You know, browsing through David Torke’s page, wherein he details his urban explorations - a key question arose.

If the City of Buffalo - a city that’s insolvent and under the watchful eye of a control board - has all these decrepit yet fixable properties available for sale, why isn’t it actively marketing them? Not even so much as a “for sale” sign. Hell, they could stick it on eBay and at least get some interest. Or they could make a deal with a realtor to market them for a heavily discounted commission - or the city could hire a licensed real estate agent to market it on the city’s own behalf via MLS, etc.

It just seems like a waste.

It’s official: he will not be seeking a fourth term.

Byron Brown
Kevin Gaughan
Steve Calvaneso
Judith Einach

are the candidates of which I’m currently aware. Right now, I’m in “anyone but Brown” mode.

EDIT: I should have predicted this, but someone in comments insinuates that I’m just a racist. That despite the fact that I obviously & deliberately capitalized Brown’s name. Gee, thanks, pal.

Let me, therefore, clarify that I do not like BYRON Brown the politician. Feel free to inspect the old blog for reasons why, but I’ll save you the effort on at least this point.

Chuck Swanick (the hack’s hack) has missed two legislative sessions and three committee sessions. People in his district want to know why. They want to know where he is.

He told Channel 4 he’s out of town on “personal family business“.

I think I can guess where he is.

Here:

From the WNY Media Group’s Buffalo Watchdog:

This has to be one of the biggest slap in the face from the Giambra administration yet. Channel 2 reports today that County Attorney’s spent $95 an hour after two private investigators were hired to watch people waiting in line at one of the Auto Bureau’s and the Registrar’s Office. It’s time for Fred Wolf to go as well…

According to Erie County Clerk Dave Swarts, the Erie County Attorney’s Office (Fred Wolf) authorized the hiring of two private investigators to try and dispute claims that lines at the Auto Bureau and Registrar’s office would be longer because of budget cuts.
This information came out the other day in court where the County Clerk suing Erie County cuts.

One private investigators testified their rate of pay was $95 an hour.

“The law firm for the County retained the services of a private investigator and sent them into the County Clerk’s office and the Auto Bureau to observe what we did. We were kind of shocked that this private investigator was hired,” said Swarts.

Swarts said he knew one female private investigator testified that she spent eight to ten hours watching people at the Registrar’s Office.

Erie County Executive Joel “Chocula” Giambra strikes again!

Didja hear the story on WBEN this morning about the soccer tournament that’s scheduled to take place in Akron this (rainy) weekend?

The organizer had assurances from County Parks Commissioner Angelo Sedita that the tournament could be held at Akron Falls county park. Those assurances have been rescinded.

So, the organizers had to scramble to find town and school parks that could provide soccer pitches on short notice. Akron, Clarence, Newstead all offered help.

That’s regionalism.

But it also proves that we have no use for county parks. They should all be transfered to the towns in which they are located. I mean, the county is still paying for the parks, but we can’t use them.

Albany passes laws that enrich or creat programs - programs that Albany says the counties must pay for. So, Albany takes all the credit yet does none of the work and doesn’t have to pay for it. What a great deal.

And Erie County’s budget is about 90% Albany mandates that can’t really be touched - only about 10% is discretionary, and that’s been shrunk in the recent crisis.

Why does Erie County have to pay for Albany’s largesse? When Albany’s programs target the poor and elderly, you’d better believe that Erie County gets hit disproportionately harder than, say, Westchester.

Take away county government and you take away a redundant bureaucracy.

Take away county government and you take away yet another taxing authority.

Make Albany pay for its own programs and watch it all of a sudden become fiscally more conservative. Let the towns run their own business within their borders for the common good. (They can charge non-residents).

I went to the meeting last night and was rather impressed. A new detente between David Torke and this blog has developed, so I’ll be linking to him and his efforts, which are quite noble, would do a lot of good for the city, and are do-able.

There’s a lot of energy in the room and, as with most similar organizations, the really vocal people are the ones who either come from away, or come from Buffalo, went away, and returned. They love Buffalo either because they chose to come, or because they left and realized that they loved it. Native Buffalonians seem to have this disdain for their own city drilled into their heads. It’s unfathomable to me that people think that way. This City is wonderful.

