Did you know someone was running against Brian Higgins? It’s true. There is an actual Independence Party candidate running in that race to replace South Buffalo’s Boy Wonder.

That IP member is Dan Humiston. He’s also running, BTW, as the endorsed Republican.

In several recent bigger races, the Republican party in the county of Erie has pretty much resigned itself to running bored millionaires who can do a lot of self-financing of their campaigns. (Hi, Jack Davis! Too bad Cheney snubbed you a few years ago!). Chris Lee, Republican running in the 26th, is the unemployed scion of a formerly locally-owned manufacturing concern which was sold out for megabucks to a New Jersey multinational.

Humiston is, like Davis but unlike Lee, a self-made millionaire. He runs the Tanning Bed franchise throughout Western New York, peddling melanoma to local gum-clacking teens and those who still think they are. He’s the current president of the Indoor Tanning Association. (A “healthy tan” is not unlike the ads for Camel - more doctors smoke ‘em!)

Humiston has raised a decent amount of money, according to his latest filings. His largest contribution comes courtesy of a sweaty gentleman who combats allegations that he defends pedophiles by surrounding himself with children. Tom Reynolds’ TOMPAC gave the legal max to Humiston - $5,000.

Humiston did receive one more $5,000 contribution from another PAC, however. The “Indoor Tanning Association PAC“, which is run by the operation of which he is President. There are also loads of big contributions from melanoma huts all across the country. You can track how excited the tanning proponents are about Humiston’s run for congress, and they have a great conversation about how Dan Humiston can advance the melanomian cause in Congress.

Dear tanning industry friends,

Today is a big day in my race for Congress, March 31 is the last day I can collect money for my first FEC filing. The FEC reports have to be done quarterly so that the country can gauge my potential as a candidate.

I officially became a candidate in March; so far all my fundraising efforts have been directed towards our industry. My feeling is that it sends a strong message to the country that the tanning industry believes that their president will make a good congressman.

While many people have generously supported and helped spread the word I still have a ways to go to hit my goal. If you haven’t had time to go to my website www.humistonforcongress.com and make a contribution, can you please do it now?

Thanks
-DAN

And the Republicans criticize people for taking money from a strip club owner? Stripping doesn’t give people cancer.

The Indoor Tanning PAC’s mission:

In an effort to create a unified voice for the industry, the ITA decided to form a PAC to educate and make financial contributions to federal candidates who support the public policies that are important to the ITA’s members.

and

The ITA actively lobbies against legislation that would place unfair restrictions on salon businesses.

For instance, the ITA is lobbying to strike legislation in Ohio that would ban indoor tanning for teens under 18, and a similar bill in Massachusetts for teens under 16. I’m pretty sure that another cancer-causer - cigarettes - are prohibited from being sold to teens under 18 even when they have a note from home, so I don’t see the issue. (Evidently, his campaign obtained the Tanning Bed’s email list. Convenient. There’s also $2,500 to one Joseph Illuzzi, who apparently resides at 123 ABC Street in Alabama 20001.)

The one unifying theme among the Bored Republican Millionaire candidates is that they will operate government like a business. This is silliness, because businesses have a different mission altogether from that of government. The smart ones explain that they wish to maximize efficiencies and eliminate waste. They will keep a close eye on public finances and make sure that deficits are guarded against, found, and remedied as soon as possible, right?

Well, another supporter of Humiston’s is Nancy Naples-O’Neill, erstwhile State DMV Commissioner, which is a position to which she was appointed after holding the Giambra Administration’s water for so many years, (delaying until the last possible moment her decision to alert the people to what became the Erie County Budget Crisis of 2004 - 2005). She gave Humiston $1,000. One hopes he won’t take public finance advice from her. BTW - she lists her occupation now as “Amtrak Commissioner“. Christ almighty, there’s no trough from which she won’t gorge.

Humiston and Lee are supposed to be cut from the same cloth as Chris Collins - a businessman whom the Republicans run with great success last year. And they won’t come asking to bum money off the party, either.

