase, the group says, would increase state revenue by $6 billion. Instead Spitzer must cover a $4.4 in other ways, including cancelling a plan to give middle class homeowners property tax breaks. That's the give and take on the budget issue. There is also the haves and have nots. From Newsday:

In terms of Long Island, the governor embraced red-light cameras that
catch motorists who disregard traffic signals on Nassau County streets
and called for capping the amount that counties pay for preschool
special education. Many lawmakers were unimpressed by Spitzer's
budget, saying it shortchanged the region on property-tax relief and
school aid. "The one thing that stood out was that he did not
mention Long Island once," said Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).
"Basically, he's cutting us off from the rest of the state - sending us
in a lifeboat without any life preservers." Assemb. Harvey
Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) was more circumspect, saying only that "any
cut in school funding is a real question. Long Island is known for
having quality schools and we need support for them."

While I would prefer to get away from the Upstate/Downstate debate, the statements by state Senator Skelos seems to only underscore it. Senate Majority Leader Bruno, perhaps understanding that his two seat majority in the upper house relies on upstate voters, has proposed a $2.7 billion tax relief package called Upstate Now.

Spitzer countered that the Senate plan lacks a clear way to pay for
Upstate Now. When asked about how the plan would be funded, Bruno said
it would simply be part of the $124 billion budget by reprioritizing
spending.

Is it possible that you can come up with $2.7 billion by moving some items around? I imagine so, but given the kind of intense scrutiny and stubborn attitudes that some lawmakers on both sides of the isle have in Albany, I would tend to doubt Bruno could be successful. The detail that every New Yorker knows, but no news story has called attention to, is that the budget process in the Empire State is nothing if not inelegant. It's almost certain that whatever plan we have going into the process, the output will be unlikely to be the same.

Which ultimately brings us to the question of whether or not this is all political theater? The Governor and the Senate are tripping over each other to provide stimulus to the upstate economy as if the region had just shown up unannounced right before dinner. The fact that Senator Bruno controls the Senate by a two seat margin, a margin built around support from upstate, seems too much of a coincidence. While my hope is that this region does get some meaningful economic support, I can't help but suspect that this is the first stage in the battle for which party controls the state Senate after the 2008 elections.

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Slobodan Milošević: Please Contact Me

2008-01-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, Jay. I'm talking to you.

E-mail me at zubalove@gmail.com
Use your last name so I know who I'm talking to.

Brooks is Not Running Unopposed

2007-07-30T10:03:00.001-05:00

While the Monroe County Democratic Party has made a very contentious decision not to run someone against County Executive Brooks in the Fall, that certainly doesn't mean there aren't viable alternatives to her.

Rochester Turning has a fantastic interview with Andrew Stainton which I encourage you all to go and check out. In everything I've heard about him, he's got a strong understanding of the economic issues that the Brooks administration and the Minarik Machine choose to ignore.

Check out the interview with Andrew Stainton right here.

Hevesi Should Resign

2006-10-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

The D&C has the story here.

"The Commission concludes that there is reasonable cause to believe
that Mr. Hevesi knowingly and intentionally used his position as New
York State Comptroller to secure unwarranted privileges for himself and
his wife, and in doing so, pursued a course of conduct that raises
suspicion among the public that he likely engaged in acts that violated
the public trust,” the panel said in a report released today.

This can't be tolerated. This isn't a question of party or how close to an election it is. The little R and D disappear when malfeasance is suspected. Hevesi is in a position that requires significant public trust. His office, more than any other, needs to be above reproach

NY-29th: Interesting segment from The News Hour

2006-10-16T11:05:00.000-05:00

Here's something that ran a few weeks ago on PBS concerning the Mass/Kuhl race. It's a good piece. Both candidates come across well.

However, about 9 minutes in, they discuss a whisper campaign attacking Massa for only making rank of Commander after being in the service for 24 years. They even manage to a get one attendee of the Cheney fundraiser to comment candidly on it. It's worth watching for that.

See Massa took a medical leave at one point and would have likely achieved a higher rank if it wasn't for that. Instead, he had a higher priority: he was beating a terminal diagnosis of cancer.

Eric Massa for Congress

2006-10-16T09:08:00.000-05:00

Shotgun Randy becomes Crazy Kuhl

Okay. I've been thinking of coming out of retirement given the current election, but this little clip kind of pushed into the light again.

While going for the drama can sometimes give you a little political gravitas, this kind of "scare the crap out of the voter" tactic is just old. After Kuhl finishes his little "Going to kill all of you!" he gives a little dirty look to someone in the front row. Someone, I can only speculate, is just as tired of this crap as I am.

New York 29th needs an independent voice in Washington. That's why I support Eric Massa.

Labor and NYS Reform: Must They Be At Odds?

2006-06-23T07:27:00.000-05:00

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has an article today concerning the state AFL-CIO running attack ads against Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, and Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit. The ads are in response to the two lawmakers introducing a bill which is intended to reduce the high workers' compensation cost, a cost that is constantly credited by employers as one of the barriers to business in the Empire State. The problem could also be easily addressed if there was significant political will to do so.

The ad, while having the virtue of brevity, also has the shortcomings of being simple and... well, I guess incredibly stupid:

"Did you know that your state Senator James Alesi introduced a bill in Albany this year that would benefit the insurance industry at the expense of injured workers and retirees?" says one ad, paid for by the state AFL-CIO and scheduled on Rochester radio stations. Another ad substitutes Morelle's name.

Okay. Well, it isn't particularly accurate that the "benefit" described going to the insurers equates to an "expense" of the injured and retired. Some people will end up getting less under this reform. That's true. The ad fails to mention that New Yorkers will be saddled with less of a tax burden as well, and new businesses will be more likely to consider New York as a place to set up shop and create jobs. Creating jobs is something I'm very much for, in case anyone was wondering.

The problem I have is that unions, like the AFL-CIO and the like, too often work counter to job creation and growth in order to protect what they currently have. If I can relate things to Nursery rhymes (which I'm going to become more prone to do in the next few years), modern unions are the sort of people that kill the goose to get all the golden eggs. Very often, they structure their agendas to increase their own membership or political clout. Rarely does their behavior show any forward thought in that reducing their friction on the economy, could help fill out their ranks.

Believe me, I don't always think that passing laws that benefit business is a good idea. We should always be skeptical of what could be construed as corporate welfare. However, with a business climate in New York State that is so horribly geared against attracting and maintaining jobs, the needs of the business community need to be addressed.

This bill isn't a handout to business, it's food for the starving. The New York economy, specifically upstate's needs this, and much more.

Rochester VoA Faces Shortage

2006-03-24T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. Just a heads up. The Volunteers of America in Rochester is trying to weather a severe downtick in donations right now. The D&C ran this article on Tuesday so you might have missed it.

Typically, the VOA sees a surge in donations the final two weeks of the year, mainly from people seeking last-minute tax write-offs, said Catherine Yeomans, community relations manager for Rochester's VOA.
That didn't happen in 2005, she surmises, because many people had already donated to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and either had nothing left to give or had tax write-offs already in hand.
"Sending to Katrina is a wonderful thing, but now we're really lacking here in Rochester," Yeomans said. "Our warehouse is empty. Our stores are sparse. And our stores help fund our programs."
The VOA, which provides emergency shelter, drug rehabilitation, food and child care to those in need, is strangely alone in its plight. The two other agencies that run large-scale thrift stores, the Salvation Army and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill Industries of Greater Rochester Inc., are flush with clothing and seasonal items, although officials were quick to add that donations are always welcome.

So if you're thinking of getting around to some spring cleaning or getting that old couch out of the garage, doing it this weekend and giving to the VoA could make some big differences in quite a few peoples lives.

Cities, Funds, and Money: Is it getting that grim?

2006-03-24T13:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know what to be more shocked at. The fact that the Rochester delegation in Albany is coming head to head with the delegation from Buffalo over funds, or Senator Joe Robach getting all, "Don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry", right there at a panel hearing.

Check out the D&C story here.

The action centered on Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, who quarreled with Democrats on a panel convened to parcel out the local aid portion of the state budget.
Robach even debated a bit with the Republican panel leader, Sen. Hugh Farley.

And at one point, Robach reached for the microphone and Farley refused to give it up, saying: "Joe, calm down."
At issue was the Rochester delegation's long-standing demand to receive aid at a rate more comparable to Buffalo's. Rochester gets about $271 per resident compared with $433 for Buffalo, $415 for Yonkers and $368 for Syracuse. As part of the 2006-07 state budget, the two houses are talking about boosting aid to municipalities across New York by roughly 18 percent. Lawmakers are attempting to adopt a state budget April 1, the start of the fiscal year.
Robach contended that rather than spread the increase evenly, lawmakers should give Rochester a bigger boost "to address the inequities."

Now, Robach is a former Democratic assemblyman who switched parties and ran for Senate when his district was going to gerrymandered away. So with that and the regional bickering included, I don't see this as a partisian thing at all. That doesn't make it any better either.

This is a mess, and this altercation is actually a bad thing. Buffalo is in terrible shape. Surf over to BuffaloPundit sometime and marvel at the crap they're going through over there with their County Executive and the State Control Board. Do they need money. Hell yes. Does Rochester? Hell yes.

The heart of the issue here is that the level of funding to Rochester is out of line with the level of funding to Buffalo, Syracuse, and Yonkers.

At issue was the Rochester delegation's long-standing demand to receive aid at a rate more comparable to Buffalo's. Rochester gets about $271 per resident compared with $433 for Buffalo, $415 for Yonkers and $368 for Syracuse. As part of the 2006-07 state budget, the two houses are talking about boosting aid to municipalities across New York by roughly 18 percent. Lawmakers are attempting to adopt a state budget April 1, the start of the fiscal year.

What the article doesn't make very clear is why this is about Rochester and Buffalo, and doesn't really involve Syracuse and Yonkers. I haven't fully grasped why this is about lowering aid to Buffalo and increasing aid to Rochester. Buffalo is hurt really bad and they need scratch. If funds have to come from somewhere, why there? Why not other places? Setting Rochester against Buffalo seems to be the worst kind of situation we could hope for politically.

Here's the real low-down dirty shame of this whole endevour: we are begging and scraping for state funds. Western New York should be unified in its approach in Albany to bring about reforms that will, possibly, let us have a competitive economy. Instead, we're pitched against each other, looking for scraps at the table of Albany. That's a pretty sad predictament to be in. Not to mention it should say a lot about how low we are sinking when it all comes down to this.

Begging for funds won't solve our problems. I have a great deal of respect for Senator Robach, as well as most of the representitives we have in Albany. However, state hand-outs only get us so far. We need fiscal reforms in order to lower taxes and the cost of doing business. We need them now and we're going to need the delegation from Buffalo to get it done. We're going to need all the help we can get.

And it has to happen soon. Before all of upstate needs a control board.

A Breakdown of Irish Bars in Rochester

2006-03-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a post from Senator Shamrock at the Rochester-based blog, It Seems to Me. I'm very fond of blog posts that have to do with with the social aspects of the area, so if you know a blog that isn't linked to in the right hand side, e-mail me a link.

For now, check out this great post:
It Seems To Me...: Lack Of Irish Pubs Haunts Rochester

Just Because I Like Bluegrass Doesn't Mean I Live in Appalachia

2006-03-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

The Democrat and Chronicle ran a good piece on Eliot Spitzer's comments that upstate's problems are akin to that of Appalachia. Maybe the comment is extreme. Maybe it isn't. Elmira certainly has its issues, as well as Binghamton, so maybe the southern tier fits the AG's characterization. But if your going to cut hairs, you can do that here. However, there are better hairs to cut, and the D and C? They cut right to it. Essentially, they call Spitzer on his “I feel your pain” statement for not backing it up with any kind of solutions. As they should. If you're going to sympathize with our plight and you are running for office, you'd better be ready to tell us what you're going to do.

We know we have problems, thank you very much. What, prey tell, are you going to do to help us?

Of course, Spitzer is short on details. I'm not excusing it, but I do expect it. When you are the heir apparent to the Governorship, the less you promise when you run, the more latitude you have when you win. It's the kind of thing I'd expect a politician to pull, but the kind of tactic a real leader would avoid.

Despite the inevitability of Governor Spitzer, I still love a good scrap so I'm hoping that Tom Suozzi brings some substance to the Democratic primary. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by his candor that he's essentially running against Albany. It's a smart tactic because if you're a kamikaze candidate, it’s the best way to get a connection to the disenfranchised people of New York State. Suozzi is young and tenacious with a solid track record in his county. I get a kick out of the fact that the guy who has essentially, without saying it, has pitched himself as the upstate candidate, is a county executive from Long Island. How do I get to that conclusion? I can’t count the sheer number of Suozzi ads I saw while watching Syracuse play the last two weeks. Sure it was always the same ad, seemingly directed by someone who makes trial lawyer advertisements with an MTV over-edited edge. Despite the snark and the cynicism, they are effective and his approach has put him on people’s radar.

New York needs several reforms and I'm glad there is someone with the guts to say it. Given the fractured state of the GoP field, I'm a little surprised that none of their candidates have really struck the “reform Albany” chord as resoundingly as Suozzi has right out of the box. In a lot of the ways the matter, Suozzi gets this election. Sure, Spitzer has already won, unless he wakes up with a dead hooker in his bed. And the Spitzer inevitability automatically frees all the other candidates to put forth some serious debates on the issues.

I’m serious. If this thing is already decided, which it is, why not force the debate out of the safe realms of public policy and talk about things like growing entitlements with a shrinking tax base, school vouchers, and political reform?

Don't just be another guy in a suit running for office. Why not swing for the fences? Why not try t do something that may matter despite winning or losing? A real leader would use this election as an opportunity to raise the profile of some issues. Maybe, just maybe, that's what Suozzi is doing.

Area Bloggers Form Meta-Blog. Large Scale Blogging to Ensue

2006-03-16T13:26:00.000-05:00

Just a quick plug here. Rottenchester, of the blog with the same name, has put together a metablog in conjunction with Rocwiki. Myself and some others will be posting there over the course of the next month to see what kind of response we get. It's a test run for now, in the same vein as the kind of meta-blogs that are becoming more and more common these days.

Surf over to Rochester Writers and check things out. Feel free to comment as well. Writers love comments.

No, I'm not prowling for comments with that statement. Just click the link and stop psycho-analyzing me.

Big Bully Spitzer sues HR Block

2006-03-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

The "Big Bully" NYS AG Eliot Spitzer, and likely future governor, has taken suit against HR Block for offering retirement accounts tailored for low and middle income families that... apparently, weren't intended to help them save money.

The civil complaint filed today in State Supreme Court in Manhattan cites internal documents showing that H&R Block’s senior management knew that many of its customers were losing money on their Express IRAs. For example, in a 2002 email to Mark Ernst, the company CEO, a district manager complained about the impact of these accounts on customers:

“I really don’t think maintenance fees should exceed the amount of interest that we are paying on these accounts. Clients won’t be happy seeing [their] investments decreasing … .”

What we see here is the AG working to defend investors from what appears predatoryditory behavior from financial institutions. This is part of market discipline, where the outcome is keeping investors confident that those that will look to cheat them, will be held accountable. As a result, they can have confidence in who handles their money. Without this kind of accountability, confidence erodeerrode overtime and the capital market would suffer for it.

Although it pains me to have to point out that prosecuting criminal behavior is a good thing, it seems necessary. Too many Republicans seem to espouse the talking point that enforcing the law is bad for New York's economy.

The Zubalove family is doing well

2006-03-13T13:58:00.000-05:00

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of support and congratulations. Our home has never been happier (and my wife and I have never been more tired!). As things get back to normal, I will begin posting on a more regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule with random weekend posts.