I suggest that Revitalize Buffalo become, in part, sort of a grassroots, small-business alternative to the [ominously named] Partnership. They can help market and promote small local businesses, as well as their more successful incubator ventures - businesses that the wealthy and politically connected Partnership couldn’t care less about.

Towards that end, they ought to take their logo and use it to market Buffalo businesses; the businesses could license and use the logo and the brand for a reasonable donation (tax deductible if Revitalize Buffalo chooses non-profit status). In that way, the group and the businesses would have a unifying promotion tool; all the businesses who use the logo could have a web presence at a website promoting use of the logo and brand Buffalo.

Also, the group might rethink the extremely ambitious idea to renovate a large structure for use as, among other things, incubator space. I think the group should start off on a smaller scale and get some experience doing this sort of thing. Again - operate a nonprofit corporate entity that will buy dilapidated housing in Buffalo from the city for a pittance, and solicit labor and donations from the community through the licensing of the logo, promoting the tax deductibility of any such donations, etc., and rehab a historic but neglected home. Then sell it, and roll the money back into the organization for use on the next project, etc.

After that, you’d have the expertise and the juice to go for a big project.

Finally, at some point I’d change the name to something like Buffalo Renaissance, which seems to better reflect the intent and spirit of the group.

Anyhow, please consider joining Revitalize Buffalo and its efforts. They also have a blog, which I didn’t know about.

Following up on that job killer Eliot Spitzer:

Here, he is ensuring that spyware companies keep their good spyware jobs out of New York State.

Here, he is chasing good paying discriminatory mortgage lenders out of New York State.

Oh, the bankmanity! Oh, the spymanity!

This site is out of Rochester, and its owner was kind enough to comment on my post regarding the nonexistent WMDs in Iraq. I guess the President, the WMD search team, and the CIA all saying that there were no WMDs in Iraq in 2003 isn’t good enough for the Fuller site. It’s just 1500 Americans, give or take, who went to war on that basis. Whatever /sarcasm

In any event, I note from that site that the Rochester - Toronto ferry is slated to begin running again on June 17th. I hope to catch a ride on this thing this summer.

Bay Ferries’ website is here.

The Rochester Ferry’s new website is here.

Bay Ferries now operates Rochester’s ferry. They nicknamed it the “Cat”.

Fuller comments:

WHAM reports that the $34,000,000 freaking boat ($32mil boat + $2mil repairs) known as the fast ferry, now known by the ridiculous nickname “The Cat” (what is that supposed to mean? It conjures memories of CATS, the company that abandoned the ferry the last time around) will take off again June 17. (It will run out of money and suspend operations on August 23rd.)

That last bit is funny.

But to answer the question, Bay Ferries also operates the high-speed CATamaran ferry that operates between Bar Harbor, ME and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

So the “CAT” name is Bay Ferries’ brand, if you will, and is also indicative of the boat being a catamaran. That’s why.

http://buffalorising.blogspot.com. Welcome.

As always, Waveflux has the best & most concise wrap-up of the BSOT.

To wage a war on terrorism, I think it’s best actually to do useful stuff at home to ensure that we are ever-vigilant against threats, and to investigate actual threats with the best people and resources we can get; sparing no expense to do so.

So I read via Craig that the patriots over at the Corner are predicting some sort of big Osama bin Laden announcement today - he might be dead.

Good. I hope dogs are gnawing on his rotting corpse as I sit here and write this.

But Craig says this:

On the other hand, if OBL were captured that would be the signal for the left to declare the war against terrorism over.

Some on the left don’t think there ought to be a war on terrorism at all, but they’re cranks, and I don’t cater to or support cranks on either side.

Mainstream democrats have, contrary to Craig’s assertion, been critical of the government for getting itself distracted in the real war on terrorism by the commitment of troops and money to Iraq. (Remember Wolfowitz promised that Iraq would pay for its own occupation with oil money?).