The thing is, Brian Higgins works his ass off every single day to change people’s minds about Buffalo and WNY. When Humiston charges that Higgins is part of the status quo, that is sheer idiocy. Taking money from Tom Reynolds, cancer purveyors, and Nancy Naples is more of the same. Not Higgins, whose accomplishments are many and whose record does not pigeonhole him as some sort of ultra leftist liberal, but instead a pragmatic and forceful proponent for Western New York and the regular folks who make up his district.

John McCain in 2004:

QUESTION: Let me give you a hypothetical, senator. What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there? I understand it’s a hypothetical, but it’s at least possible.

McCAIN: Well, if that scenario evolves, then I think it’s obvious that we would have to leave because— if it was an elected government of Iraq— and we’ve been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government, then I think we would have other challenges, but I don’t see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.

The elected head of state of sovereign Iraq said this to Der Spiegel this past weekend:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded “as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned.” He then continued: “US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”

and

“So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat,” Maliki told SPIEGEL. “But that isn’t the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias.”

The Bush Administration first blundered by promoting the Spiegel article to its press distribution list rather than an internal distribution list, and then sometime on Sunday, Maliki issued a “clarification” of his remarks, which was puzzlingly released through the US Central Command.

Oh, and did I mention that Maliki’s “clarification” came after the White House called him to tell him to “clarify”?

From the New York Times:

Mr. Maliki’s interview prompted immediate concern from the Bush administration, which called to seek clarification from Mr. Maliki’s office, American officials said.

Scott M. Stanzel, a White House spokesman with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., said that embassy officials explained to the Iraqis how the interview in Der Spiegel was being interpreted, given that it came just a day after the two governments announced an agreement over American troops.

“The Iraqis were not aware and wanted to correct it,” he said.

So, the Iraqis trotted out a guy to say that Spiegel screwed up the translation.

Diplomats from the United States Embassy in Baghdad spoke to Mr. Maliki’s advisers on Saturday, said an American official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss what he called diplomatic communications. After that, the government’s spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, issued a statement casting doubt on the magazine’s rendering of the interview.

The statement, which was distributed to media organizations by the American military early on Sunday, said Mr. Maliki’s words had been “misunderstood and mistranslated,” but it failed to cite specifics.

“Unfortunately, Der Spiegel was not accurate,” Mr. Dabbagh said Sunday by telephone. “I have the recording of the voice of Mr. Maliki. We even listened to the translation.”

But the interpreter worked for Maliki - not Spiegel, and the Times got a hold of the tape, and offers this direct translation from its original Arabic:

“Obama’s remarks that — if he takes office — in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq.”

He continued: “Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.”

And all of this comes during a campaign where McCain and Bush have steadfastly refused to consider a timetable for American troops to leave Iraq, lest it be perceived as failure. The Republicans have been trying to apply the “cut & run” language they used against Kerry against Obama, but 2004 is different from 2008. So different, in fact, that the White House itself has had to acknowledge that some sort of pullout is going to happen, but they prefer to call it a “time horizon” or somesuch.

By talking pullout, Bush and Maliki have effectively removed one of the big rationales behind McCain’s candidacy.

(EDITS: Links added, corrections made)

While Donn Esmonde goes off on a sarcastic rant about how great it is that the casino is (he says) not going to open, I have to say that my thinking on the casino downtown has morphed from ignorance to opposition to indifference. (As my dad’s joke goes, Q: What’s the difference between ignorance and indifference? A: I don’t know, and I don’t care.)

Does anyone think for a second that the Seneca casino won’t stay open or that the current hotel project is going to be halted? I strongly doubt it, because the Senecas will counter the request for an injunction by arguing that they opened their temporary casino and began constructing their property in good faith based on the government’s approval, and that it is they who would be irreperably harmed by a shut-down - not the casino opponents. In the meantime, the Senecas can go about an alternate procedure to ensure that the land can be used for gaming.

Although the Citizens for a Better Buffalo and CACGEC will continue to fight and oppose this casino project, and although the Margaret Wendt foundation will continue to fund the legal battle, I no longer care.

