I have to confess that I kind of don’t get why it matters whether Paul Clark uses an 89 cent pen or not. In fact, it sounds like he got ripped off, and calls his fiscal conservatism into question. The “89 cent pen” is a Paper Mate Write Bros. Stick pen, most likely medium blue. That pen is available at Office Max at $1.09 for a dozen. That’s nine cents. Why is a CPA paying 89 cents for a 9 cent pen? Is the county doing the same thing?
WNYM seeks to provide a forum for snarky opinions and open discussion. However, we do need to have some ground rules around this joint. In order to make our comments useful and interesting, the following guidelines have been established for comment users. In short; don't act like a libelous or hate-filled tool and we'll get along just fine.
Click here to sign the petition to rename Buffalo Niagara International Airport after Tim Russert
A shovel-ready blog from the sunny shores of Lake Erie. Proudly blogging about WNY, politics, cars, and other esoterica since 2003. Click here to contact the Buffalopundit.
Click here to find lunch in Buffalo today
Click here for the Wendt Foundation's 2006-7 disclosure form
Robert Harding Says:July 29th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I just paid less than that for pens AND refills (based on price per unit). And my pens are BIC, much more “classier” than Write Bros.
CindyK Says:July 29th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Can we take seriously a guy who uses a pen purchased at full retail price trying to convince us he can balance a budget?
Robert Harding Says:July 29th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
He definitely wouldn’t cut it as a mother buying school supplies this time of year.
BS Detector (aka Keyboard Warrior & Buffalo Hater) Says:July 29th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
‘Twas a patronage pen.
BS Detector (aka Keyboard Warrior & Buffalo Hater) Says:July 29th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Purchased from a set-aside pen supply contractor owned by minorities. Since he implied WNY is somewhat “racist,” he’s doing his part to right past wrongs.
Haterade Says:July 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Hey BSD(akaKW&BH) …. if he was trying to “right past wrongs” , shouldn’t it have been a black pen ?
Seriously though, I thought the exact same thing BP. In my wife’s business we purchase a decent quantity of pens, and your price is just about right on … Good concept, but they really dropped the ball.
Andrew Kulyk Says:July 29th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Really Alan… a billion dollar plus county budget, a myriad of issues and challenges facing this community, and you get snarky over a stupid pen ad?
Tread carefully my friend… in a few short weeks Mr. Clark might well be your running mate, the two of you stomping through the foothills of Clarence together trolling for those Democratic votes. As far as political company, you could do far worse!
Bruce Says:July 29th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Bad news Andy, Paul Clark has a 0% chance of winning the Democratic nomination. Democrats have no interest in nominating a Giambra supporting, serial tax raiser.
And as for the pen, Paul Clark tried to get too cute by half with his little pen ad, and its going to back fire on him big time.
Dan Says:July 30th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
At least he is using a pen. I imagine Keane is using papyrus and a quill, and Griffin a rock and chisel. Not sure what Bruce is thinking, but Keane has been out there with his lawn signs, and his unfavorables are still higher than his favorables.
I don’t know too much about Clark other than the fact that he must shop retail, but Griffin & Keane make Giambra’s friends and family plan look pretty small. If you add up all of the Keane or Griffin family public salaries up over the years and you could probably build a bass pro and a bridge to boot (Or at least the plaza!).
Those two are Edsels in a community desperately crying out for a hybrid.
Bruce Says:July 30th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Oh Danny Boy, how little you know about politics. Lawn signs = favorability? Come on now. In this so called “poll” about 50% of the respondents were likely Democrats, however only 1 in 4 Democrats will vote in the primary. That means that just 1 in 8, or about 53 respondents of the “poll” will actually vote in the primary. 394 of them won’t. So yea, this is a real accurate gauge of the Democratic primary.
And as for friends and family, can you name one family member Jim Keane hired? But you know which town has the County’s highest paid dog catcher? West Seneca. And do you know whose brother in law that dog catcher is? Paul Clark’s.
Andrew Kulyk Says:July 30th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Bruce, from where I am sitting I think Clark has an excellent chance. You have two posts here and all you’re doing is slinging mud. You’ve read all the garbage and nonsense on Illuzzi’s site trashing Keane, and I am not going to heap further, because I think Keane is an upstanding guy. But I am not supporting him because he is a retread from the Gorski administration, which presided over 12 years of this region’s decline into the abyss. Do we need more of that record of failure and despair? I don’t think so and that’s why Keane is drawing all that negative feedback on the Ch 2 poll.
Bruce Says:July 30th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Where’s the mud?