It has been a fantastic couple of weeks, and I'm grateful that people still checked back here for news. I'm looking forward to relaunching this blog with a greater focus on content. Thanks!

I <3 Steve Minarik

2006-03-09T18:57:00.000-05:00

Just when I think I'm going to get out of blogging, he pulls me back in.

New York State Republican Chairman and defacto Monroe County GOP boss, Steve Minarik railed against popular Democratic figures last week by calling them "mean-spirited" and Attorney General Elliot Spitzer "a big bully".

State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik has a new line about the statewide Democratic ticket: "The All-Mean Team."

"They are mean-spirited downstaters," Minarik, also head of the Monroe County GOP, said recently. "Eliot Spitzer is a big bully. There's no question he has an attitude."

With Republican candidates far behind the Democratic ticket in statewide polls, Minarik is seemingly following the strategy of national Republicans who have tried to label Democrats as nasty. The goal, experts say, is to try to portray Democrats as unstable, to suggest that their gripes with Republicans are driven more by personality than policy.

The mind boggles over this. Of course, the Republicans are going after the Dems over personality, because they've already lost the fight over issues. They have nothing else to do besides swing for the fences in hoping they don't loose both the state house and the senate this year. King-of-Mean Minarik also opens himself up to this wonderful line:

But Democrats fired back that the tough-talking Minarik's comments may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

"Anyone who has followed Monroe County politics will know that being called mean by Mr. Minarik is like being called ugly by a toad," said Howard Wolfson, a Clinton adviser.

Yes, I'm being cravenly partisan in all this. I think I'm entitled. I have no trouble with Republicans, per se. I happen to think reasonably more of Senator Joe Robach than I think of Assemblyman Gantt. So no, I'm not a kool-aid drinking partisan gunslinger.

However, when a guy like Minarik, a man who went a great deal out of his way in a fraudulent attempt to link the Democratic Party with a terrorist sympathizer, says some stupid things, I'm going to call him a stupid man.

Steve Minarik is a small man who is coming to grips with the harsh reality that the New York Republican party is in massive decline, and it is doing so under his stewardship. It's one thing to lose some seats over the course of a few elections, it's a whole other thing to drive your state party off a cliff. You don't get a nice cushy job on the national level for accomplishing that feat. No, you get banished from the public eye and have people that you used to call friends deny ever knowing you. It's a harsh reality that certainly must be a burden on Mr. Minarik's mind right now.

And honestly, with outbursts like this one, it seems like Minarik is losing his grip, doesn't it?

Zubababy has arrived!

2006-02-22T11:32:00.000-05:00

I really am not dead. I've actually never been better. Last week, my wife and I had a little girl. So I've just had things going on that have kept me away from blogging.

I plan on beginning to post more frequently this week.

Here's a picture of Zubababy as she soaks in some UV rays at the hospital. The UV helped clear out a problem she had with high bilirubin levels. Mom and baby are now resting comfortably at home.

Dad is not resting comfortably because he realizes this perfect little angel will someday start bringing home boyfriends. I need to figure out how to keep them away....

I am not Dead

2006-02-13T14:15:00.000-05:00

I swear to God that I will be posting something in the next 24 hours. Life has been a little crazy lately. Midterm exams were last week and this week I expect to become a father, so.... you know, I've had to move some things around in my schedule.

I will now do the cheapest of all blog entries: Recapping other blogs' posts, linking to them, and somehow passing it all off as an entry that is worth your time. I do nothing but cover my own banality with the hard work and dedication of others.

The talented NYCO cracks wise concerning the Olympic's opening ceremonies and what they would look like were they to return to Lake Placid in this post.

Jesse at York Staters adds a little local flavor to things by writing about the grape pies of Ontario County generally and Naples specifically. I've got relations in Naples who own a vineyard. If you aren't up on the Naples Grapefest, or if you are still drinking foofy European wines, you need to check out the Finger Lakes Region. For the record, Heron Hill's Game Bird Red is the official red wine of The Greater Rochester Weblog. To really experience my writing, consume this wine liberally.

The Political Notebook continues to report on the increasing fractures and faultlines within the New York GoP. In this article, the notion is raised that the current ebbing in the party could break the moderates' hold on the party and give rise to a much more conservative movement. I can see this happening as long as those conservatives had supporters that were at home sitting on their hands waiting to vote for conservative candidates.

And following hot on the heals of his appearance in Rochester (which wasn't too widely reported), Gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi (aka the guy primarying against Spitzer) gets a nod in the D&C editorial section today.

I'll be back with a real post later.

Catching Up on The Political Notebook

2006-02-02T05:20:00.000-05:00

If you don't swing by The Political Notebook every couple of days to check out the work Mike Caputo is doing, you're not only missing some interesting writing about Rochester and New York politics, you're also missing an opportunity to get involved in the discussion.

Between Mr Caputo and Curt Smith, Rochester has access to political commentary and analysis that is based on some unique experience. Regardless if you agree with any of the opinions they draw from their different sides of the political arena, I believe they are worth listening to.

Anyway, let's get into the details.

Caputo has had two noteworthy posts in the past week that deal with the process of electing judges. The first post goes into some detail concerning a state court ruling on the ways that the parties select their judicial candidates. The ruling, which can be read here, details incidents where political parties, at the local level, essentially stack things in favor of the slate of judges they want to run. In other words, if you want to run for State Supreme Court, without the party boss backing you, you aren’t going anywhere. Caputo shoves it all nicely into this nutshell:

Confused? Don't be. Simply understand this – delegates have the power to pick party candidates. Delegates are often people close to the county party apparatus. Delegate elections are obscure, and so those named by the party are rarely challenged.
That means, when it comes to state Supreme Court, there are no primary challenges in the traditional sense. Outside challengers must convince the delegates to accept you. The thing is - the party leadership always has a favorite candidate by the time these conventions convene. So an outsider has virtually no shot of changing minds at these conventions. And they can't run delegates because the process is so cumbersome (imagine trying to run a slate of your own delegates across the eight counties of our own seventh judicial district)

It really is a good piece that deserves some attention, mainly for the fact that it discusses something that doesn’t really get a whole heck of a lot of attention: the election of judges. Caputo also retells a local story in the ruling of Rochester City Court Judge John Regan and the troubles he faced when he attempted to run despite the efforts of the party leaders to stop him. Probably, this is the more fascinating part of the article. Just go read it.

The whole thing got me wondering, and I mean this in the most honest and innocent way: is the election of judges the best and most effective way to place competent people on the bench? I’ve often thought to myself on Election Day that decision I had to make on judges was the most uninformed vote that I’m asked to cast. I’m not saying they should be appointed, although I’m also not saying they shouldn’t be. In this one rare instance, I’m completely open to any arguments on how to improve the process.

Caputo sees the opportunity for greater discussion and continues it in this post.

This line of thinking reminds me of the arguments a few years back when the topic was whether judicial candidates should adhere to a code of conduct that keeps them from speaking about their views, their beliefs.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct, a state organization that enforces ethical standards on New York's judiciary, mandates that judicial candidates aren't to campaign in a partisan and political manner - only set out their qualifications to be a judge.

That’s where the problems starts. How do you illustrate the differences between the two candidates? Clearly, it won’t ever be as simple as: Judge Apple is for lifting the oppressive Lawn Jart Ban and Judge Baker is not. No. It’s always commercials that show them reading and writing, as if that’s not something anyone else ever does, while telling us how nice they are as a person. It’s never “Vote for Judge Charlie, he’s a hanging judge!” Which is to say, that is probably a good thing.

So what do all of you think? Is the system as it currently stands the best we can really do? Or does appointment make more sense? Or should we “unshackle” the candidates, as Mr. Caputo says in his second post? This area isn’t something that requires any immediate reform, but I think some discussion would be nice. Feel free to sound off.

Required Reading for a New York Mindset

2006-01-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

In most communities, there are some groups who are agitating --- more importantly, just by raising your voice. I'm always surprised when I hear legislators say they get 15 or 20 calls on an issue and that's a lot. It doesn't take that many citizens who are outspoken and in contact with their legislators to make a difference. I'd say: pay attention; be informed about what's going on. And if you don't like it, then give your elected representatives an earful. That's what they're there for.

The above is taken from an interview Krestia Degorge did with Gannett News Service's Albany bureau chief, Jay Gallagher. The interview ran in last weeks City paper and can be read following this link. Gallagher has just released a book, "The Politics of Decline", which examines the dysfunction of The Empire State and things that can be done to turn things around.

I've already ordered my copy.

There is a lack of focus on upstate from leaders and policy makers. AG Spitzer just announced a downstater as his running-mate in yet another snub to the interests of our area. The increasing chasm between the economy of a world-class metropolitan area and the milder and volatile rust belt characteristics of upstate becomes more and more difficult to negotiate every year. This regional problem transcends political party, because neither group seems incredibly willing to stand up and make the necessary changes to the financial barriers of this state. As long as downstate hums along, it doesn't faze any of the leaders in Albany that the cost of doing business in this state is astronomical and the tax rate is oppressive.

Are they aware that not all of us can commute to Manhattan to work?

A Medicaid Petition on the Monroe County Website

2006-01-23T13:29:00.000-05:00

Those that have followed this blog for a while are aware of how concerned I am of New York State's burdensome Medicaid costs. I believe that the cost of this system, bared both by the state and the counties, is one of the reasons New York taxes are so outrageous, which leads to a high cost of doing business in this state. Oh, there are other factors there too, and they should be addressed. But, as I've stated before in other blog entries, Medicaid is so far out of alignment with where it should be, it's the obvious first place to start.

So I'm researching a post concerning Governor Pataki's budget, the Governor's race, and County Executive Brook's secret plan to plug the budget gap which is due in 90 days. My focus is on how Medicaid costs play into all this. While surfing around, I find a petition on the County Website concerning Medicaid reform.

One point shall now be awarded to Ms. Brooks. Bravo.

It's pretty simple. It briefly touches on things that you could read about in the aforementioned links above and then offers this:

There are solutions to the challenges presented by Medicaid, but there must be the political will in Albany to debate and enact such solutions. The New York Association of Counties, and others, have presented options they believe can lead us out of this crisis.

I believe that the following options are all worthy of consideration and enactment:

1. Capping counties share of Medicaid costs at 2001 Levels, alleviating county taxpayers from the responsibility of the program’s rapidly escalating costs.

2. Giving New York State the revenue from one percent of the sales tax currently levied by counties in return for eliminating counties’ Medicaid responsibilities.

3. Complete funding of Medicaid by the State immediately removing the burden for the program from counties. 48 states do not mandate that their counties pay for a significant portion of Medicaid. Only New York and North Carolina place such a burden on their counties.

It's never easy to make these kinds of changes, and I doubt that the solutions will be very easy either. However, I feel it is incumbent on us all to remain active and continue to push against the line that says we are powerless to change things.

Voicing our displeasure through any possible means will be the only way we get policy makers in Albany to understand that spending is too high and taxes are too high.

I encourage you all to go to the petition link and sign it.

Ferry Fatigued, a Hovercraft, and the Monorail Episode from the Simpsons

2006-01-13T14:09:00.000-05:00

I'm having trouble getting myself to revisit the whole Fast Ferry situation. It isn't that I don't think it's news worthy, because given the amount of money and time that has been focused on it, this isn't something that should be swept under the rug. However, I also don't want this thing to consume us. There are larger and more pressing things out there. There are projects, like Renaissance Square, that will be forced to live in the shadow of the Spirit of Ontario's collapse. It's important to keep things in their proper perspective or else we run the risk of believing that nothing we do can improve our community. That simply is not true. The reality is that the Fast Ferry project had good intentions at its start, but quickly became about something else: pride. In this case, we proved the cliche Pride goeth before a fall completely true. Mayor Duffy brought the thing to end before things got even further off the tracks.

Many people, including myself, would have liked the ferry to get a fair shot at a full season, but in the business world there are no fair shots. The likelihood that it would have made a difference was small. The business plan should probably have anticipated losses for the first few years of operation. At least it would have had the virtue of being realistic.

Moving on, here's two related things.

Zinnfan, over at Zinnian Democracy, should have gotten an award for this post. I've waited, half-expecting and half-dreading, someone to mention the Simpsons episode where the town gets bamboozaled, "Music Man" style, into building a monorail. The similarities between Springfeild and Rochester were always somewhat alarming. As long as Rochester resists the urge to build an "escalator to nowhere".

Finally, at the end of it, we arrive at the idea of the Rochester to Toronto Fast-Hovercraft. That's when I know I'm fatigued with this whole business. Honestly, if the market will support it as a private venture, nothing would make me happier and it may just give this community some kind of positive closure. It's an interesting proposition that has only received some light reporting in this WROC news article with companion video.

Chapell, of East Rochester, proposes a hovercraft. It's a cross between an airplane and a boat, and can travel up to 80 m.p.h. Chapell says it would use 80 percent less fuel than the ferry, tickets would cost about $10 less, and it would get to Toronto in little more than an hour - twice as fast as the ferry.

"It's going to carry about 100 to 140 people, 10 to 12 cars and do it in an hour," Chapell said.

Perhaps the best selling point in a ferry-weary city is that the $10 million hovercraft would be privately-funded. Chapell says HTS has lined up half of the financing it needs.

"The business model is hands down better than the fast ferry," Chapell said. "Ours is the true fast ferry."

Chapell says HTS would need the city to commit to modest infrastructure improvements at the terminal and the port.

I'd be curious to know what kind of changes need to be made at the Port of Rochester and whether it would have a different environmental impact than the Ferry, but I'm skeptical. Given all that we've seen with this thing, don't show up on the scene and say, "I've got a better business model." We've heard it all before. Navigating the red-tape in these deals is more treacherous than any nautical dangers. Want to level with us? Recognize that fact right up front. But like I said, if you'd like to do it as a private venture? Nothing would make me happier that to see it work.

I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and by gum it put them on the map!

Warming to the Weather

2006-01-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's a little more gray today than it was yesterday, but you won't hear me complaining. An excellent day for a hike on the more finished trails at Highland Park and Genesee Valley Park. Given the fantastic tropical heatwave we've got going right now, breaking us from any potential cabin fever, I thought it would be a good chance to break from politics, economics, and all that other stuff and mention something a bit more universally positive: the Monroe County Parks.

Visit the Monroe County Park system homepage and check out the map here.

If you're a city dweller, don't feel left out. Rochester has a great page that tracks a list of all the metropolitian parks as well as trails.

Although the weather should chill considerably this weekend, it's being said that we could see a return to warm temperatures next week. No complaining about 9 months of snow this year. Get out there and enjoy this!

On the Rocks

2006-01-11T05:21:00.000-05:00

The city of Rochester is now out of the ferry business. This is a good thing. From the beginning I've been consistant one the fact that a government should focus on governing, not managing a venture better suited to the private sector. However, this is not how I was hoping it would play out. Some did. Some people in the city and county desired and anticipated the endevours failure. I can only imagine these are the same people that watch NASCAR for the crashes, get upset when the TV cameras avoid showing fights at NFL games, and complain about 5 months of snow in Rochester or a lack of snow, whichever position is counter to reality.

These people are going to have a very good day today.

Last night, Mayor Duffy ended the funding of the fast ferry from Rochester to Toronto. The decision, while painful for many, was the right one and easily justified. Simply put, the project had defied all estimates and projections when it came to things involving red ink, and the cost of maintaining it, of one more chances, was taking funding away from other projects that could be more successful. Simply put, it cost more than it was worth.