The casino won’t be a silver bullet for the city. It isn’t a great deal that Pataki negotiated for the city. It will engender even more litigation between the county and the city, who will compete for “host community” status under the compact. The casino won’t pay property taxes or income taxes to the state. It’s a crappy deal.

One of many.

Look at Niagara Falls. People like to point out that the area surrounding the casino is just as full of fail as it was before the casino came in. That’s true. But it should come as no surprise, since Niagara Falls has more than its share of fail. But at worst, it’s the status quo.

People don’t leave casino grounds to go for a walk around the neighborhood? What neighborhood? Where are they supposed to go? The dilapidated, crumbling, in-breach-of-contract Rainbow Centre acts as a physical and psychological barrier blocking pedestrian access from the Casino to the Falls state park. And what’s past there? After dark, not much. A balloon ride? Some street vendors? A gift shop? A crappy Hard Rock Cafe? At least the old, leaky convention center got fixed up and is used on a daily basis.

Will people leave the Buffalo Creek Casino? If there’s stuff to do, they will. Canal Side will be mere blocks away. It will feature hotels, restaurants, shopping, a boardwalk, etc. The Sabres play at HSBC Arena. A casino won’t solve a lot of problems, but it adds one more thing to do downtown. It adds a world-class hotel to add to options limited right now by a shitty, subsidized Hyatt and an Adams Mark that looks like it was airlifted from Cold War-era Soviet apartment blocks. (More concrete, Sasha!)

What’s done is done. The casino will undoubtedly be completed. The Senecas will make loads of money. People will come from near and far to check it out. The city will make money off the slot revenue. So will the state.

And so will the food distributors who employ people and pay taxes. So will the liquor and beer distributors who employ people and pay taxes. So will the people who live locally and work at the casino and pay taxes. So will the suppliers and construction workers and furniture wholesalers who will all make money off of this project. So will the architects and landscapers.

So, I’m now indifferent. If it’s blocked, great. If it goes up, great. Either way, my day won’t change. But if I’m leaning in any one direction, I’d say build the damn thing already. Build it nice, build it big, and build it in such a way so as to maximize pedestrian entry and egress from the property. By cooperating with the Senecas, we can help make it a project that is integrated into its surroundings, rather than an island surrounded by a sea of useless parking.

Responsible New York is just the latest effort by someone fed up with New York’s mediocrity and nonsense to try to shake things up. In this case, however, it’s being funded with $5 million from a billionaire, so there’s a lot more where that five mill came from.

It’s been reported that the new Responsible New York PAC will attempt to raise/spend/donate $1,000,000 for candidates “Baby” Joe Mesi and Kathy Konst in their bids to be elected to State Senate.

So long as Responsible New York works independently from the campaigns, that very well might happen. Here, however, Golisano has already met with Konst privately, and Golisano’s political guru, Steve Pigeon, is also very closely connected with Mesi, so the issue of coordination between the PAC and the campaign becomes an issue that will, no doubt, be decided by Judge Makowski. (He always seems to get these types of cases).

If the PAC spends more than $6,000 on the primary campaign and/or $9,500 on the general for, e.g., Mesi, you can bet that Iannello or Ward will sue. They’ll argue that there is improper coordination and that the PAC should be limited to those maximum amounts. Anything more would require the expenditure to be “independent of the candidate or his agents”, and no one from a campaign could “authorize, request, suggest, foster or cooperate in any such activity”.

Another problem arises from another section of the election law:

14-116

8. Except as may otherwise be provided for a candidate and his family, no person may contribute, loan or guarantee in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars within the state in connection with the nomination or election of persons to state and local public offices and party positions within the state of New York in any one calendar year. For the purposes of this subdivision “loan” or “guarantee” shall mean a loan or guarantee which is not repaid or discharged in the calendar year in which it is made.

Golisano’s goals for change in Albany are shared by many, especially in upstate and western New York. The problem is that laws are designed specifically to prevent the extraordinarily wealthy from having an unfair advantage in elections, unless they themselves are running.