To decrease the threat of terrorism at home and abroad, the administration is uniquely positioned to reform intelligence agencies; they ought to spend profligately on international investigatory and spying efforts; they ought to get back into the cold war mentality and go after these Islamist groups using whatever means are necessary and available. Read the rest of this entry »

7 PM, 4/28, Thursday, Delaware Park Casino
Revitalize Buffalo’s 2nd meeting.

Posting will be light today, as we have some seminars at work. Maybe I’ll bring my guitar and sing Freelove Freeway.

They were not, are not in Iraq.
They were not, are not in my sock.

They have not been in Syria.
They are not in Siberia.

They did not move them to Iran
They are not present in Lausanne.

You will not find them here nor there.
You will not find them anywhere.

Half of Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Poll organization reported this morning.

“This is the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the question was first asked in late May 2003,” the pollsters observed. “At that time, 31% said the administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004.”

By the way: that news came on the same day that it was discovered that, no Iraq’s WMDs were not mysteriously transported to Syria.

I wonder what fantastic theory LGF, Lucianne and Powerline will think up now? HT to Waveflux.net

According to the Niagara Falls Reporter, that city has a brand new Aquafalls to replace the old Aquafalls.

Carl Paladino “bought” the decrepit United Office Building and promised to rehab it.

To be called an “owner,” you usually have to actually own something.

Unless, of course, you’re Carl Paladino.

For two-and-a-half years, USA Niagara Development — the state agency supposedly overseeing the rebirth of downtown Niagara Falls — has been crowing about alleged revitalization of the landmark United Office Building by the head of the Buffalo-based Ellicott Development Co.

“The United Office Building will soon reclaim its rightful place as a bustling downtown Niagara Falls landmark thanks to the efforts of USA Niagara Development Corporation,” trumpets the agency’s Web site. “First Street Group, LLC, an affiliate of Buffalo-based Ellicott Development Company, will invest approximately $6.5 million into this project.”

Good thing USA Niagara didn’t say when that investment would take place, because it certainly hasn’t happened yet. Even a cursory look at 220 Rainbow Blvd. N. reveals an aging structure that looks remarkably similar to the one Paladino’s company “bought” for $1 in October 2002. Decaying plywood covers some, but not all, of the broken windows. If any work has taken place, it’s been expertly concealed.

Paladino hasn’t even taken title to the building. What’s the holdup, Carl?

Newsday has an interesting piece on upstate’s super-slow growth, and New York’s population hemmorrhage. At least people are talking about it:

The problem isn’t that New York is shrinking, it’s that it’s growing at a snail’s pace compared to boom areas in the South and West. That’s why Florida is expected to overtake New York in six years _ a blow to the Empire State’s esteem that has real implications because congressional seats are allocated based on relative population. If census projections hold, New York’s 29-member House delegation could shrink to 23 by 2030. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s an ad for oHarmony.com. What a nice date George and Abdullah had.

That’s the rumor. According to politicswny.com:

With uncertainty about Governor Pataki’s future plans and Democratic prospects looking good in 2006, Republicans have been shaking in their boots at the prospect of taking on Eliot Spitzer and Hillary Clinton in 2006. Big names have come and gone - Colin Powell said he’s not interested, Tom Golisano did not go over well with party leaders, and who knows what Rudolph Giuliani is up to. Weld’s name came up before, too - years before. Weld contemplating entering New York State politics after resurrecting the Massachusetts Republican Party as far back as 2000, when he said “I’d be hard to stop” if he ran for the top job in the Empire State. Now he says he’s seriously thinking about testing the veracity of his boast if Pataki and Giuliani don’t run.

To be honest, Bill Weld’s a good guy. He’s a moderate republican; a fiscal conservative who supports gay marriage. He turned Mass. around - it’s no longer “Taxachusetts.” He’s been a New Yorker since leaving politics, and he’s a guy I respect a great deal.

In a Spitzer vs. Weld matchup, the people of New York would win, IMHO.

Craig from the North Coast linked to a picture of the Airbus A380’s maiden flight. That thing is a monster - an impressive one, at that. Too cool.

Soon-to-be-former E.C. Controller Nancy Naples says the 2005 deficit is already at $113.5 million. That’s on top of the cuts already made with much fanfare earlier this year. That’s amidst talks aimed to find $1 million to open parks and an additional DMV office.

Yet Joel Giambra says the deficit is really only $58 million.