I understand some folks are going to be concerned with the question,"why approve a $9 million loan when another million would give the ferry another season?" The reasoning here is that $9 million is what it costs to put this boat down for the last time. Effectively, given one more season that fails, you've only deferred that cost as well as racked up another $10 million in additional debt. One way to look at it, is that Mayor Duffy had to decided between a loan to end the ferry of $9 million or a loan to end the ferry after one more season for $19 million (there are additional costs that would make this number higher than $19 million after 1 year, but we should keep this simple).

People will also likely decry that the ferry deserved a full season to show its value. I agree. There was a missed opportunity not having this boat running during the spring. However, if we want to track missed opportunities, weren' there many that we should consider? Pilotage fees on the order of $5000 a day were never resolved. How many riders a day paid money to cover that cost alone? It was wasteful. I'm not saying that it wasn't neccessary or that they weren't working to resolve it. What I'm saying is that the reality of this project wasn't planned for. The complexity of costs, rider demand, and the price structure wasn't realized by those that moved this project forward. Its a sad fact. A mistake I wish wasn't made. But one that will impact many municiple projects for years to come.

More on this later.

Rep. Slaughter to give national Radio Address this weekend

2006-01-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

I focus this blog squarely on New York state and Rochester related items. From the outset, I decided that because everyone there were so many blogs dealing with national politics, I wanted to go for the underserviced local route.

I also decided that I would cover an item at the federal level if it involved Rochester or the state. Well, I think this is the first time I'm employing that special privilege.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter will be giving the Democratic Radio address this weekend and she'll be speaking about the current Republican ethics scandal.

From her post at The Daily Kos:

Hi folks. Again, please only recommend this diary if you think others should see the information I'm posting.

I wanted to let you know that the Democratic leadership requested me to give our party's response to this weekend's (Saturday January 7, 2006) radio address of President Bush. While local radio stations do not carry this speech, the cable network channel C-Span will carry both starting at 2:50 p.m. You will also be able to listen and read my speech at the national Democratic Committee's web site.

The topic of my address is going to be what else - the Republican culture of corruption. Speaking of which, I am posting below a backgrounder I distributed to the national media on Jack and his Republican pals in Washington, making it clear - THIS IS A REPUBLICAN SCANDAL. Keep repeating this over, and over, and over again.

So, again please tune in this Saturday. Let me know what you think by posting your comments here.

Thank you again for making me so welcome to your wonderful community. -LMS

MYTH:

The Jack Abramoff scandal is a bipartisan scandal.

FACT:

The Abramoff scandal reveals the scope and depth of the corrupt Republican power structure that dominates Congress and Washington today:

Jack Abramoff personifies the Republican culture of corruption through cozy relationships (going well beyond giving out campaign contributions) between Republican Congressional lawmakers, various high level administration officials from government agencies, and the powerful lobbying interests in Washington's K Street. His central role in the numerous, inter-related scandals weave a web of corruption that exemplifies the dangers of one party rule, and one that is truly unique in its scope, nature and impact to the Republican Conference which runs both houses of Congress.

*Abramoff was a Bush "Pioneer," raising more than $100,000 for the President's reelection in '04.
*Tom DeLay once called Abramoff one of his "closest and dearest friends"
*Abramoff was a major part of the Republican's "K Street Project"
*All four lawmakers said to be under Justice Department investigation for the Abramoff scandal are Republicans (Ney, Burns, Doolittle, and DeLay)
*Nearly 2/3rd of contributions from Abramoff's tribal clients, Abramoff himself, his lobbying team, and their spouses from 1999-2004 went to Republicans.
*64 of the 72 skybox fundraising events held by Abramoff between 1999 and 2003, were put on for Republicans, many of them members of the House leadership, and many of them undisclosed.

JACK ABRAMOFF's REPUBLICAN RESUME:

HE AND HIS WIFE ONLY DONATED TO REPUBLICANS AND CONSERVATIVE PACS:From 1992-2004, Jack Abramoff and his wife personally donated $189,003 to Republican candidates, and $111,735 to Republican and conservative PACs. They donated no money to Democrats. [opensecrets.org]

A BUSH "PIONEER":Abramoff was a Bush "Pioneer," raising more than $100,000 for his reelection in '04. [R. Jeffrey Smith, "A High-Powered Lobbyist's Swift Fall From Grace," Washington Post, 8/12/05.]

MEMBER OF BUSH'S PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM:Abramoff was a member of Bush's Presidential Transition Team, "advising the administration on policy and hiring at the Interior Department, which oversees Native American Issues." [Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey, "Oil Dilemma," Newsweek Web-Exclusive Commentary, 4/21/05.]

TOM DELAY'S "CLOSEST AND DEAREST" FRIEND: Tom DeLay once called Abramoff one of his "closest and dearest friends." [Jeff Shields, "GOP's best friend could be its nightmare," Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/7/05]

CHAIRMAN OF THE COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Abramoff was chairman of the College Republican National Committee in the early 80's, where he met his longtime associates Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed. [Michael Crowley, "A Lobbyist in Full," New York Times, 5/1/05]

MAJOR PART OF THE REPUBLICAN'S "THE K STREET PROJECT": Abramoff was a major part of "The K Street Project," in which lobbying firms were pressured to hire and donate to Republicans. ''It was my role to push the Republicans on K Street to be more helpful to the conservative movement.'' [Michael Crowley, "A Lobbyist in Full," New York Times, 5/1/05]

NEARLY 2/3RD OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ABRAMOFF'S TRIBAL CLIENTS, ABRAMOFF HIMSELF, HIS LOBBYING TEAM, AND THEIR SPOUSES FROM 1999-2004 WENT TO REPUBLICANS: Of the $5,355,039 in contributions from Abramoff's tribal clients, Abramoff himself, his lobbying team, and their spouses from 1999-2004, 63.7% of it went to Republicans. [Derek Willis and Laura Stanton, "How Abramoff Spread the Wealth," Washington Post, 12/12/05]

ALL FOUR LAWMAKERS KNOWN TO BE UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION FOR THE ABRAMOFF SCANDAL ARE REPUBLICANS: All four lawmakers known to be under Justice Department investigation for the Abramoff scandal are Republicans (Ney, Burns, Doolittle, and DeLay). A former Bush Administration official has also been charged in the case. [Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi, "Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist," Washington Post, 11/26/05]

64 OF HIS 72 SKYBOX FUNDRAISING EVENTS BETWEEN 1999 AND 2003 WERE PUT ON FOR REPUBLICANS: Of the 72 skybox fundraising events held by Abramoff between 1999 and 2003, 64 were put on for Republicans, many of them members of the House leadership, and many of them undisclosed. [Susan Schmidt and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, "Tribal Money Linked to GOP Fundraising," Washington Post, 12/26/04]

ACCORDING TO THE HILL, BIGGEST FIGURES IN THE ABRAMOFF SCANDALS ARE ALL REPUBLICANS: In a December '05 article, The Hill listed the 17 biggest figures in the Abramoff scandal. All were Republican lawmakers, officials, and aides save one, a business partner of Abramoff's with ties to the mob. [Josephine Hearn, "High-stakes players who gambled at the table with Casino Jack," 12/7/05]

Rep. Slaughter has been an outspoken critic of House Republican ethics abuses for quite a while now. It's good to see our local representative gain some national prominence.

A Great Fast Ferry Piece

2006-01-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

Mike Caputo launched his newly re-minted Political Notebook site last month with little fanfare from this blog, which wasn't very sporting of me. However, I'm going to make sure to keep a close eye on the great material that Mike puts out and will steer you all over there accordingly. Which is to say, you should be surfing over there frequently.

Not waiting long to hit his digital stride on his new typepad home, Mike has already posted an interesting three part piece looking into how the Fast Ferry company is structured and the reasons why the City Council constructed the organization in that way. Mike Caputo is an accomplished journalist, having once worked at the Democrat and Chronicle, and is currently the News and Public Affairs Director at WXXI. He also hosts WXXI's Need to Know, and does columns for the Messenger-Post Newspaper.

If you only follow one Rochester-based blog, it is his you should be reading.

His Fast Ferry features are linked below:
Rochester Ferry Chronicles pt. 1
Rochester Ferry Chronicles pt. 2
Rochester Ferry Chronicles pt. 3

Pataki's Final State of the State Address

2006-01-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, New Yorkers saw Governor George Pataki give his final State of the State address. These addresses are usually fairly innocuous. After their delivery, most consideration deals with sifting through them to find anything that is remotely noteworthy. They are, generally speaking, wishful and hopeful. Two qualities that all our lives could use more of. However, they are fairly divorced from reality. I'm not coming down on the Governor for what was an optimistic speech. This speech was built on optimism. I'm only pointing out that both his perception of New York over the last 11 years and his vision for his last year do not track with reality.

First, I believe the Governor will run for President in 2008 and that he will also lose the race for the nomination quickly and without contention. The first he is already planning for, the second he needs to consider. Yesterday’s speech does little to further his ambition. I disagree with Assemblywoman Susan John who said:

"He is offering few new programs to revitalize our economy. To me, this seemed more like a speech aimed at the citizens of Iowa."

I don't see what that speech held in it for the people of Iowa or New Hampshire. Let's face it. Those folks want to see what we want to see: results. And the bottom line is that the Governor has done very little to improve things in New York. And the things that he did accomplish, notably Albany reforms, came much too late in his term to warrant him any special credit. No, it would seem that Governor Pataki did what he had to do at that point in order to satiate voters. He didn't lead us to the reforms, he was taken there kicking and screaming. So did the rest of the representatives in Albany. Both sides of the party lacked solid leadership in this achievement. It was an achievement in spite of itself.

And so that is the reality from where we sit in Rochester. The optimism is wonderful though. Optimism can be a powerful thing, because it can surge like breaking tide and carry us over rocks of disappointment that could break us apart. Considering it now, a positive pragmatism seems to be in very short supply here in western New York. Too often are we left to ponder the latest closings of businesses that have either migrated away or burned out. Everyday, we see the fallout from closing a budget gap, or another night of violence. These things hover about us like spirits while obscuring our vision of where the future leads us.

These are hard times in western New York. We do not feel like we live in "a stronger, safer, cleaner, more prosperous state than it's been in generations".

Given that, I do not fault the Governor for his optimism. I don't think I ever have. I find fault with him that he has never pursued his vision with enough vigor to see it carried out. It is not his vision, it was his execution. The hard times we face in western New York require big men* who sense that large problems require brave, bold solutions. Pataki was never willing to put too much of his own reputation on the line to solve these problems. This is why he won’t be regarded as much of anything in the long run, I’m sorry to say.

Let's hope our next Governor, whoever it may be, will not only have an ambitious vision for New York, but the courage and conviction to make it a reality.

*"big men" was used for its cadence. Don't get all up in my face about it please.

End-of-the-Year Type of Post

2005-12-29T20:15:00.000-05:00

The biggest current event story in the last week of the year always seems to involve reflecting back on events that are no longer current. Somehow the irony escapes everyone involved. Sorry if I just spoiled the mood by pointing it out.

For 2005, local TV newscasts are talking about how, for the 2nd straight year, the Fast Ferry was the top local news story. I've heard them say it just barely beat out the city Mayor's election. How do they figure this kind of stuff out? Some kind of poll, or do they actually look at the time used to cover the story? Either way, what's the point? Maybe it's just me, but I find this kind of navel-gazing fruitless and uninteresting. First, the idea that there is any kind of significance in a top news story of the year is kind of wishful thinking. Are we honestly to believe that when we look back at 2005, we're going to say to ourselves, "Ah yes... the second year of the Fast Ferry", as we look off in the distance with a thoughtfully wistful expression?

Seriously, this kind of pre-judging of history just looks silly in the long run. It's like being in 1977 and saying, "You know, I really think disco will never die."

So yeah. Let me allow all that to preface what I think was the biggest news story of 2005. Yes, I know what I just got done saying. If you haven't figured it out yet, I have no qualms concerning my role as a public fool. Consider it a service, and one that you get at a premium I might add. Instead of directing attention on the biggest news story, which could really be anything, the local news agencies should consider focusing on the news event of the year.

Let me tell you what that would be.

The biggest story of 2005 was the University of Rochester surpassing Eastman Kodak as the largest employer of the area. It's a significant milestone in a couple of ways. First, how long has this community ruminated over the fact that Kodak will someday be gone? And whatever are we to do when it leaves? Guess what. That day has come, my friends, and somehow we are still standing. I'm not trying to make it sound like there aren't rough roads ahead, because there are. My point is that 2005 marks a year that the transition from the 20th Century economy to the 21st started leaving some marks. Rochester has, for years, been hooked on the easy money from a Fortune 500 conglomerate. Weening ourselves off that gravy train and back into the hustle and flow of cultivating and growing businesses is what will turn things around for this area.

The fact that it's the U of R that is carrying the water for the local economy is a good sign. The increasing investment into the high-tech and bio-tech sectors will spill over into other aspects of economy and hopefully begin to buoy it. The real trick is capturing the intellectual property from U of R and RIT for local development. If the region can develop these start-ups and help foster an environment where they can get their legs, Rochester's chances of transitioning to a 21st Century economy begins to look a lot brighter.

Hopefully.

At least that's how I see it.

Oh yeah... and disco will never die. Happy New Year.

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All My Prayers...

2005-12-29T11:23:00.000-05:00

Hilton soldier, 21, killed in Afghanistan

I'm from Hilton. Although I don't know the Hasenauers, I know the village. I understand the pain that his family, friends, school mates, and the fire department must be dealing with.

Please give thoughts and prayers to his fiancee and 4 week old daughter.

NYS GOP DOA?

2005-11-17T16:13:00.001-05:00

I have a problem with New York State and Monroe County GoP Chairman Steve Minarik. That isn't news. When people in his own party have a problem with him, then that's news.

A LEADING national Republican, citing sweeping losses in last Tuesdays elections, has declared the New York GOP a disaster area and says shell close her enormous checkbook to the party next year.
...
"There was no investment in New York in developing future party talent, no investment made in building the partys future," added Mosbacher, the Manhattan-based CEO of Borghese, an international cosmetics firm.
"Who is responsible for this? You hold Gov. Pataki, [former state GOP Chairman] Sandy Treadwell, [current Chairman] Steve Minarik, all of them, responsible."
...
Asked if she planned to contribute to New York Republican candidates in 2006, Mosbacher responded, "Contribute to what? Im always ready to step up when theres something I believe in and see is worthwhile."

I'm looking forward to seeing Minarik on Need To Know going on about how encouraged he is by this year and how the GoP will sweep elections next year.... in Fantasyland.

City Newspaper Does an Election Postmortem

2005-11-17T16:13:00.000-05:00

City Paper posted Krestia Degorge's write-up concerning the fallout from the Monroe County elections. There is a strong emphasis on the Democrats reactions and very little in terms of Republicans. I think I have something I can post concerning the New York Republican fallout in a little bit.

I highly recommend it to anyone that is even remotely interested in party politics. Degorge does a great job covering multiple facets in the story.

Check out the article here.

Revisiting Medicaid

2005-11-17T07:59:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, State Assemblyman Dave Koon (D- Perinton, Penfield, Webster) was on the 1370 Connection on WXXI just taking calls concerning the election and general what-not. I built up a little nerve in the parking lot outside of Burlington Coat Factory in Henrietta and called in. I was the last caller taken.

I thanked the host, Bob Smith for taking my call and then directed my question to the Assemblyman. It was about Medicaid. My question was something like, "New York is number one with a bullet when it comes to state expenditures on Medicaid. We spend 33% more on the program than the next state, California, which has the 8th largest economy in the world. I'd like to know what the Assembly is doing, or what the Democrats are planning to do in order to rein these costs in?"