Late yesterday, it was reported that Golisano’s plans have, therefore, changed…

Trying to avoid the legal restrictions of a political action committee, Golisano plans to amend his filing with the state Board of Elections to create a different kind of entity that will enable him to spend unlimited amounts for or against - but not on behalf of - state legislative candidates, according to his top advisor Steve Pigeon.

Instead of a PAC, Golisano will create an unauthorized multi-candidate political committee, which will act independently of all candidates (and still be called Responsible New York), Pigeon said. This committee will not make any direct contributions.

The Golisano camp had already filed paperwork with the state yesterday to create the PAC he unveiled this morning and said he would seed with $5 million….

…But, Brehm said, a political committee that is independent and not authorized by any particular campaign can spend whatever it wishes on ads, mailings, and signs.

Such committees, which deal with mandated free speech requirements, merely have to register what candidates they are oppose or support and how much it has taken in and spent.

According to Pigeon, Golisano will still establish a PAC called People for Responsible New York, which will accept donations up to $100 and will make campaign donations (adhering to the existing campaign finance limits) to candidates Golisano is supporting.

One thing that is not clear is whether the fact that Golisano has already spoken to some candidates, plans to have candidates fill out questionnaires and might meet with them after they do so would disqualify him legally from claiming his committee is independent and unauthorized.

Brehem did not have an immediate answer.

Golisano and Pigeon maintain they are merely seeking out the viewpoints of candidates, but will be working alone in deciding whom to back and how to spend Golisano’s money.

So, there ya go.

I wholeheartedly support County Legislator Tom Loughran’s effort, taking a cue from Kevin Gaughan, to reduce the size of the Erie County Legislature from 15 to 9.

In salary expenditures alone, that’s an extra $260k in the county’s pocket, and there’s no question that 9 people could lead and serve as effectively as 15.

After much ribbing about the non-existent and/or empty “views” section of his website, Republican candidate for Congress in the 26th district has finally gotten around to having some.

I am running for Congress to bring real change to Washington, D.C., restore accountability, get people to stop the partisan bickering and start solving the problems families are facing. This is what Western New Yorkers are demanding, and it is what they deserve.

By working together we can make these things happen, and we can get Washington working again for Western New York.

If we do that then we can help create jobs at home, lower taxes for hard working families, develop a real energy policy, and ensure access to affordable healthcare for all Western New Yorkers.

Washington working for Western New York. That’s a great idea. Um, what’s his predecessor been doing along those lines for the past 10 years? It’s all platitudes cribbed from some primer on how to run as a Republican but sounding like a Democrat. Republicans don’t give a shit about “affordable healthcare”. They’re far more concerned with taxation of the wealthiest 1%, not “hard working families”.

The most important thing for our families is having jobs not just for us, but for our children. Right now Western New York is facing the challenge of entering a 21st century economy and not having enough jobs for our children. Fortunately, Western New York is well equipped to face these challenges. We have a world-class workforce, excellent educational institutions and a work ethic second to none. What needs to happen is the government, in Washington and Albany, needs to get out of the way and let businesses do what they do best – create jobs. When I am elected, I will fight everyday for policies that increase the incentives for businesses to take risks, be entrepreneurial and ultimately create jobs.

How is Washington in the way, and would he do to get it out of said way? Taxes and spending, evidently - no surprise, coming from a Republican candidate. The problem is that the Republican party has put the Democrats to shame in terms of the growth of government and government spending at the federal level since George W. Bush came to office. Why are we to believe that Lee would not help perpetuate that state of affairs? Bush has grown government, kept taxes low to help the budget deficit balloon, engaged in nation-building adventures in the middle east and then shortchanged them when it got difficult.

Definitely Washington is broken. Definitely Albany is broken. What can Lee as a congressman do to fix Albany? Again - platitudes that sound phenomenal but have no meat to them.