Paul Clark endorsed Joel Giambra, not once but twice. Fact.
Paul Clark raised property taxes in West Seneca 50%. Fact.
Paul Clark hired his brother in law as the highest paid Dog Catcher in Erie County. Fact.
These are the facts, yea they aren’t pretty, but this is Paul Clark’s record. And its a record Erie County can’t afford.
Pauldub Says:July 30th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
And this will all be irrelevent . Keane and Clark will bludgeon each other to death. The survivor will have so many negatives attached to his name that he will have little chance to beat Collins, who is wisely staying out of the fray right now.
As for Jimmy, I think he dozed off. No problem…
Adam K. Says:July 30th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Drawing all what negative feedback? Hillary’s got well over double that negative score among democrats and she’s considered the frontrunner.
Paul Clark has spent over $100,000 on the commercials he’s aired already, and yet he’s only pulling a twenty something positive? they have a problem - they have a terrible candidate (and its not helping that their ads suck)
That $.09 pen, is that cheap because its made in Mexico. I’d rather pay $.11 cents for a Bic, thank you very much.
Andrew, the county executive primary is already over. griffin dosn’t stand a chance because people think he’s a nut, and Clark dosn’t stand a chance because you know channel 2 or 4 has video of that press conference 4 years ago where he called Joel Giambra, and I quote, “a visionary”.
Pauldub, Clark is DOA, as soon as the first head to head poll comes out he wont be able to fundraise anymore, and he’ll never be able to attack Keane because he’ll be out of money, and he wont spend his own when he knows he’s gonna lose. Even the poll Illuzzi’s made up showed Clark losing, because he knew how ridiculous he would look if he pretended Clark had a lead. Clark right now is losing bad. Remember what happens to supervisors who stick around too long (see Grelick, Susan).
P.S. Dan all of Keane’s family members on the public payroll are, like Jim, firefighters. Running into a burning building is not my idea of a patronage job, especially since he’s he’s lost family members to the fires they fought.
Andrew Kulyk Says:July 31st, 2007 at 8:04 am
Pauldub… your analysis is right on, and I see the fomenting of this split happening here in Cheektowaga. Right now I’d like to be in Collin’s shoes.
Dan Says:July 31st, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Why is Keane spending all that money on lawn signs? Isn’t it to advertise, drive name recognition, etc.? He has been on the public payroll longer than some new voters have been alive, and still his recognition is nowhere.
Of those that do know him, they are more likely to hold an unfavorable opinion of him.
Don’t know of any Keane relative he hired, but I don’t know of any position where he has ever had authority to hire someone. Not sure if he has ever held a full time real job. I only know of him as a “public servant”.
Adam K. Says:July 31st, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Dan, You can’t really be comparing Paul Clark spending over $100,000 on campaign commercials with Keane putting up 100-200 signs. Those things are less than a buck a piece. he’d have to have a sign on one in four front lawns in the county to spend the same that Clark has spent.
Also, studies have shown that lawn signs, as you might expect, don’t affect whether people like people or not. TV ads do. Once Collins and Keane have TV ads up, their positives will skyrocket. They are the only viable candidates running.
Finally, for your argument that more people dislike Keane than like him, that’s because all the people who answer that question know about him is that he’s running for office. That’s a negative for most people.
You’re gonna look like an idiot in 2-3 weeks.
Bruce Says:August 1st, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Please keep attacking the Gorski administration, Andy and Dandy. I’m sure the voters will have a very easy choice, Jim Keane who supported the Gorski administration or Paul Clark who supported the Giambra administration.
Kathleen Says:September 12th, 2007 at 10:07 am
What person of sound mind would vote for Griffin?
During an interview he asked the reporter what the sales tax was. He thought it was 8.5. Give me a break the man doesn’t even know what the sales tax is and he want us to vote him in to REPAIR the budget!!!!! Give me a break!
Paul clark, doesn’t it bother anyone that in his commercials he lies!!!!!! Either he didn’t do his homework or he’s a liar either way thats not the kind of person I want running the county.
Now lets really think about the commercial thart Paul Clark made about Jim Keane.
1. Jim has been on the patoll for 20 years : That means experence
2. Jim collected unused vacation money : One that means he was always working for us and didn’t take time off, come on if he did collect the money who wouldn’t take vacation money that was owed to them
3. Jim friends and family have jobs: some of them were voted in by us, most are firefighters, some had their county jobs before they were even in or new the Keane family.
Everyone needs to do their homework and really think about who the best person is to fix the problems that we have in OUR County.