The Assemblyman didn't really evade the question or hemmed and hewed around it. He didn't really address it either. His answer concerned two things: the problem needs to be examined very closely, and they need to make changes without reducing the level of benefits. Host Bob Smith added to my question by addressing the potential that around 20% of state Medicaid expenditures are due to fraud. Again, the response was, it's something that needs to be looked at.

I'm not getting the impression that this is a real priority in Albany.

First, legislators need to start looking at the problem and finding ways to make sure that benefits are granted to those who need them. They shouldn't shy away from denying benefits to those who do not require assistance. By stating that we don't want to reduce benefits before even doing any serious accounting for where the cost centers are, is like tying our hands before we start bailing water out of our sinking boat. New York State is spends more than any other state. Why are we so out of alignment with states our size with similar demographics? This requires benchmarks. Ideally, we want to be right there in the middle of the pack.

Spending more than California should be a major wakeup call to everyone. Instead it's just not sinking in. The Rochester-based Rump Group has a great position paper concerning steps that can be taken to bring New York back in line with where it should be. The Democrat and Chronicle also runs special reports concerning Medicaid which they archive in one place. I highly encourage both social progressions and fiscal conservatives to examine these resources. This is a case where New York State can be doing more with less.

Furthermore, the allegations of fraud in the Medicaid system falls squarely to the State Attorney General to investigate and take action upon. Let it never be said I go easy on Democrats. Elliot Spitzer needs to tackle Medicaid fraud squarely in the next year or I will find it very hard to take him as a genuine advocate for the people of New York. I will not diminish the things he did on Wall Street, but if he isn't addressing the potential of fraud costing the tax payers of this state in the ballpark of $8 billion, I'm not sure what his motivations for seeking the Governorship are. I will tell you this, Golisano will be addressing Medicaid (he is a member of the previously mentioned Rump Group), Bill Weld will be addressing Medicaid (Massachusetts had sky-rocketing Medicaid costs before Weld reined them in. Now Massachusetts is considered one of the states New York should benchmark itself against.), and they will both look to Spitzer and ask why he hasn't done more to address the fraud in the system. It infuriates me to see Spitzer allowing such a huge opening for which his two major opponents will be able to directly flank him and hit him on a major issue.

What's more important though, is that the problem gets fixed. If Spitzer isn't willing to do it, he should sit down and get out of the way of people that are willing to. If that means I vote for someone else for Governor next year, than I'll do so happily.

Firefox versus Internet Explorer

2005-11-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

I use both IE and Firefox. Mostly I use IE at home because it's what my wife likes, and I like her to be happy. On my antiquated laptop, I've got Firefox and Opera because I'm doing the linux-using-rebel thing there.

Let me tell you, this blog and many other sites are rendered much better in Firefox. I was actually getting upset with how the site was layed out in IE and was considering changing some things, when I surfed over to it in Firefox. The left hand column is a more managable size, the links look and behave better, and the body content just reads better. That sounds kind of strange.... Yeah, I think reading my stuff in Firefox makes it better, which means Firefox makes me a better writer. It also makes me taller and better looking. Nevermind all that. Now I'm being silly.

If you haven't surfed using Firefox I highly recommend it. Surf over to www.getfirefox.com and download it. You really won't be sorry. I even replaced Outlook Express with their e-mail application, Thunderbird.

Back from the Dead

2005-11-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

Real life got in the way of this blog at the most inopportune time, keeping me away from giving my insight and commentary during one of the more interesting local elections in a very long time. That isn't really true though. I don't consider myself one of the liberal illuminati, one who electronically downloads what you should think directly into your soul by way of a Pentium chip. No, I'm probably a lot like you. I surf around, read some articles, and then respond to it. No ulterior motives other than I like to write. That's it.

That should be quite enough about me. I have better things to write about, and I insist that you must have better things you could be reading.

So let's get to the interesting stuff, shall we?

Over at The Political Notebook, Mike Caputo pens this article which takes stock in how things shook out following the election, and the fallout in the wake of Irondequoit supervisor upset. Democratic challenger Mary Ellen Heyman beat incumbent Republican David Schantz in what was likely the big upset of this year. Mike starts down an interesting path with this:

The County Legislature is still in the hands of the GOP, but they have a lot of new faces in the mix. Perhaps they will still have a common interest with County Executive Maggie Brooks' administration and they will let her take the lead. But maybe, if the budget situation remains bumpy, they will start breaking away.

But doesn't take it to its next logical step. With the tobacco settlement money gone, which I wrote of here, it will be increasingly more difficult to hold property taxes constant and continue to balance the county budget. This presents a real opportunity for competent democratic candidates to make inroads in the County Legislature. I think that is the greatest pitfall facing the Monroe County GoP, considering how much they've banked on their ability to keep property taxes low (or more accurately, their growth in check).

Caputo also teases at the fallout within the County Democrats ranks with the election of Duffy as Mayor.

It's progress. But Democrats still have to craft a message that will work in places outside the city. And the mayor's race picked at the scab of dissention among Democratic leaders. Should internal division linger over the next few years, and should the Duffy administration stagger out of the gate, well, that would make things far more difficult for the party in the coming years.

It could come to pass that if the county budget should start to give under its own weight, the message could craft itself. But there is some time before that happens.

Nico penned some results from around the 'Cuse and all of western NY that involved party changes like we got in Irondequoit. Also you can read the Prop 1 postmortem here.

Krestia Degorge still hasn't posted anything over at City Paper yet. When he does, I'll be sure to link to it.

What do I think about the elections? I'm flattered you asked. I think people made the right choices. Ultimately, with the exception of Irondequoit, people voted in favor of keeping things in the same hands as they were previously. Mayor-elect Duffy is the logical extension of the Johnson administration (which voters largely agreed with, Duffy being the only candidate that thought the city was on the right track), the county legislature stayed in Republican hands, and most towns continued dancing with the dates that brought them. This also indicated something else. Despite the spate of violence, Kodak's layoffs, and Delphi on life support, there hasn't been anything in the community that has really changed the dynamic of power. If anything, that should be a good sign that life in The Flower City is not as perilous as we sometimes think it is. Hopefully, things will improve. Whether they do or not, I promise I'll be around to say something about it.

"Shunned" or Just Not a Credible Candidate?

2005-11-02T14:52:00.000-05:00

According to this WXXI article by Alex Crichton, Chris Maj, the Red White and Blue candidate for Rochester mayor, claims he was "shunned by the leadership of the Rochester Rotary Club" by not being invited to participate in the Mayoral debate.

At the risk of sounding like a political elitist, I'm going to say some politically elite things.

There are times when non-viable candidates add value to the race. This is not one of those times. I admire Mr. Maj for his dedication and fortitude in his campaign for the mayor's office. I think it is important to realize, just as anyone can seek public office, you can't force everyone to sit there and entertain your ideas as if they have merit. Because, sadly in Mr. Maj's case, many of them don't.

Let's see what his website says. Some of these things aren't in the capacity of the mayor to accomplish. Hell, kings have had trouble accomplishing this much!

Develop a School of Agriculture to teach children how to grow their own food so we can make ourselves more self-sufficient. Use abandoned skyscrapers to grow food as hydroponic vertical gardens.

Increase student representation on the school board. Consider a completely student run school board as a complement to mayoral control of the schools.

Increase student representation on the school board. Consider a completely student run school board as a complement to mayoral control of the schools.

Create a 25% tax on all marijuana transactions. Require reasonably priced annual licenses for all marijuana producers. Only arrest those who fail to pay the fees or sell to children.

Make every roof a green one: plant a small garden on top of each building to prolong the life of the roof and create a beautiful skyline. Additionally, roofs with plants can reduce the need for air conditioning in the summer.

Seize all residential property not occupied by the owner within one year of the discovery of lead paint on the property, raze the building, and then turn it into a public vegetable garden. The use of eminent domain to seize delinquent landlord property is justified in the case of lead paint because of the proven harm it causes to children.

He has some fresh ideas, I guess you can say. Not sure what exactly this all accomplishes. If we make Rochester look like some Utopia-in-the-works, as if it were plucked out of some first-season episode of Star Trek (the original, because these ideas would so fit right in with Shatner's acting), would that really attract jobs to Western New York? Or would everyone hold their breath and wait for the mess that the student-run school board makes of things?

This one really stuck out for me:

Instruct city police officers to actively oppose federal or state interference by following new city ordinances that put non-violent drug possession crimes at the lowest level of enforcement priority. Allow for dumping of small amounts of drugs by the police. As of August, the California Highway Patrol has ordered its officers to stop confiscating medical marijuana during routine traffic stops, so an alternate strategy is legally possible. And if necessary, organize militias of city residents for protection from federal or state interference.

Uh, did he just say what I think he said? We are to.... wait for it... take up arms against state and federal officials? I think that's what he means. If not he should consider clarifying that. I mean, I have a degree in English and I'm a pretty good reader and all, but I hope I misread that.

Makes you wonder why he was shunned by The Rochester Rotary Club.

However, I am a silver lining kind of guy. I did like this:

Replace all city computer systems running Microsoft Windows and other proprietary operating systems with free and open source alternatives like the Free/Net/OpenBSD and GNU/Linux operating systems. Draft students from area universities to first assist city government officials in the process, and then keep them in the loop as the changes are rolled out to city schools. Provide them with housing incentives to stay and work in the city upon graduation.

Well, the market should be able to provide the housing incentives. But what I liked was deployment of opensource software. I suspect that there are real savings to be had by moving away from Microsoft related products and relying more on opensource and Linux based packages. I've switched over to openoffice.org in most of my home office uses and I'm very happy. My old laptop that could barely run Windows 98 is cruising wirelessly using Damn Small Linux, so he makes some sense here.

Not enough to get him an invitation to a debate, but still, good enough to get a nod from me. Which is nice.

What is Proposition One?

2005-10-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

With election day coming up, I haven't yet touched on Proposition 1 in a way I'm satisfied with. Let's take a swipe at this. Essentially, what Prop 1 is attempting to change is the budgeting process in a way that will both steer budget negotiations to conclusion while minimizing the economic impact of such a budget coming in late.

It slices, it dices...

NYPIRG supports Proposition 1 and they write a little about it here:

The vote on the budget reform amendment is less than two months away. NYPIRG, joined by our colleagues at Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, are urging the public to support the budget reform amendment (Proposal 1) and other proposals that are part of the package because it improves the state's budget process in three important areas:
• Transparency. The proposal requires greater openness in the development of the Governor's executive budget.
• Accountability. The proposal creates and independent budget office that will provide bipartisan fiscal analyses(sic).
• Certainty. The proposal creates a “contingency budget” (essentially the previous year's budget with some exceptions). The contingency budget kicks in when there is no budget agreement by the beginning of the fiscal year. This provision guarantees that a budget will be in place if there is no agreement on a new budget by the beginning of the fiscal year.
It is the third issue listed above that has generated the most controversy. The proposal has been criticized as a “power grab” by the legislature at the expense of the executive branch and been derided as inevitably leading to “runaway spending” by irresponsible legislators.

It doesn't sound too bad. They go on to say that New York is out of alignment with 46 other states in the Union whose budgeting process is more concentrated in the Legislature. At heart, Proposition 1 really wants to do good. However, it seems like you need to take a lot of bad the good here.

The most obvious problem I have with this is, if there is a “contingency budget” in place, that kicks in during the event of a late budget, what on Earth is the motivation for lawmakers to get the budget in on time? That's just one flaw with the concept. It gets uglier.

From upstateblog.net we get The Runaway Spending Amendment Homepage. You can go over there and cruise around it at you leisure. Marvel at their attempt to compile all the editorials that have come out against this proposition. Here's a nice summation of some points:

Does this sound like Budget Reform to you?

It does not require that the Legislature pass an on-time budget.

It gets rid of the requirement that lawmakers lose their paychecks when the budget is late.

And if the Legislature fails to pass an on-time budget, the Assembly and the Senate take control of the budget-writing process.

The Legislature has already added $12 billion to the budget in just 10 years. More budget power for the Legislature means more spending, which means more taxes. Is that what New York needs?

Which leads me to the one benefit of having the state executive ultimately responsible for the budget: you can blame him or her for it. Pissed at Albany overspending? Write the Governor. If it was the Senate and the Assembly? Good luck finding the guilty party. This kind of set-up gives those in the Legislature political cover for overspending. I can't fathom this will lead to lower spending and lowering the tax rate. I have a feeling that this concept will be going back to the drawing board after the election this November.

Additionally, I'd like to add how much I like NYPIRG. I think the organization and especially its members (politically active college kids) do some great things. We are just on different sides of an issue this time.

On the same subject, but in a lighter vein, WXXI has a good article concerning the Proposition 1 mascot, Porky.

No, it isn't the same guy from those movies in the '80s.

How Do They Know What Jesus Looks Like?

2005-10-28T05:50:00.000-05:00

We made national news, even being mentioned on my beloved Countdown on MSNBC. Why? Because people have seen Jesus's face in a maple tree on North Clinton Ave.

I think it's fortunate that it wasn't Elvis's face in that tree. Then everyone would think we were weird.

The Fast Ferry Report Card

2005-10-27T06:31:00.000-05:00

The 6 month report on the CAT, or Fast Ferry, is out. The numbers are worse than originally projected. For those of you who are either not from Rochester, or have managed to avoid listening to the news since.... oh, about forever here's a Democrat and Chronicle primer.

I just want to react to some things in the article.

The high-speed ferry between Rochester and Toronto lost $4.2 million through August, a progress report released Wednesday shows far surpassing initial projections of a $725,000 deficit in its first year.

The operating shortfall alone erases half of the $8 million cushion set aside for anticipated deficits in the first three years. What remains of the cushion, and what is needed long term, might not be sorted out until the ferry board releases its 2006 plan in December.

"We're actually within budget on expenses," said City Councilman and ferry board President Benjamin Douglas. "So it becomes a revenue issue."

The loss is not so much of the blow to the operation. Given a late start for the ferry, a lack of tour promotions because of the uncertainty of the start-up, the high price of fuel, and still paying piloting fees, the revenue shortfall isn't such a terrible thing. Oh, it is terrible though. It's terrible because it is so much greater than the original projection, and that it consumes so much of the fund set aside to finance future shortfalls. Given this information, I can't fathom that the Ferry can avoid requiring more cash from public sources in the near future. The indications here are that someone didn't get their numbers right. Unfortunate, but not impossible to understand. There are a lot of unknowns in getting this thing up and running, and the sooner that is understood, the less these choppy waves will cause us trouble.

Our esteemed Dean of the Simon School of Business, Mark Zupan, was able to weigh in on the report:

An important number, not included in the 13-page report, is the operating profit or loss in August, said Mark Zupan, dean of the University of Rochester's William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration.

Zupan said operators must define their plan to hedge future energy costs.

Which makes a lot of sense. I'm curious as to what kind of hedging Bay Ferries has in place for its fuel costs, and whether the Rochester CAT is part of that hedge, or if the city is responsible for any fuel hedges. A hedge is essentially financial insurance constructed with marketderivativess, notes, eyes of newt, and other icons of monetary witchcraft. In this case, you want to buy something that will keep the price of fuel from going too high. You'd rather pay for some insurance you don't use than expose yourself to the risk of increasing fuel costs. I;d be very interested to see what the hedge they had in place was, and what they intend to do about it.

I want WHO Living Next Door?

2005-10-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong. I want Senate candidate Pirro to have a respectful performance come November 2006. I firmly believe that if she gets at least 30% of the vote, she should consider it a personal victory of the highest order. I also think it is in her capacity to make it happen.

