Comments on: County Executive 2007

By: SB Guy

SB Guy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:23:52 +0000

Word on the South Buffalo bar scene is Former County Independence Chair and 2005 IP Mayoral candidate Charlie Flynn will primary Paul Clark for the IP line in the County Executive race,,,,,,,,,very interesting!

Tom

By: 1776

1776 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:11:50 +0000

James Baker:
You did not outright call Keane a racist, you merely listed almost verbatim the key points of a letter to the Buffalo Challenger that was calling Keane a racist. My mistake for putting words in your mouth–I am sure you meant to imply something else that what I interpreted. As to the “tribe” comment, as I was not even living in Buffalo during Keane’s tenure in the Council, I have no idea what he said. However, George K. Arthur spent a lot of time in those chambers, and refuted the claim that Keane said anything of that sort. As to the MLK Day “no” vote, that is simply a red herring being thrown out to make Keane look bad. What he voted against was creating a holiday that would necessitate reopening union contracts, when there was a simpler way to achieve the same objective. I think I stated that pretty clearly in my previous post.

By: Starbuck

Starbuck — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:42:20 +0000

Erie Watcher, hey I could be wrong and really I don’t care how it turns out but here’s why it looks to me Clark is best organized at this point:

As you alluded, Cheektowaga Dem org seems solidly behind him (not just one guy but him and his key people, right?). And Cheek is a Dem stronghold so that’s not a small factor. And W. Seneca town party org is solidly behind him as well (correct?) since he’s controlled it for many years. So that’s aslo a fairly large Dem town. Add in that the Independence leader is behind him, which shouldn’t matter much but in reality it does. And as you said whatever’s left of Giambra’s machine is also working hard on his behalf. Sleazy crowd no doubt, but a lot of serious behind the scenes expertise in political fights. And by having the largest campaign fund so far, it’s a safe guess a lot of future patronage seekers will jump on his bandwagon also.

Meanwhile it’s been so long since Keane has run for anything, and he just seems a lot less organized right now.

As a superficial thing, compare the web sites of Clark and Keane at this point. Day and night.

By: James Baker

James Baker — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:21:47 +0000

1776: First of all, I didn’t call him a racist, I just pointed out facts, that you and George Arthur do not refute, just make excuses for. So Keane voted against it before he voted for it???? That sounds eerily familiar… If that is the case, I’ll give him a pass, but why did he vote against naming the section of the 198 after MLK and why did he call the Black Council Members, “the tribe?”

By: 1776

1776 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:26:32 +0000

James Baker–your information regarding Jim Keane being a “racist” is from a letter to the editor of the Challenger (almost word for word). Those charges were since clarified in that same publication by no less a source than George K. Arthur. Just in case you haven’t had a chance to read this week’s issue.

Just to further clarify, Keane DID vote for making MLK Day a holiday. The initial ‘no’ vote for which he is being criticized would have required all of the contracts with the City of Buffalo’s employee unions to be re-opened and holiday time re-negotiated.

As for Satish Mohan’s status as some sort of folk hero executive genius, I suspect his most vocal allies don’t actually have to live/work in Amherst under the man’s executive decisions. He is not doing a good job as Supervisor. He has consistently made bad decisions and his poor management style has significantlydecreased morale. If you think that doesn’t matter, then you probably don’t have to deal with many public servants (which includes police officers). More important, where are the REAL savings from his stewardship? I have never understood why people single him out as a great new model of politician.

By: hank kaczmarek

hank kaczmarek — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:01:05 +0000

Dr Mohan, as most Indians and Pakistanis do, learn English as a 2nd language. A few hundred years of English Colonial rule does that to a country. Most of the islands and countries that were part of a British Empire that began breaking up in the late 1800’s still cling to many of the traditions of their “Conquering Occupier”.

Dr Mohan may have the accent that most do that hail from the Indian Sub-Continent, but he didn’t get a job teaching at a NY University with a GED either. He’s easier to understand than Snoop Dog, and many other citizens who’ve never left the country.

By: Hawk (Not Hank)

Hawk (Not Hank) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:54:50 +0000

I hear Ed Rutkowski’s looking for a job as he is about to be replaced. Why not give him another chance? Oh wait a minute, didn’t he preside over the last fiscal crisis? What is it about republican executives, they say they can manage better but the track record is poor at best (Rutkowski, Giambra, Pataki and W).

By: Erie Watcher

Erie Watcher — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:50:32 +0000

hate: why do they all s#&K? What is it about each that you dislike?

Poloncarz I like and I hear his employees respect him as well. One told me they’d hate to see him leave the comptroller’s office, but think he’d make a fine executive so they would still vote for him. Collins I could warm up to, the rest are old school.

By: SB Guy

SB Guy — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:38:44 +0000

Ford Beckwith is righ on,,,,,Orsini cant protect the endorsement,,,,Flynn proved it in 05 with no money and still beat Orsinis ‘non-machine’,,,,,,if Beckwith can pull Flynn, Higgins and anti-Orsini forces together, he kills Clark big time!!!

Tom

By: Haterade

Haterade — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:01:47 +0000

Truth be told … they ALL s#&k.