Lee also says we need a “comprehensive energy policy”:

- Lessen our dependence on foreign oil by increasing American made energy through exploration;
- Promote new, clean, reliable sources of energy;
- Encourage conservation, and;
- Increase investment in research funding for alternative energy.

Respectively, how, what, how, and what? The call from McCain and Bush has been for drilling everywhere. Respectfully, that’s like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation site. Nice sentiment, but it would take literally years - if not a decade - before any such drilling would have any effect on the market. Furthermore, conservation is now in full effect, given the cost of fuel. Price is up, demand is way down. So, if all this is run by the market, why does lower demand equal ever-higher prices?

Again - demand for gasoline has been dropping, yet the price continues to rise. The idea that this is just market forces at work doesn’t fly. In 2008, it is high time that we develop and reach a consensus on a fuel for personal conveyances to replace petroleum. We’re using technology that’s over 100 years old.

Lee also believes that health care is an issue. The buzzword is “market-based”. Anything the Republicans recommend will be characterized as “market-based”, while they will criticize the Democrats’ plans as being “socialized medicine”. Meanwhile, all of the plans being suggested are market-based. No one is proposing socialized medicine.

While Mr. Lee complains that WNY is not getting its fair share of federal dollars, he also argues:

I will fight for a more transparent and fair system that will ensure real earmark reform. Any dollar being spent by the federal government should be done so in the light of day not behind closed doors. I want to change the way Washington does business by ensuring that we have an open system that holds our leaders accountable. Just like a CEO would want, Western New Yorkers deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent - that can only happen with a more transparent and accountable Washington.

How? What sort of transparency is he proposing? And which is it? More fair share, or fewer earmarks?

In other news, Chris Lee held a fundraiser last night. It was a swanky affair at the Marriott on Millersport. All of the Republican glitterati were in attendance, and Tom Reynolds introduced Lee to the crowd. Illuzzi was there enjoying the free food, making subtle threats, and writes:

I had the pleasure of attending what was truly an “All-Star” fundraising event last night kicking off NY 26 Congressional Candidate Chris Lee’s fundraising efforts.

Congressman Tom Reynolds declared the event to have set a new record for a first time candidate’s congressional fundraising event. Over 300 people in attendance!!! Early estimates are over $175,000 raised at the event.

That averages out to over $580 per person.

Lee is an unemployed child of wealth who inherited part of the sell-out of his father’s business. He’s pledged to spend $1 million of his own money on the race. Will he, like Chris Collins, forego his federal salary if elected? I recall Jack Davis making that pledge 2 years ago. Why should taxpayers cut a six-figure check with benefits and pension for a millionaire heir?

Senate President Joe Bruno has decided not to seek re-election this fall.

Gee, and not a moment too soon.

According to Politics on the Hudson, he says, “it is time for me to move on with my life”. Newsday quotes him as having said, “enough is enough.” Capitol Confidential has his full annoucement, and Bruno says, “it’s time to move on.”

But, timing in life is everything. While there may never be a good time to make these kinds of life decisions, I have decided that it is time for me to move on with my life.

Perhaps Senator Bruno has seen which way the wind is blowing, and realizes he probably won’t be majority leader next January. Either way, there’ll be a new person with the other two in the room who make all the decisions in the excuse for representative democracy that is the State of New York.

English al Jazeera did a piece about Buffalo and how it’s weathering the American economic downturn. It paints a picture of “2nd poorest” Buffalo as being a horrible poverty-ridden place, but that there are a few well-meaning social organizations that are trying to help the destitute by, e.g., pushing living wage legislation and renovating dilapidated homes. It’s far too simplistic, and the whole “2nd poorest” thing is somewhat of a statutory accident. If, like other places, Buffalo had been able to annex its suburbs, it wouldn’t be close to 2nd poorest.

What the piece also tends to ignore is that Buffalo has been in the midst of an economic downturn for decades. If anything, we’ll fare a bit better through this than lots of other places, and we’re an example of the 40-year-long death of American large manufacturing - not of the 2007-2008 economic downturn.