However, not when she says stuff like this:

During a speech to Chemung County Republicans on Tuesday night, Pirro continued her criticism of the Democratic-controlled state Assembly for its refusal to adopt legislation that would civilly confine violent sex offenders after their prison sentences end.
"That's a difference between Democrats and Republicans _ we don't want them next door molesting children and murdering women," said the Westchester County prosecutor, according to Wednesday's Elmira Star-Gazette newspaper.

Yeah, that's the difference. I'm glad she highlighted that so elegantly. That example should be used in High School Civics Classes. Well done Madam.

The Runaway Spending Amendment

2005-10-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

I haven't written about this at all but I need to in the next month. On the list of Top Ten Bad Ideas for New York State, this is number one with a bullet. Here is a great description of the Runaway Spending Amendment courtesy of Let Upstate Be Upstate or Upstateblog.net, whichever rolls better off your tongue.

For latecomers to the issue, some background: The Runaway Spending Amendment is a proposed constitutional amendment that will be put before New York's voters on Election Day next month. It is being touted by state legislators as "budget reform," but most fiscal-policy experts, think tanks, past state budget directors, current, past, and wannabe governors, editorial pages, and academic authorities on New York State government are condemning it with a wide range of objections. Our September study on the proposal concluded that it would virtually guarantee late budgets every year, make big budget gaps more frequent, and lead to even higher taxes and debt.

I would link to the whole write-up, they don't quite support permalinks yet. Write them and tell them they should.

The RSA is a BIG mistake. I hope that voters realize it.

Looking Back on the Democratic Primary

2005-10-14T14:32:00.000-05:00

I've been putting off touching on Krestia Degeorge's City paper article concerning the Democratic Mayoral primary for a while, mostly because I couldn't hammer down what I wanted to say about. The reason I had trouble is that Degorge manages to do some pretty thorough reporting and there isn't much left to say about it.

The political reporting in the The City is usually pretty good. Reading it is a good way to come by some information that you may not get through mainstream sources. This article is no exception and is a must read if you want to get a feel for how the local Democratic party is doing.

I heard about the Norwood t-shirts with the cautionary "Don't Sell Out", but the article comes with other details:

Speaking to the Democrat and Chronicle in the aftermath of his protage Wade Norwood's defeat, Assemblymember David Gantt cited race as the deciding factor. And that's true --- to a point. The districts Norwood took are majority black districts, just as those Duffy carried tend to be mainly white. But a closer look at the numbers shows that Duffy made inroads into predominantly minority communities; Norwood's margin of victory in the three districts he carried was less the Duffy's in many of his districts.

And race wouldn't be as huge an issue for the recuperating party if it hadn't been actively used in the campaign.

City Councilman Adam McFadden drew heavy criticism for creating Norwood shirts bearing the slogan "Don't sell out." They were widely viewed as being targeted at African Americans considering voting for Duffy. The comments section of WHAM radio talk-show host Bob Lonsberry's website sprouted racist attacks on Norwood. That in turn prompted the Norwood campaign to criticize Duffy for not distancing himself from Lonsberry. And Norwood received the last-minute blessing of civil-rights activist Al Sharpton. (Whether this helped or hurt is unclear; in New York City, which is big enough to have regular polls on this kind of thing, Sharpton's eleventh-hour endorsement of Fernando Ferrer appears to have hurt him more among whites than it helped him among blacks.)

We want race problems to go away so much that sometimes we put blinders on to it. Maybe we need to talk about it more. However, in this case, I find it hard to think that race was a major factor. Duffy wouldn't have been able to cobble together much of a win without cross-over appeal. I don't care much about color myself. In this case, it has more to do with who is aligned with Gannt and McFadden. I support Mayor Johnson, and, last time I checked, he was black. No big deal.

That would look good on a t-shirt: Skin Color? No Big Deal.

Back to the article though. I don't think this will be much of a blow to Morelle. As has been discussed on these pages, the slate of candidates were already in place before Morelle took control of the party. Understandably, he still hails from the faction of Gannt and company, so just because I don't think he'll hang for the primary results, he still could hang for something else.

Regardless of that, Morelle has done a good job with outreach and fund raising. The website is still a mess though, but that'll have to change soon. That party will get through this and will likely be stronger for it. However, I don't foresee the kind of lockstep automation that exists in the GOP.

Speaking of websites and the GOP check out their opening flash animation on their homepage. I won't link to it, for the same reason I don't touch dead rats, because of filth and disease. But go to monoroegop.com and check out where they put their emphasis with that animation.

.22 caliber minds living in a .357 world

When Democrats Attack....Poorly

2005-10-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

So Tom Golisano has switched parties and is now a registered Republican. He hasn't announced his run for Governor yet, but he hasn't denied it yet either. None of this is shocking.

What I find shocking is the immediate response by the New York State Democratic party. The state party, the their infinite depth and sagely wisdom, attacked Mr. Golisano right out of the gates, pointing out the chasm that has existed in the past between Golisano and the power holders of the state GOP. Here's a few nuggets of political hackery:

Â· In 2002, the Golisano campaign derided the State Republican Party as a Âspecial interest slush fundÂ of Pataki. (Golisano Campaign Press Release, 10/26/02)

Â· During the 1998 GovernorÂs race, Golisano called Pataki's fiscal policies ÂinsaneÂ and said Pataki was Âoperating the state government like a compulsive credit card user.Â (Syracuse Post Standard, 11/5/98; AP, 10/28/98)

Â· ÂI will not stand by and let Pataki, with his irresponsible borrowing, put New York State at financial risk while he tries to buy the election with taxpayer dollars and lays the groundwork for his own future, including a possible presidential run,Â said Tom Golisano (Buffalo News, 10/1/98)

Â· Golisano accused Governor Pataki for increasing the debt, saying, ÂWhile the U.S. economy was robust, the Pataki administration increased its spending and increased the StateÂs debtÂ Now, with the world financial community nervous about its future and many economies on the downturn, is New York State in a position to weather a possible storm?Â (PR Newswire, 10/7/98)

Â· During the 1998 gubernatorial election, Golisano criticized Pataki for ruining the stateÂs fiscal situation, saying PatakiÂs Âfinancial irresponsibilityÂ was catching up with the state and had given New York Âthe second-worst bond rating in the nation.Â (PR Newswire, 10/22/98)

Â· Golisano accused Gov. Pataki of opposing medical marijuana Âbecause the governorÂs campaign and the state GOP have taken over $220,000 from the pharmaceutical industry, which Golisano said could lose money in the sale of painkilling drugs if marijuana were legalized for medical use.Â (Buffalo News, 10/17/02) Golisano said the governorÂs opposition was Âbecause he is in the pocket of the big drug companies who stand to lose money if medical marijuana is made available.Â (New York Times, 10/17/02)

Talk about a huge miscalculation and a big mistake. First, I agree with most of what Golisano is saying. I understand State Democratic party Chair Herman Farrell is trying to illustrate the differences that Golisano has with his new party, but at the same time, that press release suddenly gives Golisano a lot of cross-over appeal to moderate Democrats, especially western New Yorkers with whom Golisano will be incredibly strong. This press release gave Golisano an opening to claim having political outsider status, outside special interests, and not being beholden to his parties power elite. This kind of thing will resonate given the dissatisfaction that most New Yorkers feel about Albany.

Furthermore, releasing this laundry list aimed at Golisano, before the heat of the Republican primary can even be felt, gives all the other GOP candidates cover to use this stuff during the primary. People keep track of who goes negative and begins throwing the mud. Now, everytime a GOP candidate brings the stuff on this list up, they can say "The New York State Democratic party pointed out...." They can tar and feather Golisano at will and mention the word "Democrat" in every attack. Image counts for a lot, especially concerning how a party handles a primary. By firing first, the Democrats may end up wearing the Black Hat that smore ofhave been worn by one or moreof the GOP contenders.

Additionally this looks absolutely embarrassing and petty. Let me explain more clearly. Going negative first in a campaign is a sign of weakness and lack of vision. I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a political romantic, candidates and their organizations should be so busy describing why they're running for office, they don't have time to waste talking about the other people running. To me, this says that the Democrats are scared of Golisano. And by attackinginadvertentlyly, they may have inadvertaaggravateswered him.

What agrivates me even more about this is how the Dems just dumped it out in the media as soon as Golisano switched signed up with the GOP. I understand they wanted to get their stuff in on the same news cycle as the party change. I'm sure someone at Dem Headquarters thought their laundry list of Golisano transgressions would be repeated in the media. Instead what they got for their efforts is a sentence or two concerning Democrats "attacked" Golisano.

Democrats attacked somebody for switching parties? Good job. That's a lovely image. I cringe when I see the words Democrats and attack in the same sentence. Too often it makes me think of fights involving hair-pulling and open-handed slapping.

Golisano Updates Webpage. Important or Just a Slow News Day?

2005-10-10T14:56:00.000-05:00

Several local news sources such as this article in the Democrat and Chronicle are indicating that Tom Golisano has updated his webpage from his past run for Governor. Tea leaves are being read right now that indicate this is a signal that he'll be announcing in the coming days that he'll run for Governor as a Republican.

It must be a slow news day. It seems to me that this is practically a sure thing, and to attempt to inject this "edge of your seat" kind of suspense into almost crosses over into melodrama. Writing about whether there are signals out of the Golisano camp about a run is really a "bury the lead" kind of story. I like Mr. Golisano. He's done great things in Rochester. I'm not quite there with him on the whole Down-With-Windmills thing, as the arguments I've heard against it are somewhat short-sighted. But, on the whole, he's a good man who is concerned with the community.

I can write him a love letter later, though. What I want to talk about, and what the D&C should be reporting on is the fact that Golisano is a bit of an upstart to the current NY Republican establishment. To make that story even more interesting, the State GOP chair is our own local Chair Steve Minarik, a man who is always fun at parties. Minarik is one of those politicos that publicly states he doesn't like primaries and has spoken publicly about his enthusiasm for a Weld candidacy.

Furthermore, Tom Golisano did little to ingratiate himself with the state GOP power-elite with is numerous runs for Governor as a third party candidate. I will expect him to draw considerable fire from longtime state Republicans as a "Johnny-Come-Lately". Honestly, if Nixon son-in-law Ed Cox seeks the Governor nomination instead of the Senate nomination, I see no way Golisano can win the primary. Cox will consolidate the Conservative wing of the party, Weld will tap into the power-brokers who enticed him over from Massachusetts, and Golisano will be left with very little support, while I imagine, campaigning on more substance than any of them.

Seems like a like a lot of trouble to go through just to get creamed by Elliot Spitzer.

Regardless, I promise to try my absolute best to refrain from making any Don Quixote jokes when writing about Mr. Golisano and ~~his crusade against the windmills~~ errr.... his quest to win the Republican nomination for Governor.

30 Rochester soldiers come home today

2005-10-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

Welcome home!

Incoming Irony Attempt: Tools Needed to Take Down the Store

2005-10-04T14:36:00.000-05:00

All Chase-Pitkins will close in 2006.

“The industry is dominated by a small number of very large national players with thousands of stores, and Chase-Pitkin is simply not big enough to compete successfully and grow the business,” Chairman Robert B. Wegman said in a printed statement released today.

Kind of sad, but not unexpected. There was no way that the local hardware-store chain could compete, even in its own backyard. Chase-Pitkin has always been good for swinging by to grab something to finish a project late on the weekend. You knew you could get in, and then get out without any friction. Not so much at those other big chains.

A Primary Fight for Slaughter?

2005-09-23T07:31:00.000-05:00

I do not have a subscription to the Capital Hill news magazine, Roll Call. Doing so would seriously damage my credibility as an "outside-looking-in beltway-outsider who is a double-secret-outsider" kind of guy.

However, since I don't have access, I have to do this the hard way and quote a quote from a second-hand source. It appears Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of the NY-28th has a primary challenger from Buffalo.

From Roll Call (subscription required)

And in the 28th district, which extends from Buffalo to Rochester, Buffalo City Councilman Antoine Thompson (D) is expected to challenge Rep. Louise Slaughter in the Democratic primary.(...)
At 35, Thompson is less than half the Congresswoman's age; Slaughter turned 76 last month.

Thompson also is preparing to run at a time when black politicians in Buffalo are ascendant; state Sen. Byron Brown (D) is the frontrunner to become the city's first black mayor in November's open-seat race.

"I think we're in for a very spirited contest," said Joe Illuzzi, publisher of Politicswny.com, a Web site and monthly magazine on politics in Western New York. "Louise will have her hands full. There's no question about it."

In a phone interview this week, Thompson would not confirm that he is running.

"We're thinking about it," he said. "We'll give it some careful consideration."

But sources said Thompson is putting together fundraisers for a Congressional run and is telling acquaintances that he plans to raise $500,000 for the primary. He is scheduled to attend the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's legislative conference in Washington, D.C., later this week, where he is expected to huddle with party leaders.

Eric Burns, a spokesman for Slaughter, said the Congresswoman is focusing on her official duties these days.

"We've certainly heard the rumor [about Thompson], but it's way too early to speculate about who's running and who isn't," he said. "The one thing we know is Rep. Slaughter is running for re-election and that she is going to be re-elected."

Slaughter, ranking member of the Rules Committee, was sitting on $390,000 in her campaign account as of June 30.

But while she has the advantages of 10 terms in Congress, Slaughter's base has always been Rochester, and she's still not terribly well known in the Buffalo portion of her district, which she picked up after redistricting in 2002. What's more, minorities make up 38 percent of the district and probably an even bigger share of the Democratic primary vote.

Whether Thompson is trying to gain a leg up on other potential successors to Slaughter is hard to say. Slaughter shows no signs of slowing down, and it is widely expected that she will seek to stay in office at least until the next round of redistricting, when the Buffalo area could lose one of its three House seats.

I'm not surprised. Ms. Slaughter has served for years and must be considering retirement. I believe (and I have NO inside information on this) that this will be her last election. For a few months I've been looking at the field trying to see what could be bubbling up. I was even planning a post that fingered Joe Morelle as positioning himself to run for the seat, a move that I could enthusiastically support. However, like someone looking so far ahead they don't see what they're about to step into, I overlooked someone running against her now to get a jump on name recognition.

That's because name recognition will be key for this seat. That's why I figured Assemblyman Morelle was eyeing the seat when he took double duty as the Monroe County Chair. You've got Rochester and Buffalo that will be going head-to-head for this seat. It's going to make the Amo Houghton primary in the NY-29th look like a Junior Varsity affair. I have heard a whisper or two that it is half-expected that Rochester will lose this seat to Buffalo. I don't know about that. Buffalo has its own problems, and two years is a long time. As it stands, the only two Rochesterians I can see having a shot for this seat is Assemblyman Morelle and Mayor Johnson.

Then again, I'm not really in the know, am I?

I'd be interested to hear what you all think.

One thing is for certain. I will miss Congresswoman Slaughter. She has represented the region well and has done us a service for a very long time. I imagine there is a stretch of road somewhere that will get named after her. Too bad she wasn't an astronaut. Then we could name a school after her.

Monroe Republicans Prove They Are Republicans

2005-09-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to solidify their ties to their national party, Monroe County Republicans distributed obfuscatory campaign material that downplayed the fiscal trouble of the county while insinuating that the budget had been balance without raising the tax rate.

