Mayor's Race: What did it mean?

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

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...

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...

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!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Mods, Ratings, and Video Games

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

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 cityÂ’s 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 — 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 “rainy day fund” 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?

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...

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

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 — a juvenile justice center, a soccer complex and a major expansion of the Seneca Park Zoo — 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

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

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

It's ON

This is going to be an ugly ordeal.

Blog Survey for those who are brave enough!

The Plight of Monroe Democrats

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?

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

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...

You just might see me out there.

Back From a Busy Week...

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?

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