If the piece wanted to focus on the credit crunch or the foreclosure crisis or a real rapid fall from wealth to abandonment, there are loads of other parts of the country that are more indicative of the current slump. Our real estate market is healthier than most.

The video, while not untruthful, was somewhat relentlessly negative and was a bit too selective about whom it spoke with as far as solutions are concerned. It also glossed over (and Byron Brown was the one who made the point) that Buffalo operated under a control board that froze the pay of city workers.

One thing’s for sure - Brown needs to stop parading this list around as evidence of Buffalo’s “renaissance”. Any such renaissance is a figment of people’s imagination, and a new Tim Horton’s at a South Buffalo B-Kwik doesn’t count. Byron Brown’s administration needs to stop using this particular list as Exhibit A of a renaissance. What it shows is a tremendous amount of public and publicly-funded/subsidized projects, many of which will never be built, many of which have been done for ages, and some others that are worth a mention only in a world of insular silliness.

So we have a city that’s in decline overall, and an administration that, instead of tackling the systemic, structural problems that lead to this state of affairs, it touts a make-believe “renaissance”.

Two people from the Coalition for Economic Justice. Aaron Bartley from PUSH are shown in the video. There wasn’t much representation from the business community, with the exception of the bit about collection jobs being the future of Buffalo. There are some initiatives like the centers for excellence that were ignored, and I chuckled at the woman who was foreclosed-upon who was nevertheless able to afford Rock Band. That’s a $170 game, and her mortgage shot up $400 from $900 to $1300.

So, take it for what it’s worth, and I’m sure many will attack the source as being al Jazeera, and a glance at the show’s website reveals that it’s generally a very critical show that selects topics that reveal America at its ugliest.

HT David Torke

The state comptroller has a new website:

New Yorkers have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent. Open Book New York is a project by the Office of the State Comptroller that gives taxpayers unprecedented access to the financial information of State government.

Easy-to-use online search tools identify spending for 113 State agencies and public authorities and display more than 60,000 State contracts. These tools will help you find out how much state government spends on everything from travel and employees’ salaries to telephones and consultants. You can also search State contracts in real time to see who is doing business with the State.

The long crawl towards Albany transparency continues apace.

From Politics on the Hudson:

[T]he state Commission on Property Tax Reform, headed by Nassau County executive Thomas Suozzi, is recommending a school property-tax cap of 4 percent annual growth, tying property taxes to incomes (called a circuit breaker) and relieving schools of state and local mandates.

“There are only three options to address the ever increasing cost burden of the New York State education system: 1) decrease expenses (or at least decrease the rate of growth), 2) increase state aid, or 3) increase property taxes,” the report reads.

“These options involve hard choices, but this Commission concludes that, regardless of any other factors, it must be a priority to limit property tax increases above a capped amount.”

The entire - yet preliminary - report is here (.pdf).

It’s 112 pages long, so no I haven’t read the whole thing yet. But this stood out within the first few pages:

High property taxes have the most negative impact on low and moderate income working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and small business owners, who must shoulder this burden regardless of their ability to pay. Whether your concern is decreasing education costs, or increasing education spending, or addressing inequities in school funding, or improving programs, virtually all agree the answer cannot be to continue to increase property taxes at the current rate. The rate of increase in property taxes over recent years is unsustainable, and simply unfair to those who cannot afford to pay.

and

Expenses are high. New York schools outside of New York City spend more per student than any state in the nation – an estimated $18,768 in 2008-20091. New York’s per student spending is more than 50 percent above the national average. New York is a proud state with a progressive history and a social compact devoted to improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Generations of New York’s leaders, committed to maintaining its status as a national model of social responsibility, have adopted laws and regulations that require local school districts and local governments to provide certain functions in certain ways. The unintended consequence is government that is very expensive. The thorny challenge is to help school districts and other local
governments reduce these expenses, while remaining faithful to our social compact.

State aid as a percentage of total cost is below the national average. It must be noted that New York State spends a great deal on public education, well above the national average. In fact, the State has dramatically increased spending over the past several years and intends to do even more over the next several years, which the Commission applauds. However, the State’s contribution represents, as a percentage of the total cost, only 43 percent, which is below the national average of 47 percent.