The Democrat and Chronicle article can be found here does not really dig too deeply into the charges that Monroe Democrats have weighed against the Republicans. In fact, the Dems don't do much else about it on their Monroe County Democratic Committee homepage. I think they missed an opportunity to frame this with a press release that can really cut through the murky kind of coverage that the D&C gave it. As much fun as beating a dead horse is, I'm getting tired of pointing out the Monroe Democrats would be well served by starting up an official blog in order to put a voice on the local party.

All that is beside the point. This brochure is generally misleading while being fundamentally true. You may recall the tobacco settlement money? Yes, I'm referring to the $142.6 million that went up in smoke, as one may quip.

The D&C article concerning the campaign brochure contains this passage:

For new Republican candidates in this year's contests, the campaign handout includes a statement by County Executive Maggie Brooks that says, "I am proud that we are balancing the Monroe County budget without raising property taxes."

However, I find that statement to be misleading when contrasted with this quote from the latter tobacco settlement article:

But other projects that officials initially designated for tobacco money funding Â a juvenile justice center, a soccer complex and a major expansion of the Seneca Park Zoo Â were shelved in the face of the county's financial difficulties.

And $35.9 million of tobacco funds initially slated for projects were rerouted in 2003 to plug a gap in the county budget.

The point that Republicans are trying to make here is that they're responsible with the budget and found a way to make ends meet without hitting the voters up for more cash. And that is kind of true. True enough where they want credit for it that they can take to the bank and get votes out of it. However, they don't fill you in on the reality. They did a one-time deal. They cannot do it again, because they tapped that well dry. By balancing the budget with limited funds, they produced a golden egg by killing the goose without telling anyone that was the last one. This is like going out on a first date with a rented sports car, a hand tailored suit bought on credit, eating at restaurantnt you can never afford again; all done to position yourself for a second date. Nevermind the fact you completely fabricated who you are in order to get that second date. In this case, and for most of Steve Minarik's party, it is about fooling the voters and giving them half of the truth.

I don't know about Maggie Brooks and Steve Minarik, but my mom taught me that half a truth is still a lie.

Rochester's Nightlife

2005-09-21T10:16:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I missed this article.

USA Today did a write-up on Rochester nightlife on the 15th. I liked it. I can't be the only one that has noticed that lifetime Rochesterians are the ones who more often overlook the unique and interesting things our city offers. I hope this gets included in the material that gets circulated when recruiting young people to area businesses.

Over $40 Billion

2005-09-21T07:07:00.000-05:00

New York is number One with a bullet, when it comes to Medicaid expenditures among states. $40 billion is nothing to sneeze at. The second highest state is California with a little over $30 billion. We win by close to a quarter spread... Kind of hard to get your mind around that.

So, according to a Democrat & Chronicle editorial in today's paper, our legislators in Albany are taking it on in their usual manner. Namely, they rail the other party for whatever they can tacitly blame them for and do nothing to solve the problem.

I've blogged this before here, and I'm sure I will again in the future. In order to solve the problem, you need to identify the problem. That does not mean raking anyone over hot coals. So, no. These people, Democrats or Rebublicans, are not doing anything to reduce what we have to pay in our taxes in a healthcare system crippled by bloat.

I'm not too sure if anyone else blogs about the Medicaid problem in this state. One Western NY blogger can't do it. But maybe as I do it, I can get The Buffalo Pundit, NYCO, and Democracy in Albany talking about it more. And if our blogs start buzzing about it, maybe The Daily Gotham might pick up the torch. Who knows? Suddenly, NY conservative bloggers realize the progressive blogs are all talking about reducing a major state budget item that would profoundly reduce our tax rate, and they get in on the action. Then we have a watershed moment where people put aside their party in order to fix a major freaking problem that is killing the state economy.

Yeah. It's a pipe dream. Some say I'm a dreamer. I hope I'm not the only one.

Mayor's Race: What did it mean?

2005-09-15T07:10:00.000-05:00

The dust is settling now. After a contentious primary, that always had more lurking beneath the surface than anyone really let on, as certainly as the sun will rise tomorrow, Bob Duffy will be the next Mayor of Rochester. John Paranello is more likely to don a cape and tights and stalk the streets at night, than beat Duffy in the general election. That isn't what I want to address here though. I want to get back to talking about what lurks beneath the surface.

Last month I had written concerning a City paper article which touched on factions in the Monroe County Democratic Party. The post can be found here if you want to check out my writing via Professor Peabody's Way-Back Machine.

Here's the gist if you don't want to take the jaunt at the link:

I want to focus on the city budget and the race for Rochester's Mayor.
Take this other article from the Democrat and Chronicle. The first part of the article begins by playing the "Pin the Tail on Albany" game, which I love by the way. However, we then get to this gem and a quote from Mayor Bill Johnson:
However, Johnson this week leveled accusations that the money was deliberately held up after the intervention of some City Council members.

"People are paying higher taxes for what may have been a political decision," Johnson said. "It's tragic that someone thought that by holding up this money, they thought they could take political advantage for one of the (mayoral) candidates."

That is quite a charge to level. And where does it come from? Well, mayoral candidate Wade Norwood comes from the political circle of Assemblyman David Gantt, who was the point legislator for this additional money. What could Norwood gain by getting Gantt to slow the state money's delivery into city coffers? Maybe to create an opportunity for Norwood by timing the delivery of the money? Or is this more about throwing mud on the Mayor? There is this from WHEC on the back and forth between Gantt and Mayor Johnson:
Assemblyman David Gantt said not getting the money from the state is the mayor's fault. Gantt says the mayor took too long to request the spin-up money. At Tuesday night's city council meeting, the mayor blamed Gantt, saying he needed to push a harder.

And I had this in there, too...

Former Monroe County Democratic Chairperson Molly Clifford was a major supporter of Mayor Johnson.

Councilman Wade Norwood is State Assemblyman David Gantt's former Chief of Staff.

Clifford stepped down from the Chair role after alleged problems with Assemblyman Gantt.

Clifford is currently running Bob Duffy's campaign. Assemblyman Joseph Morelle has since replaced her as Party Chairperson after stepping down as Wade Norwood's campaign chairperson.

What we saw yesterday, and indeed the entire primary race, is symptomatic of a party with significant divides. The question is: over what? And that question shouldn't go unanswered. Since Mayor Johnson won the Mayoral primary back in 1993, the defragmentation of the Democratic Party has not abated. I would say, given the rumored reasons for Molly Clifford's sudden departure from the Monroe County Democrat Chairperson position, those fault lines still exist and are as agitated as ever, despite Wade Norwood's indication otherwise during the campaign. Indeed, the outcome of that entire fiasco puts former Norwood campaign chairperson Joe Morelle in charge of the County party, while the departing Clifford will likely follow Duffy to City Hall.

What the heck is going on?

As far as I can tell the significant camps derive from Gantt and Johnson. Gantt as the old guard, and Johnson as the upstarts. I don't find myself particularly alarmed by any of this to tell the truth. You'll always find yourself dealing with conflicts within any party system. Especially when the party in question deals more with what action to take, instead of what things shouldn't be done.

The real problem here is that the new party chair has indicated on more than one occasion that he does not want to see party primaries. Look, Joe Morelle is a good Assemblyman, a profound , and probably an excellent leader for the party. The problem is that he shouldn't ever try to be a king maker, or so blatantly try to set certain handpicked candidates above others. All members of the party have a say in this, and if we want to primary, then, by damn, we will.

Rochester Mayoral Race Will End the Moment it Begins

2005-09-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

The City paper has a crib sheet here for the Democratic primary for mayor tomorrow. The City paper write up is a little too simple for my tastes and falls into a "Quality A is bad for this reason, but good for this reason" kind of rhythm, but it does raise a few points worth some discussion. First and foremost, I think they have Councilman Norwood pegged down well. I have no personal issues with Norwood and I think he has served honorably. I hope he continues to seek office regardless of the outcome tomorrow. However, I cannot find support for him as Mayor. The truth is that I find his career-long association with Assemblyman Gantt problematic. Things that I've heard about Gantt have always made me question whether he operates with his constituents' interests at heart. I don't know. But the recent dust-up between Mayor Johnson and him when finalizing the city budget gave me little reason to change my mind.

I don't know if I have the right to make any kind of endorsement for Mayor. I doubt it matters. If I could choose one person to run the show at City Hall for the next four years, I would have to choose the man that is there right now without giving any pause for consideration. Mayor Johnson has faced some difficult times, made tough decisions, and weathered some sharp criticism. Good leaders often face that. Under Johnson's stewardship, Rochester has seen some significant changes to its economic climate as well as its demographic make-up. Understanding the challenges that the future will bring, Mayor Johnson worked to develop a plan for the future with the 2010 Plan, create in-roads to area businesses by working with the Rump Group, and create a more hospitable political climate by partnering with County Executive Brooks. He has been a capable and accountable Mayor. Rochester was lucky to have him.

Now, as surely as Johnson will leave office, the winner of tomorrow's Democratic primary will win the November election for Mayor. None of the candidates appear to be able to fill Mayor Johnson's shoes, but one must be hopeful that what we don't know about these men, may surprise us.

It is my hope that Bob Duffy wins tomorrow's primary election. His executive experience, his ability to speak out, and his willingness to reach across all aspects of a community make him the most suitable candidate for the office.

Chris Maj: Some say he's a dreamer...

2005-09-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

While I think it is great that young people are running for office, I wish Mr. Maj had a little more understanding of what he's running for. He's clearly an idealist. I won't knock him for that. I wish I could more idealistic. He may, possibly, be a visionary. It's debatable, and I'm not inclined to agree with that assesment, but I'll leave that out there because I'm sure someone will believe he is.

What's the point?

Mr. Maj needs to understand that by running for Mayor he is asking people to follow his lead. As a leader people want maturity, understanding, and sound judgment. I haven't seen this to a great degree in his campaign. I hope in later years, we see Mr. Maj again, and he displays more of these qualities.

Back From the Dead...

2005-08-16T06:29:00.000-05:00

I haven't been particularly faithful to the handful of people that wander through these parts. The long and the short of it is that after a disgusting performance on a Market Research midterm, I've been focusing all of my time on school and my mildly pregnant wife.

But fear not, for I bring good news.

My finals are over after Saturday the 20th, so I'll be back with daily updates, as well as a new and improved Friday Night Thing.

The unannounced hiatus is over. Round two begins with some bouts of shameless self-promotion!

2005-08-05T07:56:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Mods, Ratings, and Video Games

2005-07-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

This is not Rochester related at all. So if that's all you like, feel free to leave and come back for a Rochester related post later in the day. Right now I want to talk about Hot Coffee.

I used to be a hard-core video game player. If I had the time, I'd likely still be one. Time gets short, things take priority, and now my XBox sees more DVDs than games, my PC's video card drivers are outdates, and my Dreamcast lies in the basement, unpowered and unloved.

Still, things like this "Hot Coffee" mod for the new Grand Theft Auto game gets me upset. I'm not going to argue back and forth on who needs to be responsible for this mess. To be honest, in this case it depends on a lot of things. If "Hot Coffee" is merely some code that unlocked hidden content, I believe Rockstar (the games developer) should get hogtied, tarred, and feathered. For two reasons: this is a game that is fairly risque in the first place. We're talking about killing cops, selling drugs, and beating women. When you are being controversial, the last thing you want to do is hide more controversial things in your code.

It's one thing to create a game that is risque, present it for a rating, get a rating, and go on your happy way. That turns bad when later people find things that could alter your rating even more. It becomes a trust issue. As a parent, I want to know that the rating on the package is significant. In this case, Rockstar might have compromised that trust.

However, if this is a mod, then parents just have to know what their kid is doing. Well, parents need to know what their kid is doing anyway. And if you're letting your child play any Grand Theft Auto game, I'd seriously consider that poor parenting. These games, while well crafted, are horribly corrupt things, without any redeeming characters. They make the Godfather look like a Disney movie.

So the bottom line for me is that this is really about the Game Ratings System. Someone isn't doing their job when it comes to controlling access to these games. Whether it is deceiving the raters, or not paying attention to what your kid has, the bottom line is that this problem won't go away until people care enough to know more about the problem.

Also I'd like to add that The Christian Science Monitor is one of the best sources of news available in the United States. Don't let the name fool you. There isn't any kind of religion in their reporting. They also have some fantastic international coverage. The article linked to above is probably one of the most fair I've read on a subject that most journalists use to play on the fears of the parents.

Rump Group Issues Mayoral Candidates a Final Exam

2005-07-15T06:16:00.000-05:00

It sounds much more absurd than it really is. While the Rump Group calls this document which has been issued to the candidates a "survey", it really comes across as an exam to measure whether the candidates are in agreement with Rump Group position papers. That may sound strange to some people, as it did to me. Stranger still, I think it's a good idea. Yes, if one is familiar with the Rump Group and their position papers, you can see this merely is a barometer to measure how in agreement the candidates are with the group. However, the survey provides voters some salient details without spin. Some of these questions require answers I'd like to see, such as:

1. Do you support providing a single point of contact for businesses in Rochester to work with in matters of permitting, zoning and other city government issues? (yes or no)

2. Business investments, expansions and relocation decisions often involve city permits and other applications. The amount of processing time to approve these projects greatly affects the cityÂs business climate. As Mayor, would you be willing to benchmark against comparable cities and implement an approval process which guarantees approval for city permits and other applications within
30 days or less? (yes or no)

3. Do you support special tax incentives to stimulate retailing in the central business district, such as suspension of sales taxes or the establishment of a Business Improvement District? (yes or no)

4. a. Do you think the establishment of a casino in downtown Rochester should be strongly considered as part of our economic development strategy? (yes or no)
b. Should we strongly consider the establishment of a casino elsewhere in the five-county area? (yes or no)

5. If current city revenues from the sale of water will be maintained, do you support the merger of City and county water authorities in Monroe County? (yes or no)

6. What single economic development project is your top priority Â either a new or existing project? (No more than 10 words)

No more than 10 words? Is there a time limit? Does the survey require using a Number 2 pencil? What happens if they don't use a Number 2 pencil?

These are practical questions that lend themselves to practical answers. If the candidate merely dances through these questions, it'll be easy to spot. But if the candidate has some vision, this is an opportunity for it to shine through. It can also be an opportunity for a candidate to make some waves by coming out squarely opposite to some Rump Group view. I'm not advocating that strategy mind you. I find myself thinking the Rump Group are on the right track 90% of the time. Just the same, if your campaign is spinning its tires, sometimes swinging for the fences can get you farther than just hoping for a base hit. I think I just fulfilled my quota for bad cliche's right there...

The two questions that come near the end are the ones I'm most eager to read the results of:

20. If the city received an incremental revenue increase of $5 million, what would be your first priority for using the money? (specify tax reduction, a Ârainy day fundÂ reserve, or a specific program or department you would fund -- no more than 10 words)

21. If the city received an incremental revenue decrease of $5 million, what would be your first priority for dealing with the shortfall? (specify tax increase, borrowing,or a specific program or department you would cut -- no more than 10 words)

What are the safe answers here? Are there any? I can imagine, given recent events public safety will figure into the first question. Throwing money at a problem is as old as politics itself, but the second question raises my eyebrow. What is there left to triage? The ferry? After all we've been through with that? Given the emphasis being put on developing waterfront areas, I think such an answer would be horribly short sighted. We'll see.

Only a few days until the surveys are due. Pencils down on July 18th. I'll stay on top of this and link to the results.

Really Steve?

2005-07-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

He's a doofus.:

"State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik fired back that Clinton should stop running for president and instead help New Yorkers. 'Maybe Hillary Clinton should focus on her own job, rather than trying to get someone else's job.' "

That's rich. Meanwhile, the NYS GOP bench is so enemic, the Spencerport Young Democrats could wipe them in a statewide election. Seriously, Minarik. Stop talking like you've got an "A-Game" when you can't even get third-tier candidates to step up to run against Clinton and Spitzer. Even the Govenor is scared. Can anyone name the poor sap you ran against Schumer?
No.
Minarik and the Finger Lakes windmills should get together and make something useful out of all that hot air.