Wow, that makes me feel better. Not.

Joel is already floating the idea of a sales tax hike. Again.

At least the County hasn’t yet hucked its financial records and data into a reservoir. Yet.

On Monday, [Sloan]village officials showed us financial documents and records for the village they say were fished out of a local reservoir. They also say vital financial information is missing from the computers.

Attaway to show ‘em how corruption is supposed to be, Sloan!

A long time ago, Conde Nast Traveler was a good travel magazine. Their ombudsman genuinely helped people who needed relief from unfair business practices. Their articles and ads were somehow travel-related.

Then sometime between 5-10 years ago, it became nothing more than a fashion magazine with some foreign destinations sprinkled in for good measure. Need a place to stay in Hong Kong? If you’ve got less than $350/night to spend, you’re not going to get any useful information from that magazine. The ombudsman became nothing more than an apologist for the big tour companies, airlines, and hotel chains; incessantly scolding the reader to do x, y, and z to prevent a future happenstance.

Traveler has a piece on Toronto this month. And by the second page, I was pissed off.

In fact, Toronto’s topography is strikingly similar to Barcelona’s: The terrain cants from an escarpment down to the water and is built between long snaking ravines that have morphed into parks and green space. Okay, this is Lake Ontario, not the Mediterranean. Over the horizon from Barcelona lies Mallorca. Over the horizon from Toronto lies…Buffalo.

Hey, fuck you pal.

First of all, your geography is wrong. Buffalo lies on Lake Erie, not Lake Ontario. To be accurate, he could have mentioned anything from Youngstown out to Rochester. Seeing as how that’s on the right goddamn body of water.

Second of all, I’ll bet that the writer either hasn’t ever been to Buffalo, or only sees it as a shopping destination or, worse, as just another piece of shit dying Great Lakes city with a high snowfall average.

But Buffalo isn’t just that. You know it, and I know it.

Now we have to make others know it: first Conde Nast Travelers’ well-heeled readers, and then the world.

It’s actually proving to be an interesting mayoral race.

You have Byron Brown - a tool who is in the unions’ pocket, and who has been form over substance in the last year in the Senate - a body in which he has zero clout.

You have Steve Calvaneso, who actually knows how to run a successful business in the distinctly difficult environment of Buffalo, NY.

You have Judith Einach, who is against regionalism and is endorsed by, of all things, the Green Party.

Finally, you have Kevin Gaughan. Full disclosure, I don’t live in Buffalo, so my opinion on who becomes Mayor is de jure irrelevant. De facto, however, what happens in Buffalo affects me, too. That’s the basis of regionalism: understanding and realizing that what happens in Erie County affects all of Erie County.

Gaughan has been the local pioneer on the issue of regionalism. His concept has been, at times, co-opted by politicians when it’s seemed popular and convenient, but Gaughan is a true believer. He believes that by fundamentally changing the way we do the business of governing in this region, we can make the region better and more competitive.

I won’t be endorsing anyone for mayor at this point, but I think Gaughan’s the one to watch.

Welcome to the new home of www.buffalopundit.com.

I’d like to thank WNY Media.net for the hosting & all their help in getting this site looking right.

Thanks for your continued readership and support in this new venue.

BP

KT in Buffalo links to a story that says Buffalo is the 11th happiest city in the country.

Must be all that free toilet paper.

Welcome to the new, improved Buffalopundit

. For the time being, I’m going to stop worrying about importing my blogger archives and look ahead, rather than behind. (How progressive!)

I’d also like to give props to the good folks at www.wnymedia.net, who are hosting this new weblog, and with whom I hope to have some bloggy synergy in the future.

As always, comments are appreciated. The blog’s email remains buffalopundit[at]gmail.com for suggestions, tips, etc.

If I’ve omitted your site’s link in the switch, (and you have a reciprocal link to www.buffalopundit.com), let me know.

OK. The blog is migrating to this site. I’ll try to incorporate the blogger site’s information, but that may or may not happen. Time to look forward, not back, IMO.

If any and all happy linkers would be so kind as to redirect to www.buffalopundit.com or buffalopundit.wnymedia.net, I’d be much obliged.