In addition to the property tax cap on the rate of growth and the “STAR Circuit Breaker”, which ties STAR property tax relief to one’s ability to pay, the commission suggests changing state mandates that help drive up the cost of education throughout the state, including salaries, pension, and health care costs.

Take a look at the report and report your thoughts in comments. This might be one of the most significant reform efforts in the state in decades. Is it enough? Is it a good start? Will it help?

Good? That it’s being considered at all, and some solutions are being proposed. Bad? I don’t really know. I’m mostly concerned that it’s a Spongebob Band-Aid being placed over a gaping wound.

The amazing expansion and renovation that the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery in downtown Buffalo has undertaken in recent years has been incredible. From upstairs expansion, the new outdoor decks and patios, its commitment to local businesses and the local economy, to the fact that it employs 111 people and contributes to the livability of this city, it is a business that deserves the benefit of the doubt always.

That’s why this story in today’s Buffalo News incensed me so.

The Preservation Board of the City of Buffalo is unhappy with Pearl Street’s recent changes, most recently including a corner sign depicting its new mascot, “Lake Effect Man”. Branding is an important component to a business like Pearl Street with ambitions such as the ones described in the article - to be the largest selling brewpub in the world.

“[Going before] the Preservation Board has been a terrible experience,” Ketry said. “They don’t respect anything that has to do with the private sector. They have these pie-in-the-sky notions and don’t get what it takes to create growth in a business environment.”

But the board considered Ketry’s proposals excessive and out of line for a street known for its variety of historic buildings. They include the recently restored Webb Lofts two doors down and the terra-cotta Guaranty Building at Pearl and Church streets.

“Should an 1840s building be a spectacle? Not in a historic district,” said Russell Pawlak, a board member. “It diminishes the beauty of the building. It’s death by a thousand cuts.”

“They have far and away exceeded what we thought would be appropriate for that building,” said John Laping, board chairman.

Laping said the Common Council should not have overruled the Preservation Board without seeking its advice.

Ellicott Council Member Brian Davis, who has come to Ketry’s aid, said he thought Pearl Street’s contribution to the local economy overrode other considerations.

“Buffalo can’t be afraid to take steps that are going to put more attention on the city in a positive way. I thought [the changes] would help bring more people to downtown,” Davis said.

The Council member said he considered Ketry’s role in making the business a success and the 111 people in his employ. None of the changes, he added, was necessarily permanent.

“Everything he has added to the building can be removed. It’s not permanent in nature; it’s nuts and bolts,” Davis said.

That quaint brick 1840s building was built to house a commercial entity. The fact that it still houses a viable commercial entity in 2008 is astonishing. Especially in this city. The changes that Pearl Street is making to the facade and structure in order to maintain and grow its business do not detract from the history of that building, or from its beauty. It’s not as if Pearl Street covered the brick with vinyl. It’s not as if Pearl Street ripped the whole thing down to build some sort of Dryvit-laden Panera Bread lookalike.

Let Pearl Street thrive.

(Photo by the Buffalo News’ Harry Scull)

From another local website, Republican County Legislator, and candidate for SD-61 Michael Ranzenhofer writes:

Michael Ranzenhofer (R), a veteran of 19 years as a county legislator from Amherst, is off and running as the expected Republican candidate for the State Senate seat being vacated by retiring Mary Lou Rath.

“Spending is out of control in Albany,” said Ranzenhofer in a telephone interview … “My platform will be about cutting spending, reducing taxes, and eliminating the terribly burdensome regulations that drive up the cost of doing business in this state.”

As a county lawmaker, Ranzenhofer says he never voted for a tax increase. The lawyer/legislator also said he has tried to cut wasteful and unnecessary spending, pushed for road and bridge repairs, and helped restore the ranks of volunteer fire fighters by offering an education incentive similar to what is offered by the military for years served. The “V-Fire” program allows for fire fighters with at least five years experience to become eligible for free education at Erie Community College.