My Regular Friday Night Thing...

2005-07-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

Looking for something to do this weekend? clicky!

No matter what your religious affiliation is, The Hill Cumorah Pageant is a fantastic production for no entrance fee. Also, when I went I wasn't beset by any kind of religious zealotry either. Enjoyable if you can tolerate beliefs that may run slightly counter to your own.

Beer is not sold at the event, however.

A Cash Starved County

2005-07-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

If you're the type of person that frequents this blog, I can only assume that you are the type of person that is also keenly aware of the financial distress that is common amongst the municipalities of Western New York. Erie County is a few short weeks away from denigrating into something akin to The Road Warrior sans Australian accents. Other counties are having an equally difficult time and there doesn't look to be much relief on the horizon. What can be done to bridge all these budget gaps?

Did you say spend tobacco settlement money? Sorry. Apparently that ship has sailed for good.

Monroe County has spent all of its $142.6 million. More than half of this money was used to pay off some existing debt, but a chunk also helped finance the expansion of the Monroe County Jail and another chunk was used to fill a budget gap.

There are those that believe the settlement money should have gone into increased promotion of smoking cessation and prevention programs. There is some logic to this. By reducing the number of people that smoke, you reduce future costs to Medicaid by those smokers. See? It all adds up.

But it doesn't really. See, I'm of the school of thought that believes there aren't any smokers out there that are somehow missing the fact that cigarettes will kill you. Education and promotion will do little, in my opinion. I firmly believe that ending smoking in bars was the single most effective step in inducing people to stop smoking. Hell, it's how I was able to stop smoking. By decoupling the relation between bars and cigs, I was able to finally break the habit.

So, then, what do you spend the settlement cash on? Well, you invest it. Not in the stock market or some other thing. No, a community should invest it in itself. Sometimes these projects are straight forward, the local government builds or creates some resource that, in turn supplies the region with ongoing returns on that investment. It bays for itself as well as increases the overall wealth of the area. Unfortunately, projects like that do not always just drop in on you and announce themselves. Additionally, they are not always without some amount of risk on their return. Some current projects that fall into this category are the Paetec Soccer Stadium and Fast Ferry. See what I mean? Not so sure if those projects will payoff, do you? So yeah. That's the high-rolling game of public sector capital investing.

Building a jail? I'd say there isn't too much return on that investment. Sure, we needed it. That's fine. It should have been paid for out of the budget. Let me put it this way. You're running the county and you've got your budget projected out for a couple of years. You've got some infrastructure projects that need to be taken care of and things are kind of tight because your spending is almost entirely on consumption. Suddenly, a big sack of money lands in your lap. You could say to yourself, this is an opportunity to engage in some projects that will help open up more revenue streams. Or you could say to yourself, we can build a jail. See what I mean? It's all so damned shortsighted.

I'm not alone in this:

...other projects that officials initially designated for tobacco money funding Â a juvenile justice center, a soccer complex and a major expansion of the Seneca Park Zoo Â were shelved in the face of the county's financial difficulties.

Taxes. Taxes should be considered. We're already overtaxed and it is very hard to disagree that raising taxes to build a new wing on the jail would have been bad. It became about focusing on the here and new. I agree with this next part from the article.

But Legislator H. Todd Bullard, D-Rochester, disagrees. He faults the county for focusing too much on the immediate and not enough on the county's long-term needs.

"We used the money for quick fixes and we didn't come up with a long-term strategy that had a community buy-in from many sectors," Bullard said.

It's just mismanagement. The county didn't ask the question, "How can we use this money to bring business to Rochester? How can we deploy this so jobs are created?" They had an opportunity and they blew it. I'm glad the County Executive who was running that train wreck has moved on. But sometimes I wonder whether he's been replaced with anyone with a better vision of what the region can become.

Democracy for America

2005-07-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm back from a weekend away. Let's get into it.

I want to say a few things concerning my blog-post about the Monroe Democratic Party and Rochester's progressive organizations. First, I'm glad one of my posts elicited such a strong reaction as it did for the members of Rochester's chapter of Democracy for America. I wouldn't be honest unless I said I'm glad this page got so many sets of eyes across it. However, I want to point out that my goal wasn't to impugn DFA. I've had a link to the Rochester DFA site up since this blog's inception. I was reacting to the City Paper article and specifically a quote from a Democratic Party "insider". I can see from the strong reaction I got from the DFA, that the point alleged in the article wasn't exactly accurate. I'm glad they pointed that out and I hope they follow up and contact the City Paper and ask for an opportunity to respond to the article. I also hope that the members of DFA continue to check out this blog and comment on things. What I want to know is, where is their blog?

Secondly, there is a write up on Governor Dean in this past Sunday's Washington Post Magazine. They give him a fair shake, but revisit all the incidents that have made his media exposure more about the style than the substance. All this doesn't matter. Howard Dean will be judged upon how the Democratic party does in the 2006 elections. And with that, I think he'll finally shut his detractors up.

My Regular Friday Night Thing

2005-07-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

Reel Big Fish are in town and I'm not.
Bummer.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

It's ON

2005-07-01T11:08:00.000-05:00

This is going to be an ugly ordeal.

Blog Survey for those who are brave enough!

2005-06-30T15:09:00.000-05:00

The Plight of Monroe Democrats

2005-06-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

If it comes as a surprise to you that the New York Republican Party, and by extension, the Monroe County chapter of that party, is in some serious trouble, you should probably get caught up on events not happening in Fantasy Land.

The irony of the situation is that Monroe Democrats aren't exactly sitting pretty either. If anything, while they succeed due to their numbers, they fail because of their lack of organization. Take the revolving door on the county party Chair's office, the relatively empty money coffers, and the sheer volume of fringe groups attempting to weigh in on the balance of power. Whether the county Democratic Party is a microcosm of the state of the national party, it certainly proves that old Will Rogers quote, "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"

The current issue of City Newspaper sums things up reasonably well in this article by Krestia Degeorge. The line that stuck out in my mind that illustrates the factional divisions that local Democrats face is here, when discussing the local chapter of Democracy for America:

"They're 15 strong, and they've got everyone intimidated, because that's 10 more than any other faction," says one party insider speaking on condition of anonymity."Everyone's trying to curry favor with them."

10 more than any other faction? I hope he's overstating that factions are typically made up of around five people. It seems to me, that if you can't get up there into the double digits for your pet project, you really shouldn't be out there pimping your faction. Your cause would likely be better served by forming factional alliances. All these little groups are out there sucking up all the air. Money, volunteers, and time are all commodities and if these local factions are so bound and determined to champion their pet project while the overall progressive infrastructure that is the Monroe County Democratic Party suffocates, then so be it. While I am a confessed progressive that has an interest in all this, I'm also fairly Darwinist when it comes to the ebbs and flows of power concentrations.

So whose fault is it? Well, I can say everybody. Hell, it's my fault. Why do people gravitate to these little factional groups? Maybe because so many of the other factions are inaccessible. And when I say inaccessible I mean, they aren't doing anything to raise their profile and build up membership. What is the local Democratic Party doing to get people involved? What kind of efforts are they putting into recruitment? Sure you can go to their site and sign up to volunteer. That's good. I mean it. Volunteering is one of the best things a person can do with their time. I should do it more often. I'm sure you should too.

But the problem is bigger than that. This isn't about putting in five hours at your church's rummage sale. This is about getting engaged in you community. This is about bringing people on board for your cause, because it is their cause too! Look at the webpage for the Monroe Democrats. They've got news on the party. The selections from their convention. Even a letter from Joe Morelle from when he became chair last month. They're letting people know what they're doing. There is no vision, no news, nothing to engage someone into being drawn into the party. Why should I volunteer? I don't know these people. They aren't speaking to me. They aren't reaching out to me. I don't understand why they choose the candidates they choose. Why shouldn't I primary against one of their appointees for a nomination? At least I know what I stand for, and maybe I can voice it better than they are.

And that's the problem all these groups have. They're all too concerned with speaking to potential volunteers and voters without ever pausing to listen; without stopping to answer some questions. Joe Morelle is new on the job and he's trying to form some solidarity quickly. So he's being heavy handed with the primary stuff, and I can excuse that if he does something else in its place. If the only way for new ideas to percolate up in the party is through primaries, then we have a larger issue.

Both the local progressive factions and the local Democrats have a problem. The solution is hard to figure, but I would start with some outreach. I'd start with some discussion. The Dems should start a blog on their site. At the very least, it would provide for some amount of interaction. A narrative that people can get to know. Blogging in the political arena has shown to be able to appeal to a broad number of people and speak to them personally where they are more apt to give up their time and money. Having some voice that people can become familiar with will lead to higher turnout for events and fund raisers.

Local progressives need to form a more coherent alliance. Look, some progressives will likely be at odds with each other. However, I can't fathom why members of Sierra Club, NOW, and NYPIRG can't all mobilize to support an event staged by Metro Justice. Building a network of support between progressive groups increases the likelihood that they'll all succeed. Setting up some kind of meta-blog would reduce the factional barriers between them all and help cross-promotion of their issues. Using something like Scoop to construct the blog would allow a reasonably good flow of ideas.

Clearly what you can take away from all this is the top down structure and my-issue-first mentality is going to squelch any progress possible by progressive people and their groups. All politics are local, and it doesn't look like many people are talking to each other back home.

What is up with all the good news?

2005-06-28T16:39:00.000-05:00

From a local perspective, I'm pleasantly surprised by the on-going barrage of hopeful business news regarding the region.

Paychex has great earnings news

Finger Lakes Wines get the nod to ship directly

Bausch and Lomb's future is so bright they have to wear... PureVision contact lenses

Xerox is expanding in a place where life was once worth living
(That's an obscure reference to Webster's old motto)

Infotonics is making deals to further establish a high-tech corridor in our region

All these things, by themselves, seem small. They are. They're all merely footsteps in a long race, but they add up when you look at them in their entirety. Sometimes you hear so much from the crowds of people that love to point out that the area is in decline, that when you see information that indicates the opposite is true, you don't quite believe what you're seeing!

Well, the reports of Rochester's death have been greatly exaggerated.

And the negative attitude of these people stop at nothing to drown out the results of the hardwork of area leaders. This week, expect to read endless Letters to the Editor on how the relaunch of the Fast Ferry is already a disaster. Why do some people crave some schadenfreude at the expense of their hometown? What is the point? These people think the extent of government investment in the community should begin and end with filling in potholes. If they wanted to do something about it, they could always form a club of "Surly Rochesterians" and volunteer to help out. They could even get a little sign with their name on it.

I went off a little there, but I think you still get my initial point.

Something good is starting to happen here.

When the Oil Runs Dry, I'd Rather Be In Rochester

2005-06-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

I came across a great write up of why Syracuse is the place to be if (and when) Peak Oil hits. Steve Balogh, of Baloghblog wrote this number up and it's a quick and easy read. By no means is it a scientific study on the subject, but it raises good points that hold true for Rochester as well as Syracuse.

If you don't know about the idea of Peak Oil, you should check it out at Life After the Oil Crash. As presented at that site, it's pretty dire stuff. The writer is very "bearish" on the subject, but who knows what the effect of the ramping down in oil production will be? Give it a read, give it consideration, and then move on with your life.

However, I wouldn't write it off if I were you.

My Regular Friday Night Thing...

2005-06-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

You just might see me out there.

Back From a Busy Week...

2005-06-24T06:38:00.000-05:00

I am back. Working 6am to 2pm everyday, with a Grad School nightcap every night from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, plays Hell with my nascent ability to post on a blog regularly. Let's hope I make a better showing next time my time gets tight.

With that cleared up, let's get into it.

First, I wanted to touch on the aforementioned city budget tussle. Actually, I wanted to go into great detail about it, but the articles I intended to cite from The Democrat and Chronicle are either too difficult to find after 7 days using the antiquated search option, or they're available for purchase only. Purchase only? At a rate of $2.95 an article? I'm all for capitalism, but I cannot fathom anyone paying nearly 6 times the cost of a paper for one old article.

I digress. I want to focus on the city budget and the race for Rochester's Mayor.

So what we have is a case where state funds haven't been delivered as they were expected, which has caused a city property tax increase of 4.3% as opposed to 1.5% with the funds. These things happen, right? We are talking about Albany, which if made analogous to automobiles, would be as well designed and implemented as a Yugo. Just by associating something with Albany, you're forced to lower the bar a little bit. In this case though, there is something else happening. Something a little more elusive.

Take this other article from the Democrat and Chronicle. The first part of the article begins by playing the "Pin the Tail on Albany" game, which I love by the way. However, we then get to this gem and a quote from Mayor Bill Johnson:

However, Johnson this week leveled accusations that the money was deliberately held up after the intervention of some City Council members.

"People are paying higher taxes for what may have been a political decision," Johnson said. "It's tragic that someone thought that by holding up this money, they thought they could take political advantage for one of the (mayoral) candidates."

That is quite a charge to level. And where does it come from? Well, mayoral candidate Wade Norwood comes from the political circle of Assemblyman David Gantt, who was the point legislator for this additional money. What could Norwood gain by getting Gantt to slow the state money's delivery into city coffers? Maybe to create an opportunity for Norwood by timing the delivery of the money? Or is this more about throwing mud on the Mayor? There is this from WHEC on the back and forth between Gantt and Mayor Johnson:

Assemblyman David Gantt said not getting the money from the state is the mayor's fault. Gantt says the mayor took too long to request the spin-up money. At Tuesday night's city council meeting, the mayor blamed Gantt, saying he needed to push a harder.

What this could be about is an attempt to diminish the Mayor for some reason. If Mayor Johnson was tacitly supporting former Police commissioner Bob Duffy's campaign for Mayor, that could explain the legislative hardball. If you follow the fault lines in the local Democratic party you can see that things are problematic and fractured. Let me connect some dots:

Former Monroe County Democratic Chairperson Molly Clifford was a major supporter of Mayor Johnson.

Councilman Wade Norwood is State Assemblyman David Gantt's former Chief of Staff.

Clifford stepped down from the Chair role after alleged problems with Assemblyman Gantt.

Clifford is currently running Bob Duffy's campaign. Assemblyman Joseph Morelle has since replaced her as Party Chairperson after stepping down as Wade Norwood's campaign chairperson.

So it could be to the political advantage of the Norwood supporters to hold up state money and try to cause Mayor Johnson (and Bob Duffy, by proxy) some political damage, all the while charging the cost to the property owners bill. I hope that isn't the case, but someone screwed up and caused a higher than needed property tax hike. In this case, the person who seems to have had something to do from it also had a little bit to gain from it.

Is this fearful symmetry? Not really. There are a limited number of players in local politics, so one shouldn't be surprised when a big player turns out to be an understudy for another big player. But what we are seeing is some back and forth between certain factions in the party. Do the Republicans have the same problems Democrats do? Who knows. They don't seem to have their fights out on the front lawn in broad daylight as the Dems do.

Morelle claims that he is working on uniting the party by reducing the number of people that want to primary. Is this getting people to come together or is it stronghanding people into party line? That depends on the motivation he's using.

If this strikes you as kind of "conspiracy theory" tin-foil hat kind of stuff, check out this little article from The City Paper. And make sure your tin-foil hat is tightly in place when you do. I'm not touching this one.

Will 2005 Be Remembered as the Year of Reform for Albany?

2005-06-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

Today's Op-Ed in the D&C nails it.

My Regular Friday Night Thing

2005-06-17T15:44:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'll see you out there.

Test Image

2005-06-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

Zuba 2

Steve Minarik Versus Everyone

2005-06-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

Before I begin my tirade concerning Monroe County/New York State Republican Chairman Steve Minarik, I want to be clear on the nature of my politics and the role they play in this blog. I'm a Democrat. There, I've said it. And now, I hope with some of you, the healing can now begin.

However, this blog will attempt to stay away from partisan talking points that we regularly see in so many blogs that are out and about today. I like to focus on what I see that helps New Yorkers, specifically Rochester. I will comment on things that Democrats do wrong, just as often as I do Republicans. I am watching the current city property tax squabble and as soon as I can make some sense out of it, I'm going to talk about. Right now, I'm not too sure those involved even understand what they're doing. So I want to be fair. I've even appointed an ombudsman, SR-71, who is a staunch independent, to keep watch over me and keep me in line. Maybe I can persuade him to post sometime...

But for now, Steve Minarik has decided to tap-dance into my crossfire. Mr. Minarik has made some comments in the past concerning the Democratic party that haven't been completely true. And you know what? That's fine. The party chairman's job is to raise a ruckus, get the troops fired up, and make the party some money. In so far as this is true, there is very little difference between Minarik and Howard Dean. Which is why I get a kick out of Minarik when he takes on Dean. It's like he's chasing his tail. A little cute, and a little pathetic.

But then he has to go and do it at the expense of New Yorkers. Minarik decided to make political hay when NYS AG Eliot Spitzer lost a case against Theodore Sihpol III, a former Bank of America broker. Minarik says:

"This jury of New Yorkers exposes Spitzer as a politician whose ambition has steamrolled too many hardworking men and women of our state," Gov. George Pataki's hand-picked party leader added. "Looks like the so-called Sheriff of Wall Street had a gun full of blanks."

the article continues,

According to an earlier missive from the GOP leader, Spitzer's "reckless efforts to land himself on the front page" are "making it harder to do business and create jobs in New York."

Which on the whole is such crap. Spitzer has received numerous settlements and guilty pleas since he began his enforcement of laws upon Wall Street. The very thought that enforcing the law hurts business in this state is only true if you are hoping that your state can attract more criminals. In many national magazines that focus on business, Spitzer is lauded for enforcing the rules and keeping people honest. Remember, there are a vast number of business on Wall Street that are honest and are put at a disadvantage when dishonest firms break the rules. That isn't how you run an efficient market. An efficient market has rules, and those rules require enforcement. It is also important to note that in this case, Spitzer might have done some good regardless of not getting a conviction.

Spitzer contended in Sihpol's case that buying or selling after hours, known as late trading, was a crime because it diluted the return of fund members who were not granted the same advantage.

Sihpol's lawyers argued that late trading was legal and that their client never intended to commit a crime.

Regardless of the court cases outcome, I'm fairly certain the participants in that mutual fund weren't too happy with what was going on. Those fees on his transactions end up coming out of the pockets of the fund members as a whole, and the kind of activity Sihpol was going through would normally get you blacklisted from a fund.

Anyway, back to Steve Minarik. I don't care about him trying to get into the headlines to help his party out. That's fine. But lambasting Spitzer for a loss after all the great results he's had, is a lot like bashing Tom Brady for throwing a bad pass in last years Superbowl. My advice to Minarik? Put New York before your party. Spitzer is bound to lose a few cases. By trying to beat Spitzer up, Minarik ends up looking like an hyper-critical idiot for demeaning someone who has achieved something greater than he ever could.

Promoting the Community or Oneself?

2005-06-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

I was just editing the links to left with the intention of adding links to both the City of Rochester's Homepage and Monroe County's Homepage. The City's page was busy, but chocked full of links and content promoting the area. The one drawback I saw was that there was no link to the County's page. I had hoped there would be better synergy between the two competing entities. I expected better from the Mayor's people. So I googled the Monroe County site and surfed over.

You have got to be kidding me.

What I found was a site that put County Executive Maggie Brooks squarely in the spotlight. I was shocked. I thought maybe it's a coincidence that the 4 top features concerned Brooks, but then I scrolled down...

Brooks,County Officials Announce GPS Monitoring Program For Sex Offenders
Brooks Receives Influential Women Award
Brooks and Dinolfo Honor Local Mind Team Winners
Brooks Announces Winners Of 2005 Stop DWI Poster Contest
Brooks and Thunderbirds Greet Children At Golisano Children's Hospital
Brooks Joins Bausch & Lomb In Expansion Announcement
Groundbreaking Ceremony on New African Elephant Exhibit
Brooks Announces New Airport Valet Service
Brooks Announces Airport Passenger Traffic For April
Brooks and Johnson Proclaim "Salvation Army Week"
Brooks Welcomes Renaissance Square Design Architect Moshe Safdie
Brooks Announces Technology Improvement Strategy

At least they dropped in the entry about the elephants. That's nice, you know, for the kids...

Honestly, this list of "Monroe County News" is undoctored and placed in order without editing or omission. I couldn't invent something this stupid. What kind of crass self-promotion is this? I think County Executive Brooks has done a standout job since she was elected. And her close working relationship with her former opponent Mayor Johnson is commendable. However, what is up with the County website? How is this different from a campaign website?

I thought the idea was to use the taxpayers' money to promote the county, not ones career.

Needless to say, until the content changes to something dealing more with our area, I will not be linking to it.

Stems Cells: A No-Brainer for Rochester

2005-06-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

I understand that many people have a moral problem with using embryonic stem cells to research ways to end disease and suffering. What I don't understand is that they don't also have a problem with these embryos already having been frozen and tucked away indefinitely. How is that okay?

Regardless of all that, The Rump Group has called for New York State to invest $300 million over 2 years into embryonic stem cell research. (If you are unfamiliar with The Rump Group, I encourage you to click the link to their site over on the left.) The urging by the business leader coalition is not only smart for New York and Rochester; it is also making it plainly obvious that the federal policy is wrong-headed, unpopular, and hurtful.

The most important factor here is that many states are aware that this new technology will eventually be developed somewhere, by someone, who will be very well rewarded for their advances in medicine. Just because the federal government closes its doors to technology, does not make the idea go away; it does not prevent others from taking the initiative.

So given the amount of research that goes on here in Rochester, especially at Strong Hospital, it's a great policy to seize upon and encourage. The benefits to the community are potentially great, but the possible rewards for humanity are unimaginable.

If Albany can be persuaded, this could open Rochester up to be the epicenter of a whole new era in medical research and treatment.

Rochester's Influential Women in Business

2005-06-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

The Rochester Business Journal recognized 20 business and community leaders as Rochester's Influential Women at a luncheon yesterday. Follow the link for a list of the honorees.

Congratulations to all those awarded.

Only a Drill, Nothing Foreboding Here

2005-06-15T06:39:00.000-05:00

Let's hope this doesn't mean they know something we don't.

What could possibly go wrong?

Updated!
I want to let it be known that I am a booster of the Fast Ferry. As a "young Rochesterian", I think that the Ferry is the kind of premiere project that the region should be investing in. It raises the profile of the region, lavishes us with free promotion (one Simon School professor estimated the total value of free advertising at $9 million. Of course, not all of it good.), and allows new avenues of entrepreneurial venture. Also, attractions like the Ferry help make an easier case for keeping young people here. With cheap Jet Blue flights to New York City, and a high speed ferry to Toronto, I'd say Rochester has unique links to two of the best cities on the eastern part of the continent, if not the world.

Things get muddled in the execution, of course. I'd like to forget about the whole ordeal with CATS, but they won't go away. Their sister company, Maplestar Development Co, doing their best imitation of a case of herpes is in a sweetheart deal to collect rents in the Port of Rochester over the next 40 years. Now I could rage against this and pound my tiny fists against my chest, but I won't.

These deals, as I understand it, are fairly common in private sector/public sector ventures. Sometimes they're smart, sometimes they aren't. This deal? Not smart. That's the way the game is played. Either you shake it off and get back in the game, or you take your ball and go home. It looks like the City of Rochester wants to even the score up now in the second half.

I'm good with it. The City should get all litigious on CATS' collective ass. I'm not a lawyer, and there are reasons why that's the case, but I'm skeptical if they'll actually be able to do anything about the deal. Just the same, I'm glad they're attempting to undo the deal.

As for the current deal with Bay Ferries Ltd., I'm inclined to believe this will work. We'll see if they pick up the option to buy the Ferry from the city in three years. The firm has operated fast ferries before. My wife has ridden on the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia/Bar Harbor, Maine ferry that they operate and she liked it. They know how to run a business without subsidy. And they have business savy outside of our region, illustrated by renaming the ferry The Cat despite our experience with CATS. We may bristle at the name because of the association, but the company has a strong brand name with their other ferries called The Cat. They want folks from outside of the region to know they're running this boat. Which also means, they want folks from outside of the region riding this boat. Which means, for me, there will be folks from outside of this region spending their money here.

Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and good inside?

Medicaid: The Cure for What Ails You (part one)

2005-06-13T06:56:00.000-05:00

It's rare in politics where one issue can clearly be recognized as one in need of action. In the case of Medicaid in New York state, the issue demands attention. The program's effects on the tax burden of New Yorkers is oppressive, and the sting is especially sharp here around Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Our areas' taxes are extremely high, which, when coupled with the economic doldrums our three areas face, paint an increasingly bleak future. Getting taxes down should be the number one priority, regardless of what end of the political spectrum you hail from. While some may favor reducing services, the first pass at reducing taxes should go to making the systems and programs more efficient. Which turns me back to Medicaid.

Currently, New York has the dubious distinction of having the highest per capita Medicaid costs (that means per person) of any state in the Union, more than doubling the national average. The Empire State also comes in first for overall Medicaid spending, beating out California by close to $10 billion dollars, with a grand total of $40.6 billion. State spending for Medicaid (separate from Federal and local spending) accounted for 25% of the New York State spending in 2003. I live in Monroe County, and we spent $831 million for Medicaid expenditures in 2003. This is more than the total spending of 8 other states!

The problem is compounded by the way the burden of costs are shouldered between the federal, state, and local governments. The Federal portion of Medicaid covers between 50% to 77% of the total bill, depending on the state in question. New York receives the lowest allowable percentage of 50%. The state also passes some of the costs onto the counties, one of 18 states that follows such a process. Again, our New York state leads the pack. Counties pay 18% of Medicaid costs, where in the next highest state, Iowa, counties pay only 11%. This "pass the buck" game also ends up saddling local governments with unfunded mandates over what care needs to be covered and what does not, regardless of the needs of the individual communities.

The problem is titanic, and it doesn't look any better from whichever side you consider it from. The growth of this program in New York state is far ahead of the per capita income growth. The unfunded mandates force us to cover optional services, which makes up 45% of the Medicaid budget.

The biggest problem of all is that this issue has not gotten any kind of attention. No taxpayer revolt. No profile raising event that forces it hard and strong on the radar of our representatives in Albany.

If there is one thing I do with my blogging, it will be to focus on this. There will be more posts to come.

Information for this entry has been gleaned from The Rump Group report Medicaid Inc. and The Democrat and Chronicle most recent Medicaid Reform Editorial Report

When we add jobs, you don't hear about it as much...

2005-06-11T09:59:00.000-05:00

Bausch and Lomb will be adding 200 jobs in an expansion. This is a good thing, in more ways than just those 200 jobs. These little additions to the local economy add up in big ways. While I don't want to go off the economics deep-end on you, it is important to remember that job quantity is only one part of the employment function. Job quality plays in as well. In this case, B&L's move is helping to cement the goal of turning Rochester into a Tech Center.

So that's good. There's an old Irish saying, that the journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first step.

My Regular Friday Night Thing

2005-06-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'll see you out there.

Panel: Demolish Midtown Plaza

2005-06-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Not exactly the news you want to read. Sure, the thought that Midtown Plaza could have life breathed back into it falls somewhere on the reality meter between The Easter Bunny and Crop-Circles. However, even while preparing for the news, you can't quite brace yourself for the reality.

Midtown Plaza is not competitive and has outlived its usefulness to the community and employers, according to a panel of national experts that studied the downtown area.
The eight-member panel from the Urban Land Institute recommends demolishing the plaza except for the Euclid Building and the office tower.

So, yeah. The thought of exploding a Rochester fixture is not what you want to put on the poster for promoting a newly invigorated downtown. Keep in mind, I've had my fair share of history at this mall. Easily, this mall had the best set-up for the Christmas holidays, complete with that monorail that went painfully slow at a height that seemed like miles to a 12 year-old. Not to mention that as a 20 year-old, I'd make the 6 block hike to shop for groceries at the Wegman's operating out of it. Yes, a Wegman's in the city. While akin to stories concerning unicorns, a city Wegmans has the virtue of actually having existed.

Still, I'd much rather strike the match that torches this place than see a casino be installed in it. I'll touch on that some other time.

The article is not all gloom and doom. As a matter of fact, it highlights some of the positive things that are occurring in order to return downtown to some degree of its former glory.

The panel from the nonprofit educational and resource organization said Rochester is actually ahead of many of its sister cities and has started the work needed to reinvigorated the troubled area around Midtown.

For example, panel member David Slater said, there's "a lot of momentum going on" in the area of multifamily housing downtown.

Both young people and empty-nesters are moving downtown, and new projects are in the works. The city should have an eventual goal of 5,000 to 7,000 mixed-income rental and for-sale units in the center city.

I have a feeling that the Can't-Do Cattle will be neglecting this part of the article in their up-coming letters to the editor as they call for head of Mayor Johnson served up on some kind of platter forged from silver. It should be understood that stemming the exodus of downtown residents is phase one of turning the city center around. After that, it becomes easier to target the residents with the goods and services they require.

It's like some crazy "chicken or the egg" riddle playing out in Sim City on a massive scale. You can't get people to live downtown without jobs, services, and consumables. And you can't really get services and consumables (jobs to a lesser extent) without people living down there. It's the whole essence of why High-Falls has had such trouble. It needs area residents in order to prosper. The problem is that the whole housing development in the area never took off before the economy cooled. Anyway, this is getting tangential.

The bottom line is the findings that Midtown Plaza is terminal is really horrible. But if removing it places us in a better position to move forward, then we have to consider it. I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last hard choice that needs to be made.

Here goes nothing...

2005-06-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

While I've long been tempted by the siren song of digital journals, I've resisted it based upon the fear of just adding my voice to the cacophony of pointless weblogs out there in cyberspace.

After much deliberation and consideration of my interests, as well as the realization I've been big on ideas and short on action, I've decided a blog is actually the least I could do. So here we are.

My intent is to examine, discuss, and highlight the political and economic news and situations of Greater Rochester, and in some cases, the Finger Lakes Region. Things will get political, rants will be written, and feelings may quite possibly be hurt. These are the risks we must be willing to take here at The Greater Rochester Weblog or, if we may add a new acronym to our lexicon, The GRW. However, I hope we can debate the issues without devolving into some kind of partisan crap-fight. Those are never pretty and they rarely do a bit of good, unless your initial intent is to use an issue to posture and score political brownie points. I'll try to clearly mark my attempts at that so that there is due warning of incoming crap.

If one is familiar with Rochester, then you know that there is a variety of issues that we all face everyday. The city schools, medicare, Renaissance Square, Kodak job cuts, the Fast Ferry, Finger Lakes wine country, crime, budget crises, and Paetec Park are just a few of the myriad topics available to us. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

So now, on to the hard part: content....