He never voted for a tax increase, and he didn’t do a whole lot to battle spending increases. He was instrumental in promoting the Giambra budgets that led to fiscal disaster. He is loath to lend any support to rank-and-file county workers, but went along with every single request for a variable minimum put forth by Giambra and Collins (a variable minimum is a way for the government to give a candidate for an appointed county job years’ worth of seniority on day one - and an instant pay raise).

He never voted for a tax increase, but one of the gimmicks he pushed for time and time again throughout his time on the legislature was for a gas tax holiday. Unfortunately, gas taxes happen to pay for road maintenance, and if one was to ask his constituents on Tonawanda Creek Road in Clarence whether that road has properly been maintained, I think they’d give you an earful. The road slid into the creek years ago, and hasn’t yet been fixed.

As for the county budget crisis of a few years ago, Ranzenhofer says he stood up against the political establishment and the power brokers by refusing to go along with the one percent sales tax increase without accompanying spending cuts.

“I insisted we must have cuts to go with tax increases, and frankly many people backed away [from me],” says Ranzenhofer. “But I held fast that we can’t do business this way and I was the first legislator to favor a control board because no information about our finances was forthcoming from the county executive’s office. I thought we needed a control board to make sure fiscal discipline was re-established.”

Think about that for a second there. He had been in the legislature for about 16 years before the budget crisis came down the pike, and he was the majority leader during the run-up to it. He was supposed to be that control board - the legislature is a check on the executive’s power, yet Ranzenhofer and the other Republicans in the legislature behaved as if it was a rubber stamp for anything and everything Giambra wanted.

That led to a $200 million budget deficit that had to be plugged.

Yes, he’s made noise about spending cuts, but when the budget crisis was in full effect, and legislators met with Giambra during late-night and weekend sessions to figure out what would get cut, and by how much, Ranzenhofer was absent. It’s so easy and convenient to bleat on about how we need to find $200 million in spending cuts.

But when the hard work came along to figure out where the cuts would be made, he let others do the work and take the heat.

He claims to want to work bipartisanly, yet he has no record on which to run, and no evidence of bipartisanship exists there.

In essence, Ranzenhofer is saying that the county needed the hard control board to clean up what was partly his own mess.

Now that the county has a control board, which currently is at odds with the county executive over borrowing for capital improvements, Ranzenhofer says he still favors a hard board “but I think the time will come where they can go from hard to soft where in the past I felt a hard board was essential.”

Ranzenhofer says if elected to the 61st District seat, which includes the city of Tonawanda, Town of Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence, Newstead, and all of Genesee County, he will work in a bipartisan fashion to get things done.

Republicans are expected to put plenty of resources behind Ranzenhofer’s bid to keep the seat in the GOP aisle, given the very slim majority Republicans hold in the Senate.

For his part, Ranzenhofer says, “I think the importance [of the seat] is that if it goes from the Republican side to the Democratic side, it could change the over-all balance of power in the state and we would, in effect, have one-party rule which includes the governor. Taxes would skyrocket and spending would go way up. We would also see a very liberal fiscal and social agenda.”

One would hope that the importance of the seat is to represent one’s constituents in Albany. One would hope that the importance of the seat in this day and age is to work for change and reform in a dysfunctional state legislature.

But then, we’re talking about the guy who voted against the creation of the County Charter Revision Commission, so we’re unlikely to see any push for reform from him.

Spending went way up under Giambra and the Republican county legislature.

Ranzenhofer, who said he is also seeking minor party backing, says he is out every night, going from place to place throughout the district, talking to one and all about his candidacy.

He’s been in the County Legislature since 1989. The question that he should be asked over and over again: What is your record?

Hand it to him for one thing - he sure has vast experience dealing with dysfunctional governmental entities.

Last week, Geek and I had an opportunity to sit down with Erie County Executive-elect Chris Collins, with video provided courtesy of the lovely & talented Marc Odien. Here are some excerpts:

Collins on the Waterfront:

Collins on the hiring process: